Spring Break

A major catch up entry. I have finished my seventh week of teaching and teaching is going okay. I have one student in my 321 class who is testing me but I he is doing poorly in the course and I hope he drops it. Bryan won’t be out for three more weeks to attach the electricity so that is a bit of a problem, but the solar is working well. I just want to get it finished up. Kelly sprained her wrist roller skating but she didn’t want me to send her some flowers. Her mom’s sister died suddenly so I called to offer my condolences and Liz told me what a lovely house Kelly has and I didn’t know what to say. I know Kelly still has a lot of problems with that house but I am not going to get in a discussion with Liz about it. I guess it is better not to visit since I think the situation with Alfredo (who certainly likes the house more than Kelly) might get a little tense. Claire Hall and I went to Debbie, the mortgage person at Wells Fargo, and Claire learned a lot. I am down in Charlotte for a couple of days until it warms up in Ironto, and I had fun playing golf and riding my bike near the Hyatt I am staying at (solely to keep my Hyatt rewards points, since I will be staying at a Hyatt in Denver when I go to the CEA conference at the end of March). I worked on my paper and it is getting there. I should have a solid draft by the end of the break. The move to the new building has really gotten me down. I don’t think anybody cares about the double move I will have to go through (since I hope to be teaching summer school). It seems that facilities management is going to do whatever they want and that has had a very negative effect on my morale. I have worked at RU for thirty years and you would think I would have some power but in this instance I clearly don’t. If I could retire right now I probably would, although I really need to teach 5 more semesters to be financially secure. That would have me retiring a few months after turning 67. My new Toyota Tacoma pickup is turning out very well. I had been staying close to home with my old Nissan but after I traded it in 10 days ago and drove off with my Tacoma, I am now free to drive anywhere. I certainly would have gone further south (at least to Columbia during spring break) but tomorrow is going to be in the 50s up in Radford so there is no point. Spring is certainly coming (I saw one coltsfoot bloom about a week ago) and that means I have pretty much gotten through another winter. If can retire after 5 semesters, that means I only have two more winters to get through before I will be able to spend at least January and February down south. I have no love for winter right now. It means heavy snow on my road and icy conditions that could cause me to fall and break something. I am very careful now but I know where I live is a tricky place in the winter. I planted my greenhouse 10 days ago but when I checked before I left for Charlotte, the lettuce hadn’t come up. However I did see some peas pushing through so I will probably reseed the lettuce when I return. I will also buy some broccoli plants when I get back. I have done some trimming of the orchard road so I can get my new truck up without much damage and I need to fertilize the fruit trees. I ordered a new camper top (I decided on the smaller 20 to 25 inch top because it will be structurally more stable and I still remember the mess I had with the extra tall top I once got). I should get in by the end of March and I will have to figure out the bed situation and get new curtains. I had a fun dinner with Gyorgyi a couple of nights ago. I think I will try to visit her brother when I go up in May so I can see her niece Laura. Claire Gallo is still not feeling well and I am worried about that. I pray she will get through this semester and graduate. I now have my road in decent shape after all the digging that AEP did. I am hoping that with almost a week of dry weather, I will be about to really fix it and maybe get Andy to put some stone down. There are three spots where stone would really help, especially down by my gate where I almost got the tractor stuck. I have decided to leave the break in the French drain alone for now. The culvert that Brandy of AEP dug has ended the leakage on to the road and I will just give up on cutting the hill next to the greenhouse.