A Slow News, Er, Month

Remember what I said last time -- about posting more during spring break? Yeah, those were good times. I find myself in a strange predicament, as I have little to report despite being ludicrously busy over the last three weeks. I will try to hit the highlights (such as they are).

The Thursday after my last update, my department chair Andy and I took a group of students to Nashville for a sectional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. Our primary reason for the trek was a Math Jeopardy! competition for undergraduates. While the team did not make the final round, I was proud of them for actually attempting to answer questions. I also had the opportunity to listen to some mathematical talks, whose quality ran the full gamut of quality. I have to say that Andy comes up with some of the best talk titles in the entire mathematical community; amidst a session boasting discussions of inequalities for polynomials and iterative root-finding methods, he spoke about maximizing the spectacle of water fountains. As an added bonus, I heard the author of my analysis textbook (who is also the president-elect of the MAA, apparently) lecture on the winding paths that lead to some mathematical proofs -- a modern extension of his writings. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I saw several of my professors from Wake Forest, one of whom was honored for his teaching. Congratulations, El Hughbo -- you deserve it.

The trip has greatly influenced my time since break, but not in a way one would typically expect. While getting ready for bed Friday night, as I prepared to clean my glasses lenses, the frames broke. In half. For those playing along at home, I have appeared in public without glasses fewer than ten times this decade. My naked eyes can barely detect movement beyond two yards. This meant that Andy had to drive the entire way back to Bristol. I have since gotten the frames reassembled, but a visit to the optometrist is in the works.

Upon the resumption of classes, I have been juggling two new courses on my schedule. In addition to a topics course on partial differential equations, I am teaching statistics in the graduate and professional studies program. I learned about the evening course the week before break began, which means that I had about ten days (after subtracting trips) to spin a course from straw. Adding to the fun, the GPS program ignores spring break, so I was in Nashville when the class was supposed to meet for the first time. This, combined with a fresh batch of tests to grade, has kept me in near-constant motion while on campus of late.

Sandi's work at the bank has continued more or less as usual. However, a higher-up mandate has precluded more than twenty minutes of Internet usage during the work day. Since down time at work was the time Sandi typically read my blog posts, I suppose you can blame BB&T suits for my lack of updates. Yes, that is a much better direction for finger-pointing than at me.

I promise to try harder (you know -- like Avis®) on keeping you abreast of our latest news in the weeks to come. Should I fail, you have my permission either to give me mean glances or to stick your tongue out at me when next we meet. Take care, everyone!

Nursery Quilts

I Need a Break from Break

Remember what I said way back in the mists of time about holidays? If not, then take a moment to reminisce. Sandi and I drove to Winston-Salem individually, as we took Wayfarer to Bobby so that he could act as a broker for our beloved Saturn's sale. She left at around ten in the morning; however, after I concluded my last class on Friday, I was stuck on campus for an additional two hours. We headed to my parents' house on Saturday to sort what stuff of ours had been stored in their basement, which took a good chunk of the afternoon. I then helped Bobby change the oil in each of our cars. After church and lunch on Sunday, we helped Joyce rearrange the beds in her house.

All was not work, though; I found time on Friday and Saturday nights to play some video games with Sandi's brother Chuck and his daughter Haley. If you happened to watch me wander about a Ghost Recon or Halo 3 map dispassionately dumping ammunition into my many, many foes, you might find my real-life pacifism somewhat confusing. I also toyed with X-Men Legends II on Sunday afternoon -- coming close to bringing the game back to Tennessee with us that night.

We spent today relaxing. Well, except for the 7:00 AM alarm for me to get to Paws & Claws to pick up the Big Bazooka . . . and the bins that needed to go to the basement . . . and the load of laundry . . . and the dishes that needed to be washed. Other than those things, we relaxed with Final Fantasy XII and sitcoms on the idiot box . . . and the pizza and taco salads we had for meals. I told you -- pure relaxation.

Since I am blessedly free of papers for a few days, I hope to post some more as the week progresses. Take care, folks!

Erm . . . Thank You?

A few years back, I saw some commercials which featured people getting into massive trouble (by, for instance, asking a non-pregnant woman when her baby is due) and exonerating themselves by expressing gratitude for -- something. Since it has been two full weeks since I last said anything about our lives, I feel in much the same boat. Hopefully explaining the title does nothing to mitigate the flow of magic from those two little words.

I was prepared to write something last Sunday, but I was waylaid by a migraine as I awoke that morning. I spent most of the week frantically striving to stay afloat a huge mound of papers; the fact that two of my three classes required corrections on their first tests is the main culprit for my struggles. We are approaching spring break at King, so Sandi and I are planning a trip to North Carolina as a brief but welcome getaway.

As usual, we headed to Knoxville for a waiting families meeting on Tuesday. I really look forward to the 'icebreaker' introductory questions Mark asks us at each meeting, and this one was a real hoot: if we could be a superhero, who would we be and why? To the dismay of virtually no one, I had my answer immediately. As an enormous stickler for rules and such, I find myself drawn to Wolverine as a near-polar opposite. Sandi drew a blank, although I pointed out later that she should have gone with Elastigirl from The Incredibles. Most of the big names, except for one nerdy outlier, got mentioned -- even Aquaman, for crying out loud. Once the meeting was officially underway, we talked about interim care -- a topic Sandi and I had suggested last month. Our guest speaker is part of one of the Knoxville Bethany office's interim care families, who take care of babies between birth and placement. While we do not know what our eventual situation will entail, I can take comfort in knowing that good folks are there in the meantime.

Moving forward to this weekend, we took on the most formidable home-improvement project of our lives. Upon moving into our house, we noted that the bathroom sink had a steady drip, which has since degenerated into a constant trickle of water. Tired of wasting gallons of hydrogen hydroxide every day, we set out to fix the blasted thing once Sandi got off work on Saturday. In another episode of 'who built this place?', we had a nonstandard faucet setup. After two trips to Lowe's, our mission shifted from fixing the leak to replacing the wretched fixture. As I crawled into the too-small cabinet under the sink, I found to my dismay that our house's water shutoff does not really act as advertised; this put my work on a strict timetable. I am proud to say, however, that we now have a functional and non-leaking faucet in the bathroom. Yay for progress!

I think that catches you up on our lives over the past two weeks. Have a great week of your own, everyone!

Seriously -- Aquaman?!?