Life as a highwayman

Today marked the beginning of my 4 years (hopefully less) of driving two hours each way to go to school. I have the feeling that one day, I'll be using this to counter any complaints my kids have about walking to school on a cold day.

The morning began at 4:30 AM, which gave me a half-hour to shower and clean up before I had to get on the road to make my 8 AM class. On the plus side, all of the caffiene I used to make sure I didn't fall asleep on the road made me hyper and energetic in front of the students, which might actually be a good thing. The downside is that I'll probably sleep through my offices hours.

Things I'm going to need over the next 4 years:

1) some sort of futon/cot in my office. If I had the money, I'd love to just get an apartment in BG, so I didn't have to sleep on people's floors (I could sleep on my own floor), and I've actually called around to see if any shadeball motels would cut me a deal for renting a room 16 nights a month (If I can get them below $25 a night, that's cheaper than an apartment, plus furniture and utilities included). Several folks have suggested I buy a RV, which wouldn't be a bad idea except for the millions of dollars I would spend on gas.

2) a laptop computer. As much as I enjoy having to go to the library every time I want to check my email, life would be exponentially easier. Some guy responded to my Craigslist posting of my Toronado, offering to exchange my old car for a computer, and I probably should have taken him up on his offer. The fact that I have two non-functioning laptops sitting in my basement only makes this more frustrating.

3) a corporate sponsorship from No-Doz. I hate coffee, and Dr. Pepper in the morning makes my stomach urpy, so trucker's speed has become a regular part of my Monday mornings. I'm going to keep mentioning the effectiveness and entirely positive benefits of No-Doz brand energy medicine until I'm noticed and rewarded (or until my heart explodes).

4) several of these shirts. I found this over the weekend, and I really like the "Sweep the Leg!" design. It's about time that someone realized that Cincinnatians a) have disposable income, and b) wear shirts.

Return of the Son of Blog!

Since I'm going to have large blocks of down time this fall (thanks to required pedagogy courses), I though it might be a good time to actually try to actually do something with this two-year-old blog.

I think that most of my posts will just involve me complaining about one or more of the following:

1) movies/tv shows / music / books that have disappointed me

2) how nobody appreciates my jokes

3) required pedagogy courses [sort of a theme this week]


All that and more, plus...Buy My Car!