Friday, January 20, 2006

Aren't Fridays Supposed to be Easy Days?

Well, here's my schedule today:

Alarm rings: 6AM
[hit snooze]
Man-Kitty meows, purrs, sticks butt in my face; kneads my head (with claws): 6:04AM.
[apparently there is no snoozing for Man-Kitties]
Jump in shower, having made the decision not to drink coffee at home but rather to treat myself with Starbucks. Oh, and did I mention that I woke up with a headache? I think it either is some weird sort of seasonal-allergy headache a few months early because of the unseasonably warm weather or a caffeine withdrawl headache. I'm not sure. At any rate, that puts us at: 6:25AM or so.
Try on approximately 4 outfits: 6:40AM
Who the fuck knows what else I did, but I'm finally out of the door at: 7AM
Arrive at Starbucks: 7:05AM
Leave Starbucks and realize that I have to make a U-Turn and to return home because I forgot my watch, which is important since today I am scheduled within an inch of my life: 7:15AM
After the drive to work, arrive at office: 7:30AM
Assign peer review groups, make a grading sheet for group presentations (ah, group presentations! The best idea I ever had for using the textbook in my writing class!); make copies of said materials: 7:30-8:05AM
Look at blogs: 8:05-8:25AM.
Grade like 2 papers: 8:25-8:45AM (I'm slow in the morning with the grading, apparently).
Get interrupted by one of my Favorite Students Ever for a chat: 8:45-8:55 AM
Head to class, but get sidetracked by job candidate standing in the hall with colleague. Must say hello: 8:55-8:58 AM
Teach: 9:00AM-10:50AM (with a 15 minute break in which I needed to run from the end of my first section back to my office in order to make copies for my second section, because apparently I cannot do the mathematics to make the right number of copies in the morning, either.)
The present time, in which I should be grading but instead I'm writing this blogpost because I don't feel like grading as even after the morning's latte I still have a headache, which must be due to allergies, I'm thinking, or perhaps a brain tumor: 11-11:30AM
Pick up job candidate from interview with dean and entertain her for a half hour: 11:30AM-12NOON.
Lunch with candidate, in chair's office, catered by university food services, which promises to include some really disgusting chicken and/or vegetarian (and yet totally oily) pasta: 12NOON-1:30PM
Entertain candidate (with juggling? magic tricks? who the fuck knows.): 1:30PM-3PM
Job talk delivered by candidate: 3PM-4PM
Whole search committee interviews candidate: 4PM-5PM
Search committee talks about candidate behind candidate's back (I think - not sure, as my search committee chair didn't give us a full itinerary): 5PM-5:30PM
Candidate's dinner: 5:45PM-?

What is my point in posting all of this? Well, it occurs to me that I've figured out why it sucks to be on a search committee. It's because one has the jam-packed schedule of a candidate, but one has it three times, and one has to have that schedule while still performing one's everyday job duties. The one thing that makes me happy is that Friday is the cheating day on the "I eat well and make good and healthy food choices" diet, and we're going to dinner at delicious Brio, which while a chain does have some delicious offerings. (And yes, I recognize that I'm completely reverting to my midwestern roots in enjoying eating at this upscale Olive Garden and thinking of it as a real place to go eat, but what's a girl to do? I've got to work with what I've got.)

Ok, I've officially wasted all of the time that I had for grading in the day. I think this will mean that I have to come into the office tomorrow. My life is pain. WHY do I assign so much writing? I know they are writing classes, but jeez.

8 comments:

Dr. Virago said...

Oh yeah, I've been to Brio -- not here in Rust Belt, but in Cowtown (which *does* have good, independent restaurants, but I didn't pick the place). It's actually not bad for what it is. Rust Belt has the company's other restaurant, Bravo!, which isn't nearly as good. I wonder why that is. Anyway, I definitely hear you on the "making do with what you've got" thing.

As for your schedule -- sheesh, and I thought my day was too full! Hope you take a nice long bath or something to de-stress!

Schrockie said...

I finally bought a postage scale and started grading by weight. Lot more free time now.

negativecapability said...

My man-kitty clawed the back of my head at 6:00 am, too. And my alarm didn't even go off!

CharlieAmra said...

Re post about 7AM:

I hate those mysteriously lost 20-30 minutes in the morning. Glad to hear that I am not the only one effected by this phenomenon. How does it take 10-15 minutes to put on shoes or grab your keys on some morning? How can I lose 20 minutes in the morning to nothing?

Ancrene Wiseass said...

Whew. I hope you'll at least get to sleep in a little tomorrow!

By the way, I absolutely empathize with your four-outfit incident at 6:40am. I have to choose my clothes before I go to bed, because I'm not mentally capable of making wardrobe decisions between 6am and 1pm. Seriously. It either takes me an hour and a half to pick something or I realize about 10 minutes after I leave my apartment that I look like a fool.

And, on a few particularly regrettable mornings, it took me an hour and a half to pick an outfit and I *still* looked like a fool.

USJogger said...

Dr. C,

Don't worry. A brain tumor doesn't give you a headache. You just start having cognitive difficulties, like, say, forgetting what you did for 20 minutes in the morning, or forgetting your watch....uh, oh!

USJogger

Unknown said...

I just have one question: Why do cats seem to adore putting their butts in our faces?

Anonymous said...

how do they manage to get it so oily?