It lasts for 9 months.

What does this mean? Simple:

I do not have enough money to live in Madison over the summer.

As it stands, when I collect my May paycheck, get some money here and there ideally, get paid for being a class reader for my advisor's class...I will have around 3,395 to my name.

When I total up rent for may, june, july, august, AND september, that's 3,750.

Already, not good.

I figure I can live off of one meal a day at lunch, and every other day steal away food from the local chinese buffet. There's also the option of switching to dirt-cheap food. Some combo of that will work.

Figuring that and other living expenses will be 7 bucks a day, that's around an extra 850.

So, in essence, as it stands, I'm a little over a grand in being fucked.

Thank Buddha, Christ, God, and what ever else that I don't have to pay 6,000 dollars in tuition over the summer. See, I'm required to take class credit over the summer. Since the university paid for it this last year, though, the grad coordinator is pretty certain I don't have to pay.

Thankfully, I can take care of this situation without taking out a loan. The university wouldn't grant me a loan for reasons I won't get in to, and I sure as hell don't want to deal with a bank loan.

Here's the plan of attack:

1) Talk with my advisor about getting a part-time job as one of the care-taker staff. Surely there'll be an open position for the summer. All I need is something part-time.

I know what you're probably thinking. Nope: the summer jobs around town are premium, since most businesses cut back their hours in summer.

2) If #1 doesn't work out, I may on a slim chance get a Teaching Assistant position. I say slim because there are probably 15 grad students who need the work, and only 2 slots open for inexperienced TA's.

3) If #1 and #2 don't work, I can negotiate a personal loan through my family. That'll partly help.

4) Some options I will not talk about with anyone else but me. Suffice it to say that options 1-3 will work out somehow.

On the positive side, the rest of the semester should be easy.

I think I might be coming down with something. My throat has been feeling sore. I also feel completely numb and apathetic, emotionally--which points to some activation of inflammation proteins.

Kinda funny: I study cellular inflammation, its effect on emotions, and I'm a living case study at the moment.

I'm not happy, I'm not sad, I'm not angry...anything, I just am with that vague, opaque feeling. It's as if I'm trying to stare up through a bog, but I'm sporting a big breathing tube.

Good thing I still have the echinacea and antioxidants (which beat up inflammation proteins and steal their lunch money).

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