Wherein the author cuts out the crap

Ok. I don't know what you'd call this, but I'm calling it a change of direction. I am 46 years old and I think I have earned the right to start taking control of my own life. I'm tired of doing things to please everyone else.

I know there is an entire contingency out there that can't believe I do ANYTHING to please anyone else, but you're wrong. I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to please other people and smooth things out for others, and make sure everyone else is happy and never giving a thought to what it is that makes me happy. But a recent series of events in my life have demonstrated, unequivocally, that my self-denial is without value. Let's just say that the lack of positive reinforcement for such behavior has led me to believe I am knocking myself out for absolutely nothing.

So the buck stops here. Presumably, half of my life is over. I think that gives me some latitude.

I have decided to stop coloring my hair. The reasons for this are two-fold. One. Coloring your hair isn't good for it. Two. Despite buying hair color that is designed to be "cool" and not highlight any red, every box of hair color I have tried over the past 4 years has turned my hair red. And it's not a flattering red. It's this weird red that I don't think favors my skin tone. And I guess there is also Three. My dad had grey hair and it looked really nice. I'm hoping my hair will go that way.

Now not coloring hair is a pretty radical thing in my family. It's sort of like saying you aren't going to shave your legs anymore. My 92-year-old Gram still colors her hair. She told me it wasn't polite for me to go grey before she did. I have a feeling that should anyone ask, they'd stare at me like I just dropped out of graduate school to join a commune if I told them of my decision. But color it I will no more. If it makes me look old, I guess that means I'm old.

#2 on my list. I have decided to start drinking Coca Cola Classic again. I love Coke Classic and I haven't allowed myself to enjoy it in years and years and years. I figure if I am going to be overweight and sexless, I might as well enjoy the things I eat. I don't drink enough soda for a can a day to make that much of a difference.

#3. I am going to make some new friends who have absolutely nothing to do with school. I am outgoing. I have always enjoyed a high level of social activity. I never had to wonder what was going to happen on Friday night, because something would come up. Social activity just spontaneously generated around me. And when I first came to Carbondale, we had a large group of grad students who enjoyed each other's company. I thought it would stay that way. But things have changed. People have moved on and new faces have arrived. There are cliques now and I'm part of none. I have tried to integrate but it just feels forced. I don't quite know how to put my finger on it. I'm generally forgotten. If I am not at the forefront of people's minds when it's time to do things, so be it. I'll do my own thing.

#4. Someone once said of me: "You don't seek to be a leader, but in the absence of true leadership, you will lead." I think that's on the mark. Professionally, I have floundered for 4 years. I thought I had the skills and the talent to raise money for my project. I do not. The entire time that I have struggled and panicked and come to terms with an unfunded project, I have done so alone. None of my professional mentors--even those that I thought SHOULD give a shit--offered a hand, any friendly advice, or any alternatives I might have considered. While I was out in the field over the past few weeks, I came to an epiphany. My path through graduate school has been impossibly harder than almost every other person I have studied beside. (I am willing to concede that the Chinese student who was involved in an arranged marriage, became pregnant, and her husband began to abuse her and her child--all while attempting to study for her prelims in a foreign language--wins that contest hands down.) But on a general ease-of-making-progress-in-graduate-school scale with my peers, I have come up as a significant outlier. I have waited on those who should have led to lead, and I waited in a vacuum. I have watched with some amazement as those people who ignored my efforts and needs bend over backwards to extend themselves to others. It is painfully clear I am now solely responsible for finishing. I am left to my own devices. So I am no longer looking for leadership, mentoring or advice from those folks anymore. I believe I have the skills I need to do the work. I believe I have sufficient funds to do the work. And since I traversed the hard times alone, I've decided to continue on my own. I think people who know me in my professional life are going to notice a big change in the coming year. Or worse, perhaps they won't even notice at all.

I don't know if this is all for the better or the worse. I don't really think it matters. I'll be a grey-haired, grumpy ol' fart, who stays home with her dog on Friday nights, or maybe I'll be a smart, genuine, person who finds a social circle that does enjoy my company and what I have to offer. Maybe Jake will be my only friend. Maybe I'll take up roller skating. Or sky diving. Or hip hop dancing. Maybe I'll spend every weekend in the herbarium. Maybe people will be pissed at me or maybe they won't even notice the change. So be it. There is more than one way to do graduate school and there is more than one way to live your life. From now on, I'm doing both in a manner that pleases me.

Have you changed YOUR behavior?

How has $4/gal gas prices affected your life? I've started to think about this recently.

Since gas tipped over the edge at $4.00/gal, my life has changed drastically. I don't drive anywhere that isn't an absolute necessity. I don't go into school unless I have something to do. If I can do it at home, I do it from home. Of course, I miss everyone. My already abysmal social life has gone from merely pathetic to absolutely non-existent. I cannot drive to Carbondale for parties, for dinners or movies with friends, for special shopping trips, or anything else.

Riding a bicycle to do random errands isn't an option for me. Highway 51 is not bicycle friendly. So, whereas I used to go to the grocery 4-5 times a week. I go once a week now. There are only two products that will drive me to the store if I run out: toilet paper and dog food. Otherwise, if I don't have it, I do without it. No soy milk but plenty of cereal? I eat eggs or oatmeal. I do a lot of shopping on the computer. It is often cheaper and more efficient for me to pay shipping charges than to drive to Carbondale to purchase things in local stores.

I drove to pick up my dog at my sister's in Richmond, KY. Just about 600 miles round trip. The trip that cost me $65.00 when I dropped her off 2 months ago, cost me $90.00 to pick her up. From now on, I'll be looking very hard at the pros and cons of kenneling dogs rather than having friends or family care for them--especially if that "favor" entails me driving or paying for other's gas. (I used to pay graduate students $10/day to care for Nevada and Jake. Now, volunteer caretakers would use half of that $10 in gasoline to get to and from my house.) While I am sure that they do a much better job of caring for my dogs in my home, I have to consider whether the job is worth THEIR time and effort. $10/day is an easy bit of money. My house is comfortable and well stocked with amenities. But $5/day? Hardly worth it.

I'm not sure how much our student fees are increasing in the fall, but I'm sure they are increasing. We are supposed to get (I believe) a 6% raise this year, but as we all know, the increases in fees ate that up two years ago. Coupled with getting squeezed at the gas pumps, and the increase in food, gas, and electric rates, and being forced to pay for my own research, things for me are as bad as they have ever been in my life.

It is very nice to say I should buy local fruits and vegetables to save money, but to drive to the Carbondale farmer's market would cost me another trip (add $5.52 to the cost of any produce I purchase right off the bat) and that more than makes up for the increase in food prices at Kroger. I am growing beans, tomatoes and peppers this year. I won't be giving any away. I have a feeling I'll be eating a LOT of tomato sandwiches this summer.

I expected graduate school to require some sacrifice. I didn't expect to have to devote so much thought and effort to keeping afloat. Having to worry about money every single day depresses me in ways that I can't even express. And perhaps more depressing is the knowledge that this is going to get worse before it gets better. The only way it is going to get better for me is if I finish or quit school and get a real job.

So I wonder, how have $4/gal gas prices affected your life? And do you have any $$ saving tips for our readers?

E