Still no word from school X. It’s getting a bit close. The deadline at my number two school (‘Y’, let’s call it, and I’m not even sure it’s number two but for its location) is April 15. If I get nothing by end of day tomorrow, I’ll have to ping X’s department head again. Unless he can give me a yes or even a strong maybe, then Monday I’ll ask school Y for an extension. Is that even done? It doesn’t sound kosher, but then neither does X’s sluggishness in responding to me. Unfortunately, X and Y are independent agents. I think I need game theory.
Meanwhile, things are winding down at work. I’m if anything less active than before. My boss moved my official farewell lunch to a dim sum place in Chinatown (Golden Unicorn)—an auspicious gesture of recognition for me, perhaps, but also an eagerly awaited supplement to our Chinese New Year’s lunch, which was held not at the Unicorn but at Joe’s Shanghai, a perfectly good spot but more familial and less festive. These are the things that count at work, especially when half the techies are Chinese.
There is a school ‘Z’, by the way. Z has one major strength, aesthetics, and among out-of-town schools the best location. But no buckaroo bonzais would I get from them, at least in the first year, and my savings and Roth IRA would they drain. I thought it would be easier than this when I decided to go back to school, but in retrospect I don’t know what gave me that impression.
Ephebe's Journal 