Pity the Prof.
Even as I type this, The Prof is walking into his big three hour interview. This is the second interview for a job he really wants – tenure track for full professorship at a local college in their math department. He has to give a mock class to the members of the math department on a subject they chose for him, then go out to lunch with the faculty and get a campus tour. They’ve narrowed down the candidates to three (out of over ninety) and my personal feeling is that the Prof should be proud of himself for getting this far, regardless of what happens. He, however, has put a lot of pressure on himself, and I know he’s going to be very disappointed if he doesn’t get this position.
He has one big advantage over the other two candidates that I can see; he’s far more familiar with the latest in classroom technology than the other two are. He knows how to use the new “SmartBoards” that are becoming common in classrooms, he can prepare classes in PowerPoint, he designs web pages in mathematics for his classes. He was the only one of the three finalists to request a classroom with a SmartBoard so that he could show he knew how to use it, and the only one to ask if a computer would be available for PowerPoint supplementation. Assuming he doesn’t “nerve” himself into blanking while giving the lecture, he ought to come out looking pretty good. I’ve got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed for him.
ACfH has taken to following me around in the mornings as I get ready for work. It can get pretty damned annoying to discover that you haven’t closed the bathroom door fast enough and there’s a little grey talon-foot that wants to sit on your lap at a totally inappropriate moment. It’s also fairly heartbreaking to walk out of the apartment with ACfH sitting about two feet from the hallway door with her head cocked like a an Eddie-from-Frasier wannabe. This morning she was so busy being pitiful that she wouldn’t even come to the door for a final chin-chuck before I left. I felt like a heel abandoning her like that.
My boss announced Monday that he’s friends with a guy who makes Star Wars lightsaber replicas. My first thought was of those stupid plastic light-up toys that become fairly popular around Halloween, but that was definitely NOT what he was talking about. Check out Master Replicas if you have any interest in this sort of thing. They’re pricey, but wow, they’re neat. The brochure he gave me has a few things not on the web page yet, like Count Dooku’s lightsaber ($299.00) and a “working” model of Vader’s saber with authentic sound and light ($129.00). I wonder if my boss can get discounts with this guy. One of those Darth Vader lightsabers would really keep the cats in line!
If anyone cares, eight hours until the seven o’clock showing of Attack of the Clones. I’ve heard some very poor things about it. I don’t care. It’s Star Wars. I’m still a happy camper.
Besides, it can’t possibly be as bad as Episode 1.