More about jobs

Here's what little news there is:

I've decided to apply for a position at Virginia Tech.
I've decided to apply for a position at the University of New Mexico.

The majority of the schools to which I applied had Nov. 1 deadlines. So, I expect to hear nothing very soon.

Like most application processes, once the application is sent, there is little one can do. For this reason, I don't have much commentary on the process. Like last year, I'm not terribly stressed about it. Now, if December rolls around and I don't have an interview, I might start getting a little anxious. However, worrying at this point is premature and achieves nothing. There are lots of annoying things about the process, but it is just part of it; you can accept it and work with it, or you can rant about it and imbitter yourself. Of course, were it not for the modicum of support I get from my department, I'd probably be singing a much different tune. I'm lucky that my department charges me only $2 to send out my dossier (even to programs overseas), and that the secretary prints off my cover letters on letterhead for me and stuffs my envelopes. From what I understand, that is more than a lot of places do for their graduate students, and if I had to pay $5 bucks per application (as some do) and do my own envelope stuffing (as some do), I'd probably be as bitter as this guy is.