Recent grad races Congress to retire student debt before rates rise

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday June 15, 2013 · 7:00 AM PDT

2013/06/15 · 07:00

Going back to graduate school when I was 41 years old and a single mom was not an easy decision to make. But I was in a dead-end (but well paying) job and needed to look to the future. So I looked at the nearby state school, Oregon State University, and hopped right in. I knew there would have to be student loans as being a single mom meant I couldn’t do the “stuff-a-handful-of-grad-students-in-a-loft” cheap route. Having kids also impacted my studying routine as I rarely got to hit my own books until after 9PM once the kids were put to bed and the house cleaned (well, somewhat cleaned).

Just like many other graduate students leaving graduate school with a useful degree and a pile of debt, I think it was very worth it. I love my current job and I would never have landed here without my doctoral degree. I mean really do love my job, deeply and passionately. That huge pile of debt? Not so much. I work in public service for the state of Oregon, so the theory goes that after 2019, the balance of my federal loans will be retired, but I’m not holding my breath that Congress actually authorizes that particular budget item.

Please follow me below the fold ...

thealater

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 21, 2011 · 11:21 AM PST

2011/11/21 · 11:21

A house fire has brought some sadness to the beginning of the holiday season. This event has impacted two families, one family who rented the house and the friend who owned the house. No one was hurt, not even the pets, but many treasures were lost, as too often happens in a home fire. I am hoping that the folks here can help out even a little bit ...

thealater

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 31, 2010 · 11:16 AM PDT

2010/03/31 · 11:16

My daughter's social studies teacher has been giving a decidedly Republican twist to the curriculum. So sent the following message to the principal. We'll see what kind of response I get.

thealater

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 09, 2009 · 8:31 PM PDT

2009/06/09 · 20:31

Free-bagging (v.) The action of receiving the positive social and civil benefit of a central government without actually wanting to pay for it.

further definition below the fold...

thealater

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 10, 2009 · 2:17 PM PDT

2009/03/10 · 14:17

So a good friend and I disagree on almost everything possible when it comes to politics. But we can good naturedly disagree and argue and have done so for a long time. So I responded to a comment on her social blogging site, and a third party butted in. Now this third party is a complete right-wing tool (R.W. Tool). And I've been given permission by my friend to respond to her, but I thought I would turn to the hive mind and hopefully get some help. She wants facts. I'd like to give her facts. So, I'm hoping you can help me craft a proper response.

thealater

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday February 26, 2009 · 4:51 PM PST

2009/02/26 · 16:51

My date with a volcano ...
In 1980, I was graduating from high school and getting ready to enter college. My then boyfriend and I went camping in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington. After a long weekend of ‘smores and marathon Risk-playing, we returned home to Pasco, WA. We had not been listening to the radio, as he just had installed a new cassette player in his car. Out of the sky was falling soft greasy flakes of a grey ash. Living within a few miles of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, you can imagine my relief when we turned on the television and found out that it was only a volcano erupting in southwestern Washington state.

When Mt St Helens exploded in such a spectacular way on May 18, 1980, it produced the same of paradigm shift that resulted from 2004 Andaman subduction zone earthquake and tsunami. What had been a sexy, if somewhat nerdy, field of scholarly inquiry became a matter of life and death.

Poll

139 votes Show Results

Geologists are ...

139 votes Vote Now!

Geologists are ...

dead sexy

28 votes

nerdy

5 votes

that indefinable quality of sexy nerdiness

106 votes

RSS

Recent grad races Congress to retire student debt before rates rise

House fires leaves a family w/o a home, and another w/o a house

UPDATED: a letter I just sent to my daughter's school

Adding a term to the lexicon

Sigh ... yet another fun filled blog post

Jindal's little volcano problem