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.

Electricity up to my house

The big news is I have electricity up to my house. I called Bryan and I hope he can come up next week to connect the meter base to my house but it is more likely that it will be the week after. I did call the Sissons and tell them the power was in and I also mentioned that I would pay for the two meter bases. I spoke to Judy and she was very friendly. I will call Danny at some point soon and see if there is any chance he will sell me a right of way. I heard from Anthony that my new truck should be in by the 22nd and perhaps as soon as the 17th. That is fine with me so I will miss the snowstorm coming in on Monday. I am very ready to switch to the new truck with all its safety features. I have put new soil in most of the greenhouse trays and mixed in organic fertilizer. I can plant whenever I want and that will probably be after the cold snaps ends. My classes are going pretty well, although I have two poetry students who have no idea what a fragment is and that must be addressed or I won’t pass them. I have sent out the Coleman application and I booked a room. The only problem is that I will have to set it up. It was in the low teens last night and today I took a short walk down to my favorite pine tree in low twenties weather. I work my tractor mask but it was still very cold. I have been practicing regularly on the piano and I certainly am getting better. The main thing is that I am having fun with it and that is the main purpose. I haven’t heard from Kelly in about 2 weeks but I assume she is okay and just busy. I haven’t heard from Gabes in at least a month (even though I have left a couple of messages) so I am not sure what to think. I do hope to heard from him at some point. I am supposed to see Claire Hall next week and that will be fun.

Mud, Mud, Mud

Well, the heavy rains combined with the AEP work (digging a 24 inch wide trench then putting the conduit in then filling the trench) to really mess up my road. There was a 30 foot long near ravine (14 inches deep at points) near the gate and rutted mud everywhere else. I had to straddle the ravine when I got home Wednesday night and if I had slipped in I am sure I would have had to pull my truck out with the tractor. I got out on Thursday and finally on Friday morning I rode the tractor down with a bucket of 57 to start filling the hole and after I dumped it in (and it made no impact), I realized it would take all my stone just to handle this one part. Instead, I got 12 loads of dirt and filled it back in. I had the scraper on at 2.5 and that helped smooth things a bit but no close work can be done until it dries out a lot. My classes are going well and three weeks are done. Our move to the new building has changed again, so now it will be mid to late July. I asked Rosemary about my summer course and she said she should know by late April. Had a fun visit with Claire at the Next Door bakery. We chatted a lot and looked at a few houses in Blacksburg. She is excited about the wedding and about the possibility of owning a house. I should be getting my truck pretty soon and I should have the electricity done in 3 weeks so that will be a relief. Then I approach the Sissons about the right of way.

Post Snow Storm

I have survived the eleven inches of snow, although getting out at the gates is a bit tricky with the remnant ice. The electricity is on hold but I talked to Bryan and he will be out in about three weeks, assuming the electricity is finally in. I noticed that the glass cover is missing from the meter base so I taped a plastic bag over it to keep out the rain and snow. My power went out last night but I think it may have been due to the new room heater, which shouldn’t be a problem once I get the electricity done. I had a nice time meeting with Claire Hall over at the coffee shop. I gave her some tips about house buying, which she appreciated. Gyorgyi called and we will get together soon. I haven’t heard from Gabe in quite a while so I left a message today on his work cell. I assume everything is going well, but I am assuming he is not coming to visit. I talked to Dave and we had a good funny conversation with a lot of laughs. My classes are going well, and I am hoping that will continue. My truck is on schedule for mid-February and I am getting excited about getting it. I have been bike riding and walking and doing my weights and yoga, but me knee is not doing well. I hope I will be able to keep going until May. I spoke with Rob during our walk around his neighborhood and he says I should hire someone to stay with me for the first couple days and that seems like a good idea. He thought once I get past the first few days (when the pain will be extreme), I should be fine. He thinks I should stay in the rehab place as long as I am covered and that will be fine with me. I spoke to a couple of people at Lowes and they suggested that instead of putting in grab bars, that I get a seat that allows me to slide from outside the tub into the tub and get up easily. That sounds like a good plan.

Electricity is coming and a big snow storm hits

Another of my usual catch up entries. It is January 23, and I survived the brunt of the big snowstorm. We could have gotten up to 18 inches but my last measurement after the snowfall had stopped showed about 10 inches. On Friday morning I drove my truck down to the gate at about 7 am, just after the snow had started to come down hard and then I ran the tractor a couple of times, first running down to the gate using the scraper blade and then getting back up with a few tense moments of slipping. I decided not to go back down until Sunday at the earliest, when it should warm up into the high 30s. But I did clear out about 250 yards of road so I could walk some and that worked very well. I took several walks on Friday and then two long ones today. I rode the stationary bike (which I lubricated today, but the oil had no effect on the noise so I think I might have to buy a new bike) and did my weights and yoga and watched Duke finally win (after an unheard of 3 losses in a row), beating North Carolina State by 10 points. They looked very good in the second half but they need Amile Jefferson back or they will have no chance of going far in the NCAA tournament. The big news is that the Eliot company crew, especially the backhoe drivers Brandy and Tino, got the cable and conduit all the way to the meter base on Thursday. And more importantly, they didn’t fun into any big rock which would have required them to bring in a jackhammer machine and would have cost me thousands of dollars. I worked with them on Wednesday and Thursday morning, mainly keeping the conduit in place while Tino backfilled the trench Brandy dug. They were terrific and wouldn’t accept my tip (they did accept some meal money on Tuesday), which would have been generous. Brandy also dug the trench I asked for and dug it all the way to the culvert. I think I may leave it uncovered and just let the grass grow up on the hill. I have figured out that I will have to pull 15K from my 403B for the new truck down payment but that is better than the 25 I thought I might have to take out. I don’t think Cathy is going to quit and there is little I can do. I offered to help and that is all I can offer. My classes are going well and I have about 45 students, not a bad load at all. My knee held up well working with the Eliot crew and I just hope it will be okay until May. I finally spoke with Kelly and she is doing fine. That is a comfort to me. I have no idea when I will see her again, but that will be up to her when she feels that it will be okay with Alfredo. I got down to the pasture around 11:30 and cleared all the way to the big hill. On my way back Andy Sisson showed up and he cleared my road up to the house. I offered to pay him 100 dollars but he only wanted 20 but I ended up giving him 40 and promised to send him some Harry and David pears (I did order some and also some chocolate truffles). I emailed my kayaking friend and her driveway hasn’t been plowed yet so I offered to pick her up tomorrow morning and drive her to her office. I watched the first playoff game and Denver won an exciting one, winning 20-18. I checked out the bikes over at Dicks and a newer version of the one I have is 500 dollars with 129 to deliver it and install it, which I will do. I then had some food at El Grande and talked to Cathy and she sounded okay even though she is very concerned about the girls. The second game is a blowout but I have to wait for a call from my kayaking friend so I will watch till 9:15 then head slowly home, parking near my gate and walking up.

Electricity finally starts

The good news is that the Elliot company started work on the electricity. They started near the Sisson gate right by the electric pole and have finished several hundred yards of digging out the trench with a backhoe and laying down the cable then covering it with the dug up dirt. It is not on the road but about 10 feet from the road in the pasture. Tino, who was working alone when I left the hollow, said that they shouldn’t be up to my hollow till next week and that he thought he would be able to dig my trench for me by the greenhouse. That would be terrific. I talked to Danny and Dougie and things are fine with them. If AEP won’t pay for the grass seed, I told Dougie I would take care of it. I got disappointing news about my two saxophones. Washington Music won’t buy them and it will be too much of a hassle to sell them online so I drove up to Valley Repair and gave them to Glen and told him they are his to sell and keep the profit. He says he will share some of the profit with me but I told him not to worry about it. I just want them out of the house and not deteriorating any further. The house is getting neater and neater and another hour of work should have all the windows cleaned. I got a bike ride in today on the Huckleberry and then a walk in my hollow just before dark. I should have the electricity in and a decision on the right of way before too long. And I will also have my new truck coming in soon. Still waiting for news on my young friend. Talked to Lou about Cathy’s situation and I am not sure what is going to happen. She says she doesn’t want to learn anything new but there wouldn’t be much to learn.

Cleaning Windows and Writing Class Outlines

It is already Friday the 8th and a lot has gone on to catch up with. The very good news is that my colonoscopy on Tuesday morning was fine so I don’t have to go back for 5 years. I have also order a 2016 Toyota Tacoma with blind spot technology, back up camera and back up collision avoidance, all features I want. It is loaded with other features and should be a fun truck to drive. Toyota has to build it so I will have it in early April, right after the CEA conference. I got an interesting but somewhat disturbing email from the old friend who contacted me. Her earlier emails seemed a bit off but this last one was bizarre. I think she might have psychological problems so I am going to cut off my communication with her. I did get to apologize for being a jerk back when we were briefly involved and I am glad I was able to do that. I still haven’t heard from CEA about when my presentation will be but the schedule is supposed to be out the 15th so only another week to wait. I have my three outlines done up to the CEA conference in late March and it won’t take much work to finish them up. One of my young friends has gotten some disconcerting health news. She has to wait for test results next week and it is likely that everything is okay. My trip to Wild Dunes was a lot of fun. I rode my bike a lot, played some golf, visited Theresa, Marv and Joyce, did a number of beach walks and ate dinner at the Peninsula Grill and P.F. Chang’s. I also got a walk in the Congaree National Park though it was flooded and had to stay on the boardwalk. I have been cleaning the windows and I am about half done so that will be nice since I haven’t done this in years. I have also done some straightening up of files and gotten rid of some junk up by the cabin, including the owl house that fell down. I spoke to the crew chief of the two groups that will be coming to put the electricity in and he said they should be starting Monday and that it should take around 2 weeks. My bet is sometime next week and the work will be done by early February. I am going to see if they will do some work on my drain project. I will offer to pay a little for it since it shouldn’t take even an hour. My kayak friend and I have had some fun email exchanges but I don’t see us kayaking for a while.