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Monday Madness

A chaotic, hyperkinetic afternoon poised ready to pounce over my mood and disposition. The day started well, I went walking again (day 29), and felt relaxed and calm as I went into work. I handled with aplomb the myriad of little, aggravating, day-to-day tasks (filling out brief paperwork, editing assignment sheets, etc) and then proceeded to lecture for three hours. After lecturing I ate a late lunch and then planned to head back to my office for an afternoon of writing, planning, and thinking.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. I know damn well I should NEVER sit in my outer office EXCEPT during my official office hours. If I sit there ANY other time, I am sunk like an anchor for I will have an endless stream of people into my office eating away at the very minimal time I do have. Most of the interruptions were typical, run-of-the mill things that were not overly difficult, but they did consume time... 6-7 students, SP, "The Chairman", as well as others. That is normal, for I seem to be the advice giver... and that is *really* generally "ok" especially when I steel myself for an afternoon of accomplishing nothing. I think perhaps I should designate Monday afternoons in that vein.

But, the real, blood leeching, horrific, debilitating and draining task involved a student stopping by that I had not seen in a year. She had been a research student of mine (started, but flaked out before anything had been accomplished). The last I had seen her she was irate and disgusted because she had not read the catalog properly concerning her major and now was in quite a bind (read that as a delay). Well, today she comes in and it is a new refrain of the same old song. She was trying to find a way for me to eliminate her need to take calculus (a requirement for her major). Her excuses were enormous and I spent the better part of two hours with her convincing her that taking calculus was in her best interest. And, even though she may "never" use it in her career, it is part and parcel of the major and she would HAVE to take it. I had a headache by the end of the session. I thought about reaching in my back office desk drawer for a dose of "courage" to try to quell the headache, but as it was already late afternoon, I opted instead to simply LEAVE.

I went home, had a good meal, and that reduced my headache a bit. Then I went to play in the orchestra (nee band) and used my embouchure to and wind to play out the remaining frustrations.

So, overall it was a nice day, that was almost spoiled with Monday Madness. I did get to (while driving to and fro) think a bit more about the plot line I am developing for the novel as well.

PipeTobacco