2010.09.13
Days Remaining: 260

1. Today I went to lunch with the Administrator (I suppose technically she's the Administrative Assistant, but having been such a person, knowing current and previous such people, and observing this one in her job, I can say that the "assistant" part of the title doesn't do justice) for the Humanities at Baskerville College, with whom I've worked for almost 3 years now. She took me to an "Asian Fusion" restaurant, which was basically a Chinese Buffet with some sushi, Mongolian beef, and Thai noodles thrown in. There was a time, many many years ago, when I would go to Chinese Buffets with some regularity. Then, as age began to work its slow alchemy on my metabolism, it stopped making financial sense to go (i.e., I couldn't eat enough to justify the cost of the buffet as opposed to just ordering take-out). Plus, let's be honest, the food was usually so-so. To my surprise, the food at this particular "fusion" buffet today was actually pretty good, and the lunchtime cost ($6.95) was certainly low enough to justify two heaping plates of the food. It's the first time I've seen what makes sense to me in terms of pricing in New Aldwych, where in general, despite being an economically depressed blue collar town, things (starting with real estate and trickling downwards) are surprisingly expensive.

2. The weather up here has turned cooler; the highs are in the low 70's, and the sun has been behind clouds for most of yesterday and today, which makes it feel cooler than it actually is. We also had intermittent pin-prick rain showers in the afternoon. I've discovered, over the past several years, that I have a high tolerance for cold temperatures. Today folks were putting on jackets or layering shirts, and I was completely comfortable in a T-shirt, as usual. In fact, several offices had their heaters on (which I thought was kind of silly - it was still in the 70's, after all), and I couldn't stay in them for more than a few minutes because I started to sweat. Last year I regularly took H, my beloved and far-away dog, on two walks a day, year-round. It was only on the coldest days that I would put on a coat or a sweat shirt. And even on the coldest days, it was mostly my fingers that would feel the cold (though of course wearing gloves helped with that). I wasn't this resistant when I lived in Syracuse, and I'm not sure why it doesn't bother me much at all. I don't like being freezing cold, but I don't really need a jacket most of the year, unless I am going to be outside in low temperatures for a long time.

3. I continue to move forward, in stuttering steps, on getting my kitchen in order. I bit the bullet today and did more box-juggling, enough to clear off the counter, do dishes, and find places to put a few more things. Tomorrow, after the drying is done, I'll actually have open counter space, which is astonishing to imagine.

4. This afternoon I photocopied a bunch of essays from a book I have on interlibrary loan. The book was not a sterling example of the book-maker's art; the cover was glossy/laminated cardboard, the binding wasn't terribly strong, etc. But it's a German academic press, and the book costs $238 (this is the kind of book Amazon.com does not discount). This is ridiculous. I'm increasingly suspicious of the collusion of universities, professors, and academic presses to economically restrict access to interesting work, so that only those who have an in with a subscribing school can get a hold of these sorts of texts. It's even worse for journals. I firmly believe that one of the things we can and should be doing is making these sorts of texts easily (if not freely) available to the general public. Sure, most people probably won't read them, but why does the academic world need to automatically restrict access to its productions? Especially considering the degree to which most of our work is at least partly subsidized by state funding mechanisms, even at so-called private institutions.

5. Dad, I love you and am thinking about you.

6. Tomorrow Octavian is coming back into town, and hopefully we'll get the chance to hang out again. For now, I'm off to bed.