I'm Off!

This will be my last post until June; won't have a computer until then, just my iPad. And that's a pain to post from, so... y'all will just have to use your imaginations.

First stop: Paris! Thence to La Havre to join the ship.
2: Antwerp, Belgium. Will do day trips to both Bruges and Ghent.
3: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Excusions to a tulip farm, night canal cruise.
4: Edinburgh, Scotland. Long walks through town. Haven't been there since 1990.
5: Belfast, Northern Ireland. Giant's Causeway.
6: Dublin, Ireland. Museum to gape at Celtic gold, Wicklow Mountains and Powers Court.
7: Dover, England. Ferry to Calais, overnight there. Thence to Paris.
8: Paris for 5 days before return to US.
9: US, RNC. Home to recover from long, uncomfortable flight.

Once home and recovered, will post pictures! Y'all have a good end of term, and may all your finals be at least fun to read.

What a Week!

Wow. What a week. Monday I managed to get some numbers crunched and left somewhat later than I wanted, but had time to get home and relax. Tuesday, however, was packed: 930-1045 class was reviewing the Anc Greece class' attempt at redeeming themselves: they'd written a play that supposedly demonstrated what they'd learned. After two days of work, they'd come up with maybe 5 minutes cribbed from Sophocles' Electra. I gave them ideas on how to improve and what they'd need to address to make it do what they wanted: keep them from earning piss-poor grades. 11-1215 was the first flush of final projects in the World History class; they actually managed to get them all done! That was only possible because D, the poorest student in the group, was a no show. Which earned him an F.

Then a faculty meeting, during which the Provost's Dog & Pony show did a tired number. When they asked for questions, I popped up and asked if anyone was ever going to address the fact that we hadn't had a raise in about 7 years, and that we (the faculty) continued to work harder and harder with no recognition at all of our own contributions. Lots of nods, but no vocal support. No answer either. Then off to the afternoon class, which was projects again. They got 7 projects presented, which meant we had three left for Thursday. Then a reception for our graduating Education seniors (we had two), one of whom wanted to honor me. The dean told me he'd heard good things about Ms.M, but is still unwilling to hire her full time. Suggested that I wasn't really serious about retiring in 5 years, that I'd probably be wiling to stay on. I told him the others who'd done that weren't as burned out or as angry as I am. So that he was setting up for a scenario in which an untenured Associate Professor was going to be trying to rebuild a program from scratch. He still thinks I'm kidding about leaving. He's so wrong. From there, I raced home to let the dogs out.

To discover my poor dog couldn't stand up. Horror. Her legs wouldn't hold her up. So I freak out a bit, get her into the back yard where she managed to do her thing. Brought her back in, and she ate normally. She seemed happy to go back to bed, so I ran off to the last event of the day, a dinner for faculty mentors. I get there, and who sits next to me? The Provost on my right, the President on my left.  I'm on my best behavior, because Provost knew I'd tossed a grenade in her direction at the faculty meeting. Then a member of the nursing faculty comes up, and apologizes that Provost had 'walked into a buzz-saw' at the nursing faculty meeting/Provost Pony show. (Later I found out what that was all about, but now I understand why she wasn't angrier at me.) I made nice, all the while worrying about my own future and my poor pup. Race home; dog seems calm but shaky.

Wednesday I get her to the vet. He says he understands the staggering; it will resolve itself. She's also seriously anemic, seriously enough that we've sent a blood sample off to the pathologist. Meanwhile, I'm to treat her with Benadryl, watch to see if she's eating (she's not today). I'm so freaked from the exam etc, that the $400 vet bill barely registers.

Thursday, the Greece class pulls a rabbit out of the hat, saves themselves. Amazing. The 11 o'clock class had finished Tuesday. I had a lovely leisurely lunch with a friend, who advised me to start being very careful with my commitments to the university: 'you'll give and give and give; and get nothing in return. Make sure you weigh that carefully; make sure to get what you need before they talk you into doing what they want you to do.' The afternoon class finished up, and even though they finished early, they didn't want to leave; we had a lovely post-class chat.

Today... OMG. Okay, it starts at 8 with a trip to the lawyer. That's never a good start to the day; we're still mucking around with Mom's estate and IBDA's idiocy. And the SoCal Twit, the lawyer for the trust, wants me to sign receipts for monies I haven't gotten. And I had to catch that, because RNC lawyer hadn't caught it. He has promised that he won't send them until I actually get the money. Which should come while I'm in Europe. From there to a shrink appointment, from there to take a friend to the DMV for her learner's permit. Which turned into a nearly three hour search for a testing center that wasn't locked or blocked with traffic. Which we didn't find. So we went to get her a new phone; that took us another 3 hours, as she/we didn't know what she wanted or needed, and the various people we talked to weren't sure how much the various options and phones and packages/contracts boiled down to. It was all horribly complicated. We finally got her an iPhone 5, and she's very happy and nearly forgiven the DMV for the idiocy of misinformation and poor planning (RNC is known for being bizarrely planned).

So now it's 9PM on a Friday night, and I'm exhausted. Oddly, I am most pleased that I've found a plumber that will come tomorrow! Whee! A plumber! I had one scheduled for Monday, but that got all complicated because of the dog issue. I need to take her back to the vet on Monday, not wait around for a plumber. So I need to cancel the Monday plumber now that I've found a Saturday plumber. And make an appointment for a Monday vet. And friend got an 1045 appointment for her learner's permit, so that has to be done too. And oh yeah, I need to get ready for my trip. And get the grades crunched and submitted.

I am going to have a glass of wine, read my book and try to relax so that sleep will be possible. I have a plumber coming tomorrow!!!!

Projects Week!

Tomorrow we start on final projects:

These are individually produced creations that will represent - in some form - the values, traditions and/or culture of a society of their choice. All creations must be original, unique and presented to the class during the period of the final exam.

I'm always excited about projects week, as a) it means end of term and b) the projects are usually really cool. This time, I've heard about journal entries from 3 people in a concentration camp (no Nazis or prisoners); a paper machée egg that will represent pre-revolutionary French finances & society - pretty on the outside, rotting on the inside; a cross representing the Great Schism; a map showing Portuguese trade routes of the 16th century; Minoan art with Egyptian elements, showing the contact between the two; and, from my Ancient Greece class, an original mini-play that is to demonstrate their understanding of the values, traditions and culture of Classical Greece. Those are just the ones that came to my office today for final tweaks. All projects are due tomorrow, although presentations might well be Thursday. By Friday, all the grading will be done.

A week from tomorrow, I go to Europe. I have a couple of days in Paris on each end, with two weeks on the cruise in between. Am I ready? Hell no, don't be silly.

Today was spent tracking down all my grading notes for the entire term. This is usually done over the course of the term - which was all screwed up by the cataract surgery. Five flipping hours - only to discover that last week's stuff never got onto the office computer, still living on the iPad, which of course, was at home.

I have now gone through the mess of transferring things from the iPad to Dropbox. Off all the lovely things that iPad can do, simple file transfer is not one of them. Odd but true. Since I don't do it all that often, each time requires re-familiarizing self with the process. One might think that with all the updates, that function would be simplified. One would be wrong.

Meanwhile:

• France has legalized same-sex marriage.

• Prisoners are still being force-fed in GTMO.

• Jason Collins comes out of the closet.

• The cops who did nothing about the riot at Presidency Univ in Calcutta refuse to respond to summons. And get away with it.

• Chief minister Mamata Banerjee's urged citizens to smoke more in order to collect funds to pay back those hit by the chit fund scam; enrages Bengalis. (here)

• Italy finally got a government.

May your finals week be as calm and joyful as possible.

Wiggles and New Stuff

For nearly a year, I've been planning on this summer at home. Garden, dogs, cats, house, glass. Moving into the new office, once that became a thing. I made a bet with J that I'd be here, and happily, for the summer.

Yesterday, I got a no-brainer wrench-in-the-works. A two week free cruise around the North Sea, over to Ireland and back to Dover. It costs me the ticket to/from Paris and transport to/from the various ports.  This is part of what is called an 'enrichment cruise' - I'll get aboard at La Havre, we sail to Antwerp, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin then back to Dover. Train up to London for an overnight before heading off to Paris on the chunnel train. Stay there for a couple of days then back home. For the summer, one hopes.

I did the full summer version 11 years ago; 65 days around Europe. It was lovely, but hard too. Claustrophobic, as there was no way to get away from the students and no privacy. Too much food, too little exercise. I swore I'd never do another one, particularly the term-long round the world cruise. Two weeks? Oh, two weeks I can do easily.

So there goes my summer free of travel, but honestly, there was not a moment's hesitation when the offer popped up. Too good a deal, y'know?

That doesn't mean I'm conflict free. I'm not. It's more money that I want to spend right now. I want to have lots of down time, and this eats up all I had created. It's a great deal, a wonderful opportunity. But there's also a part of me that thinks: 'really? now? why?'

Because, despite my life, and my recent travels, I don't like traveling. I don't like the crush, rush and wait. I hate the uncomfortable flying - I am long of leg between knee and hip, and airline seats in coach are a misery. I don't like the people people everywhere. I like - sometimes - the being there. Seeing the fabulous places, things, people. The wrench of beauty and horror. The smells and sounds. I don't like the getting there. A ship - well, that's just a bundle of contradictions. It can be cramped - and luxurious. When the seas are calm, it can be magical for me - the watery horizon, the glorious sky (be it gray, cloudy or crystal clear). Last time, we saw pilot whales going in/out of Gibraltar! When the seas are rough, I am sick. Very sick, and long to throw myself overboard, sure that I would survive in the water better than on it. Seconds drag - days are years long, spent hunched over the rail or the toilet, waiting for my toenails to come up. Different cities every day? That's crazy, rushed, superficial - but kind of fun too.

So I'm going. And flying coach, because $7000 for a business class ticket is just insane. So... discomfort is a guarantee. But so are good times. Gahhhhh.

Ah, the weirdness!

So I have a colleague from India. And there's some weird $hit going on in her hometown.

And yet, there's absolutely nothing on the major international news outlets on this. Which is just awful. And there's a clip further down that says that some of the thugs threatened to rape the women on the campus. It's horrifying, particularly since the police just stood by, and did nothing to stop the vandalism, or the violence against the students and campus. In fact, they - the police - showed up the next night to arrest the campus security guy. Authorities have done zip - even though there's footage that clearly shows the local leaders of the gang were party leaders! Instead, the police have arrested some students from another campus - who weren't even at the protest. 

We're worried, because her significant other teaches at this campus. SO is okay, but his colleague got beaten up by the party thugs. SO was threatened when he and others accompanied the security guard to the police station. SO feels very much under threat, which I think is totally understandable. I urged her to get him out of there, and here. They're married now, so they can get him a spousal visa. Except apparently he can't work here on a spousal visa. All so very complicated.

And I find it extremely frustrating that this story isn't getting any coverage.

Then there's me trying to figure out next spring's schedule, and getting all those ducks lined up. And get my classes in order and ready for end of term. I've never managed to get the mid-term grades posted for 2 of my 3 classes. I'm two terms behind on getting my numbers ready for crunching for a teaching article I want to do. Tomorrow is a luncheon, a writing workshop and a doctor's appointment. Got the news yesterday that my cataract surgery 'looks good.' So I can go back to 'normal' stuff like make-up and activities. Which feels weirdly liberating.

I'm really looking forward to next week. Basically because I have nothing going except routine stuff: classes, days 'off', a single meeting (and there I'm just observing). And, of course, the blasted schedule.  But that is due Monday.

Oh. And get my roof fixed: last night's rainstorm found a hole and I have the resulting mess/headache. Oh. Joy.

Back into the Groove

First thing I found this morning? The schedule worksheets for Spring 2014. Yeah, insanity writ small. That prompted a series of inquiries: to ARC re: whether or not they'll want a geography class (he hasn't thought that far ahead... for once), to Dino1 re: what classes he sees for himself, to self re: what classes I want to teach. Because I really don't know.

I know that we're going to have to rethink the program for short term. We - Star and I - knew we were creating an ambitious program for the future. That was before he bailed to be Honors Director and then bailed to a new university altogether. Now... well, now I have to rethink the whole thing in various stages. Short term - the next two years - we will have required classes that won't make. How can you do a senior seminar with majors when you don't have the majors for the class to make? But they have to have it to graduate. Then there's the medium term - within the next 5 years. The program will have to be reframed so that it can change as we hire new people. And then, we need to have a t-t prof on site that is ready to take over as chair when I leave. After that, I just don't want the place to implode. The new people will then need to do their own things, but I need to leave it clean. Not orderly, because that's not gonna happen.

The biggest news I discovered is that Diva is actively searching for another job! Oh frabjous day! Calloo, callay!!! It seems late that he hasn't heard yet, but I'm hoping he'll get it. It would be lovely to get rid of him. Holy mackerel, would that be lovely. His plans have a direct plan on our department, because he basically gets whatever he wants and he's booted me out of cross-listing any classes with them. So while I would like to teach a Middle East history class, Diva won't allow it. He tells students I don't know what I'm talking about, so don't take anything like that with me. As long as he's on faculty, I can't do terrorism, Middle East, Balkans, imperialism, Mediterranean. If he goes, not only do I get these back, but I get to do IR again too! That would be lovely.

So schedules opened up all kinds of stuff. And then I got to grade. Oh yeah, that was fun. The good part is that the papers were better. Substantively better. Mostly. The worst one is from SoccerGuy. Who sent me an email this afternoon: he got hit by a hit-n-run, and the accident broke his jaw. He's in too much pain to get to class. He says he'll be out for the next two weeks. And that puts him on track for missing not just the classes, but the writing workshops that he needs more than anybody else in the class.

Four days of classes left, plus three writing workshops and a week of projects. Schedules to figure out. A couple of events: two receptions, a dinner for a service gig, an awards luncheon. Books for fall term to figure out. And two conference papers, one for fall and another for next summer.

Home, Again, Finally and For A While

Denver was okay. The weather was lovely; and I had a fabulous room with a mountain view. It was good re: conference. Our student did an outstanding job, and it was his first paper. There were less polished papers and presenters who were faculty that our New Kid, so we were very proud. I bought him dinner to celebrate his accomplishment.

Twas odd, being back in a city that I'd last lived in 27 years ago. It's changed a lot - where downtown used to be about business buildings, office buildings and a few places for food, it's now all about living. There are many new condo buildings, lots of smaller shops, restaurants, department store branches (very tidy and tightly focused, so not like their mother stores in the 'burbs), many more hotels to service the crowds coming for the conference/convention center. The campus where I did my undergrad is dramatically larger and has expanded. It's always been three schools in one campus: UC Denver, Metro State, and Denver Community. All three are now enormous. And the library is still the ugliest building on campus. It looks like a large air cooling shack. The collection used to be good, but they really, really need to do something about that eye-sore.

Anyway. I dropped by the old history department, which when I was there had a full time faculty of perhaps 6-8. Now they have more than 30. Huge. And imagine my surprise to find that the same guy is still chair of the department. I was floored. He's gotta be in his 80s.

Met up with a friend from the old days - the last time we saw each other was 20+ years ago, when I was still living in the studette in Paris. It was lovely, falling back into the easy conversation of that friendship. Astonishing really, because we've not kept in close touch. I get a holiday card each year with a scratched signature. Until recently, I didn't even have her email address. But it was like we'd had lunch last week, the ease of the conversation.

So now I'm home for the foreseeable future. One possible trip to Chicago/Detroit in June, a possible couple of days in SoCal in May. And that's it. My yards are greening and beautiful, my pups are happy I'm home, and I've some research to do for an article for a possible October conference (weird that I haven't heard back, wonder if they rejected me?).

I got so damned tired of my router dropping things all the time that I went and blew part of my tax refund on a top end Apple Extreme base station. The Apple tech said 'really easy to set up' and foolishly I believed him. I figured it was like the rest of my Apple products: hook it up and it works. Nope. This actually required some patience (always in short supply chez moi) and reading the booklet. It's up, and working. So I'm hoping I don't have to constantly restart and reset all my devices. That was really irritating.

I think I've done most of my to-do list today. I think.
Router.
Groceries. 
Repot lemon tree. 
Repot jasmine. 
Paint wind whirler gizmo. 
Spray nutsedge.
Move plants outdoors.
Move baker's rack outside - aha! Still need to do that.
Laundry. Crap. There's always laundry.

Okay. Enough procrastination. Back to work....