Perhaps it's time for a career in telemarketing

This afternoon I sat in my office and listened until I heard the door the the men's restroom open. The facilities weren't completely occupied and I didn't need to go so desperately that I was hiding in my office in case an accident occurred. I was hunting my prey, and trying not to look desperate while doing so.

After I heard the door close I walked down the hall quickly and managed to get to the elevators just as the door opened and my advisor was about to escape from the building. A productive elevator ride later I have another empty promise from him that he will read my dissertation proposal as soon as he can. I know it's an empty promise -- he's been saying this for the past four months now -- but I feel better nonetheless. This is what my grad student existence has become.

It's not quite time to throw up my hands and just walk away. I'll have reached that point when I start following him into the restroom instead of waiting for him to come out.

Signs that your children are on to you

I bought a small computer desk for the living room last weekend hoping that I'll be able to get a little more work done in the evenings after the kids are in bed.

I just finished assembling it using a flashlight and my best ninja silent construction skills because Bubba Gene has decided that he'll only sleep for more than 20 minutes tonight if he's in his playpen... in the living room... about 15 feet away.

At least it looks like I can type without waking the little guy up. I just need a headlamp if I want to read anything other than the laptop screen.


Princess Ana's moment tonight came after dinner. "Ana wants to go outside... and I don't need socks on!" The crusade to keep her properly dressed this winter has been effective, but it looks like she's planning on preempting any attempt to dress her now. If we can avoid the trip to the grocery store in a bikini until May I'll count the effort as a success. She's been wearing her bikini to bath time for the past week now though, so I may be in trouble there too.