grading frustration; time dwindles but "Things to Do" does not.

I finished preparing for Monday and Tuesday lectures already, but to my discredit they are exam review days. Maybe my class should have more exams, so I don't have to prepare as much.

Nah. Too much grading and too often. Nobody would be happy, then.

Speaking of which, grading homework went all right, though I could swear that reading typed non-LaTeX math is hurting my eyes. I've told my students not to type their computations over and over again; it's hard to read and typing lines of calculations wastes their time and mine.

But do they listen? Oh no.

It is like reading the output from a T1-83 calculator, line by line, and it is quickly pissing me off. If my vision gets worse (and I can't afford to have it grow worse) then I swear I'm going to kill somebody.

Never mind. Moving on ..

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Perhaps it was an unwise idea to meet my advisor on Tuesday. It's only a difference of two days (as you might remember, Thursdays are our usual meeting days) but the list of "Things to Do" isn't shrinking very quickly and I can't seem to get all of this done:

.. writing up my results,

.. reading parts of papers which I've mentioned before,

.. looking up some semi-classical stuff
    (smooth extensions of maps on spheres)

.. looking ahead to see what I should prove next,

.. desperately looking for time I can spend on prelim reading ..

Argh. The work is going well, but there seems so much of it. It's like being in a relationship with a jealous, high-maintenance partner. She will take all your time away and you have none to spend with friends or family. You may relent to her wishes, but she'll only demand more and more from you.

Huh. That sounds familiar: maths already do that to my life. Better put, maths dominate my existence.

I wouldn't call it a "life," or at the very least, it doesn't seem much of one. When one starts to divide the day into work time and non-work time, then something seems to have gone horribly wrong. For instance, you may start to believe that you are better suited as a machine. Thinking about it now, I'm amazed that I even wrote that, though I don't doubt the conclusion.

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Oh well. I'll finish what I can. There are plenty of weeks before end of term, and plenty of terms before I start panicking about defending and graduating. Plenty of time for work.