Selfish Sunday

Three of my four classes are going really well. Or well enough that I'm not overly worried about them, I guess. The fourth one is a bit of a struggle, but it's a topic that should be easy for me to teach. I've been over-preparing for it, which is generally not a good thing. I was hoping that this particular college would keep me on next semester, which is where my Horrible Thursday comes into play...

(Very) long story short, I found out they're not keeping me. That news was depressing enough (oi! wherefore is the money for next semester???) but the way it was delivered triggered another one of those smack-in-the-forehead realizations that adjuncts are not human beings. I've been treated amazingly well at my "primary" adjuncting job, and I had started to think - despite all clues otherwise - that it was normal to be treated respectfully. Uh, no.

I should add, I'm sure the guy delivering the news didn't mean to be disrespectful... it just would never have occurred to him.

So, rather than working my ass off for these classes, they are going on the back burner while I churn out both my conference paper and chapter three.

Back in the real world, there was an attempted raid on the house next to us, last night. It was totally crazy: first came the helicopter, which started circling our block. Then - rapidly - came several police cars and a SWAT van. Men in bullet-proof vests with big guns started jumping out of the van and taking up position in front of our house.

It all lasted about 15 minutes. Just as we were both starting to get a little nervous - I think it set in that yes, there could be gunfire - everyone jumped back in the van and left. I swear, they cleared out in 30 seconds. We have some idea why this would happen: our neighbors appear to be hard-core drug dealers. There have been a couple incidents in the past that suggest they may be much worse than that, too. However, I think they might be gone, now.