...working is a lot of work. My commute is brutual, and this on the "easiest week of the year" in late August. Yesterday: 90 minutes (I was late to faculty orientation; walked in during the President's remarks; not too smart); today no accidents on the highway so only 60 minutes, so I had time to arrange my parking sticker.
I arrived home today around 4 pm after more than an hour in the car, stop-and-go along Route 128, and was just wiped out beyond belief. Driving requires intense concentration: I'm petrified that I'll get into an accident in my beautiful new car (Jetta TDI 2003); I'm not used to the swerving in and out of lanes; I'm still adjusting to the "what lane I should be in strategically right now" thing. No spacing out and thinking about my work, for sure!
I have a great office, though: a window, two desks, a desktop computer (on top of the brand new laptop), access to copying and supplies and whatnot. Everyone is super-friendly and helpful.
I am looking forward to meeting my students next week and in particular advising students, although as a VAP I am not sure how much advising there will be.
So many changes: new (well, it's sort of a do-over) house; new car; new job; new commute. Really, a whole new life that has remnants of the "time before" yet is completely different. I sense that the colleagues in my cohort are missing the abstract pleasures of R1 and are a little nonplussed by by the nitty-gritty of a teaching-oriented position.
Greetings, all! We have relocated to the East Coast and are currently living in a sea of cardboard boxes. Sea moderate today, down from serious peaks on Saturday.
The drive was LONG but uneventful. We are not impressed with the IL tolling system - the people who have the LEAST familiarity with the road network are the ones who have to navigate off the highway for the cash tolls, then try to get back on again. B and I missed one toll each (I was afraid that I would get stuck on I-80 West if I exited) but it's easy enough to pay them online, which B did yesterday.
B is at new faculty orientation right now, and I'm going to continue painting his office, then maybe wash and wax the kitchen floor. (Yeah, the old-fashioned way, with actual wax. Mom unaccountably saved her "historic" floor waxer - of all the things, since she has a regular no-wax floor - but I am not complaining since I am the beneficiary.
Then I have to start writing syllabi. I am marinating an idea for world regional: for students to pick a geographical place (city, country or region, could be transborder) and follow it throughout the semester, learning thematically (culture, language, economy, etc) by researching that place.
No ideas yet for intro to human geography. Actually, the above idea would work for IHG too, though. Hmmm.
Well, if we write off today as done-for, then there are only four days remaining in Mpls, and the fourth day is for packing the truck, so that doesn't really count. I guess I can freak out now. I've successfully put it off for a number of weeks.
I am doing loads of wash preparatory to packing more clothes, and I have packed a ton of dishes and glassware. My desk is packed up except a few odds and ends like calculator and pencil holder. What else? - I really don't know. Too soon to pack the coffeemaker, that's for sure.
The last few weeks have been filled with poignant moments as we say goodbye to people and places that have been part of our lives for the last five years.
In a sort of bookend to our experiences here, I noticed today that our former chair's office had finally been cleared out. He and his office mate were the first people we met here.
The door was open and the room was empty, so I peeked in. Nothing left but the rust-stained indentations on the floor where the metal shelving had stood; industrial-strength adhesive remnants on the walls where the bookcases had been attached; multi-colored paint from a variety of painting jobs that didn't involve moving furniture; some holes in the tile floor for connecting up wires. Then, dust bunnies in the corners, along with the flotsam of moving: stray paper clips, an old torn envelope, pen caps, a map of Jerusalem stuck on the wall.
It's sort of a metaphor for the department and our time here. I don't recall feeling this way when we moved out here. That was more "welcome to our exciting new adventure!" Whereas this is more "back to reality" - ?? - maybe? I dunno. Maybe I'll feel better about it when we actually arrive and start getting all our stuff reorganized.
B and I are fine, but what a strange feeling when you learn that a bridge you think nothing of driving over several times a week simply no longer exists. It's a terrible tragedy for the victims and their families, and the reverberations of this collapse will be felt in the Twin Cities for years.
More tomorrow. (When the blame game will doubtless begin.)