Ants

2004

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. I thought about blogging about our trip to the East Coast, but everyone goes on vacation, so if you really care, you can look at Lauren's pictures.

I was going to check the mail the other day, walking by the apartment pool when I noticed a long line of ants. This was the same colony of ants that were in our apartment a couple days before, getting into Geordi's food, a line of them running to (and out of) our window. This blog is not about ants; it's about living and leaving, something I didn't let the ants in Geordi's food do - I killed them before they could get away.

As I saw those ants, for some reason, it hit me - we're moving out of this apartment in about 4 months. We got our visas the same day I saw those ants, kind of cementing that the move was going to happen. At the end of the year, we will be moving our stuff out and heading to Oxford (Lauren will actually be heading out in less than 4 weeks).

I've lived in this apartment longer than I have lived in any other place since I moved to the US at the age of 12. We've been here over 5 years now, 5 1/2 by the end of the year rolls around. I'm going to miss this place; the pool I never use, the stomping toddler that lives above us, the guy who kicks us offline when he thinks we're using too much bandwidth. You'd think I hate this place based on the last sentence, but I actually miss those things; the toddler has taught me to be more patient with kids, the internet guy has taught me to be more frugal with my internet use, the pool...the pool has taught me nothing, except reinforcing my idea that black people don't swim.

A couple of months ago, Lauren mentioned that she was hesitant to visit Baltimore, saying she had only so much time before moving out of the apartment. At the time, I didn't see what the big deal was, but that day, as I saw the ants, probably headed to some other apartment, getting into some other cat's food, I felt what she felt. I'm hesitant to go anywhere for the next few months, to savor this place I've lived for the past 5 years, with the toddler, the internet guy, and the ants.

2009

The end of the never-ending Quarter

The never-ending quarter has come to an end. 18 straight weeks of teaching, the Spring and Summer Quarters. What now?

I've spent the weekend grading Trig Finals and, in general, wrapping up the Summer Quarter. I should start preparing for the Fall Quarter. I'm teaching a class I've never taught before at De Anza and another that I have not taught in several years. I keep saying I'm going to start planning and each day, I don't.

I've already started getting emails from students trying to get into my Fall classes (which I don't like getting, if you're a student thinking of emailing me) and I'm mainly ignoring them. I'll never like the waitlist system at De Anza, and I've complained about it enough in the past that I won't go into it now.

I'm going to be headed to Baltimore in the next few days, and spend a couple of weeks there. Baltimore in August is not fun, especially when there will be no air conditioning in the house. I'm preparing for a hot, humid, couple of weeks, hearing about the heat index on the weather reports and the afternoon thunder showers that bring (little) reprieve.

When I get back to the Bay Area, we get into high gear to get Lauren ready to head to Oxford - in some ways, we're already getting into high gear - I got fingerprinted for my visa the other day.

I wish I had more to say about the never-ending quarter: the classes, the students, and life in general over that time. Why would I want to relive that though? I complained about it before it started, so I'll just enjoy the fact that it has ended.