Late August Status Update

Alright, here are a few updates on what's been going on lately.

Item #1: I got my CAS and applied for my visa.

My CAS and additional paperwork on August 9th, and applied for my visa, filled out the hard copy application paperwork over the last few days, and then applied online today. I have an appointment to complete my application later this week. I expect that the process will continue to proceed as planned in a timely manner. Believe it or not, despite my earlier anxiety, this process has ended up being quite a bit easier than other applications I've had to go through over the past few years. That said, it would have been nice if the University had been more on the ball.

Item #2: I bought a bunch of stuff last week.

This week, I'll start the long process of packing and storing the contents of my apartment, liquidating things like furniture and small appliances, and packing up the stuff I'll need for Aberdeen.

5 Rubbermaid Action Packers

4 dress shirts from the Tommy Hilfiger factory outlet

2 SanDisk Cruzer 16 GB flash drives

2 SanDisk 16 GB SDHC memory cards

2 canvas sea bags

5.11 Covert Casual shirt (burnt orange)

LL Bean Rugby shirt (raven blue/burgundy/gold)

I'm pretty much positive that the sea bags I got are way too big for what I need them for. Instead, what I may do is store some of my stuff in them while I'm gone, and take my existing sea bags with me to Scotland.

I already had two large Rubbermaid Action Packers and another mid-sized one, and I just bought three more mid-sized and two small ones. I also have four Gorilla on Wheels foot lockers that I used to get my stuff back from the Middle East, thouh they're in various states of repair following their expert handling by the United States Air Force and Postal Service. I'd like to get rid of as much stuff as possible (I'll probably still have a bunch of crap), and then find some unsuspecting relative or friend to store it with for a year.

Item #3: I finished a book.

I finished reading The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy by Lawrence Freedman. I think my next read is going to be Strategy in the Contemporary World by John Baylis, et al.

As I mentioned previously, I bought most of the books on the 2010/'11 welcome letter reading list, but held off on the ones about Latin America because I knew I could delay them until the second semester. Then, I found out that that's one of four courses to choose from, so I may not wind up reading them after all. Three additional books were added for the 2012/'13 academic year, and I'll wait to purchase those until I arrive in Scotland. If I can finish one more book before I'll leave, that will leave five additional books for me to read, at least one of which won't be on the agenda until the second semester.

I'm toying with the idea of leaving most of the textbooks that I've already read behind, which will allow me to either lighten my baggage - I'd guess that the textbooks I already have weigh at least five pounds, and they're bulky - or allow me to take different books for my thesis research. So, if I can finish one more, that will leave me with a pretty light load of textbooks to take with me. Any weight I can save will help - I'm already paying Evan's way so that he can help me mule my stuff over there.

UPDATE: My visa biometric something-or-other appointment is today, so I've got all of my paperwork put together and I'll be heading out for that in a few hours. I also got an E-mail confirming that the accommodation (housing) that I applied for on Tuesday has been assigned. It looks like I registered for housing too late to get what appears to be the best hall, but I think the residence hall I got will work alright. I gotta tell you, it's starting to feel pretty real.