I'm a Finalist!
Ok, so I was playing the Da VInci Code Google Quest online since it was 24 puzzles you had to solve over the course of 24 days, and I happen to like puzzles. The first 10,000 to finish the 24th puzzle on the day it was released, and complete a puzzle completion/registration form, are eligible to advance to the final round, a timed set of 5 puzzles. The winner of that wins a freakin sweet prize package full of all sorts of goodies, like trips and electronics. Plus, the 10,000 all recieve a replica of the movie cryptix.
Guess who just got a cryptix in the mail?
I am so excited! I really don't expect to be the fastest to complete the final puzzles, but I am having a great time with this. And the cryptix is really nice! It is metal and actually pretty heavy. It even has a message inside! The message just tells you where to go for the final puzzle, but still, it is altogether spiffy. I snapped a few quick shots, and I apologize for the fuzziness. I am running on my way out the door to catch a train, so I didn't have time to re-take them. I will try to get better ones up later!
http://www.geocities.com/girrlkitty/PICT0434.JPG
http://www.geocities.com/girrlkitty/PICT0435.JPG
How Much Are You Worth?
Me? I am apparently worth about $50,000, since that is the grand total of what I have spent on my education thus far. %50,000. That is a lot of money. When they are sending that little statement quarterly, it is just $5,000 here and $5,000 there. You don't realize how it is adding up until 6 months after graduation when you get a statement in for the unconsolidated payments. For just the first third of my loans, I was looking at monthly payments in excess of $1,200. Dang.
Fortunately, in this case at least, the federal government takes pity on the poor saps who actually had to pay for their own education.
Consolidating will hopefully get my payments in the manageable range, as there were several options to choose from. I should know the final amount in a few weeks, once all the paperwork goes through. I nearly had a heart attack this evening when I opened my mail and the first statement was that huge amount. I had known I needed to consolidate, but I thought I had another month, and for one reason or another it kept getting put off. My latest excuse was that I couldn't remember my pin to access the direct loans government site.
Let me tell you, sheer panic is a great memory enhancment.
And the scariest part is that I'm really not done yet. Oh no. I can't stop now. In a few years, once I have had time to recover fully from the 2 years I spent on my Master's, I have every intention of getting my PhD. Why? Because I can. I like learning new things, and degrees are a nice structured way to do it. Unfortunately PhD is as high as you can go. After that I guess I will have to start finding certificate programs to enroll in. There are tons of those out there.
And since my Master's cost me $24,000 more than the BA, I can only cringe at the thought of how much a PhD will cost. I will be paying loans for the rest of my natural life, and possibly into my next life. Can they track that sort of thing?
Why does education have to cost so much? It is pretty much a necessity these days to get anywhere in life, and yet more and more only the very rich can afford to do it. Unless of course you count the schmucks like me who fall for the hype and put ourselves into debt for life. Why can't the cost of education be more in line with what the actual cost of living and working is? The scary thing is that the price is only going up, too. What will our children do when it comes time for college? By then, at the rate we are going, they will be looking at $100,000 or more. How will we afford that?
Still here... Sort of.
I just thought I would check in and let everyone know I am still alive. I just haven't had anything worth posting here in a while. In lieu of an actual post, I have decided to share my all-time favorite poem. Enjoy!
The Splendor FallsAlfred, Lord TennysonThe splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes dying, dying, dying.
O hark, O hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes dying, dying, dying.
O love they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field, or river:
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
