Summer is done

Classes start on Monday. Three months have slipped away. I wish I knew where they had gone.

To be honest, that's nothing but a series of cliches. It isn't the least bit surprising that summer has slipped away - we departed on the Appalachian trip just days after classes ended; after we got back I was back to teaching almost immediately; then we were off to Michigan, and just over a week later classes start again. The idea of a "break" during summer is an illusion. I suppose I should be happy to have the time off that I do - after all, in the "real world" people have to work longer hours with fewer breaks.

What would a "real workd" job be like? I have no idea, and no basis against which to judge. My only "real" job was the time I worked in the Herbarium in UWI, and even then I was supposed to be writing my dissertation when I got home, and doing consulting work on weekends. I have such an idealised view of the work world - on one hand, the idea that you are working continuously all day, pretty much tied to your desk for eight hours, and on the other hand, the idea that you can drop what you are doing at the end of the day and just be done. One seems to be torture, the other a luxury. But neither is realistic, I suspect.

So what is the "real world" like? Whatever you make it, I suspect. Just like life in academia.