The presidential welcome and some quibbles

Today was the annual "President's Address to the Uni Community", the "state of the college" talk, and various and sundry kickoff speeches. It was an interesting, if weird, day. Our president is retiring, and this is the start of his last year. So I can sort of understand that today's speeches were primarily celebrations of his accomplishments as president. But here are the things that concerned me:

1) We don't have a definition for scholarship, and therefore the requirements for tenure are rather loosely defined. That's okay for faculty like me, who come from R1 programs and just naturally assume we will be doing research. That's not okay for faculty who have been hired out of industry who have never done scholarly research and have no publications. The other issue is that we don't have a definition of what is "peer-reviewed", at least not in my college. The traditional view of an article submitted to a top journal and vetted by experts in the field just doesn't fit for many of our departments. Some have suggested that conferences, workshops, and publishing in the library's digital magazine should count as publications. I am not in favor of such loose standards for peer review, and the few people I have talked to about this issue agree with me that we need to be more rigorous than that--but none of us have come up with a good system for those departments whose scholarship takes less common forms. The other part of this puzzle is the idea of portfolios, where one faculty member might opt for a teaching-intensive track with little research, one might opt for research-heavy and light on teaching, and one might opt for a balance among the two. But another college's experiment with portfolios (each of which would have different requirements for tenure) has not been a success, so our dean is not eager to implement that system. There is still a lot of flux and uncertainty in the scholarship piece and that does not make us comfortable. The new president may want to define some basic requirements, but as this move to scholarship seems to be coming from the board of trustees, there's little chance it will be rolled back to the days when, as one faculty member said, all that was needed for tenure was a "warm body".

2) University-wide reallocation was presented as a means to support new and more viable programs at the expense of less successful academic programs or departments. But the across-the-board cut ended up funding some pet projects, and compounded problem #1 by reducing the money available to free up faculty for research projects by hiring adjunct lecturers. So much for the research-heavy/teaching-light portfolios, if there's no money for course reductions. Another point: across-the-board cuts such as we had last year (and will have this year as well) end up harming excellent programs and further destabilizing otherwise adequate ones.

3) We are to have an honor code. Okay. I am as anti-plagiarism as you can get. But does this code come with an honor system for enforcement? Are we to have an honor court? What does this code do for us? Is it just words? Then why bother? I would hope we would get to comment on the code before it gets adopted, but I'm not sanguine about that.

4) I am for fair and equitable treatment but I do not agree that the main strength of a university, the excellence of its academics, is solely the result of (or depends on) diversity. Increasingly, I've listened to diversity officers and chairpersons of pluralism committees tout the benefits of hiring minorities and women and heard university officials rank that effort right at the top of the school's priorities. Fine. We should always look at every possible candidate regardless of race, gender, etc. But don't tell me that the only way to provide an excellent education is to mandate a certain percentage of "underrepresented people" in the faculty or in the student body. All that accomplishes is an increased emphasis on viewing people by their skin color, ethnicity, or gender instead of on excellence, research potential, and contribution to the university's main mission. And that main mission is NOT to make sure the faculty and students mirror exactly the general population. It reminds me of the brochure I saw from the Civil Rights museum; the brochure talks about ways to increase "tolerance" and actually recommends building a diversity profile of one's child's friends. "I'm sorry, Tommy, but you can't play with Luis. You already have two Hispanic friends and he won't enhance your diversity profile." It just makes no sense to me.

As my director said, it's going to be a weird year with one president going out and a new one coming in. I haven't been there that long, so maybe the unsettledness of this year won't affect me as much as the veterans. We'll see. In the meantime, I will just hunker down and work like crazy to get tenure no matter what the requirements.

So, on a lighter note, Eldest Daughter comes home tomorrow! I cannot wait to see her. I need to get stuff over to the condo so she has something to sleep on, towels, soap, breakfast food, etc. AND I need to copy the key! That would be important, I think. :-) We are all going out to dinner Saturday night for steak and blooming onions at Outback, yum.

Birthday update

The presents were very successful, and Spouse enjoyed his dinner (roast beef on weck, and a good sandwich it was). Spouse opened his Dreamsack present, and he started explaining to Youngest Daughter about the bedbug problem in hotels. The woman in the booth behind us leaned over and said to me, "Excuse me for butting in, but I think you would be interested in this"--then handed me a business card that said "Empire Exterminators"! It was funny. She and her husband had a nice conversation with Spouse about bedbugs, ha ha.

I'm tired and beat but have to work on my data mining lectures. I'd rather just go to bed. Time for a big NASA mug of hot, bracing tea.

Tomorrow I have to go back to Uni town for the freshman chocolate social. Grrr. Why couldn't they have scheduled that for Thursday, when everyone has to be on campus anyway?

Happy birthday to Spouse, and the beginning of the academic year

Today is Spouse's birthday and he is beginning to get a complex about the coinciding of his birthday with hurricanes. I told him we could always change the celebration day, much like people with Christmas birthdays celebrate their "half birthday" in June. We are going to have dinner Saturday with Eldest Daughter, my friend A, and her parents (Babci and Dziadzi to my kids).

Spouse is one of those people who is hard to buy presents for. We've exhausted the books/DVDs angle, he doesn't like getting clothing, and he doesn't go to concerts or very many movies. Once in a while we come up with inspired gifts, like his TiVo, or the train tickets to his godson's college graduation. This year, ED is giving him tickets to a hockey game, and I found an interesting if practical gift. Spouse flies to Big City often, and hates staying in hotels because he is a bit paranoid about the cleanliness of the bedding. I found something called a "DreamSack" at Magellan's Travel. It's a set of silk sheets, sort of like a sleeping bag, that he can put on the bed and sleep on. The sheets fold up into a small pack. I also got him disposable slippers to wear when going through airport security. Practical stuff, but I know he will use them.

Today I have to go to Uni town (I made TWO trips yesterday, moving Son back to campus) for committee meetings. I have meetings tomorrow and Thursday, and then Monday starts the academic year. Am I ready? Uhhhhhh.....not really. I have the data mining syllabus ready, and a couple lectures fleshed out (I really need to update my To-Do list) but I don't feel like I'm ready enough. And I need to move stuff into the condo, too. ARGH! TOO MUCH TO DO!

Okay, I gotta get going or I will be late for the meeting.

Parallel parking follies

Okay, we got up and had breakfast with the aunties (and one uncle) with mixed results. Son, who generally doesn't eat breakfast, only had water--and then had to endure the questions of why he wasn't partaking of the pancakes, bacon, eggs, etc. like everyone else. Youngest Daughter ordered something that was way too much for her tiny tummy, and then ended up not feeling well. I was smart and sat next to my BIL, who is a good conversationalist and has a lot of interests that are similar to mine. We talked about Gettysburg, Antietam, the Smithsonian, and other sights to see in Washington. Nice.

Then, as it was too late to get to church, Son and I went to practice driving. We found a nice quiet street with a few cars parked on the side, and he practiced parallel parking. His first try was perfect. After that he had a few bobbles, but on the whole he did just fine. It's not an easy skill to learn! But I think once he gets comfortable with the parallel parking stuff, he will be ready for the road test. He is increasingly at ease behind the wheel, and I can feel it in the way he drives.

We stopped at the supermarket to pick up some things (I promised cookies to Eldest Daughter's coworker) and came home. It's stopped raining, although it's pretty muggy. Son has his laundry in and has started to get his things together for the move back to school tomorrow. I'm waiting for his laundry to get done and then I'll throw a couple loads in myself. Spouse is going to make chicken soup for supper. Yum.

Back to work on lectures. I have tea, so life is good.

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

My team is playing on television, and we are having pizza and wings while watching the game. So far we are behind a TD, but it's preseason so no worries.

The new neighbors have a Rottweiler and it is barking at our KittyMama. I hope it stays on its side of the fence.

Otherwise, nothing much new today. Just working steadily, if slowly, on lectures. Tomorrow we are meeting Spouse's sisters for breakfast before church.

Poor baby

YD did not have a good day at the orthodontist today. She has to wear her positioner now almost 24 hours a day, or face some icky-sounding gum surgery to convince her teeth not to rotate out of position. I will need to be convinced that procedure is absolutely necessary, as I share YD's distaste for dentists in general and orthodontists in particular (having once bitten my own orthodontist in partial payment for the dental pain and anguish I went through).

So I took her to the mall for some chocolate Dippin' Dots afterwards. I always treated the kids after dental visits, either with toys or books, or in this case, sweets. She came home and is now napping. Son and I went to pick up the kitty food and got Advantage and a toy mouse for the Kitty Mama. Usually, Kitty Son doesn't touch those mice, and she tends to shred them in just a few seconds. This time, she ignored the mouse for about 10 minutes, then pounced on it and batted it right to KS. He actually started playing with it, which confused her mightily, and because he is crosseyed and bigfooted, he clumsily knocked it somewhere under the television. She and I both tried, but neither of us can find the darned thing. Poor KM, that toy was more shortlived than usual!

I finished the data mining course syllabus and ran it by ED and her boyfriend as a reality check. Made a few grading changes based on their recommendations, and I think now I've got a good framework to start writing the lectures. The first day is all set, so now I'm going to work on the second Week One lecture. Progress!

I'm watching Star Trek VI: Undiscovered Country, since I've not seen it in a while. I love the dialogue. When we saw it in the movie theater, we happened to run into the Cat Gifters* and sat with them for the showing. At the end, when Kirk says "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning", the Senior Cat Gifter leaned over and said to me, "Shakespeare". I leaned back and corrected him, "No, J.M. Barrie--it's from Peter Pan!"


*Many moons ago, a family from our church were moving to a new state and could not take their adult cat with them. We had lost ours, but were in no hurry to get another. But finally, the family's pleas wore us down, and we took the cat. My kids were ecstatic that they would have a furry friend once more. The father and son brought GiftKitty over and we showed her around (where's the litter pan, where's the water, where's the food). Then, as they were leaving, the father says to me, "Oh, by the way, she occasionally pees outside the litter box. Don't leave papers lying on the floor." Then he and son beat it out of our driveway and left the state. Um, THANKS. We put up with GiftKitty for a long time, as she was not a bad cat, but when she started not just peeing outside the box but leaving us little gifts in the cellar and on the steps, we had to do something. It was sad, and we were not pleased. Thereafter, this family was dubbed The Cat Gifters, and by that name they shall forever be known.

Too much to do, too little time

Thanks to too much procrastinating and enjoying summer off. Now it's crunch time and I'm starting to panic a bit.

Anyway, update on yesterday's little adventures:
I left the house at 9:30, thinking that I would stop at the Starbuck's in the Thruway service area. Ummm, nice idea but I didn't bargain for the construction that brought everything to a screeching halt for a couple of miles. I knew the delay was going to make me late for the 11:00 meeting, so I didn't stop. Dang. I really really needed my morning tea!

So I blew past the service area and headed down the road. I decided not to get off at the usual exit, but to go on to the next one that is a bit closer to my school. Guess what I ran into as soon as I got off the exit? CONSTRUCTION! Grrrr. At least I didn't have to wait for a train, that would have been the icing on the cake.

I ended up being 15 minutes late for the department meeting, but fortunately nothing had started yet. Our director went through a synopsis of last year's activities, and then asked each faculty member to talk about what they've done lately. He asked me to explain to the professional advisers and staff about the CAREER award and proposal, so I did. I kind of downplayed it and made sure to tell them that only 10-12% of engineering proposals get funded, so my chances are pretty low. My colleague, SQ, interrupted and said it was a bigger deal than I was letting on, and my director chimed in, and by the time they were done saying how great it was -- well, let's just say that I will be CRUSHED if I don't get the thing.

The other surprise was that they've decided to have little "talks" in department meetings. So guess who gets to go first? Yeppers. I have to present what I did in Academic Year 2005-2006. I cannot imagine a more boring topic. I'm trying to figure out how to liven that up. Maybe I'll bring in my trebuchets for some "siege and tell"!

I picked up the keys for the condo (surprisingly, I found my way back downtown to the real estate office, and didn't have to call Eldest Daughter for help!) and took my mother over to see it. First, she thinks she will get lost trying to find it in all the curvilinear streets, although it's really a straight shot there. Second, the refrigerator's freezer smelled HORRIBLE, like something died in there. Third, the screen door needs fixing, and there's a dent in the wall where the door (which needs painting) whacked into the drywall. And it's smaller than the apartment we had in Philly. Oh well. It's temporary, and it'll do for now. But I don't think she was impressed.

Spouse has already begun shopping for Son's apartment and my condo. Every day he brings home more stuff: dish detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, pasta, tomato sauce, bags of individually quick frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts....I don't know when we are going to eat those, I teach four nights a week until 8:00. I doubt I'll be cooking dinner that late at night.

On the panic front, I am in my usual state of nervousness over the two on-campus courses I am teaching this quarter. Hope I don't screw these things up....and I need to find a place to do the popcorn experiment, someplace besides our office kitchen (we tend to burn the popcorn in this experiment, and that's a smell that lingers. Don't think my colleagues would appreciate that).

Today is Orthodontist Day for Youngest Daughter, and we need to pick up cat food at the vets. I'm making Son drive so he gets practice, and hopefully I will find somewhere for him to practice parallel parking. His EZPass transponder came today. We need to get him moving on this license thing, although the road test people are backed up 3-4 weeks.

Oh! My dining set was shipped yesterday, so that should come early next week. Just in time for ED's visit! She can put it together for me! LOL

Upcoming stuff: YD has a voice audition 9/9 for her voice lessons.

Finally, something submitted

There. I just now submitted the graph mining survey paper. IT'S ABOUT TIME!!! So my list is a tad shorter, but still there's a lot to do. Summer flew by and I wasn't terribly productive.

In the "Pennies from Heaven" department, I just got the contract from the CS people for the data mining course, and it's $1500 more than I expected. Yay! That means I can start putting money away for a down payment on a house (or, better yet, a piece of land where I can build a house--and a barn!). I'd better do a good job on this course so they ask me to teach it again, and again, and again.....

Tomorrow I pick up the keys for the condo. The landlady said I could begin to bring stuff in Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, which works out great.

One of my colleagues, the one who has been less than helpful with the curriculum restructuring and who has blown off at least two meetings (including one set up specifically to accommodate HIS particular schedule) finally responded to my email of July 19th reminding him of the next day's meeting. Just last week I told my director that since I'd given this guy lots of chances and he keeps ignoring me, I was going to just run with what I wanted to do and too bad for him. My director agreed. So I am wondering if this guy somehow figured out that he was going to be toast on this particular effort and is trying to make amends. We shall see....

I want a barn

In two weeks I move into a condo for which I signed a 15 month lease. It will be a relief not to do all that driving back and forth (which means I will no longer be a "traveling professor"--I will need a new moniker!) but what I REALLY REALLY want is a farmhouse with bay windows and a wraparound porch, a vegetable and herb garden, and a barn.

And a nice clear view of the southern sky so I can stargaze from my backyard.

Rainy Day

I put the flag out this morning and had to bring it back in a couple hours later. It's not raining hard, thankfully, so I don't have to worry about the basement flooding. Just enough to keep Spouse and Son from working on the garage repairs.

On the way home from the department picnic yesterday I stopped at the local cheese place and picked up one container of garlic and two of horseradish cheese curds. I should have gotten more garlic ones, they are fabulous! The horseradish ones are very hot, and, just as I ate a particularly strong one, Son called me on my cellphone. Sure was hard to talk with that horseradish clearing out my sinuses!!

I'm working on the data mining course syllabus, in between bouts of playing Outpost and looking for Adirondack vacation rentals for next summer. Can you tell I'm not quite ready for the school year to start? :-)

FOOOOOOOOOTBALL!

I love football. So right now I am listening to my local team on the radio, since I can't see them in person and they aren't on television. Who cares that it's preseason, I've been missing football.

And we just scored a field goal! Up by 3!

Lecture prep is coming along. I have three weeks' worth of lectures for one of my online courses, yay! I've been reading the book for the data mining class, and I brought home the text for the other online class. Tomorrow I think I'll get at least the first two lectures for robust design and data mining done.

I bought a dinette set for the condo from JC Penney that is on sale and cheaper (by over $100!) than the other one we were looking at, but is very similar in appearance. It will be delivered sometime around 9/10. That means so far we have 1) power, coming on 9/1; 2) cable TV and wireless internet, coming on 9/6, and something to eat on. I already have dishes and silverware, courtesy of Eldest Daughter's stint at Pfaltzgraff, and yesterday Youngest Daughter and I went to the local Tuesday Morning store and bought a pot/pan set and a shower curtain. We still don't have living room furniture, but I don't want to spend any more just now. It's been an expensive summer!

My department picnic was today, and I had a nice time. Our director paid me a nice compliment--he told my colleague that I wrote a marvelous CAREER award proposal. I was really pleased! Of course I won't find out until probably Christmas if I got it or not, but that remark made my day.

One of my colleagues brought her four kids (all under 7) and two others were going through a box of our hostess' kids' old books. Seeing some of those titles made me nostalgic for when my kids were that age. So I started thinking about what I do and don't miss from their childhoods.

Definitely miss:

• The sunshiny smell of baby clothes right off the clothesline
• Baby giggles
• Those big, tight hugs around the neck
• Warm baby cheeks right after a nap
• Reading bedtime stories
• Their excitement on Christmas Eve

Don't miss:

• Kids with fevers. I always felt so bad for them
• Kiddie nightmares
• Toilet training
• Trying to grocery shop with all three in tow
• Worrying about them darting into traffic (now I worry about them driving!)
• Shots
  

Advisers will always be advisers

Yesterday was jampacked but lots of fun. Son and I hitched a ride with Spouse to my parents' house, where we picked up Son's new old car, a very clean 1988 Buick LeSabre. It's been sitting there for about a month, and it was running very rough initially. The battery light came on, so I thought maybe we had an alternator problem--but it went off a few minutes later and my dad said it was just charging after such a long time of not being driven. Then it started chugging at about 45-50 mph which scared Son, but I assured him that would clear out after a bit. It did, and the car ran smoothly all the rest of the day.

Met with the computer science chair, who was satisfied with the way I wanted to run the course, and we talked about possible ways to collaborate on some more data mining offerings (my vision is an MS in data mining). It looks like I'll be able to teach this course pretty often--how cool is that? There's even an advanced data mining class being planned for the spring. Should be fun!

Came home and flopped on the sofa for a few minutes before getting ready to visit my adviser and his family. We had a very nice time--great food, my kids had fun with their kids, and after dinner we had strawberry shortcake and S'mores. We dragged out their new telescope and oohed and aahed over Jupiter. Great fun was had by all. At midnight, when we were finally heading home, my adviser gave in to his inner adviser and asked about the XML and CUSUM papers. He's a great guy, and we have a good relationship, so I tweaked him about always being the adviser. But yeah, I know those have to be finished.

Son and I are planning a Lord of the Rings marathon today if he ever gets up. He said we needed to start early--his idea of early is 11 a.m. A LOTR marathon calls for popcorn. LOTS of popcorn. Yum.

Apropos of nothing: Anyone know why some unknown member of my family would plop a dirty plate, knife, and fork on the *toaster* instead of taking two more steps and putting them in the sink?

Random literary comment: Ben Bova can write a decently interesting story but I wish he'd leave out the heavy-handed political and religious commentary. It's patronizing, annoying, and absolutely unnecessary to the tale. While I like his Mars/Return to Mars novels despite the preachy diatribes on white man's guilt (laid on thick by a character who is, after all, half white), I won't read Saturn again because the story is just ruined.

Still tweaking....

But I think it's done now. I uploaded it to the course site so now I am going to attempt to keep my fingers off that lecture for good.

Here's one reason why I don't get a whole lot done (excuses, excuses--I must write in every blog entry that I'm going to get some serious work done, or it's time to get moving, or some such blather that I've not followed up on). Now how can you work when something that cute is demanding your attention?

Stop, already!

I finished one lecture for the 420 class a couple of days ago. Do I go on to Lecture #2? Do I work on a lecture for 440, or 870, or even the new data mining course? NOOOOOOOOOO! I go BACK and revise the one I've already finished!!!

Tweaking taken to new lengths, I guess.

Anyway, the ball game Saturday was nice. Gorgeous weather, great Dippin' Dots, decent hot dog, good fries, and our team won. Not great play on either side, although there were some nice moments: a home run, a brilliant snag at second base, a great 1-2-3 and out inning. We came home to find the street packed with cars for a neighbor's party, despite the alternate-side parking restrictions, and their booming music so loud it made conversation nearly impossible INSIDE our house. YD and I went in my bedroom, shut the door and windows, and turned on the AC to drown out as much as we could. It finally stopped around midnight, and then at 2 A.M. someone on the other side of us decided to stand outside and yell every two or three minutes. LOVELY. At least the people with the yelping dog decided not to put him out at the usual 6 A.M. Ah, summertime in the city. Have I mentioned that I hate living in the city?

This morning I suddenly realized that it's August, the faculty year runs from December 1 to November 30, and I have to get those two papers done before 11/30! Yikes! Where has the time gone? (I know, I know--playing games, traveling, reading non-work-related books, watching movies) I've got to get those papers written and submitted ASAP. Gack.

Tomorrow will be a busy day with no time for paper writing. I have to go to Uni town to pick up Son's new old car, meet with the computer science chair, go to a departmental meeting, get the keys and garage door opener for the condo I rented, and then in the evening take Son and YD to my adviser's house for swimming, stargazing, and S'mores. That should be fun!

Let's see if I can discipline myself to get some actual writing done today.......

I am a ditz

I've spent two days searching for the textbook for one of my quality classes. I looked everywhere picking up every red book in the house (we have a lot of books, and they are everywhere).

Found the book just now. It's BLUE.

Dippin' Dots!

Tonight we go see a baseball game (Triple A, not major league) at which the main attraction will be plastic helmets full of Dippin' Dots. Our local ballpark is an absolute jewel--not a bad seat in the house, and it's a charming place. The team is decent, too, and the ticket prices are very reasonable.

While I'm waiting for my frosty treat, I'll work on the robust design class lectures (read another chapter in the book this morning) and the SQC class stuff. I changed the book for both these courses, so I need to tweak the existing lectures a bit to make sure they align with the reading assignments. Also need to come up with some homework problems, and for the robust design class, reassess the labs. Last year I had three labs: popcorn, trebuchets, and paper airplanes. They worked out well, but I think I can make them more efficient. And I might add another one, I dunno. With four courses to teach this quarter, I may not have time to make big changes.

It's a gorgeous day. Maybe I'll make some chocolate chip cookies....

Why is it that when I have the most work-work to do, I get the urge to pile on with other things? Lately I've been wanting to start embroidering again. Maybe because I unearthed a counted cross-stitch project I had started many years ago. I used to make clutch purses for my sisters-in-law with beaded roses on them, and I am thinking of digging my pattern out and making a pink one for one of my friends. Back when I had lots of time and little money (as compared to now, when I have little time and little money) all the Christmas presents I gave to my siblings and in-laws were handmade. I sort of miss those projects, it was very satisfying to see the completed work pile up. I wish I had taken pictures of the things I made, because some of them turned out very nicely.

Friday potpourri

Movie notes: Last night Youngest Daughter and I went to see the new Oliver Stone movie, World Trade Center. I was a little apprehensive about what we would see; YD was only 11 when the attacks happened, and I wasn't sure how much she remembered or even knew about what happened to the victims of these atrocities. But the movie is pretty sanitized and not graphic at all (only one shot of a jumper, and no really gory scenes). It is primarily a rescue movie. The hero of this film is Dave Karnes, the Marine who immediately grasped the significance of the horror he was seeing on television, and who, along with another volunteer rescuer, found the two PAPD officers buried in the rubble.

On the teaching front: I'm reading the textbook I've chosen for the robust design class. It's okay, so far, but leaves an awful lot of explanatory material out. There really isn't a good, clear, and thorough text for this subject. Actually, I'm finding that for almost ALL the courses I teach there is no good text. I'd love to be able to cobble together a chapter from here, two chapters from there, and have a designer text for my classes. Anyway, I'm plodding along with lecture prep so I am not overwhelmed with that chore during the fall quarter.

Research stuff: The grad student I've been unofficially mentoring has sent me a new section to add to my lit review paper. His writing is pretty decent, so I don't have a lot of editing to do to make the section fit with what I have already done. One more section on inductive logic programming and I think that puppy is ready to send out again.

Minor annoyance: I was reviewing a paper that was in its second revision, and thought it was fine and ready to publish. The reviewer website has a score sheet to fill out online, which is nice and convenient, but has one interesting flaw: there is no choice for "Accept as is". The closest choice was "Accept with minor revision". So what do we have then? An infinite revision loop! The stuff of nightmares!

Cause for concern: the loud and profanity-laced domestic argument I heard coming from somewhere on my street. I could only hear it from our bathroom, but it wasn't next door. Sounded like a couple of houses down from us. I couldn't tell if there was physical stuff going on, but there sure was some intimidating yelling, and I was about ready to call the police when it stopped. Living in the city is SUCH a joy.

In the "Ahhhhh" category: after a couple of weeks of hot, muggy weather, this week has been just glorious. Cool enough that I can enjoy my mugs of Russian Caravan tea in the morning, not so cool that we need to close the windows. Of course, here we are hardy people and we keep the windows open until the first snow ;-)

Tomorrow's plans: Baseball and dippin dots!

Funny stuff: I am still howling over the Tuscan Whole Milk reviews on Amazon.com. My favorite (so far) is this one:

Tuscan Whole Milk - APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!
Tuscan Whole Milk - APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!
Tuscan Whole Milk - APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD!

Happy birthday, Eldest Daughter!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear ED
Happy birthday to you

May you live long with us
May you live long with us
May you live long,
May you live long,
May you live long with us

Niech nam zyje stolat
Niech nam zyje stolat
Niech nam zyje stolat ED
Happy birthday to you!

Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech zyje, zyje nam.
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech zyje, zyje nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech zyje, zyje nam,
Niech zyje nam!

I love you and miss you THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much!

Love,
Mom

I have a new windshield!

The old one got cracked by a rock while we were in Virginia. The new one is nifty, clean and clear. And all the stickers are back on it!

After the windshield was fixed, Only Son and Youngest Daughter and I went window shopping for furniture to put in the condo in Uni town. If I get the stuff we liked--5-pc. dinette set, 3 piece bistro set, chair, ottoman, and love seat--that totals almost $1500. I'd be sleeping on an air bed for a long, long time.

Ooh, I think I would like this bookstand from Levenger...

Something to add to the wishlist! I like the dark cherry version better, I think.

It just occurred to me

that I should list the actual places we visited, because it's not real clear where we went.

• Plymouth, MA: The Jabez Howland House, the Mayflower II, and Plimouth Plantation
• Boston, MA: Boston Common, Boston Public Gardens
• Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg, The College of William & Mary, Busch Gardens
• Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech
• Baltimore, MD: Fort McHenry
• Hagerstown, MD: Antietam Battlefield
• Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Museum, Library of Congress, the Capitol grounds, the National Aquarium, the Smithsonian Museum of Industry and Technology
• Allenwood, PA: Clyde Peeling's Reptiland

Good places to eat

• Boston: Chau Chow City on Essex St., Legal Seafood on Worcester Rd.
  
• Williamsburg, MA: Emerald Thai Cuisine, McLaws Circle.
  
• Frederick, MD: Viet's Aroma and China Doll restaurants, in the Prospect Blvd. plaza
  
• Washington, DC: Talay Thai restaurant, 1st St. SE

Places we didn't get to visit this time but are planning in the future:

• Monocacy Battlefield
• Capitol tour (get there REALLY EARLY to get tickets!)
• National Archives (a long line on a hot day is not a Good Thing)
• National Mall (go in the fall, it's too darn hot in August)
• Mount Vernon
• Lilypons store and gardens
• Concord and Lexington
• Braintree, Weymouth, and Quincy (Adams homesteads)
  

Yikes!

I got a call from the chair of Computer Science asking if I'd be interested in teaching their data mining course this fall. 40 students!!

Wow. Of course I said yes. That means I'm teaching four courses this quarter, but as I told my director, I've done that before--only it was a semester, not a quarter, and all four were new preps, plus I had two more kids at home and was still writing my dissertation. This time it would be one new prep, one kid at home, and no dissertation. And it's only 10 weeks, not 14.

COOL! And scary too, but everything new is a bit scary. Another neat part is that my director is excited about the chance to crosslist one of our courses in CS as a return favor, and also I would get overload pay. I was just talking to God about tithing and bills and promises and my desire to have a new house closer to Uni town. I've signed a 15-month lease on a condo 15 minutes from school, which will greatly reduce my commute time by an hour each way, but I really don't like the thought of renting after 23 years as a homeowner and want to get my own place soonest.

I guess it's time to crack the whip on myself and get some real work done before school starts!!

Back home again

Whew. In the past four weeks I have driven over 3000 miles (time for another oil change already!) and visited eight states plus the District of Columbia. I've seen Plymouth, Boston, Williamsburg, Blacksburg, Sharpsburg, Grove City, Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown, Boonsboro, and DC. I've walked where the Pilgrims walked, where Revolutionary War heroes strolled, where soldiers and sailors defended our country in the War of 1812, where Civil War battles took place.

Neat things I have seen:

• My ancestors' home in Plymouth (and met some distant cousins there)
• Swan boats in Boston Public Gardens
• Quaint shops in New Paltz, NY
• Beautiful mountain vistas
• Cornwallis' sword
• George Washington's sword, stool, camp chest, glasses, 1789 uniform
• Abraham Lincoln's glasses, wallet, and other items in his pocket the night he was shot
• Unbelievably beautiful and ornate mosaics at the Library of Congress
• A Gutenberg Bible
• A Shakespeare first folio
• The flag that inspired The Star Spangled Banner
• Julia Child's kitchen
• An iron lung
• The gunboat Philadelphia, built in 1776
• Bloody Lane at Antietam
• A sycamore tree that watched the battle for Burnside's Bridge
• Vietnam-era POW artifacts
• Two pieces of the Berlin Wall
• A piece of the South Tower
• A shattered Airfone from United Flight 93
• An employee ID from the Pentagon
• Lots of cannon and bomb fragments, circa 1812
• Fort McHenry
• Fish from all over the world
  
• Snakes, frogs, lizards, turtles, monitors, crocodiles, emus, and one peacock

Sad things:

• The artifacts from the 9/11 attacks. These pieces were part of a large exhibit on American wars. Throughout the entire exhibit, the crowds were chatting and talking--but when people entered the room with these artifacts, they fell silent. The only sound was the clicking of camera shutters.
• Antietam's Bloody Lane and the many markers erected by different states commemorating their soldiers. Georgia had a particularly poignant marker in the Cornfield. The predominant noise in Antietam's sprawling battlefield is the chirping of grasshoppers.
  
• An ironic twist to the story of Fort McHenry--the commander, George Armistead, was the uncle of Brig. Gen. (CSA) Lewis Armistead. During the battle of Baltimore, George Armistead sent his pregnant wife to safety in Gettysburg, where she gave birth to a daughter. Forty-nine years later his nephew Lewis would die there, two days after storming the Union lines in Pickett's Charge. Interesting factoid: George Armistead served at Fort Niagara in 1813, when US forces captured Fort George.
• The iron lung and other polio-related artifacts. I was born while this disease was still a menace, and I remember the March of Dimes and other efforts to eradicate it.

Verklempting things:

• The short video relating the story of the Battle of Baltimore and the defense of Fort McHenry ends with a wall of curtains drawing back to reveal Old Glory flying proudly in the wind. Utter silence from the audience here too--who turns as one to face the flag, hands on hearts, as a recording of a men's chorus sings the National Anthem. I love Old Glory, and I don't understand Americans who don't ever get a lump in their throats at the sight of her.
• The mundane contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets when he was assassinated are oddly touching. Just an ordinary collection of ordinary things, owned by an utterly extraordinary man.

Weird things:

• The grasshopper who hitched a ride on my car at Burnside's Bridge and hopped off at the Sheetz station in Boonsboro. Hope he found some green space amid the concrete of the gas station!
• The bird who dive-bombed my car on the way out of Frederick. Alas, I think the impact killed it immediately, but then again one never knows. Birds have been known to survive weird things like that.
• Maryland drivers, who don't seem to have cruise control and can't maintain an even speed. They'd pass me, then drop back 10 mph so I would have to pass them, then a couple minutes later the same car would whoosh by again. Very strange (and gas-guzzling) behavior.

Things I am thankful for:

• AC in my car (it was hot everywhere we went)
• At least we had cable Internet in the hotel room, even if only one of us could be online at a time
• Sprinklers everywhere in DC (nothing like walking under a sprinkler when you are broiling)
• Good maps
• Getting about 27 mpg!
• Being home again

Time to get back to work. I have two reference letters to write, two journal articles to complete, and a conference paper due for the INFORMS conference in October. EEKS!

On the road, again, again

Off to uni town today for a meeting and Youngest Daughter's skating lessons. Then tomorrow, we leave for Baltimore and Only Son's favorite anime convention. YD and I will continue on to Frederick, MD where we will visit Antietam National Battlefield and go to DC on Saturday. Sunday we will take a quick tour of Fort McHenry and then head home, stopping at Clyde Peeling's Reptiland en route (watch, we finally decide to go there and we will probably get there after they close!).

I think that's quite enough traveling for a while, I'd like to stay home for a bit and NOT SPEND MONEY!