A chill in the air

We went straight from August to November, it seems. One day it was 85 and sunny; the next, cold drizzle hung in the air, where it's stayed for a week now. Still no hard frost, so the crickets are alive, though their chirps come ever slower.

Remember how my department has gone crazy—except for me, of course? It got bad enough that now something Very Bad, or perhaps just Very Sad, has happened. Most of the time the politicking is just a nitpicky game, but sometimes it can hit people's lives so hard. The rest of us will have to keep on living with each other, of course. But I am now counting the days to some retirements. Retirements I used to dread. It's odd to realize that I'm the youngest tenured member of the department: damnit, I need to care what happens, more than anyone else does.

Dr. Wow wrote today. "No pressure," but, um, when the hell will I be getting back to work on the manuscript? We've been trying to get me some computer time, but Miss T isn't real down with that yet. Especially since Beaker is convinced that he can get work done, too, at the same time. When his work is, well, sitting at a computer.

(Blogging doesn't count, of course.)

Comments

[Moxie]

Trying to get real work done while you have a newborn is nearly impossible. I had a book due when my older son was 14 weeks old. I had no idea that babies don't just take long naps every day (I thought I'd have at least three hours to work on it during naptime each day--ha!). I was three weeks late with my manuscript, even after I started working every night until 4 am, while the baby was snuggled in asleep with my husband. I was exhausted and felt like I was missing my baby's first months, and I was still late.

I hope Beaker can figure out that for you to really get anything done, he's going to have to take T out of the house for an hour or two at a time. Otherwise your ears and boobs will keep you on duty even when you're not on duty.

(And hooray on the great weigh-in and checkup. We knew you could do it.)

[Cecily]

I'm sorry about the stuff in your department. That's got to be really frustrating!

[thistles]

I am supposed to be working on my dissertation. "This is a good time to be pregnant and have a newborn," I thought. "I can work on it while she sleeps!" ha ha somehow it just hasn't worked out that way.

She's 3 months old now. I haven't even TOUCHED my data. I might finish the PsyD before she goes to kindergarten, I might not. We'll see. I am seriously thinking about hiring my friend's teenage daughter to take Niblet for a walk every afternoon so I can have just one hour to work on it.

[boxing octopus]

I am currently grading papers while I neglect my 11-week-old boy, who is oblivious to the fact that I'm neglecting him because he loveslovesloves his mobile. However, when nighttime velcro-time takes over, all hopes of getting work done fly out the window. And I haven't even had to write any papers yet!