The First Week

Well, so far so good. The first week back at school has gone smoothly. My four classes are all reasonable, and one of them actually looks to be fun.

Humanities for Engineers introduces engineering majors to something they might not get to otherwise experience; culture. We will examine many classics of literature and film, and are also required to attend "cultural events" such as live theater, jazz concerts, or (if justified and well-journalised) visiting a hookah bar. Also on the syllabus is a requirement to visit the Art Museum of Denver armed with oil pastels and sketch pad to duplicate a piece of contemporary visual art. The central theme of the course, acccording to the professor, is to explore what it means to be human and the human experience. It's something that can many times escape the mind of the engineer, who is posessed of creating new machines or chemicals or highways.

Beyond classes, I've been doing lots of bus driving, and looking for work elsewhere. I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to see my home this semeter except to sleep. Transportation has given me 20 hours a week of permanent runs, which means I'll be working at least that much. When special events like football games happen, that could easily add to my workload. I think I could manage that on its own, but I'm also interested in getting a job somewhere working with computers. The university's Information Technology Serivces department is considering me for a student system administrator position working on their UNIX/Linux computers. I would have the luxury of setting my own schedule, but to effectively learn my job I'm told I need to spend at least 20 hours a week in the labs, learning from more experienced people. And of course, I'm sure the Army will want me to start drilling again soon.

Between all of this, I hope not to get burnt out, or fall behind on schoolwork, or neglect my marriage. It's a heavy load, but with proper focus I think I might be able to manage for a semester. After that, I plan on leaving Transportation. They've been extremely good to me, and hired me back to my driving post with no questions asked when I got back from Iraq. I want to repay that kindness by giving them more than a couple of months of work and not leaving in the middle of the semester, but the stress of my current schedule might not allow for that kindness. If things get too dicey, I'll have to leave them early. I don't mind driving buses, but it sure doesn't bolster my résumé in the IT field.

In other news, Ashley's grandmother recently had to be taken to the hospital. From what I understand, she was going to bed and started shaking uncontrollably and felt very weak. She was taken my ambulance to the hospital. The doctor suspected that she had an infection, but couldn't determine what it was. She spent about 3 days there, and is now home with antibiotics. It was quite a scare for the family. We're still waiting on the final word, but she's stable at least.