3: August 2003 Archives

The most brilliant scientists and scholars in the world (or at least, my mother) have tried for the past 26.75 years to determine how my mind works. In a special never before seen on the World Wide Web (ô Al Gore), I shall demonstrate, in a daring fit of derring-do, exactly how it works. Observe:

<Brain>
Mmm, travel. How nice were Vienna and Budapest and Romania. I am no longer exhausted, and I wish to travel again.
...
I am no longer so frightened of going places where I don't know the language. I should go somewhere with a culture that is different and fascinating.
...
Where is someplace far away that I could go?
...
Oooh, Chile. That's where people leave to go to Antarctica.
...
Well, realistically, Chile isn't a practical destination. Perhaps I should think of someplace less exotic. Maybe a roadtrip. I haven't been west in years!
...
[Search LonelyPlanet.com for road trips]
...
Oooh, you can drive to Chile!

</Brain>

You may all stare in awe.

It's a mixed blessing to look younger than I am. It annoys me sometimes when people jokingly tell me I look twelve (I don't really), but it's generally something that I find to be useful. It's an even greater blessing in conjunction with my possession of a university ID card. Although it reads "Faculty/Staff," I have found that very few people pay that much attention. I've been fairly successful flashing my ID card to receive student discounts. I went all over Europe using it for discounted admission to museums. I make a very believable student.

I was playing the student ID card at EZ's last night. Here is a quick re-enactment:

[Setting: EZ's register]
Very Nice Young Lady Behind the Counter: Can I help you?
Me: Yes! I'd like a chicken caesar salad and a strawberry yogurt shake please.
VNYLBtC: Would you like some foccacia bread with your salad?
Me: Yes, please. Oh! I have a university ID. [Quick flash of my faculty/staff ID.]
VNYLBtC: I guess class is about to begin again, isn't it?
My Brain: Class? Huh? OH! you're supposed to be a student.
Me: Yeah, pretty soon. Next week, I think.
My Brain: Some damn student you are. A student would know to the -hour- when class begins.
VNYLBtC: Are you excited?
Me: Yeah!
My Brain: Excited?! You're not excited. You aren't even a student.
Me: I mean, um... yeah, I always like the first week of class. After a couple of weeks, though, I'm ready to be done, and ...
My Brain: Just shut up already before you screw it up.
Me: [feebly]... Um, yeah. Have a nice day.

[Fin.]

The downside, of course, to working on a web system with 200,000 (potential) users is that when you screw something up, you get a lot of phone calls.

So, yeah, I'm pretty tired this morning. I've been ironing out wrinkles in a complex notification system over the past day or so. Coincidentally, I'm beginning a project that should overhaul that system, which, since digging into it again, sounds like a wise proposition, indeed.

The good news is that I worked enough extra hours yesterday that I can probably leave work early Friday to drive to DFW. Claudia's coming back from Romania on Saturday, just in time for class to start.

It becomes incredibly obvious when the students arrive back in town at the end of the summer. I was cut off four times by SUVs adorned with Kappa Kappa Gamma stickers, all within a few blocks of campus on my way to work this morning. That's a pretty good sign that the students are here again. Then, of course, all of the nearby restaurants and stores have lines out the doors by 11:30 in the morning.

As for me, I'm craving time off. Is this a big surprise? Never mind that I just took a three-week vacation. People keep coming up with interesting ideas for things to do. Paige wants to hike the Appalachian Trail, but that's a six-month proposition. I've been thinking about South America as a possible trip destination. Chile, in particular, seems nice. Hell, once it cools off, I'd love to take my happy new car on a road trip westward. Claudia has always wanted to see the saguaro cactus, and she was very disappointed that we don't have that kind here in Texas. Prickly pear, yes, in abundance.