Back at work again. That seems to happen a lot, come to think of it. Heather’s out today so she can work on her papers, and she deserves a break from all this insanity anyway. So I figured it’d be quiet when I got in this morning, but noooOOOooo. I forgot that the ISU women’s basketball team is playing some big game tonight, and since 98% of the department is obsessed with them, I get to overhear all the over-enthused conversations about “Oh so-and-so made MVP” and “Coach what’s-his-name got named coach of whatver” and blah blah friggin’ blah. Stupid athletics programs.

I almost can’t wait until I’m in the LLL department because they don’t deal with every athlete on campus and therefore (I’m assuming), they don’t have hour-long loud discussions about some dumb play or ref call or player’s score. I got Buster up and running as fast as I could so I could turn music on and try to block out as much of the conversations as I could. If anyone wanders in here to ask if I’m going to that stupid game tonight, the first thing that comes out of my mouth will be “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.” First, there’s the thesis. Have I gone anywhere else in the past couple weeks? No. Second, it’s a @#$%^&*?! sporting event! If I haven’t already made it abundantly clear to anyone within a five-mile radius that I hate school-based athletic programs, then they’ve been living inside a black hole or something. Third, well, that includes more raving about hating sports and that academics are more important since this is fucking college, after all. If they want sports, they should set up more intramural teams or join sports clubs like the ones they have in Germany. Go Germany–you kick ass! Fourth and fifth probably have something to do with both being tired and something else about working on the thesis. I have lots of reasons to not go to some silly game tonight, and I guess the biggest one is just generally that I don’t want to go.

So the headphones aren’t coming off at all today unless I leave the room to go to the restroom. I have caffeine, I have snacks, I have lunch, I have music, I have the thesis and other work to do–I have no reason to leave and partake in their “I’m an idjit sports lover!” conversations. It’d just piss me off anyway. And with the weather being as grey as it is and with me being as tired and in pain as I am (@#$%^&*?! knees!!), I don’t need to be more pissed off. More NIN and Tori it is. Dammit, more people just came in and it got louder. Time to turn the volume up. Ignoring people sure is hard work.

Thesis counter: 55/73       Insult of the day: rimailler ‘to write doggerel’

Addendum: I just found out that the game is taking place this afternoon, and because that’s in the middle of the workday and no one can really leave to go watch, they’ve dragged a TV in here to watch it at the office. In other words, just two doors down, a department full of people will smash into one small office to shout and scream and watch some girls play with a ball. I’m shutting my door the second someone starts yelling. I shouldn’t have to put up with this crap.