Made an estimated 0.4% gin by distilling ethanol away from the ones I haven't touched since my treatment started. Don't miss drinking, socially or otherwise, miss the taste. Yeah, there are boozeless ones you can buy, but this was cheaper, easier, less wasteful, and proved a fun exercise. Kinda want to get a rotovap now since it'd make it easier/possible to further divide fractions and try blending, but that's a stupid expense any way you look at it.

It took fourteen weeks and sifting through a deluge of shitty advice, but I managed to finish a half-marathon. Nothing official, i.e. I didn't pay someone for the 'privilage' of being timed on hot city asphalt, but got there in 2:18 regardless. It was surprisingly fun and fulfilling, but a sub-par replacement to sprinting and other stuff I still can't do because of the foot.

The father of a kid I tutored almost a decade ago got in touch, surprised at how things have turned, asking if I'd be available to teach at a school he apparently presides over. A senior academic pawning off his son's education to a random kid found on the internet notwithstanding, there's a long list of pros and cons, though I probably will take it since it's an obvious opportunity. Currently waiting for my department's whoever to respond if it's kosher with them and avoid stink.

Pretty good summer, overall.

I'm 'under investigation' because people in IT not only didn't remove my access to two other departments, they retained everything on my new ID. And for no fault of my own, I'm somehow a suspect because whoopin' 0.8 g of ephedrine went missing from a lab I didn't visit in sixteen months, from a safe box I never had access to. Not only the situation is stupid, the fact I'm anxious about the outcome is stupid.

And, gosh, presuming perfect conversion, you could make almost a full gram of free base amphetamine racemate. :V

Anyhow, just finished doing the literal groundwork for the vegetable garden, now I'll need to waterproof what's left of the dismantled gazebo to make a dog-proof fence around it. Potatoes will have to fend for themselves, though. Planted beans in pots and set them all around the house and balconies, will plant chickpea sprouts along the house fence this or next weekend. Depends on weather.

Still on the fence about hydroponic setup. I've done it a couple of times before, and it's about the same workload on 3 m2 as 20 m2, but fuckups get more severe as you scale up. If I went all-out, I may buy a fishtank and use it for nitrogen n'shit, but it'd be another complication.

Doomer prepperism? Hardly. I wanted to do that stuff for a long time, and I have a larger project in plans, where I'd like to replace most stuff that grows in the yard with edible greens. But before that, I need both practice and, really, a lot more patience than I currently have.

I went through two life-saving surgeries, and one that improved my quality of life so much I sometimes can't believe it myself. Have four degrees, currently doing a PhD that doesn't feel like a decade-long indentured servitude. Debt, medical or otherwise? Zero.

And I worked shitty jobs through more than half of that education just to support myself. It was miserable despite all the safety nets I could get. Not even for a moment I thought "that person's life is nowhere as shit as mine, give me their social aid!" It's not collective responsibility or socialist indoctrination or whatever polysylabic name substacks crowd[0] made up for it. No, it's basic humanity and empathy. We can talk about those. We can talk about differentiating self-interest vs avarice, from ethics to economics (hell, you no doubt have means to school me on both). But having a talking point about how others not suffering through same burden is making you feel bad by diminishing whatever 'sacrifice' was made is some kindergartner-level problem the author has to grow through.

Exercise for the reader: convince me I'd fare better, or at least not worse, under American conditions.

[0] - EDIT: For the record, I don't particularly care for their political views. Or, for that matter, yours. Hell, I like you the same either way. This is just my new blanket term for their generally shoddy scholarship, from misapplying geology and biology to fumbling at basic modelling, they seldom speak with any of that reason or rationality they espouse.

I painted it myself, though from a memorised reference of unknown origin. The way my brain works, it could come from literally anything/anywhere, but I'm certain it's not my own creation.

Move out and live on my own. It's time, but I keep stalling for no good reason.

Other than that, I want to learn Italian, continue improving other languages, and read more. Stick with Aikido and push myself to be less of a shut-in.

This week I talked two people out of resigning from our programme, and they joined my current study group to keep up with the pace. That's five in total. Not gonna lie, this place is hard, and it goes double for competitive types (i.e. nearly everyone), but that doesn't mean we don't have each other's back. nowaypablo's comments about life/attitudes at WP didn't go amiss. I hope you're doing well!

Yesterday I delivered a presentation about my research project to a mock symposium composed mostly of senior staff and other students. After q&a, I had to do the only proper thing: approach the professors who asked all of those measurement-oriented questions and get them to explain what I messed up. That took most of yesterday and today, and I was invited to see a similar setup next week. It was a lot of fun and it always takes me by surprise just how most of the seniors here are eager to teach.

Didn't happen much outside of studies/research, unfortunately. The girl I mentioned last time fizzled out, but at least I can honestly say it's for the better.

Aikido is a lot of fun, though, at some point, I hope to learn something beyond hitting the floor safely. Gonna give it a few months more and see where it goes from there.

Barely had the time to even lurk around here, and I miss you all.

I resigned from my chemistry internship after another day of being assigned anything deemed as slightly too tedious for seemingly anyone else to do. When raising that point, I was told that's how things are done here, so I should deal with it. They hand-picked me because I'm a theorist with strong maths skills and programming chops, so what the fuck was I even doing in a lab, adding concentrated HCl dropwise for six straight hours? I don't care if it makes me look like a total primadonna, that's a willful misuse of my time, and I'm beyond fed up with it being a constant theme in my life.

In less soul-sucking news, I got a whopping 96% from my first-pick PhD programme. Interview dates are to be announced, and I'd probably have to go on a week-long kerosene binge to flunk that one.

Dunno what I'm gonna do for the rest of the summer, but I'll probably just relax this and next week. It's nice to have free time without being bedridden, and I should finally use it.

BSc as of yesterday and, hopefully, BSc² on Friday.

During my physics defence, one of the examiners noticed that I was getting progressively more nervous and cracked a joke to help me loosen up. Suffices to say that it did its job. It was so corny that even everyone else sitting on the examination committee started laughing. The man's a saint.

Now I need to compile stuff for grad school admissions, research scholarships, update my resume and focus on job searching. Still hoping for that metrologist position I mentioned last month, even though it seems like one of those "non-engineers need not apply" things.

I'm also considering applying for a third degree, either in chemistry or materials science. Course-wise it's nowhere near as insane as I thought it would be and I've been delving into that rabbit hole for over a year on my own anyway. But it's all speculative, hinging on things like my finances, time management and, hopefully, part-time employment. Those concerns, unfortunately, outrank any academic plans beyond 'finish grad school' I could have for myself. I might need to settle on taking one or two labs and some courses from the second year if anything at all. I guess that's one approach to adulting.

But yeah, my next few weeks are going to be about coordinating something like twelve+ big-ish things in parallel, two of which happening/about to happen thanks to galen and kleinbl00. Another one of them is moving in with one of my friends next week. It's his idea as he was looking for a flatmate since at least February without much luck. Everything to leave this place behind. Good riddance.

At least I now have two games to look forward. Cyberpunk 2020 that I'll be GMing and the continuation of 'no casters allowed' D&D campaign prepared by the abovementioned friend.

No longer than two hours ago I passed my last university exam. Now I'm planning what to do with my few days of leisure before next week's defences.

I hope that this time the board gaming weekend will happen without any last minute problems or call-offs. A wholesome night of scheming with/against friends and accusing each other of being Cylons is the exact kind of chilling the fuck out I need right now. I'm at that point with long-term stress where I can't tell if it has made me hyperaware and serene or if I'm about to collapse.