that time of the semester

Any student will know what I am talking about when I say it’s the week before finals week. There are not enough hours in the day to do all the things you have to do. And somehow everything that could go wrong usually does.

Today, for example, my schedule included a class from 11 to 1. I also had to meet a professor to talk about a paper he wanted me to write. I had to do both but there was the slight problem of me only being able to be in one place at the same time (trust me, I tried). The only other time the professor had time to meet me was before his 9 a.m. class. So I trodded over to his office this morning probably the earliest I had been on campus in a while and he gave me an assignment. Problem solved.

Then I waited for 11 to roll around. Like I usally would I went to the library to hang out and surf the wireless web with my PowerBook. I pull the powerbook from my bag and realize I packed the wrong one this morning. This is the one my wife is using right now. I also knew she had a christmas present planned and had ordered it using that computer. I resisted the urge to peek and put the mac away without using it. The gruesome truth: The only alternative was to use the windoze boxes available at the library to check my mail. Yuck. How do people do it? I even had to wait my turn. Oh, the humiliation.

A few minuted before 11 I walked over to the classroom. The professor showed up and asked “Hey, do you mind if we don’t have class today?” He gave us a paper to write (adding that to the pile) and we left.

Now I am sitting in the paper’s newsroom waiting for someone to email me where to meet around noon to exchange lecture notes. Naturally the exam we need the for is tomorrow. And naturally I am working tonight, possible even covering a Howard Zinn lecture.

So far it’s business as usual. Man, I need a break.