Almost Spring Break

…and man am I tired.

It looks like my REU responsibilities will be less for a while, which is good, because I’m still the idiot-in-charge of the MiniFair (Department’s Open House) on April 20, and there is a lot of neglected work on that front to be addressed.

May I complain for a minute? I am tired of working 60 hours a week. Of giving up evenings and weekend days. I probably shouldn’t get into the low pay and lack of respect. Lecturing at a research university … stuck in the “female ghetto” (80% of lecturers are female). The lecturers constitute most of the women employed as permanent faculty in the department, the lowest paid, the least respected, with ever-increasing responsibilities. Am I missing what I should do to change the situation? My cynical side wonders how many of the men are just ignoring the situation entirely. We don’t have a discrimination problem, we just can’t find any qualified women. Right.

Maybe I just need to do less, but figuring out what not to do is tough. I will not do the MiniFair again next year. This is too much this semester on top of the REU.

In other words, spring break cannot come too soon. We planned 3 nights away camping in a screened shelter at Tyler State Park. Rain is likely one of the days we’ll be there, followed by uninviting colder temperatures. Not always nice to be outside all day in the rain or cold. We are wondering whether to go or stay.