My last day in Math & Stats

Friday was my last day in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The folks from the Department all went to lunch at El Mayor. There was soooo much food. They just kept bring out platters of new dishes... hummous and baba ghanouz, kibbee and falafel, fatoush and tabouleh salads, a lentil and rice dish, an eggplant and chickpea dish, then platters of shish kafke and shish tawook with this wonderful spiced rice dish, and roast chicken. THEN they brought various desserts and thick coffee.

The folks in the Department left Tim in charge of procuring a going away present for me. He had come into my office one day a week or so ago, and told me about how his wife had been looking for a computer bag. I played right into his hand. I went on and on about how I empathized and how I had been looking all over the place for a bag that DIDN'T look like a computer bag, WHERE I had already been to look for bags, and why I didn't like the ones I had found. The bag he found was perfect! It looks a brown leather tote that you would never know had a computer stored in it. It's even the perfect size for my laptop.






In other news, Jon must be really desperate to have me "understand" his penchant for games like Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO), and Everquest. Earlier in the week, he told me that he had a present for me that I "neither needed nor wanted". When he came over yesterday, he presented me with a copy of LOTRO and a card for 60 days of membership. We set up my character this morning (I'm an elf Lore-Master), and we went through a few training quests. He even added himself and his guild members to my friend list. I've already told him, however, that any time spent playing on LOTRO does NOT count as spending time together. Something tells me that this is going to cut into my poker/blackjack time., dammit.

TTFN.

A new year...a new guy...a new job...

Let's face it, 2007 SUCKED!!! It could only get better for 2008, right? Maybe...

For the longest time I was feeling rather dissatisfied with my life. I thought that, after Greg and I broke up, I would start feeling better about things. Nope. Well, ok, I felt somewhat better, but still overall, blah.

I think the real turning point came when I cancelled the vacation I take every year the week of my birthday. There were faculty interviews, and a decision had to be made and forms filled immediately after a decision was made so the hiring process could get started. At the end of the week NO DECISION. The Committee delayed it until the next week!!! I cancelled vacation for NOTHING!

It was pretty much the sum total of my work life. I pushed paperwork around, and for what? A bunch of bureaucratic bullshit that in the grand scheme of things, meant NOTHING! So some fucked up committee could decide if we followed some procedure correctly? Whoopdee-flippin'-doo!!!! I was going home every day feeling like I had accomplished nothing. And I really hadn't. At least when I worked for Satan at the pharmaceutical company, there was something tangible at the end of the day.

So, I applied for a couple of positions, and got one of them. It's a lateral move, rank-wise and $$, but I'll be working for Associate Deans, instead of a Department Head, so it's a promotion of sorts. I won't have to deal with most of the bureaucracy. I'll be counselling students most of the time. Maybe I'll help a few of them. I'll actually feel like I DID something important with my day. Maybe...

So now you're asking "new guy", what's all this about a new guy? Haha I did the story out of order mwah hahahaha!

Sorry...where was I? Oh yeah, new guy. Maybe next post. It's my blog, and I'll write about stuff (or not) if I want to, stuff (or not) if I want to...

TTFN,

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 !!