Got my first test back tonight and was surprised to see it marked B+/A-. When I asked what this meant the professor said it was my grade for where I was at in the class, not the test itself. If I slack off the rest of the semester (and tonight was the halfway mark, rah rah rah!) I'll get a B. If I continue to participate intelligently in class, continue to do okay on my tests, keep up with my homework, and do a reasonable job with my paper, I'll get an A.
I was uncertain about how well I was doing because...well, because he's not checking our homework, for one thing; we never turn anything in so it beats me if I'm doing it right. And our study materials aren't coordinated. Usually, your textbook has all the stuff the teacher talks about in class, and lectures follow the chapters in some order or other. But not this class, nooooooo. He lectures on something, the book says something else and leaves out half the stuff he emphasizes, and the software exercises require us to have done independent study on the Internet in order to supply some of the answers. It's not a method I'm used to, so I wasn't at all sure I was "getting" it. Apparently he's satisfied, though.
Really, just being able to speak coherently in class is my biggest advantage. I don't lose sight of my point, or anyone else's, easily. I can steer a classmate back on topic in seconds without, I might add, sounding like a pompous ass. But only because I'm trying to not be the class jerk. In real life the pompous ass quality tends to take over. You may have noticed.
It's almost 11pm now and I should be thinking of going to bed, but I was forced to get a Diet Pepsi around 8pm just to stop my eyes from rolling back in my head during class so I'm plenty awake. Last night I was up until 2am without the benefit of caffeine, and I paid for it today but I honestly couldn't sleep. My sleep schedule is so whacked out. It's not distressing, not too uncomfortable, but I think it's strayed over the line from staying up a weensy bit late to actual insomnia. Part of the problem is I'm really busy right now and I have a lot on my mind.
Tonight was class, of course. Tomorrow night I have a field research session to attend in San Francisco. They're going to pay me $125 to talk for 90 minutes with other travel agents about our industry in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, plus, oddly enough, South Africa. I think it must have started out being market research for South African tourism but it's evolved a little. So that's cool, but of course it's A Thing To Do After Work. Wednesday is my hour at the shrink. Thursday I visit the other doctor to discuss how the new dosage of medication is working. And Friday we have volleyball after work, as well as Saturday, though at least I can loaf around all day before that game. So I'm very busy this week, and tired, and not on a sensible schedule at all.
Next week I swear I'm not doing anything after work except school on Monday, headology on Wednesday, and, uh, going to Las Vegas Friday night with Sei and Trish. Oh dear.
Okay, I'll rest in November. Really I will. Right after I finish my homework.
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