At Last!!!

I'm done printing and binding my final journal paper!!! Tomorrow I will hand it in and be forever done with school, homework, bi-polar professors, clueless university administrative staff, and countless hours reading articles, books, journals that are so boring my eyes want to roll into the back of my head and die there.

What I am going to miss are the people I meet and the travelling that came along with much of my studies. I know I could have stayed in Washington, gone to a cheap state school and never left the Pacific Northwest if I had wanted to. However, I did not want to study in one place, and I had the means to travel. I have a friend, Ray, from archery who has come to call me the Gypsy Scholar, and he's not half wrong.

The process that lead to my final journal paper involved all of this:

Which I consumed in about a 2 week period.

I had a few mishaps too. The first one was getting off a bus. I made a sharp right turn off the bus and smacked my head into the side mirror. I now have a noticeable mark on my forehead when I have no make-up on.


The second was this:

It's cinnamon all over my floor. I was making french toast and the container got away from me. The upside was that my room smelled scrumptious for a whole week.

Needless to say my mind has been really preoccupied with this final paper/project. I'm just glad it's done. And in 5 days I'll be home in Washington.

How long I'll stay in Washington though, is any one's guess. Seriously, I'll take any Human Resource job that's not a scam anywhere in the continental United States.

Bank Holiday Idiocy

Today I had 3 things due: re-submit a paper for a class I flubbed last Fall, consent forms from my interviews, and the rough draft of my dissertation. However, I had one LARGE obstacle to completing any of this: Today is a Bank Holiday.

If you are unfamiliar with this concept, it's a holiday that no one has an explanation for other than it's the last Monday in August, so of course the whole country closes down. Why didn't I think of that! This also means that the university is shut down, including libraries which house the printers. Thus I had to track down a computer room with a printer in the Medical School attached to the hospital. Yes, a hospital.

I walked approximately 2 miles to get there, then another mile to the Jubilee Campus to turn in the papers. Luckily the building was open, but the box to drop the papers into was locked. Yes!! Locked!!! Needless to say I was slightly annoyed. Why would they make a due date on a holiday when they know EVERYTHING shuts down for the weekend. I could email the dissertation to my advisor, but the other stuff I'll have to go in at 9 am and make a slight fuss over the idiocy of their system. Which I hate to do, but I walked three miles (because the buses weren't running) only to NOT be able to turn in the papers at the time that THEY specified. And did I mention that I haven't slept in over 24 hours? Now you can understand that my tolerance level for idiocy is very low right now....

Okay,

I'm done venting.

Just saying...I'm getting a degree from nitwits apparently.

Sharing Some Tech Advice

Click on the picture if you have trouble reading all the print.

Alan! Alan! Alan!

Favorite clip from BBC this week:

Beautiful Day...

from inside my room. Pluggin' away....


And I want to do this, even though I'll probably break my neck.


And this is the TV show I wish was coming out this Fall, but have to wait til March.

Lovely Prague...

This was the final destination on the trip and I was so happy to explore. I've always wanted to go, but never had the opportunity. And at the end of the trip realized it was my favorite locale on the trip and wished I could have stayed longer. Oh, well another time. Here are pictures of the highlights of the trip...Enjoy!!

This is the Czech Inn where Annie and I stayed. Pretty, right?

Across from our tram stop to go into town.

Annie enjoying a traditional Pilsner Beer. I had one too, but didn't like it as much as Annie.

Best chicken dish I've had in my life. Looks kind of gross, but it's grilled chicken with pear and camembert cheese. Sooo good I wanted seconds.





Tour Option #1





Astronomical Clock. Very anti-climatic.



They hide a Starbucks everywhere they can. =)

It's Pink!

Tour Option #2



So sad. And yes, I gave him money. I wouldn't take his picture and not.

On the way to Charles' Bridge.



For luck and fertility. Not that I'm planning on using the fertility, but the good luck was nice.





Religious man who was burned at the stake for his beliefs. Then a statue was made of him centuries later. Figures.

A statue detailing the ghost from Mozart's famous opera. Can you guess which one? This sits right outside where they filmed the movie "Amadeus".
Hahaha. I loved this poster. It was everwhere. =)


Spanish Synagogue. It only looks like a mosque.

View from Charles' Bridge at the Palace, where the president works and lives.

In a synagogue memorial for all Czech Jews who lost their life during WWII. All their names, birthdays and date of deaths (or when their death was discovered), and from which part of the Jewish Community they lived is printed on the walls of the entire synagogue.



The Jewish cemetery.



This is the Old New Synagogue where the famous Golem resides. There's an old story that says that a Nazi went to the attic where the Golem is trapped and never came down again. Presumably killed by the Golem.





The million steps up to the palace.

View from the top.



These guys wouldn't move for anything.

Church. Very old. Nuff said.



Very nice fiddler who let me take his picture for my spare change. Not a great player, but nice nonetheless.

Another view from the top.




The metro to the airport. Goodbye Prague. I will be back!

The Good Life in Vienna....

The next stop on the marathon was in Vienna. I had been there briefly before, but was sick then. So this was my chance to see the city properly. While very pretty, I was surprised how many tourists there were. But everyone was very nice and Annie and I had a great time.

Me in front of Vienna's stutue to Mozart.



We went on a tram ride around the city and saw this old church.

Opera House














Best Desert of the trip at Demel's. A lovely mousse covered in chocolate with a crunchy base, and Gold flecks on top. So rich and creamy. And a perfect latte.

The kitchen and staff behind all their wonderful creations.


The palace and riding school.



Part of the royal family's china collection.



Roayl family sitting room.

The King's room.
The Queen's room.


The Palace.






Lunch. Cheesy sausage, roll, and a Fanta.


The Royal jewels.

And your parents always said money didn't grow on trees. They were right, gold does. Look whose laughing now?



At the park.