And it's Friday

Well, another year's Science Fair under my belt. (I was a little disappointed; they apparently suspended the old practice of giving certificates to people who'd done 10, 20, or 30 years this year....and this was my 10th year. Story of my life. I know, I shouldn't expect that kind of thing, but you know? It's kind of nice.)

It was in a new venue, a fancy new conference center (which still smelled faintly of outgassing carpet). The biggest problem? Getting back to main campus for the free cafeteria lunch....I got turned around and was on the point of saying "Forget it. I'll just drive home (1 1/2 hours, given the detour I had to take for some construction) without lunch" but I knew then I'd be cranky and hungry and so I persisted and finally found my way.

Then they were out of a couple of my old standbys, so I ate a baked potato and a little bit of a tomato dish. And a piece of cake. Because I was cranky by that point.

At least my car didn't get ticketed, which is more than I can say for some campuses (cough - my former grad school - cough)

It was chilly and windy today, which made walking across campus unpleasant. And it's going to be chilly and rainy tomorrow. I guess I'm grateful it's too warm for ice.

***

And yes, I think I was right about the outgassing carpet: I am still coughing and my throat feels irritated, and it was better earlier today. Gah. I hate being sensitive to so many things. 

***

I really wasn't feeling it when I got up this morning. Part of it was that I had a bad dream, probably brought on by continued tax-status tsuris in my AAUW group: someone was suing my university, apparently with sufficient cause to alarm everyone about it, and it was rumored all of our jobs would evaporate if this individual won their suit, because it would bankrupt the school. (It probably does not work that way in real life). At one point in the dream, when thing were really dire, I was trying to photocopy a packet of material - kind of like my tenure packet - in hopes of keeping my job, but the copier kept jamming. I wound up crying, on my knees, in front of the copier.

I woke up and as is often the case with these dreams, it took a few seconds for it to sink in that I just DREAMED it.

But anyway. I think I need most of the weekend off, so I'm in here trying to grade the exam a colleague gave in my absence. But I'm just tired. I'm trying not to let things annoy me (what I am trying to do for Lent: become a more cheerful and tolerant person) but I find I am failing at it already. My tolerance for little things seems to have declined a lot in recent years; I get overwhelmed more easily and am less good at seeing a room full of manure and being able to grab a shovel and say "There's a pony in here somewhere!" or even just "If I work real hard, I can get this room cleared of manure!" I don't know how to get that back or even if you do get it back. It may just be the decline in idealism. (All those companies that push hormones for low-T and "symptoms of perimenopause" and all that: they need to come up with a treatment, ideally one without horrific side effects, for dealing with low idealism.)