Working

Thanks to the girl in my group in the office who came back to work this evening after her class a little bit tipsy. By a little bit tipsy, I mean a bit drunk. By a bit drunk, I mean completely wasted and vomitastic. By vomitastic, I think you can guess what I mean, since I made that word up.

It turns out she had a gaggle of martinis after class so that she would be mentally prepared for coming back to work and for writing a paper due for her class by midnight. At least she had the courtesy to finish those martinis in less than a half hour to get back to work quickly. She also didn’t eat anything all day. After getting sick, she disappeared. Luckilly, we found her downstairs in the mall attached to our building, crying. Her boyfriend showed up to take her home, and I suppose that’s a good thing.

I imagine she’s going to be a little embarassed when (or if) she shows up tomorrow.

My trip to California next week has come at what I believe is a good time. I could use some time away again. I really should be traveling more often, in fact, just to keep some sanity and perspective. Earlier this year, I had thought that by this time I would have visited more people more often than I have.

When I come back after Thanksgiving, I’ll have to work on that.

A coworker came back from Hong Kong this week and brought back with him Banana Pocky. Yum.

By the way, we are now up to two mixes on the CD Mix Exchange. I’ll add some more new features to the site this week. Join the site to add your mix for the first theme, Mundane Activities.

I have something like 15 vacation days left for the year. There’s no way I can use all of them, but I’m going to try… starting tomorrow. I have some things to take care of.

Speaking of taking care of things, I need to have my wisdom teeth removed. I’ve been good about going to the dentist. Since college, I’ve gone once every six months. My teeth are in great condition. But my third molars are coming in a little bit and the bottom ones are slightly impacted. It hasn’t been hurting, but once in a while, I’m just aware of the corner of the teeth peeking through the gums.

So I have to have them extracted at some point, and I’m not looking forward to it. If anyone has any good extraction stories to share, I could use the encouragement. Most of the time all I hear about is pain, discomfort, and blood.

I arrived home from the Hamptons earlier today. I had a great time out there. There were no Paris Hilton sightings, and I think I’m grateful for that. I’m not quite sure. The hotel in which I stayed wasn’t the best, but there’s really no room for me to complain. The events were wonderful, the food was fantastic, and the bottom line was I really enjoyed working the entire weekend. I had more alcohol this weekend than I’ve ever had in the same time period. That’s not to say that it was much, and I wasn’t drunk, but I managed to reach a new level of tipsiness. I’m saving my first drunken experience for a time I can be with someone I can completely trust; I’m not sure I like the idea of not being in control of myself.

I’ve digressed. There are many stories to tell about the “interesting” Hamptonites, some involving entitlement issues and congressmen impersonators, but you don’t really care to hear them.

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I went in for my second interview for the new teaching position in south Jersey today. It went well, I think. It’s hard to tell sometimes. The superintendent was very friendly. The school sounds really great. Hopefully, I’ll know one way or the other by Thursday. The good news is that if I take this job, I won’t be taking a pay cut.

There are still other jobs I’m looking at. It’s nice to have options. Speaking of California, my brother has a website now. Check it totally out at his full name dot com (just like my other website is my full name dot com). (Hint: his first name is Scott.)

For a quick update on today’s events, check my other website. You know — the one I don’t link to from here. Also, I did a “quick” redesign in the wee hours of last night.

Well, it’s Sunday, and you know what that means. New job listings in the classified ads!

I had my first parent-teacher phone call today.

I was putting it off for a while. For some reason I get nervous about these things. As usual, I had no reason to be. The student’s mother was gracious, understanding and supportive. Now she’ll kick her son’s ass so I don’t have to. He’s a good student, interested in music, but he would rather be defiant and disruptive than learn music theory. There was no answer when I called a second student’s parents, and when I called my third student’s house, I believe the student picked up the phone. I don’t think the parent will get the message.

In other news, I just finished downloading Beethoven’s complete symphonies, piano sonatas, and string quartets in full CD quality (not mp3). It only took a few days (with stops and starts). Awesome.

Seven of my resume packages were returned to me by the post office for insufficient postage. Now I know: the next time someone offers me a free postage meter, I should accept.

My first concert is now completed. As many of you know, since I was hired mid-year, my position has to be reposted to new applicants over the next few weeks. I’ve been getting the impression lately that the administration is looking for someone with more experience than me. After a bad rehearsal, or after the percussion’s performance tonight, I don’t care and I’d be willing to walk away from this place. But by the end of the concert, I just don’t want to leave this school. There are definitely major issues with the job, but I’m starting to think the good parts outweigh the annoyance. And that’s a difficult position to put myself in, especially if the administration decides they want someone else who has had more experience. It would be a big bummer… and I don’t know if I’d want to take any other teaching job.

Anyway, it’s late and I probably shouldn’t dwell on this now. I have to wake up in four hours.