Day 233

Never again will I complain about the heat of a North Dakota summer. The heat here is actually painful. To get an idea of how hot it is, imagine opening the oven door to check the roast. I'm sure most of you had to do this because the bulb had burned out. I had to do this because I never cleaned the oven window. That blast of heat hits you in the face and an automatic recoil moves you back a bit to escape the brunt of the heat. Now, apply that feeling to your entire body. But here, there is no way to escape, no where to run. Recoil all you want, but it won't do any good. Actually it makes it worse, as you're moving, making the sweat roll faster. Other people have said it feels as though the heat of a blow dryer is blowing in your face, all the time, over your entire body. I stand outside, in the shade, and it is so hot my ears hurt. I climbed on the roof of my office today and it was so much hotter up there that my eyes started to water. We have small birds everywhere here, either finchs or starlings. It is so hot here every bird you see is actually panting. (Of this, I am not kidding.) If they had long tongues like dogs, I'm sure they'd be hanging out of their mouths. I have been getting to work at about 0630, and it is about 85 degrees already. It's hitting temperatures around 120. And it's supposed to be in the 140's soon. They do not allow fresh eggs here, so I can't fry one on the sidewalk, but if there are any other experiements anyone would like to attempt in this heat, let me know.
When I ponder the great inventions of the 20th century, I always thought of things like landing on the moon, cell phones, the internet and breast implants, but nothing beats the invention of the air conditioner. When I get home and can have a beer again, that un-named inventor will get a silent toast and a word of thanks from me. (I'd toast with water, but it just seems tacky.)
On a non-whiney note, I have been in contact with advisors and instructors at UND about my return. I didn't realize how pumped up I was about my return until I read an email I had already sent to an advisor at UND. Please allow me to 'cut and paste' a portion of that email for you.
"I've been racking my brain over the last few days and I do not remember ever consulting with an advisor in the four years I attend UND in the 1980's. I want to ensure this time that my path to success is paved with the cobblestones of ensconced wisdom and not littered with the gravel of ignorance and indecisiveness."
I'll be the first to admit that I laid it on just a little thick. But you've got to admit, it's a cool sentence.
And then the reply I received confused me. The advisor suggested four classes. Four classes? That can't be right. Back in the day when I was a music major I had to take eleven classes to get twelve credits. Then I remembered that each band is classified by the U as a lab and is therefore worth only one credit. Never mind the fact that each band meets four or five days a week all semester, we still only get one credit. So if I only take four classes a semester, what am I supposed to do with all that extra time. Study or something?