I saw a vanity license plate today that said "HECTIC." I thought, What makes them think they're so dang special?

For the last couple of months and change, we've been vacillating among three speeds: very busy, extremely busy, and crazy busy. There's a little light showing at the end of the tunnel, but we're far from there yet.

Part of the intensity over the past week surrounded having to make up a class that I couldn't teach back in September because of the birth of my daughter. My course is so packed with material -- try explaining the entire income tax law in 56 hours -- that I couldn't just blow the missed class off. And so I taught a makeup session (two hours) on Friday.

Not every student could make the makeup, and as is my practice, I recorded the session for those who couldn't be there for the "live" show. Rather than rely on old-fashioned videotape, however, I decided to create a two-hour PowerPoint presentation with my voice dubbed over.

It's tedious work, but I'm pleased with the results, which I finshed this evening. Now students can just pick up the CD in the library, burn themselves a copy, and watch it at their own speed, anywhere their laptops will go, sometime between now and the exam, which is still three weeks away.

O.k., so cross that off the to-do list. On to the next item.