Memorial Day

I'm old-fashioned. I like to celebrate Memorial Day on the REAL Memorial Day. So here are two iconic pictures of American heroes. The first depicts the Ultimate American Hero, George Washington, who I respect more and more as I read about him. The second is the famous raising of the American Flag on Mt Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Then, a third photo shows the heroic Marines on top of the mountain, celebrating. Finally, Old Glory herself, the Star Spangled Banner memorialized by Francis Scott Key. Long may She wave.

More bad behavior, and Eldest Daughter goes back to TCTVFA

Why am I not surprised at this...ya think anything like this happened when FP came to my uni on Friday? Nah...told you it wouldn't.

Got ED to the airport this morning 90 minutes before her plane left, and the lines were horrible. She made it through security 6 minutes before her plane boarded. Whew! I thought for a second there I would have to drive her all the way to The City Too Very Far Away. That wouldn't be a bad thing because I would have her company all the way there :-)

Son, Youngest Daughter, and I left HomeCity at 7:30 a.m. to get to UniTown in time for Son's work day to start. They slept all the way here, and when we got to the condo YD immediately went to bed. I am doing some catching up on reading and e-mails and stuff before I wake her for her last voice lesson of the academic year.

Kitties seem glad to have us back.

Thank you for your service

Today, we remember the true American heroes. God bless them all. We would be lost without them.

From http://www.defenselink.mil/heroes/50heroes/Heroes_NY3.html:

Smithtown, NY Bronze Star recipient Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal Petty Officer Bruckenthal, a damage controlman, was on a security mission in the Persian Gulf on April 24, 2004, when suicide bombers initiated a waterborne assault on the Khawr Al Amaya oil terminal. Bruckenthal was severely wounded while defending the Iraqi terminal, and later died from his injuries. He was serving aboard the USS Firebolt on his second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bruckenthal was the first Coast Guardsman killed in combat since the Vietnam War. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal in April 2004. Coast Guard press release.

Rochester, NY Navy Cross recipient Marine Corps. Capt. Brian R. Chontosh Then-1st Lt. Chontosh was leading his platoon north toward Ad Diwaniyah in southern Iraq on March 25, 2003. Insurgents set up an ambush, and with Coalition tanks blocking the road ahead, Chontosh’s group got caught directly in the line of fire. Chontosh had his driver position their vehicle to cut off an enemy machine gun firing on the platoon. He then ordered his driver to position the vehicle into the enemy trench. He exited the vehicle to begin clearing the trench. Chontosh single handedly cleared more than 200 meters of an enemy trench, using his own weapons and discarded enemy weapons, killing more than 20 insurgents and disabling others. Chontosh was awarded the Navy Cross Medal on March 12, 2004.

Scio, NY Bronze Star recipient Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham Cpl. Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in Karabilah, Iraq, on April 14, 2004, when a nearby convoy returning to base was ambushed. Hearing gunfire, Dunham and his squad rushed over to help suppress the attack. He led a team a few blocks south of the immediate ambush site and ordered his squad to block seven vehicles attempting to leave. As they approached, an Iraqi insurgent jumped out of one of the vehicles and grabbed Dunham by the throat. As Dunham fought the enemy hand-to-hand, two Marines moved in to help. Dunham noticed that the enemy fighter had a grenade in his hand, and ordered his Marines to move back as he wrestled the insurgent to the ground. The enemy dropped the live grenade and without hesitating Dunham took off his Kevlar helmet, covered the grenade with it, and threw himself on top to smother the blast. Dunham’s actions saved the lives of the other two Marines. Dunham is the second serviceman and first Marine in the Global War on Terror to receive the Medal of Honor. Marine Corps story: Jason L. Dunham Memorial.

Oswego, NY Bronze Star recipient Army Reserve Sgt. Ryan Taylor “We talk a lot in this culture about heroes and for some reason we think professional athletes are heroes, rock stars are heroes, and movie stars are heroes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a hero.” That is how one lieutenant described Sgt. Taylor, because Taylor’s modesty would surely prevent him from ever describing himself as a “hero.” On Feb. 22, 2006, Taylor and his intelligence team headed out to search for roadside bombs in a volatile region of Afghanistan. They had received word that a bomb had exploded in the area the night before, so his team – a combination of Afghan national police officers, Army intelligence personnel, and U.S. military police – planned to gather any information and evidence about the explosion. By studying the bomb’s components, they might be able to determine who manufactured it – and how to protect against similar devices in the future. They climbed to the top of a ridge to scout the valley below, where the bomb was supposed to be. There were no civilians in sight, which instantly put Taylor on alert. The wooden box supposedly holding the shards of the bomb drew the team’s attention. Yet, instead of pieces of an exploded bomb, the box held a receiver for an anti-tank landmine – and a large rocket. Having hardly any time to think, Taylor grabbed the two Afghan police officers near him and jumped on top of them in a ditch, just as the weapon exploded. The flying shrapnel found its mark with Taylor – but his body armor protected him from serious injury. The Afghans had been wearing only flannel shirts, and so were saved by Taylor’s split-second decision. For his actions, he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” on Jan. 6, 2007. Oswego County News 10 story.

Son's graduated!

Now that I can relax a bit, it's time to report on Son's graduation day. He had decided to work from 9-4, so I brought his gown and mine to campus around 1-ish. My college's commencement was at 2, his at 6:30. I changed into my regalia and headed for the gym where our students were gathered.

Last year I handed out gum to the graduates, then thought better of it afterwards--what were they going to do with the gum when all the flavor was gone? I thought of all that gum stuck under the chairs--yuck! So this year I bought LifeSavers, individually wrapped, and handed those out. I had just enough for our grads. It was a very warm day--those who went to the outdoor, unshaded Convocation in the morning were all sunburned and sweaty (Oh, am I glad I didn't go! I would not have survived 84 degree heat in all that black and velvet). Co-worker Mary was really uncomfortable and having a hard time staying awake and alert. The gym was not air-conditioned, although a couple of industrial fans at least stirred the hot air a bit. One particular grad didn't look in very good shape at all, perspiring heavily and all red-faced, so I gave him my extra bottle of water.

I went over to the mechanical engineering line and got lots of hugs from my design students. One of the online students from my department recognized me from the website picture, and thanked me for giving her extra time to finish her assignments last quarter when her dad died. Another online student made the obvious pun that I was a Life Saver; we all laughed anyway, in the sheer joy of this special day. Finally, we heard the bagpipers start playing, our signal to make our way into the air-conditioning at last.

At my alma mater, my department's faculty line up at the end of the podium to welcome the new grads and shake hands with them. I am glad that my new uni does this too. I shook over 100 hands and got at least ten hugs (one student, who got a degree from two different departments, gave me TWO hugs, lol). It was great to see all their smiling faces and hear the families cheering. I could do without the air horns, though.

After my college's ceremony was over, I met up with Eldest Daughter, Youngest Daughter, and Spouse at my office, where I got out of my heavy gown and puffy hat. We went over to my department's reception and got some finger foods and talked a bit. Spouse finally got to meet Boss. Then ED and I walked over to her old building to see the renovations that were done after she graduated. We wandered into the science building and found Son and four more of my students.

About 5:30 or so, we headed for the commencement venue. My mom and dad were already there, staking out some seats for us all. I had taped a little red lobster to the top of Son's hat, which made him easy to spot. He was one of first group of students to come into the arena, and one of the first to go across the stage. We cheered for the lovely R as well, although I don't think she heard us at all. After all the biology students had gone, an older couple were ushered on stage and the screen displayed a picture of a young woman. A year ago January Son's former labmate was killed in a car crash during a snowstorm, while on her way home from class. Her parents were given her honors diploma. The graduates and some of us in the audience stood as they made their way across the platform, and some of the students hugged them when they passed by. I cannot imagine how painful that must have been for them. They did not stay for the ceremony, but left as quickly as they had come.

We all met on the lawn afterwards for pictures and congratulations, then headed off for some celebratory ice cream. It had gotten quite a bit cooler and was much more comfortable.

Saturday was picnic day, the Ritual Consumption of Much Meat. I made three batches of chocolate chip cookies! One was gluten-free, for ED, the other two "regular." The lovely R came with her beau, and we forced her to take the remaining cookies home. Such a burden for the poor thing! The rain held off, the food was abundant and yummy, and Son got nice cards and gifts from the partygoers.

One other exciting thing--Spouse had brought me the mail from the HomeCity house, and in it was a letter to YD announcing that she'd won a scholarship from the community music school! YAY!! Pennies from heaven! There's an awards ceremony June 9th for the scholarship winners. She will be three days post-wisdom teeth removal, so I'm praying she won't be sore and puffy for the ceremony. I think I will call the dentist Tuesday to see if we can postpone the tooth thingie a week or two.

Anyway, it was an exhausting week, we all are still tired from all the festivities, and we still have a TON of food left over. Tomorrow we are going to HomeCity for a Memorial Day picnic and then Eldest Daughter flies back to the City Too Very Far Away on Tuesday morning. *sniff* It has been wonderful to have her home.

What you won't see in the NY Times, the Washington Post, etc., etc., etc.

From Chris Muir, who was embedded in Mosul earlier this year (courtesy of Michelle Malkin):

Going home again

Today was the retirement dinner for three of my colleagues from Alma Mater U. It was like homecoming--I spent two years in the dean's office, working as a graduate assistant to one of the deans, so I knew many of the people at the dinner. It was so nice to see my old bosses! I realized how much I miss them, and how much I enjoyed (for the most part, hahaha) my time in "The Deanery." As for my three retiring friends, I appreciate so much the opportunity I had to work with such remarkable people.

After the dinner, I went to the HomeCity House to pick up chairs and things for Saturday's Ritual Consumption of Much Meat. I also cleaned up the bedroom a bit for Eldest Daughter, who flew in tonight from the City Too Very Far Away. I wish I could have been there to pick her up from the airport, but I needed to get back to UniTown to drive Son home from work. He is going in very early tomorrow and will work until 4, just before his graduation ceremony. I did remember to bring my regalia home, yay! I need to iron his gown tomorrow morning, then take both our gowns and his change of clothes to campus around 1:00.

Grades are done and in and I am officially done with this academic year. Hurrah!!

Things I have accomplished today:

• Got a bedliner installed in the truck.
• Submitted grades for two classes.
• Saved grades for three others, not submitted yet.
• Took Son to work.
  
• Took YD to HomeCity and back for allergy shots.
• Washed and changed bedding at HomeCity house in anticipation of Eldest Daughter coming tomorrow!
• Finished reading a journal article I am reviewing; still need to write that up.
• Graded one exam out of 10.
• Nagged YD about Earth Science exams.
• Paid one bill.
• Set up bank info for Ameritrade account.

Still to do:

• Grade 9 exams.
• Pick up Son from work.
• Take the garbage out.
• Set up new litter locker refill and scoop litter.
• Nag YD about Earth Science exams.
  

Ah, the end of the year

Yes, I still have grading to do. Yes, I still have one more class. But THE END IS HERE! Yay! I plan on finishing the grading tonight, and then I am free until September. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Famous Politician's upcoming visit for commencement is making everyone but me, it seems, giddy. We have been getting an average of four e-mails a day about where to line up for the ceremony, where televisions will be set up for the overflow crowd, or what local channel will be covering the speech. If I get *one more* e-mail about this thing I will scream. I have no intention of coming anywhere near campus until my college's ceremony is about to begin, by which time FP and the accompanying hysteria will be, hopefully, long gone.

Can you tell I can't stand this person? But seriously, again, partisan politicians have no place at a graduation ceremony. I want to enjoy my son's accomplishments in finishing his undergraduate career, not sit through the speech of someone I would not vote for if I was PAID to do so, or have what should be a pleasurable celebration marred by student protests (not that I think any will occur on Friday, since this despicable person is somehow, inexplicably, adored by the usual suspects, and since people of my persuasion are too polite and considerate to engage in disruptive behavior. No one who opposes FP will be rushing the stage, determined to prevent the speech, or throwing pies. We will be either sitting quietly, gritting our teeth, or avoiding the event entirely).

Speaking of graduation, I need to bring my regalia from HomeCity.

We are planning a cookout at the condo for Son on Saturday. His ceremony is in the evening, and by the time it's over everyone will just want to go home. So we will invite them all for the Ritual Grilling and Consumption of Much Meat. YUM.

I got tagged! Ack! It's my first time!

Paper Chaser tagged me on a writing meme. Ooh what do I do???

Hmmm. Let's try answering the questions!

1 . Do you outline? Yes. Not really detailed, though. I get the major sections, then the subsection topics but that's about as far as I go.

2. Do you write straight through a book, or do you sometimes tackle the chapters out of order? Usually I go straight through, because I can keep the whole thing in my head better that way.

3. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it? Oh yes, because the research work is already done. The article is just writing up what I did.

4. Where do you write? In my armchair, at my desk, on the sofa. Not usually anywhere but my office and house. I'll sometimes do editing while I'm waiting for Youngest Daughter at voice and ice skating lessons because I can tackle small sections within that time period.

5. What do you do when you get writer's block? I just have to keep plodding on regardless. It feels like pulling teeth, but sometimes the plodding turns into sprinting.

6. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the book as a whole)? I don't really work like that. I just push ahead as far as I can go. Sometimes I think I should set a goal like that but I never have.

7. How many different drafts did you write for your last project? Three. I can't help but edit as I go along, and I try to have it as complete and polished as possible before I let go of it. Then I send it to my co-authors, revise based on their input, and send the second draft to the journal. The third draft is the final.

8. Do you let anyone read your book while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it? No way anyone sees it until it's finished. I might send a co-author a draft that is missing something small, like a figure or something, but usually I try to send what I consider a finished product.

9. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft? I say "Yay!" and move on to the next task.

10. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once? I don't think I could do one at a time. I try to have several at different stages.

10. Do your books grow or shrink in revision? Usually grow, because I find I tend to be pretty terse. My main co-author keeps telling me I need to expand more on things.

11. Do you have any writing or critique partners? No, unless you count co-authors.

12 Do you prefer drafting or revising? I much prefer revising. Unless I'm "in the zone" with drafting, when the words flow like water and time flies.

13. What are your favorite writing books? Don't have any, haven't read any.

14. Morning writer, evening writer, or doesn't matter? I'm much sharper in the morning, but I write whenever I have the time. Except after I've taught evening classes. Then I'm tired and pretty brain-dead.

15. How do you handle reviews? Open 'em up and brave 'em, or wait? I open them, read them, put them away, and wait a week or two before I tackle the comments.

16. How do you handle rejection? I feel terrible for a day or two. I think if I had more stuff in the pipeline I'd handle that better. Gotta work on that.

17. Do you prefer to work on writing by yourself? Or do you prefer collaborating? I'm an engineer, which means I always have co-authors, and I am an engineer who can write. That usually means the writing part is my job, which is okay with me. I am conceited enough to think my writing is better than my co-authors'. Hee hee!

18. Able to work on airplanes? No, I don't like my seatmates reading what I am doing.

19. Have you ever abandoned a book or an article that you had finished? When? Why? I was going to say yes, but then realized I haven't done that after all. I just re-engineered the articles into book chapters in edited volumes.

20. What writing advice do you really believe in? The advice I never follow myself: to write a bit every day. That's my resolution for this summer, to start following that advice.

*Sniff* Stanley Cup dreams dashed

Yesterday my team lost and is out of the playoffs. That is so sad. They had a great year, though, and gave us a lot of exciting games. Oh well. I guess tomorrow I'll have to take the hockey gear off Jean-Luc and put his Twins shirt on for my co-worker. I hope he brings them better luck.

Had my checkup yesterday. I didn't lose any more weight, but everything else was fine and I don't need to go back for six months. Yay!

Son has returned from GradSchoolState with the possibility of three apartments. He should know for sure by the end of the week which one he is taking; all seem to be really nice places and about equal in terms of rent and lease conditions. It's hard to believe he will be off to graduate school in a couple of months.

Today is Youngest Daughter's vocal recital, then she's done with lessons until September.

I am enjoying some English Breakfast tea that Eldest Daughter bought me last weekend. And I'm wearing the Lilac Sunday shirt, ED!

Okay, puffy cat is hindering my blogging (Ouch! She is kneading and her claws are sharp! Time for another trim) so that's enough for today. Time to do some reading.

Let the stupidness begin

Okay, our uni has a new president coming this fall, and the local UUP person thought this would be a good time to resurrect a hot topic of discussion. [Aside: I am definitely anti-union when people are forced to pay dues, as is the case with Spouse's union--and it makes us mad enough to spit when we get campaign literature gussied up as union magazines, knowing our hard-earned money is being given to politicians whose positions we abhor. UUP doesn't force me to pay dues, but I disagree with most of the union's politics so I guess I could say I am moderately anti-UUP.]

Anyway, this topic is getting a lot of feedback already (THANK YOU! to the faculty who have half a brain and are posting on the provided UUP website forum instead of filling my inbox with their musings broadcast to the entire institute) and most of it is stupid. You can pretty much tell from the postings who has been here a long time and who is new--most of the newer people are open to the suggestion, the older people are either sarcastic or foaming at the mouth.

Personally, I am for this change. I think it's a good idea; it might not have been in the past, but it is now. I just hope people get a clue, stop raving, and post on the forum, not send it to everyone.

No hockey tonight. I am at loose ends. There is baseball, though. Yankees vs. the Mets.

Son left for GradSchoolState this morning, on a quest to find housing for this fall. I hope he is successful. He'll come back on Sunday, just in time for Youngest Daughter's vocal recital.

Places I've been, and not:

The Alamo
The Aleutian Islands
Amana Colonies
the Arch (St. Louis)
Aspen, CO
the Badlands
the Berkshires
the Big Ball of Twine
the Winchester Mystery House
the Black Hills
Broadway
Brooklyn Bridge
Busch Gardens (any location)
Cape Cod
Carhenge
Carlsbad Caverns
Central Park
Chimney Rock
Chinese Theater
Churchill Downs
College World Series
Colonial Williamsburg
Crater Lake
Death Valley
Disneyland (CA)
Disney World
Door County
Empire State Building
the Everglades
Fenway Park
Fisherman’s Wharf
Florida Keys
Four Corners National Park
French Quarter/Bourbon Street
Gettysburg
Glacier National Park
Golden Gate Bridge
Grand Canyon
Great Salt Lake
Harper's Ferry
the Hamptons
Hoover Dam
Independence Hall
Johnson Space Center
Joshua Tree
Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral
Lake Placid
Lake Tahoe
Las Vegas – the Strip
Mackinac Island
Madison Square Garden
Mall of America
Mammoth Cave
Mojave Desert
Monticello
Mt. Rushmore
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Vernon
The Mystery Spot
Napa Valley
Niagara Falls
the North Shore of Maui
the Ozarks/Branson
Petrified Forest
Pike’s Peak
Redwood Nat’l Park
Pike Place Market
Pearl Harbor
the Road to Hana
Rocky Mountains
Rodeo Drive/Beverly Hills
Route 66
Sea World (any location)
Sears Tower
Sequoia Nat’l Park
Sierra Nevada Mountains
Six Flags Over Texas
Smithsonian Institute Museums
Smoky Mountain Nat’l Park
Sonoma Valley
South Padre Island
Space Needle
Statue of Liberty
Stone Mountain
Times Square
United Nations
Universal Studios
Vail, CO
World of Coca-Cola
The World's Largest Garden Gnome
Wrigley Field
Yankee Stadium
Yellowstone Nat’l Park/Old Faithful
Yosemite Nat’l Park
Zion Nat’l Park

Not on this list, but I've been there:
Marshall Space Flight Center
Air Force Museum
Manassas Battlefield
White House
Capitol Building
Adirondacks
Thousand Islands
Outer Banks
Hearst Castle
Mt. Hood

Toothie woes

Well, it appears Youngest Daughter has an infection, and that's what was causing the pain. The surgeon gave her prescriptions for antibiotics and pain meds, and told her to bite down on a cotton ball moistened with plain Listerine twice a day. She has an appointment June 6 to get all four wisdom teeth removed.

So we are back at the house in HomeCity waiting for her allergy shots this afternoon, then we will drive back to UniTown. What a week it's been so far! I've put over 250 miles on the truck just in the past three days. Sheesh.

Still have a final exam to write and a set of homework assignments to grade. Tomorrow night half my class gives their presentations, and I will have to grade those. But things are definitely winding down, and none too soon.

I sent in an abstract for INFORMS for a paper I want to finish up this summer. That's two that need to go out. And I have to start thinking about CAREER again, dig out those awful reviews and see if I can get anything useful from them. Ack.

Marvelous weekend

Spouse gave me plane tickets to go see Eldest Daughter for Mother's Day weekend. It was the best present ever! I flew into the City Too Very Far Away Saturday morning at 8:30, ED picked me up, and we spent a wonderful morning strolling along a shop-filled street. We got a fabulous hand scrub at a store celebrating its one-year anniversary, had tea, bought tea, had brunch, and generally had a wonderful time together.

On Mother's Day we went to the local arboretum--wow, what a place! Lilacs galore, bonsai, cedars, beautiful azaleas and dogwood. Even Morris dancers. ED took some beautiful pictures.

It was hard to leave her but she will be coming here next weekend for Son's graduation, so that's not so bad.

When I got back, Youngest Daughter informed me that she had a problem with her wisdom tooth. Sure enough, it was sore and swollen. The dentist couldn't see her until today, just to tell us that she needed the tooth removed. So now she has an appointment with the dental surgeon tomorrow morning for a "consultation", which means he will look in her mouth and say "You need that out" and make an appointment to finally remove the tooth. Sigh.

Tonight was my last lecture of the 2006-7 academic year. Presentations remain, and one final exam. It's been a long, long year.

The implications of being a political minority on campus (whether or not the rest of the department knows you are not a True Believer):

1. You get to hear/read all sorts of stupid jokes about your party
2. You get to sit through talks that might be interesting and actually be worth your time, if only the speaker would refrain from insults and stupid jokes about your party
3. You get to listen to your colleagues make stupid remarks about the intelligence, integrity, and tolerance of people of your political persuasion
4. You get to hear the same colleagues congratulate themselves on their own intelligence, integrity, and tolerance
5. You get really good at giving non-committal responses
6. You make sure to bring your MP3 player to the next one of these talks, and sit in the back where you can listen to music instead.

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Product endorsement: Yesterday I was sure I'd have call my doctor because there was so much swelling in my sinuses that the bridge of my nose actually hurt. Youngest Daughter found these Sudafed quick dissolve strips that are like snorting Hall's mentholyptus but did the trick. The first minute or so after putting one of these things in my mouth I was coughing, gasping, and otherwise saying "Good Lord! What IS this thing?" but within seconds I could breathe through my nose and this morning the pain was all gone. Wild stuff.

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And this is just downright scary: "About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion." (NYTimes article, here)

Well, THAT was an exciting day

I hate Tuesdays, I really do. They are just jam-packed days, and I am never ready for them. We started off leaving a little late, which meant I couldn't get to the bank which meant I'd have to do it later but it had to be done before 4 p.m.

I worked a little on my lecture, but didn't make a lot of progress. Then off to a lunch hosted by one of my colleagues, which was too much food and ran too long. Came back to my office to talk to one of my students, then futzed some more with the lecture. Then it was time to go to the bank and then take Youngest Daughter downtown to her vocal lesson. I was trying to find a place to park that wouldn't involve taking my new truck into the parking garage where the ceilings seem to be much too close to the top of the cab. Found a parking spot a block away, but I only had 15 cents on me, which bought nine minutes. YD and I walked to the music school, and I popped into the nearby coffee shop to get an iced tea and break a 20 dollar bill so I'd have change for the meter. The ice tea was HORRIBLE--some weird mixture of Earl Grey and jasmine teas that tasted nasty (and the lemon didn't help). I dumped it (there goes $2) and walked back to the truck to feed the meter. After I put two quarters in I noticed that the meter was limited to a max of 15 minutes. ARRRGGGGHHHHH. So I walked down the street checking meters to see if there were any that allowed longer than 15 minutes. Found one, came back to the truck, and moved it to the new spot. Plugged in my last two quarters, which gave me 52 minutes of parking time, and figured that would be sufficient, since YD's lesson is supposed to be 45 minutes long. Well, it ran over. But at least I didn't get a ticket.

I drove YD home and sat down to work on the lecture a bit before leaving for class. That's when Kitty Son started acting strangely, slinking around and meowing in that distressed voice he has just before he goes into a seizure. But it wasn't a seizure; he seemed to have some sort of abdominal distress. He went to the litter box a couple of times and nothing came out. I was getting pretty worried, thinking we'd have to squeeze a vet visit into our shot day routine, when I thought about...dingleberries. I called YD over to help, had her turn him on his back, and sure enough--two large poops stuck to poor Kitty Son's furry behind. He growled some when I removed them, but soon was back to his happy, tail-in-the-air self. Whew. And peeee-wwwww.

Thanks to Kitty Son's little Dingleberry Drama, I forgot to print out the lecture notes. And I didn't finish the thing, either. Oh well. I had a couple small bits of stuff to go over with them, and then there were the dreaded Evaluations to be done. Unfortunately, because I hadn't printed out the notes, I couldn't remember exactly what it was I was going to elaborate on with each slide, so I blew through what I had pretty fast. We were done 45 minutes early. I don't think they minded, much, but it really bugged me because I don't like being so ill-prepared.

And I hate evaluations because I always think I am going to get slammed. I think it's one of the few things I am relentlessly pessimistic about.

It's Shot Day, so we are off to Home City. In addition to shots, we are to pick up Kitty Son food, prescriptions, and have lunch with PS. Then we come back to UniTown and I start struggling with tomorrow's lecture.

Why do cats tend to puke at 5:30 a.m.?

Never mind. It was a rhetorical question.

Yawwwwwwwn.

A hymn for a fine spring day

"Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to SING."

(emphasis mine)

Text: Munster Gesangbuch; trans. by Joseph August Seiss

It must be spring

because we have cats rampaging throughout the condo at the first sign of dawn. On a Saturday. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Scoooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrreeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Hometown hockey team won in overtime tonight, in a game that I thought for sure was lost. Wow, what a finish!

It must be a full moon, because Kitty Mama is itching to go outside and is stalking around the place growling. No way we are letting her out, so she will just have to put up with being indoors until we move back to Home City for the summer.

I blame the full moon, too, for the silliness in my class last night. I was having the students do a DFMEA on their term projects, and the last one for the night was a process for developing an invoice. The students were razzing me, saying that if the person doing the calculations and measurements for the estimate was a female, then the occurrence of an error would be very high. I retaliated by threatening to give them D's. A good time was had by all.

After class I told them about my Physics III course, where I failed the first exam. The professor went over the test questions on the board, stopping to say "This is where you went wrong, DrMom (well, I wasn't DrMom then, but you get the idea)." I was the only female in the class, and being singled out like that was more than a little disconcerting. I got angry, and sat in my front-row seat just fuming. My lab partner, Lenny, could see how mad I was, and leaned over to ask me NOT to kick the professor where it hurts. I listened to Lenny, and I didn't take advantage of the professor's proximity to my very long, very heavily shod feet. But I vowed I'd never be humiliated like that again. I bought a review book, studied like crazy, and never again scored under 100 in any of the exams or labs for the rest of the semester.

Tomorrow we finish laying block for my dad's garage addition. My work boots are starting to look like real work boots. Considering that their pristine color was puke brown, that's an improvement.

Kitty Mama is on top of me and impeding my typing so I guess I will stop here. Except that I need to say how much I miss Eldest Daughter and am looking forward to seeing her next weekend. Love you muchly, ED!

Shot day again

Today was the truck's first journey to Home City, for Youngest Daughter's allergy shot appointment. She did fine, and this time they didn't forget us for the 15-minute post-shot check. We went to a favorite local restaurant afterwards, where I had spanokopita and a warm piece of baklava...oh, heaven!

It's been a busy week since I picked up my new wheels on Friday. Saturday I helped Dad with his foundation. Mostly I took care of making the mortar and keeping him supplied with mud for the blocks. It was cold and blustery and I was glad for his heavy jacket. We did manage to short out his concrete mixer's motor, and he had to go buy a new one. But he's got a lot of the foundation done now, and the addition should go up pretty quickly.

Sunday was church. It's definitely spring, because along with the warmer weather (well, except for Saturday!) comes the bees and wasps. Son killed two that were flying about the sanctuary--BIG wasps, nasty looking. He looked around the building but couldn't spot any external nests, so we are hoping they are not living in the walls.

Sunday afternoon my hockey team lost a semi-final game. Grrrr. I was getting too anxious to watch, so I made popcorn. And then, promptly, spilled it all over the rug. Double Grrrrr.

Monday wasn't too bad; normal busyness during the day. But Monday evening was a Women's Leadership dinner and that was semi-boring. I am sort of ambivalent about these women's things, because there's often an underlying theme of "men are the enemy" and "women are better". I don't agree with a lot of it, especially when they get all political, as if we are all stamped out of the same mold. I don't care what gender or ethnicity a candidate is; I care about the person's stance on issues. So no, I am not going to applaud some politician just because she happens to be female. Anyway, I go to these events but I am not entirely comfortable with the tone. I sat next to the dean, so I got a chance to thank her personally for her intervention in my salary hike.

Tuesday was the usual packed-full day. Meetings, YD's voice lesson, class. Two more Tuesdays before the school year ends. Sigh. Then Tuesday night my team lost AGAIN. GRRR!! I made popcorn again but did not spill it.

That brings us up to today. My poor truck has bug guts all over it from driving on the highway. Splat, splat, splat.

I suppose I should finish grading the assignments from my online classes...I did finish reviewing three chapters for the data mining encyclopedia. Still have a journal article to review. I've got about a half hour before I need to go pick up Son, so I should be able to finish grading for one class by then.