little mercies

good vibe day. yes, again, not enough sleep, but the day starts off with what i always like, some semblance of routine. sitting at the garrick, opened by the francescottis who met at the LSE. i know if you're from the LSE you will probably laugh at me for romanticizing the Garrick, but it's really nice nowadays when the morning sun comes in. They also now have an early bird special and they make the best jam croissants in the area, and have a handy stock of bananas. there is also a nice smell of coffee and since i'm a tea drinker it's better for me. i go through my notes for class one more time before i have to stand up and perform. in many respects, it's infinitely better than the long bus ride home. the waiter also remembers my order.

not everything goes well. today my task is to teach the solow growth model. felt well-prepared for the equations and it's something where people can add value by showing it clearly. of course, i get a sense that business cycles and short run fluctuations excite people more. you know, associated with the stock market and all that, perhaps less abstract. the stronger students clearly enjoy this topic, because it challenges them more mathematically. but i confess, the weaker students were lost. could have done better. even the usually boisterous 5pm class was pummelled into submission. well, i know this lecture flummoxed them too.

back in the part time teacher's office, there is more joy all around. my colleague and loyal room-mate has just got into berkeley, which he felt was totally unexpected given his low GRE scores. it feels good, it feels really unexpected. and particularly happy for him because he works at HM treasury (and teaches part time) so he actually knows his stuff about macro, so it's actually interesting and not at all dry and theoretical listening to him. the rest of the room (me and someone else) consoled ourselves at not having bright california sun to look forward to.

sister turns out with some amazing results as well. so, it looks like today there's a lot of goodwill coming around.