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.