Make it go away!

It's a lovely day here on campus--the sun's out, the temperature's a December-like 70 degrees, and it's commencement day. Roughly 2,000 students will receive the university's acknowledgement that they've sat through the requisite number of classes, turned in an appropriate number of papers and exams, have listened to enough mind-numbing lectures, and are now ready for the world of fastfood drive-thrus. Learning to supersize an order for a free apple pie is an honors course, naturally.

I work on the oldest and most beautiful parts on campus, which is nice. But on days like this there's a downside. About 100 yards from where I sit there's a bell, at least 100 years old, that's traditionally rung after home football game victories, and by students when they've taken their last final exam. With today being commencement, the bell's been ringing off the hook (it's ringing as I type this). It makes opening my window on such a nice day a pain in the ass because that's all I hear--DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG, DONG. There have been more dongs today than Paris Hilton will ever see in her lifetime. Every student and their mother (and father and brother and sister and grandmother and grandfather and sometimes aunt & uncle) has been ringing that damned bell today. One of these fine days I'm going to make good on my threat to either cut the rope on the clapper or grease the bell rope altogether. That should make for some excellent entertainment. And, SURPRISE! There goes the bell, AGAIN! Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!!