What happened to August?

Alright, so I became a little lax for the month of August...but it was busy!!!

I was busy nailing down a place to live in Moscow, ID that allows me to take a dog (the beautiful Chocolate Lab Sage), finalizing moving plans for the drive from Idaho Falls to Moscow, taking classes about teaching classes, and getting all geared up with lesson plans for the Freshman English classes I'm teaching as well as getting ready for the classes I'm taking. Sheesh!

I'm happy to say the move went without a hitch. I live in a three story house which has a basement apartment, so I live in the ground floor and second story. It's completely furnished, so I didn't have to worry about bringing furniture or anything (heaven knows I brought a lot anyway! A whole U-Haul trailer full). For nearly the entire month of August I lived alone because the landlady was having problems finding people to rent the other rooms to, but Sage and I didn't care because, in addition to having the main house to ourselves, Sage really loves hanging out with the two girls living in the basement. She's taken on the role of protector dog and if she hears something out of the ordinary she tends to make her way downstairs to make sure the girls (Grace and Amanda) are alright. It's kinda cute. Actually, I think Sage is trolling for treats because she knows they have some down there for her (I gave them a bag of the "good" treats to help win Sage over).

For about a week I had a roommate (Mohammed) from Saudi Arabia who's working on his PhD in Engineering, but Sage didn't seem to trust him too much. She always barked when he came into the house and he never petted her. He wound up moving out because "the house is too far away from campus" and he was afraid Sage was waking me up. Whatever! I just think he didn't like Sage and that's fine with me. I think he was a little fishy and Sage picked up on that. Good riddance.

Now it's September 1st and I have two new housemates moving in. One is a girl who isn't going to the University of Idaho, but is working at Starbucks. She's signed a year contract with them and will start moving in today. I haven't met her yet, but I hope all goes well. My other housemate actually moved in yesterday and his name is Chris. He's working on his PhD in Mathematics or something and has his office one floor up from mine in the same building. Sage seems to be taking to him pretty well. She barked at him initially when he came into the house, but how effective is her bark when she's wagging her tail? Apparently Chris has a dog as well that may come to live with us so Sage may have a playmate sometime soon. I really think Sage is going to be fine with Chris because she didn't bark at all when Chris came home last night. Yeah!

Man, this is a long posting!

Classes are going well. So far my German class is pretty easy, but right now we're reviewing a lot of stuff I covered in high school, and luckily I retained most of that. I'm not looking forward to congegations and such! My one grad level class is about Rhetorics in New Media and I'm struggling to keep my head above water right now. The readings are a little crazy as the books are aimed at professors and such so they talk a bit above my normal reading level. My brain hurts when I read them and I struggle to make sense of it...but that's what I signed up for. I'm learning. There are only about 11 students in my class, two of which are working on their PhD's in Philosophy, so sometimes the round-table discussions get a little overwhelming, but I'm learning!

Teaching is going great! At least I think so. I'm really enjoying the experience and I hope my students don't dread coming to class. I try to make it light and fun, but sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get a response from the class. It is getting better as the semester goes on because they're getting more comfortable with me and each other. I think I have found my calling because I'm enjoying it so much. Now I just have to decided (sometime in the next two years) if I want to go on and get my PhD so I can teach college or consider teaching at the high school level. Hmmm....

That's about all for now except for the weather...WHEN WILL IT GET COOLER! I'm definitely a fall kinda gall and love sweater weather. I can't wait for that! Till then I'll just keep sweating away as I walk up and down hills on this beautiful campus!

Do Student Drivers Really Have THAT Much Power?

So....I woke up late for work yesterday and was rushing (not excessively speeding, mind you) across town in a futile effort to get to work on time. As I'm driving 45-ish in a 45 MPH zone I suddenly came to a clog of cars on the road. No one was going over 40 MPH...no one. I switched lanes in hopes that my new lane would be going just a little bit faster so I could inch my way closer to work. I assummed, naturally, that there was a law enforcement vehicle (city, county, state police, etc.) in the lane so everyone was meticulously checking their speedometers and avoiding a traffic ticket.

However, since I worked for a police department for 8+ years and realize that cops are people too, I understand that going a few miles over the speed limit AND PASSING A COP ON THE ROAD will not automatically make you the proud recipient of a speeding ticket.

Back to my story...so the lane I was in was going a little faster than the other lane and when I was able to see who was actually going the speed limit and slowing down all of the traffic I saw, not a police vehicle, but a student driver. WHAT?!?!?!? Since when are student drivers on par with police officers?

After thinking about this I've come to the conclusion that, in an effort to be a good example to the student driver, all the other drivers actually followed the rules of the road (aka: mirror check, head check, signal, etc.). Maybe there was a sudden and inexplicable outpouring of empathy from everyone as they mentally reverted back to their days as a newbie driver in a car.

I don't know, but I was gobsmacked. C'mon people! I'm late for work! Needless to say I eventually passed the student driver and continued on my merry, law breaking way.

NOTE: Just to reassure you, Mom and Dad, I really wasn't a speed demon...just a handful of miles over the speed limit...and I was only 15 minutes late. Not bad considering I woke up 15 minutes before I was supposed to be at work!

Beware: It's a jungle out there

I'll admit that as I'm writing this I'm supposed to be working at my office (temp) job...but I need a break from folding 500+ monthly statements and stuffing envelopes.

So as I've been "working", I've been people watching out the window. In my voyeuristic pursuits I was watching the mailman (mailperson if you want to be politically correct) getting the office mail from the mailbox. At that moment I realized the mailman (because he is actually a man) was wearing a pith helmet.

Someone answer me this, since when has a pith helmet been needed to pick up and deliver mail? Are so many cats chasing you down the street in their desire to thwart the delivery of the mail so numerous that head protection is needed? Is it so dangerous to open and shut mailbox doors and lower flags? Is the threat of papercuts so prevalent that head protection is needed? I think not.

What's next, office cleaning crews wearing Haz-Mat suits? Okay...that one I can see, especially if they're headed into the bathrooms.

Um, I think my water broke...

So those were the words I heard at my temporary office job right after lunch. The girl I'm covering for has been having contractions for over a week (not steady and not for extended periods of time) and then she calmly informed me her water broke. Okay, so as an E-911 operator I have given instructions over the phone to assist childbirth, give CPR, call in a SWAT team, etc., but I was not prepared for those words, "Um, I think my water broke."

Needless to say a bunch of phone calls were made (doctor, husband, father, mother, in-laws, etc.) and the expectant Amanda was headed to the hospital. A scant 3.5 hours later her little girl, Taya, was born. Welcome to the world!

So the calendar is counting down and Grad school is fast approaching. In addition to still figuring out where to live (anyone have a friend of a friend of a cousin thrice removed that's looking to rent to someone at a reasonable price?) I got my reading list for my "Rhetorics of New Media" English class. Um, who ever thought that a book entitled Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy would be an interesting read? Or how about The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information. I don't recall that on the New York Times Bestseller list. What happened to great books by authors like Poe, Hawthorne, Tan, Sinclair, Pound, Morrison, etc?

Oh well, my lot isn't to complain, but to acquire more knowledge...and torture the college Freshman English classes I teach in the fall. -insert evil cackle here- Let the fun begin!

Must...Keep...Going......

I am a wuss. I fully admit it and don't understand how people do it. I am sooooooo tired right now I'm having problems keeping my eyes open and typing this blog. I have now acquired two jobs and am working 60+ hours a week. While that's good for the pocket, it's bad for the relaxation as I literally work every day of the week. A slow day is only 5 hours of work, while a busy day requires me to be up between 6 & 6:30 am to get dressed and make it to my job at 8am where I work until 5pm and then rush (not agressive driving rush, but constantly looking at the clock in the car rush) to my next job where I work until 11pm, all to wake up and do it over again the next day.

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz..............................................

what? Oh, sorry. I fell asleep there.

What was I saying? Who cares...I'm headed to bed.

Peace out!