#if i actually had a long commute I'd basically do nothing but work

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

Also increasingly aware that a LOT of people "manage" getting through the 40+ hour work week by sleeping less than is healthy and relying on stimulants like coffee and energy drinks to keep them going.

For people who are unwilling or unable to do this...work really does just dominate your life. Like we really should not have to rely on unhealthy practices just to have a social life or keep on top of housework or whatever.

I know I post about this a lot but I'm so TIRED all the time and it's just so depressing that this is how we're expected to spend the one life we have.

[thunderheadfred]

Life stuff update!

Haven't posted about this first bit anywhere because... wow personal, but it's been a majority chunk of life lately.

Husband put in his notice at his current teaching job a while back. He's been working there for 8 years and is supposedly one of their most valued teachers, yet he barely takes home $100 more per paycheck than when he started. Plus our insurance is insane, taking most of his check every month whilst covering literally fucking nothing (we are still paying off my doctor-ordered biopsy!). PLUS his commute is fucking ludicrous - in the winter he regularly drives over 3 hours a day to a shit job that doesn't pay anything. I barely see him for a hour or two each day during the school year.

Bio clock is ticking, just saying. Never really had that baby-wanting impulse until very recently, and there was absolutely zero possibility of us starting a family while he's at this job. No money, no time, no medical support.

So. Bye. After talking to a therapist to help us through the plunge, we finally decided enough was enough.

He doesn't have another job lined up after summer school, so in August we have zero certain income. Neither off us is particularly panicked about this; the hiring wave for fall teaching positions has yet to happen, and there are several things he can do even if he can't find a full-time job at a local district.

What's looking most likely is actually that he'll juggle part-time jobs for a while. Subbing or other work at a district he's interested in will help him get a foot in the door, meanwhile an afternoon or weekend cashier job at the co-op down the street (where I used to work) has some distinct benefits. First off, he could WALK to work, and the co-op offers higher hourly rates and better promotional opportunities than his current "salaried" teaching job. Add on a big discount at the place where we buy most of our groceries anyway...

Anyway. That's been a lot.

Meanwhile I've been doing the housewife thing. Which actually entails more than just "chores" - I've been doing a huuuuge amount of work on my mental and physical health. I've lost 40 pounds (with 60+ to go) and have completely changed my eating, which has helped immeasurably with CFS, Depression, and life in general. I've started socializing again after years of serious, life-altering anxiety. Basically, I'm getting my life back. Or maybe getting my life for the first time? I was so mentally ill for so long that this really feels like the first time I've been genuinely balanced... maybe ever?

Whether that new peace of mind encourages me back into fandom I have no idea. Fandom social mores seem to have shifted over the years. Maybe it's just the glimpses I see now and then, but the Internet as a whole doesn't seem too anonymous or even like... baseline compassionate for anyone anymore. That's probably a matter of what you make of it, but even so, I'd be lying if I said spending my time in fandom spaces hasn't lost most of its personal appeal. I've been much happier offline, so that's where I've been. I do miss my friends, and I wish they lived down the street and not inside the scary computron. It'd be great to write again, but my interest in fandom work might be over. I'll never say never, but right now I just don't see it. Maybe someday I finally get back into the habit; but it's gonna happen in its own time if it does.

Lately I've been working on my YouTube thing, though where that'll end up nobody knows. It's certainly not a serious money-making prospect, nor am I aiming to make it one. YouTube actually scares the ever-loving shit out of me, so it's pretty much a deliberate mental health exercise. My whole attitude toward it has been "stress less, make more." So I treat it kind of like a journal of the nail shit that has taken over my life (lolllll), and a chance to pay forward all the relaxation I've gotten over the years watching Nail YouTube. It'd be nice if I could eventually have enough subs to maybe pay for some nail supplies or get some free PR or something, but that's about as ambitious as I get.

Okay my fingers are tired

love you byyyyyeeeeeeeeee

[artikgato]

8/12/2023

Last night I had a dream that rather than doing anything to actually fix the traffic problem, like building better infrastructure, taking care of the old infrastructure, adding more public transit, better incentivizing carpooling and etc etc, some people just invented some bullshit new technology that made driving even worse. It was some kind of hard light that is impossible to pass through but that won't damage anyone or anything even if you drive into it at very high speeds, it just kind of slows and stops your car and won't let you pass through it. Ostensibly it was invented for things like ambulances, fire trucks, police, busses & etc, but of course it also got sold to rich assholes too.

But in my dream my brain decided to deliver this information to me in a very interesting way. In the dream I was stuck in traffic on The Road (my nemesis) because some rich douchebag used the hard light technology to completely stop traffic so that he and his mile-long entourage could basically have a parade. So what would normally be a 15 minute commute to work was estimated to take two hours because of the assholes, and when I called in to work to report that they told me to just get out of the car and walk. I then woke up at 5am to my alarm and in thinking back to the dream and going "WTF" I realized that dream me just had all of the information from the top paragraph in my head already.

Anyway, today I left the house right around 6:15, which I think might be the perfect time to start the jogwalk.

It was still dark enough for street lights to be on, but I could see just fine. According to the weather app it was 69 degrees out (nice) but it felt much hotter. And it was like 150% humidity, extremely foggy, and there was no wind. So needless to say there was a lot of sweat and it was uncomfortable, but the jogwalk was pretty good today otherwise! The first jogging section was like pulling teeth, but by the end of the jogwalk I'd gotten into it. I even upgraded one of the jogging sections to running speed because a particularly hype song came on and I felt like it.

My time is off by a couple of minutes because a Galarian Moltres spawned and I stopped to try to catch it. Of course I did not, but oh well. One day, probably. Nothing else exciting to report in the world of PoGo. The mushroom cluster has expanded though! There are mushrooms on both sides of the sidewalk now. I think it was just too hot for the original mushroom "village" because most of them, even the ones that weren't uprooted, were brown and gross looking, but all of the new ones were still white. I actually spotted a lot of mushrooms along the route today. At least something is enjoying this humidity.

I unfortunately have work today, so we'll see if I can pry myself out of bed and do this again tomorrow, or if this was just a six day experiment. They say you have to do a thing for 66 days before it becomes a habit so... I'm 1/10th of the way there? Hooray?

Word count: 560 Weather: 69, foggy Humidity: 150% Time: 24:17 Song of the Day: In The Hall of the Mountain King, covered by The Offspring

[pattywagon2go]

Followup Friday

Originally this week's Transit Talk Thursday was going to have a bit more detailed stabs at commuter rail systems, but for lack of time I had to squeeze it down to what you saw. But I did have some more stuff to say, so I figured I'd might as well release this as a followup to that post.

Again, don't take anything I say too seriously lol

Long Island Rail Road

Ah yes, the oldest railroad still surviving under it's original charter. Unfortunately, it seems like the schedules are as old as this railroad is, considering how hideously out of touch it is with what is needed in this day and age. Maybe this thing gets so much ridership simply because Long Island residents just choose to put up with it. If so, then that's sad really, since the LIRR is no stranger to axing itself because they can't figure out how to make the ridership go up. Oh well, at least we can soyface over the cool Electric Multiple Units they have...until you try to go to West Long Island and you have to transfer to a diesel train because that section isn't electrified yet. Fuck.

Metra

It takes a lot of genius to run a commuter rail, and in the case of Metra, that genius has gone to good use. Electrification? Pah, who needs that. Using Amtrak's retired GE Genesis locomotives? Screw you, it ain't EMD! Wait, what's that, you have a great deal on an old freight loco built by EMD? It will need to be re-geared and have Head-End Power added, which is going to be a pain? It won't solve the issue of our locomotives aging too quickly? TAKE MY GODDAMN MONEY ALREADY MOTHERFUC-

Excuse me. Now where was I? Oh, right...

Anyway, sorry, I got a little too carried away. Also, I have to remember to buy more of those really weird gallery cars despite ordering actual passenger cars from Alstom. Though in hindsight, the fact that it's from Alstom could explain why they haven't arrived yet. Thank you Alstom, makers of "exquisite" rolling stock.

New Jersey Transit

Ah see, here's a commuter rail that actually knows how to care for it's rail network! The Glorious Republic of New Jersey did the smart thing and seized all of it's rails across the state! Now we can run trains from heather and yonder! It's glorious!

What's that? There's this thing called "South Jersey"? There used to be tons of trains and rails down there that no longer exist and we have yet to do anything about it except for making the sorriest excuse of a commuter rail line to serve our state's version of Las Vegas? How many beers have you been drinking, South Jersey is a myth!

Ah, ain't nothing better than a commuter rail which knows how to care for its rail network.

GO Transit

Holy fucking good unholy godly fuckballs how many fucking park and rides do you need like this is ridiculous. This isn't even some elaborate bit I genuinely cannot fathom that for a majority of this commuter rail's life the entire system was basically park and rides for Toronto suburban commuters who hated driving into Toronto (not that I blame them). Like I can shit on the lack of electrification and the donkey-balls gargling schedules but like oh my god the amount of fucking parking that GO slapped their stations with is absolutely fucking ridiculous.

Metro-North Railroad

I honestly don't really know what else to say about this one that I didn't say in my original post. Yeah it shuttles people from the core of NYC to upstate NY suburbs and Connecticut, there's really nothing too special about this one, beyond the really weird electrification of both 12.5kV AC overhead wires and 750V DC Third Rail. I guess it works out since the trains that run on that line can tap into both so no transfer is necessary. Good job Metro-North.

Trinity Railway Express

Ah, it's the one I rode myself a little while back. The way I can describe this that I should have in the original post is "If the Atlantic City line on NJT was in Texas and it connected Dallas and Ft. Worth". It really wants you to think it's something better but honestly, it really isn't. It's just average. Oh and no level boarding is a massive fail in my book. Again, the bar is very low here and you're still ramming face-first into it.

And yes, I know other systems don't have level boarding, that still isn't excusable. This isn't me being a hypocrite.

MBTA Commuter Rail

This is another case of I really don't know what else to say about it since a good majority of its issues was due to MassDOT shooting it in the foot and then proceeding to ask "What made the MBTA shit?" afterwards. I will say though that the MBTA not electrifying is pretty stupid and it should be done, so the North-South Rail Link can be built at last. Seriously, Massachusetts, get on it.

Oh and obligatory "French company ruin American rail again" joke.

MARC Train

Good ol' MARC, ferrying people to and from the capitol of this incredibly "fine" nation and the location of the meanest sons of bitches in the state of Maryland and beyond since 1984. Also home to the incredibly mind-boggling decision of running diesels under electrified wire. I get it, the old AEM-7s are super old and the Siemens Chargers are more up-to-date, but to that I say "What was stopping them from buying some ACS-64s?" Hell even SEPTA bought some to replace their AEM-7s on their push-pull services. It's not like the ACS-64 was a lemon that everyone should avoid, yet MARC just bought some Chargers instead. What were they thinking?

SEPTA Regional Rail

Out of the entire list, I think the best commuter rail has to go to SEPTA, mainly due to its fully electrified network. But just because its the best among the ones here doesn't mean it's good. Far from it, in my opinion. SEPTA is a very flawed agency in general, and it needs to improve to serve the residents of Philadelphia better. Hell the entire joke about it in the original post was how SEPTA is basically doing fuck all to improve anything. Instead, they decide to find incredibly dumb shit like the Norristown High-Speed Line Extension to King of Prussia, the literal worst project you could have greenlit.

Caltrain

In a lot of ways Caltrain is basically Metra but for the Bay Area for California, due to the gallery cars and general frustration, except Caltrain is actively attempting to improve via electrification on most of the mainline. But unfortunately, because it's located in California, it gets knocked down a few places because of that. Extra points down because it's in the Bay Area.

Well, uh, oops, this turned more into a general critique midway through lol. Guess it's a good thing I didn't release yesterday. Regarding some future stuff, I think next week I may take off, as I kinda want to recharge my knowledge pool before I do another post, but in the meantime, I may introduce something new for next Monday. See you then!

[daydreamer-bby]

Good grief... RANT

I can't believe how screwed up my sleep schedule is again. I was totally fine for like almost three weeks and then boom, s t r e s s . Things are changing for me again and I feel exhausted from wrestling with my mind all day and night. I resigned from my officer position at the bank to focus on my health and go back to school. I know I have it in me to do great things and learn at my own pace but man I am just drowning in the mess I've created.

Debt wasn't really a thing for me until this past year when I got shmacked with hella medical bills after a suicide attempt and stay at a rehab facility. Which, by the way, was a wholly traumatic experience and only served to put me in debt and give me more cringey-want-to-kill-myself experiences. I can't find the beginning or end of the tangled up threads that have netted my life. It's all a mess and I feel sorry for my new therapist for having to deal with my pathetic ass lol.

I'd do anything to go back to 2019. I want so badly to get back to a functioning level but I feel like I'm slowly losing an uphill battle against myself. The one short-term/student friendly opportunity I have a chance at actually being able to manage is barely in reach because I can't fucking drive and it's a job that would require a very long commute even for a good driver. Plus, it's at my best friends place of employment so like what if I embarrass her or just can't cut it long enough to even work part-time.

If I think too much, which I cannot help but do, I am frozen. I feel like all the work I put in to my job means nothing now and I feel so foolish for having wanted to plan the rest of my life around it. I used to think I'd come so far and deserve more opportunity to grow in my career but I guess I really was just kidding myself lol. I got all my family members to momentarily eat their words about me basically being a total idiot and failure but here I am again, failing everything good I had going on.

Like this burnout and whatever else I could call it is so much worse than the other times???? Yet I feel reasonably calm through the panicked mental replays of impending financial catastrophes.

What else can I rant about...

Oh so it might be interesting to share why I don't drive.

I'll start this section by saying I have had some good driving experiences. But the majority of time I've spent behind the wheel was horrifying. Because of my personal issues I can't really control where my eyes go. That sounds stupid but it's true. I can't make myself look where I need to, see what I need to, or consistently comprehend what exactly is in my field of vision. My husband has been driving for like 15 years or something and he checks his mirrors constantly and has great awareness. For me, and not even in a generic dissociative way, I can't get my body to cooperate with my mind. It's terrifying. Picture being in a car but having no control over your body or focus. This predisposition to completely checking out from one moment to another is ruining my life. It's been ruining my life. I can't help but panic when I consider how the hell I'm supposed to manage having kids or keeping them safe. And aside from the mind/eye chaos I get so overwhelmed by sensory issues there's just no hope of me being a safe driver. IT ONCE TOOK ME OVER 30 MINUTES TO MOVE MY SISTER'S CAR WHILE SHE SAT NEXT TO ME EATING SPAGHETTI AND LAUGHING AT MY PANIC ATTACK. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET MY MOM AT THE STORE ACROSS THE STREET BUT BEFORE WE COULD SHE WALKED THERE, SHOPPED, THEN WALKED BACK INTO OUR APARTMENT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THE PARKING LOT. MY LIFE IS A GOD DAMNED JOKE YALL.

UGHHHHHHHHH there's so much I've never been able to process.

I hate that I cannot control myself the ways I did for so long. I take a little comfort in reminding myself that I'm doing better than I have been and that I need to be patient and kind to myself but GOOD GOD do I wish I could beat my own ass. I keep asking my husband if we can go kayaking and for what?!?!? I've never been kayaking, I don't have a clue how to kayak. I never thought of it until a few months ago when I saw one in a movie. I hate that I can't stop thinking about kayaking.

I used to be so smart and mentally nimble and kind and innocent and naïve and now I'm just an anxious mess lmao. I can't call it a philosophical choice... I am not voluntarily nihilistic or kind I am literally just THAT stupid and ineffectual.

Mental illness and disabilities own me and I don't even understand them. They were this big, scary, sneaky things for most of my life and then boom I became an adult who can't seem to just get it the fuck together.

I actually just realized in a moment of clarity that I am beginning to spiral so I should take some of the gabapentin my psychiatrist recently prescribed for anxiety.

I've just taken it with lots of ice water so hopefully I can calm tf down LOL.

I can't remember the last time I SH'd frfr, but I know the progress I've made in not mutilating myself isn't that impressive when I do other dumb shit like relapse into bingeing or stay up for days at a time. It's like I can claim some success in not being monstrous to my skin but I find alternative ways of harming myself. And I was sincere about stopping using cannabis but two days in and P U F F F F F .

I just want to be my old self but I guess she's gone and now I have to reinvent my fat ass AGAIN. It's going to take so much more out of me this time but I guess that's for the best since there's so much more chaos in me at this time in my life. Maybe I'll shower now so I can sleep for a little while and be clean to workout tomorrow morning.

Anyway, if you're struggling like me I wish you the best, you sad little bitch.

[starfirette]

i'd like to request a headcanon for helena where harley introduces the reader to Helena and they like hook up then become a couple

Big time fucked up formatting BC I am doing this on my phone!

This sort of ends on an open note. I think I should do a part two since I didn’t hit the actual nail on the head; if the anon or anyone else wants part two, request it!🥳

You went to school with Harley! Then, you knew her as Lena or Leenie. She was always known to be funny and outspoken when she wasn't working on class assignments and what not

She was pretty fun! She attended a few study group sessions with your mutual friends, and you could easily hang out with her!

You all eventually went your separate ways. She passed classes with flying colors so she had also walked away with a PHD in hand!

You lost contact with het after that

You took a job in Jump City counseling younger adults, sometimes kids, who struggled to survive on the street. You helped a lot!

You put many little ones in good homes, even keeping in contact to make sure nothing could go wrong

You were loved by all your patients

Eventually, you moved back to Gotham. You could still make your check ins every month and even video chat the kids. Gotham is close enough that you could commute if anyone needed you

Coming back into Harley's life was strange for a number of reasons. She no longer accepted Harleen or Lena--Harley only. It took time to get used to, but you managed!

She'd been through a lot. You could tell

She really needed a reliable friend, and even though she'd changed her style and hair, she was still the hilarious, determined lady you'd gone to med school with.

You were her only true friend for a long time. She never seemed to choose the right ones. Somehow, she chose the ones who only knew how to act like dumbass teenagers. Yuck.

You had troubles though

You often had a difficult time getting her to do the right thing. After all she'd been through, she couldn't see that there is still good in the world and places she can be safe.

Eventually you got through to her

You assisted her in the Cassandra Cain situation, giving them a place to stay and a reliable ride. You'd done your best but you were unfortunately ratted out; Sionis despised you just for being friendly with Harley. You found yourself being tossed in a warehouse by his creepy fucker of a friend, Victor

You didn't have the experience in fighting like Harley. You had very little experience in anything, actually, so it was safe to say you were basically pissing yourself

You gad no way of knowing if Harley would come for you.

You worried.

But then, she came

Not Harley, but another woman, who you’re sure you don’t know.

Dressed in all black, her face covered with a dark motorcycle helmet

You were surprised as she expertly disarmed and maybe even killed a few of the guys who had been guarding you.

Not too bad, as you’d seen it all given you live in Gotham

She didn’t say much as she untied you from your chair. You warned her about Victor, who might be coming back any moment, and he wouldn’t be forgiving.

She assured you he wouldn’t ever be coming back to bother you.

You asked how she could possibly know this.

She took off her helmet to reveal her face. “I know because I killed him.”

So she’s beautiful, no big deal. Also, she killed Victor Zsas. If that doesn’t make her the hottest woman in the world you’re not sure what could.

It felt strange that she led you out of the warehouse to her motorcycle, prompting you to get on and hold her waist. Despite everything you’d been through, you were feeling extremely embarrassed.

Somehow, she didn’t understand. Probably because she didn’t really care.

She took you to a little gathering of women, where Harley and that Cassandra kid were included. Harley nearly knocked you down as she threw herself to you in a hug.

You learned that you had been rescued by Helena Bertinelli by Harley’s accord; Harley came across Helena during the diamond fiasco. It turns out that the diamond was the Bertinelli diamond, and the Bertinelli diamond belonged to Helena Bertinelli, the sole surviving daughter of the Bertinelli mafia leader. Also, she is the crossbow killer.

“Oh, wow, you’re the crossbow killer,” you gasped.

Helena’s jaw clenched as she seemed to repress some strong words.

“I am,” she said through her teeth.

Harley cackled. “Wow, she’s real nice to you,” she said, tapping the button of your nose. “She prefers to go by Huntress.”

Helena nodded slightly. “That is true.”

Okay, you could oblige.

You thanked Helena, as well as Harley. You were invited to sit with everyone while you drank margaritas. You took three, because you were in shock from the transition from being kidnapped to suddenly having a taco night with Harley’s friends. The adrenaline just seemed to soak up the alcohol, so by the end of the night, you felt nothing but ready for bed.

Seeing that you had no car, you bothered Harley for a ride.

Helena seemed quick to jump at the opportunity to take you home. The ladies paused in silence, exhchaning glances before nodding quickly. “Yeah, yeah, take her home,” Harley insisted.

The night ended with your number being thrown into a group chat with people you don’t know and wham, you were once again strapped over the sexy fucking motorcycle and wrapping your arms around the sexy woman.

Once dropped off at the door of your apartment, Helena asked if you were feeling alright after the wild two days.

You did not, and you didn’t realize that until she had asked.

You burst into a fit of sobs. You didn’t feel alright at all. You didn’t even feel safe. You had gotten kidnapped from the safety of your own home, with all the doors locked and your apartment on the sixth floor.

Helena felt incredibly awkward as you cried on her doorstep

“I’m sorry,” you sniffed. “I didn’t mean to overreact.”

Helena cleared her throat. “Overreacting is hardly the word I would use. I mean, you were kidnapped.”

Well, true.

“I’m probably just going to barricade the door,” you said, in a half sort of sob/laugh.

As you said goodnight and struggled through the broken door, Helena stopped you. “I could stay with you,” she said.

You cringed at the thought. “I didn’t mean to make you feel obligated,” you hurried as you wiped your eyes.

“I don’t feel obligated at all,” she assured you. She stuck her hands into her pockets. “But, considering you’re Harley’s friend, I feel like I should help you. Considering that your door is basically in pieces, it would be dangerous anyways. I’ll stay and then tomorrow I will help replacing the door.”

She didn’t borrow any of your clothes. She flossed and swished with mouthwash twice, after she had accepted your offer of a bowl of cereal for dinner.

You brought out a self inflatable mattress and a quilt. As you began to set it out, she declined, explaining she could stay awake during the night and simply watch TV.

Truthfully, you felt better watching her lounge on your sofa with her crossbow in her lap.

“Why Huntress?” You asked her as you set out the spare blankets.

Helena looked down at her boots. “It was my brother’s favorite superhero when we were kids, so. Yeah.”

“It sounds cooler than crossbow killer,” you said. “Your brother had good taste.”

“He did.”

You slept well that night; you were plagued with stress and tense muscles all throughout the shower. Hearing any flatter frightened you until you remembered it was Helena.

When you said goodnight, she wished you to have pleasant dreams.

As your head hit the pillow, you felt a rush of relief and exhaustion.

It was a nice night.

Plus, you had a pot of coffee waiting for you in the morning.

You definitely liked having a roommate. Just company, really, and the fact she could keep you safe really helped a lot. And besides she also helped you rebuild your door!

[qqueenofhades]

Hi there. I've been scrolling through your "school stuff" tag but thought I'd ask directly - how did you find the transition to actually moving outside of the U.S. for your PhD? I'm looking at something similar and I'm wondering about your experience with the logistics (finding somewhere to live, visa, etc!). Thanks in advance, and congrats on being a doctor!

Oh lord. Why would you do that to yourself? I feel like that tag is mostly just intense kvetching, bogglingly obscure nitpicking complaints, and existential despair, and/or yelling at various institutions and/or people who could not do their god damn jobs. If you have read that and still actually want my advice, I salute you. I’m presuming you’re asking in regard to the UK, since it’s the only experience I can speak on, so hopefully that’s applicable?

In my case, I studied in the UK for a year as an undergraduate, at Oxford, so I was already familiar with the process (at least somewhat) when it came time to do it again for the PhD. Upfront, we must acknowledge the ugly deformed rabid elephant in the room that is Brexit, and the idiotic reform of UK immigration policy currently ongoing. Long story short, they seem to think they can function without low-skilled migration, that the domestic UK workforce will just happily lark off to do the jobs that working-class EU migrants have been doing, that this won’t totally bomb-crater the NHS, that they can run a country by basically only allowing in PhDs in STEM making over £30,000 a year, etc… so yes, this is a complete joke of an immigration policy and it’s what happens when you elect floppy haired xenophobic douchewads and their nightmare party as prime minister! ANYWAY, they’re introducing a points-based system from 2021, which may not affect you for an application under Tier 4, but UK immigration policy is going to have a lot of very stupid reforms and you’ll want to keep on top of those. If you have an offer in hand from a UK university, it is made somewhat easier, but you’ll still need to budget for processing costs, an NHS subsidy paid in for every year you will be there (something like $300/year), and a trip to a UK visa office to have your fingerprints and biometric information taken. If you don’t live near one, that will be travel expenses and so forth. You then have a temporary visa issued for first entry into the country, and a Biometric Residence Permit which you pick up at your university.

That, at least, was the process the last time I applied for a student visa, and it may all have changed by the time you do it. As noted, there are a lot of upfront visa costs, so you’ll want to be aware of those. You need a number of supporting documents, including offer of study, proof of income or ability to financially support yourself (since most Tier 4 visas either don’t let you work or only work a limited number of hours), proof of English proficiency (as a native English speaker/person from an English-speaking country, you won’t need this), and so on. You can’t start the process before you have the offer, but you’ll want to start it as soon as possible afterward, because it can take several months, and obviously needs to be done before you can travel. You will also want to open a UK bank account as soon as you arrive, which can be done once you have your residential address and a certificate from the student services office at your university verifying that you are in fact a student there. It’s pretty difficult to pay out of non-UK accounts, at least for monthly/recurring transactions, and there are international fees. You will also want a UK phone. I still have my UK phone/phone number despite my current hiatus in America, since most carriers offer free or low-cost roaming in Europe (though subject to change with EU trade negotiations), which is nice. I pay only a little extra to have Global Roaming in North America, so I can still use my phone as if I’m in the UK. If you’re planning to be traveling, this is a nice perk to have.

As far as finding programs goes, I’m sure I don’t need to give you advice on what you’re interested in and where you’re looking. Obviously, universities in the UK are grouped as “Oxford and Cambridge” and “everyone else,” though there are also rankings within those. I have been at both of these; Oxford as an undergrad, and then I did my PhD at a large public university in the North that ranks within the top 10 in the UK. The North will be much lower, living-cost wise (actually, if you can swing it, just… don’t do it in London, the cost of living in London is out of control. Of course, if the program you really have your heart set on is in London, then go for it, but just be aware of what you’re getting into). It’s also a rule of thumb that you don’t go anywhere for a PhD unless they’re paying you. Don’t self-fund a PhD, it’s just too expensive, and any decent university will give you some kind of financial stipend. I had a scholarship that covered three years of full tuition at international rate, which was good, though I had to take out some living-cost loans. So if you’re trying to decide between two programs that have both accepted you, a situation I was also lucky enough to be in, it sounds crass, but: take the money. One university had already offered me the tuition/scholarship, while the other had accepted me but wasn’t sure about funding. So I took the one that paid the scholarship. You need every penny you can get. You will be comically, absurdly, unbelievably broke as a graduate student. I was looking back on it like “wow I really lived for four years on BUTTFUCK NOTHING.” It is not for the faint of heart; you will have financial stress along with academic pressure, and while I was lucky enough to have generous friends and family contributing to my living costs, I still barely scraped through. It is something you should be aware of.

I don’t know if you’ve studied in the UK system before (I’m assuming not), but the structure for a PhD is much less determined than in the American system. It will also vary from university to university, so it’s worth establishing contact with a potential faculty supervisor to ask questions and refine your project proposal. I made contact with my eventual supervisor at my PhD university before I actually applied there; I gave him my (much too broad and pretty unrefined) project proposal and what I was interested in, and he helped me tailor it into something that could be done in a feasible time frame and which would make use of his expertise and contribute to the field. Whatever you’re thinking about pitching as a thesis topic, you probably need to make it more specific. I don’t know what field you’re in; I’m a humanities/history person, obviously, so the rule always seems to be WRITE MORE, INFIDEL. But the point is, the UK system has much less structured time, and basically relies on you to have the self-motivation to go out and conduct the research and write it up, and if you’re someone more used to rigid requirements and classes and so forth, you might find it a little hands-off. If you’re like me and can just be set loose in your field of interest and do your own thing, you’ll like it. I feel like anyone who is serious enough about their subject to want to do a PhD has to be primarily self-motivating, but some people function better with clear guidelines, and those are not always forthcoming. I can’t count the number of times I wished my supervisors would just TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK TO DO, but they usually highlighted something and had me work to figure out how exactly to fix it. They weren’t negligent or uncaring or unsupportive, and the project became much better as a result, but yes, it’s on you to do, and it can again be frustrating.

As far as living, I didn’t try to rent a flat from afar, sight unseen, in my first year. I just registered for postgraduate campus housing, and lived with four predictably horribly messy roommates (why???!) before I managed to escape and rent a private flat for the next three years. You will need a guarantor with a UK address (i.e. not your parents in America) to sign on the lease agreement, especially if you fall below a certain income threshold, and go through the usual background checking and approval. If you want to have the place to yourself, it will be, as noted, much cheaper to find something you can afford in the North and not-London in general, though southern England and the London commuter belt will all be expensive. If you’re okay living with roommates, or you make friends during your program, it might work to room together and share costs, but I am a pathological introvert and don’t like people, so I lived by myself. 

Anyway. Right now, I am in the second round of applications for a Big Deal UK postdoctoral award, which would be for three years starting this fall if I got it, at another high-ranking large public university in the south of England. (So yes, everything that I just said about how much it costs to live in London/London suburbs is me playing myself). I would be applying for a Tier 2 visa (i.e. the permanent/settlement track/full-time work visa) if I got this, which would be another barrel of laughs and different requirements from a Tier 4. That is definitely unhatched chickens which we can’t count yet, as this is a highly competitive/prestigious award and there is absolutely no guarantee that I would get it, but it would mean that I would go through the international moving/visa application process for a third time, so I would once again become too unfortunately familiar with whatever bullshittery is happening now. Le sigh.

I don’t know if any of that is helpful; hopefully so. Let me know if you have more questions, and good luck.