I’m slipping a bit, as I’ve almost let a full week pass between journal entries, but I suppose I can blame the first week of the semester for the lapse. I would give the start of the semester a “B”, no pun intended. I’m relearning how to teach, day to day, with a heavy (15 credit hour) load. My students seem responsive except for a somewhat thorny group of freshmen on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. That group is small and divided, at this point, but I have faith they’ll evolve. I’ve been slightly more social these last couple of weeks than I’ve been all summer, as far as my colleagues have continued, but I like disappearing into my office on the far end of the hall. I might as well live in Canada as far as most of the department is concerned. Tomorrow I have a 9AM meeting about some recruiting event. The rest of the morning I will devote to getting as far ahead in my classes as possible.

Despite the fact the Y has closed the gym for the annual gym floor refinishing project, I’m probably working out more than usual. This morning I ran a couple miles. Yesterday I rode the bike at the Y for twenty-four minutes. I’ve also been eating healthier, but I have to lose weight at a more reasonable rate. Over the past week and a half I’ve lost about five pounds, probably too much to maintain, and I’m probably not eating enough. Nobody can sustain that rate. This afternoon I had a couple of tacos, full on beans and all that, to regain some energy. Tomorrow Mary and I might hit El Ray in the afternoon. God bless Mexican food.

A Costco opened down the highway today. I visited after work. I was hot and somewhat agitated, after a long and frustrating afternoon, and Costco didn’t help my situation. That place is huge. I realize I could say I was overwhelmed, and you could probably say I was exaggerating, but I swear I’m not. First off, the parking lot was crowded. Second, a huge crowd had gathered near the front of the store to sign up for a membership. Third, I entered the store with my cart and had no idea where to start. Televisions? School supplies? Beer? What the hell? I maneuvered back to the fruit aisles and picked up some (“some” defined in Costco language as “probably more than I can eat in four months”) strawberries. Then I worked my way through the crowd and snagged huge boxes of yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, diet pepsi (36 cans for seven bucks, the lowest price I’ve ever seen by far) and blue chips (the kind you eat…not sure what to call them).

Social restraint was not present in the store. People gaped in front of displays with no courtesy towards anyone wanting to pass. Others stood in front of the “free sample” tables (of which there were many) and relaxed while I waited for their fat asses to get out of the way. It was kind of like a crisis situation but the crisis was a huge goddamn supermarket opened in our neighborhood and nobody knew how to respond. Did people expect to close at 4PM, never to open again? What the fuck? Is this not Wisconsin, where people say hi to each other and practically fall off the sidewalk to let pedestrians pass? How embarrassing for America. Anyway, I had to negotiate with the checkout guy because my card was messed up, and then I had to pay by debit card because the store only takes American Express. I was going to pay by debit card anyway, but the entire transaction confused me. Afterwards I hit the membership counter, where a guy (I couldn’t blame him, today was the store’s first open day) did something wrong with my membership, causing the women at the printing table to whisper how his behavior was “unacceptable” only to kiss his ass when he checked on the membership progress. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there. I don’t know if I’ll visit regularly. I suppose some of the big ticket items (e.g. the yogurt, which my kids inhale, was a great deal), but the stress wasn’t worth the trip.

I also got a haircut today. I look retarded.

Ok, off to read some David Foster Wallace. Did I mention I finished “Spook County?” More later. I thought I’d have a hard time sleeping tonight, but my eyes are closing as we speak. Good night.