Always Evolving

Good afternoon everyone.  Yes, I know that I'm a little late today, and that's after being a little late yesterday.  As I try to straighten out my dysfunctional sleep schedule that I described earlier in the week, my first nap has extended into the 10:30 a.m./11:00 a.m range, so now I'm getting about 4 hours of sleep just a few hours after arriving home from work, and then sleeping another 4 to 4 1/2 hours before I go back to work (do not try this at home folks)...  Tonight promises to be a very interesting night at work as daylight savings time is upon us once again.  Remember to set your clocks back one hour before you go to sleep tonight.  This time change means that we will be open for an extra hour tonight.  The bars in San Marcos, America have to close no later than 2 a.m., but tonight when it becomes closing time..., "HEY, just kidding, we're going to be open for another hour..."  Outstanding...  :)

With my new blogging schedule, today is San Marcos/Texas State day.  I wanted to write a little bit more about Texas State University today because last Saturday was a brief overview of all of San Marcos, America, including the university.  I have/was having a little bit of writer's block, and I am still not sure where this is going to end up, but I am going to write a little bit about how my alma mater seems to always be evolving.  This is the definition of me thinking out loud while I'm typing, so we'll see where this ends up...

When I arrived in San Marcos, America 100 years ago, Southwest Texas State University (oh, and I had a hard time with the name change, and that could possibly be a whole blog entry in itself...) had an enrollment of about 20,000 students.  There was a lot of construction taking place on campus at that time and there was a lack of adequate parking.  Fast forward to the present, and the university has approximately 35,000 students (probably a few more), there is a lot of construction taking place on campus, and there is a lack of adequate parking...  The 'University Star', which is the campus newspaper (you probably couldn't figure that out), once printed an issue while I was an undergraduate that had headlines from an issue that had been published about twenty years earlier.  It was bittersweet to read that parking was also an issue at that time...  I have mentioned here before that I make frequent visits to the campus library, and a few years ago I came across the 'Campus Improvement Plan' on the first floor of the library.  This book had the university's "vision" and construction plans laid out for the next fifteen years.  Guess what folks - the construction on campus at Texas State is never going to end...

When I arrived on campus, I moved into a dorm that is no longer with us.  Thomas Hall (the "Buzzards" being our mascot for intramurals) was located between Jackson Hall and Jones Dining Hall (both of which were around when I hit town and are still thriving).  The J.C. Kellam administration building was the library at that time, and we did not have a student rec center.  So yes, RIGHT AFTER I graduated, the new libary AND the new student recreational facilities opened up - WONDERFUL...  Oh, and the new student center...  Yeah...

When I sat down to type, I thought about intertwining today's little entry with a segue to how my personal life is always evolving, but since that seeps into the blog so often, and seeing how we're going to be open an extra hour at work tonight, I'm going to ditch you until tomorrow.  Tomorrow's topic is very likely going to be 'Wurstfest', which is an annual event that takes place in New Braunfels, a small city about fifteen minutes to the south of here.  I have never been to this event, but it looks like I am going on Monday on a bus with a bunch of friends from work.  Let me tell you one thing that this trip WON'T BE, and that is boring...  :)  Have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!