Things that make me want to smack someone upside the head

Let's get real. While there are lots of things that make me feel lucky to be alive, there are probably twice as many that make me want to get violent. And since I'm feeling rather violent (but not dangerously so; you don't need to duck) right now, I'll share:

1. Children (well, one in particular) who doesn't go to school on time, doesn't call when she's coming home late and seems to do nothing but sleep and play on the computer. Oh, and ask for money. Get a job!

Gee... do I really need to continue...?

Let's start again.

1. A knapsack left in the middle of the front foyer.
2. Dirty dishes in the sink (when the dishwasher is empty).
3. People who hurt animals (but not people who hurt children 'cause, you know - see above ... just kidding).
4. Baaaad drivers.
5. People who don't play by the rules.
6. People who don't return important emails and/or phone calls.
7. Too much marking.
8. Realizing that, even though this semester will be much easier than last, I still have more students/classes than any of my colleagues in the department (which will, inevitably, lead to #7 above).
9. Students who skip my seminars and then give me a lame excuse. I was not born yesterday (obviously, duh).
10. People who say teachers only work from 8:30-3:30 and get all those vacations. Ha! You all know better.
11. Childish name-calling and swearing. I swear like a sailor, but Time And Place, people. Time And Place. (If you don't already know, that means sometimes it's just not appropriate - like in school, or in a restaurant, or at the hockey game, or in public generally. The right time and place for swearing like a sailor, in my opinion, is in the car on the way to/from work. See #4 above.)
12. Not having time to visit and/or comment on my favourite blogs. I'm here, friends. Honest.
13. An unfinished project with no guarantee I'll get to it in the near future.
14. Slow mail.
15. No mail.
16. People who stink up the bathroom and then pretend it wasn't them.
17. Thinking it's Friday when it's only Wednesday.
18. Not enough sleep.

And on that note... I'm off to bed.

But I'll leave you with a happy picture thought to try and erase (or balance) the nonsense above.

Taken at Orwell Historic Village, Orwell Corner, Prince Edward Island

Summer 2008