I have been working mostly out of the house now since 2009. I wrote a lot about that at first but now it seems normal.
More or less.
The guys came to tarp the roof yesterday. Or at least to look at tarping the roof. Irene blew big holes in it, apparently, as we now have leaks in several ceilings. I will never see the roof unless I grow wings or someone takes a picture. I am not a ladder sort of guy.
Back up slightly. The insurance adjusters also arrived yesterday. In a driving rain storm that included a lightning strike that I think was right next to us. They (the insurance guys, from Kansas) declined to inspect the roof or anything else for that matter. They will return Tuesday (tomorrow) but suggested strongly that I get the roof tarped. Right away. Before they come back. There is a reason for this but I will get into that in another post.
One of the guys who tarps the roof is an old acquaintance of mine. The roofer is his neighbor who he dragged up here on a moments notice. Sean has been my pool maintenance guy for 30 years or so. He has done some other projects for me as well. Sean is a jack-of-all-trades. Owns a funeral home. Teaches. Does pools. Works his ass off and is a real nice guy.
What in the world does this have to do with working out of the house you may ask at this point? Fair question.
As Sean and his roofer neighbor examined the damage on the Rising ranch I told Sean that I planned not to teach this semester. He looked at me and said “Oh, that’s too bad. You’ll lose your socialization.”
It did get me to thinking and examining how my life has changed since becoming a “techno-serf” and not leaving the house very much.
There are a number of reasons why I have decided not to teach. The job I am doing has VERY long hours sometimes. Even if they are at home it’s a long day. I was using the days off from the regular job to teach. It meant that for very long stretches I got no days off.
I really like teaching, for the most part. Initially the problem of no days off was a decent trade-off for some side benefits. The teaching paid me. I got to take classes for free. I met some interesting characters. There were also more than a few students who were outright pains in my ass. And I have a big ass.
So when some circumstances came up and my full-time at-home job offered a bit more money and responsibility I found a replacement for the classes I was teaching and waved buh-bye.
How will this change my life? Sean is right in that I will probably not get as much socialization. This worries me about as much as social diseases worry the Hell’s Angels. For the most part I hate people. I like to watch them, write about them but mostly I could do without 99% of the humans I encounter. Being trapped in a classroom for hours at a time with some pricks that I would rather not spend a minute with is not my idea of fun. True the good kids out numbered the pricks. But the pricks were annoying the hell out of me.
I have noticed that getting out of the house to go someplace is a bigger pain in the butt than before. I have to shower. Put on clean clothes. Comb my hair. Sheesh!
When I went to school two days a week it was a big pain too. I would procrastinate until I had to drive like one of those maniacs I hate on the road to get there on time.
I am conflicted still about this. I certainly think I can go back to teaching if I so choose. Right now I am digging having a five day/night work week too much.
Jury is out. But if I was betting man…
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The Rant D’Jour is about mistaken identity. On a t-shirt.
The woman probably was just having a senior moment. I have many myself. I walk into…more
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