Saturday, February 23, 2013

the fifth week of teaching is over

I am sitting in the Salem Starbucks after a very comfortable day of hiking in the hollow, driving up to Olde Monterey and playing about 14 holes of golf (47 on my real nine), then going shopping at Gander Mountain and getting another pair of North Face pants that actually fit, along with some fluorocarbon tippet in 6x and 7x. I went for dinner at Carraba’s and then for a walk in the Valley View mall, where I picked up the first season of Game of Thrones. Yesterday, I purchased an inexpensive microwave ($59) and this morning I baked a potato, which was quite good even though it took 8 and ½ minutes instead of 5 and ½. It will be nice to have some variety in my food and I really don’t use the oven much. David Richert came out on Thursday at 7Am and he is going to work on the road, on the ailanthus, and on the smooth coneflower habitat. It shouldn’t cost more than $1500. I also saw Robbie and he is going to e-mail me a bid for the cleaning and staining of the house. My aunt Marie is doing better, back at home and eating a little better. Pat has kept me updated and I appreciate that. My classes are going well (five weeks done) although my last 321 class was kind of slow and I think some of the students aren’t doing the readings. I started to talk to people about the Joan Wulff museum article for Kaatskill Life and I got a call from Jim Cruel to see if I could do a piece for Fly Fisherman. I am annoyed at Gyorgyi response to my helpful offer concerning her kitchen project. Her message was quite rude and I hope she understands that the proper response would have been, “Thanks for your offer but I am going to let my two realtor friends take care of things.”

Saturday, February 16, 2013

my road is finally fixed

It is Saturday and I am sipping coffee at Barnes and Noble, hoping the weather will stay okay at least until the evening when sleet and snow are predicted. I took a hike this morning up to the orchard, started the lawn tractor, trimmed the orchard trees, and then took the farm tractor out and worked on the road again. I scraped more fill from the sides and now the road is in pretty good shape. My week at RU went well and my classes were fine. I got my evaluations for last semester and they were very decent, all over 4. I now don’t really have to be evaluated this semester and I may not. I got an EQIP grant and when I went to fill out the final documentation I think it was for the wrong project since they were giving me over 8 thousand dollars. I think mine should be for a few hundred. I wrote to Tom Greene and he should fix it next week. My aunt Marie is pretty sick. She was operated on yesterday for liver stones and she is not answering my phone calls. Her daughter Patty updated me on her condition and I am worried. My greenhouse is still growing things although I haven’t been picking anything for a while because of the cold and the fact I have covered everything with hay to protect things from freezing. I had to bring the appraisal and the deed to Will Vance yesterday but I hope that is all I need. Diane Green really screwed things up for me but I am just glad to be done with her unprofessional behavior. I am now thinking about driving to Alaska this summer since I will have a lot more money when I sell my excess tax credits. It would be about a 40 day trip with a stop in the Big Horns on the way back.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

back to Charlotte

It is Saturday night, the 9th of February and I am at the Wingate in Charlotte. I spent a leisurely day, working some on my grading (I have 16 poems due back on Tuesday), walking around the 4th ward, riding the stationary bike for 35 minutes, doing my yoga, and finally having dinner at Rockbottom Brewery, very good vegetarian pizza and salad. I walked around downtown for 25 minutes then headed back to the room for more schoolwork and eventually to watch the Louisville/Notre Dame game. I talked to David Richert today and he is going to meet me on the 21st and give me a price on the ailanthus problem. I think it won’t cost me over a thousand, and if so I will get him to clear a few trees where the endangered smooth coneflower is. I haven’t heard from Robbie at Transformation Painting but I am hoping to hear soon and I hope is estimate is around 2500. I talked to Gloria today and told her I will be coming out to Fremont this summer so that will be fun and I will get to see the redwoods, one of my favorite places to hike in. Paul Witkowsky’s stroke, though minor, is scaring me and I am going to try to get my weight down to 210 and keep it there. My aunt Marie may be very sick with liver concerns. She had an MRI two days ago and is scheduled for a CT scan. I am worried and I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. Yesterday I played golf at Regent Park and it was an interesting outing. I haven’t played in three weeks so I was pretty inconsistent. My driver was mixed and I played two balls since the foursome in front of me was very slow. I came to the last hole needing a twelve to break 100 (my first ball score ended up a 45), and I screwed up big time on my second ball, finally landing it about 8 feet from the cup on my sixth shot. Fortunately I was on on 3 with first ball, though I had a 25 foot, slightly downhill putt. If I could get a 5 on that ball and make the 8 foot putt on the second I would break 100. I decided to hit the 25 foot putt first and hit it wonderfully, within six inches, so I had my 5. I had basically given up on the 8 footer but I stroked it solidly and it curved right into the cup for a 99.

Friday, February 1, 2013

another week of teaching and a big rain

My second week of teaching is over and I am in Barnes and Noble, sipping coffee and getting ready to shop for groceries and some miscellaneous items. It is in the twenties so I did not walk this morning. I did do some grading, rode the bike for 30 minutes, cleaned up some and then drove to get my package from the PO. I stopped by to see Mr. Sisson and he was out driving his Kabota, which was good to see. He was busy so I just said hello and went on. My classes are going very well and all of them are talkative. I have three with about 20 students and one with 15 so this is another relatively easy semester. I have sent out the Coleman contest stuff and I already have my 6 judges. My finances remain pretty good and I am over 10K ahead of my projections on the 403B and the TIAA accounts. My debt is higher but certainly not a problem. I went for a walk with Rob last night (we have walked three times this week) and things are going well for him. He is sad about Noah not being in touch but there isn’t much he can do right now. Gloria is doing well, as is Dolores, and I will have dinner with Cathy on Saturday and hopefully with Gyorgyi next week. The big rainstorm a couple of days ago ruined my road but I was able to get in and I used the tractor in the morning to fix the road a little. It is too cold to do anything else right now.