* Unexpectedly low mood late last evening. I am wondering if I've lost some of the capacity I once had for brain-work: yesterday I graded a set of complex labs, and I re-evaluated the 13 valid applicants (leaving out the person without a degree who apparently applied as a check-box for some program), and I wrote m ost of the next exam (including figuring out the "identification" process, using photographs). Though part of it may be having had the loss of my dad dredged up yet again by current events. (And also: Carter was president for several of my formative years, so it brings up other childhood memories)
* I worked more today; didn't get quite as much done. I do need to start the next round of lectures though I suspect I'm caught up until spring break now (which is in, what? two weeks now? or just over it). I also had PT again - stronger at some things, weaker at others, so I don't know. I am trying to work the "core" hard because I think some of the issues I had last year might have been related to a weak core.
* Today is Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday/Fastnacht/Pancake Day/Paczki Day. Where I grew up, both paczki and Pancake Day were things. (In my cultural tradition I suspect pancakes were the most common thing my ancestors who observed did)
So I made pancakes tonight. I used my usual small recipe, but added an extra egg so that the batter would be thinner, making pancakes that could be rolled up with a little butter and sugar - I didn't quite feel like syrup tonight.
Pruett's DID have boxes of paczki, but they were trucked in from (I think) Chicago, they'd been there a while, and the smallest box was a four-pack. If there were an actual bakery that had them by the piece, I likely would have bought one.
I also think about how when I was in grad school, I often had students absent from my labs this week - a group of them would, trading off the driving, head down to New Orleans on the Friday before, party all weekend, sleep it off on Wednesday, and then drive back to campus. I dunno. "You do you" I guess but that's not something I'd have wanted. And I did tell the students they just had to forfeit the lab; no makeups for that kind of chose-to-do-it thing
Someday I would like to go and see one of the smaller and "more family friendly" and less-crowded celebrations - one with a parade and maybe nice food would be ideal. I don't care about the drinking (would actually prefer not to be around it) and the general debauchery but I do see how a version of Mardi Gras could be appropriate for all ages and quite fun - have a parade, and music, and the traditional Creole food, and just have people on floats throwing beads to everyone, not just, ah, people who, ahem, show off for them.
(I actually have a few cheap strands of Mardi Gras beads - they handed them out at Del's memorial service because he had loved New Orleans and they actually did a "second line" outside the auditorium where his memorial service was, after the service. I have them hanging up on a cuphook on the inside of my living room window where I also have a wind chime hung up. For a while it made me sad to see them, but I've gotten past that)
* A slightly unsettling thing: my across the street neighbor called me between classes the other day to let me know of something that had happened overnight (she saw it - she has issues that make her have to get up and be up at various times in the night, but she didn't want to call me right then and wake me up). We have some problematic neighbors - the house immediately across the cross street to the street my house is on has a revolving door of folks living there, and there's one guy who has been there a long time who has anger issues. (I saw him many times in 2020, when I was stuck at home at my little desk, walking down the street and ranting. I couldn't tell if it was into a cell phone or just general cussing and screaming....). Anyway, this was the same guy who picked a fight with the college guys who used to live next door to me in my drive one night (and when I talked about it elsewhere, someone accused me of being a racist for being concerned about it......both the guys involved are as white as I am, so while I was deeply offended, offended enough to leave that place for quite a while, I now realize the person was making an assumption that they should not have been making). Anyway, he was gone for a while (rehab?) but now he's back, and he's fighting with a woman (girlfriend? Wife? friend? sister? I don't know).
Anyway, the other night they were fighting in my driveway, and apparently another person from that house was up trying to look in my windows. This was probably at 11 o'clock at night, I'd have been in bed, the lights in the house were all off, so I don't know. I have a porch light that comes on at dusk and goes off at dawn, and very, very bright LED garage lights that are always on (since the last incident).
I don't know. If bright lights are not a deterrent, I don't know. I do keep my house locked up super tight when I am at home - and if I step out to the back yard for more than 5 minutes, I lock the front door, even though friends think I'm paranoid for that.
And yes, I suppose walking right up to someone's house and trying to look in the windows is not a crime, but you know? It's extremely creepy to me and given how violently angry that guy seems to be able to be, I would not want to find late some night that he'd got in my house.
No, I think putting up "no trespassing" signs would make things worse. If I do replace some of the foundation plantings this summer, it might be with prickly plants like more hollies. And I suspect trying to put up video cameras would just make the cameras get stolen or damaged and I don't have the money for them right now anyway.
But this is one of those things that bugs me. My town is too small for this kind of thing to be happening; we should have at least a decent full-sized supermarket (Pruett's is not full sized) if we have to put up with would-be peeping toms.
Yes, neighbor calls the cops on the people when she sees them trespassing but our cops tend to be slow to respond to things like that. And like I said, I'm not sure trespassing in someone's yard without doing damage is something the cops could yell at someone for, provided they're not stealing or vandalizing. And I hope it doesn't escalate to that.
* Still working on the secret gift project; I'm at the point of worrying I may run short of yarn.
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