bye bye, billie jean
it's a sad sad sad day for me. the first man i ever wanted to marry has passed away (i was maybe 4 or 5 at the time). he was a musical genius and truly deserved the title "The King of Pop."

be at peace, Michael Jackson, and have fun up there, dancing on the floor in the round.
current mood: mamase mamasa mama makoosa

ka-pow!
and so the shoe has dropped: bye-bye bio sci, hello (again) student programs. i have mixed feelings about this change. the good: i love love love working with students, so i am excited to get back that part of my youthful enthusiasm. plus i get to work for my mentor, so that can be nothing but good things, right? the bad: i was really gaining some traction over here in biological sciences, making a name for myself, but more importantly, building a program and really reaching alumni. and my view was ridiculously awesome. the ugly: while at biosci, i was an (interim) assistant director, which means going back to my manager position kills my stipend. minus money for me. couple that loss with the impending pay cuts, and i will have lost 17% of my salary in a matter of a month... ouch! to give you an idea of how much that is, it will essentially equal my rent. did i say ouch yet? O-U-C-H. time for a second job.
current mood: i'm not sure what to feel

one-two punch
oh ucsd, you know i love you, really i do. and i'll stand by you until the end. so why do you make it such a labor of love?
the defeat of prop 1A this past may seems to be a proud notch in the belt of many conservative, cost-saving californians. they saw the development of a "rainy day fund" as a sneaky slush fund for the governor to cover up mistakes of the past and try to band-aid the severe hemorrhaging of the state budget. but in that unstoppable bleeding lies a major chunk of university funding, and with the drought of any rainy day fund, the public education system in california suffers.
ucsd is faced with a $90 million budget cut it needs to implement. this is not $90 mil across all UC schools in the system, this is my campus alone. and since 70% of the money that is in the books for ucsd is in salary and benefits, guess what's getting cut?
the options presented are far from ideal, and i pray that the UC regents will consider more than those that have been already outlined (% reductions, furloughs, or a combination thereof, resulting in 4-8% salary cuts minimum). while so many people have so many perspectives on the situation, the fact remains clear that some cuts will have to be made. that's the news that came down yesterday. this morning came the further twist of an increase in personal income taxes in the state of california, resulting in even less money in my paycheck, though i do appreciate the irony of the state getting less of my money because it's forcing me to have less of an income.
i appreciate the current sentiment of trying to do all they can to preserve employment, but i'm not sure how long that can hold true. due to the interim nature of my current position, i honestly don't know what the future holds for me, either in terms of salary or even holding a job. i face anywhere between a 4% and a 100% salary cut, honestly. good thing for me, i've never been totally motivated by money, so i'm not terribly worried about the cuts. i'll adjust. but i will be absolutely heartbroken if i can't remain at my home-away-from-home. i worked hard to get back on this campus, and truly see myself retiring from here too. so let's work this out ucsd; i want to be by your side while you ride this rough patch out... can you do the same for me?
current mood: worried

and so it starts
this week, and the previous few weeks, but this one especially, i'll be going underground for the annual madness that comes with the end of the school year. i have events every day starting yesterday, through this coming sunday. i'm planning on coming down with a serious case of the mondays come the 8th of june.
see you all on the flipside!
current mood: tired already!