"From This Cup Of Bliss"

It's been a hell of a long week. For a man working three jobs, though, I notice I'm still damn poor. But come next weekend, I should get at least one (possibly two) paychecks, and that'll make things much better. In the meantime, OU apparently decided that they owed me $180 dollars and cut me a check for said amount, which mom deposited in my checking account this afternoon (thank God). So I'm good until next weekend, at least...though given the number of inspections and such not that I need to have done in the next week or so, that money will probably disappear very fast.

I've had this weird sense of impending doom all week. I don't know why or what it's from, but it's hung heavy over everything I've done lately. I feel kinda disconnected from the world around me, and that's really not a good way to be when you're teaching. I keep finding myself zoning out when I really need to be focused. It was especially bad at Huntington tonight, when I kept missing things the students said to me, had to have them repeat answers several times, and still couldn't quite catch everything all the time. Surely I don't already need a break. I mean, it's only been two weeks of this schedule, and this week's wasn't nearly as heavy as last week's.

Some of the kids at Accotink seem surprised when they find out that I share a lot of interests with them. They don't seem to be equipped to recognize the notions of "teacher" and "guy who plays Halo" as possibly applying to the same person. But apparently they actually think I'm hip...which I can only laugh about, 'cause God knows I'm about the least-hip individual you'll ever come across. Though I did apparently have a strong impact on the 4th period history class today when I went off on a twenty minute discussion of religious and political developments in Great Britain during the 1600s and how they applied to colonial development in the New World. Considering we were really only supposed to be discussing the reasons that people such as the Puritans came over to the New World, the lecture was probably a little unnecessary, but they all seemed fascinated by it (and this is a class we often have trouble with, actually) and kept wanting to hear more. The other teacher and I figured that, hey, at least they were interested in the subject matter, and it did relate tangentially, at least. So that was rather gratifying.

More tutoring tomorrow. Part of me is ready to hand in my two weeks' notice at Huntington, 'cause it's just such a drain on my time and energy. At the same time, it's fairly easy work, and it pays for gas and such (though this first paycheck will probably pay for rent and living expenses until I get a local bank account set up).

~chuck

Song of the Moment: David Gray, "Slow Motion"