Let's Go Bowling.

So, on top of having two big projects to finish, preparations for other start up projects and probably the most important talk of my life to prepare before I leave for Paris in two weeks, we have been trying to sell our car.

Unfortunately, the car is partly in my name, meaning I have to relent my power of attorney regarding this particular issue. I first found out our car was being sold pretty much exactly one week ago. Had a I found out one week and a few hours ago, I could have simply taken the power of attorney form as it was to the American Consulate in Nice, had it notarized and been on my way. However, as it stood, I had to figure out how to print the form after being refused by my friendly French hotel manager, search the Nice airport unsuccessfully for a way to verify documents, figure out from the University what was the necessary process in Germany legally, find a German notary, get that seal approved by a German Apostille and overnight the resulting three page form, which was all done by Tuesday morning. Now, all of this added many hours of exhausting walking around, which on top of the shoveling dirt for my postdoc advisor left me pretty much wiped out.

The only positive thing was that the form arrived by Thursday, seemed to be sufficient and finally I was able to relax. Of course, upon going to the DMV today, my wife was informed that because in transcribing the VIN number onto my form I had forgotten one 4 in the number, the form was completely invalid even though there is only one Black 2001 Ford Escape registered to me as an owner with the obvious VIN number I had tried to include. They literally refused to transfer the title. Of course, I found this out near 5 PM here on the weekend where Monday is a German Federal holiday. So, I was able to actually get the form notarized, but it may take until Wednesday for another Apostille and yet again another overnight attempt with DHL, whose speed was not terribly impressive for the 51 Euros I paid them to expedite the process.

I feel out of sorts ... tired of being so far from home, exhausted from the hassles of living apart from my life, on edge from the levels of stress I have about my job and future, and despondent from the loneliness of being here by myself. I am just worn incredibly thin right now. Who knows how I would feel if there would have been a DMV official with a soul today, but really that may be asking just too much since bureaucracy stamps the soul out of anyone who deals with it, let alone someone who works in it. Let's just hope I can pull some semblance of myself together to get at least my two major projects finished and talk prepared for my two weeks in Paris surrounded by practically everyone in my field, including several collaborators, my former Ph.D. advisor, both current postdoc advisors and a host of colleagues who in the very near future could decide whether or not I get another job.

As the man says, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.