Potential energy

I've been hesitant to write in here for a while, since what has been on my mind most lately has been the future. I have a number of potential job options for next year, but nothing has been decided yet (I still have a few interviews), and I don't want to talk about what I'm going to do until I know what it is I'm going to do.

So I guess you could say I'm in a position of high potential energy, and I'm just waiting for the opportunity to convert that into kinetic energy and move on with my life.

Which isn't to say that I haven't been doing anything. I've been working on my thesis since the beginning of summer, and am a little more than halfway done. I can't finish it until I do some more lab work, but I can't do that lab work until I hear back from some collaborators, so in the meantime, I'm trying to write as much as I can. One of my professors told me that your thesis work shouldn't depend on someone else's productivity, and I think he was right. I really don't like not having control of this situation.

I also don't have complete control over my second paper, since I am waiting for M and M to finish their part of the work. I'm sure that will get done, though, and it doesn't necessarily have to be finished before I defend my thesis. Come to think of it, neither does the other work, so I should probably just stop worrying. If these people don't deliver soon, I can probably just cut my losses and write up what I've done already.

I'm thinking about defending at the end of October. Halloween, maybe? People can wear costumes. Maybe I'll wear bunny ears or something.

So, lots of traveling next month. Even if I don't get the jobs, I'll have had free plane rides.

There are a few weddings coming up, too. So, good things. I should try to cheer up; I've been kind of bummed lately about writing this fellowship application (which is regarding a new project that I don't know much about, and therefore feel like an idiot) and the fact that I don't have control over my work. But overall my life is good, and I should be happy.