Spring delayed

04.28.2006

I'd love to be posting about Spring. Better yet, I'd love to just sit around enjoying Spring. But the last sprint to the finish line w/ my dissertation takes up a lot of time/effort. So no time to snap pictures of what was a quick, sudden, brilliant burst of Spring around Kalamazoo. I think apple blossoms have the same effect on me as cherry blossoms do on most other people.

But I'm getting a chance to ride my Schwinn to/from campus. Which both saves on gasoline & gives me a chance to (briefly) exercise.

So far I've only finished (but I mean finished, as in tuti finito) two chapters (as of 3:47 today). There are four chapters left that need revisions and/or polishing. I hope to have all that done by Sunday evening. Perhaps even one of them before tonight ends? After that, I just have to write a conclusion. Oh, and I also have to run a series of time series cross-sectional regressions on batches of election data, make the appropriate tables, and fill in the necessary summary/explanatory paragraphs for the "stats" chapter.

(For the skeptics out there, I ran the data last year, but w/o the 2005 election figures. Since K8 brought back the necessary disaggregated data set from her trip to Bolivia last month, I've been waiting for a chance to do run the stats models w/ the 2005 data.)

Will I make a May defense? It's unclear. So much depends on my committee having the time to read before they all scatter during the summer. But I'm 100% confident that I will begin June w/o the dissertation monkey on my shoulder. Meaning: I'd have turned in the complete, finished draft and would only be waiting a formal defense date (July? August?). And that ain't half bad.

Monday, I haul out The Motron and Lucia. I'll tune 'em up, then ride around as much as possible.

The rest of the coming month? A combination of wedding planning, (temporarily) moving to Chicago, preparing to move (permanently) move to Pennsylvania, and catching up on reading. Especially in preparation for my three courses (but only two preps!) at Dickinson next Fall.

I'm still broke. But I'm no longer poor. A lot of people confuse the two, but they are not at all the same.

Posted by Miguel at 06:22 PM

Comments

Best of luck for accomplishing your plans. but I am sure you can do it!

Posted by: Melli at April 29, 2006 05:47 AM

congratulations on the engagement and job, miguel! this really seems like the year when everyone leaves town. i only have three more days here myself. if i don't see you before then, have a great summer, and good luck with yr dissertation!

Posted by: mary at April 29, 2006 09:12 AM

Can you explain to me broke vs. poor thing? N.

Posted by: Nenad at May 1, 2006 09:47 AM

Being "broke" is a temporary lack of financial resources, but w/ the expectation that more resources are available in the near (or not too distant future). Being "poor" means belonging to a socioeconomic class ("the poor") w/ a near-constant lack of economic resources, w/ no immediate relief in sight.

For example. A college student who can't go out to the bar because he doesn't have enough money for beer is "broke" but not "poor." The mere fact that he's in college puts him above the poverty line. Now, some college students may indeed belong to the poor (the social class), but the overwhelming majority don't.

If you don't have to worry about where next month's rent will come from, what you will eat next week, or whether you will find a job (for rent/food) in the next few days, you may be broke, but not poor.

Too many people misuse the term "poor," think it just means not having money right now (e.g. "I can't go out, I'm really poor right now"). That confuses things, because it implies a similarity in socio-economic status between a college student (or anyone) who just doesn't have enough cash on hand for some specific purchase & a person who actually lives in the condition known as "poverty."

Especially when there's a perfectly good word like "broke" to take its place.

Posted by: mcentellas [TypeKey Profile Page] at May 1, 2006 10:29 AM

Read this a week late. Interesting statement there. I've another explanation for "broke" and "poor". "Broke" is a temporary condition usually referring to the financial situation, which u already mentioned.
"Poor" is more a state of mind, and that manifests to other areas of life other.

For eg, one may have tons of money, but doesn't have a good quality of life, he can be considered "poor". Also, if a person is broke but has lots of friends who love him and think well of him, he's a wealthy man.

Posted by: Stephanie at May 9, 2006 11:39 AM