Thursday, March 22, 2007

Is It April Fool's Yet?

I know that I have never been numerically inclined, but I always thought I was capable of keeping track of the calendar, at least in a basic sort of way. Current evidence suggests that either I am not, or the universe is conspiring against me today.
Earlier in the month, I decided that I would attend a symposium in England that will occur on March 30. I looked around for an affordable airfare, and while what I found on EasyJet wasn't all that cheap once tax was added, it was not staggering. After much consideration of the different times and airports, I booked a weekend trip.
Also earlier in the month, when I received word of the fellowship offer for next year, I checked to see when I might hear from the others I had applied to. The one that mentioned anything online said, I AM CERTAIN, that it would notify in the second half of March. It may have said late March, but I am sure it said March. I need to know, since I need to accept or decline fellowship #1 by April 15, which in actuality means earlier since I have to mail the letter.
Well! This morning I wanted to know what time my flight would leave, whereupon I discovered that I was booked to leave March 30 rather than March 29! There is not much point in a flight that leaves Prague an hour after the symposium starts. I had to change my ticket. While this was not as dreadful as it might have been, it decidedly added to the cost of the ticket. Let's not forget that lodging is not cheap in Britain either. Nothing is cheap in Britain, if one is American. I expect the trip to be worthwhile, but it will cost me.
Later in the day I felt mysteriously possessed of the urge to look up fellowship #2, just in case perhaps there was something new and interesting listed about it. Well, you might say there was... the web page now says we will be informed in mid-April. There is no reference to a previous March notification. Either they have changed it or I have lost my mind; both are possible. While I don't suppose my chances for this fellowship are unusually high (it was very well advertised), enough people will get it that I imagine there is some chance I might be one of them. At any rate, I haven't received a rejection letter. That, no doubt, will arrive in tomorrow's mail.
Meanwhile, North America has sent some of its snow back this way, now that no one here has any further interest in having it.

2 Comments:

Blogger Kristen said...

Perhaps you can call them and explain the situation?

Sorry for the flight trouble--yerk!

March 22, 2007 7:38 PM  
Blogger Karla said...

Yeah, I'm sure there's a way to deal with the grants. If I haven't heard from the two by April 7 or thereabouts, I email the university and announce that if I don't get something else, I'll be accepting their offer. I think I did something like that with FLAS one year. But it means I have to keep a close eye on things... not what I'm accustomed to hyperfocus on!

March 22, 2007 10:00 PM  

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