A quiet rainy day

I got home from my week's labors in Big Rapids, and my night class downtown, at about 9 p.m. last night. I beat my husband home from his duties squiring about the job candidates. That's also where he is today. He got up at 6:30 to take a candidate to breakfast. It's now 3:30-ish, and if I remember correctly, he'll have to take the candidate to the airport before he gets to come home. Meanwhile, I slept late and have spent the day watching it rain. The cat and I have caught up on petting time, and the stack of catalogs that came in during the week have been examined.

Once again I had no computer for my night class, despite the tech guy having emailed me to meet him there early so he could lend me a laptop. I was unable to locate him, so I made do with writing on the whiteboard. (Even then, I had to raid another classroom to filch a dry-erase marker to use.) It's no wonder faculty don't really like teaching at this satellite campus. There's just so little support, especially after 5:30 p.m. That's unfair to students who take night classes since they've paid for their classes and should get equal amenities to daytime students.

I did get my third English 150 changed to a better classroom. It's not a great classroom, though, because the seating is fixed in an auditorium-type setting. But at least I have the computer.

I attended a small faculty group yesterday concerned with recruiting new majors. Fortunately, I had to leave early to drive to GR for the night class. Talk about stuck in the past! They were gung ho about working on a Welcome Letter for potential students. I've taught sales letters many, many times. That Welcome Letter would sell nothing. It was long, wordy, and not audience-oriented. There were no visuals--just the departmental stationery and this giant glob of words, words, words. The dept. chair is determined to push the idea of our having a number of Fulbright Scholars. She seems to think that a current high-school junior or senior will find that to be attractive. Maybe one or two will actually know what a Fulbright Scholar is. Most won't know, and they won't care. All they'll care about is whether a degree from an English department will doom them to a lifetime of "Would you like fries with that?" Sigh.

I've been bringing more of my things to Betty's house to make it more homey for me. Her son may soon be moving out (he's got a girlfriend he wants to live with), and she's talking about adding another boarder. I didn't tell her that it was hard enough now to get a hot shower, but I was thinking it. The other boarder seems to like his showers really hot, so if I get there second, there's barely time to rinse my hair and hit the most important places on my body before the water gets chilly. There's never enough water pressure, either.

Hurricane Ike is about to slam Galveston and Houston. I've got a lot of relatives in Houston, so of course, I'm worried. I'm especially concerned for my cousin who is on a liver transplant waiting list. If Houston loses power for several days, it could cause a lot of problems for ailing and frail people. Maybe here in Michigan, we can do without air conditioning, but it's still pretty darned hot in South Texas. I'm also concerned for Mike and Pam and their kids in San Antonio. They won't get the brunt of the hurricane there, unless something radical happens, but they'll still likely have torrential rain and flooding conditions.

The price of gas jumped from $3.67 a gallon on Monday to $3.94 on Wednesday. I knew I should have filled up, but I didn't. Now I'm sitting on empty. Obviously, I'll have to get gas by Monday in order to return to Big Rapids. Pain at the pump!

Next week my son should hear on his bar exam results. Fingers crossed! I cannot even bear to think what he'll do if he didn't pass. He's getting really testy as the time drags by. Poor guy. Hurry up and wait. He's about as good at waiting as his father is, which is not good at all.

Speaking of my much-missed spouse, I wish I'd been less exhausted when he was giving me his itinerary for today. It's after four p.m. now, and I have no idea when he'll get here. I may be forced to have my coffee without him!