First Day and CSI: Office

The first day of classes went well. What can you talk about, really, except the idea behind the course and the syllabus? That's easy if you really care about the subject, although I still heave a huge sigh of relief when the first day is over.

I also spent some time cleaning up my office. This is nowhere near the chore it was when I first moved in a few years ago. I spent a lot of time then with Windex and paper towels, trying to figure out what the previous tenants had done when they were there.

Those nuts and seeds in the desk: did they keep hamsters in there? Feed the squirrels? Or were they just really, really dedicated to some variety of granola whose wholesome rocky goodness I could only imagine by seeing those seeds?

The tape all over the desk: was this an elaborate Hallowe'en prank gone awry? Did someone have that many pictures to be nailed down? Had I inherited the desk of Les Nessman?

I know what they did for sport: threw coffee at the door. Or something. Maybe they crashed into the door regularly with open coffee mugs while on their way to class.

But they did leave me presents: a nonfunctional pushbutton phone, a phone book from 1990, and enough departmental interoffice envelopes to start a bonfire.