No More Poor Brandon

Days of break remaining: five

I have received my student loan money, deposited and fully paid into my bank account. This means many things, of course. First and foremost, it means I no longer have to worry about paying my bills, buying groceries, or putting gas in the car. It also means that I can enjoy the rest of my break, what little of it is left, by not constantly having to worry about money problems, and can go out and do something (weather permitting, of course). As I predicted back when the days were beautiful and 55 degrees or warmer, I knew that when I got my money the weather would turn nasty when I actually had the ability to leave the house and use some of it -- well, I was correct. We're under a wind advisory today, the temperatures are supposed to drop drastically, and we're supposed to get snow flurries and snow showers for the next two days.

Because of this (and a few other reasons, i.e. I don't want to), I've decided to forgo the whole "going into campus this week" thing. There's no reason for it, really; I can post my students' syllabus on Blackboard, and tell them if they have a chance over the weekend they can download and print their own. Otherwise, they're not going to get a paper copy until Thursday. Same goes for the diagnostic essays -- I'll do them Thursday as well. Tuesday will be an introductory day where I tell them what the class is like and what books they'll need, and we'll all introduce ourselves. Etc. There's just no reason to waste my own time and gas money going to campus when I can just wait and do everything next week when I actually have to be there. It'll be a little different than the beginning of last semester, but now that I know what to do and how/when to do it for my course, everything can be streamlined a little more.

I have 17 students in my first class, and 23 in the second. That's a little more than last semester, but not by much. I'm guessing my rosters won't be "finalized" for the next two weeks or so anyway -- people will add and drop, etc. They always do. However, that's probably pretty close to the total number of students I'll have overall for the semester. I'm looking forward to teaching the class again. It's fun, it's interesting, and I tend to have good students in it.

Other than some preparations for class and receiving my money (it was deposited on Sunday and cleared completely last night), not a whole lot is going on here. I've been sleeping a lot, for roughly 12-hour stretches at a time regardless of the time of day or night. As I knew I could afford it, I went out and did some shopping for essentials at Walmart late Monday night, getting some of the stuff I knew I'd need for the next week or so. I also, for the first time in a very, very long time, got myself a burger and fries in the Walmart's interior McDonald's. It's been well over a year since I last had McDonald's food. It's also the first time I've gone out to get anything, fast food or otherwise, since the former girlfriend and I split up. Some of my reasoning has been that I was busy and cash-strapped most of the semester, but the other part of it is that I really don't get out much, and that I've been trying to watch what I eat anyhow.

Of course, another big part of it is that I'd like to be able to get a Big Mac and fries at 6AM sometimes, but noooo, all they sell is breakfast stuff then. About the only time I would want an egg McMuffin is when I'm drunk, because that's the only time it would seem appetizing. I do, however, want a breakfast of burgers and fries. Because I'm that sort of guy.

Also, fast food places don't deliver. Which is another big reason I rarely get any.

Anyway.

With the last few days of break winding down and no more money troubles weighing heavily on my mind, I'm going to enjoy said days to the fullest as much as I can. This means I may go to the movies (alone, which is depressing, at least I'm getting out of the house), catch up on the TV series and movies I have on DVD (I started the first season of Community last night), and generally laze about. Today, if I can get motivated and/or caffeinated enough to do so within the next hour or two, I may go out to Alco for a little mini-retail-therapy trip before the weather gets really cold and nasty this afternoon. They have a lot of small items on sale this week, like tissues, soap, and shampoo. This morning, I also ordered a few books on Amazon (one of them for class) and a shirt.

This shirt. Which should be amusing for those of you who have seen Arrested Development. For the rest of you it probably means little to nothing. One of the funniest things I'll read all day was in the reviews for the shirt. It read "Never wear with cut off jean shorts." Which, again, is hilarious if you've seen the show.

Anyway. That's about all that's going on right now. I will update you, of course, when anything else happens. Fare thee well, my friends.