News and Updates

1. We are neck-deep in registration season down at Home Campus and my next available appointment is sometime in 2031, which will likely be several years after I have retired so I’m not sure how that will work out for them. We have an entirely new degree to advise, none of my students fit into the nice neat little boxes that they’re supposed to fit into, we have a full tank of gas that cost more than my old mortgage payment, it’s getting dark earlier and earlier, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it.

2. We managed to have lunch with Lauren on Saturday at a nice little Nepali restaurant not far from her apartment – one of a growing number of such places in her city. The food was tasty and it was good to hang out with Lauren for a bit. And then she left to go see friends while Kim and I went clubbing, which is what you call it when you are in your 60s and are headed toward Costco. We had three things on our list, one of which we couldn’t remember and didn’t actually buy, and we still came home with a carload of items. You don’t go into Costco for what you need. Costco will tell you what you need.

3. We also had a lovely phone call with Oliver on Friday, which means we got to speak with both of our far-flung children in a single weekend. Life is good.

4. It may or may not be autumn here in Baja Canada, nearly halfway into November. On the one hand we have had several mornings with frost on the ground, the garden is pretty much put to bed, and we pulled the rabbit inside for the winter on Friday. On the other hand, I’m still wearing t-shirts comfortably. It’s just that way.

5. I am doing my best not to worry about the state of the nation in this interregnum period, as there is nothing I can do about any of it and I have every faith that Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump and his minions, cronies, lackeys, enablers, and slaves will be doing their best to loot the country bare, burn it to the ground, and piss on the ashes while the Democrats write strongly worded op-ed columns to their local newspapers (circulation: 4). I can dream of better things, though, and for the moment I am content to do that.

6. I need to upgrade my password for Far Away Campus, since they require me to do that every eighteen to twenty days or so and that moment is rapidly approaching. I am not convinced that this is actually helping anyone keep anything more secure since I no longer have any passwords left in me or any capacity to remember the ones I do come up with which means that they’re all going to end up on a post-it note stuck to the side of the monitor, but apparently that’s what they want so that’s what we do. I have five days to get this done before they lock me out of all of their systems, and there is a strong temptation to let them do that except that I like teaching my class for them and I can’t do that if I’m locked out. So we press on.

7. I think I have lost my ability to cook things. I used to be a pretty decent cook. Not spectacular, but not anyone whose meals you’d fear. The things I make these days are not measuring up to previous standards, however, and I’m not sure why. Just getting old, I guess.

8. We had a weeklong event celebrating first-generation college students last week – a group of people who make up the bulk of my advisees – and I ended up in charge of a panel discussion where a couple of my former students came back to discuss things with the current students. It was nice to see them again. There was a third who was supposed to be there but got sick at the last minute, so we’re going to try to catch up later this week. It’s good to stay in touch that way.

9. I made my first batch of pizzelles for the season, and for a while the house smelled nicely of anise. They have all been distributed and consumed now, which is the ideal state of being for a pizzelle, and pretty soon it will be on to the next batch.

10. In the spring I will be teaching a brand new class, or at least one that is brand new to me. I need to be working on that now. I do not wish to be working on that now and, indeed, have not looked at it since June. It needs to be looked at. I will likely teach this class a maximum of twice. I will have to teach it a minimum of once. Such is the circle of academic life.