Day 12: Back to the Grind

Mondays after long weekends seem to be a little more low-key than a standard Monday, and today was no exception.

Having class in the afternoon meant sleeping in, and I took full advantage of the extra time. Still, I felt like I had left plenty of time to get to the Tube station, renew my Oyster card, and make it class in more than enough time.

The problem was, I couldn’t just add money to the card since I was switching from a weekly to a monthly pass. I had to fill out a whole new form to protect the card in case of loss, good idea in theory, but a rather large time sink.

Nevertheless, I made it with about two minutes to spare, which wasn’t enough to grab coffee on the way, but enough to not get a dirty look from prof. Murin before class, which is far more important.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a class feel so useless. Perhaps it was because I was watching the markets free fall as we were discussing the fact that the Vikings fought on BOTH sides of battle for about 25 min. (They were mercenaries, they fought for whoever paid them, it isn’t a hard concept). It could be because we spent over an hour looking at the middle English text for one of the poems, which exactly 1 person in the class understood (the prof), or maybe it was because I was still tired from the dead sprint between Holburn Station and the IES center, but it all seemed so irrelevant.

After class the decision was made to head back to Ye Old Cheshire Cheese for a quick pint. I was distracted, however, by the fruit stand by the Tube stop. A pound of GOOD strawberries and two apples for under two pounds is a great deal by any standard, so I was quite pleased.

However, I ended up separated from the group headed to the pub, and despite my best efforts, couldn’t connect with them. I’m still not sure how I missed them, but no matter, I wasn’t dying for a pint and it saved me a couple pounds. My knees and ankles were getting to me, so rather than hike back up to Holburn, I decided to try and find the closest tube stop. I managed to find Blackfriars, and the correct line, and headed home to Chelsea.

There was something very satisfying about sitting on the Tube reading one of London’s many free newspapers. I felt as thought I had conquered the city by not getting completely lost in an unfamiliar place. I hopped off in Chelsea and started home.

However, I still needed dinner, and decided to stop off at a different Tesco than usual, one which took me a bit out of the way*. It was busy, but I scooted through quickly and proceeded onward, albeit on a different route than usual.

*On the way, I was handed a brochure for a Chinese clinic specializing in the use of acupuncture for the treatment of, among other things, impotency. I think the strippers of Cardiff and this nice Chinese girl need to meet and decide if my issue is too much testosterone or way too little. I’m getting mixed messages here.

It was a very nice change to cruise through a different set of streets, even if I was only a block or two away from my normal path, and it gave me a different view of Chelsea. I saw at least two Bentleys on my walk, which either means they are cheap here or that Chelsea is even richer than I thought. I’m guessing it’s the latter not the former.

The evening has been quiet, marked by very little. I did receive my first grad school recruitment letter, and, in a marked shift from the letters I got in high school, I’d actually consider this school. Not that the schools that recruited me in high school were bad, its just that Tufts is a lot better.

I have, however, come to the conclusion that there is nothing solely good about the process of the future, and upon further research, I found that 1) I can’t apply to their PH.D. program 2) they aren’t all that highly ranked for their masters programs and 3) they don’t automatically fund their grad students. I may still apply there, but my enthusiasm was tempered quite quickly.

I was also invited to be on the Senior Gift Committee, which is an honor. I don’t know if I’m going to do it, as I don’t know if I’m going to do scav at all and if I do, what context I’ll do it in. I’m resolved not to have a spring like I did last year, when I lost a shirt size from a lack of food and an overabundance of stress.

As my desire to do, um, anything in particular after graduation seems to wane, I’m really wondering what I pushed myself so hard for. I’ve got a resume that includes major leadership positions in every organization I’ve been a part of, and a transcript that I should be proud of (I’m not, but whatever), but I’m still not sure I made the right sacrifices. I guess we’ll see in a few months.