Just kidding. ;)
Well, I'm much more relaxed then I was yesterday. In fact the past week has been manic, calm and then manic again. Wednesday morning seemed fine up until about 10:30 am when I got the big heap of microanalyses back only to find out that many of them hadn't worked out. Thus, panic stage 1 set in. The JACS communications was finished, but without two microanalyses, it was stuck in limbo. This was redeemed slightly on Thursday morning when my short dendrimer synthesis worked with a new twist which made it even shorter. I was rushing around the place trying to enter corrections, work up reactions and then run home to meet Mum so that we could go over to the embassy.
We drove over and we pulled up at a side gate while looking for the consulate.
The security guard said "It's Thursday, you have an appointment?"
Me - "Um, no"
Guard - "What visa type have you got?"
Me "J-1"
Guard - (After phone call)"Well, they can only be processed in Sydney"
Me - "Arrrrggghhh!!!!"
We came home and my mood has escalated to Code Yellow (Foul mood), and I tried for the seemingly millionth time to get through to the 1900 information number. I couldn't get through from my mobile, I'd tried both of the lab phone weeks before, and my home land-line wouldn't let me either. At this point I indulged in a bout of swearing. Mum was a bit shocked and we went in search of a pay-phone in town. Civic was swarming with public servants and after battling through them, we weren't able to call from a pay-phone either. At this point resignation set in. According to an information line, 1900 numbers can only be called from a home land line. We tried calling my brother at home, and then Peta, but neither were at home. Finally I called Red and she said "Come around".
We drove over to Red Hill and Mum chatted to Red while I finally got through to the number. Then after an interminable time I got put on hold for about 20 minutes. At last I got through to an operator and all my queries were answered in a few minutes. My J-1 visa could only be processed in Sydney (yeah, I'd just found that out first-hand), but that it should only take a day or two to process. This was a big surprise, since I'd been told several times that it could take 6 weeks, and was the first bit of good news all day. We drove home after saying goodbye to Red, and then I saw Mum off. I went back to the lab and tried to chill out. It wasn't easy because I've been so pumped up on stress hormones for the last week. After sitting in on Clem's mid-term seminar, I came home and after having something to eat I phoned Allison to tell her the good news and crashed out.
I also received an email from the Miami professor asking me to get back to him about my application. I'll fax him the contract and send an email as well. I hope that instead of Monday, that I'll submit my thesis later next week and hopefully I'll get up to Sydney after that and fix up my Visa in person. Then it's just a matter of getting a plane ticket. I haven't really seen anyone for the past two weeks, instead I've been cloistered away trying to get this darn thesis finished. After getting advanced warning of the offer for this position, I sent an email around to everyone on my address list saying I'd be gone in a while. I meant a month or so, but people interpreted it as a week or two, so it seems people aren't sure whether I've left or not.
In other more mundane news, the daisies are out in bloom, and I'm sneezing and squinting away. It's not as bad as when I was on the Roaccutane when I felt like death, but it's never pleasant. It's also the local government elections tomorrow, and if I actually remember, I'll probably go and vote. I've never been truly apathetic about this, probably due to Australia's mandatory voting laws, but I guess I'm an adherent to the belief of "Either vote or stop complaining". Being the good communist I am, I'll start off voting far left and go from there.