I am inordinately cranky, and I, like meara, have been needing tons and tons of sleep. I had one day/night that was like your recent one. And since then I thought I'd get my schedule upside down, but no, still exhausted. I've needed to nap pretty much every day and I've still felt like ass afterwards. Not sick, just wiped. What is that all about?

Winter? I mean, we don't even have real winter here, but I'm more tired and more carbohydrates craving.

Yeah, Liese and Shir, that is winter stuff.

I am still out and kind of drunk at a bar owned by a New Orleanian. Dancing was awesome.

smonster, you made me smile. Also, what is this motivation you speak of, and where can I get some?

Yeah, I dunno.

Hey, P-C!! Nilly me the link to your review of House of Leaves, will you? Need to email it to someone.

Yay having fun Smonster! I did go to the show and dinner with friends was yay too. But am home now and the whole place stinks. WTF was the roomie up to???

Eta: roomie says he smudged with sage. Bleh. One more reason for me not to be a hippie.

Agree that that sounds like a winter thing, Liese. Have you tried a light box? The Girl and I love ours. They're quite expensive, but so worth it.

Someone tripped the wrong fucking snowflake.

That is such an great statement, Buffista-style, that I might have to put it on my wall and look at it when either the PhD or the activism is getting me down.

Seska, can you get a student assistant through the university? I don't know if you have anything like work-study there.

One of my study assistants (paid for from a different fund) is a student. But they still need paying - the student voluntary programmes on campus only work at large organisations, e.g. at the local hospital. I should look into whether there might be possibly be any local volunteers available, if I can't sort out the government agency stuff. Good idea - thanks. The other possibility, which is most likely, is that I'll pay £20 out of my £30-an-hour pay to fund an assistant myself. If that's the only way I can teach the class I committed to teaching, I'll have to do it.

The music was mostly 80s with a smattering of hip hop. Was out with friends of mine from bellydance. Home now. Drank an Abita Purple Haze just because I could. Bar owned by New Orleanian is new fave bar with bar where we danced a close second. Pronouns lost.

Fuck, Seska, that totally sucks.

Hey, P-C!! Nilly me the link to your review of House of Leaves, will you? Need to email it to someone.

Ha, I was just showing that to my brother's GF. Hope your friend enjoys it.

It could have been me. Was Jeeves having continued accidents after a UTI was resolved?

Oh, yes. Very much so.

Seska, that is appalling.

I should look into whether there might be possibly be any local volunteers available, if I can't sort out the government agency stuff. Good idea - thanks.

My thought was perhaps you could offer some kind of incentive to students in the class to entice and reward them. Depending on how much assistance you need it might be as little as a candy bar, or as big as a meal that isn't school food (home cooked or otherwise, and depending on how many students are stuck living at the Uni as well as how good the school food is there) - and have them take turns.

I don't suppose it would be possible to persuade the uni to give extra course credit to a single student from the class who might be persuaded to assist on a regular basis? If I were in charge of the world, that would be totally practical. But many forms of bureaucracy would be utterly unable to handle it, and your uni has shown itself to be less helpful than we'd like.