Because you're asking

I received an email the other day from a good friend.  A text from another friend.  They tell me people are asking them about if anyone has heard from me and how I am doing.  Well, I won't lie and say that everything is going along as planned, but it's going well in general.

In terms of my health, I have been catching up on years of sleep I was missing due to apnea.  I had been diagnosed last year around this time with a medium case of apnea after having been diagnosed with a mild case about 10 years before.  Since it had gone to another level, it was time for the CPAP machine.  Even though I have had it for months, my usage was not perfect.  It would come off sometimes in the middle of the night without my knowledge and I would awaken sometimes 2-3 hours after it happened.  Sometimes I would put it back on and try to get more sleep, sometimes I was too lazy or I figured it was too close to my alarm going off.  I know that sounds foolish, let alone dangerous.  Since I left for the southwest at the beginning of January, the comfort of the machine has improved.  The only major difference now is having my internal clock adjusting to Pacific Standard Time.  It's as if while my mind knows it's 7pm PST, my body and mind still think it's 9pm CST.  Still, the quality of sleep has been better.  It would be nice just once or twice to have a good 10 hour night.

I have been doing more walking, but not so much for the exercise itself.  Most of the walking comes once I arrive on campus at San Diego State U.  The campus is much larger than where I went to school in my college days.  Plus the campus is not exactly flat.  So the grades I have to navigate can be challenging, let alone all of the stairs.  The primary mode of transportation on campus is something I am not planning on resorting to - skateboard.  You really have to be careful and keep your head on a swivel.  They are loud enough that you shouldn't be surprised by one passing, but which direction is it coming from.  I just can't imagine trying to get back UP the grades on a board, and I've seen the students do it.  Of course, the scooters are also popular.  There are actually racks for the students to park their scooters.  God, I feel old.  Do I sound like it?

Class is just a little overwhelming.  It's not so much the subject matter - Death, Dying, and the Afterlife.  The professor is good.  The students are in many ways beyond me in how they think.  They are what are known as critical thinkers.  This is not a skill I learned in my schooling days.  Most of them have been learning that way since 8th grade or maybe freshman year of high school.  They are being taught to ask "why" and be able to discuss what they are learning.  That was something I didn't have to think about when I was their age.  For that matter, I don't even really recall doing so at any level of education.  Now, I know I am not dumb.  I can usually answer a question without much problem, but I'm not one to ask leading questions.  Yet, that is part of how the class is being taught.  In other words, it's a challenge.  I did my presentation in the third week of classes (so that's done) and it went well.  There is just a lot of reading and writing now.  We have weekly reflections to turn in by Sunday at 11:59pm.  There are two essays too.  They are more difficult for me because of the researching involved.  The temptation is to simply resort to writing out my initial reaction to a phrase that catches my eye, but that may be at the beginning of a chapter and I would miss the rest of it.  I have to resist that and it's hard.  Still, the students are doing what I hoped for from them -- they are giving good responses during discussions in class.

Socially, I have not been myself.  It's been difficult finding someone to just hang with.  I am going to Palm Springs a week from today for the weekend to visit some friends.  That'll be great.  I really have not been able to find even one person I can count on to be available to even just sit with for coffee.  I have met an older gentleman at church whom I would like to spend time with, but I can tell he is very much in his own routine.  So while he is friendly, I think I will only be seeing him at church.  I even tried to go to a couple of bars thinking there might be someone interested in chatting.  I guess that culture has changed too.  The best of the bars were during the Bears games.

Well, the weather is supposed to clear up in the coming days and temperatures to climb nearing 70 later next week.  I hope so.  The gloomy days and chilly temps around here are NOT what I expected.  Still, it's better than Chicagoland.  Plus Spring Training baseball starts this weekend.

Overall, my friends, things are good.  Thanks.