Survival

Letsee, where was I? Oh yeah....

Dallas was a waste of time from a financial standpoint for my employer. Whatever we were supposed to accomplish, I don't see what we did having been worth four days and nights at a nice hotel, plus food, plus airfare, etc.... Dealing with Boss was... um... interesting. First night was pissed with her for wasting my time for something like this, and didn't want to see her at all. Second night went out on the town and enjoyed myself, and we drank a lot, and stayed up talking until 5am. I think I told her way too much about my personal life, but since she was soused, I don't think she even remembers it.

After that? Meeting one of our contributors who was really cool, and saved the trip. He made it enjoyable and memorable, showing that Dallas could be more than a hot, sterile city. The memory of a night eating Creole boiled shrimp and Shrimp Ettouffe in a very busy, loud, but atmospheric dark southern bar, while outside it was dusk and 108 degrees....

After I came home, it was being plunged into skrool. Intimidating. The syllabus for the German class alone frightened the wits out of me. But I just took a deep breath, and considered that I'd survived worse, and if I could make it through monday, I could probably make it through the week, and if I could make it through the week, I could probably make it through the term.

And I did. The classes are not as bad as I thought, and I'm acclimatizing fine. By biggest fear is that work -- and to a lesser degree, my civics stuff -- will suffer. I'm slightly behind in both, but I'm used to that. I do need to manage time better, but I'm catching onto that too. In a way, having a definite schedule is a comfort. it's good to have some stability and purpose, even if it is school.

And of course there's English Lit 104. Signed up for just to qualify for full time status, and because it would be a low stress, interesting class, it is by far turning out to be not only the most enjoyable class, but also the most pertinent to what I do. It must have been pure coincidence that I was at the same time thinking of my fiction work again. Add to that that it's a class where I feel the majority of the students are paying attention to the course and are motivated and interested. Having it three times a week is worth getting up at 6:30 for.

The downside? I don't have enough fingers to count friends who I don't have time to talk to anymore. One of my good friends I haven't talked to for months. My reduced posting her reflects this. And I don't see it changing, either. But, that's life. And it's not really all that bad right now.