Updates all around!

Research: I have 23 and a half interviews done now (today was a shorter day so I only finished half of the last interview). Unfortunately, I have interviewed several students this week who did not want to be recorded, so I have hours of transcribing ahead of me. I really hate transcribing an interview from notes. Invariably, I am not able to write quickly enough to get everything, and I'm always worried that I will get something wrong.

Good news--I finally have permission from the other school. Yay! They want me to distribute the survey next week, so I will have time to finish all or most of the first 30 interviews. Unfortunately, this is taking longer than I wanted it to, so I plan to go to Philadelphia Oct. 28 through Nov. 9, and then return to Ohio for a week to finish interviewing in November. I am going to Philly to visit Alison and my cat, go to the haunted prison, go to Jess's Halloween party (no, I'm not talking about myself in the third person), vote, and celebrate the election. I realize that this may not be the most responsible choice. But I really cannot stand the idea of missing Halloween and the election in Philly.

Jobs: I think Kim is right about this--academia may well be shielded from the crisis. I'm just worried. And it doesn't help that I spend an inordinate amount of time reading political blogs and listening to NPR. I finally decided to email my advisor yesterday about whether I should apply for more jobs, but she advised me not to do that. So, I'm putting my faith in the system. Kind of.

Politics: Tomorrow I am playing hooky from my research and going to an Obama rally. My stepmom and I canvassed for the campaign in a neighborhood yesterday, and will do more this evening. It went pretty well--it was a White, lower middle class neighborhood and we talked to three Obama supportors, 1 McCain supporter, 1 person who wouldn't say (probably McCain), and 1 anti-Bush guy who didn't want to vote (talk about waste of space...). And of course, there were lots of people who weren't there or didn't answer their doors. One woman wore a "McSame" t-shirt, and another woman asked us for an Obama sign for her yard. So, all in all, a good time.