Saturday, November 29, 2014

a very good break so far

My break is progressing well. I have gotten some good bike rides in, and a number of hikes with Rob. I sent Kelly an email about my upcoming visit making it clear that if things were too hectic for her, then I would head straight to new York. I also emailed Gloria and I hope she responds. I think it is unlikely. I have finished a draft of my Catskill Life article and I sent out a couple of poems. I finally fixed my sleeping mat holder in my office and now it won’t sag anymore. I haven’t been able to talk to Cathy but I hope she is okay. My finances are tight but I think I am just going to dip a little more into my 403B or else it will be very tight for the next year at least and I don’t want to live that way. I have been doing hikes in the hollow the last few days and that has been very good even though late fall is clearly here. The greenhouse is still producing.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Thanksgivng Break--At Last

I am taking it pretty easy over the Thanksgiving break. I had a good visit to Charlotte, playing golf twice at Regent Park, driving to the Congaree (which I was harassed by Ranger Meekins) for a bike ride and a hike, eating at P. F. Changs and at the Capitol Grille. I have gotten back into writing the Phil Chase piece, and I am almost done with all my course grading. I should be done tomorrow. This morning I cut down a number of trees (up to about 5 inches) with my new Stihl battery chain saw, and it worked very well, slow but with plenty of battery to get all the trees down and then some of the cleanup. I then fixed the boxes in the truck, switching out the broken one and putting cardboard on the bottom of two more so things won’t drop through. I also ate a salad from the green house and watered it so I should have lettuce for a few more days if not weeks. I am bringing my electric heater home from my office to see if that will work to help warm up the bedroom. Now when it is cold, it is pretty cold until the temperature gets up to 76 in the living room. This might save some fuel and make it comfortable enough to read for a few minutes. I walked with Rob tonight (as I did yesterday) and we had a very good chat. Things with Becky are going well and her new place should be fine after all the work is done. Claire and Luke are doing well, spending Thanksgiving at her parents, and I am happy for her. Today I also had a golf lesson on sand traps and bought a lob wedge from Michael, which is much easier to use than my sand wedge. My finances are quickly depleting but I should make it to March without having to take any money out of my 403B. I wrote Kelly an e-mail after our conversation where she told me that my last visit was too long and I made it clear that I had no idea that it was. She left a sweet phone message inviting me up for Lucia’s birthday. That should work well since it will be on my way up to New York and it will save me driving back up to see her. I talked to Marv and I should be seeing them in January when I go to Wild Dunes. My knees are not very good but I am doing a lot of things. I just hope they hold out till July, when I plan to have the first knee done.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

one more week before thanksgiving

I think my headaches were caused by my dental work, since they have cleared up as my teeth continue to heal. I have one week to finish before Thanksgiving and then one week of teaching before exam week. This semester has gone pretty fast and it has been rather easy, but spring should be much tougher. I did my open house today and that went quite well, with six students visiting. The two ambassadors, Lauren and Jenna, were very sweet and I joked with Jeanie a little and she took a picture of me pretending to be asleep. I will be having dinner with Claire on Tuesday and I’ll catch up on how things are going with Luke. I saw Rob and things are okay with him but they have to potential to heat up, as they usually do. I will be looking at a 165K condo on Monday. It’s on Chowning street and is one story with five rooms. I doubt I will be buying right now but I do want to see what is around. Haven’t heard from Gloria so I assume she doesn’t want to discuss her behavior during her visit, which is fine with me. If she is comfortable with her behavior, then I have no desire to deal with her. My friend Dave is doing very well, having been in a coma for eight days and almost dying. He is in rehab and I spoke to him for a long time and he sounded pretty good, although very slightly slurring his words. I played golf today even though it was in the low forties and I had fun. Now I am watching the Alabama/Mississippi State game, which is 5-0 Alabama right now. I hope it is close.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Three weeks left in the semester

Another week of teaching finished and I think it went pretty well. I did evaluations in 203 and 310 and those should be around 3.8 with the 454 course still waiting. The one student in 454 who has problems with his writing is probably going to blast me in the evaluations even though his writing problems should have been addressed years ago. I worked a little on the Phil Chase piece and I should be able to get it finished on time. I talked to a realtor down in Isle of Palms and I should be about to get a place down there for two months for around 3 grand with a possibility of it being in Wild Dunes. Claire is doing well and I should see her next week for dinner. I should be having dinner with the Gallos tomorrow to celebrate both our birthdays. My headaches remain but I think they are getting a little better since I started taking more blood pressure medication (which Cathy said might cause the headaches).

Sunday, November 2, 2014

A fine birthday weekend

I had a very good birthday weekend and I still have a dinner with the Gallos to come since Cathy was sick. I had a lobster dinner at Red Lobster on the 31th and the next day I had a nice lunch at Rob’s and then a pizza dinner and a movie with Gyorgyi. Zombie after Bark went well and I did look pretty effective. I had a nice time with Jeanie and Stacey. My teaching week went pretty well and I have three more weeks till thanksgiving. Only Andy showed up for the visit to my hollow for the 310 class but it was nice to talk with him, eat some good food, and take a walk down to the gate. I played golf even though it was in the low forties, and I played rather well. Claire is doing fine and I should see her for dinner this week. Gloria called for my birthday as did Kelly and she sent me a picture of Lucia’s card which was very cute. Gabes sent me birthday greetings also and I am looking forward to seeing him in December. I had dinner with Maddie this week and that was fun and I drove her home on Friday.