Howard's Comments

2007-11-21T17:16:00.000-05:00

Go Miners!

This week saw the start of Pikeville's newest minor league team, the East Kentucky Miners of the CBA. Over 2200 fans came to the East Kentucky Expo Center to watch the Miner win their home opener.

I am really excited about this team, and hopefully tonight they can pick up their first road win. (They've looked good in their two road losses so far.)

Go Miners!

Cubs win NL Central

2007-09-29T13:10:00.000-04:00

Well, the Chicago Cubs have won the National League's Central Division and are on their way to the playoffs for the first time in four years. How did this happen? Well, I'll tell you. The defining moment of the Cubs' season came on June 2nd when Lou Pinella got himself thrown out of a game. There was some friction in the dugout the day before, so Lou decided to take the attention away from the players and on to himself by arguing a probably meaningless bad call the next day. That sparked the team on a tremendous run which brought them to the NL Central crown.

Don't believe me? On June 2nd, the Cubs were in 5th place, 7 1/2 games out of first. (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp?ymd=20070602) Here is the record for the entire NL Cen from Jun 2 to Sept 28.

Chicago	62	45	0.58
St. Louis	53	54	0.5
Milwaukee	50	54	0.48
Cincinnati	49	54	0.48
Houston	48	57	0.46
Pittsburgh	44	61	0.42

No other team even came close to the 62 games won by the Cubs during that stretch. And that's how the Cubs made it to first place.

Now the Cubs wait to see who else will join them. Looking how close the other divisions and wild card standings are, this could be a while.

NFL Starts Tonight

2007-09-06T21:41:00.000-04:00

NFL season has finally arrived. It starts on a Thursday (kinda odd, but if NBC pays for it, I guess they get to play it when they want to).

The first game of the season, Saints and Colts. I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that these two teams will be playing the last game of the season, too!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

2007-08-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

Borrowing from an old Staples commercial, it is back to school time. And I'm always excited about the first day of class.

I started feeling it yesterday when I was walking through campus, seeing all the students looking for their classroom, saying Hi to friends they haven't seen in a while, lots of fun stuff.

I drove through campus last night, about 11:30, and saw a group of students chatting on the steps of a building. I felt like going up to them and reminding them today was the first day of class, and they should think about getting to their rooms, but I decided just to leave them be.

So far today my classes have been good. One more to go for me. Then it's fun stuff like band and choir.

Time for me to get some work done while I can!

I bought a trumpet today

2007-08-09T20:58:00.000-04:00

I suppose there are lots of ways to start this story, but they all end with me buying a trumpet today. Before you read, you should know my daughter is OK. She's a little shaken up, has a few bruises, but all-in-all is unharmed. You'll need to know that when you get to a certain part of the story.

I got a phone call this afternoon from my ex. Our daughter had wrecked my car. A little bit later, she called. She was ok, but the car had flipped. You can't believe how sick I started to feel. How can she be ok after flipping in the car? But I could hear in her voice that she was ok, so that helped as I drove to where she was.

She was driving to our local music shop, to get a quick repair done on her flute. She wasn't less than a mile there when this happened. As I approached I couldn't believe what I saw. First, highway workers were controlling traffic; I guess the car was blocking one of the lanes. I was quite scared as I got closer. Then I saw it. The car was indeed on it's hood. Facing the side of the road, the windshield was smashed, and the front end was actually in the ditch of to the side. My heart sank. But I saw my daughter, and her mom, up in the yard, and every seemed fine. Scared, shaken up, but uninjured. Amazing. Airbags are a wonderful thing!

I called for a tow-truck, they righted the car and took it to their shop. The car was a '95 Toyota Tercel, now with front end body, windshield, mirrors, and probably frame and engine damage. I didn't really want to get into details about it. We collected our belongings from the car, gave the wrecker company $20, and told them to junk it. They said they'll get the gas tank and tires taken off, get the fluids drained, then sell it to the junk yard. I figured it would cost me more than that 20 to do it all myself, even after selling it, so we said good-bye to my car, very thankful it protected my daughter.

Since we were so close to the music shop, I suggested we go ahead and get her flute looked at. So we went. Max (the owner) came out to greet us, and quickly got to work on her flute.

While he was working, I decided to peek around a bit. You see, I had lost my trumpet from the college band room about 3 years ago. I left it there over one summer break, and when I got back in the fall, it was gone. I couldn't prove this, or its worth, but the college insurance gave me $500 for the loss (even though I know it was worth a lot more).

The trumpet was a Bach Stadivarius, given to me my sophomore year of high school, about 27 years ago, worth probably $2,000. The case needed a new handle, so maybe I'd brought it in to Max to have it fixed, and just forgot about it. So, it certainly didn't hurt to take a look.

It didn't take long for me to find an old Bach Strad case with a new handle. You can't imagine what I'm thinking at this point. So, I ask Max what he knew about the trumpet (thinking he'd tell me someone brought it in to fix the handle a few years ago and forgot to pick it up). The story I got was quite different.

Seems a former student of mine, who will be called Wonder Student (a nickname he earned form me during conversations with Suzie, due to his lack of forethought in much of his academic behavior) pawned it with Max a couple years ago for $200. He was in a tough financial spot, and would repay him when things improved. Max typically doesn't sell stuff left like that, so he was just gonna hold it as long as needed. Curious, I explained about my lost trumpet (which Max had heard about) and got permission to open it.

I couldn't believe it. There it was. My trumpet. I recognized the mutes in the case. A metal straight mute, dented Harmon mute, red and white cup mute. There was a straight mute I didn't recognize, but I had my original one break, and if I had a replacement, I wouldn't have had it long enough to remember. There was also a white handkerchief, a pattern like some I still have. I removed the trumpet opened the storage case. There was my really old tube of slide grease, cleaning brushes, and the Shilke valve cover that I used to have on it. I told Max, "I swear to God, this is my trumpet. I have no way to prove it, but this is my trumpet." We discussed how the handle was broken, what was new about the one he put on, anything to help verify that this really was mine.

He had by now finished the fix on the flute, which he wasn't going to charge us for, and was looking through his check stubs to see when he got it. I explained it was probably 2004, when I lost it, but his book there didn't go back that far; he'd have to get it some other time. I teased my daughter about having to go through so much just to get me to Max's to find my trumpet. I'll have to discuss that with God later.

Max believed me, even without any means of proof. I later found my initials written on the cup mute. I wish I'd have seen that there as big time proof. But there is no doubt, I have my trumpet back. I decided he shouldn't be out the money he gave Wonder Student, so I "bought" my trumpet back for $200, plus I paid $35 more for having the handle put on.

I will probably be seeing the band director tomorrow. He will definitely learn all of this. Wonder Student was kicked out of school, but he still participates with the band. I am going to strongly request that he not be invited back this year. Max had heard there were other instruments stolen at that same time. I wonder if Wonder Student had anything to do with that.

So, in the past few hours, my mind has gone the full range of motions. Relief and Joy that my daughter is safe. Sorrow that I lost my car. Elation in finding my trumpet again. Anger at this student and one time friend for stealing it. I'm hoping to be more centered tomorrow, as our back to work meeting start. But I don't know how well I'll sleep tonight.

_Howard

If I caught #756

2007-08-07T17:52:00.000-04:00

Not that it's going to happen, but I've thought about what I'd do if I happened to be the one to catch Barry Bonds' 756th homerun baseball.

I'd have it cut in half. (They have ways to do this and preserve each half of the baseball.) I'd mount each half on a plaque some way. I'd have Barry sign each half. I'd keep one; he'd get the other. I'm not independently wealthy, but I don't think I'd see this as the ultimate "get rich quick" ticket. If he wants to keep his, give it to the Hall of Fame, have it sold for charity, that would be up to him. But I'm pretty sure I'd keep mine.

Oh, I think I'd sign both halves, too.

Coaching Changes

2007-04-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

Not that anyone reads this, but I thought I'd add my two cents on some recent college basketball coaching changes.

I thought about giving a current events quiz to my classes today.

Question 1) Who is Kentucky's new coach? (ans Billy Gillispie)
I expect everyone would know this

Question 2) Who is Marshall's new coach? (ans Donnie Jones)
I expect no one would get this right.

If you don't know, Donnie Jones has been spending the last 13 or so years as an assistant to Billy Donovan. And everyone here knows Billy Donovan. The coach at Florida for 11 years, winning two straight national championships (and the Kentucky faithful actually thought he'd leave that gig!). Before Florida, they were both at Marshall. Billy came there after being an assistant at UK, and found Donny, who'd been assisting Mark White for few years.

Now, here's the part that should spark an interest in Pikeville. Mark was coach here at Pikeville in the 80s. and Donny was one of his players. So, we get a relative no-name (no offense Mr Gillispie -- but I don't think I'd ever heard your name until last week) from Texas A&M to coach the beloved Wildcats, yet a person with Pikeville ties comes to a school closer to us than Lexington, and it seems no one notices.

So, next season, when everyone else around here is wearing Kentucky blue (what shade is that going to be this year?), don't be surprised if you see me in Thundering Herd green.

Treadmill Day 1

2007-02-12T18:20:00.000-05:00

I got a new manual treadmill over the weekend, so I tried it out today. Ugh. I guess you don't run on one of these the same way you run on the road. I could only go 11 minutes before my legs said Hey, we can't do this! That little electronic gizmo thing said I had only gone 0.4 miles. Oh well. I'll get it figured out soon.

_Howard

Not Dead, Just Cold

2007-02-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

I understand I have a few regular readers of this. Why, I don't know. But I guess they want to know what's up with my running.

Short answer: nothing

Long answer: it's really really cold lately, and I've had a head cold that just won't go away, and I feel it's best not to try to go out running. I'm just not ready for being out in that cold weather.

Longer answer: I really want to go running, and my legs are feeling the urge every now and then. I even ran part of the way to work (I usually walk) just to remind them what it feels like. They liked it. I still walk home from work twice a day, but sometimes my wife gives me a ride to work, when we're leaving at the same time. I have no treadmill and no interest in buying one. I'm not going to join the Y just for their running track, so I'm kinda just waiting for the weather to warm up. I really should check if our college's gym has a treadmill I could use. I can probably get out there a couple times a week if they do.

When it does finally warm up, I'll have to get ready for a 5 mile run in mid-April.

_howard

rainy day

2007-01-13T19:08:00.000-05:00

Well, it wasn't raining when I started on my run, but about a quarter mile out, it was. That's also the same time that i realized I had on the wrong shoes. Oh well. (No, don't ask me how that happened, I don't know)

No watch meant just run until I couldn't run any more. Then walk until I could run again. Well, I went pretty far before my fisrt walk. I mapped it out, and found out it was just about one mile. Excellent. No sides streets where I was at the time, so I decided I'd walk on the sidewalk until the next side street, and I would run in that area until I got back to that main road. Well, that street showed up sooner than I thought it would, but I started running anyway. Felt pretty good, surprisingly. I was humming pepband songs to myself to keep my mind off running, and that helped.

When I got back to the main road, I saw the foot bridge not too far off in the distance. So I decided to keep running (yes, on the sidewalk) until I got to the bridge. I wasn't going to run across the wet suspension bridge, so I'd have a walk interval whether I wanted it or not. On the other side of the bridge it was a short distance back home. I ran as much as I could, but the last road to my house is a fairly steep hill. I was quite pleased to get over halfway up before my legs said "no more". So, I finished with a short walk home.

MapMyRun says I was out there for 2.2 miles... running 1.9 of it. I was out for about half an hour, but I don't know exactly how far. I got some cash for Christmas. I see a Timex GPS in my near future. Monday should be a good day to run. Hopefully I won't wimp out.

Goal: 500
Last run: 2.2
Total: 4.5
Remaining: 495.5

Week 1 of 2007

2007-01-07T18:33:00.000-05:00

I only got one run in last week. 2.3 miles up at the track (9 laps in lane 3) I felt pretty good about it, 15 minutes of running w/o walking to start, then 15 with walking (more walking than I would have liked, but out of nine laps, I only walked 1 1/2. I guess that's pretty good.

Part of the BF is having a 2007 miles in 2007 contest. My goal isn't quite that high. Try 500. If I keep this blog going this year, I'll keep a tally of how far I've gone, and how far I have to go.

Goal: 500
Last run: 2.3
Total: 2.3
Remaing 497.7

Dec 29

2006-12-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

Well, trying to make this a habit...

No watch meant I was guessing when to start running and walking. My first run was longer than Wednesday's first run, and I think my 2nd run was too. I'm thinking I still go out to hard on my first run. I can never match that same interval. And I hate that my last 10 minutes have to be up hill. Ugh. Maybe I'll go out to the track this week. We'll see.

_Howard

Still here

2006-12-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what my lack of posting suggests, I still have been working out a couple days each week. When my granddad died in November, it took me out of a rhythm bad, and being on break has cut out almost all motivation to do anything.

But I'm still trying to run every other day. Well, run/walking. I'm up to run intervals of at least 6 minutes, walking only one or two. But when I hit the hill to come home, that sometimes cut a run interval short.

Like today. It was run 8min, walk 2 min, run 6.5 min, walk 4.5 min, run 3.5 min, walk 4.5 min, run 1 min (I think that adds up to 30 minutes LOL) I need to get out to the track and do some flat running a while *smile*

Anyway, hope to blog more often. And maybe start reading some other runners' blogs.

_Howard

Week 7 (last week)

2006-10-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess I missed a few days posting. After looking my DSL for a weekend, then dealing with midterms and founders week activities all at once, blogging my runs seemed like a low priority.

Monday's workout was spent doing 1min run/3min walk intervals. I ended up going about 1.4 miles in half an hour. Felt pretty good.

Wednesday's workout was cancelled due to me being up until 2am the night before grading... ugh.

Friday was 1/3 again. I stretched it to 1.5 miles. Amazing how the hills cut down the distance you can go.

Saturday was another day to overdo it (it's a bad habit, I know). I didn't have my watch, so I thought I'd run a while, walk a while, just by feel. Well, I'm not ready to do this. I ended up going 2.1 miles, but it was a bit more painful than I would have liked. I should also add most of that run was on sidewalks, that didn't help things.

Anyway, I ended up with 4 miles for the week. Not a lot, but it felt better than a few weeks ago.

Week 6 - Day 2

2006-10-05T13:49:00.000-04:00

Fall break, I get to sleep in and still make it up the track to run. Normally Thursday is an off day, but since I missed yesterday, I thought I'd have a go of it today. Legs weren't hurting. The rain looked like it was going to hold off for a while. So, why not!

I decided that I've been overdoing it, so I wasn't going to try to go for 3mile runs in my workout. Pretend I'm starting over. I decided to for 8 laps. I'd run one of the straightaways (1oom) and walk the rest of the lap. And I'd take a slower pace, like the kind I use when I'm crossing the street.

Weather today was nice, 60° partly cloudy. Half a lap of walking and I'm ready for my first run. Slow, Howard, slow. My knees seem to be hurting, like yesterday, but not enough to slow me down. I check my watch and I think it tells me I did that in 54 seconds. That is slow. (Maybe I read the watch wrong?) Anyway, no other pains, it felt really good.

I did 7 more laps, almost all the same. 100m run times varied between 45 and 50 seconds for the most part. I know I could have gone faster, but I didn't. I keep that same pace all the way through. Just to prove to myself I still had strenght, I went more than 100m on that last run, part of the way into the turn, and ran for a complete 60 seconds. I could have gone a few more laps, but I didn't want to overdo, and I had other things to get done this morning. Saturday I'll go for the complete 60second runs and walk the rest of the lap.

So, put me down for 2.1 miles in 35 2/3 minutes! I'm looking for the same distance in a slighly shorter time Saturday

Healing Day

2006-10-04T23:15:00.000-04:00

Well, today was supposed to be Day 2, but my legs were still hurting, so I thought it best not to go out. Instead, I went to the med school's OMT clinic this afternoon to get my knees worked on.

That went well. He worked on my left ankle and right knee. The two pains I was complaining about were gone, but as I left, I still felt different pains on the inside of my knees. The walk home wasn't too comfortable.

I had a church meeting tonight, and since it was a lovely night, I decided to walk there and back. Knee still wasn't feeling too good, but I was still glad to be walking.

On the way home, I noticed something. My knees weren't hurting, not even a little. And my ankle wasn't hurting. My muscles weren't hurting. My legs didn't hurt. MY LEGS DIDN'T HURT! For the first time since Saturday, my legs didn't hurt. Awesome! I should pop a note to the med school prof that oversees the clinic to let him know.

I'm so psyched for my morning run tomorrow!

Week 6 - Day 1

2006-10-02T17:31:00.000-04:00

Ouch. The "plan" was to go up to 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking (5x) - up from last week's 2 minutes running, 4 minutes walking (5x). The "plan" was working well until the third run. Then my legs quit. I'll have to revise my "plan" for the rest of the week.

After a 1min warm up walk, I started my first 3min jog. That didn't go too bad. My knees started hurting a bit (like they were on Saturday), but it wasn't enough to give me problems. My 2nd run wasn't bad either; still a bit of pain, and my calves didn't like it either. I hit my turn-around point and head back home. My third run was hard. I gave up after two minutes. After a minute rest, I got the 3rd minute run in, but (having heard on the BF board to listen to my body) I decided that would be my last run of the morning. I walked back home (I was still 10min from home!) and ended up turning in a 1.75mile workout in 29 minutes. Funny, three weeks ago I'd have loved that, but now, not so happy LOL.

So now I get to ask the BF board which I should do next: 2 1/2 min runs with 3 1/2 min walks, or 2 min runs with 3 min rests? Both will build up my running time, but they'll know which one would be most beneficial. I also need to ask them what to do on Wednesday (considering I'll get my knees worked on later that day). They're a great bunch of ppl.

Till next time

Week 5 - Day 4

2006-09-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

Ha. It's the first "Day 4" I've actually managed to have in my workout.

9 laps up at the track. Walked one, jogged one. 2.35 miles. The weather was amazing. 60s, sunny, really nice. I think I'm overdoing it. My knees are really hurting. That hasn't happened before. I'll try to hold back next week.

As I was driving to get my kids today, I glanced at the big message board the city has, and all I read was Fall Fit Classic. Sounded like a run. So I get home and search online, seems our local hospital is sponsoring at 1ok race and a 1Mi fun run/walk. Sounds like something for me.

After some help from the BF board, I've decided I'm not ready for the 10k. So my first offical run will be a 1Mi here in town. I hope in three weeks I'll be able to run the whole thing. We'll have to see.

Rest day tomorrow. My legs will appreciate that.

Getting Caught Up

2006-09-29T08:41:00.000-04:00

First of all, I'm terrible at blogging, but now that I have something to blog about, maybe I can keep it going.

I've started working out 3 - 4 times a week. It's walking/jogging right now, but in a few months I'd like to have it running the full 30 minutes. I'm in my 5th week so far, and this is what I've done up to this point:

Week 1: 3 days out of walking for half an hour (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday). Things I learned from that -- I don't like back-to-back days. I don't like being out in the rain. Tuesday that week was the beginning of a week long rain storm. (Ok, it didn't rain continuously, but it did rain just about every day.)

Week 2: nothing... it rained a lot (see week 1)

Week 3: 2 days out walking. I don't remember which days they were.

Week 4: 3 days out, half an hour total, with five 1min jogs mixed in. Two days were out on the road; the last day was up at a track. Total miles for the week. 5 3/4

Week 5: got a new pair of running shoes before starting the week. 3 days out so far, half an hour total each, with five 2min jogs mixed in. 6.1 miles so far. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, another one at the track.

Today's workout was also at the track. 8 laps in lane 4. A website says that's 2.088 miles, but I think I'll just count it for two. If i do make up there tomorrow, I'll count it for 2.1 It was cold. Coldest morning I've been out so far. Low 40s probably. Note to self, get a cheap pair of gloves for mornings like this.

The track opens at 6:00am, I got there at 6:30. There were probably half a dozen others already there, with a half a dozen more showing up while I was there. My legs still aren't used to this, but they let me finish. Acutally, my last 2min jog was easier than my third, maybe because I knew it was almost over LOL.

Anyway, work calls. I'll post again tomorrow (hopefully!)

I'm still here!

2005-09-06T20:32:00.000-04:00

Wow,

I didn't realize I hadn't posted in so many months. I'd like to start again, but I'm not sure what I'd write about.

The fall semester is off and running, and I've got some really good classes. Maybe I'll say how they're going from time to time.

And I'm way behind on my family vacations. I still haven't finished Florida, and we've been on a few more trips since then. Ugh, where does all the time go.

Anyway, I think I hear WebCT calling me to work on something.

More later/sooner :)

Adventures in Mac-n-cheese

2005-03-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

Dinner today was quite an experience. Remind me to go shopping soon when this story is over.

I was really hungry when it got close to dinner time. So I thought what would be easy to fix. Macaroni and cheese. It's easy, it's fast, just what I need. So, I go into the kitchen and get out a pot, put water in it, put it on the stove to get it boiling.

A few minutes later, I go into the cabinet to get out a box of mac-n-cheese. Oops. I'm out. When did that happen? Now what am I going to do? Wait. I have a box of ordinary elbow macaroni noodles. There's shredded cheese in the refridgerator. I could do home-made mac-n-cheese. Takes a bit longer, but that's ok. Wait. All the measuring cups are dirty. I'll have to improvise. I have a small bowl that has a line around it, just about 1 cup. I'll use that much macaroni, and use that again for the cheese. (My recipe uses a 1-to-1 ratio of macaroni to shredded cheese.) So, I "measure" out the noodles, put them in the water, add some salt, and I'm good to go for a while.

Regular elbow macaroni takes longer to cook than the macaroni in mac-n-cheese. About twice as long. Maybe longer. So, I keep stirring, checking often whether or not the noodles are done. While it's cooking I go into the fridge to get out the butter milk and cheese. Oops. I don't have a cup of cheese left. I barely have half a cup. Now what? Can I eat the noodles plain with the cheese sprinkled over them? No, that wouldn't work. I do have cheese slices. It's not the best choice, but what else can I do?

Finally, the noodles are ready. I drain the water out and turn the burner to low to help melt the cheese. I didn't even bother measuring the milk; I just poured some in. I added about a third of a stick of butter (that's what was left on the stick I found) and then what little shredded cheese I had left. I tore up a slice of American cheese, and started mixing it all together. There still wasn't enough cheese, and it wasn't getting very thick. So I turned the heat up and added another slice of cheese. More stirring. Still more. Finally, it looked like a decent thickness for mac-n-cheese. I was ready to eat, whatever it tasted like.

You know, I was really surprised. It was pretty good. Good enough for seconds (or maybe I was just that hungry). I'd offer to heat you up some leftovers, but sadly... there isn't any :)

Florida - Day 4 (part 1)

2005-03-22T10:36:00.001-05:00

Well, having not posted in a while, and still way behind my postings about my trip to Florida, this seems like a good time to get caught up.

Tuesday we decided we'd drive up to the Kennedy Space Center. We expected it to take about half a day then go on to Orlando to visit some family. We slowly all woke up, and ate. Loaded into the van and started on our way.

Suzie had us take a side road to the interstate. She did this for two reasons. First, there was a gas station out that way with relatively inexpensive prices, which is always a good thing. Second, there's a strange sign in the highway. It says "Curve Ahead". That's right, a half mile warning that the road is going to turn in a bit. And we get down there, and it's barely even a curve. The road shifts over about 30 feet. That's it. Amazing. I'd hate to see them Florida types drive up here in Kentucky.

Anyway, the drive to Kennedy was about an hour. Nothing eventful along the way. The kids kept themselves amused with the video and games. We found a place to park and made our way to the entrance. The admission was expensive, about $40 or so each, but this time bus tours and other things were included. (I remember last time I went, about 10 years ago, not all of that was included.) Security was also tight. But I guess that's to be expected these days.

We got a map and started to plan out our day. We decided to start with the full-scale model of the space shuttle. We walked up the ramp, three stories worth, and took a nice look around. There was a tape playing giving a description of the model, but we didn't listen to it much. We did take a few pictures. There were two levels to look around in. One that let us see all through the cargo bay, the other that let us see the control area. Some of the controls (and tires, I understand) were actually used in a shuttle mission. That was really cool.

Outside of the model we took some more pictures. Thomas got to use his new camera a lot. He liked it. Alyssa really like the photo booths, made up to look like space capsules. They were all over the place, too.

Next we walked over to the memorial wall. This was a huge wall used to honor those who died in service to the space program. I saw the names of the two shuttle accidents, and a few others I remembered. Of the edge of the platform we were on, was a small creek. One of my kids noticed an alligator there. It wasn't moving, so they wondered if it was real, but after finally seeing its head turn, we knew it was. They were excited to see that as well.

Next we decided to see the IMAX movie. It was about the international space station. This was included in the admission price, good deal. It was about half an hour long. Really interesting. The kids enjoyed it too.

After that it was time for lunch. There was a cafeteria right across from the theater, so we went there. OMG. I've never paid that much for food. Burgers and fries for $8? Rediculous. But, we didn't have much of a choice. Good thing I had a credit card! LOL. The food was pretty good. Not sure it was eight bucks good, but we weren't hungry when we were done.

Our next activity was a bus tour of the center. Again, these weren't included in the price of admission before, but this time they were. To get in line for the buses, you had to go past their photo area, where they take everyone's picture as a way to make people spend way too much for a photograph. We figured we probably wouldn't buy one, but we didn't have a choice about it being taken. After that we got in line for the bus

The bus tour was divided into three parts. The first took you to an observation tower, that let you look over the whole complex. There were some really nice views there. Lots of pictures. The kids did really well staying together and staying out of trouble. It was nice. At the bottom of the tower was another of those photo booths. I let Alyssa play around in it for a while. We also all made souvineers with pennies in one of those machines that press an image on to them. I think most of them are missing now, but the kids all enjoyed making them.

After a while we boarded another bus, number 26. The driver of this leg of the tour was very funny. Told a lot of jokes, talked with the passengers. At one point he showed us the road the shuttle is towed on from the landing strip to be prepared for the next launch. He commented about how you have to keep the truck right along the center of the road to make sure the shuttle wings don't hit anything. He asks, "Do you know what happens when you bump the wings of a (huge number) dollar shuttle when you're towing it? You end up driving bus number 26." Hahahaha.

The next phase of the tour took us to a mock-up of a control center, which simulated the lift-off of an Apollo mission. I remembered this from a trip I took as a child, but missed it on my last visit. The kids all enjoyed that. From there we went into a room with an actual Saturn V rocket on display. It was (obviously) never used for a mission, but could have been. The also had models of the lunar rover, command module, and other things. One room allowed people to control tiny robots over a model of the lunar surface. There were video cameras on them as well, so you could see what they saw. We actually got one to show us on the screen, by putting it in the right place. There was also a cut-away that let people take pictures in a space suit. We got Thomas and Alyssa to do that.

The last leg took us back to the visitors center. We were supposed to see a huge eagle's nest along the way, but I couldn't see it. Others did. Good for them.

Back at the center, I made some phone calls. It was much later than I had hoped to be there, so I knew I wasn't going to be able to see my aunt and uncle or my granddad. I decided to wait until another vacation to see my aunt and uncle. My cousin was there with his kids, so that would have been the time to go, after that, it wouldn't have mattered as much. I'll get to see them again.

The next exhibit we went into was about space exploration. There were these tiny passports that you could stamp as you went through the room. The stamp stations were out of order, but some of us managed to find them all. They had a statue of an adult and a child in space suits, looking out into space. We took more pictures with our kids in front of that.

Our last stop was to the gift shop. Everyone had money to spend. I bought a deck of cards, my favorite thing to buy when I travel. Thomas eventually settled on a commemorative coin of some type. Sarah got a bag with very pretty stones. And right now, I can't seem to remember what anyone else got. My fault for waiting too long to tell this story. I'll do better next time.

After we were all done shopping, we headed to our van. We would be spending the night in a motel about 3 miles from Disney World, so we had about an hour's drive ahead of us.

I'll put the evening's events in another post. Hopefully sometime soon.

Road Trip

2005-02-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

Thursday night was quite an interesting night. A bunch of us (two students, one if their friends and myself) decided to take a road trip to our college's away basketball game in Campbellsville KY. They had gone to other games before, and had invited me to last week's game, but I had too much going on that night. Tonight was a different story, so I went.

I met the students at their apartment. Their friend was still on the way. We were looking at a 3 to 4 hour drive. Campbellsville is near Columbia, where last week's game was, so they knew about how long things would go.

We took off at about 4:30, hit the drive thru at McD's and settled in for a long drive. The trip is along the parkways that run along the southern part of the state. First the Hal Roger (formerly Daniel Boone) Parkway from Hazard to London, then the Louis Nunn Parkway from Somerset to our exit at Columbia. We were making good time, and we expected to catch the end of the women's game. I brought some work to do, but I was a bit hesitant to do any in the car, because I often get headaches when I try that. I did decide to get some papers out to grade, and sure enough, as I was finishing them, my head started to hurt. I decided not to try to do anything else but just watch the scenary.

We got turned around a bit in Campbellsville but finally made it to the college. We found their gym, parked, and headed in. There must have beem some type of cheerleading competition or something between games, because we saw a lot of younger cheerleaders coming out of the gym and others carrying rolled tumbling mats out as well.

Imagine our surprise when we walked in and found there were 17 minutes left in the 2nd half. This made no sense. Columbia is in the central time zone, and since we went thru Columbia to get to Campbellsville, we assumed we'd still be in the central time zone. Nope. Travelling the 20 or so miles north, we crossed back into the eastern time zone. So, we had just driven almost 4 hours to see 17 min of basketball.

Well, we decided to make the best of it. We found some seats behind our players' bench and settled in to watch the rest of the second half. The gym was rather new, and the ceiling seemed low. It was probably smaller than our gym, and it was about half full with their fans. From what I could tell, we were the only ones from Pikeville to make the trip.

Our team was down by 4, and the other team was starting to pull away. Our team was missing some shots and our opponents weren't, and soon we were down 10. We started making noise, to get our team into it. The home fans were very quiet, so we were probably louder (the four of us) than all the others there. Slowly we started to chip away at their lead. One time, when one of our players was shooting a free throw, we heard a word of encouragement from behind us. I looked back, and there was our college's president. I don't remember seeing him when we got there, but there he was. He smiled back at us.

We tied the game with a few minutes to go, and finally eaked out a 3 point win. And their fans finally made noise. The were hollering as one of our players was shooting a free throw with 3 seconds left. He missed the shot, but they weren't able to put up a decent shot in the closing seconds. After the game, the president came down and thanked us for coming, and wished us a safe drive home (and told us to watch out for deer).

The drive home was as exciting as the ride there. When we hit London, it seemed to be cell phone time. Three of us had calls. I had decided to call Suzie, let her know how long until we got home. It was awkward talking to her with everyone else able to hear, so I kept it short. She was busy looking over writing links online. So she was still going to be up for a while.

A little after midnight, we got to Hazard and went to Huddle House to eat. I had a waffle and bacon.... yummm. We got back on our way sometime after 1am. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep sometime in that last stretch of the tip.

I was dead tired when I finally got home. It was close to 2:30am by then. I quickly got ready for bed and called Suzie. She was still awake! I guess she was having lots of fun surfing writers websites tonight. We talked for a little bit, but I was falling asleep fast. Good thing I only had two classes the next day. I doubt I'd have been able to handle any more.

Valentine's Day

2005-02-14T23:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day

I know I made a commitment to post something here every day, and I missed yesterday. So I want to at least write something today. I do like to write, but I don't want to take up too much time tonight, so this is going to be short.

Suzie took me to lunch today (Pizza Hut), and I took her to dinner (El Azul Grande). BTW, El Azul Grande translated into English is The Big Blue. Only in Kentucky can a Mexican restaurant be named "The Big Blue."

Gifts this year were simple. She gave me a lovely card, a picture frame (to match the ones she gave me for Christmas), and the DVD Miracle (which we saw on our 2nd date). I gave her a card and a half dozen chocolate roses planted in M&M's. She loves M&M's. So this was a really good holiday.
For both of us.

Trip to Florida, day 3 (12-27-04)

2005-02-12T22:32:00.000-05:00

Monday morning.

I think i remember my son getting out of bed. I do remember checking the clock a few times. It was a bit after 9, i think. I tossed and turned some, hoping I'd be able to sleep in as long as possible. I checked the clock again. It was still a bit after 9. I mean, the clock hadn't moved. So I looked closer, it wasn't plugged in. It was last night. I guess Suzie's stepmom unplugged it to put in a nightlight. That would have been nice to know.

I got up and walked around the house. It seemed empty. I looked out a window. I saw chickens and turkeys. Oh yeah, we're on a farm. Suzie's dad bought this small farm to give him something to do during his retirement. There are about half a dozen cows, a pig, assorted chickens and turkeys. He's also letting someone keep his two horses in a pen on the farm too. So, it shouldn't have been surprising to see animals out the window.

I looked out some more windows and found my kids with Suzie, feeding some of the animals. I found my shoes and went out to join them. They were all out giving hay to the cows. These were very domesticated animals. Some of my kids were more eager to feed them than others. We looked at the cows and the pig, which only had one ear. There was a chicken whose eggs were about to hatch. They were due to hatch any day now.

We walked down the driveway to where the horses were stalled. More hay for them.Thomas wasn't so sure about them eating out of his hand, so he kept dropping it on the ground for them.

Suzie and I snuck away to get to a grocery store. Ann E needed medicine bad, she was sounding worse than yesterday, and it was beginning to bother her. We spent some time trying to figure out just what flavor/form medicine to get. We opted on cherry spray and honey lemon drops. Maggie had nyquil at home, so that would take care of just about all we needed. As we were checking out, and kind person in line behind us suggested hot tea with honey. We smiled and thanked her for the idea.

Back at home it was lunch time. Sandwiches and chips. Maggie had done well stocking up for our invasion. We even found some diet Coke for me. Ann E woke for a nap and tried to eat something, but she still wasn't feeling all that well.

After lunch we went for a drive. First, we wanted to take the kids to see the ocean. It was cold and windy, so it wasn't a good day to actually go out on the beach, but we wanted them to see it anyway. We also wanted to visit the FPL's (Florida Power and Light) Energy Encounter, and mini science museum type thing at the local nuclear power plant. It was pretty basic. You were given a plastic card to swipe at each exhibit. Some where hands-on, some were presentations. After you were done you'd get asked a question. If you got it right, you'd get a secret word. We all got several secret words as we toured how nuclear energy is used to make electricity for this part of Florida. When we were done, we told the person at the desk our secret word. It earned us a pencil with a lightbulb shaped eraser. Some of the older kids opted not to even bother. And we didn't even get to keep the cards. I figured the purpose of this museum was to make nice-nice with the comunity for putting a nuclear reactor in their neighborhood. Admission was free, and the seem to accept school groups all the time. I guess it was a nice way to spend an hour.

Driving back we found a place to park and look at the beach. There was still a lot of damage from the hurricans that had hit that year. Roofs needing fixed, beach sand where it wasn't supposed to be. Many beaches were closed not due to the weather, but because they weren't safe to walk on yet. The kids were excited to see it, and they were looking forward to actually going on it later in the week.

Dinner that night was spaghetti. Word had gotten out that I could cook, so I helped with the garlic bread. My mom's recipe, slice the bread, but not all the way through. Put some butter between each slice, then add garlic powder. Maggie had garlic butter spread, so that made it even easier. Wrapped it in aluminum foil and put it in the oven. Bring it out when it's hot.

The table was set very nicely. Only one problem, not enough chairs or space for 9 people. The solution, a tiny bench Suzie and I could sit in together. Dinner was wonderful. I wasn't in the mood for sauce, so I ate my spaghetti with just cheese on it. But everyone else raved about it. The salad was good too, so I heard. Everyone liked my bread too *smile*. When dinner was done we cleared the table and got things back in order.

The rest of the evening was rather quiet. Some of us watching tv, enjoying the fire. The kids playing or using their new toys or other presents they got. Ann E was still not feeling well. We were hoping that she would be in two days, since that's when we were going to be at Disney World.

Like the night before, one by one we headed off to bed. Suzie and I were last again. We had a big two days planned for us starting in the morning.

Trip to Florida, day 2 (12-26-04)

2005-02-11T23:41:00.000-05:00

We woke up Sunday morning to an ice storm. Serves me right for not checking the weather. I turned the TV on and they were saying it was going to get worse before it got better. So, getting an early start was important. I tried to hurry the kids a long, while I went to the van to see how bad it was.

The van was coated in about 1/8" of ice. Not much, but enough to make things challenging. I tried to find my ice scraper, but for some reason I didn't think it was in the van, so I didn't try very hard. I walked to the mini mart just next to the motel, and bought some work gloves (I forgot to pack mine) and looked for an ice scraper. They had none. I was actually surprised they were open; the TV news had been saying the roads were very bad and I really didn't know if someone would have been able to get in to work there. They suggested hot water for the van, which was looking like my only alternative.

I went back to the room and the kids were mostly ready to go. So I took them to the lobby were we were told there would be a free continental breakfast. Continental breakfast turned out to be milk and day-old donuts from Krogers. Ok, maybe they had some honey buns and OJ, too. The manager was kind enough get me a pitcher to fill with hot water to help with my car.

I got to the car and poured some hot water on the windshield. It worked, a little. But this wasn't going to be an ideal solution. I thought again about the ice scraper. It had to be in the car. I remembered seeing Ginny through the windshield the last time I used it. So I searched a lot harder for it. There it was! It took a few minutes, but the car was finally driveable. So I droved it around close to the lobby so it'd be easier for the kids to get to. I went in to the lobby to get something to eat. And we went back to the rooms to get our things.

We carefully walked from the motel down the sidewalk to the car. Alyssa had slipped once and we didn't want that to happen again. So we held hands as we made our way down. Once in the car, we were ready for the 2nd part of our drive.

The roads were slushy, but not too bad. And we were right near the interstate, so I knew we'd be on better roads soon. Traffic was rather light, which was good. I saw a car that had spun out of control and stopped to see if he needed anyone called. He didn't, so I moved on. A few miles later, ice had knocked a tree over, blocking one lane of the highway. Fortunately, everyone saw it and I got past it without incident.

As we headed east the weather slowly improved and traffic built up. The ice had turned to rain, so we weren't completely out of the woods, but I felt better. About an hour later we got to I-95. We'd be taking that all the way to just near where Suzie's dad lives. That road was busy. I guess everyone goes to Florida after Christmas. There was hardly ever a break in traffic, but the weather was continuing to get better, so I didn't worry too much about it.

By noon we had crossed into Georgia so we stopped for lunch. We found a McDonalds in a travel plaza (fancy term for a truck stop) so we went there. We got there just as everyone else had. I'd never seen a McD's quite that busy in a while. But by the time we (finally) got our order it had settled down. We didn't hurry thru lunch. I decided this was going to be a relaxed trip. So there was no need to rush. Sometime during lunch, the rain stopped, and the sun was starting to come out, so it was looking like nice weather for the rest of the trip. When we were done eating, I gassed up the van and we were back on our way.

A year ago or so, my oldest had started passing the time on long trips by reading aloud the Harry Potter books, and this trip was no exception. However, she was coming down with a very bad sore throat, so it was hard to hear her. She said it really didn't hurt, and didn't mind reading, so I still got to enjoy the story as we drove. The other kids continued to entertain themselves with movies and games, so all was well.

A few hours later we reached the Florida boarder. The kids were excited to be here. Since I didn't have a working gas guage, I decided to make another stop. We found a gas station with some palm trees near it, and lots of seagulls. The kids took some pictures. They were thrilled. Yup, I thought to myself, this was going to be a good trip.

Back on the road. We got to Jacksonville, and as I took a sharp left in the road, I saw my oil lamp flash briefly. This was not a good thing. I didn't want to seem concerned and worry the kids, so I calmly said I needed to find a gas station, and we took the next exit that looked promising. Well, we found one, but I'm not sure it was promising. The person working was enclosed in a plexiglass booth, inside the store! So, I thought it'd be best to get stuff done as quickly as possible. I bought a couple quarts of oil and hoped that would do the trick. After adding those, I decided maybe this would be a good time to check the radiator level. Yup, it probably should be topped off too. So I went back in and got some anti-freeze/coolant. With everything topped off, we headed back on the highway. It was only then I told the kids about the booth in the store. I suppose in the middle of the afternoon we were pretty safe, but I made a note to myself to probably avoid that neighborhood after dark.

More of the same driving now. I think there were some phone calls made and received. But mostly games and movies and reading. We found a KFC just as it was getting dark. We split a variety bucket, which worked out well. Again we took our time. However, the drive was taking longer than I thought. What I thought would be 6 hours was turning into 8 hours, not counting all our stops. But as long as the kids were holding up, we'd be OK. I called Suzie to let her know where we were (probably about 2 hours away still).

It was now well after dark when we got to the exit for Suzie's dad's house. I had great directions (thanks Suzie!), and knew when about we'd find the dirt road we'd have to take. Of course, the kids were a bit suspect of my turning off right away on a dirt road, but I let them know we were going the right way. I pulled into the driveway, which was rather long, and the kids still weren't sure. We turned a corner, and I think the kids could tell we were at a farm, but as we approached the house, I pointed out Suzie's truck parked in front, so they finally believed we were where we were supposed to be.

Suzie met us at the door and invited us in. She showed us around the house, where everyone would be sleeping, and introduced me to her dad and stepmom. We were very tired and didn't do a whole lot once we were there. I remember sitting around in the living room a while. They had a fire going in the fireplace. It was in the 50s outside, and they had a fire going! Floridians must be a different breed from the rest of us. But it did feel nice. Slowly we all headed off to bed. My room was off the living room, and I was sharing a bed with Thomas. Suzie and I were the last ones to head off to bed. We took a few moments to say good night, and parted ways. I'm sure it didn't take me long to fall asleep once I had gotten ready. And so ended our 2nd day of our Florida vacation.

Cell phones are fun

2005-02-10T23:38:00.000-05:00

Again, another departure from my trip. Tonight we talk about my daughter's cell phone adventures.

I gave two of my daughter's cell phones for Christmas. One worked right away. The other didn't. Not for lack of trying. I bought two reconditioned cell phones from TracFone with an extra 100min card for each. It's a good deal, cuz they were the same price as just the card. So basically the phones were free. I waited until the week before Christmas to activate them, so they'd have air time as long as possible.

(For those who don't know TracFone, it's an all pre-paid cell phone service. Great for light phone users. I recommend it. www.tracfone.com)

When the cell phone wouldn't work, I spent days on the phone with tech support. I'd enter codes into the phone that were supposed to help activate it. Then I'd wait a few hours for the local wireless provider to reset the service. Well, after a few days of that, it still didn't work, and my daughter didn't have a phone to take on our trip to Florida.

Back from the trip a week later, the process continued. With no luck. They had provide me(her) an extra 30min air time just for all the hassle, which was nice. The phone already had 10 min just for activiation, and 100 more when I refered them (I have my own TracFone.) So, her phone now had 140 minutes of use, and couldn't be used.

I had another short trip to take, but when I returned, I continued to play the same game with TracFone's tech support. Finally, it was decided this phone didn't work. So, I was to send it back, and they'd send me a different one. After a few weeks, it arrived. That was last week. I activated it online, which gave me 20min, then I called tech support, and they gave me the 140 minutes the other phone had, plus 30 more for the expense to ship the old one back. So, now her phone has 190 minutes.

And it still wouldn't work.

A few more calls to tech support, a few more codes, and more several hour waits. Still nothing. I had a short trip to Lousville Thursday and Friday, so I couldn't call tech support until this past weekend. Of course, my weekend was busy, so I didn't get to call until Tuesday. More codes. More waiting. Still nothing.

I called yesterday at lunch. Same story. Try again in a few hours.

After dinner, I called again. No codes this time, but they were going to tell the provider to try (once again) to activate it. It should be ready by noon.

I was out by 9:30 this morning, so I wasn't expecting it to work yet. It wasn't, no biggie. I told my daughter to come and get it (she's on a trip this weekend) and try it if she wanted. When it was still on my table when i got home this evening, I assumed either she hadn't stopped by, or it still didn't work. So I tried it. It didn't work.

One more call to TracFone. More codes. The phone restarts. And for the first time, I see the large D that says it's in a digital service area. This is encouraging. I mean, very encouraging. I try to control my excitement as the tech guy tells me to try a call. I call my home phone number. My call waiting beeps! I'm so excited. I thank the guy several times. Then hang up.

Now I try to call the phone. It rings! Yea! Finally, my daughter's phone works. And it has 190 minutes on it. And she still hasn't added the ones from that 100min card that came with the original one. I was very tempted to drive 2 hrs to where her band group is tonight to give it to her, but I opted not too. But she'll be very happy when she gets home on Sunday.

BTW, I should say that I really do like TracFone and their tech support people. The help staff (in whatever country their in... I'm pretty sure English isn't their native language) are very polite and courtious. Even when I wasn't. So, if anyone is wanting a no-contract, no-plan, relatively inexpensive cell phone service, check them out.

Merry Belated Christmas!

Ash Wednesday

2005-02-10T01:31:00.000-05:00

I know I'm supposed to be describing my trip to Florida, but I thought I'd pass along some events of today.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On this day Catholics are to abstain from meat and fast (which means basically small meals and no snacks through the day). It also seems to be a day I get a mild migraine, seeing as how lack of food is one of my triggers. (The relief of stress seems to be another, and perhaps caffeine withdrawal, but I'm not sure of that last one.)

Well, I got one today. After lunch. But it didn't make any sense. I had my usual breakfast and lunch, which usually aren't all that big, and being in class prevents me from snacking anyway, so I really hadn't had any less food than I would on any other Wednesday. But yet, I got a small migraine. It went away quickly, I don't even think I took anything. But I guess my body, knowing it was a day of fasting, prepared itself anyway. Oh well.

That's all for tonight. I still have much more work to do.

Trip to Florida, day 1 (12-25-04)

2005-02-07T23:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been remiss in updating this, but one of my penances for Lent is to pay more attention to things i should do daily. This includes playing my trumpet and organ, and to update this blog. I know Lent doesn't really start until Wednesday, but I can start these early. So, here's what I remember from the first day of my trip to Florida....

The kids came to my place sometime after opening their presents at their mom's. We exchanged presents; they got me some real good stuff (which I bought and wrapped, boy were they surprised what they bought me!) Anyway, after we got all the presents opened and played with a while, we loaded up the van and started on the trip.

We had to stop by their mom's for some of the kids to get stuff they forgot. On the way to her house, I announced we were going to Florida. After a period of disbelief, the kids got very excited. As we left their mom's, my son asked, "Can we go to Disney World?" I casually answered "OK." The kids screamed :) It was nice. We were all so excited. But we had a long drive ahead.

I expected the drive to take about 12 hours all together, so I guessed 6 hours driving each day. The first day's drive was aided by a DVD player with two screens i bought for the trip, and my oldest reading passages from the 5th Harry Potter book. The drive from Kentucky into North Carolina is beautiful. You should try to drive it if you get the chance.

After four hours or so of driving, we were getting hungry. But, where could we eat on Christmas Day. We found a promising exit in North Carolina and found a Denny's that was open. So, we had Christmas dinner at Denny's. That was nice. We weren't the only ones there. I suspect a lot of people were travelling on the holiday.

After dinner, we drove some more. I wanted to drive at least two more hours, to get to what I thought would be our halfway point. Alyssa wanted to call her friend Nicole, so I let Ann E dieal the number on my cell and Alyssa got to talk to her for a while. That was really cute. We made it to Columbia, South Carolina about two hours later. My youngest was tired of riding in the car. After getting lost once or twice, we found the place that had the best coupon in the coupon book we picked up.

We got two rooms, one for the older girls, and one for the rest of us. Everyone seemed to like that arrangement. After breaking out some snacks, we all said good night. We were all very tired, and I think we all slept well.

(more later)

Happy New Year!

2005-01-11T15:03:00.000-05:00

So I'm a week (and a half) late. If your life was as busy as mine was the last few weeks, you'd just be getting around to saying Happy New Year now yourself! Let's see, my last post was about Thanksgiving, so I need to update from that.

The end of the fall semester was very busy. We had one week of classes and then finals week after that. I think all my students passed, at least those that stuck it out until the end of the term. I know, I'm slipping; I'll work harder next time around.

The week after finals? What did I do then? I'm sure I was doing something. Maybe it was sleep. Anyway, nothing so exciting that I had a need to blog it.

Suzie and I did get to do some shopping together. I discovered craft superstores. Those are amazing. I'll have to take my kids to one some day and figure out what they'd like to do. I also have some thoughts about Made in America I want to post, but that'll be another time.

I did see a lot of cultrual events, yes, even here! Two of my daughters were on stage and one was in the orchestra for the high school performance of Annie. That was very exciting. I went with Suzie, and when my ex came to chit-chat during intermission, well, it was awkward (but not like it could have been, which made it even more awkward). Later I saw my kids' various band and choir concerts. There's so much talent in the school system it's amazing. I was going to see a bunch of students/friends/kids from church/etc in the college's production of The Nutcracker, but snow cancelled their last performance :( . One of my former students also directed her church's Christmas program; I went to see that as well. It was... interesting (and I think that's all the details she'd like me to share here LOL).

The big event, and also the subject of several upcoming (soon?) blogs is the trip I took with my kids to Floirda. We left Christmas day and returned New Years day, and had a lot of fun in between. I'll try to do a day-per-post description of what happened on this trip.

The new semester starts tomorrow. Yea! I've got 4 classes (again), 4 different preps (again), Tuesday/Thursday mornings off (again) and 2 credits of overload (again). Wow, maybe this semester isn't as new as I thought.

Thanksgiving

2004-12-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it's about a week and a half late, but I do have a very interesting story from Thanksgiving I thought I should share.

Thanksgiving morning began with me going to church to play organ for our Thanksgiving Day service. Not very crowded, but it was still nice. The Altar area was decorated with various food items, and they sent me home with some of them (bread, potatoes, peanut butter, crackers, and celery).

Then I had the task of fixing dinner. I had a turkey breast that would take 2 hrs to roast. While that was in the oven, I made a trip to Walmart for some things I needed for a trip I'd be taking later. I called the store earlier and they said they were open their regular hours. Good deal.

Dinner consisted of that turkey breast, mashed potatoes (complements the people at church), stuffing and gravy. I would have had apple sause had the thought occured to me LOL. It all came out very well. I had no complaints. You should have joined me; I had plenty of leftovers (still do!)

Then I got ready for the trip. I was taking all the kids to see my mom. Her health isn't very good, and we are seriously worried how many more times we will get to do this. The kids came over a little after 2:00, and we set out for a 6 hr car ride in my minivan.

I own a 1991 Dodge Caravan. Paid $650 for it, plus another $300 more getting it suitable for family driving. Everything on it works, most of the time. The most annoying thing is the guage cluster tends to go out every once in a while, so every stop is a gas stop, just in case. The trip was mostly uneventful. Ann E read from the 4th Harry Potter book to pass the time. As we were passing through Frankfort KY, things got interesting.

As we approached the bridge for the Kentucky River, driving straight into the sun, I heard a loud rumbling. Crossing the river I pulled over to the side of the highway. Sure enough, the rear right tire was flat. Oh joy. I went to work, first finding the jack and lowering the spare. I really didn't have a whole lot of problems changing the tire, and I think it took me only about half an hour to finish. The kids weren't real worried, just cold a bit. I had the back of the van open and there was a nasty wind that day. I almost went off without tightening the lugnuts completely, but hadn't made it too far before remembering. I was on one of those tiny donut temporary tires, so I had to find a tire store open on Thanksgiving. The 2nd Frankfort exit was only 2 miles away, so I didn't have to go far to start looking.

As we came to the light of the exit ramp, I saw a sign for a Super WalMart. Hmmm. My store said they were on their regular hours, maybe all of them are. And Super WalMarts have tire centers. So we turned around (I was in the wrong lane to get there) and made my way to the Walmart. It's backwards from ours, so I had to drive around a bit to find the tire center. And it was open! I went in, explained what I needed, and they went to work. The kids and I went to eat dinner at their cafe, and the van was ready before we were done eating. I called my mom to let her know we were running late, but I think we were only an hour and a half or so behind schedule. Not too bad.

So we kept on driving. Nothing eventful happened along the way. We got some motel coupon magazines at a truck stop, and found a promising hotel to spend the night. We got to my mom's at about 9:00, and after visiting a while, she called my brother to let him know I was there. He was planning on bringing his family over, since the kids hadn't seen each other in 7 years or so. So this was a good thing. Nine kids in my mom's tiny 2 bedroom apartment wasn't necessarily good, but it was fine anyway.

It took a while for the kids to warm up to each other, but once they did, there was talking everywhere. Ann E and her cousing Jessica are very similar. And the little kids hit it off very well too. Someone started poking wars. Lots of fun.

After 11:00 Roy's family left, and we got ready to leave too. The motel I wanted to stay at was one exit back down the interstate, so we had a short drive in front of us. My coupon book had an offer, $31 one person one bed, $35 two people two beds. The regular rate was $40 and I was going to be getting two rooms, so I was thinking the $35 offer looked really good. When I got there and asked for two connecting rooms, explaining it was me and my 5 kids, we got both for $31. Not bad! The rooms were nice. Ann E like wathing a show on Nightline about Southern University's marching band. And we all got a good night's sleep.

The next morning we check out of the motel, got Krispy Kreme donuts at a Krogers and had breakfast with my mom. After a short visit, we were headed back home. Nothing exciting for the trip back. I think the kids like the lunch stop at Arby's. I know I did. We made it back home in plenty of time for Ann E and Ginny to make it to their football game. Which is another story I may or may not put here (it's not all that interesting)

All in all it was a good trip. The kids liked riding in the van, which is very good, cuz we've got a longer trip planned after Christmas.

I'll tell you about that one in January.

What's the deal about 6?

2004-11-13T23:58:00.000-05:00

I've been getting this quesiton a lot lately, probably due to my birthday cake (yes, I still have that story coming), so I thought I'd post it here for everyone to see.

6 became the buzz-word for a group of students I had in Calc 3 back in the Spring of 2001. This was a really close knit group I became very good friends with over the years. One of them, LB, was always late for class. This one day, I had started working a homework problem when he walked in. He announced, "The answer is 6," without even glancing at the board. As we continued to work the problem, we did indeed discover the answer was 6. Classic. So, anytime the number 6 came up around us, it drew special attention. (It didn't help that there were six students in this close knit group of mine).

One day, I walk into class and the boards are covered with 6's. The front of the the room has two sets of sliding boards, big 6's on each of those, and tiny ones in the four corners of each. there's a couple of boards on the side of the room, they were covered in 6's much the same way. Some were hiding under a periodic table of the elements that was hanging there. The opposite walls are painted in chalkboard paint. Big ones, floor to ceiling, in the corners, hiding between the coat racks. Everywhere. I erased those as I needed to write, but didn't take the time to erase all of them. The custodial staff did take care of most of the rest of them.

I looked in that room last week. There are still nine 6's on the boards.

Long Time No Update

2004-11-13T01:00:00.000-05:00

Wow, I knew I'd been busy lately, but I had no idea it was over a week since I last put something here. I'll have to work on that more.

Let's see, what's been going on. Kids were here all last weekend... that was fun, and busy. Lots of taxi driving for me as well.

My week went well too, but again busy. Choir practice Monday night, basketball game Tuesday night, church meeting Wednesday night. Suzie was here, that was nice, but with all I was doing, plus the work I had to do when those things were done, we didn't spend as much time together as we would have liked, but it was still really wonderful.

Tuesday was also my 40th birthday. It was a great day. The pep band helped me celebrate it their own special way. That will most likely be the subject of another entry.

So now it's the weekend, and I'm tired. I did pretty well of not getting any work done tonight, but I'm so far behind on grading I'll have to make up for it tomorrow. But the only real plan is to sleep in tomorrow. I think I remember what that was like LOL. We'll see.

Random Blogs

2004-11-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

I've been busy hitting blog after blog lately. Either clicking "Next Blog" or finding other blogs listed from ones I've read. Some I'm actually commenting on. Maybe some of them are coming here figuring out who this unknown guy that posted on their blog is. So, if that's you, leave a comment, so I know you came by.

Be Sure to Vote Tomorrow!

2004-11-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone who's registered to vote in the US does so tomorrow. This is a very important election, and it appears to be very close. So every vote counts. If you're voting for my candidate, then we need your vote to ensure a win. If you're voting for his opponent, then a vote for him will make sure that if he is elected, that it really was the will of the people, and not just the few that voted.

I've been following the pre-election polls on http://www.electoral-vote.com . It's run by an individual who is very clearly pro-Kerry, but has kept the information unbiased. Depending on which poll you look at, the electoral vote has been flip-flopping every day for months. He'd been keeping his identity secret until today, when he finally said who he is. I was really surprised. Turns out he's a computer prof, from America, working overseas. After I read his name and his bio, I saw his name again, and it looked familiar. I looked on my bookshelf, and there was one of his books! It's not something I use for any of my classes, but I have it anyway. I found that very interesting. Anyway, he'll be up all night (well, what time is it in Holland?) updating his chart as the results come in.

So tomorrow, vote, check out his site, pop some popcorn, sit back, and watch the election returns. Should be very interesting.

I'm resting my voice

2004-11-01T18:10:00.000-05:00

I should be in choir now, but after a weekend of getting over a cold and yelling at a football game, I have no singing voice left, as evident by anyone who attended mass yesterday. Said one of my students, "I didn't know you could sing," to which I replied, "and anyone there yesterday still doesn't know." There's a special mass tomorrow, and I need a voice for that. Hopefully the rest today will help for tomorrow.

As for my weekend, it was everything I hoped it to be. Well, we could have won our football game, but that was the only down side. I had a great visit on Friday night (nope, still not gonna give any details), and I surprised my oldest daughter by picking up her (well hers to use) piccolo from the music store. She was quite happy about that. After the game we were all here for pizza and a movie (Lion King 1 1/2). My god-daughter was here as well. It was a really nice evening.

Sunday was Sunday. Church was, well, an adventure with my trying to sing. I think God has a sense of humor, making me lead singing with a voice like that. Cleaning the apartment wasn't fun either, but we got it all down (with a minimal amount of yelling this time). Then two of my kids fixed two different kinds of pasta for lunch, mac-n-cheese and fettucini alfredo. Yum. Sorry, no leftovers, not with six of us here in the house.

This return from daylight savings time to standard time is messing with me. My body wants to wake up early, and I'm trying to tell it we can sleep for another hour. It's not buying. Two days now. We'll have a chat before going to bed tonight, I promise.

I need to get dinner. I've got more to say, especially about the election. I'll do that later tonight

My legs hurt

2004-10-29T15:23:00.000-04:00

My alarm clock startled me this morning. It went off way too early. Ok, maybe 9am isn't early, but I hadn't been feeling good. And I had to wake up at 7 to see my oldest girls off to school in the morning. And I'm sick. That added to it. I took Nyquil before going to bed, and I don't sleep very well on it. (Yeah, that's not how it's supposed to work, go figure)

So, when my alarm went off, it really startled me, and when I flinched, I must have pulled both my calf muscles. Ouch. They have been hurting all day. Not good in a job where you have to stand so much.

At least I hope it's from the alarm. I just started taking Lipitor last night (subject of another blog I'm sure) and I know that it sometimes causes muscle pains, but I don't think they'd be this soon and this sharp. Hopefully they'll be Ok for my long drive tonight.

Yes, I'm going out of town for the evening. Yes, that too is probably the subject of another blog. No, I'm not going to post it. Haha.

Anyway, I just thought I'd rant and share this story with whoever reads this. (Does anyone read this?) Now I've got to get other things done.

Meet me in St. Louis

2004-10-27T20:22:00.000-04:00

I got good news today. The dean of students is going to pay for two rooms for students to come with me to my convention in St. Louis next spring. Yea! And he's going to let me drive one of the college vans. Double Yea! I think I'll have the whole CS program with me. I've already got confirmation from a few students, and I'm trying to convince the upper level prof to come with us. Should be lots of fun.

NaNoWriMo

2004-10-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

I've got this crazy idea to participate in National Novel Writing Month. I've set up a blog to post my writings, which you can find by looking at my profile. A link to NaNoWriMo's website is in that blog too, be sure to check it out.

The generosity of strangers...

2004-10-25T23:19:00.000-04:00

... or in this case, acquaintances. Saturday was a rough day for me. The kids and I got into a huge fight about cleaning. I handled it badly. But we had made plans to go to a sporting even that night, so we went. That was fun. And by the end of the evening, we were all getting along great.

An odd thing happened at the game. An acquaintance who I guess wanted me to know he knew what my life has been like recently, and how well other things are going, slipped me some money to take my kids out to dinner that evening. How sweet. I know him well enough to know that his opinion of me is important, but I'd never really heard anything. This spoke volumes. (I'm being deliberately vague to protect the privacy of my benefactor.)

After the game it was too late to go out to dinner, so we opted for breakfast that next morning. I thanked him kindly that evening. I think I'll smile a bit larger the next time I see him to show my gratitude again.

I finished my train story

2004-10-23T00:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it took nearly three months to write, and 22 pages of a journal book, but tonight I (finally) finished the story about my (ahem) train trip to Milwaukee I took the last weekend in July. I've asked Suzie, and she's agreed, to type it up for me, so I can post it here. (Do you think she was joking about the $2 per page???????)

Anyway, now that that's finished, I can start posting here (that was my rule). So, you can start looking for this to be updated somewhat regularly now. But not tonight, it's getting late.

Take care!

Welcome to my online journal

2004-09-14T16:42:00.000-04:00

After reading a few people's blogs lately, I've decided I need one of my own. Taking time to put your thoughts in words can be very theraputic, and I could use that now. Making them available online for everyone on to read can be very stupid, but since when did I ever let stupid stop me.

This won't contain much for a while. I have a journal story about my recent "train" trip to Chicago I need to finish. And I think I should finish that story before I start another. So as soon as that is done, I'll start working here.

Check back in a few weeks. You never know when things will show up here!