The last couple of weeks of non-teaching summer time are here. I have been dreading the second half of July this entire summer. One reason is that I didn't feel like I got a good break this year. Yes, we had a bit of a vacation in Yelagiri back in May. And I have been spending time at home on domestic tasks and fixing the cracks in the wall. But my 'me' time - involving much decompression, focussed running, bunch of reading, bit of writing, well I haven't had that this year.
I am not saying that such luxuries are mine every year. Something or the other crops up for sure. Like I remember one summer when my sole goal and focus was on getting an air conditioner fitted in my office. Uff. At least when the semester rolled around I was like 'Hells Yeah Bring On The Undergrads! With AirCon In My Office I feel Ready' - so it was something.
I had hopes for this summer, I swear. I was going to be in fit fighting running ninja shape (hello, Plantar Fasciitis). I was going to go miles ahead in my writing project (well, the universe conspired to delay it enough that I just got Step 1 done last week. Forget the miles). I was going to be Domestic Goddess and get the house painted (Where the hell are my paint samples now, dammit?). I even downloaded the paint app on my phone (It sucks royally as well, pun intended, crashes every 3 seconds). I was going to move offices (this is a long tale that will follow anon).
Anyway, here we are. Trying to count the positives. My foot is feeling better today. I have overcome the laziness and started cycling a bit. I am stretching like it's going out of style. I am done with all the left over grading, evaluating and other stuff as of this afternoon. And I am 30% of the way through my office move, which I finally started yesterday. There is this circular Indian problem that I often encounter.
In this case it goes like this: To move the air-conditioner from Office A to Office B involves:
1. Removing ac from Office A
2. Cut window in Office B
3. Board up window in Office A
4. Affix ac in Office B
These tasks cannot be done in linear fashion, because, monkeys. The crew for steps 2&3 is different from the crew for 1&2. I didn't want them to do step 1 till step 3 was assured, as I have my stuff in Office A still and I already had a bit of a monkey attack 'cause I left the window slightly open and they squeezed their adept fingers in and stole my cloth purse with play-doh. Last week.
Office B is part of a wider lab with tons of equipment and students. They don't want step 2 done before step 4 is assured. Also because it is on the ground floor, and not just monkeys, but snakes. Besides, we discovered while fiddling around with the window, that there was a beehive or a wasps nest of some sort. The creatures starting bzzing around the lab and it was like OKAY NOW.
In the middle of all this, I am demanding that they clean the fan. Trust me, it needs cleaning. And my student says the floor is sloping (I don't care about this one as much as I should). I need a new table 'cause my current table is from the British era and is constructed from concrete or iron though it looks wooden. And the best part of it all is that the switches for the light and fan in my office cabin are located miles away at the entrance to the lab. Dimwits.
I mean, the Tiger, Bangle, Brahmin problem's got nothing on mine, I tell you. I almost regret I started this whole thing. But I have to get this done before the semester starts - I am determined. This is good for me. I know. 'Cause it's so darn hard and so darn dumb, it has to be character building. Without doubt. Meanwhile, let me go and dream about how my new office is going to look super cool and neat and be the talk of the town.
I am not saying that such luxuries are mine every year. Something or the other crops up for sure. Like I remember one summer when my sole goal and focus was on getting an air conditioner fitted in my office. Uff. At least when the semester rolled around I was like 'Hells Yeah Bring On The Undergrads! With AirCon In My Office I feel Ready' - so it was something.
I had hopes for this summer, I swear. I was going to be in fit fighting running ninja shape (hello, Plantar Fasciitis). I was going to go miles ahead in my writing project (well, the universe conspired to delay it enough that I just got Step 1 done last week. Forget the miles). I was going to be Domestic Goddess and get the house painted (Where the hell are my paint samples now, dammit?). I even downloaded the paint app on my phone (It sucks royally as well, pun intended, crashes every 3 seconds). I was going to move offices (this is a long tale that will follow anon).
Anyway, here we are. Trying to count the positives. My foot is feeling better today. I have overcome the laziness and started cycling a bit. I am stretching like it's going out of style. I am done with all the left over grading, evaluating and other stuff as of this afternoon. And I am 30% of the way through my office move, which I finally started yesterday. There is this circular Indian problem that I often encounter.
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| Thank you Arun |
(from Photographs of IITM)
In this case it goes like this: To move the air-conditioner from Office A to Office B involves:
1. Removing ac from Office A
2. Cut window in Office B
3. Board up window in Office A
4. Affix ac in Office B
These tasks cannot be done in linear fashion, because, monkeys. The crew for steps 2&3 is different from the crew for 1&2. I didn't want them to do step 1 till step 3 was assured, as I have my stuff in Office A still and I already had a bit of a monkey attack 'cause I left the window slightly open and they squeezed their adept fingers in and stole my cloth purse with play-doh. Last week.
Office B is part of a wider lab with tons of equipment and students. They don't want step 2 done before step 4 is assured. Also because it is on the ground floor, and not just monkeys, but snakes. Besides, we discovered while fiddling around with the window, that there was a beehive or a wasps nest of some sort. The creatures starting bzzing around the lab and it was like OKAY NOW.
In the middle of all this, I am demanding that they clean the fan. Trust me, it needs cleaning. And my student says the floor is sloping (I don't care about this one as much as I should). I need a new table 'cause my current table is from the British era and is constructed from concrete or iron though it looks wooden. And the best part of it all is that the switches for the light and fan in my office cabin are located miles away at the entrance to the lab. Dimwits.
I mean, the Tiger, Bangle, Brahmin problem's got nothing on mine, I tell you. I almost regret I started this whole thing. But I have to get this done before the semester starts - I am determined. This is good for me. I know. 'Cause it's so darn hard and so darn dumb, it has to be character building. Without doubt. Meanwhile, let me go and dream about how my new office is going to look super cool and neat and be the talk of the town.
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