Stupid people broke into my car

Last weekend, someone broke into my car. It did not require a lot of effort on their part; one of the windows on my car is broken and does not roll up all the way. That's how they got in.

After that they seemed to some kind of a brain fart because they did not steal anything that was really worth anything. They did not steal my car stereo or the car seat for my daughter, both easily worth a couple hundred dollars. When they opened my trunk, they did not touch the box of collectible magazines, some of which are worth $50-100 each. Nope, the only thing they took was my old briefcase from college with my Sunday night gaming supplies; 1 D&D players handbook ($20), 1 bag of dice ($20-30), 2-3 miniatures ($10-15), and a couple of old adventure modules from the 1980s ($20-40) as well as some hand written notes and a couple of CDs with data saved on them.

It will cost me between $70-100 and some time on EBay to replace everything I lost and all I absolutely have to replace is the Player's Handbook and dice ($40). This is still frustrating because I had collected some of the dice I had over the last 15 years and they may not be available anymore. And the Player's Handbook is for version 3.5 and the D&D rules are updating to 4th edition this June so I'm going to replace a book I've owned for 5 years so I can use it from 5 more months and then buy another handbook. (That sounds a lot like the complaints I get from students regarding textbooks. Hmm.)

The truly disappointing thing is that whoever took my briefcase probably does not care about any of this stuff. They saw a professional-looking, black leather briefcase and thought it might have a laptop or Ipod or some other handy electronic device in it. Had they even tried to look, they would have discovered the case was unlocked and it was obvious that there was nothing of value to anyone who doesn't play D&D. But I lost in the case of some of the notes and hand-drawn maps things I had kept for over 25 years (I started playing D&D in 1980). So I've lost a piece of my childhood in the form of a town map I created and some character notes on paper that was once bright white but is now yellowed with age. And I've lost name badges and game handouts from events I participated in during my college years. Memories that cannot be replaced and have a value which cannot be measured.

Hell Week 1, Day 1

I have finished Day 1 of Hell week 1 at work. The faculty are all back and scrambling to get ready for classes. Everybody wants something and with our enrollment being down everyone is worried about whether their classes will go or if they will get switched or cancelled. The next three days tend to be emotional as you take classes away from adjuncts and give them to residential faculty whose classes are not meeting enrollment minimums.

Not much student interaction this week. A few students will turn in calculators they forgot about last semester or will come in early to rent one for this semester. Once in a while a student will be looking for a signature to skip a class and I'll need to send them to a faculty member.

We have seen a steady decline in our enrollment over the last 6 or 7 semesters. The decline has been especially noticeable in our daytime classes. Our evening classes have been mostly holding their own and the parking lot if full a night when I leave. But most of our residential faculty teach daytime classes and when they have to cancel a class an adjunct losses a class and is sometimes put out of work completely.

The adjuncts who have full time jobs and teach for us part-time for extra money I do not feel so bad for. It's the retirees and other adjuncts where this is their primary or only source of income that I feel bad for. That is what makes this an emotional week, at least for me. Hopefully we'll have some better news for the remainder of the week.

Hi!

I thought I would start a blog just to put down random thoughts when I have them. My wife is saying"2008? It's gonna be great!" It's a year that will hopefully see more good times and some positive changes.

First up is my daughter's birthday. She turns three on January 10th but we will have the party on Sunday the 13th. It will be the first big event we've had at our new house and it should be fun with a mix of family and friends in attendance. I'm a little nervous because friends and family don't always mix well together. For that matter, family does not always mix well but we're expecting good things this time around.

Elizabeth was almost overwhelmed with Christmas and we're hoping for more of the same on her birthday. We tend to spoil her and this will be no different. At times, I wonder if we're not very good parents but she is so happy, charming, and well-behaved most of the time that I don't stress about it often. Still...

After looking at the last two paragraphs, it would seem like I worry about a lot of things I have no control over. So maybe I shouldn't worry. Most of the time it does not feel like I worry but maybe the secret "me" is worrying when I'm not. Now I'm worrying about worrying. Ahhh! Enough for now.