The Syndicate

Belated happy anniversary!

Sloonei wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2020 11:45 pm It is the most minor change, but I dig the new color.

Thank you, Sloonei!

The little things help a lot too, I'm finding. I thought of it at some point earlier today!

MacDougall wrote: ↑Wed Jun 17, 2020 11:02 pm Holy wow MP! Congrats! Please forgive me if I pronoun slip occasionally.

Thanks so much, Mac!

I appreciate the consideration in advance! I absolutely will be understanding of slip-ups... it's even taking some time to get adjusted for me, even if I love it!

Thank you both! I am absolutely excited for this new journey in my life.

I am at a loss for words. Thank you all so much.

Thanks, Jay! I really couldn't be happier to finally be real about it.

Thank you so much, MR!

Hey all!

Just another update as far as my life is concerned, beyond being busy with work, it's been... quite an amount of self-exploration for me lately after frankly too many years of trying to figure all this shit out, and I've been hesitant to really be honest with myself and everyone for too long, and I'm beyond sick of it, so. Anyway.

I'm coming out as trans. I'm tired of trying to tiptoe around it. It's been hell keeping it from everyone. Being open about it feels great.

But... I know this will be weird for some as I've had internet presence for a while especially in mafia. But I realized I need to be abundantly clear after all. So I wanted you all to know that at the end of the day here I actually would most prefer she/her insofar as pronouns are concerned, but they/them is also totally acceptable. I certainly will understand if it'll take some getting used to.

Thanks in advance for your understanding!

That is amazing, congrats!! :yay:

You rock, speedchuck! :yay:

Thanks, Colin!

dunya wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:19 am I think MP should change his username to Dr. Browne for a week. He deserves to be smug

Haha, I don't know about that. I don't even care if my students call me Dr. / Prof. or by my first name. I just am proud of what the "Dr." represents.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:17 pm
ColinIsCool wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:41 pm Congrats MP!

Sloonei wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 1:23 pm ya boy sloonei is gonna become a master of english at the university at buffalo.
Hey, I live pretty close to Buffalo! It’s a really cool town on the come-up, so that’s awesome. Do you have a specialization picked out?
Not yet. The program is very open and allows for lots of free study and specialization. I tend to gravitate toward questions about religion and mythology, so I imagine i’ll study that in some capacity.

MP has been pusuing this PhD for as long as I’ve known him. This is the end of an era.

I know, right? You all don't have to hear my bullshit in mafia games about PhD work anymore. It'll be weird.

Charlie Blackmon wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:16 pm
M Plus 7 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 2:39 pm I'm officially a PhD / Dr. now!!!!

Never thought the day would ever come for a while there.
Protect me tonight please.

Thanks, you guys! Definitely a weight off my shoulders.

I'm officially a PhD / Dr. now!!!! :yay:

Never thought the day would ever come for a while there.

speedchuck wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 12:49 pm I just published a novel I wrote! Through the Lichgate is a book about a teenage christian necromancer in high school. I'm pretty sure none of those labels should go together, but I think I made it work!

As of this week, the book is available on Amazon in digital/paperback. (Amazon will link the two on the same page sometime next week)

I'm pretty excited about it! And also terrified. We'll see how it goes.

Dude, that's amazing! Congrats!!

Congrats, Sloonei, that's incredible!! You earned it.

That’s fantastic, Sloonei!

Golden wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:04 pm
MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:01 pmepic meltdowns (and boy have there been many, just ask Daisy)
For some reason, this is believable at face value, without needing to ask Daisy.

Well, I suppose that's understandable.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:28 pm I don't know what I'd do with myself professionally if I don't go into education, and for the time being there's not much else I feel like doing besides continuing to learn things full-time. I'm excited to be entering this tunnel. I'll probably be way more excited when I get to leave it a lifetime from now.

Seriously. With a job lined up for August and my dissertation defense supposedly still in May, part of me still doesn't feel like it's going to come.

Even in the midst of my most frustrating moments and epic meltdowns (and boy have there been many, just ask Daisy), I've never seriously regretted grad school. And that's after 2 years of Master's, all the while getting my CPA certification, and then now closing in on 4 years of the PhD. Not ever, not even for a second. There's a lot of frustration to be found in higher education, but at least from my perspective, it's all worth it and incredibly rewarding. I'd never give it up for any other career.

We really need more people in education who care, and I know you'll be one of those people. Not only that, but you're going to absolutely rock it, I just know it. I wish you the best of luck with deciding on the program and entering the tunnel.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:40 pm I promise to refrain from saying bad things about graduate school until you start saying them yourself.

I could say plenty of bad things about grad school myself (especially the PhD), but as someone who is now finally getting close to exiting the grad school tunnel, I can assure you that it's totally worth suffering through all of the bad things.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:55 pm Being a Master's student is like super different from being a PhD student, right? It'll be a breeze and I won't have a single complaint ever.

Something like that.

Congrats, Sloonei! :yay:

I know how it feels; at least now you have an option, but hopefully you'll get in your highest preference too!

Thanks, guys! I seriously cannot stop smiling; I am absolutely stoked. It seemed like I was never going to get here. Now just have to finish up that dissertation and I'm out of here.

Epignosis wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:33 pm MP at the interview:

Spoiler: show

Pretty much.

Dom wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:53 pm
MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:40 pm Alright, I'm done! I took the CSUF offer! It is official.

I start August 13th.
Congrats!

When do y'all move?

We'll be moving in July. Haven't exactly figured out the date yet, but it'll likely be a mid or late month move to California.

Alright, I'm done! I took the CSUF offer! It is official.

I start August 13th.

New update:

I received both offers! ULL yesterday, CSUF first thing this morning Pacific time. Couldn't have worked out better.

ULL's offer is about what I expected. CSUF's is significantly better than expected.

Pretty stoked right now, to say the least. I'll be meeting with the PhD coordinator momentarily to discuss negotiation strategy. I'll have a job finalized this week or next week for sure.

MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:23 pm I am about to travel back to San Antonio now from my second campus visit (Fullerton, CA now; Lafayette, LA was my first a few weeks back).

For anyone who is interested in my job search progress, here is more information on that front:

Spoiler: show

TL;DR version:

I have two universities that I'm considering at this point. I just visited CSUF (California State University Fullerton), and I visited ULL (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) a few weeks ago.

This interview was incredible. I pretty much fell in love CSUF more than I could have imagined, and the interview went I think really well. I really loved ULL as well, so either university would definitely be a great position for me, but it's now pretty clear that CSUF is my #1 and ULL is my #2.

I should hear back from both next week.

Longer version:

The reason I'm only considering CSUF and ULL at this point are due to them being the only two which I've taken beyond the phone interview phase into the campus visit phase. I had two other phone interviews: Northern Arizona University (NAU) and California State University Northridge (CSUN), but the former made me their first alternate and the latter I actually declined a campus visit because their combination of salary, resources, etc. was very undesirable. I have a few other universities I've applied to which have an even later timeline, the one I was most interested in of those being University of New Mexico (UNM), but the main reason I was interested in them was due to being able to teach Accounting Analytics, which is a class that CSUF has offered me, and the timeline is just too far off. The only way I would consider them is if both these schools fall through, which I now know isn't happening.

Somehow the timing worked out perfectly between CSUF and ULL even though I was worried and thinking it likely wouldn't. I heard from ULL yesterday telling me I will receive an offer if I'm still interested in them, so I should hear back from ULL regarding what their offer is next week. I should also hear from CSUF as to whether I get an offer and what that is as well next week too. So I'll be able to know all of the hard facts making a decision next week, theoretically, unless either school gets held up for whatever reason.

In nearly every way, CSUF surpassed my expectations: (1) more reasonable tenure requirements (both teaching and research); (2) better database availability for my research; (3) better $$ resources; (4) more ways to make $$ than the base salary (which is capped), such as summer teaching support, conference support, etc.; (5) lots of junior faculty and eligible co-authors (because so many of them are still trying to get tenure); (6) the exact classes they want me to teach (either/both Accounting Information Systems and/or Accounting Analytics, which are my most preferred areas); (7) CSUF has pretty much guaranteed that they will pay for all of our moving expenses; etc.

In all of these regards, CSUF is also more competitive and preferable to ULL.

Pretty much the only advantages ULL have are: (1) base salary will be higher and (2) cost of living in Lafayette is less insane. And it's just not enough to justify choosing it over all of the other advantages that CSUF has.

In the end, I've sort of come full circle I suppose. Before either campus visit I was preferring CSUF, but then ULL surpassed my expectations so it went above CSUF, but then now CSUF surpassed those expectations, so it went higher again.

Either way it's a win-win; I think either university would be a great position and that I'd be pretty happy at either university. Nonetheless, I'm trying to make the optimal decision for my happiness and for career opportunities especially considering how much longer I have, and under that perspective, CSUF is the clear winner. So hopefully I'll hear good news from them next week.

S~V~S wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 8:15 pm Fullerton is the home of Fender, isn't it?

Also reasonably out of LA and not too far from San Diego, and some of the best year round weather in the USA!

Isn't Louisiana closer/easier for family/friends?

I don't know anyone who has lived in or visited So Cal south of LA that didn't love it. It sounds like a few excellent choices, but I am rooting for Fullerton.

It is indeed the home of the Fender! And the location is definitely ideal in terms of weather, things to do, etc.; even after only seeing barely any of the area, I could tell it is pretty great.

I've been throwing around every possible comparison, factor, and angle I can think of over the last 24 hours especially, and although I'll likely be busier at CSUF and the cost of living/salary cap deal makes it less flexible $-wise, it just really is an especially impressive institution (and accounting dept in particular) that I would be super thrilled to work for. I still think CSUF really is the best move both for my career opportunities and happiness, ULL would be good for both but just not as much (especially the former, since they have limited resources). Either option would truly be great though. I really can't wait to see what happens next week. I'm on edge.

Louisiana would be easier and closer to friends and family, so that has been a consideration, but unfortunately it is still relatively far. Lafayette is still a haul driving-wise from OH/KY (almost 14 hours from Cincinnati) and even other places where we have friends and family such as FL (closest FL city is Tallahassee at 7 hours). At either location it's very likely that we would be flying regularly to see folks.

I am about to travel back to San Antonio now from my second campus visit (Fullerton, CA now; Lafayette, LA was my first a few weeks back).

For anyone who is interested in my job search progress, here is more information on that front:

Spoiler: show

S~V~S wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:10 am
MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2018 1:44 pm
S~V~S wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:32 am
MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:08 pm So today and yesterday were big days for me in terms of finding out assistant professor job market stuff.

I applied to 12 universities over the holidays. Since the Spring 2018 semester began, I have received phone interviews with 3 of those universities.

I now have campus visits/interviews with 2 of those 3, and for the third one I am a first alternate (which means I will be interviewed in the event that at least one of the candidates falls through).

I'm definitely pretty stoked about all of this, but also suddenly a lot more nervous.
Are they all snow free for the most part?
Some universities I applied to are, but some aren’t for sure. I quickly realized I had to widen my geographical range from my initial target area (Southeast, which didn’t provide nearly enough options given the current job market). But that said, I still applied to more southern universities than not, and I didn’t end up applying to any Midwest or Northeast locations.

The two campus visits I have as of now though are snow-free: California State University, Fullerton and University of Louisiana, Lafayette.
Both very interesting choices, CA can be awesome, but LA will be closer to friends/family. Does Daisy have a preference? I have to tell you you are my impressive wunderkind online friend, I brag about you all the time, lol.

I know, right? Both universities have their pros/cons as well in terms of likely salary/offer, database resources, teaching/research load, etc., so we'll see what happens. Daisy has been incredibly supportive, so she doesn't seem to mind as long as I find the best fit. She is accompanying me to campus visits to check out the areas too (we actually just arrived in Lafayette!).

Aww, thanks, I appreciate that. Haha. Honestly though a lot of the time I don't think of myself as having accomplished that much.

S~V~S wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:32 am
MovingPictures07 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 18, 2018 9:08 pm So today and yesterday were big days for me in terms of finding out assistant professor job market stuff.

I applied to 12 universities over the holidays. Since the Spring 2018 semester began, I have received phone interviews with 3 of those universities.

I now have campus visits/interviews with 2 of those 3, and for the third one I am a first alternate (which means I will be interviewed in the event that at least one of the candidates falls through).

I'm definitely pretty stoked about all of this, but also suddenly a lot more nervous.
Are they all snow free for the most part?

Some universities I applied to are, but some aren’t for sure. I quickly realized I had to widen my geographical range from my initial target area (Southeast, which didn’t provide nearly enough options given the current job market). But that said, I still applied to more southern universities than not, and I didn’t end up applying to any Midwest or Northeast locations.

The two campus visits I have as of now though are snow-free: California State University, Fullerton and University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

So today and yesterday were big days for me in terms of finding out assistant professor job market stuff.

I applied to 12 universities over the holidays. Since the Spring 2018 semester began, I have received phone interviews with 3 of those universities.

I now have campus visits/interviews with 2 of those 3, and for the third one I am a first alternate (which means I will be interviewed in the event that at least one of the candidates falls through).

I'm definitely pretty stoked about all of this, but also suddenly a lot more nervous.

Yes, I passed! Thanks!

Now just have to get a job and pass the final defense.

speedchuck wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:59 pm Thanks fellows. I'm feeling a bit better now.

Congrats, speedchuck! :yay:

I echo juliets's sentiment. I've also been in your exact position before, speed. Sometimes it's difficult not to take things personally from either perspective, but most sensible employees and employers rationally know otherwise. This is especially true if the other person in the arrangement makes a sincere enough effort to emphasize that fact.

That's fantastic! Glad to hear it. Hopefully you end up enjoying it quite a bit; sounds like you will though.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2017 3:47 pm I decided to listen to Epi and now I'm broke. Thanks for nothing, G. Should have been more persuasive.

But then I got hired for a new job. Finally. I can (hopefully) retire from my nocturnal lifestyle. Orientation begins November 6th. Adult achievement #2 unlocked.

Congrats, Sloonei! :yay:

What will you be doing?

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:54 am I finished paying off my car loan today. I hope this is the first of many adult achievements I unlock in the coming months.

Knocking out debt is pretty great.

G-Man wrote:Last night was the first of our two annual HOA meetings. Three people volunteered to serve as board members along with one of the current board members being willing to stay on. That means that, after three years as HOA Treasurer, I get to step down!

Yes, exactly.

If you want to fly to Miami and attend, sure.

juliets wrote:Congrats MP! What exactly does it mean that it's "dialogue" instead of "presentation"?

The session will be run a bit differently. I'll have like 10-15 minutes to present my paper instead of 20-25, and I'll have to share my time with like 4 other papers instead of 1-2. The dialogue session is designed more for papers that aren't as ready for publication so there's also a dialogue moderator that will try to spur conversation regarding suggestions. The time slot also will probably be a bit less favorable (like really early in the morning or the end of the afternoon). That's it though.

Really it's not much different. They emphasize that the reviewers still review the papers as rigorously as for the normal paper sessions, so assuming that's true, I should get at least as much valuable feedback as I would otherwise. It just has a "kiddy table" perception because we all know the papers that aren't quite as good but they still want presented get shoved into the dialogue sessions after the regular sessions are all taken up.

Epignosis wrote:Big deal. I presented a paper there once. It was called, "Money: It's a Gas. Grab that Cash with Both Hands and Make a Stash"

So I got my first ever paper accepted into a conference for presentation. I'm going to the AAA (that's American Accounting Association for those of you who still immediately think of the auto company when you see that

) Southeast Regional Conference in late April, and I guess I'll be presenting my second year paper (which at this point looks like it'll be gobbled up into one of the essays in my dissertation).

It's at the "kiddy table" presentations (Dialogue instead of Paper Session), so I was actually slightly disappointed yesterday, but I really can't complain. It was accepted, I'll get to network with folks, and at least I hopefully will get some valuable feedback on my paper nonetheless.

Baby steps, at least.

Golden wrote:
JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I was accepted into a PhD program today.
You have my sympathies.

It's not that bad...

*slinks away and cries*

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:
Epignosis wrote:Oh God our Mafia games are data
The ethics review boards were surprisingly eager to allow me to make you all my unwitting guinea pigs.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:The acceptance is from Wright State in Dayton, Ohio. If that's where I end up it'll be for experimental psychology, specifically a field called "human factors" which specializes in sensory input and response.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:
Sloonei wrote:I've been in one relationship in my life. Yesterday we hit two years together.
Super kewl, George Slooney. Let me know what kind of magic you had to learn; I'm behind your pace.

I was accepted into a PhD program today. It's a weight lifted.

Congrats!!!

That whole process is hell incarnate. So glad it's over. Kick some ass.

Epignosis wrote:It took me two days, but I solved a Rubik's Cube for the first time ever.

Nice! I wouldn't have the patience.

S~V~S wrote:My Dad was a CPA, and we barely saw him from New Years till 4/15. Unless we worked for him filling out tax forms, which all of us kids did at one time or another.

Yeah, that's absolutely one of the main reasons I quickly decided I'd rather go into academia than work at a CPA firm the rest of my life. Job satisfaction was the biggest reason (I really enjoy teaching and feel I'm making a difference with it), but I'm not going to lie that work-life balance for those four months out of the year was a huge consideration, especially for when I'll be raising a family. I just didn't want to be gone from my family's lives for a third of every year. Academia still keeps me very busy and I'm sure will until at the very least I get tenure, but nearly everything is self-driven and reflects only upon me. So even when the workload is massive, my time is pretty flexible (and I can work from 9pm-2am or 4am-8am or whatever on research or class prep if that's when I want to work on it) except for the hours during which I teach and have office hours and then occasional meetings and service stuff. It's definitely better than being busy as fuck in a flurry of four months like that.

G-Man wrote:Today I sent our CPA the financial documents for the third and final entity in our company. All I have to do for taxes now is answer follow-up questions. Weight lifted.

Nice! I know how it feels to be the CPA on the other side of that, and it's pretty great when clients actually get you their stuff before March.

Epignosis wrote:
A Person wrote:
Epignosis wrote:
MovingPictures07 wrote:
Metalmarsh89 wrote:
thellama73 wrote:Can I talk about music with you guys? I love music.
Remember that time we talked about Mike Oldfield? I love music!
Man, I haven't listened to Mike Oldfield in forever. I should do that.
He has a new release, Return to Ommadawn.
I am scared to listen because Ommadawn is a great album and I don't know how it compares.
Pretend it's called something else then and has nothing to do with Ommadawn. Then listen.

That's exactly what I intend on doing, since otherwise I'd have problems with comparing it too. Ommadawn is my favorite Oldfield album for sure.

Epignosis wrote:
MovingPictures07 wrote:
Metalmarsh89 wrote:
thellama73 wrote:Can I talk about music with you guys? I love music.
Remember that time we talked about Mike Oldfield? I love music!
Man, I haven't listened to Mike Oldfield in forever. I should do that.
He has a new release, Return to Ommadawn.

Oh wow, somehow I wasn't aware of that yet. I should check it out.

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