MAJOR miscalculation!!

A horrible thing happened to me today.

I can hardly write. We've been together for almost 15 years, and he fails me now?

Yes, I am sad to report than my TI-86 let me down today. The decimal button stopped working!

I'm not sure how I can move on from my lovely 86. Should I simply buy another (can I even find one anymore?) or is it time to move on to another model?

Coping with Alzheimer's

"Reagent, you're here!" My grandpa stood up, a smile on his face.

"My name is Unbalanced, Grandpa," I softly corrected.

His smile was replaced with a look that combined confusion with frustration. He seemed to recognize that he should have known my name. He just couldn't come up with it on his own. My grandpa has Alzheimer's disease.

I can't dwell on it. I can't think of how things should be because if I think about how things *should* be-- I should be listening to Grandpa's colorful stories about WWII, not gently prodding him to recall details about his lunch-- I won't be able to deal with the situation.

And deal with it I must. After all, his father had dementia, too.

Flipping out?

If you haven't heard, Dr. Amy Bishop (for some reason it's really important to mention that she went the Harvard) is accused of killing three fellow biology faculty and wounding three other faculty/staff. Reports coming in claim that she went off after finding out that she had lost her appeal for tenure (after already being denied).

Holy crap.


I'm not really sure how to process this.

At LargeU, several faculty were denied tenure during my time as a graduate student. All went slightly nuts. One stopped teaching class completely, leaving their TA scrambling to fill in during lecture. Another went on tirades during the Q&A portion of seminars.

But I never thought it would get violent.

With several of my collegues coming up for tenure in the coming months, this recent incident is starting to hit a little close to home.

Let the games begin!

And by games I mean the start of our long distance relationship / two-body problem.

N.A. leaves in the morning (and by morning I mean 4 am).

Given how not in sync our respective faculty training schedules / start of classes are, we won't be able to see each other until at least Labor Day, if not later.


:(

It happened.

Today I found out that someone at work, someone I am very close to (called C), has cancer.

It's cliched, but the room literally started spinning when I got the email. Because the information didn't come from C directly, I don't know what to do.

Do I say anything?

What can I do?

Is it better to wait until C tells me directly?


No one in my life has ever been truly sick (with the exception of my great-grandparents, who died when I was really, really little.

I have so many things to do before I leave town, but I can't focus on anything. Even wrapping presents (which I love love love) seems overwhelming right now. And I'm out of beer.