Hello Friends:

I am taking a brief lunch break for a few moments while I grade exams. I have two courses complete and am trying to finish the advanced physiology multi-page essay exam. As is my normal practice, I have left my office and have holed up in a distant corner of my back laboratory so that the students who are milling about will not be able to find me (or at least I will not hear them as the front lab door is locked). I do not do this to be "mean" or "frustrating" to them. I simply need quiet and focus to grade these essays fairly and consistently. If I sat in my office, I would have students knocking on my door every 5 to 10 minutes... each student just stopping by to ask if grades were posted yet.

So, instead of being very slow at grading and frustrated at the pace of my progress, I make it seem as if I am not around.... so that I *can* do my work. My office is dark, as is my front lab. I do not have the lights on in the back lab either, for I am simply content with natural light coming in through the window. In front of me are the 25 multi-page cumulative essay exam, to the left of me are two of my pipes, my tobacco pouch, lighter, and a small bowl to knock ashes into. To my right is my lab's coffee pot with a pot of triple strength coffee, a beaker filled with ice, a bottle of Wild Turkey, and my coffee mug. When the mood strikes, I fill the mug with ice and pour strong coffee over the ice and add a few gurgles of Wild Turkey. As I mull over each question, and the wide range of student responses, I sip gently from the mug and draw in rich plumes of beautifully dense smoke from my pipe. They both help me to clarify the students writings and assist me in the grading consistency I strive for.

Not a bad way to spend a work day.

PipeTobacco