Guess who came to Thanksgiving dinner?

The Travelers went to visit Eldest Daughter in the City Too Very Far Away for the holiday. Son flew up from the Sunny South in a very cramped airplane, and we all assembled in ED's single bedroom apartment. We had brought two fold-up cots and a raggedy piece of foam to sleep on. In a welcome twist, Youngest Daughter was able to come with us, which meant the whole family was together in ED's little place for FOUR DAYS... and we did NOT kill one another!

Thanksgiving morning ED and I ventured out to Dunkin' Donuts (ubiquitous in that neck of the woods) to get some goodies to nosh on while we got dinner ready. On the way back to the apartment we were commenting that we hadn't seen any of the wild turkeys that inhabit the banks of the reservoir behind ED's building. Then we saw one, standing under the bush near the front door! I told it that we had its cousin upstairs, and it looked my way--then it started following ED to the door. She scurried inside, and held the door for me. Mr. Turkey walked over to the windows and peered in, looking this way and that.
We finally took the donuts and coffee upstairs, and told the others about the visitor. Spouse went down with some popcorn but Mr. Turkey wasn't interested. We wondered if he was following the smell of the donuts.

ED did a bang-up job with her very first turkey (unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of it! But take my word for it, it was beautiful AND scrumptious) and a good meal was had by all. After dinner we went over to ED's boyfriend's parents' house for dessert (creme brulee, YUM) and polite conversation. It was a very nice evening.

Friday we all slept in so we got going rather late to the historical town we wanted to visit. First we stopped at an Italian deli close by and Son got some prosciutto and wild boar bacon. Then we drove to HistoryTownToo and walked around its small but picturesque downtown. The highlight of that day's journey was the kitchen supply store, where Spouse bought a four-foot wooden spoon for his sister. Too bad ED is too big for spankings anymore, that thing has a heck of a reach!

The next day we went to HistoryTownOne and had a fabulous tour of an 18th century meeting place that played a big part in our nation's history. It was a very enjoyable afternoon even if it was cold and windy.

Alas, the good times had to come to an end, and YD, Spouse, and I set off for home Sunday afternoon. It was hailing in The City Too Very Far Away, but the weather wasn't the reason for the two-hour-long traffic jam we got stuck in ten minutes after getting on the turnpike. Sigh. We hit another traffic jam near UniTown, but that wasn't nearly so bad.

Son stayed an extra day, and the poor kid's flight was delayed over an hour. So it was a marathon trip in many ways, but we had a great time together. I am sure ED loved having us there, but also loved getting her peace and quiet (and clean place) back after we were gone.

Ahhhh, break week

Last week turned out to be less break and more work than I had hoped. Two full days of grant writing seminar, then two days of getting mid-tenure stuff ready and printed (600 pages and two binders' worth of materials. I bet the committee's eyes are going to fall out reading all that stuff), then running around with Youngest Daughter for SAT prep classes, etc. etc. etc. Not much time for relaxation or anything else.

Also, Friday my PhD adviser from Alma Mater U called and wanted to know if I could teach there this spring, like I did last year. Things are much different now at my school, as it transitions to a research-intensive focus, and I didn't think the new dean would look too favorably on the idea of me teaching in two places. So I said I would ask Boss and let Adviser know on Monday (which is today).

Turns out my gut feeling was correct, and Boss said it would cause issues not just for me, but also for him if the Dean found out about this class. So I will have to decline, which makes me sad because I could use the money, but more importantly because I hate disappointing Adviser. I will admit it was stressful going back and forth between two completely different systems, though.

Today I am accompanying YD to her Holocaust Lit class to hear a survivor speak. Should be interesting. Then tomorrow I want to get the oil changed in the truck, and get it ready for the trip to see Eldest Daughter in the City Too Very Far Away, where Son will meet us and participate in the Ritual Consumption of Much Pumpkin Pie. Yay! The only bad thing is that YD cannot come with us, as she has to work. That is very sad and we will really miss her.

It hasn't been a good month

• First, the wrong person gets elected President. Notice how he is appointing all the Clinton retreads. Yeah, good luck with that "change" thing.
• My colleague who supposedly wanted to collaborate on stuff has apparently decided other things are more worthwhile. In the meantime, I had sent in an abstract based on her prior interest. Thanks a pantload.
  
• Next, I forgot about a red gel pen that was in my white shirt pocket, and threw it in the laundry. I spend Monday evening scrubbing the dryer with Soft Scrub, and soaking all my whites in bleach with the prayer that the red will come out (it did, on all but one turtleneck).
• Then, I get the semi-snarky e-mail about the non-grant (I offered to turn the money management over to the snarker, no response yet).
• I've e-mailed the mid-tenure committee chairman three times with questions about things and have never gotten even one response from him. The latest question is if I should print out all the materials for this last task, because just the student evaluation summaries are at least seven pages long. Each. For nine classes, multiple offerings. It's easily a ream of paper to print out everything. So, I ask my director, who is also on the committee. Does he respond? Nope. I guess I have to kill a forest today, then.
• And, not least but I hope LAST in this awful month, my CAREER proposal got declined. The e-mail came last night (there's ONE person who responds to e-mail!). I read the reviews and they weren't bad, except the one thing that makes me think this is a more futile effort than usual--the reviewer noted that I only had MS students identified in the proposal. Well, that's because we don't have a Ph.D. program. So then, is it not worthwhile to try for CAREER the third and last time? Sigh.

Is it May yet?

Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!

My uni is transitioning to the research-intensive mode, which means that we now have substantially higher standards to reach for tenure. We've not been given funding limits yet, but we know that's coming.

So what happens when a school flips from teaching-intensive to research-intensive? Bean counting comes first. How many pubs do I have, how many do I need, what kind do I need, can I shave off class prep time to do just one more conference paper, what grants can I go for, etc.

The next thing is the internal bickering over co-authorship and co-PI status. And therein lies today's teensy tiny rant.

One of the groups I work with needed money for a program, and someone found a funding opportunity from a local community foundation that we thought would fit what we were doing. Another woman and I ran around like little chickens with no heads filling out the forms and working with Development to get the request in on time. We were notified at the end of summer that we got the money.

This morning I got a message from another person in the group complaining that the rest of the group wasn't named as co-PIs on this thing. Well, first there IS no PI or co-PI. It's a gift, not a grant. Second, I had HER name on as the contact person, and the people in Development changed it, probably because *I* was the only one they were working with on this request. Of course she said she wasn't upset, that she didn't realize how important it is to have funded grants on one's resume. Then she says in parentheses that maybe I did! Well duh, yes I do know that. But this isn't a grant, it's a gift. The recipient isn't me, it's the university. I'm not a PI, I am the contact person which means I get to fill out the form at the end of the year saying how we spent the money. When I looked back at the e-mails that flew around over this request, there's NOTHING from her.

So, how eager do you think I am going to be to work with this group once the gift money is gone?

Ack! CAREER news (or lack thereof)

There's one other professor besides me who submitted a CAREER proposal this year. He e-mailed me Friday to tell me he'd been declined. I haven't heard a thing; I joked that they were notifying people alphabetically (his last name begins with A, mine is at the other end of the alphabet). Only 12% of CAREER applications are funded each year, and I wonder if the current economic crisis will drive that number lower at least for this year. At any rate, I am waiting for the axe to fall.

In other school news, I am DONE for this quarter! Grades go in tonight, after today's all-day seminar on getting research grants. Tomorrow, another all-day seminar on getting research grants. Then Wednesday I have to finish the last mid-tenure task, which is collating all the student evals and summarizing by class. I am almost done with that, although I have a pile of paper ones to put in order. What a pain this is!

Random stuff:

• The snowflake who sent me all those e-mails about the graphing calculator also left a voice mail on my office phone. Sigh.
• Adviser called me to ask if I would teach next semester for him. I have to ask Boss because we have instituted new conflict-of-interest rules and I don't want to get in trouble. Boss is overseas at the moment.
• Eldest Daughter is in San Francisco! She got to see Oldest Friend yesterday afternoon. Lucky.
• I bought my mom a mug with pictures from our Israel trip on it. I got one for myself and I am using it right now for a nice hot cup of tea.
• The only thing that keeps me from sniffling over missing Son is that I get to see him next Wednesday. Yay!
  

Latest snowflake

and the new term hasn't even started yet. This is an adult snowflake and I have never met or talked to this person before.

Last month's e-mail: Hey (DrMom's first name), I am enrolled in your stats class next quarter. Can you confirm the text is X? Also I talked to some other students and they said I need the TI-83 graphing calculator. Is that true?

My reply: Dear P: Yes, that is the text. No, you don't need the calculator. You do need the student version of Minitab, which is available from www.minitab.com. Signed, Dr. (DrMom's last name)

Two days ago e-mail: Hey (DrMom's first name), Do I need the graphing calculator for your stats class? Is the text X?

My reply: Dear P: Yes, that is the text. No, you don't need the calculator. You do need the student version of Minitab, which is available from www.minitab.com. Signed, Dr. (DrMom's last name)

Last night's e-mail: Hey {student's adviser's first name), please ignore my e-mail about the graphing calculator. I talked to (DrMom's first name) and she said I don't need it. I need Minitab. But I called Y at Minitab and she said the cost for Minitab is $1200 unless I can prove I'm matriculated in a degree program, then it's $495. Can you help me with the matriculation?

My reply: Dear P: Yes, that is the text. No, you don't need to pay $1200 or even $495 for Minitab. On the site it says the student version can be rented for $29.95 for six months or purchased for $99.95. Signed, Dr. (DrMom's last name)



It's going to be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooong quarter.

If you are a conservative Christian, be aware

that this may be coming to your church some day soon.

How does this make any sense?

Several outlets reported that Obama's campaign disabled the anti-fraud controls on his website, allowing questionable donations from people like "Adolfe Hitler" and foreign entities. Obama broke an earlier promise to accept only public financing for the campaign, which opened the door for unprecedented giving and documented fraud.

McCain, on the other hand, stubbornly refused private funding and stuck to his principles.

And now, this, from Brit Hume's Political Grapevine:

It is unlikely the Federal Election Commission will conduct an audit of the Obama campaign and how it raised more than $600 million. The Politico newspaper reports despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting, the record-shattering sum is seen by the FEC as minimizing the significance of any errors.

That suggests the Obama campaign was so flush with cash that if it did break FEC rules it would not have made much of a difference. The FEC would also have to vote on whether to launch the audit, and is prone to deadlock on such matters.

Meanwhile, the commission is legally obligated to carry out a rigorous audit of the McCain campaign. The senator accepted $84 million in public funding, which automatically triggers a federal review. The audit could take years and will cost millions to defend. McCain has reportedly put aside almost $9.5 million to pay for the audit.

I'm sorry, but that is nuts. Crazy. Absolutely beyond belief.

Oh, and of course now the media is self-reporting that their reports were biased against McCain, and Camille Paglia has an article in Slate admitting that maybe Ayers and Wright and the enigma that is Obama should have gotten more notice BEFORE the election. A little too late, eh?

I think we are in for a big case of buyer's remorse, and I think there's a catastrophe coming. I hope I am wrong but my gut says otherwise.

Veteran's Day 2008

Thank you, veterans, for your service to our country. We owe you more than we can ever repay. May we always remember that.

Talk about going overboard...

From Michael Graham at the Boston Herald:

Goodbye, Inauguration Day. Hello, Obama Day!

That’s the hope of some Obama supporters in Kansas who are organizing “Yes We Can” rallies to “secure a national holiday in Obama’s honor,” according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal. They also plan to serve “Obama cake” at the local McDonald’s during the swearing-in.

“Obama cake.” Goes great with Kool-Aid.

Barack Obama may be the King of Cool, but his followers are afflicted with brain fever. Fans faint at his campaign events. Harvard academics want George Bush and Dick Cheney to resign immediately. His transition team co-chair told Tom Brokaw she wants President-elect Obama ready “to take power and begin to rule day one” (emphasis added).

Folks, calm down. It’s a presidential election, not a regime change.

Viewed as part of the American story of race relations, I agree that this year’s election is a moment of great history. But as an election, it was, well, just an election.

Around 130 million voters turned out, or 61.2 percent of registered voters - 1 percent higher than 2004, but lower than in ’64 or ’68.

The Republicans lost and the Democrats won. Unusual, yes. But given the terrible economy and an incumbent Republican with poll numbers slightly above Julio Lugo’s batting average, is anyone surprised?

Meanwhile, Obama could only muster 52.6 percent of the vote, even after the Wall Street meltdown and outspending John McCain by $100 million in the last weeks of the campaign. A solid win, but hardly historic.

We’ve managed to pick 42 presidents before (43 if you count Grover Cleveland twice) without declaring any holidays before they even took office. Let’s calm down.

One of the National Review writers, who dared to criticize The One, was inundated with vituperative and hate-filled e-mails from what he describes as "Obamarrhoids" which made me laugh out loud. I am sure he got more lovely e-mails after he posted that.

Happy Birthday to the US Marines

Thank you for all you have done, and continue to do. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Oh good heavens

In the past two days, I've gotten several spam e-mails with the subject header "Cindy McCain nude in public" and "Michelle Obama nude."

Two mental images I can REALLY do without.

Spammers are the scum of the earth. We should round them all up and make them go clean pig latrines. And that's being nice.

Here's the pressing question for today...

• Will the Bills beat the Pats?
• Will I manage to keep anything down today? (Had a run-in with a rogue pork egg roll).

Wait, that's two...

Here are the two pressing questions for today.

• Will the Bills beat the Pats?
• Will I manage to keep anything down today?
• Will I take all day to write the final for my online class?

Wait, that's three...

Here are the three pressing questions for today...

THIS is what "Country First" means

and this is also what President Bush NEVER got from the Democrats:

We at THE WEEKLY STANDARD congratulate Barack Obama on his impressive victory. We pledge our support for those of his policies we can support, our willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt in cases of uncertainty, and our constructive criticism and loyal opposition where we are compelled to differ. We hope President Obama's policies and decisions will strengthen the nation he will now lead, and that our country and the cause of freedom in the world will emerge from the next four or eight years even stronger than they are today.

Read the rest

Yep

What she said.

The Statement is done

Thanks to good friends and colleagues who read it over and forced me to be less terse, it's finally finished.

One last task to go, due the 2oth. Then I wait for The Interview with the mid-tenure committee.

All this week my students have been presenting their projects, and it's been a fun time. One student was trying to explain El Nino and finally gave up. He declared that he believed El Nino was really Al Qaeda, because it sneaks up on you and causes great devastation. What a riot!

Another got into deep doo-doo when explaining the results of his study on donations; he said he was surprised that the top donors were the 60-80 year-olds, that he thought they'd be dead.

Nothing left to do but grading and finals and grading. Ahhhh. Next quarter I have only an online class to teach, which means I have lots of time for research. Yay!

Youngest Daughter is cooking right along with school and work and doing well. The driving here and there, though, is really breaking up my days. I drive her to work at 7, pick her up at 11, take her to class at 1, pick her up at 3:30, then go teach class from 6-8. I have to shoehorn meetings into the times between pickups. As soon as I get rolling on something, I have to stop and be TaxiMom. It's hard to get much done with that kind of schedule, which is why I work after I get back from class until about midnight--then the alarm goes off at 6, so she can get to work at 7. There's no other way to do it, though. And today is allergy shot day, which means as soon as her Friday class ends we drive to HomeCity and then scoot right back to UniTown for piano. My truck hit 35,000 miles yesterday.

Yeah, now they want US to make nice

For eight years, they called our President Chimpy McChimp, and Bushitler, and all sorts of other demeaning and disgusting things. They implied that 9/11 was an inside job. They treated the Vice President worse than they treated a dictator.

NOW they discover that it's better not to be spewing such hatred? NOW they realize that we can't prosper or fight off enemies if we think of each *other* as enemies?

Excuse me. I will respect the President because he is the President of my beloved country and I am called to do so both by my God and by my allegiance to the United States of America. I do not and will not respect the people who tore us down for eight years at home and abroad. I notice they did not apologize for that behavior.

http://www.zefrank.com/from52to48withlove/

Sorry. I don't believe you for a stinking second. If McCain had won, you'd be still spewing.

Not the result I hoped for

and I think we are in for a grim four years.

However.

God is still in control.

I have spent the last seven years fasting once a month for the President. It has been a joy to support him in prayer. I am not going to lie and say it will be a joy to pray for this new President; it's going to be a sacrifice. But my country is worth the sacrifice, even though it elected a man and a party to power who damn America, who have never been proud of America, who have tried to blow up America, and who think America is "mean". I hope these people come to realize the tremendous blessing this country represents while they try to govern her and keep her safe. I hope this man remembers he is President of all of us, and not just the people who agree with him.

I refuse to follow the Democrats' (and the media's--they are one and the same) example and fall prey to Obama Derangement Syndrome. Their unremitting hatred of President Bush, and the willingness to say horrible things about him and about our country, even on foreign soil (Jimmy Carter is a disgrace) hurt America immensely. They have a lot to answer for.

And speaking of President Bush, I want to thank him for his steadfast focus on keeping us safe from terrorists. He was faced with unprecedented challenges, from 9/11 to a hateful and unrelenting assault on him as a person and as a President. He faced all that scorn and bile with tremendous grace. May God bless him and his family for their service.

God bless the United States of America.

Did you vote today?

I don't know if I did. I dropped Youngest Daughter off at work at 7, then hopped on the highway. Got to HomeCity at 8:20, picked up Spouse, and we went to the polling place. Stood in line (it was out the door--maybe twice what we usually get for national elections) for 10 minutes, then they called out house numbers to cull people out of the main line into the two districts. Guess what? We have lived there 25 years, and never missed an election, and our names were not in the book. NONE OF US. Our neighbor across the street, yes. The guy next to her, yes. Us--No.

So they took us to a table and made us fill out the outside of a big envelope with all our info, including party affiliation. Sat us at a touchscreen machine turned so everyone in line could see what we were doing. The poll watcher stood behind me watching my every choice. When I was done, the ballot was printed and she looked that over very carefully, then folded it up and put it in the envelope. I took it from her, sealed it, and walked it over to the table for my district and stood there until they put it in a big leather bag. Then I stood behind Spouse to block the view of the line while he voted. His ballot did not print at all. The poll worker sealed his envelope anyway and put it in the bag. We went home and called the board of elections and the county Republican headquarters. BoE is "sorry for our inconvenience" and the guy literally ummmed about 30 times. He got really ummy when I asked if this had happened to all the Republicans in our district. He got silent when I asked if spouse's vote counted.

We've heard threats of violence in the neighborhood if Obama loses, so we had planned to put an Obama sign in our yard to forestall anything but there's no reason to do that now. They know how we voted, they all watched us do it.

Pretty sorry state of affairs but again, it's sort of typical HomeCity.

Youngest Daughter voted in her very first election in UniTown. She wanted me to come in the booth with her, aww. We always took the kids in with us, and this is the first time she was on her own in there. It was a lump-in-the-throat moment.