Living car-free

Back from winter break - spent three weeks with limited internet and am therefore sitting on the computer like a lump, soaking up all the blog posts and comics I've been missing. Hehe. This has to stop once classes start, which is on Tuesday for me, since I don't have any classes on Monday.

Looks like this semester will be research seminar on 19th century something, methods class in American legal history research, comparative slavery course, and French for reading. Wheee!

But what I really wanted to write about this time around was living car-free. My decision to live car free at graduate school was influenced by two things : 1) my experience bike commuting in Oregon and 2) my distinct lack of money to pay for said car and the insurance. I had a great time bike commuting in Oregon, and although I could scrimp for a car here at school, insurance would be ungodly expensive (I live in a relatively high-crime area, most of which are muggings and car thefts...) for something I drive only to the grocery store.

After a semester of doing this, I have some observations:

1. Biking is a great way to get to campus/work, even if the east coast is not as bike friendly as the west coast.

I rode my bike almost every day to class last semester and found it to be the most time-saving and convenient method. Walking took half an hour and often left me sweaty or wind-burnt. Taking the shuttle meant leaving earlier than necessary to wait for an unpredictable shuttle and arriving on campus too soon. (I did take the shuttle when I had a lot of stuff to carry or it was raining/snowing, and it wasn't too bad. I will elaborate later.)

I would suggest getting a cheap helmet (if you have a nice one) and a good lock. I know many people who have gotten their bikes stolen, and helmets are another popular target. My "actual riding" helmet (purchased for its stylish good looks - ha - and its many vents and light weight) cost over $100 and I would not like to replace it so soon. When I eventually get my cheap helmet, I can lock it to my bike and not worry about it so much and then not have to carry around my helmet all day like I do now.

Get a good backpack or messenger bag for your books. Get fenders or a rack to prevent the butt-stripe of wet riding (advice I should take myself...) Always have front and rear lights just in case you get caught at the library late. Carry a pump and spare tube and know how to fix a flat.

Also, regular bike commuting tips apply: ride on the road, not the sidewalk and be a careful but confident rider. Signal your turns. Don't put yourself in unsafe situations. I've found a route that is pretty bike friendly. Sad to say, grad school life and east coast drivers have combined forces to prevent me from getting out on a real cycling road ride - I haven't found a safe route out of town yet thanks to limited time and nasty motorists preventing use of some main arteries. But I haven't let that stop me from quickly and safely getting to class and home again on my trust new single-speed.

2. The big question: groceries.

Without a car or excellent public transit, getting groceries is a big challenge. especially in my town of over 100,000 which only has one major grocery store (No, I am not kidding.). I now use a combination of methods to get my sustenance. First, I bum along whenever a friend with a car offers a ride to the grocery story. This has occurred about once a month. I stock up on heavy things, nonperishable items, and paper goods.

If I'm running low on this stuff and no ride appears imminent and I don't want to impose, I use Peapod, a grocery delivery service. If you order over $100 - easy enough to do if you stock up - and choose a more flexible delivery time, it's only $5 for delivery. Granted, they might hike up the prices a bit - but it's far less than renting a car or taking a cab everytime you need to shop.

For milk, produce, and some meats I shop locally at small markets in my neighborhood (this may not be an option for everyone.) There, I can find excellent quality, more likely to be locally produced (especially dairy products and some fruits), and I can make frequent trips to buy small amounts rather than having a ton of stuff go bad from a chain store. This last bit is especially important as I'm only cooking for myself.

3. One word: Zipcar

Living in a town-with-a-university (wouldn't go so far as to say university town...) I have the great option of Zipcar, a short-term rental car outfit with cars parked all over towns and campuses across the nation. I signed up online and got my card two days later. I have just reserved a cute Prius to pick Aaron up from the airport when he gets here next Friday (yay!). I rented it for 2.5 hours at $8.50 an hour - with gas and insurance included - which is way less than a one-way shuttle from the airport. Plus, I get to be all mooshy and pick him up with a kiss!

4. Internet is the new Target
Even though it's sometimes hard to time deliveries right, I have started ordering more regular stuff online from Target or wherever. I'm thinking I'll buy a winter coat from Lands End, some new underwear from Victoria's Secret, pick up some stuff using my Christmas gift card to REI - and have it all placed on my doorstep. It's probably a bit more expensive, but there is the additional plus of not having the Target phenomenon where you go in for one thing and come out with six - forgetting the original thing you went for.


5. I (usually) heart campus transport

My university is exceptional, I think, but most large places probably have some sort of commuter support or student transportation. We have shuttle buses most days that run regular routes through student neighborhoods. After 7, there is door-to-door campus to home service so you don't have to walk home from a stop in the dark. All of these buses have bike racks on the front, so I can ride in and bus home if I'd like.

6. This is building character! (Thanks to my father and Calvin's father).

Sometimes it's difficult for me to remember why I want to do this, especially on nights like tonight where I want to go to a party about a mile away and don't want to walk alone. But really, life isn't that hard without a car. I have many options to get the places I want to go, and not being able to get up and go to Target whenever I want makes me really think about the things I buy. I'm frequenting local businesses. I'm not polluting as much with my daily travel (which makes up for my monthly flights to Michigan...right? Right?). I get a solid 20 minutes of cardio if I ride my bike to and from classes - and I usually hit the gym, too! Don't have to worry about parking, getting my car stolen or broken into, oil changes, flat tires (of the four-wheeled variety!) or moving my car for street cleaning every 3rd Tuesday or whatever.

Plus, I can get major sympathy points for it. Just like when Aaron and I slept on the floor in Oregon for six months after our inflatable bed deflated...I get a lot of mileage out of that one!

And...almost done

Third paper is printed out and ready to turn in. Excellent.

Today I have the second half of the working group to go to. Yesterday was amazing - it's great to be in a room with all of these great academics and realize they are still working on the same things you're interested in. This means a) they don't have it all figured out and b) maybe there is still a dissertation topic out there for me yet! Not that I'm in a rush to figure that out or anything, but a grad student's biggest fear is the book coming out a month before your dissertation that's on exactly what you are writing about. Ok, that fear, and the fear of not ever gaining meaningful employment. But the two are related...

After that I have to run some errands, then I'm coming home and packing. I'm nervous about my flight, as bad weather is predicted for Sunday, but I figure that it really doesn't matter - I don't have anywhere to be! I'd rather be somewhere else than LaGuardia while I wait to go, but at least I'll be in the airport rather than driving all around.

Anyhow, almost time to head out. I can't believe I got up at 7 for this.

2 down, 1 to go

Forgive me for not posting in these last two weeks - it's been crazy. I barely have time to write this, as I'm about to go turn in my two final papers. The third I will turn in on Saturday. I'm crunched for time as I'm looking forward to this legal history and slavery forum today and tomorrow, and have to polish up my last paper to turn in to my professor who is hosting that.

I have to run to the bank and the post office before the meeting starts at two - I should run! Aaaahh!!!

I promise to post more tonight, as a break from my editing. After Saturday at 8 I am home free and packing for Arkansas, Georgia, and Michigan for my holiday travels.

Peace out until then.

Oh, and read this manifesto on feminism and marriage.

Birthday and BMI

I had a fabulous birthday yesterday. Lots of phone calls, a good study carrel in the library (all day! 9-5:15!), cookies and wine with friends - reminded me that I do have friends here and not here that do want me to be happy. That's always nice. I have final papers that are encouraging me not to be happy:

Paper One: Gender historiography in the Civil War: NY Review of Books style essay, 4000 words/12-15 pages. Going OK. Have focused paper a bit. Here's the structure: Talk about what purpose of studying gender in the CW is. Overview of CW Social History movement. Move into description of "gender" studies in CW - mostly in edited collections, few monographs - point out areas of future research. Then explain the majority of gender studies are women's studies - compare a few examples of typical tropes in CW women's studies. Then, compare two works - Faust and Silber - that break out of conventional narrative. Finally, conclude with points about why even these works don't go far enough. Great thesis, huh? "...and there is still more to do. The end." Am 3500 words in and am taking a break from it today after working on it for 8 hours yesterday. Perhaps will do some work - an hour? - tonight.

Paper Two: Narrative of Celia: I'd say I'm one-quarter done with this one, with about one-third of it written. I've gotten her to the courtroom from the jail, and have been stuck on whether or not the lawyers probably had opening arguments or not in 1855. No record exists, but...hmm. I should email someone at the law library. I feel pretty good about this one and plan to finish a draft today.

Paper Three: Historiography of American Legal History. Unclear about what my argument/framework will be, as field does not seem to fit the mold of the example papers. Should start writing now so I can wrap my head around it, but am procrastinating.

Sigh. So much to do. And I have a presentation on Wednesday, not to mention the two books due on Tuesday. I should get reading those. Perhaps I'll take a reading break today after working on the narrative a bit.

But my birthday was good. I discovered this slideshow of photos of people listing their Body Mass Index (BMI - an indicator of "obesity") today - via a series of links that began at Feministing - and found it fascinating. I've always wondered about BMI, because for much of my life as an athlete (soccer, cross country, and nordic skiing) I have been almost overweight according to my BMI. When I went to college, for some reason I lost about 15 pounds and am now "normal". I mean, I think I'm pretty normal, that's for sure, but what is surprising is that I would have to lose another 15 pounds to be underweight. Seriously, I think if I lost any weight I'd be underweight. This BMI thing is pretty screwed up, especially for anyone who has any muscle. When you watch the slide show on Flickr, make sure you click "options" at the bottom and include the caption and title. It will give you the person's stats and BMI status.

Anyhow, time to write.

ETA: I got the BMI link from this site as well: 20 Posts All Women Should Read

Travelling

Sigh. Finally back...home. Well, kind of home. My apartment smelled funny when I walked in, and all my clothes smell like Aaron's parents' house, so I'm all kerfluffled. I miss Michigan, I miss my family, I'm back at school and am totally alone.

Of course, that's not true at all. I'll see my friends tomorrow, and there's a ton of stuff going on this week. I just feel out of the loop, that's all. Just have to edit my book review tonight and remember that I know the stuff I need to know for class. I'm almost home free.

I managed to get some work done on two of my papers over break (not as much as I had hoped, but I feel pretty good anyways). It was a wonderful break.

* OSU - UM game: Ok, this wasn't such a high point, but there's nothing like The Game especially when it's 35 degrees and sleeting and you are standing for four hours. Good thing I brought my long underwear!
* Hot chocolate and Red Hot Lover's hot dogs after the game.
* Studying in the law library for hours
* Hiking in the Arb
* Wandering around the ol' stacks again for some books I never read (shh!)
* Karaoke Revolution with old friends
* Lots of hanging out and pestering Aaron
* Going for a quick dress shopping trip with Aaron and finding one I liked (ahhh!!!)
* Delicious Thanksgiving with Aaron's family
* Good times up in the BC - taking the cat for a walk, going for hoofits, loading honey onto trucks (ok, I just watched), making Tweed Cake, having birthday celebrations, watching movies

Sigh. Today was a long travel day - sweetened by the $300 travel credit I scored by volunteering my seat yesterday on an overbooked flight. I mean, I got to spend another night with Aaron, not get home in the middle of the night, and get $300? Yes please.

Off to read some book reviews, revise my book review, and call it a night. Taking a bath and baking some bread...sounds good to me.

Tea and Snacks

Just gonna throw this out there: the best, tastiest, most creative candies and cookies come from countries where they drink tea on a regular basis. When I was in Russia, there was always some sort of sweet candy or cookie (my favorite was halvah) to accompany the drink. England also has some great candy and cookies. It works out so well, as I recalled yesterday afternoon as I sipped my tea, alternating sips with bites of an oatmeal raisin cookie. There's something about the combination that makes both tastes better.

Yum. Americans for Reviving Tea Time! Who's with me?

Almost there

Three days until I head to Ann Arbor for Thanksgiving Break. Woohoo for getting a week off at Thanksgiving and no Friday classes!

The heat in my apartment just kicked on. Smells like burning dust, yum. It's been cold here and I shudder to think what the heating bill will be this month. Oh well, that's why they pay me the big bucks, so my fingers don't freeze while typing.

Classes are...ok. It's still up and down. I've had more conversations in the past week that make me feel much better, though - current grad students who can commiserate, a partner who reminds me of all the cool stuff to think about out there, parents who are supportive. I'm presenting tomorrow and turning in a book review, so this break will be especially needed. I feel pretty good about the presentation (not so much the book review) but I've still got a good 4-5 hours tonight to work on those.

I'm thinking about making green beans for dinner. Yum.

The union has been meeting about some changes to our program in the History department. Apparently, we (the first years) have these two new required colloquia about our prospectus and orals in our second year. This effectively limits the number of courses we can take and speeds up our research. For the prospectus you are supposed to know what archives and stuff you want to do for your dissertation. And I'm supposed to start writing that a year from now? When do I get the time and money to travel to the archives? This summer? After I've taken only half my classes? Seems a little odd to me.

So today I went to that union meeting, a talk by my advisor about his new book, and his office hours to chat about my final paper, and then to a local cycling advocacy group meeting. It was a weird meeting, with no real introduction or inclusion of new people, but I think it's something I definitely want to get involved with. Being able to safely cycle has taken on whole new meaning for me and I'm quite passionate about it. I even got yelled at on the way home today as I shook my head in disgust at a car who didn't properly yield to me. Maybe I'm a little militant about it, but let's face it, I'm the one who will get squashed. I deserve to be a little militant.

Was kind of sick Friday night. Actually, kind of sick all of last week, but made it through. My mom's visit last weekend was really fun (did I post about that?)No. I didn't. And apparently people commented last week and blogger refused to notify me. Huh. Sorry.

So my mom's visit was fun. Did the whole city tour thing, walked around campus, had Indian food for dinner. The next day was a marathon NYC dress shopping trip. I found a lot of things I liked, but nothing spectacular. No pictures, either - we totally forgot. Suffice it to say everything looked pretty good but nothing was exactly what I wanted. Going the white-or-light-colored bridesmaid dress route, though, might be the best choice money-wise I can make. $300 for a designer bridesmaid dress that's really awesome versus a $700 crappy bridal gown? No question. But there is a $650 small designer gown that I really like...it's silk...sigh...

Then Sunday we had brunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Nice to see them. That night we had dinner with two of my friends here at an Italian place. Twas the day of lunching and socializing.

Monday she headed back to Atlanta :( but not before stocking my poor grad student shelves with cans of beans. Also, she broke in the futon so it is now tested and ready for visitors. Performed wonderfully. Thank you, IKEA! It was really nice to have her here and I can't wait for Christmas in Atlanta!

So yeah, should get back to work. Here's to three more days...