A couple things, a few bits about stuff going on, financial and otherwise:
- President Happiness: how awesome is it to have a normal Prez??!! I know the US gov't is generally the Big Bad in the 'Are WE the baddies?' kind of way--and I still take issue with all the wars/political grandstanding/lack of real action to help people that are marginalized and mistreated--but things have been SO bad the past 4 years that I can't help but feel great about the change.
- Stimulus Happiness: Speaking of change--$1400 stimulus, woot woot! Because of the way I file my taxes, the gov't sends me my stimulus checks here in NZ, they take, by last count, 4.5 and 3.5 months to arrive here. So--I will get my $1400 check in June at the earliest. Good to know.
- More Stimulus Happiness, in Hand: I just received my SECOND stimulus check today. Just deposited it in my US bank account using my bank's online phone app! Thank God, because NZ banks do NOT know what to do with physical checks, let alone foreign ones! Checks are not a thing here in NZ--everything is done via online deposit, you just share your bank account # with everyone and their mothers!
- 13 Year Medical Diagnosis Finally: OK, this saga is 13 years in the making. Basically: in 2008, I had an immigration medical in the US for my NZ visa. That doc found a relatively harmless heart murmur and diagnosed me with hypothyroidism, and gave me meds to treat it. I moved to NZ, sought a refill for my meds, and the dr's (I saw at least 4 to try to get this resolved), on my request, ordered a blood test and said my results weren't bad enough to warrant medication. Every year I have gone back and asked for new blood tests to monitor the situation if the doctors will not. And every year my tests are borderline or not bad enough to warrant treatment. Until this year: FINALLY THEY ARE BAD ENOUGH TO WARRANT TREATMENT!! FINALLY I AM SICK ENOUGH TO GET MEDICATION!! (I am both very excited and really angry about this, so I think the all caps are warranted). I have another dr's appt this week to see what the doc recommends, but she is the one that requested the appointment to discuss my abnormal blood results, so I am hopeful treatment is on the way.
- Family. Fam's still the same: my sister is very ill, my dad is very ill, my mom is coping the best she can. This is the best news that could happen, because any developments to my family's health is always bad.
- PhD. My supervisor is still terrible, the worst. He showed up 30 mins late to our last meeting two weeks ago and didn't show up at all to our last meeting on Friday. Meanwhile, his other students are coming to me with woes, more of the same. He is legit terrible. I decided to take him off of one of my papers entirely (a project that was 100% my idea and one that I developed and have created, with collaborators that I found on my own, all by myself. I don't think he deserves a spot.). My other, main supervisor freaked out recently and asked for a detailed writing plan. So I have that happening alongside all my data processing and modeling. On top of my usual job, of which I just lost 3 of my part-time research assistants (out of 4 total; the timing is all a coincidence, one got really busy with her own PhD, the 2 others found amazing full time jobs that are perfect for them and exactly what they wanted!). I'm, how you say...busy beyond belief!
Hope you are all doing OK. Can't wait til everyone is vaccinated, my PhD is over, and traveling can happen again!!
