Another catch up blog since I have been so busy and a little tired due to my low blood level. Major happenings since my last entry include clearing the road to the orchard of a large Virginia pine that fell across it. I decided to use the tractor and it worked well even though the tree was about ten foot up in the air. I did get a couple of branches snapping back at me but nothing hit me.
My teaching is going well in three classes but one of my 200 classes is causing me problems. I had two chatty students at the start and now I have separated them, and students are coming late and that has to stop. One cursed me today when I sent him out of class and I want an apology before he reenters the class. The other three classes are going quite well.
I have the forester and the appraiser coming out tomorrow morning and that means I should be able to have the increased equity line by next week. I will pay off the 68K mortgage and I will have no mortgage and 96K on my equity line. By the time I get finished paying for the easement, the line will be over 100K, but that is no problem.
I went to Chilhowie on Saturday to see the Radford High marching band and they looked pretty good. I will seem Cathy, Lou and Maddie tomorrow at the Friday game.
I did send in a poem to the Appalachian anthology and I did send in an abstract for the CEA conference. I heard from Floyd County Moonshine that they will be using my poem about the copperheads.
I will be heading up to see Ken and Sandy in two weeks and that should be fun.

It has been a long time and a lot has happened. The biggest events concern my health. Two Wednesdays ago I went for bloodwork and when Rob finally gave me the results the real concern was that I was a pint of blood low. Rob had me in on the following Wednesday to verify the tests and they confirmed that I was low on blood but the actual figure was two pints. This would explain my tiredness over the summer and on Sunday, Rob convinced me, after talking to his partner Chris, that I should have a CAT scan immediately. I set one up for Monday afternoon and Sunday evening and Monday morning were terrifying. I felt so scared and I was on the verge of tears when I went in to get the test. The technician in charge, a woman named Anne, was fabulous and she calmed me down and I left feeling much better. At a little after 4 Rob called and the results were negative and I was elated, giddy with joy. I must have thanked the earth hundreds of times that evening and the next day. Rob thinks the blood loss is from the allopurinol and has switched me to Uloric. I hope this solves the problem.
Teaching is going well and my easement is moving along. VOF votes shortly and that should be positive. It looks like I will spend closer to 7k rather than 8k. I should get more tax credits also and that will help on the money I will lose when I sell.
I have sent Don Devine a check for $1300 and that ends my relationship with the gorge. I am relieved that is over.
My greenhouse is going well and I have two trays of peas planted and two trays of lettuce, with three trays of strawberries. I should have a pretty good fall garden with one tray of peas up over four inches.
The solar batteries are checked and the power is doing fine, though I will have to start using the generator more as I get less sun.
I had Blue Ridge Propane out to service the vent free and I have a lot of propane left.
I have to call Stellar One to get the refinancing of the equity line going. The appraiser has disappeared.
Mark Burnette and I went down to the U.S. National Whitewater Center and had a lot of fun. I flipped three times on the first run and I was cold and scared but I tried again and made it all the way to the last wave before flipping. It was much more difficult than when I ran it before. Mark made it on this third try and I did the same so we were very happy on the drive back. My hands didn’t hurt too much and my belly wasn’t in much pain. I’d like to go back.

My belly is feeling pretty good even though I hiked with Rob this morning, rode five miles on my bike, and played an excellent round of golf (44). I cut the grass this morning and many places needed cutting so it was a good idea. It was good just to start to lawn tractor. I fixed the road with the farm tractor yesterday and the road is much better. I rode on the new river trail yesterday near Allisonia and it was very pleasant. I did about 8 miles.
I approved the deed for the easement but I e-mailed Janice that I wanted Jim’s approval before we go forward. I should get that tomorrow.
I love the cooler weather and I think cutting down on one of the blood pressure drugs is helping my tired feeling. I don’t have my results back from Rob but I should get them tomorrow. They should be okay. If I can feel more energy I may try and do some volunteer work for the food bank. I am scared to commit right now.
I am hoping to refinance my equity line to 120K from 60K. That would allow me to pay off my mortgage at 7 and ½ percent and start paying 4%. The danger is that the equity line can change its rate and that would cause me problems if it went above 7 and ½, though I think I have at least 4 years before that would happen. It is a little risky but if I can do it I will.

I went up to see Jeff, Rachel and Benjamin yesterday and had a lot of fun playing with Benjamin and watching the Tech game. I am back working so I had papers to grade and books to read and I will be busy until Thanksgiving, when I get a week off.
This morning I did my yoga and weights, then I went off to ride my bike in the pasture because the rain was supposed to come in this afternoon. I wanted to play golf but the course was packed and it was supposed to start raining at 4 so I may go to a movie.
I am worried about the economy and I don’t think Obama’s speech is going to do much to help things. I really don’t think he had done a very good job and I am not sure I am going to vote for him. I know he took on a really bad situation, but he hasn’t improved it enough for my taste.

I finished the generator cover completely today, painting it with the Cranberry Red paint and I am pretty sure it will last five years at least. The moles or voles knocked down my clothes pin screens in two of the trays in the greenhouse (not surprisingly, the two with bigger seeds, spinach and peas). I bought some treated firring strips so I can build some frames tomorrow. I went into town to see Jeff and I did some work at Our Daily Bread first and then had a great massage. I worked some more at Our Daily Bread and then went for a bike ride up by the corporate research center that was curtailed by a powerful storm. The easement is coming along and I have to approve the final draft of the deed and wait for the VOF Board’s decision. I have given up on Carole Fraser. She is simply nuts and I can’t waste any more time trying to get information from her. I also talked to Alterra Power, the company which purchased Plutonic, and they have no plans for damming Freda right now and nothing in the works for at least the next five years. If I have to report back on my grant I have enough information to justify my trip.

I guess Justin Craig is not going to call and I am not sure what to do. I guess I would like to perform again but dealing with Justin may be a problem. He acted in such an arbitrary way that there is no way to tell where his head is.
My classes have started and I am comfortable with them so far. It will be a busy semester but I should be able to handle it. I have finished my FAR and the house is in good shape (Mike helped me with attaching the generator box). I have planted some lettuce and by the weekend I want to plant spinach and sugar snap peas. I have to be careful since there are wasp nests in the green house and I have to get rid of them before I can clean everything up.
I am still too tired so I will get the bloodwork done later this week to see if something is wrong. I think it is probably the medications which are causing me to be so tired.

This will be a catch up entry since so much time has passed since my last one. I drove straight home from Richmond and things at the house were fine. The water was clear and at full pressure. I had to use the trimmer around the house but the grass has stopped growing because of the heat and the drought.
Gloria was supposed to arrive last Thursday at 7:30 pm, but she didn’t arrive till 3:00 am. It was a real ordeal for her and for me. I ended up sleeping at the exit 128 truckstop and then at the airport. We finally got home around 4:00 am, both of us exhausted.
Gloria’s visit was very good and we had a lot of fun drinking coffee in the morning when she got up and then having a late breakfast. Rob liked her a lot and cooked an excellent dinner for us. I took Jeff, Rachel and Benjamin out to the Indian restaurant in Roanoke and they also liked Gloria. I took her up to the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Peaks of Otter and the views were very good because there was little haze. She was supposed to leave Sunday but with Hurricane Irene coming in, we both thought it best—especially considering her flight out—that she go back Friday, which she did and got home that evening.
On Thursday I went to the meetings and after Kate mentioned me to the new Provost Sam Minner, I was invited to read a poem at the convocation. I was pretty nervous but I did a pretty good job of reading “Directive” and I am so glad that’s over.
I will start teaching on Monday so I have one day of summer left and I am ready to get back to work. I am still a little more tired than I would like to be, but I am getting things done. I will have bloodwork done now that Gloria has returned to California. I think teaching three courses in a row is going to be tough.
David King came out on Friday and cleaned out the septic tank (and said I should be good for five years), raked the peat moss tank, and checked the controls for the drip irrigation. When I got back I got Mike to come up with his co-worker and they got the dryer out and the vent cleaned so that is done. I dug out the cattle guard this morning and I am rebuilding the generator box and that should be done by Monday.
I saw one of the waitresses I know at Gillies and I asked her to mention to Justin Craig that if he calls me I will be glad to play with him again. No word from him today.