And that's over

 No more grading until Monday. 

I don't know, the end of this semester feels a bit less flat than the last one, though there was a real rush of grading (short papers, mainly) at the end. I do have people doing some make-ups on Monday (provided they're medically cleared to come back).

I gave my spiel about "don't panic and come to take your exam if you're diagnosed with flu or covid, e-mail me and we will work something out even if it means taking an I and taking the final in January (but: the person needs to be passing, and I added the requirement that there's official medical advice saying they are sick - we have a campus nurse so even if they couldn't afford to go to a doctor or urgent care they could get a note from her).

Last night was AAUW. It was good; only eight of us were there, though. Lots of memories of Connie and even those of us with longer-term time in it remembered Dorothy (who passed in - if I remember correctly - 2007). It was good I made the meatballs; there were very few "savory" foods (which more and more? I enjoy more than the cookies and chocolate coated popcorn and similar).

One of the co-presidents got my hat in the gift exchange. It looked good on her, she has (prematurely? I think she's only about my age) white hair and the hat was a denim blue color. I got a set of cork-backed hot mats with a Christmas theme. Yes "another thing to store" but I will use them - even if just to set under the candles in a jar I sometimes use. 

But. Getting there (and then getting home) was NOT fun. It was a dim, foggy night - lots of clouds, so despite it being close to the full moon, there was NO ambient light. And the new location for this year was located in a very new subdivision. Two things I dislike about the "modern" subdivisions here:

1. Twisty turny streets that intersect at odd angles. (I live in the older part of town, where the streets are on a square grid, and WOW do I appreciate that now)

2. NO streetlights. 

I drove up First Street (which, in the daylight, would have been the fast and easy way to get there) but I passed the street I had to turn on to (Sandstone), had to pull off on another side street, reverse back out (scary when it's hard to see) and try again. Missed it again, had to turn again (this time into another new subdivision where it looked like they'd had a water main break recently, based on the state of the road). FINALLY found it, then had to stop and use Siri to guide me through the maze of golf-course-named streets to find the right place. I left a half hour early (it is a 10 minute drive) and was just a couple minutes late....)

Going home was even worse. I got turned around and didn't get back out to First. At first, I thought "okay, someone told me this street exits onto Washington at its other end, I can get home via Washington easily" so I kept going.....but it was dark and foggy (and the few cars I met, all had those terrible brighter-than-the-sun aftermarket headlights, on high beam, which effectively blinded me for a few seconds afterward). I didn't find Washington, and finally wound up on Folsom. I technically know where that is, but Folsom is WAY out in the country, has no lights and no houses (so: hard to see), is NARROW (I was terrified of meeting someone driving fast coming over one of its hills) and is the WORST street in terms of condition in this town - and that is saying something, let me tell you.

(or maybe it WASN'T Folsom, and the sign was turned around? Folsom doesn't connect to Mockingbird but Bryan does. At any rate, it was a TERRIBLE road)

At one point I stopped at a stop sign, put my flashers on, and, praying the whole time no one came up behind me going fast, quick referenced the maps function in my phone and found that eventually I'd get to Mockingbird - which I kind of knew and since it's the "rich people's street," it would at least have streetlights, and there would be a drive I could pull in to if I had to to better consult my phone.

Well, once I got to Mockingbird, the pavement was PERFECT ("rich people's street," as I said: you notice these things). And it was brighter because of people's houses and with street lights so I relaxed a bit. And then up in the distance I saw a church. Churches here mean civilization; it means I'm getting back to town. And then I realized there was a cross street

"Please," I said, "by some miracle let this be Washington, then I can find my way home"

And it was. And then very soon I was driving past the Pruett's and the credit union I use and was back in familiar territory. But it took me almost a half hour to get home! I wound up almost five miles west of where I should have been, and because it was so hard to see, I had to drive slowly.

And I guess I was really tensed up doing that - my neck and shoulders hurt all day today. 

But it is a terrible feeling being lost on a dark road at night where you don't fully know where you are and you're alone. I just kept driving because I didn't know what to do - I don't have anyone here I feel close enough to that I could call them and say "help I'm lost the last street I saw was such-and-such" and have them maybe talk to me and try to guide me. (I don't even know if in a pinch, you could call the non-emergency police line and ask for help, though if you didn't know your exact location it might be hard for them to find you)

I don't want to do that again. The next time I may have to go somewhere unfamiliar at night, I am driving the route by day so I can figure out landmarks and maybe get a guess at the mileage. I'm sure the fact that it was foggy made it WORSE, but even at the best of times I dislike intensely driving out in the country in the dark.