Sit up and take notice

Sometimes it surprises me, how much I can wander around oblivious to everything that's happening around me. Take today, for example. My brain was focused on all those things I need to get done before I leave, in addition to the pressing need to fax some tax forms for Christopher (whee! getting randomly selected for "Preassessment Review" aka kind of auditing, and being requested to fax a bunch of my university tax forms even though they already have them but they wouldn't be able to compare my forms with his before the 30-day deadline; yay! having to spend more money and still not getting his return yet and thus still not being able to pay tuition). (I digress.) My head was in a cloud of logistics and money.

I tried phoning Grad Studies this morning, because it turned out that I hadn't kept a photocopy of one of my needed forms and I needed to find out how to get another copy. There was no answer. No one in the office. On a Tuesday in the Faculty of Graduate Studies. At 10:00 in the morning. I thought that was a little strange. And so I took the bus to the university. The bus and the campus seemed weirdly crowded for a late Tuesday morning in June. I fought my way through crowds, wandering to the University Centre. I half-noted that there was a big display outside of the UC, where some women were selling roses. I sort of thought that was strange, because how much money could you make selling roses on a Tuesday in June at this university?

And then I entered the University Centre. And realised that I'd walked smack-dab into Convocation. Apparently, it was taking place in that building. The place was filled with parents with cameras, women in dresses, and people crowding around a big TV that was simulcasting the ceremony, for those who were in the hallways. And there I was, in my grungy hair, ratty runners and backpack, accidentally getting into the background of people's pictures.

At least there still was someone at Accounting. I got my form printed, as "Pomp and Circumstance" blared in the background.