A real entry

It's been forever since a real, non-one-line update to this thing. I keep planning entries in my head, but they never make it to the screen.
Anyway, big news: I finally took and passed my general exam, which hopefully means that I should be able to finish my PhD around next December. This has caused a lot of stress, not so much about doing the general correctly, but a lot of feelings of regret (maybe) have arisen. I keep just thinking of all the things that I should/could have done differently throughout grad school to have made this process a little less painful and more on time (first change would have been a different choice of primary advisor). I’ll be finishing the PhD in 6.5 years, basically. It’s not ideal, though there are plenty of other people who started with me who will probably be finishing around the same time (and some of them had masters to begin with). I always knew that I’d probably take 6 years and not 5, as I didn’t actually have an advisor or research for most of my first year, but for some reason taking the general at the beginning of my 6th year really bothers me.
Beyond the general, I’d had 3-4 fairly major colds so far this fall. And my sleep had been awful because I would just keep myself up thinking how much I’ve failed at everything (you know because being in a PhD program and somehow managing time for other stuff clearly equals failure). I’ve also been getting worse and worse at bike racing; in fact I got rid of my coach because I just couldn’t do the workouts anymore. But now I think it’s getting better. I’ve been sleeping, which helps with everything, and the big thing of the general is over. I’ve also started knitting xmas stuff (all quick and dirty projects, thankfully), which is a bit of a stress reliever. And biking probably won’t get better, but hopefully it will get fun again.
I will probably start posting actual entries again sometime soon. But I do exist, in case anyone worried. (I say that tongue in cheek, but I actually know plenty of people have been worried, so hopefully they won’t have a reason to be anymore.) Thanks to everyone who has tried to keep me sane, especially the great bearded one who kept me fed.