I need to leave the country

For some reason, I feel the need to leave the country roughly once per year. No, I haven't managed to keep this up - I've made trips outside the USA only in 2000-2001, 2002, and 2006 (Canada doesn't count).

But...

In just a few weeks, I'm off to the UK & Switzerland. We'll spend a few days in London (and I'll have my b-day there) then go to 6 Swiss cities on the whirligig tour. Then, my friend will go home & I will meet an old roommate in Edinburgh, my one-year home. When I booked the ticket to Edinburgh, which I have not visited since I lived there in 2001, I nearly cried.

(Ironically, the old roommate was not my roommate in Edinburgh. Neither is she Scottish - she's from Mexico. I find this amusing.)

I've been hoarding vacation time - so far I've only taken the days I didn't use last year - so I'll get to go for nearly 2 weeks :)

Anybody want to go to Argentina next year?

Congress & NPR

Congress passed a bill to help students finish school with a smaller loan burden & to get them extra aid while they are in school.

This makes a nice change, since the last Congress passed a bill DECREASING available aid.

NPR, sadly, screwed up their reporting. To demonstrate the rising cost of college they mentioned - Princeton & Stanford. Now, in the context of student aid, this makes no sense. Like all uber-elite private institutions, Princeton & Stanford provide 100% to make up the difference between their students' "need" and what the government provides. So, if a student gets an additional $500 Pell grant, Stanford will probably just reduce their internal grant by $500. The students who really need & will benefit from additional government grants are the ones at local colleges and elite public schools, which give out (too much) money in merit-based grants & scholarships.

Of course, all students will benefit from lower interest rates and extra relief when their income is too low to make the high payments.

In other news, I only kept Lola the JR Poochie for 4 days. She cried all the time - all night & all day. And she HATED Toby. So he wasn't eating.... But I found her a better home, and now I am extremely happy to be a one-dog person again :)