"Oh, and don't worry about the age thing," he said.

That was almost 4 years ago. It's my mentor. To me. Right after suggesting that I continue my studies past the M.A.



And I don't worry about the "age thing" or even think about it very much. But when I do, it's usually at the ARC (and, yeah, it's mostly about body issues, but I won't get into that here). Today the brand-new state o' the art treadmills were working and all five of them were occupied. Not that I'd use one anyway - I run outside rain or shine. But I realized today that I don't think I can use them. They face the basketball courts and while it's kind of cute to see the kids seeing each other see each other, it just seems wrong for a 40 year old to be running on a treadmill that overlooks a gym full of boys.

I guess worrying the "age thing" also happens when I think about the job search (and to be honest, I haven't done as much of that as I should) and the publishing (or not, in my case).

The "age thing" also has its advantages, I guess. My younger colleagues ask for advice a lot - mostly on teaching, which is to be expected, but also on life stuff. Even on things everyone else knows better than to ask me about - politics, proposing to a woman! And, I guess some things, many things are easier this time around.