One of the worst things that could have happened has actually happened. i've been hit by writer's block...for my thesis, at least. ironic that i can still blog, right? made SOME progress on a new chapter today. i decided to reorganize a little, so that there's a clearer division of my main project, which makes more sense. it gives me an additional chapter too! got the basic skeleton of the chapter set up, and fleshed it out a bit. it contains 12 pages at the moment, with some figures and stuff to go. hopefully i can push it to between 20 to 25. as i was writing, i was crazy grateful that i'd taken in some undergrad students. i just had to look back at their work and copy/paste over with modifications. but most importantly, they have the supporting information done up so nicely! all the characterization data is there, as well as all the spectra. saves me a ton of work. i think my new plan is to have 3 chapters done by the end of this year, or at least by early (before the 10th) january next year. definitely doable. then, one more chapter by end-january, and the last chapter by late february to early march (also dependent on experimental results). that gives time for a few weeks' worth of bouncing revisions back and forth with my professor, before submission on or slightly before 30 march.
as for the job situation, one last thing i have to explore is asking the department if they have short-term jobs available. most likely looking at a TA thing, which pays about $1800 per lab module per semester for a grad student. so taking 2 lab classes would basically cover my school fees. again, i'm not too optimistic, because there are tons of other grad students who need the teaching hours. but i figure that never ask never know, right? i suppose an alternative would be to do part-time scientific officer, but that's also dependent on whether the teaching labs have vacancies (signs point to no i think). of course, should the NUS thing not happen, i've also been looking at other alternatives. i just had dinner with my cousin at waterway point this past sunday, and i was asking him about borrowing his car to drive grabcar. why use his car and not my own? because during his short unemployed period earlier this year, he converted his car to a commercial vehicle so he could drive grabcar as a temporary measure. the conversion comes with some additional costs i think, mainly insurance-related. not to mention the hassle and waiting time. so i figured that since he has one already set up, why not i just jump on it and go? thankfully he agreed, since he says that his car can be put to better use if i'm taking advantage of the commercial vehicle status. so next question: uber or grab? both offer pretty much the same signup bonuses, namely waiver of practically all fees. there's a bit that we still have to pay, but that's claimable through skillsfuture, so it's effectively $0 out-of-pocket. the commission taken by both companies is also the same - 20% of the fare. just browsing around a bit shows that uber generally attracts more negative reviews. i figure that since i don't have car rentals to tie me down, i can jump ship as often as i please. so, the plan is to start with grab, then see how things go from there. it won't be that soon though; still have to get a private-hire car driver vocational license, or PDVL for short. then, remind my cousin to add my name to the insurance, and undergo some training and a test at the singapore taxi academy. did you know such a thing existed? because i sure didn't know before i went to read up on what to do. and i just saw its location on google maps. surprising, how inaccessible it is despite being located in town-ish area.
grab aside, i've also explored other things. seems like my cousin really did his research in those few months. he recommended two other platforms to me - qourier and pawshake. the former is a courier service, just basic delivery of stuff to some specified location. would be great if this could synergize with my grab trips, or commute to and from the lab. pawshake is a platform that allows pet owners to search for service providers. services include bringing dogs for walks, house-sitting, cat-sitting, among others. apparently there's an option for exotic pets too, like lizards, snakes, or insects. doubt i'll be touching that category, though. i can probably manage dogs, and cats to a somewhat lesser degree. wonder if i have any cheap red lasers lying around...
with all these things on the horizon, i'm just hoping that i can stay ahead of my expenses. with luck, i may not need to take out a loan for next semester's school fees. you know, it seems that money-making opportunities are out there. it's just a matter of whether someone chooses to take them or not. having said all that though, graduation still remains my top priority. hoping that a lab day tomorrow will clear the writer's block.
as for the job situation, one last thing i have to explore is asking the department if they have short-term jobs available. most likely looking at a TA thing, which pays about $1800 per lab module per semester for a grad student. so taking 2 lab classes would basically cover my school fees. again, i'm not too optimistic, because there are tons of other grad students who need the teaching hours. but i figure that never ask never know, right? i suppose an alternative would be to do part-time scientific officer, but that's also dependent on whether the teaching labs have vacancies (signs point to no i think). of course, should the NUS thing not happen, i've also been looking at other alternatives. i just had dinner with my cousin at waterway point this past sunday, and i was asking him about borrowing his car to drive grabcar. why use his car and not my own? because during his short unemployed period earlier this year, he converted his car to a commercial vehicle so he could drive grabcar as a temporary measure. the conversion comes with some additional costs i think, mainly insurance-related. not to mention the hassle and waiting time. so i figured that since he has one already set up, why not i just jump on it and go? thankfully he agreed, since he says that his car can be put to better use if i'm taking advantage of the commercial vehicle status. so next question: uber or grab? both offer pretty much the same signup bonuses, namely waiver of practically all fees. there's a bit that we still have to pay, but that's claimable through skillsfuture, so it's effectively $0 out-of-pocket. the commission taken by both companies is also the same - 20% of the fare. just browsing around a bit shows that uber generally attracts more negative reviews. i figure that since i don't have car rentals to tie me down, i can jump ship as often as i please. so, the plan is to start with grab, then see how things go from there. it won't be that soon though; still have to get a private-hire car driver vocational license, or PDVL for short. then, remind my cousin to add my name to the insurance, and undergo some training and a test at the singapore taxi academy. did you know such a thing existed? because i sure didn't know before i went to read up on what to do. and i just saw its location on google maps. surprising, how inaccessible it is despite being located in town-ish area.
grab aside, i've also explored other things. seems like my cousin really did his research in those few months. he recommended two other platforms to me - qourier and pawshake. the former is a courier service, just basic delivery of stuff to some specified location. would be great if this could synergize with my grab trips, or commute to and from the lab. pawshake is a platform that allows pet owners to search for service providers. services include bringing dogs for walks, house-sitting, cat-sitting, among others. apparently there's an option for exotic pets too, like lizards, snakes, or insects. doubt i'll be touching that category, though. i can probably manage dogs, and cats to a somewhat lesser degree. wonder if i have any cheap red lasers lying around...
with all these things on the horizon, i'm just hoping that i can stay ahead of my expenses. with luck, i may not need to take out a loan for next semester's school fees. you know, it seems that money-making opportunities are out there. it's just a matter of whether someone chooses to take them or not. having said all that though, graduation still remains my top priority. hoping that a lab day tomorrow will clear the writer's block.
-random thought of the day: Haven't been sleeping well.-
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