It’s odd not to be teaching. Pasadena City College started its winter intersession on Monday, and I’m sitting this one out. I won’t be teaching again until February 14.
Since I started teaching full-time eleven years ago, I’ve taught every semester and every summer. When we compressed our calendar and added a winter intersession a year ago, I taught that one too. One quickly gets hooked on the "overload" money, and since expenses invariably rise to meet increased incomes, it’s hard to cut back on one’s teaching load. Still, though it will be a pinch, I’m doing it for Winter Session 2005. Six weeks of freedom.
When I’m swamped with work, I often fantasize about lots and lots of time off. I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for a year. I do have a variety of small plans in place: to clean up both my home and work offices; to start (finally) working on some sort of a sexual harassment consulting business. But now that the vacation time has arrived, I’m at a bit of a loss, and I am in danger of frittering away my free time. (If I start posting seven times a day, you’ll know that’s what is happening!) So this weekend, I’m going to plan out the next month as best I can, leaving room for fun but also making sure that this precious time is not wasted.
Matilde the chinchilla suggests that if I were to take her out three times a day (instead of her normal two) that that would be a superb use of my time. So, off to that happy distraction!
The winter sessions are fun! SFSU’s started this week, and I’ve never taken a class during this small interlude between semesters. Thankfully I start a job on Monday, or this “sleeping in till 10″ routine would haunt me until the end of the month.
Ooh, vacation. Alien concept. I’ve been a contractor for the last 5 years, so the only stretches of time I’ve had off have been unintentional unemployment, my mother’s illness/death, and right after 9/11, when I wasn’t even sure if I still had a job (I worked two blocks from there, and yes, I did).
But when I had time off previously, between jobs when I had another one lined up, or in school, or whenever, I relished the free time and having no responsibility for that time.
I’m working on reducing my expenses, paying off my debts, and increasing my savings so I can retire early and/or go to part-time by the time I’m 45.
Hugo,
You deserve a rest…you are the hardest working professor I know. I was in your Winter Session Class a year ago, you are an incredible teacher, and according to all the postings I’ve been reading, you are a gifted writer too! __ Actually, you are brilliant, you simply MUST write books, articles, you name it.__ It is your duty, your gift to posterity, in exchange for the gift of intellect and wit that has been bestowed on you.
Hugo
I’ve just started visiting your blog from the UK.
I do know what you mean about the joys and problems of free time. I teach at a UK university college, and every summer I look at the long gap between terms and think “Wow, I’ll get so much done!” but I don’t and I get so frustrated
I do wish that I had found a neat answer, but I haven’t, I can just sympathise and hope that you’re proud of what you will have achieved by February.
all the best
Free Time? Urp, I’m a mom of 3 baby/toddlers and I’d give my left big toe for a week off. Seriously.
Enjoy it!! And know that I am jealous as hell.
Lord willing, Lisa, I will be where you are in just a few short years… and you have my intense admiration!
Hugo,
I’m confused….don’t you have an 8 yr. old son?
Uh, you’ve got me confused with someone else… no kids, just a chinchilla!
Oh Hugo, if you’ve got time off don’t fill it up with stuff…just enjoy the greatness of nothing. I remember vacation time…oh the sweetness of doing nothing. Like Zuzu, my plan has long been an early retirement filled with beautiful nothingness!
Hugo,
I would like your advise on the following: I’m in a telecourse where I never actually get to see or talk to my instructor. We communicate on-line, or he writes comments on our papers.__He’s actually a good instructor, except for the times that he makes up things to try and get his point across. I have a difficult time with this, sometimes I can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction. One of my classmates told me to attach more weight to the subject matter than to the words, but I actually think that I need to give more weight to the words than to the subject matter…..I’m really sorry that I discovered this telecourse, I’ve had problems from the first day, I’m just too gullible and naive for this type of instruction. I have a really hard time communicating with an individual unless I’m in their face, body language is so important!__ I thought I understood this instructor’s philosophy, but everytime I think I have it figured out he sends a curve ball. __ I guess I lost it, I don’t know where he is coming from, I don’t know where he is going, I don’t understand him. I certainly can’t take his class in the spring, and I guess I need to drop this one…..What do you think??