Assorted Afflatuses

For years I dreamt of making a fortune, buying a tract of land in an idyllic hamlet and retiring early with assets sufficient to continue funding my addictions to gadgets and designer clothing. That dream has now died. In the handful of weeks that I have spent with more or less nothing to do, I have come to the realization that retirement must be the most exhaustingly dull part of a person's life, except, perhaps, for those people who have a penchant for gardening. But given my aversion to dirt, I doubt I shall develop one.

Fortunately for me, I have the assurance that, with a tad more prudence this time around, I will go to college. And, even more fortunately, I was pointed to Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine. Bates, unlike most other schools of its caliber, has a January start date program, which — if I am accepted — would let me escape from boredom in just a few months. I submitted my application yesterday, though I doubt that will expedite the decision of the admissions committee.

By and large, I like the idea of Bates. From what I have read, they have an excellent array of academic programs and Bates graduates are regularly accepted into the nation's top graduate schools. The weather is a tad chilly during the winter, but I see that more as a good excuse to buy a fancy cashmere coat. Students at Bates also have a high propensity to study abroad, with about 80% of students spending some extended length of time in another country. My only reservation concerns the college's remote location. Lewiston, Maine, while the second largest city in the pine tree state, only has a population of 37,000. I have warmed to the idea of life in rural Maine since Bates was first proposed to me. Still, I find the idea of life over a hundred miles from the nearest Design Within Reach store or bona fide symphony a little unsettling.

The rural location would be far more tolerable if the railway system in the Northeast were less disorganized. From what I understand, everything south of Portland, Maine is very well-connected. It would be fairly easy, for instance, to take the train from Portland to New York City. But traveling to Portland from any other city in Maine seems to require a great deal of planning and hassle. More convoluted infrastructure in the United States.

Given that I will not receive my decision before 1 December, I will probably apply to one or two schools on their early-action or early-admission program, just in case Bates does not want to take me. Hopefully life without DWR will not be too unpleasant.