Novel Readings

In my all happy anticipation about getting back into a regular routine for the fall, including getting back into the classroom, I did not imagine finding myself the victim of a truly evil computer virus that somehow (despite my anti-virus software)  got so deeply into my little netbook that after four days of intensive care with our tech people, it has proved impossible to clean out. Today they are wiping the hard drive, and I hope to have the computer back by tomorrow. Thankfully, it seems that they will be able to preserve a backup of most of my files, but there will still be a lot of reinstalling and reorganizing to do before I’m back in business. As a result, I haven’t been able to do either much work or any blogging in the evenings–hence the sudden silence over here. It has been interesting realizing how much I depend on being properly equipped, not just for my own interests and personal activities, but for getting done the array of work tasks, from e-mail to class prep, that can almost never be completed during regular work hours. As a result, I feel particular strain on my regular work hours right now, which is why this post will be short! As if heading into a three-course term and picking up all the other regular duties of the term wouldn’t be stressful enough without this added complication… and as if dealing with losing what feels like my life-support system doesn’t induce enough frustration without people commenting, “well, you do spend a lot of time online,” as if I somehow had this coming to me for my risky behavior. Anyway, here’s hoping that my next post will be about books or teaching and this will all be behind me.