June: June 14 - June 22

June 14, 2017

Ugh…cleaned my house today.  As nice as a clean house may feel and look, it was a bad idea with me being sick.  Today, I felt like death…even with all the medicine I took and all my precautions, I struggled to get through.  Thankfully, the others were understanding, even a bit worried about me.  But I keep on working.  I have to.  It’s…in my blood, I guess.  I’m reminded of the phrase Stinky used with Sam Vimes in Snuff by Sir Terry Pratchett.  Hang, Mr. Vimes.  Hang high or hang low, but whatever you do, hang on.  Hang on.  So, I keep hanging on.  Hang, just so you know, for goblins is a form of encouragement, kind of like ganbatte for the Japanese.  Anyway, I’ve felt…a bit better, now that classes are over.  During class, I was doing my best to follow my plans and what not, but since I had to wear a sick mask(no one made me, it just seemed wrong to not) I couldn’t wear my glasses, so…at times I felt like I was struggling with anything reading related.  Today was very exhausting over all.

Not at full strength now, but the sniffling is down and while I’ve developed a raspy cough, I…can manage that better than all the nose blowing.  Still, dealt with lots of heat today and headaches.  I wonder what my students thought, as I kind of had to push through with manic energy or risk collapsing.  So, I was a bit manic and doing lots of grandiose gestures and joking along with the teaching.  Hell, maybe they liked it more.  At the end of the day, I made it through and I got home to rest.  That’s the important thing.  I have good medicine and I think it will help cut down on my sickness, so…finger’s crossed. If I’m lucky, I can get editing done either Thursday or Friday alongside just resting from the sickness.  I told some of the staff who asked if I might need a day off that as long as I can walk, I’ll be there for work.  It seems wrong to put the workload on others when we have so few teachers, so…I won’t.  Ever.  If I can help it.  If I can’t walk, well…that’s that, but as long as I can get up and move, I will go teach. 

Hang high.  Hang low.  But whatever you do.  Hang on.  Mr. Polees man.

June 15, 2017

Okay…better, but not perfect.  My snotty nose, fever, and exhaustion are replaced with a raspy cough, exhaustion, and headaches.  It’s a process, but I am getting better.  Right now, I’m carried by my own manic energy and when class stops, I want to hit a wall and collapse.  It’s fortunate that I have considerate co-workers, as they were able to help me get through the day in a number of ways.  Everyone seemed a bit worried that I’d make it, but I walked in to work, so that meant I worked.

The good news ends there, however.  I came home to try and hammer out the last bit of Wolfenstein because killing Nazi’s, however…wow…I have struck out a bit with my intended purchases.  As frustrating as Bloodborne was, I didn’t want to put it down, even when I was getting angry.  Wolfenstein, it was all I could do to not chuck it out a window.  And, it crashed in the final chapter, wiping my progress.  Yeah, I think not.  You made fighting Nazi’s a tedious chore, Wolfenstein.  That takes talent…and so I say, don’t believe the hype.  Play DOOM.  It’s way better.  I’ve got a small backlog of PC games to play, so I’ll probably do that over the next few days and hopefully this weekend, I’ll order some better games to play.

One more day, then I can see the eye doctor and learn how boned I am when it comes to medicine.  Or hopefully, not.

June 16, 2017

Tired and got stuff to do, so short entry.  I’m exhausted.  Had 2 observations today with the parents watching me teach their little ones, so stressed.  Finally recovering from my sickness, so that’s great.  I had yakiniku for dinner, which was also good, and the final episode of Villainous, a short series from Cartoon Network that I like way more than I should was released.  Life’s good, but I need to head into Sendai EARLY tomorrow, so…bed now.  Hopefully, I can see that eye doctor and things will work out.  Anyway.  Later.

June 17, 2017

Still coughing and feeling a bit weak overall, however life’s okay.  I had to get up pretty early to get a train to Sendai and try to find a hospital/clinic I’d never been to with my crummy GPS.  I managed to do it, but so hot, tired, and sweaty.  Weirdly, my healthcare doesn’t like preventative medicine, so it’s a chore to get my acyclovir.  I got a bit, however I may need to just order it online.  I think it’ll be okay and I’ll try it this weekend.  I wanted to actually go to a Mexican restaurant I’d heard of in Sendai, but it opened at 5pm, since it was a bar, so no go.  I spent the rest of my time in Sendai picking up stickers for the school, since they are given out at the end of each class.  We go through a lot of stickers, so I bought…what, 32 sheets?  I don’t know.  Taking the rest of the weekend to recover.  My plan is finishing Rakuen and doing one day’s worth of writing, probably Sunday.  I also need to order more games, since I finished/ got fed up with Wolfenstein.  I have a few on my PC to play, but I want Dark Souls.  So, I need to make that happen. Very tired overall.  I need to make time to get more photos off my phone so I can do some bonus updates. Also, if I’m going to be buying things like medicine and games often, I need to send some money to my account back home.  Probably gonna happen next payday.  Anyway, that’s all for me today, so…till next time.

June 18, 2017

Good god…well, I finally finished Rakuen today.  I got emotionally sucker punched six times in this game.  Even though I knew they were coming after the first one…jeez.  I say that any game which makes you feel is worth playing and that holds true for this one as well.  It’s…quite the experience.  Laura Shigihara’s music is bloody amazing.

Aside from that, I took a day to rest.  No traveling.  No sickness.  Just me and my games and my bed.  It’s been nice.  I also got to start Cosmic Star Heroine, which I kickstarted.  A great game.  Zeboyd games truly are the masters of the modern old school RPG.  It plays like cyberpunk Chrono Trigger with modern quality of life inclusions that help make it feel nostalgic, but also streamlined to perfection.  It’s a good time.

I also ordered some medicine online and we’ll see if it arrives.  Games have been ordered too.  When I finish CSH I want to play either Dragon Quest or Dark Souls…not sure which one, so that’s why I ordered both. Finally, I had a bit of a revelation while getting food.  This town is wonderful, but Hillsborough, my hometown, could also be as good.  Maybe if I had a bike?  I’m not sure.  I feel that the culture gels with me a bit better here, but…maybe a quiet town is a quiet town…and if you try to make it home, it will be home.  Not sure.  It was just a thought I had.

June 19-June 20, 2017

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Brand new week, but since we’re in a grading period, I have some of my extra time taken up with doing student evaluations.  It was a bit naïve of me to think that there wasn’t some grading and it is at least better than a grade after every class.  These journals are only once every 6 months.  Still, exhausting.

As for things staying the same, more critiques today.  Sadly, when you’re wrong, you’re wrong.  Even if you get critiques in a way you disagree with…when you’re the one who screwed up, there’s literally nothing to be done but admit your mistake and try to move on.  I hate that because I feel I’m the only one in the world who actually adheres to this kind of mentality, but…whatever.  I made a mistake about have gone vs have been which is pretty minor, but still annoying.  It was also delivered poorly, which…yeah, is always fun.  That throws me off.

I’m still having stressful moments where failure is at the forefront of my mind.  I wish I had my therapist here from stateside. I didn’t need his help after gaining perspective stateside, but this situation is a bit different so…it would be nice to hear his opinion on a few things.  I’m tired.  Tuesday is always my hardest day because of…reasons.  Though Wednesday is also up there which is…tomorrow.  Joy.  I do love this city and I enjoy life here, but it is a stressful job nonetheless.

June 21-22, 2017

Not much to report.  The weather is getting hotter and I’m a bit tired.  So tired.  The heat really exhausts me.  Anyway, I got a bit OCD at work today and have been for a bit, lately.  I replaced all the rubber bands that were falling apart on our note cards without being asked and I cleaned cups earlier this week without being asked.  I’ve started using more pictures in my classes, which have gotten a few chuckles out of students, which makes it worthwhile, but at the same time a few seem pretty listless and tired.  Can’t blame them, but it does make the lessons harder.

Bit late with my upload, but I hope to make up for it with pictures this coming weekend.  I have several saved up.