Today
This has been one of those days. I started out all chipper, lugging lots of books and things to the college where I teach, some to return to the library, some to just sit in the library with and use to work on my syllabus for the course that starts, oh, the day after tomorrow. (As usual, I am down to the wire with this stuff.)
I was nearly at school, getting off the subway and joining the stream of students making their way up the stairs, when I noticed that I had my shirt on inside out. Oh well. Fixed that easily enough, once I got inside.
But I guess it was a harbinger of things to come. Many hours later, after spending time in the library and the department, chatting with people I knew, working intermittently on the syllabus, then walking uptown about a mile (with a very heavy backpack full of more library books) to buy a flash drive for my computer (because I had to have it TODAY), I was finally on the way home, pretty beat and still worried about my syllabus.
As I got out of the subway at a little after seven, I started searching for my keys. They weren't there, not in any of the various pockets of my backpack or the shoulderbag I was carrying (because I had too many books for just the backpack!) or in my pants pockets. I put everything down on the sidewalk, unloaded the bags right there, took all the books out, just to make sure. Nothing. I knew right away that I had probably left the keys on one of the desks in the adjunct office I share with several other adjuncts. I called the adjunct room, but nobody picked up. Then I called the secretary, who, fortunately, was still there. She went over to the office, checked, and called me back to let me know she had found the keys.
Long story short: I had to do the whole trip all over again, 40 minutes back and forth on the subway. Once I realized I had to do it, I was oddly calm. I left my books at a friend's house so I wouldn't have to cart them around, took the long subway ride back to school, got the keys, ran into a friend and chatted for a while, and then trekked home, stopping off at my friend's house to pick up the books. At that point I couldn't bear to walk the seven or eight blocks home so I called a cab. Got home a little before ten, opened the beer I had been thinking about for three hours, and heated up some leftover pizza.
Now it's midnight, and guess what, I'm still worried about my syllabus. But, as Scarlett (and my mother) were wont to say, tomorrow is another day.
I was nearly at school, getting off the subway and joining the stream of students making their way up the stairs, when I noticed that I had my shirt on inside out. Oh well. Fixed that easily enough, once I got inside.
But I guess it was a harbinger of things to come. Many hours later, after spending time in the library and the department, chatting with people I knew, working intermittently on the syllabus, then walking uptown about a mile (with a very heavy backpack full of more library books) to buy a flash drive for my computer (because I had to have it TODAY), I was finally on the way home, pretty beat and still worried about my syllabus.
As I got out of the subway at a little after seven, I started searching for my keys. They weren't there, not in any of the various pockets of my backpack or the shoulderbag I was carrying (because I had too many books for just the backpack!) or in my pants pockets. I put everything down on the sidewalk, unloaded the bags right there, took all the books out, just to make sure. Nothing. I knew right away that I had probably left the keys on one of the desks in the adjunct office I share with several other adjuncts. I called the adjunct room, but nobody picked up. Then I called the secretary, who, fortunately, was still there. She went over to the office, checked, and called me back to let me know she had found the keys.
Long story short: I had to do the whole trip all over again, 40 minutes back and forth on the subway. Once I realized I had to do it, I was oddly calm. I left my books at a friend's house so I wouldn't have to cart them around, took the long subway ride back to school, got the keys, ran into a friend and chatted for a while, and then trekked home, stopping off at my friend's house to pick up the books. At that point I couldn't bear to walk the seven or eight blocks home so I called a cab. Got home a little before ten, opened the beer I had been thinking about for three hours, and heated up some leftover pizza.
Now it's midnight, and guess what, I'm still worried about my syllabus. But, as Scarlett (and my mother) were wont to say, tomorrow is another day.
posted by Sarah Sometimes at 11:48 PM
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