Nearly Thanksgiving

School was quite busy this week.

I had my first bone density scan on Tuesday afternoon. 

Thursday evening was book club. We read Stephen King's The Gunslinger this month. I wasn't that interested, but at least half of the other club members are fans. They convinced me I should read the second book in the series before I form a final judgement.

Friday evening I went to the Atlanta Symphony concert. It was Brahms and Schumann with a guest pianist and I enjoyed the music. There were a bunch of college kids in the balcony, obviously there to fulfill some kind of class credit requirement. They weren't as disruptive as the younger students last spring, but still annoying.

Saturday I first visited the Tucker post office. Then I went to the local ACS section's luncheon to recognize 50- and 60-year members. Six of them attended, and each one was presented with a certificate and allowed about 5 minutes to talk about their careers. All had really interesting stories. The lunch was held at the 57th Fighter Group restaurant at the little Peachtree Dekalb airport, and I liked watching the small planes take off and land while we ate.

After lunch, I went to the Pius X Holiday Market. I attended last year and found lots of good Christmas presents. It was similar this year, although much less crowded at 2 pm than at 10 am. I bought three bags of items from local craftspeople which I feel pretty good about. Now I just need to write my holiday letter, wrap everything, and mail it all.

Saturday night I went to the Atlanta Gladiators game. We won! It was a lot of fun again, except for the group of small boys and their dads who took over the row ahead of me (not their purchased seats) . The boys spent much of the game hitting each other with cowbells and other items, climbing over the seats, and running in and out of my row. After the second period, the dads finally told them to stop bothering me, which improved things a bit.

Sunday I graded things and did a bit of cleaning at home before going to campus for the production of Twelfth Night. It was excellent! The student who played the fool was great. He sang several songs, and there was dancing, and a mirror ball. I worked in the office for an hour or so before heading over to Decatur to have dinner with K & P. That was enjoyable and I was able to deliver their gift.

A Cold Snap

Another eventful week here. Monday evening I went to board games in Dunwoody. Tuesday I played cribbage and had the fourth-best card, so I won another $5. That was pleasing! Sunday evening it started to get cold and windy, and it was about 0 C when I got up on Monday morning. I needed my winter coat, scarf, and mittens! I had to drive to Lawrenceville in the afternoon to have a mammogram, and there were even flurries in the air when I was out. It was cold all day, and got even colder that night, so that it was -3 C on Tuesday morning. When I arrived in the office, it was even cold there: 14 C! I wore my coat and scarf all day until Facilities got the heat working again in the afternoon.

Wednesday I overcame some adversity to attend my first ACS local section meeting, which was held at a steakhouse in Norcross. I was tardy leaving campus and traffic was heavy, plus the car was nearly out of gas, so after a wrong turn in the dark I stopped at a gas station to fill up and get my bearings. After that I was calmer and found the place; I had to park two blocks away (Norcross is always busy when I go there). Even though I was half an hour later than I expected, the group was still enjoying the buffet of what would have been called "heavy hors d'oeuvres". I had some of that and met the other people at my table, one of whom turned out to be the chairperson of the local section. Both the Georgia section (which is centered in Atlanta) and the Northeast Georgia section (centered in Athens) were participating and I met the other chair in the buffet line. Around 7 pm the lecture started on "The Chemistry of Bourbon." It was a good basic talk about distillation, the history of whiskey, and some chemical components that are responsible for flavors. We also had a tasting of two bourbons, one scotch, and one rye. I liked the scotch best.

My tasting notes, which I neglected to bring home after the meeting.

I had students in my office all day Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the midterm exam Thursday evening. It was another late night at school as I didn't leave until almost 9 pm. I did not have as much difficulty with the scanner this time, and the others left me alone.

Friday after school I went to Documentary Night. We watched "Mission: JOY" which was about Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Llama and their friendship. I learned some things I had not known about each of them, and it was inspiring to see them interact so lovingly with each other. The discussions afterward were good, too. My nomination for next month was not chosen, but I'm glad I participated.

Saturday I graded exams and worked on other school stuff until early afternoon. Then I drove to Norcross to check out the arepa restaurant that a student recommended. Unfortunately, neither of the employees spoke very much English and seemed to tell me they would not be able to sell me arepas, so I went home unfulfilled.  I talked to the parents only during Family Meet because the Texans were at the national band competition with Ian (his band earned 9th place!) and Katy is in Quebec with a friend. I made Alton Brown's baked mac & cheese for dinner and then joined J & J for Zoom games. T & S appeared for about 30 minutes as a surprise, and it was a joy to see everyone and listen to them talk again. How I miss those friends!

Today I met C for another hike, this time at the Powers Island unit of the Chattahoochee River NRA. We tried to do the whole trail on the east side of the river (I hiked the other side once before). It's only about 2.5 miles, about half flat and following the river bank and the other half climbs up the bluff and back down. We made it all the way to the furthest point before C slipped in some mud and hurt her ankle. Luckily after a while she was able to stand and hobble back to the parking lot. I was pretty useless: I offered to help (refused) but was only able to hunt up some nice bamboo sticks for C to use as canes. It took us over 30 minutes to walk the last 0.25 miles, luckily it was the flat part along the river. I was surprised she still wanted to go to Mutation Brewing for lunch and beer after that, but she did. We carpooled in my car, so after lunch I had to drive her back to the park and that turned into a problem because there was a crew painting lane markings on the exit which was therefore closed by the police. I had to detour all the way to the Windy Hill exit and then come back through Sandy Springs/Marietta. C went to the ER for x-rays and found she had a fracture of the fibula. She said it didn't hurt as much as the nurses expected, but I was sorry that our hike ended so poorly for her. It will be awhile before we can go again.

Such a nice day!

I made a roasted sweet potato and chickpea salad and then went to the Sunday Assembly potluck. There was a lecture this month, which was about how to have better conversations with people to build community and lessen divisions. We were told to remember three things: Duverger's Law (which is about the way our system of voting results in a two-party system and maximum division), the Truth Effect (which is that you believe what you hear most often, even if you learn the truth once), and Daryl Davis (who convinced several dozen high-ranking KKK members to leave the organization by talking to them). We also did an activity to practice better communication skills, which I was bad at, although I was good at role-playing the characters in the scenarios.

This week the Federal government reopened after the longest-ever 43 day shutdown. What a mess.

Winter is Coming

Winter is coming to Atlanta tonight, apparently. This afternoon was sunny and 24 C, but the winds picked up around sunset and now (21:30) it's only 7 C. There is a chance of freezing overnight, and tomorrow night is supposed to be even colder. 

My week was full of students trying to cram in their required meetings for Midterm 2 corrections before the Friday deadline. If I ever do this again, I'm going to make an earlier due date and/or give less points the longer students wait. As it was, I had people just turning in pages without talking to me at all. Because of the number of appointments, I couldn't get any other work done, and that made me stay late most nights. I missed Monday board games and Wednesday board games, which did not improve my serenity.

Tuesday I did go to cribbage club, and it's a good thing I did because I only lost one game of nine for my best card ever. It was good enough for first place, so I won a little money (enough to cover almost all of the past two months of losing nights' dues). That sure was nice!

Swag at the conference

Thursday I had not planned any outing. I went home and cooked myself dinner and then I packed my overnight bag. Friday I left school before 3 pm and drove to Oxford College for the Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC). This campus was the original location of Emory University, and they keep it as a 2-year liberal arts school. After registering, I attending the faculty workshop, which was a panel discussion. There were as many panelists as audience. After that there was a mixer and I met a few people while supping on the posh snacks: polenta fries with blackberry ketchup, lamb sliders, braised beef skewers, and ginger punch. When that event petered out, I found my hotel and enjoyed a couple of hours of quiet before sleep. I'm glad I decided to get a room in Covington, rather than drive home and then back again on Saturday morning. 

Student Center at Oxford College

I was woken in the early hours (around 4 am) by a thunderstorm, so then the world was wet and foggy as the sun rose. I got myself together, checked out, and headed back to Oxford College. There was a nice breakfast buffet, then talks all morning. I was again glad I brought knitting with me; I was able to complete the leg and start the heel flap on the second of the pair of socks I took with me to Albuquerque in February. I tried to attend as many OU students' presentations as possible without room-hopping. There was a lunch break in the campus dining hall. Pretty good food, too, but clearly overwhelmed the facility. The lines were long and they ran out of glasses and cookies! After lunch we gathered for an OU photo and then there was one more session of talks, in which my first research student presented. She did well, considering we only collected the first data a week ago. There was a quick keynote address and introductions of next year's conference host, then the poster session. I tried to get to all the OU posters, and managed all but one. My second research student had a poster. I also talked to several other poster presenters: one about analyzing compost, one about modeling student study behavior using economic equations. We had another OU group photo and then almost everyone reconvened at a local ramen and sushi restaurant for dinner. We arrived just before the heavy rain and enjoyed a lovely meal together. I was thrilled to take part in one of those big boats full of sushi with my table. After dinner, I detoured for ice cream and then drove home in the dark. 

Sushi boat!

I had vague plans to go to downtown, historic Covington to see the courthouse and the other sights. Several TV shows (the only one I have seen is the Dukes of Hazzard) have been filmed in Covington. But, with the rain and the dark, I didn't do that. I'll have to go again sometime on my own.

Today I worked on grading papers and preparing for the coming week. After a quick lunch, I took MARTA to Westview Cemetery for the walking tour of the grounds. There were two other people waiting when I got there, but no tour guide. We hung around for about 20 minutes before a security guard came and told us there was not going to be a tour. I didn't hear exactly why, but it sounded like the tour guide had not noticed people signed up for today so he didn't come. Sad face. Well, the three of us wandered around for a bit, but I decided to head home and come another time. At least I was able to finish my car book, Ringworld, and start the next one while spending so much time on trains. And, at least I didn't drive all that way and back. 

Waiting for the tour that never happened.

I installed a replacement smoke detector in my dining room. About a week ago, the original one woke me up with beeping at 4 am. It turned out to be a 10-year, no replacement battery type, so there was nothing to do but buy a replacement. I got a 2-pack, thinking that the one on the second floor might be a similar age. The new ones also have CO detectors. I was kind of hoping that the new model would fit the old mounting bracket, but of course it didn't. The bracket had been painted on the wall, so I had to use a razor blade to get it off, then drill new holes to install the new bracket in roughly the same place. The new detector also is the 10-year no replacement style. I tested the one upstairs, which is a different brand, and decided not to install the new one there yet.

The Gales of November

Hopefully, there will be no gales...

The highlight of the week was Halloween on Friday. The chemists dressed as the Noble Gases (I was Xenon) and competed against the biologists (who were very clever and dressed as six different drosophila mutants). I wore my costume all day at school and then went to K and P's house for snacks and drinks.

Dressed as the noble gas Xenon.

 It was chilly every night this week and I finally had to turn on the heat in the house. For Cody, you understand. Obviously I would have toughed it out with extra blankets and a hot water bottle for the bed.

Saturday I joined L and B for a walk on Path 400. We did the same 3.5 miles as last month, which covered the newly opened section. After the walk, I went to the post office in Sandy Springs to mail a package and then noticed I was across the street from the Crumbl cookie shop. I used my coupon from the Gladiators home opener to get a free cookie.

The cookie had Reese's pieces.

After that I drove up to Cumming to visit a pavlova bakery which was doing a Yelp Elite event. For showing up and writing a review, I got a free tiny pavlova bite and a bowl of strawberry ice cream.

Between two pieces of pavlova (meringue), there was Nutella and strawberries.

My plan was to go next to Indio Brewing in Sugar Hill for lunch and a beer, but I found that they were closed for a private party. So instead I went to Duluth and had lunch at Sweet Octopus.

Shrimp Wonton Ramen 

I still had a beer afterwards at 6S Brewing, which I have passed on two other visits to Duluth without going in. The sour was okay, the televisions playing college football were far too loud, and I was about the only one there, drinking my beer and reading a book for an hour.

That was Saturday. On Sunday I did a lot of schoolwork at home, while cooking crockpot soup. It was a bright sunny morning and I took advantage of that by sweeping out the patio which had collected a lot of leaves, pine needles, and other plant debris. Good thing I did, because it rained later in the day and everything would have been muddy and soggy.

I went to a concert at a Lutheran church in Decatur in the afternoon to hear Mozart's Requiem. One of the cribbage club guys invited me because he is in the choir. There was a small orchestra and four soloists in addition. The sanctuary was unusual: round, with the musicians in the middle and the audience around the outside. There were multicolored stained glass windows, a balcony featuring a pipe organ with red lighting, and a three-dimensional stained glass cross lit from the inside hanging in the middle of the room.