Anger & Despondency
I am filled with anger and despondency at the moment. However, I cannot figure out how to write out my feelings at the moment, nor am I even sure of all that I am feeling. I will have to let it percolate for a while as I try to sort things out. Maybe tomorrow I can talk about it. But, I am not sure.
Therefore, a banal post of bulleted list thoughts that careen through my mind:
- I ran 11.1 miles (~18km) this morning.
- Politics is such a damn, dirty game. With the tragedies yesterday and last week (the mass shootings in Texas and in Buffalo), I see almost no sincere compassion from any of the politicians.... even the Democrats whose ideas I tend to agree with. All I see is pure manipulation by politicians on both sides to USE folk's emotions to try to attain and wield more power. It is disgusting.
- I was wasting time perusing some vehicles on-line again. I know I am not going to be buying ANYTHING anytime soon, but I do keep looking. I was looking at several vehicles of potential interest, and due to the chip "shortage" which I think is at this point in time, purposeful.... a typical pricing of vehicles I was looking at ran akin to something of this sort:
NEW 2018 Vehicle, Sticker Price when new = $29,965.00
Price of SAME vehicle in 2022, (hence 4 years old) with 57,000 miles (~92,000km) = $26,999
There is no way in hell I would pay that price for a used car with that many miles (when compared to the original new price shown). But, currently all used cars are pretty similar in that stratospheric price range, due to the chip "shortage". Typically, such a vehicle would normally be falling in the price range of ~$12,000 - $14,000 at this point. I suspect, with the predicted chip "shortage" potentially abating by early 2023.... that then used car prices will then plummet back to more typical ranges.
- Sometimes it is hard to feel there is a purpose for us as individuals in life. On good, and also on average days, I can see my purpose is to love, and my purpose is to serve others. But, some days, like today, it is hard to feel or believe in these purposes.
- I may stop on my way home from the U at the ice cream shoppe. If I do, I may bring my wife a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream (which I utterly abhor, but she has always held as her favorite). If I do this, I may get myself either Moose Tracks or Bear Claw.
PipeTobacco
4 Comments:
Professor, may I suggest, at the risk of being presumptuous, that you might want for the moment to narrow your focus to those immediately around you? If you weren't reading/watching the news, and you weren't thinking of purchasing a vehicle, and you were mostly focused on your students and your family...
...surely you would see that, whether or not they fully appreciate it yet, you are doing good in the lives of your students. The more mature and career-directed ones may notice it more, but in an academic world that is going insane in many areas, I trust that your classes provide much the same as they provided decades ago, giving students some building-blocks of knowledge and some practice in learning and applying the knowledge you share.
As for the One Who Must Not Be Named, and as for your wife with all of your concerns about her, about all I can suggest are some vital words from the "Serenity Prayer" -- "...and the wisdom to know the difference." You cannot change a person against his or her will, and only you can decide whether your best response in those cases is to offer your best (or your mint chocolate chip ice cream), or whether your best response is to withdraw and let the unchangeable person experience the consequences of not changing.
In the meantime, there's always popular psychology to be considered, (e.g. Don't Let Jerks Get The Best of You ).
I am feeling despondent yet also filled with rage. Two different emotions warring with each other. I think you do a lot of good in your career and in your family. It's hard to see that sometimes from the inside. I'm not fond of mint ice cream either but I would love your choices!
Your ice cream is better than her. 😀
Ice cream helps in most situations. Currently so depressed about British politics. At least it stops me worrying about George.
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