my life

w00t.

Yep. I made the deadline. I defended Wednesday afternoon. There weren't many people there (more than I expected, though) because it was arranged with little notice. I understand what "defend" means now.

Nothing, really. It means sit there and discuss what you found and why you think it's important, then have cake and soda while you discuss your future plans, if any. The thesis "defense" is really more of a formality than anything else.

For me, the defense meant about six hours less sleep. I'm working mids this week. I worked 6pm to 6am the night before, drove home and crashed for about three hours, then got up, showered, poured myself a cup of coffee, then reviewed my material. I defended at 2pm (about an hour), then spent some time going around getting signatures, then finally got home in time to get a fitful 20 minute nap before going back for another shift. It was a very long night.

I have a limit as to how long I can go without sleep and still function, and I was well past it before midnight. I brought a good book to work to try to keep my brain engaged and thus somewhat alert, and I realized at one point that my brain had fallen asleep while my eyes were still open, because the book slipped out of my hand and startled me when it hit the floor. Back when I first got here, I remember nights during which I would be walking around, y'all...and fall asleep on my feet and in motion. I knew because I'd catch myself on the way to the ground and do a profound napjerk. It's frightening to be that exhausted.

On the way home this morning, I not only saw everything cross-eyed, but blurry to boot. I managed to get home safely--not much traffic yet at 6am, and most of what's out there is heading into town, not out of it. I fell into bed and was oblivious 'til almost noon. I had to get up again and go back to AUM to double check the measurements of my printed thesis.

This is all part of the little dance we do. They have very stringent guidelines on what they will accept as a finished product for binding. First, you can't use just any old paper. It has to be at least 20lb 100% cotton fiber 8.5 X 11 white and watermarked. As fate would have it, Montgomery has one apparent business supply store, and they have gobs of 24lb and above. While the 20lb (it's about normal thickness) is expensive (about $25 for a ream), 24lb is offensively so (about $23 for 250 pages). I ended up driving out to Prattville to find a box of this stuff, and you better believe I didn't intend to print an unapproved format on this paper.

The librarian measured my sample and gave it the nod. I brought the paper to work and made use of one of the outstanding printers here. Four copies: one that won't be bound which will be filed in the library archives; one to be bound for circulation; one for my thesis director (at his request); and one for...a personal keepsake, I guess. I mean, I have my research and the soft copy here and there, but I probably will wish someday that I'd put out the extra ten bucks to get a bound copy.

Tomorrow morning, I take them to the library, pay the binding fee and get the all-important signature that says I've passed the format/measurement test and paid the fee, then I return this paperwork for my final grade and ultimately, that invaluable letter that says I've completed all the requirements for the master's program. Without such a letter, I don't teach. The diploma won't be issued until August, and who knows when it will be mailed to me.

Thanks to my spending this week on shift instead of using it for the leisurely thesis defense and outprocessing and going-away luncheon I had in mind, I now have only five days next week to out-process Maxwell-Gunter and have all my household goods boxed and taken away. The movers will suck up Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday is my final out. That leaves Monday and Tuesday to get everything done.

I have a PHA--Preventative Health Assessment--scheduled first thing Monday morning. They take your temperature and blood pressure then ask you a bunch of health-habit related questions that most people respond to as though they were prefaced with "If you had the self-control you wish you had...." For example, Do you smoke? Do you drink more than one drink a day? Do you exercise at least 30 minutes three or more times a week? Etc. It is well-known that most people don't respond to these questions in a way that would honestly reflect their actual behavior patterns.

While I'm there lying to them about my habits, I thought I might try to make the appointment useful in some way by telling them about the strange stomach pain I've had for the past three days. I thought for a while that I was just nervous about the defense, but I didn't have any symptoms that would suggest I was anxious, such as lack of appetite and large clumps of hair falling out. Plus, I just didn't feel nervous about it. I also wondered if Mother Nature had chosen this month to be particularly unkind to me, but that one didn't wash, either. There's still the possibility that I am stressed, what with so much to do and so little time anymore. But perhaps I just have a stomach virus of some sort.

In other news, I had a realtor do a preliminary market analysis of the house, and it looks like houses comparable to mine in the vicinity are going for considerably more than I thought, even. This is always welcome news, and motivates me to complete all the "fix-up" stuff I can in the next few days.

I got a book list from my new place of employment. A fellow captain there was thoughtful enough to send me the syllabus and forward some of the books I'll be teaching in the Intro to Lit class, as well. I'll have one Shakespeare (my choice from a list of three), Beowulf, an Ernest Hemingway story, some British Poets, and random (?) drama/poetry/prose. Ah yes...I'll also have Beloved.

I'll start reading the pile as soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading FOR PLEASURE. That's right. I said it. I'll say it again: pleasure. 'Tis perhaps difficult to understand the sheer thrill of this until you've spent two or three years poring over books--mainly non-fiction--that you have not selected. I'm currently reading The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. It is an outstanding novel, in case you're looking for a good yarn.

Time to prepare for the morning brief.

d