Valentine's Day - blech

Not my favorite holiday but Catherine, Craig and I had a nice dinner at our local Mexican hole in the wall. I outdid Craig because I actually got him a gift. Usually he is much better at this sort of thing, but this year he came up with nothing which I said was actually a good gift because I could look good by contrast.

Today was also Sam's first filling - a rite of passage. He did just fine and got to experience that fat lip feeling for the rest of the afternoon.

Work continues to be entertaining.

We are down to the final stages of our search for a new chair. Three candidates were brought in and each regaled us with a scholarly talk and a 'vision' talk. On Thursday we meet to discuss their relative pros and cons and from the hallway buzz it is clear that people are feeling passionately, but not necessarily in a unified way (what a surprise). I am tempted to do a secret recording because I suspect serious gems will be uttered....

The search committee met with the staff yesterday and the staff were completely traumatized. The dominant committee members revealed their true hierarchical nature--we've invited you to share your opinion, but, actually, your opinion is irrelevant, because you are mere staff...

Our wonderful Administrative Officer remarked this morning that she hadn't realized she worked at Downtown Abbey and wondered if a basement would be excavated to which she and the rest of the staff could be relegated.

good times.