20160420.0617

I was not able to get done as much as I would have like to have done yesterday. The reprieve ended up getting spent largely at rest; it is often the case that, given a bit of time to myself, I loaf about rather than turning my attention to more productive ends. It is not something of which I am proud, to be sure, but it does bespeak why some things do not happen. If I am wearied even by my own work, how much more must they be wearied who do "real" work? And if we are all so tired in our odd moments, is it any wonder that we do not bend our efforts to other things, even if those things would improve our situations and those of others similar to ourselves? (I do not mean to downplay difference, certainly, but there are similarities to address, as well--such as the truth that many or most of those who are being defrauded are being defrauded by the same systems, currently occupied by the same people, even if the people are less the problem than the positions they occupy.) But I perhaps overgeneralize.

In any event, the reprieve is done. I am back in the classroom today, teaching four classes. Three of them will get formal discussion of their upcoming final exams; they happen in less than two weeks. One of them is submitting a paper, so I will have grading to do tonight and tomorrow. I will also have it over the weekend, since the other three turn in papers on Friday. It is a scenario that will repeat next week, with one class turning in final portfolios and the other three turning in the final versions of papers I will have reviewed twice and on which they will have been working for more than a month. And then there are exams...so, yes, I will have a fair bit of marking to do. It seems a strange way to close out a job, but it is as it will be; my visit to the wind-swept plains is ending, and so the work I have been doing during it will end, as well. I would be happier about the news if I had some more certain prospects for after the end of the visit than I currently do, but no news has come yet in that regard.

Other regards have yielded news, however. Tomorrow, I will be taking the Mrs. to a medical appointment; she is having an outpatient procedure done that will lay her up for a few days. Her father will be coming over from the Natural State to help a bit, since my wife will be out of commission and I have to get done what I have to get done (because my last paychecks still matter); extra hands are helpful, and Ms. 8 loves her "Papa." (I am "Daddy," the Mrs. is "Mama," my parents are "Gramma" and "Grampa," my mother-in-law is "Oma," and my stepmother-in-law is "Granny." It works out well enough for everyone involved.) If things go as they ought to go, there should be no problems past this weekend--and even those should be relatively minimal. So I continue to hope that things will go well as our work continues.