Checkout Time

I woke up this morning thinking “What time is checkout time?” It took a few minutes to realize that I was in my own bed. No more getting on the elevator to get to the ice machine on another floor. No more need to scan maps to see where I’m going. For now, I’m here.

It was strange to be away from computers for so long. Though we had a laptop with us, dial-up is such a drag. I barely managed to check in every few days, and didn’t feel right about posting so I didn’t. Met a lot of people, including some quite famous ones in my field. They were all friendlier than I expected. There is so much work to be done. I’m definitely moving.

And I’m suddenly getting nostalgic about this place. I’ve had my ups and downs in Little Rock, but this town is so much more than what most people think it is. It beats many of the places I visited hands-down, as far as being a vital community. And I’m also thinking about the professors I’ll be leaving behind, who have given me so much freedom at a time when I really needed it.

I know I’ll have to narrow my research focus a lot, and I’m not sure I like that idea much. But I tell myself that it’s only for a few years, and soon I can range far and wide again. It is so hard to contain myself, I’d like to blog so many things about the trip but I have a class tonight and too much work to get caught up on. I tell myself to take it one step at a time.

As I feared, my blog disappeared. So this is just a scattered way of declaring myself back in business, though I really must get some sort of priorities sorted out. I have two grants to write, a thesis to get back to, and a class to teach. Next week I have to go to Oklahoma, and the week after to San Antonio. Time is going to be increasingly in short supply. But overall, I’m happy about it. I like being busy. Not this busy mind you, but, with some careful attention to deadlines I can make it work.

I’ve not had to worry about checkout times much in the past, and now its all I can think about.