20160229.0605

Today is Leap Day, the quadrennial occurrence of a calendar hiccup that tries to put the common-use count of days back in line with the solar year. I have not previously marked the occasion; I had not started blogging in earnest last time it occurred. There is no shortage of commentary on the importance of the day, such as it is; I read it as being another Monday, one extra day before certain bills are due (but they are already paid, payday having happened and the usual sequence of events having taking place therefore). It is another day in which to work, and work continues.

At the moment, work focuses primarily on the classroom. I have an assignment ready to go for one of my classes, and I need to draft a sample of the current assignment and grade stacks of papers for the other three. Another assignment is coming in from the one class on Wednesday, as well, so I will not lack for things to do this week. As far as the draft assignment goes--and I draft assignments of the sort I expect from my students, but I still somehow do not do enough for them--it is a matter of collecting information and sketching it out. I should not have much trouble with the former. The latter, since I am not much of an artist (save, somehow, for overland maps, owing to my RPG experiences), may be a bit more troublesome. Still, doing it should have salubrious effects in securing future work; it will show that I can handle another type of work yet, and that should make me more attractive a candidate for any number of jobs.

For I am looking for work, as I may have mentioned. My current primary position (and I write "primary" because I am working three) is a visiting appointment; at some point, my visit will end, and I need to have a place to go once it does. Because I am under contract, I cannot look for "regular" work for a while, yet; I cannot start before the middle or end of May, and "regular" employers need workers now or sooner. But after already having sent out scores of job applications this year, and noting that those that coordinate with my current contract are...not entirely desirable, given my location and their instability, I am in something of a lull as far as applying for new work goes. It is not a matter of laziness; in the last couple of years, I have sent out more application materials than most people do in their lives. I am wearied by the work, though (even if I may have another application or two to do; I am unsure), and I am waiting for word on a few things that have promised to get back to me but have not done so yet. (I have to doubt whether the answer in such cases is anything other than "no.") So I have a bit of time to focus on other things, perhaps, those areas where work continues even on a once-in-four-years day.