thursday, february 8, 2001
no such luck

despite my plea, i am sick. it just started last night with a scratchy throat and today my ears and eyes are getting into the act. i figured this would be the luck of my draw. people in this house get sick and i am always soon to follow. this time, however, it didn't wait for to clear the rest of the house before snagging me. if it had, i might have made it through midterms before getting anything. apparently that was hoping for too much.

and, of course, the weather had to be typical california just to compound my misery. california in late winter-early spring can be very odd. it likes to change its mind and be thoroughly unpredictable. only summer can anything be figured as a norm: its hot - very, very hot (i just thank god we're not arizona hot, or death valley hot; but we're hot enough). this week, after a couple of really nice days, it suddenly dropped 30 degrees in the opposite direction. it rained on campus yesterday. today the skies are clear and it would be a really nice day IF there was no wind. but there is a very cold wind that is not only dropping the temperature mightily, but is kicking up all kinds of dust and other allergens to add to my cold. but the mountains sure do look nice. it is only when it is windy like this that they can be seen. on typical days the smog or low clouds hide them. today the range can be seen quite clearly, with its liberal dusting of snow at the higher altitudes. picture postcard perfect.

thank god i don't live there. 10 - 20 degrees colder than the lowlands and with snow. snow is great in moderation. the mountains do not know the meaning of moderation. winters are expensive prospects there and only worth it if you can escape school because of snow days. no longer being in high school, those snow days no longer apply. so i'll just deal with the wind and see the beauty of the mountains from afar.

midterms started today. i had one today, have one monday and have the worst one on wednesday of next week. hopefully i will be over this cold sufficiently by then to be able to take the test with a minimum of interference. the last thing i need is to take a midterm in a class that's practically killing me with a cold. blea. but i feel pretty good about today's midterm. got it done in 20 minutes, only 3 questions looked at all unfamiliar. so putting them in the probably wrong category with a margin of another 2 or 3 will give me a b on the midterm. we'll see. still waiting on the paper from that class too.

but sick or not, i think i am finally getting a smidge of my confidence back. let's hope luck swings my way and i do well enough to keep it.