It seems to me that one of the things that makes this job so frustrating is that you try your best to explain things to people, to sincerely help folks out, and for whatever reason, despite your best efforts, they still just don’t get it.

You begin to doubt yourself on some level, because you try and try, but it still feels like you’re pounding your head against a brick wall. You start to look inward for your own failings, because theirs seem so complete and universal.

As a consequence, little victories (like a student successfully following your instructions on the first try) end up feeling like reason enough to pop open the champagne.

• sighs*

Back to it…

… I was trying to think of a title better than “Mr.” for Mr. Coffee. I was going to go with “Dr.”, but that seemed too easy.

I got a new coffeemaker yesterday. It’s pretty sweet. I decided I wanted to start over in my coffee life with something that was clean, neat, and in which I would only use filtered water.

Oh yeah, I got one of them water filter pitchers, too. I was actually kinda surprised how much better it makes the Oshkosh water taste. So like I was saying, this is my new plan. Better tasting water, better tasting coffee, carafe that I can’t possibly break, but which could conceivably break Wordy’s skull (if you hit him hard enough). And it’s definitely working so far…

My working Friday was decent, btw. Had some time to get things done besides see or call students back, so it was a nice reprieve.

In the evening on Friday, I was going to do some laundry, but I got started on that pretty late, and I wound up just sorting, going on a little shopping trip, talking to Josh on the phone, and doing dishes. Helluva start to the weekend.

Speaking of Josh, he predicts a larger number of the NFL games each Thursday. But me, I’m still only concerned about the Packers (and just mildly so), so that’s the only predicition you’re going to get. I say it’s going to be Green Bay 10, New Orleans 17.

Back to this surprisingly good-tasting coffee…

Today was a very fast day at work. That suited me just fine. I worked straight through lunch without even really noticing. We had a sort of “day off” from the kids coming in, seeing as there was a bunch of money to disburse.

Holy living balls my job is boring. I can’t believe I started this post with that many words about it.

Yesterday, I attended a meeting for the English master’s students. It was an orientation of sorts, and I found it fairly useful, since there were topics brought up that I hadn’t thought about before. It made me really want to get started on getting done with school. By the evening, though, I was a little worn out, and stopped thinking of it very much.

One thing that I think is funny about being a grad program coordinator– apparently, your first act in that position has to be to go on sabattical for a year. The program coordinator at MSU did it, Jeannie Grant-Moore? did it, and now Margaret Hostetler. I don’t really hold it against any of them, I just think it’s funny. “Hi, I’m the new program coordinator. No, I won’t be here this year, you’ll need to talk to this other person…”

So whatever.

I’m working on getting a new Linux desktop system working here at home. I will say this about it to start: easiest one that I’ve worked with so far, and my computer actually seems to be running a little faster. That may just be me imagining things, but whatever…

My three leading problems that I need to work on with it:
– Get networking to work the way I want it to. (I would like my server shares permanently mounted at login)
– Get the damn network printer to work (this is apparently “a snap” for most people, but for me it’s a problem)
– Get all the various media filetypes to work (your .mov’s, .wmv’s, .ra’s, etc.)

I came across a thread in a support forum where someone got on and said, “Eh, Linux sucks. I have Windows, what do I need this for?” And I think there’s an extent to which he has a point. For average users, Windows has everything, it’s exceedingly easy, and pretty much available.

My issue is that Vista will be making XP obsolete within the next year, and I do not have plans to really ever buy another system with Windows pre-installed, if I can avoid it. I figure that if I learn enough about Linux, I will come to prefer it. The switch is hard, though. I’ve had a lot of starts and stops, usually predecated by something really basic that I absolutely need to do becoming difficult in Linux for no apparent reason (like losing the ability to write to a server share, for example). I’ve avoided that thus far with Ubuntu, so this seems to be a good candidate…

I think I’m going to call Michelle. You have a good evening/day. Whenever you read this.

Went to a meeting this afternoon for the Wisconsin Review. I was adequately satisfied with the way the magazine turned out during the brief time that I was one of its two heads. I think that the newly reigning editors will do better work just because, unlike Marie and I, they do not have full-time jobs competing with their time. Granted, they have more classwork, but…

Today was considerably slower at work than last week. I had time to breathe between students, and even got some shit cleaned up on my desk. I did, however, get more voicemails from unhappy people. Money is a pisser. That’s all I can say about that.

Let me see, how ’bout a summary of the past weekend? It was fine, all around. Had a good time at Joey & April’s “reception-sort-of-party-deal.” There was good food, good people, and karaoke. How can you go wrong?

I did have an experience, though, that makes me think the odds of attending my high school reunion next year are dropping– I saw Luke Schulta for the first time since… probably graduation, but it was a little awkward to say the least. Maybe I just need to figure out how to talk to people that I used to know but just never see any more. I asked how things in his life were, and they seem fairly normal. I guess everyone does it without thinking about it, but you ask these questions more out of curiosity than sincere interest, y’know? Speaking of the reunion, I think I could just get a written update on all those people, and that would more than suffice for me. I’m just not that interested in seeing or talking with them. I don’t expect them to be that interested in me, either.

For some reason, I have a real problem typing “interested” instead of “interesting.” I don’t know why that is, but I had to backspace over the -ing every time in that last paragraph.

Meanwhile, I think I want a little TV in my bedroom. Is that sick, or what?

OK, so maybe it’s not fair to do multiple posts in a single day, but sometimes it’s nice to have that facade of a barrier between thoughts.

Offering up a “week in review,” so to speak:
Kyle and Robin came over last Sunday after I got home from work (which wasn’t that bad, by the way). Christy was there, too, and we hung out for a bit, threw darts, went out to eat at Fratello’s, then played cards for a little while. It was a nice visit.

After that, I went down to MKE to meet Michelle for a party at Raj’s apartment. We met Raj through some other friends, and it was interesting to find out that that was pretty much how everyone at the party had met him. He’s a very easygoing, fun guy, so it’s not hard to see why people like him. Michelle’s cousin Laura came with us too, and we were all out until bar time.

We ended up sleeping in on Monday (Labor Day), but eventually we made it up to Sheboygan to visit Michelle’s grandma (her dad’s mom). That was fun, too. Michelle’s grandma is 91, but you’d never guess it, considering how well she gets around, and how “on the ball” she seems in general. Eventually, we made it back to Oshkosh for sleep that day.

The week at work was crap, but that was expected. On Tuesday, I had students in my office literally one after the other from 9:30am to 2:15pm. At that point, there was a lull, and I snuck out for lunch. The traffic cooled down a bit after that, but you can’t help but feel you’re just treading water during this first week and hoping nothing gets too screwed up. For the most part, things work out in the end.

I guess it’s important to keep in mind that the kids who are there in that first week are either new, nervous and don’t have anything to worry about, or they’re slow, lazy, and have shot themselves in the foot already (so you don’t really need to feel sorry for them). But that was the work week in a nutshell. We’ll see if there’s any more time to get other things done this coming week. I have a big project that has to be done two weeks from today, so here’s hoping for the best…

This weekend, we’re in E.R. for Joe and April’s “wedding reception, part 2.” It’s the Northwoods version of the party that was not exactly had on the day they got married. The event’s happening in St. Germain at the community center. Before we get ready to go over there, I think Christy and Michelle and I are going to head to town for… I dunno, some errands or something.

But, thinking of weekend plans going in to the fall: my October is a little up in the air right now. I was most honored to accept the request of Kevin and Amanda to be their new daughter Harper’s godfather. She’ll be baptized some time next month, so I will obviously be doing that on one of my Sundays…

Speaking of Sunday, the Packers get started with their season this weekend. We should probably call it an 80’s Rewind Weekend, because they are going to get trounced by the Bears up at Lambeau. My prediction on the final score: Chicago- 20, Green Bay- 6.

I was walking to work on the first day that the kids got back to school, behind a pair of young men in nearly identical outfits, both smoking cigarettes and looking like they’d slept in the clothes they were wearing.

I glanced up and down the streets near campus as I crossed them, watching beer signs and ping pong tables and milk-crate furniture being dragged into kitchens. I watched sweat-soaked fathers carrying the luggage of their baby-faced daughters, who were too busy talking on their cell phones to help with much more than a pillow.

I came to the realization that any and all nostalgia I might have had for those college days is gone. Nothing about the lifestyles of these young people is even remotely appealing to me. I have successfully separated my memories from the physical locations where they took place. I absolutely, positively no longer want to be in college—I’m just glad that I went.

It was striking to me when Michelle and I visited Marquette last week Sunday, found ourselves walking behind a group of college guys, and she expressed a similar sentiment.
“I’m really glad I’m not in college,” she said. It was the first time I heard her say anything of the kind.

So I guess this means that I’m through oscillating between being sort of grown up and being really grown up. Maybe the notion that there was any movement was just an illusion. In any case, I hope the class of 2010 has a good time in college. Without me.

I hung a lot of my pictures and clocks today. Thanks to Schrubbe for the advice RE: super glue– it did work on the cardboard…

But as I stood in the bathroom hanging one of my clocks above the toilet, for a moment I thought maybe I should re-set it and change the label from Beijing, China to Hill Valley, California.

?

I got home just a little while ago from doing a couple loads of laundry (I know, I know– on a Friday), and I realized that I have really completely settled in to this apartment.

Not just in a everything-is-unpacked-and-put-away-and-it-looks-like-someone-lives-here sort of way, but in the way that you get when you’re very comfortable in your home and you feel like it’s your place. I find myself now finally being able to dart around putting things away or getting things together with a sort of mindless speed that only comes with familiarity. Being here completely feels like home now, and while that may not be that important to you, it’s probably my most significant observation of the evening.

Tomorrow I have a lot of cleaning to do around the place, because Kyle and Robin are due to be here on Sunday. That reminds me that I should call them.

I washed my car while the laundry was in, and I still haven’t been able to completely get those plastered-on insects off the front bumper since I got back from the trip out west. I can’t believe that shit. Tomorrow, I’m going to take a little rubbing compound to it and see if that doesn’t do the trick.

The Packers played in the middle of the afternoon today and I… didn’t really care. Who is even on that team? Does Brett Favre still play for this rabble? Time will tell if I lend any more attention to this football season than I did the last, but I guess it doesn’t look that good for ’em…

OK, well, I’m gonna have a samm’ich and then maybe take a ride over to the BryGuy’s place. He’s playin poker & stuff w/ a couple of his boys, and while poker really doesn’t interest me, I realized that I haven’t seen Bryan in a non-movie environment for quite some time.

Have a nice weekend…

At least it’s a holiday weekend. Oh, nevermind. I have to work.

Today I returned about 40 phone calls during the course of the day at work, and in addition to that, I routed about 60 out the main office number’s voicemail box.

I don’t wanna rant too long or hard about work, but the facts is we’re doing more with less all the time at that office. And to be honest, I don’t think there’s a boss above me with the gonads to go to the next person up the chain and say “this is unacceptable.” Moreover, nobody there will ever get fired, regardless of how disillusioned, lazy, or irritable they become. If the fin aid office were a sports franchise, the would fire the coach and the GM, and the new people would quickly go to work on re-making the whole team. It’s just not that good.

Meanwhile, the weather in Oshkosh becomes more and more seasonal. I hear it’s supposed to get down into the (GASP!) 70’s for highs over the weekend, too. Fine by me. Summer’s pretty much had it.

I really need to hang some crap on my walls.

Oh, and I have one other item of note: it seems likely that I will be in Oshkosh for the bulk of my holiday weekend, so if you’re inclined to see me or where I live, or something, give a ring.

If I don’t catch you here tomorrow (and the odds are against it at this point), be safe over your Labor Day.

And you freshies moving in to Oshkosh: try not to get hit by a bus 😛

I mean that in the Karen Siegmeier sense, as opposed to the Tony Kornheiser sense.

Work is now officially bat-ass-damn-crazy for the next 2-6 weeks. If I am curt with the blog, it’s because the endlessly repeating questions make me want to carve the word “dumbass” into the chest of every freshman with a letter opener.

Meanwhile, the slow and steady evolution of the Western world into Googltopia continues.