This and that

My work computer has been in the ER for over a week now. I miss it terribly. It seems to have had a complete nervous breakdown and, as a result, needs extensive therapy and medication. The tech support guy is not yet ready to release it, although I go and visit my computer every day to let it know that someone cares. In the meantime, I'm sort of on pins and needles. I backed up everything a few weeks ago, when the computer was acting a little funny and my little scan disk and defrag routine didn't seem to make it feel any better. But until I get it back, I won't know quite how much I've lost. For example, I back up my grade sheet every few weeks, but not every single time I enter a score. So have I lost some of my students' grades, or not? And if I have, how bad will the fallout from that be?

In completely other news, this morning I was reminded once again of how clueless physicists can be. I was walking down the street towards campus, and passed a man I've often seen in the physics building, whom I assume is a professor. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, but muttered, "Trash!" angrily under his breath. I was rather taken aback, especially as I looked down at the emminently respectable black pantsuit ensemble that I was wearing today. Having reassured myself that I did not deserve that comment in any way, I turned around and looked at him. He had gone a few steps beyond me, then stooped down to pick up some garbage on the ground.