Dueling aphorisms

"You never step into the same river twice"

"Doing the same thing again, expecting different results."

A year ago, we were all hopeful 'n stuff. Change was upon us and change was going to be good.
Well, change came alright. A lot of the change has been good. Some has not been so good. Some of the change was that kind of four-wheel skid so that you're going backwards and forwards at the same time. It's been that kind of year, writ large for the nation, writ small for one guy.
Shortly, I'll take another run at a course on legal research and writing at one of my almae matres, Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner. I started the same class at the Mount last January and, well, I was ready for some things, but not every thing.
This time around, I've finished a course in business law at Quinsig in the fall semester, worked as consultant on various web projects, and lived through some, um, interesting times with family.My expectations about myself are much more reasonable now.
I used to think that reasonable expectations was code for mediocrity and maybe it is. Still, I can't go back to the Mount without thinking about my good friend, Don. We took classes there after he got back from Vietnam and after I got back from wherever. He died a few years back after decades of PTSD, alcoholism, stuff he took to war with him, stuff he found in war and couldn't leave behind, stuff that ambushed him when he got back. I can't be sure, but I suspect that Don would love to have another chance to do things with reasonable expectations again.
So, I'm grateful for another chance, this among so many other chances that I've had.