I've never been as thrilled to be yelled at by a superior than I was the other day when the dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences walked into a meeting and greeted me in this way: "hey! aren't you on sabbatical? you aren't supposed to be here!"
I told her that the sabbatical is next semester, and sternly but thoughtfully, she said, "I better not see you next semester then."
So it looks like I'm banned from our building in the last semester we are supposedly going to inhabit it before the big renovation starts this summer.
And that is awesome.
I'm spending a bit of time this week and next gearing up for sabbatical. I'm lining up writing projects, returning library books, cleaning up my offices, editing a double batch of book reviews, and generating a list of guidelines for my graduate students (though I'm waiting to consult with the traveling rhetorician for that last bit), generating a home improvement to-do list, and thinking about research-related travel. I also need to figure out what to do about email.
Tips and suggestions for a here/not here sabbatical are welcome. But yelling at me if you see me on campus will also do just fine.
