Waking at 3:30

For a moment I thought I was back teaching at Etown, when I would get up at 3:30 am and start pouring coffee down my throat.

Well, last night was one of those.  Nightmarish memories!  Anyway, I couldn't get back to sleep, though I had no cases to prep or grade.  The minutes slowly crawled by until daylight started showing its face around 7:30.  By then I already had five cups of coffee.  Now I am totally caffeinated.  Almost time to head to campus.

I have not posted anything in the last little while, so I thought perhaps in my deeply caffeinated state I should provide an update.  Yes, I'm still hanging in there, still LOVING this cold.  Haha.

As you know, I've been thinking about what I'll do after I'm done with this degree thing.  If all goes well, I should be done by May 2021.  I know, it's only three years, and that's because they gave me enough credits etc.  So I have been looking into options after that.

I thought about law school.  But seriously, at 20K a year tuition, it seems kind of crazy to spend that kind of money on something for fun.  I mean, I'd much rather go to the UK every year and stay at the Savoy and eat at Gordon Ramsay.  EVERY YEAR FOR THREE YEARS!

Recently I came across a M Ed. degree they offer here at UOttawa.  That's an option.  Attended an online info session, and it sounded interesting.  I might try for that.

Of course I can also consider another undergrad degree.  Maybe this time in the social sciences.  Sociology could be cool.  I will look into that too.

I don't really have that many choices of graduate degrees to do at UOttawa, if I want to stay at the same university.  Most of their graduate degrees require at least passive fluency (i.e. be able to read, etc.) in French if you take the English stream.  And pardon my French, fuck that.

I could go to Carleton, but it's a bit far from me so I can't walk there.  And besides, I really really really LOVE UOttawa.  I think it's my favourite university so far.  And that says a lot considering how many I've studied at.

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Taking this course on International Human Rights.  The topic is interesting.  But as I got into it, I note just how meaningless the whole thing is.  Sure, it's better than not promoting human rights, I suppose.  But realistically, it's kind of futile.  I am a political realist.  And the reality, at least to me, is that the major powers can do whatever they like, and if you don't like it, well, fuck you.

I don't need to recount all the human rights travesties that take place around the world.  We all know them.  But unless the shit happens in some tiny powerless country which no one has a vested interest in, nothing will ever be done about it.  You can have all the human rights treaties you want, but unless there is real enforcement, what's the point.  It's just those fucking cell phone laws in the US, except for NJ.  No one enforces them.  So why bother?

We have to write a term paper for that course.  That's what I will write about.  Probably not a good idea, since the prof will be expecting cheerleaders for international human rights etc.  Not someone who says it's useless.  So I am (again) gambling that this won't kill my grade, like it did in a history class a couple of semesters back  (when you argue that Churchill was actually a peacemaker...).  Oh well, as Stephen King said, "a man who's not true to himself gets constipated."

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But school is actually really fun.  I learn so many things I didn't know about.  Things that we should know as active citizens of the world.  So, the adventure continues.  Stay tuned!