1. We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging, already in progress.
2. I’m never sure who is going to read about someone else’s travels and mostly I write those posts so I can remember the stories later, but I am grateful to those who took the time to read and travel along with me that way.
3. So, did I miss anything? Any extended barbarism and outright war crimes in the Middle East? Further evidence that Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump is unfit to walk the streets unsupervised, let alone run for public office? That his supporters and minions are an existential threat to the survival of the American republic? Catastrophic evidence of global climate change that fools will explain away as coincidence even as they bury the dead amid the rubble? Anything? Hello? Is this thing on? I don’t think this thing is on.
4. We’re deep into the semester down at Home Campus and once again I have signed on for 130% of a job so I’m mostly just trying to beat back the nearest alligators and hoping the swamp drains of its own accord. Half the people in my office are new this year so I have become the Answer Guy, which is odd considering how recently I was still the Question Guy. On top of my advising job I’m teaching five classes on three different campuses. Fortunately I’ve made it past the madness of the first few weeks, so that’s a good sign.
5. We now have a soccer team at Home Campus and it’s going about as well as you’d expect for a team that didn’t exist three months ago. They’re learning – the back line isn’t bad though they’re constantly under siege and the goalie is saving them as best he can, but they need to work on their link-up play and getting to the middle third in possession. But they knew this would happen and they’re mostly using this season as a scrimmage to get ready for next year when they will have had more time to gel as a team. I’ve seen parts of a couple of games so far and they’re out there working hard, and as a Philadelphia sports fan that’s pretty much all I ask of a team.
6. About half the team is in my Western Civ class this semester. I’m not sure what a grounding in the transition from medieval to early modern Europe is doing for their game, but perhaps when we get to Machiavelli it will be more useful.
7. The jalapeños in the garden are growing well and I’ve already made two batches of candied jalapeños and one of jalapeño jelly with another batch of jelly that I should make soon. So much to do.
8. I have two long term projects that are rapidly coming to their respective conclusions and that will be a good thing when it happens.
9. Lauren’s trip with Arden went pretty well by all accounts. They spent a week in Guatemala, of all places, and there were many stories to share – some of which, as a parent, I was glad to hear after they were safely over, but that is part of the adventure I suppose. I picked them up at the airport at around 12:30am one Saturday night and got the full Volcano Hike story as well. It is good to have these adventures when you are young and strong, and I’m glad they were able and interested in having them.
10. I wrote out a To Do list a couple of weeks ago and it was depressingly long but I have been chipping away at it and it would be a lot shorter now if I hadn’t been adding more things at the bottom the whole time. But that’s the nature of things these days.
11. Did you know that the Post Office now has D&D-themed stamps? They’re actually really nice, even for those of us who have somehow not gotten into the game despite being exactly the target market for it. And yes, I know, every time I mention a) the Post Office, b) cash purchases, or c) physical media of any kind someone will pop up immediately to condescend at me about how I could possibly still be using any of those things when there are so many shiny digital versions of each of them to choose from, but I like them and will continue to do so. I have my reasons. And they’re really nice stamps.
12. On that note, I somehow managed to get handed half a dozen Bicentennial quarters in a five-day period a couple of weeks ago, which I thought was pretty cool. Add a wheat cent to that haul and it was a good time to be a coin collector. There are times when the fact that my dad is no longer here to share the news of the day is more deflating than usual, though.
2. I’ve been here for the whole thingy. Good Times.
ReplyDelete3. Well, Yes And NO. Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes. NO. Hello. Yes, and as usual, you are incorrect - it is on.
7. There is something about the words “jalapeño jelly” the is just fundamentally wrong.
11. Well, not exactly as advertised, but I will ask if you actually expect anything approaching something that could be described as service from the USPS under that DeJoy guy. Amazon keeps mailing my purchases and so far I’ve had to get refunds and buy the stuff elsewhere about 40% of the time.
12. Recently received a birth year Franklin Half in change at the casino. Worth more as sentimental value than collector value ($12.50)
And the new comment page suck the big one.
Lucy
2. Glad to have you along!
ReplyDelete3. I'm glad it's on and it's reaching at least a few people. The nature of the modern United States makes sane people feel like we're shouting into a well for all the good it seems to do. But I continue to shout, if only to prove to myself that I did not accept the unacceptable, not at the time and not afterward.
7. Jalapeño jelly is wonderful! The sugar cuts the heat down so mostly you just get the flavor (though you can make it hotter if you want - I'm happy with the taste). You spread it in a block of cream cheese and then put both on crackers and it's just the best.
11. So far I have had pretty good luck with the USPS, DeJoy's active sabotage notwithstanding. I've actually had less luck with the private services, to be honest.
12. Cool! I haven't seen a Franklin half in a very long time! And yeah, most of the coins that I have aren't worth a whole lot but they're fun and that has to count for something. The one coin I have that's actually worth some money is tucked away in a safe deposit box. All the rest are just interesting, and that's enough.
The new comment page is indeed a let down (why can't I expand the box to see my entire comment? and why can't I see the post too, the way I used to be able to do?). On the plus side, though, the photo uploader for adding pictures to posts is just worlds better.
It still defaults all posts to the format they introduced in the previous "upgrade," and I cannot tell you how many hours I have lost undoing the "improvements" that engineers have imposed on me.
1. I left my luggage behind the counter in Dublin.
ReplyDelete3. I’m pretty sure someone else said it better than I …
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day:
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.
Credit: Dylan Thomas
7. Just … no. I’m sure you find it very tasty, but I’m just not that adventurous.
11. I bought my wife a new phone. Amazon mailed it. Was supposed to arrive last Monday. Presumed Lost. Reordered on Wednesday. Supposed to be here last Friday. Showed up today, but carrier didn’t bring it out to deliver it to our mailbox, so I had to drive ten miles into town, wait 20 minutes to get to the counter, wait another 3 minutes to get the package, then drive ten miles back to my house. The package would have easily fit in our mailbox, but … USPS.
12. Don’t see any way to upload pictures, so that has to be on your side. Good for you, but the rest of it still sucks. And, now that you’ve let them know that you’ve undone the “improvements”, the next update to undo what you have undone will be along shortly.
Lucy
3. Good advice for these parlous times.
ReplyDeleteZora Neale Hurston once said “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it," and I do not intend to let anyone say that. I also intend to be a pain to them.
11. Well that sucks. The guy who delivers my mail (we live in town) is much better that way. The FedEx guys, however, are a nuisance.
12. I don't think that there's a way to upload photos to comments. I should have been more clear about my comment. I was referring to the new photo uploader for posts. It actually will let me upload more than 3 photos at a time, and by dragging/dropping rather than individual files. Welcome to 2009!