As promised: pictures and adventures!
My dad and I set out from Moline, IL on July 22. That night, we stopped in Mitchell, SD. At the Corn Palace. But we forgot that camera. Anyway, I was really pleasantly surprised by the Corn Palace. It's basically a working civic center: the high school and local college play basketball there, and there are also concerts. But, in addition to this, there are there great murals all over the building made from corn cobs. It's really cool folk art.
The next day, we headed out again. For the most part, our drive was uneventful. Except when I hit a bird in my car. It didn't hurt the car, but Jesus.... Birds in South Dakota are dumb. That was the lesson the learned. But by the afternoon, we had made it across South Dakota, where we checked out the Badlands. It was stunning. And hot.
This is me, at the Badlands. It's hard to tell here, but I'm out on an outcropping. To a normal person, this would not be a big deal. But I don't really like heights. I may look "happy" here, but inside: I am shitting the brick.
After the Badlands, we also checked out Mount Rushmore. Which is neat, but sort of underwhelming. I mean: it's heads. And you know. That's it. Heads. The drive through the Black Hills was really pretty though, and worth it.
After leaving Mt Rushmore, we weren't sure we could push through all the way to Helena. But we drove, and the GPS let us down. The GPS did get us where we were going, but it took us off the interstate and onto two lane highways. Which I guess was OK. But it was kind of spooky. First, we hit a HUGE construction zone, where we had to wait for thirty minutes before a "pilot car" came to lead us through the work zone. Then, as it got darker, we passed through the reservation. I'm not sure I've even been anywhere quite so desolate. There was just *nothing.* No lights, you'd go minutes without seeing another car, shitty cell phone reception. It was strange and surreal but pretty. And more than a little sad really.
That day was a long day. We passed through a small towns, but no place we really wanted to stop - and we're not even picky travelers honestly. Instead, we pushed all the way through to Billings. We rolled in around midnight, and stopped at the first hotel we found. Which was our big mistake of the whole trip. The only room they had was a smoking room, and I basically didn't sleep all night. Then, I woke the next morning with some minor gastrointestinal issues.
But I took some Imodium, and we pushed onward. The drive from Billings to Helena is really gorgeous and fun, going through the mountains up winding roads. By lunch on the third day, we made it to Helena. That was Friday. On Saturday, the movers arrived early and were gone by noon. Everything arrived, and we only lost one glass. That's a win.
While my dad was here, we mostly spent our time getting the place set up. But we had some fun. We saw Harry Potter (which was excellent). We took a drive on Highway 12, and checked out some scenery. We also went through another intense construction site, where the road was actaully *gone* and we were driving on dirt.
One day, another member of the department took us out on the Missouri River. It was really pretty.
On the whole, it was really a good time. It was great to hang out with my dad, eat good, and see some really cool stuff. I was really sad when he had to leave. More and more, I'm aware that he's getting .... well, old. We have a few more adventures left, for sure. But you know .... not quite so many as we used to. I wish my wife was here with me. But I really appreciate that my dad and I got to do this.
Oh, and this the view from my office (it was a bit hazy that day, but still):
Things right now are good. I'm working on my class preps. Orientation is in a couple of weeks. I went to the farmer's market and got beets. I went to a department cookout last weekend, and the other day had pizza with the other junior faculty and his wife. I'm startling to feel settled in you know? Oh, and I'm working on getting an article out. I've done some data work to it that's changed some of my findings - which is frustrating, but now it's right. But on the bright side, an early version I sent out got a good response from the editors. They want me to change some things before they sent it out for actual review, but they seem optimistic (hope they remain optimistic after I change some of the findings....but we shall see, someone will take it I think).
So, things are good. There have been some rough patches. Once in a while, I am definitely home sick. I miss Chicago, and my family. I miss being at a Big Important University. I worry that choosing teaching/employment over "Big Time Research" was a mistake. All that crap. And finding out I had goofed some data work earlier in this week didn't help my mood.
I think this will pass though. When I started grad school, I felt the same way - that I was out of my league, I had made a mistake etc. But I fell into it. Also, I'm pretty sure a place like this (small liberal arts school) is the right place for me. I'm also not sure I would thrive at a research school. I like research, but that pace of work would burn me out - and stress me out. It would feel like grad school, and I want to be done with that. I want to just, you know, *work* (read: teach). I want to do my work, but if it's a "once a week"and "summers" thing, I think I'll like that - I'll relish it more. Plus, I'm really enjoying doing lesson plans: trying to structure questions and discussion topics, talking about things I care about etc. That's fun. Plus, this doesn't have to be forever. If I teach hard, and keep a research agenda going - there's no reason I can't do this for a while and move on to someplace else la er. It will never be Yale, but it could be someplace good nonetheless (and who wants to live in New Haven anyway?
). Mostly, I'm just overwhelmed with change right now. It's almost all good, but it doubt does hit me in the gut on occasion.
Anyway, that ends the whining portion of today's journal. Be good, y'all.
My dad and I set out from Moline, IL on July 22. That night, we stopped in Mitchell, SD. At the Corn Palace. But we forgot that camera. Anyway, I was really pleasantly surprised by the Corn Palace. It's basically a working civic center: the high school and local college play basketball there, and there are also concerts. But, in addition to this, there are there great murals all over the building made from corn cobs. It's really cool folk art.
The next day, we headed out again. For the most part, our drive was uneventful. Except when I hit a bird in my car. It didn't hurt the car, but Jesus.... Birds in South Dakota are dumb. That was the lesson the learned. But by the afternoon, we had made it across South Dakota, where we checked out the Badlands. It was stunning. And hot.
This is me, at the Badlands. It's hard to tell here, but I'm out on an outcropping. To a normal person, this would not be a big deal. But I don't really like heights. I may look "happy" here, but inside: I am shitting the brick.
After the Badlands, we also checked out Mount Rushmore. Which is neat, but sort of underwhelming. I mean: it's heads. And you know. That's it. Heads. The drive through the Black Hills was really pretty though, and worth it.
After leaving Mt Rushmore, we weren't sure we could push through all the way to Helena. But we drove, and the GPS let us down. The GPS did get us where we were going, but it took us off the interstate and onto two lane highways. Which I guess was OK. But it was kind of spooky. First, we hit a HUGE construction zone, where we had to wait for thirty minutes before a "pilot car" came to lead us through the work zone. Then, as it got darker, we passed through the reservation. I'm not sure I've even been anywhere quite so desolate. There was just *nothing.* No lights, you'd go minutes without seeing another car, shitty cell phone reception. It was strange and surreal but pretty. And more than a little sad really.
That day was a long day. We passed through a small towns, but no place we really wanted to stop - and we're not even picky travelers honestly. Instead, we pushed all the way through to Billings. We rolled in around midnight, and stopped at the first hotel we found. Which was our big mistake of the whole trip. The only room they had was a smoking room, and I basically didn't sleep all night. Then, I woke the next morning with some minor gastrointestinal issues.
But I took some Imodium, and we pushed onward. The drive from Billings to Helena is really gorgeous and fun, going through the mountains up winding roads. By lunch on the third day, we made it to Helena. That was Friday. On Saturday, the movers arrived early and were gone by noon. Everything arrived, and we only lost one glass. That's a win.
While my dad was here, we mostly spent our time getting the place set up. But we had some fun. We saw Harry Potter (which was excellent). We took a drive on Highway 12, and checked out some scenery. We also went through another intense construction site, where the road was actaully *gone* and we were driving on dirt.
One day, another member of the department took us out on the Missouri River. It was really pretty.
On the whole, it was really a good time. It was great to hang out with my dad, eat good, and see some really cool stuff. I was really sad when he had to leave. More and more, I'm aware that he's getting .... well, old. We have a few more adventures left, for sure. But you know .... not quite so many as we used to. I wish my wife was here with me. But I really appreciate that my dad and I got to do this.
Oh, and this the view from my office (it was a bit hazy that day, but still):
Things right now are good. I'm working on my class preps. Orientation is in a couple of weeks. I went to the farmer's market and got beets. I went to a department cookout last weekend, and the other day had pizza with the other junior faculty and his wife. I'm startling to feel settled in you know? Oh, and I'm working on getting an article out. I've done some data work to it that's changed some of my findings - which is frustrating, but now it's right. But on the bright side, an early version I sent out got a good response from the editors. They want me to change some things before they sent it out for actual review, but they seem optimistic (hope they remain optimistic after I change some of the findings....but we shall see, someone will take it I think).
So, things are good. There have been some rough patches. Once in a while, I am definitely home sick. I miss Chicago, and my family. I miss being at a Big Important University. I worry that choosing teaching/employment over "Big Time Research" was a mistake. All that crap. And finding out I had goofed some data work earlier in this week didn't help my mood.
I think this will pass though. When I started grad school, I felt the same way - that I was out of my league, I had made a mistake etc. But I fell into it. Also, I'm pretty sure a place like this (small liberal arts school) is the right place for me. I'm also not sure I would thrive at a research school. I like research, but that pace of work would burn me out - and stress me out. It would feel like grad school, and I want to be done with that. I want to just, you know, *work* (read: teach). I want to do my work, but if it's a "once a week"and "summers" thing, I think I'll like that - I'll relish it more. Plus, I'm really enjoying doing lesson plans: trying to structure questions and discussion topics, talking about things I care about etc. That's fun. Plus, this doesn't have to be forever. If I teach hard, and keep a research agenda going - there's no reason I can't do this for a while and move on to someplace else la er. It will never be Yale, but it could be someplace good nonetheless (and who wants to live in New Haven anyway?
). Mostly, I'm just overwhelmed with change right now. It's almost all good, but it doubt does hit me in the gut on occasion.Anyway, that ends the whining portion of today's journal. Be good, y'all.
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
Glad you're settling in.