Death from a thousand cuts

Well, nothing quite so drastic, really, but I was thinking about how this summer won't just up and end for me. NSCC is over, but last week and this week I had three night classes; next week I only have two classes; the week after, I have the express class in the day and one leftover night class; then just the express class; then the Fall quarter starts in earnest. So it keeps on dribbling on. My energy level is dropping but I can't let go completely, since I still have portfolios to evaluate' Ah, grumble-mumble-adjunct teaching-grumble. At least I got a lot done yesterday on my fall prep work.

And there's a full-time teaching job I'll be applying for. Long shot, but worth a letter.

I do have to say, though, that all my summer classes have been absolutely great. I don't know if it's been the luck of the draw or what, but the students are all engaged and keen on learning and fun to be with. My writing class last night was doing presentations and I actually enjoyed myself listening and watching. Good times.

Meanwhile, I forsook my ride yesterday so Otis and I could walk around Green Lake. It had been a while since we'd been down there, except over on the library side. I think we may make that our standard off-season activity. (I tend to divide the year into two seasons: April 1 through October 3 - the biking season - and October 4 thought September 30, the off-season. These roughly corresponded to the two busy teaching quarters and the two lighter teaching quarters, and match my own fiscal/budget year, which runs October through September.)

Speaking of activities, I don't see this day-hike idea getting much traction so far - either that or I'm out of the loop. I'd like to offer up as an alternative biking the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River trails in one day. It would be maybe a 55-mile day altogether, if we went from the Ballard Freddy's all the way to Marymoor Park and back. We could bring a picnic and make a whole day of it - I'll even pull the trailer and we can bring badminton or something. Any takers?

And here's out little internet pleasure of the day: there seems to be a new PBS special on names, and the website has a check-how-popular-your surname-is dealie on it. I have checked most of the gang, and precious few of us crack the top 55,000 (which is as far as the search goes). You can also look at the U.S. Census Bureau results, which vary slightly.

Road-paving

Meaning, I had a lot of good intentions to-day... but apparently the wind whipped them all away!

The weather turned overnight - from a brightly hot day yesterday to a blustery, cool gray day today. After reaching 86 yesterday, the temperature barely managed to graze 68 for a little while this afternoon. Early this morning, it was even raining.

So, I didn't go to Bothell.

But I did do a local ride, just to the the B2K meter clicking.

I also didn't do all my syllabi.

But I did get some of my responding done and played with the syllabi some more. I'm not up against a deadline yet, but I just want to get this stuff out of the way. It's going to be a busy-busy fall quarter, and I need my waterfowl arrayed nicely before it hits in earnest.

Anyway, time to get ready to teach tonight. Here's a comic-blog-diary called Planet Karen that I just discovered today and think is the bee's knees. Flip back and read the strips from the beginning if it catches your fancy.