Settling Down

So I have finally finished my month of transition and I'm starting to get into the groove of things here. I finally met with both my sabbatical hosts and I have a pretty good idea of both projects I'll be working on, in addition to my own personal research project. Oh and of course the book I'm co-authoring with Tom Herrmann. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. But that is what goes with the sabbatical territory, I suppose: I'm paid not to teach and focus intensely on my work. My colloquium next year, though, is bound to be densely packed with chemical goodness.

The apartment complex at which I reside is in a relatively new area of town so things are still very much well maintained. The complex itself seems dorm-ish; the crowd consists mostly of young 20-somethings. And it really seemed like a dorm late on Saturday night when one tenant very loudly announced her drunken state. Ugh. Overall though it is a nice place.

I have noticed, though, that the town has seemed to take on more of a big-city feel, and not in a good way. The drivers seem more rude than from what I remembered from my grad school days. In fact I would joke that they were "too nice", i.e., failing to honk their horn when they should have. While people still aren't leaning on their horn (thank goodness), they do seem to be less courteous in passing and speeding. I had thought that the polite driver culture was a larger part of the Nebraska culture, but maybe it is just a part of the small-town culture that Lincoln is rapidly outgrowing.

But I do immensely like all the things that there are to do here in Lincoln that I completely took for granted when I lived here. Such as the multiplicity of movie theaters. And all of the various restaurants. So far I haven't ventured beyond the occasional chain restaurant, but I will try more of them. In fact, I hope to have a semi-regular restaurant review as a part of this blog.

On the other side, though, I do feel quite lonely. All of the friends that I had here when I went to school are long gone; Gerry's grad students are great people but they have their own circle of friends and besides, I'm 10 years older than all of them. Those of you who know me really well know that I'm not the kind of guy who tends to have lots of casual friends; I'm more of the few-close-friends person. So it's hard for me to strike up a conversation with the random person. The insurance agent that I'm working with, for my new auto and renter's policy, is a real cutie. So far we have only talked insurance, and just in casual chit-chat she laughed at my jokes and funny stories. Is this a sign that there is some interest? Or is she just trying to get me to buy more insurance? I don't know. I'm so confused over these matters that I tend not to even seriously think about it anymore. From what she told me about her work and college experience she would be about 8-10 years younger than me, so the age difference isn't terribly favorable. Would it hurt to ask her out for a casual drink after work? Maybe I can arrange it that the next time that I "must" meet with her over insurance matters just happens to be 4:30 or so on a Friday afternoon. That is kinda sneaky but I guess that is how the game is played.

Oh, and just to let you know, while you are all on my mind here, Kat especially is in the foreground of my consciousness because I must pass this street every day on the way to the university.



Please write back with thoughts, opinions, comments, idle chatter, lengthy blatherings, or all of the above. I'd love to read what you have to say.