Burn Out

I just got back from a walk across campus, and everyone looks very burnt out. With finals starting tomorrow, and grades due soon after that, it has been rough and the heavy work load will continue. But it seems everyone is extra depressed. I spoke briefly about this with a colleague, who thought it might be due to our new schedule, which only gives us three weeks off for Christmas break. It will go by very fast. One of those weeks for me will be in Omaha visiting relatives. That leaves very little time to get all the other things finished, such as publishing, preparing the new syllabi, and finishing up various loose ends. I think I need a cheap boat, so that once every few months I could just go hang out in the water with my dogs and kids and just relax a bit. Maybe I'd bring along some beer too.