So, remember when I was whining about graduate school? Many of my half dozen regular readers suggested that transferring to Evergreen State College--with it's 200 mile round trip weekly commute--might not be the best idea.
But I persisted in thinking that I should explore the option. So last week I was going to head up the highway to attend an information session. But massive snow melt + massive rain = flooding of I-5 halfway between Vancouver and Olympia. The highway was closed for several days and I'm thankful that I didn't get stuck on the northern side of the water.
I rescheduled my appointment for yesterday and took a half-day off in order to run some errands and get to Olympia by 4pm.
Just outside Vancouver, my car made a horrible noise, followed by a more horrible snapping sound. I pulled over to the side of the road, hoping it was a tire or a belt or something else I could identify. Nothing. I restarted the car. HORRIBLE noise. I called a tow truck.
So long story short: 1.25 hours of waiting for a tow truck gave me ample time to decide that commuting to Olympia for graduate school really was a bad idea. (Note to my friends: I'm sorry I didn't listen!) Even with a reliable car (which it mostly has been), I'd still be at the mercy of weather, traffic and other things outside my influence. To say nothing of the toll that adding 3 and 1/2 hours of driving (and getting home around midnight) to my schedule would take. Sure the program looks great, but I don't really know, do I? And what if it wasn't any better?
Besides, I'm taking a great class this quarter: Values Based Management. It's got a bit of reading, but is mostly a skills class, meaning that we'll be practicing actual supervisory skills, like feedback and listening. I'm a little anxious about role playing as a teaching method, but the instructor claims that adults need some anxiety to actually learn.
Are you dying to know what happened to the car? Because dying is about right. It threw a rod and now the engine needs to be replaced. Ka-ching.
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Glad to hear you came to your senses. It's hard enough for a person with a full time job and a life to drag herself to grad classes, but to do it with a commute? Fuggedaboudit.
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