Wow ... Slash has been sitting alone on my desk for over a year ...
I bought her and the other five Dinobots back in May of 2018 as celebratory rewards for hitting the major milestones in this process. The others are sitting in my closet, waiting for the various approvals that mean I can open them (the two approvals noted above and then the URR Capstone approval of my research, the GAO approval of my doctorate, and finally my actual robing as a doctor). This is taking far too long.
... I'm going to a darker place than I originally intended with this post. I'm going to celebrate the progress that I've made (I received word at 7:29 this evening and only just finished my clean-copy submission), and I will keep pushing forward. I'm getting closer, and I will see this done.