Beginning the new year with lots of ideas and a new sense of idealism for the workload ahead. No longer under special dispensation for pioneering a new subject, I'm facing an expanded timetable, and adjusting to head 2 CCAs while being credited as heading only 1.

There's nothing unusual about this circumstance: it happens in the working world all the time. Multiple jobs being handled by several people can suddenly collapse into 1 person's portfolio, and while the 1 person can cuss and swear at his new job scope, he can also be thankful that he still has a job. For me, I can also appreciate the confidence the HR allocation seems to have in me, and I'll do what I must to make it work as I see fit.

The only thing that worries me is that there is a strong work-oriented culture around me at the moment. I sense the last vestiges of mindless, spontaneous fun has left with Vince, thus bringing to a close a cohort of colleagues that made life interesting on campus. But, no, they've not left campus because they've been too playful, but because they've taken up higher responsibilities and moved on. Yup, we all eventually grow up sometime.

As for my current colleagues, they're still a great bunch and I dearly enjoy their company very much. We still make it a point to meet for meals and bitch and jest daily. They're still my inspiration for getting up early in the morning. But perhaps what I'll miss is that spark of wild, unpredictable, crazy energy that once made work such fun.

Perhaps it's just as well. It's time for me to grow up too.