The Remains of the Pad

I seem to be suffering from some sort of paralysis whenever I take the time to face the idea of packing the rest of my dwindling remainings, because doing so acknowledges that it is real, that I'm moving, that I'm about to start what promises to be the most grueling year of my life in another state surrounded by people I don't know and perhaps won't be able to identify with. Packing makes it real - it means I'm giving up the Pad and moving to the Cottage. I can't seem to get the stone of dread and doubt and apprehension out of the pit of my stomach long enough to accomplish the things that need getting done...and my time grows ever shorter...

The University of Oregon

I must admit I'm a bit apprehensive about the switch from the University of Washington to the University of Oregon style of bureaucracy. There's something in the air here - the service is slower at restaurants, the drivers all meander down the one way streets of Eugene five miles under the speed limit. "Animal House" was filmed here, after all. And I'm living in a coven of hippies.

It began when the flood of packets from the law school began arriving at my Seattle apartment, each with duplicative and often times conflicting information. Then came the correction emails - two or three a day - to let me know what information from the packets I could actually rely on. My suspicions of the complete lack of campus organization culminated today after a visit to the University of Oregon Office of Public Safety - I wanted to buy my parking pass. They were unable to sell a pass to me now - not because I was too early, but because they don't have the passes in yet. They hope to have them in by the time school starts. Hope to.

But, I will give U of O this - I got more smiles walking from one end of this campus to the other than I must have in all three years at UW. There's something to be said for friendliness even in the midst of rampant lack of attention to detail.