Brrr, cold!

Man it was cold this morning! How cold was it? Well insert your favorite "dog frozen to a bush" joke, but I did get this snap of the fountain in front of the local "day spa" this morning.

It was cold.

Big move

I've been out of touch the last few days because they finally got around to moving my department to our new digs in the new building. We just now got our phone/internet connections up and running.

As with any move, there were some snags. Keys weren't ready, no blinds on the windows so there is significant glare in the classrooms, etc. Two of my co-workers have "noise" issues in their new classrooms. Fortunately, I was spared that, but today my office has developed a freight train roar. The noise isn't coming out of the vent and I'm a couple of rooms away from the HVAC unit so I can't figure it out. Reardless, there is a distinct roar coming out of the ceiling or walls of my new office. Like white noise, I sort of tune it out, but then someone mentions it or the roar changes pitch and I can't NOT stop listening to it. I'm thinking this may not have a good effect on my psyche. See "The Telltale Heart" for what I fear may happen.

Still, we're in the new building and, on balance, it is an improvement. Now if I could just get that train to shut the hell up!

A date?

After reading this, those of you who don't know me well will say, "St. Caffeine must be an utter idiot." Those of you who do know me will say, "Oh, that's just St. Caffeine, bless his heart." Anyway, here's the story.

I may have had a date this past Wednesday night. See, one of my really good (former) students sent me an email over the holiday break telling me how much she had enjoyed my classes and how I had changed her opinion of economics, etc. Manna from heaven for a teacher -- especially an economics teacher. We almost never hear stuff like that. Anyway, this particular student was an "interesting" girl. She sat in the back and was usually pretty quiet, but occasionally she'd ask a question that told me she was reading the textbook. Heck, she was even reading ahead! Plus, she'd occasionally email me with econ questions that even went beyond the scope of the material in the class and the book. Yes, amazingly enough, she was applying the classroom lessons and then thinking on her own. Wow! Plus, and this was the biggest point in her favor, her emails were quirky. I'm a sucker for quirky.

So back to this email, ... She expressed her enjoyment of the class and she mentioned that if I found myself over Madison way, I should let her know and we might meet up for a cup of joe. Okay, in some cases I might have taken that to be flirting, but I really never got that feeling from her. So this past Wednesday I had to go fill in at Huntsville for a co-worker, so I sent her an email asking if she'd like to meet up. She replied in the affirmative and we made plans. We met at Barnes and Noble (in the Starbucks), had our drinks, and enjoyed nice conversation. Everything went smoothly until it was time to leave. I walked her to her car (being a gallant gentleman and all) and then suddenly there was that awkward moment of HOW DO WE END THIS? Yikes, I thought, is this a date (or maybe a pre-date)? I'm not saying I'd complain about that, but I was just taken aback. We left it with a quick hug and a "we'll have to do this again."

I'm sure I may have offended her with my general thickness, but I guess we'll see. Sigh, it's hard being me sometimes.

More books, and movies

Given yesterday's book post, I've been thinking more about the printed page. My old pal, Vol Abroad, recently opined on the general suckiness of seeing a movie based on a book you've read. I'll quote VA:

I only get annoyed by the pesky differences and perceived dimunition of the work. I feel compelled to tell my companion(s), "See, in the book this what happened." Or "I can't believe they left ______ out. It was a pivotal moment in the book." Or "Now, you see that didn't happen in the book - it couldn't have happened because the X couldn't be the killer, oops sorry - you didn't know that..." So then not only am I annoyed, so is my companion and potentially everyone seated around us.

For the most part, I couldn't agree more. I am, though, running VA's musings through a hormone filter these days as I hear pregnancy can tinker with one's thoughts. Great big CONGRATS to the VA from 3rd B. As an aside, I wish the Vols nothing but love, joy, happiness, and a perfectly delightful child. I do, though, shudder to think of some of the cosmic inbalances a mini VA will engender.

See, much as I love her, the VA is one of those obnoxious UT fans. They exist for all schools; well maybe not Vandy, CERTAINLY not Mississippi State -- what would they have to be obnoxious about? Ang's husband even showed me there is such a thing as the obnoxious Ole Miss fan -- this despite the fact I can't tell you the last time UM won a bowl game not named Liberty or Independence. [Yes, I FULLY expect Ang to provide that answer soon.] Anyway, back to the VA. I can just hear it now. This little tyke (Cletus for now) will be all decked out in his bright orange sweatshirt underneath an appropriately staid British blazer and he'll be saying things like, "UT's going to flather some serious bum against Bama this week. Quite so!" Sorry, I'm not an expert on Brit slang, I had to make it up. Still, I'm thinking I'm not too far off base. Durr, UT trash talking of any sort is bad enough, I hate to imagine it coming from a precocious British lad. Still, I bet it'll be awfully cute! Regardless, congrats VA, ViL, and Cletus!

Anyway, back to the point, ... Movies based on books. For the most part I completely agree that the best way to ruin the experience of a good book is to see it on the big screen. I used to be unyielding on this point, but I've mellowed. [I hear with age comes wisdom; I'm so hoping that's so.] What if, though, the book is not such a good book? For instance, does anyone seriously claim the book Nothing Lasts Forever is better than the movie Die Hard? Or what about The Silence of the Lambs? I liked the book okay, but the movie was infinitely better.

Well what about "good" books? Sometimes I run into a problem even there. I often feel the book is a good bit overrated and the movie actually is better. For example, the wonderful film The Virgin Suicides. I absolutely loved the movie and immediately bought a copy of the book. Though it was critically acclaimed, I didn't think it was such a great read. In fact, without the movie I doubt I'd even remember having read the book. Of course it is possible that the movie colored my opinion of the book. I'm sure it did to some degree, but I don't think it changed my overall verdict. Though it may be sacrilege, I feel roughly the same way about Field of Dreams.

Then there are cases such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's one of my favorite books and it might be in my top 10 (maybe 20) favorite movies. The two are so different I don't even think of them as the same story. [For instance, if you've never read the book -- the George Peppard character is, let's just say, not a ladies' man in the book.] Still, I thoroughly enjoy both. I feel the same way about many, though certainly not all, of the Stephen King movies. Pet Sematary (or Cemetery, if you prefer) is an okay movie, but the book is fabulous. On the other hand, the original movie version of The Shining is top notch -- if you can get past the godawful clothes.

I know I seem to have been arguing against this, but in most cases I feel the polar opposite. I usually hate it when a treasured book of mine is headed for the big screen. I figure they'll completely butcher it, totally miscast the main characters, and overlook the subtle nuances that make the book special. [Note, this is my same argument against music videos as well. They destroy the universal soul of a song.] For example, ... Okay I started to make a list and realize there aren't enough hours in the day to list all the movies that have offended me in this way. If you really want an example, think of just about any movie based on a Raymond Chandler or Larry McMurtry book. I especially hate it when they decide to "happy up" a book to get the good movie ending (e.g., Bridget Jones's Diary). Yes I'm a hetero man who read and enjoyed Bridget. No comments needed.

Even though I think they're missing a wonderful movie opportunity, it makes me kind of glad they haven't managed to get A Confederacy of Dunces onto the big screen. Oh, and I literally howled with pain when I saw they are making this movie! Sigh.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the whole movie-to-book thing. I'm generally agin' it, but there are exceptions. If I had to choose one or the other, I'd say, "Hands off our lit, Hollywood. Come up with your own trash." Still, many of the films mentioned above make me glad I don't have to make such blanket choices. After reading a bit about The Last King of Scotland, though, I think I will go with Vol's advice and just read the book.

Your thoughts on best/worst movie-to-book treatments?

Book notes

Since it is in the title of this blog, I guess I should talk about books every once in a while. So today I will.

First, I have lent this book to a couple of people (including Thailand Jeff) and now three people have purchased it based solely on my recommendation, so I guess it gets my stamp of approval. The Mapmakers, by John Noble Wilford. I know many of you will not be excited by the prospect of a history of mapmaking, but this is a fascinating read. Yes is is a "history" (it goes from Ptolemy to current GIS applications), but it's also a good read. While I've always liked maps, this book gave me a newfound appreciation for just what goes into mapmaking and just how accurate many "primitive" maps turned out to be. It reminds me a whole lot of The Code Book, by Simon Singh. Both books do a wonderful job of striking a balance between the technical aspects of a craft and the human stories of the practitioners and their major breakthroughs. I strongly endorse both.

On the subject of books, here's my review of The End of California. While it didn't knock my socks off, I did enjoy the book. In fact, I liked it enough that I've tracked down a couple of anthologized short stories by the guy and I plan to read another of his novels -- once I get some time.

Speaking of reading projects, I want to enlist y'all in helping me stick to a project. I want to read this book (the thought of slogging through it is just too much for me to even type the title), but I figure I'll give up after a hundred pages or so -- that's what's happened on every previous attempt. So every month or so, I need one of you to ask me if I've made any progress on it. I figure peer pressure might force me to make it through the tome -- this time. Why, you might ask, do I want to read the book if I'm dreading it so much? Good question. Basically I figure the entire canon of 150 years of literary thought can't be completely wrong. I "need" to read it. We'll see how it goes.

Lunch with the stars

They haven't made it a TV show yet, but I just finished my luncheon with Jorge Posada. Being a confirmed cynic, I was amazed when I heard he'd agreed to attend the actual induction ceremony, much less the Calhoun luncheon. But he came. And he did not disappoint.

There were the usual speeches, but Jorge's platitudes seemed genuine. He actually came across as a nice guy with fond memories of his time spent here at Calhoun. I sat with one of his Calhoun chums and she verified that he was one of the players involved in the infamous "borrowed" 18-wheeler (doughnuts in the cotton fields) episode. Needless to say, that story was not revisited at the luncheon.

There was one little glitch in the whole ceremony. In here opening remarks, the Prez went on and on about Jorge's exploits and she also mentioned some of the other "stars" Calhoun's baseball program has produced. The problem was, she forgot to mention the only other former Warhawk with any sort of legitimate claim to that label -- Gary Redus. He was sitting at the next table over from me and several of the people at his table leaned in to comment on the omission. After the ceremony, I apologized to him as well. He was very gracious about it, but I mainly did it just so I could say I talked to and shook hands with Gary Redus. Hey, I'm just a regular guy, I don't have a foundation. Cut me some slack.

So anyway, it was a nice luncheon and a good shot in the arm for the relaunched Calhoun athletic program. I was glad they let interested faculty members attend, though they did stick us at the very back corner table. Still, I figure this'll be my "claim to fame" for a while -- until the next time I run into her in Oxford. No, I'm not stalking her; those night vision goggles I ordered are for scientific research purposes. Really.

Another pic

Again, via Caffeine Bro, here's Caffeine Dad at the bridge.





P.S. From this shot, I think I have identified the exact location of the bridge. Whew; that was bugging me.

Brush with fame

Looks like I'm having lunch with this guy on Saturday. See, he's being inducted into the "hall of fame" and I will be attending his hall of fame luncheon. Okay a few disclaimers probably are in order. First, it's an Alabama sports hall of rather than THE HALL OF FAME. Second, it's not even THE Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Nah, it's something like the AL Community/Junior College Sports Hall of Fame. Finally, it's not actually the official hall of fame luncheon. No, he's just coming here for a little extra luncheon/recognition thing we wanted to throw for him.

Still, I'm surprised he even said he'd show up for the official thing. I thought there was no way he'd come here for our little on-campus ceremony. When the Prez was telling us all about her desire to get him here, I shared much skepticism with the folks sitting around me. "No way," I said, "he'll show up here." Looks like I was wrong. Oh well, he is our most famous (athletic) alum. Maybe he has found memories.

So I'm looking forward to that this weekend, though I could have done without the little "reminder" from the central office that "business attire is required." Turns out, though, I've been upstaged by my own kin. Via Caffeine Bro, I got this picture in my inbox this morning. Geesh, my grandpa and great grandpa now have a bridge named after them. Now THAT'S the mark of fame! I can't immediately place the bridge, though I'd bet I know the general locale and I'd wager that's Cypress Creek it's crossing. Oh, those are various Caffeines gathered next to the sign.

Things I just don't understand

Okay, this could be a REALLY long list -- starting with something like string theory, but then again does anyone really understand string theory? Anyway, it could be long, but for today I have two things in mind.

First, I saw an ad in this morning's Birmingham paper for something called Menopause The Musical. Evidently it "puts a hilarious spin on the dreaded 'change'," but that's not what I was really looking for with my morning coffee.

Second, what's the deal with the TV commercial for Valtrex? Have you seen this one? I thought those "not so fresh feeling" commercials were the worst ever, but I think this one is "better". The spot opens with an attractive late-twenties or early-thirties couple looking very much in love. The guy looks at the camera and says, "I have genital herpes." His lovely lady then, with a serious look on her face, says, "And I don't." The guy then comes back with something like, "And we'd like to keep it that way."

I promise I'm not making this up. Nowhere in the spot does it deal with just how Mr. Handsome came to have the herpes and why this lovely lady is having anything to do with him. Maybe she's just a saint ( it's his inner beauty that counts) or maybe he got genital herpes in some non-scuzzy guy way, but we don't know. We never see the scenes played out at home.

"Honey, would you take out the garbage?"
"Aw, I'm too tired. Can't you take it out tonight?"
"YOU HAVE GENITAL HERPES AND YOU DIDN'T GET THEM FROM ME!!!"
"Okay, I'm going."

It looks like an SNL skit based on the Friends episode where Joey posed for the VD poster, but I think this is real. Geesh!

On a related "unbelievable" note, there are signs Nick Saban's honeymoon at Bama may already be coming to an end. I can't find the original newspaper colunm, but evidently some folks thought it was in poor taste for Coach Saban to wear a PURPLE SHIRT to Coleman Coliseum on the night he was to be introduced as the new football coach. Oh, did I mention the Tide was playing LSU that night? For the sports-impaired: Purple is LSU's dominant color and Saban used to coach LSU, before running off to the NFL.

Now I'll admit that was one boneheaded move from Coach Saban. Even ignoring the question of whether the shirt was purple (eyewitnesses say maroon, magenta, etc.), how could you were any color other than CRIMSON to that basketball game? I heard one guy offer, "Oh he was probably trying to show a "hat tip" to the Tide fans and that was the closest thing he had to a red shirt." HELLO! The guy just signed a bazillion dollar guaranteed coaching contract. I think he could afford to stop by the bookstore and pick up a red shirt.

In all seriousness, I am amazed that folks are so fired up about what color shirt Saban wore to the basketball game. I really don't see how his shirt color relates to his coaching ability, but I do wonder just what he was thinking. From all I've heard, Nick Saban is one sharp cookie. How could he not realize a purple(ish) shirt would not be the best thing to wear to his first Bama sporting event? Even casual fans know, you wear Crimson to Crimson Tide sporting events. The alternative explanation is that he realized exactly what sort of reaction he'd get and he did it as a statement -- to show he's in charge and he doesn't give a damn what the fans think of him. Either way, it seems as if things will be interesting as ever down in T-town.

By the way, it's not just Bama fans that went nuts over this. The LSU fan sites have been lit up with Tiger fans who think Nick did it as a "slap in the face" to them. I don't get that at all, but fans aren't necessarily the most logical folks out there. Regardless, welcome back to college football Coach Saban.

Grr, photo uploading is not working again. So here's a link to a picture of the shirt. Not that I care (see above), but it does look purple to me. Of course I am a man and I've long maintained that men could get by very well with just the 8 colors in the "fat crayon" pack you get in first grade. Any color shades/hues/tints more subtle that that just slip right by us.

More (sort of) good things

First, the roof is done! I got home yesterday and had a nice new covering on my abode. Given the predicted weather for the next few days, that's a good thing. We'll see if it holds. Of course I'm happy about my new roof, but I'm mighty saddened by the check I'm going to have to write this afternoon or in the morning. Sigh, the joys of home ownership.

On an unambiguously bright note, this package is "out on the truck for delivery" right now. Now I just have to figure out when I have time to cook it up. Several people have expressed an interest in coming to observe/assist with my next batch, so I'll have to see what works for them. Given that Monday is a holiday*, surely I'll be able to get it done sometime this weekend.

Yep, to quote Caffeine Brother, "everything's going my way" now. [Cue rumbling thunder and ominious clouds.]

* While Monday's holiday is simply Martin Luther King Day in most all the U.S., here in Alabama it's a joint holiday: MLK Day and Robert E. Lee's birthday. Seriously.

Good (I hope) things

First, I know you've all been anxiously awaiting a roof update. Well, it should be finished by now. They stripped off all the old stuff a couple days ago and then yesterday they replaced some bad decking, installed 3 "TVA vents", and managed to get new shingles on about half the house. As they were leaving yesterday afternoon, Johnny told me they'd be back this morning to FINISH UP! I may be a sucker, but I actually believe it will be finished today. Honestly, I'd think they'd have found any problems yesterday when they were replacing decking. Still, I'm not going to rest easy until I know that it is, in fact, finished. Of course I call this good news now, but I'm not going to be so happy when I have to write that check (hopefully) this afternoon. Sigh.

Speaking of writing checks, I want to brag on my bank, Wachovia. I know I normally use this bully pulpit to complain about folks who have wronged me, but I want to take the opportunity praise my bank. When I first moved to Decatur, I bought my house with a loan from SouthTrust Mortgage. Hence, I figured the easiest thing to do would be to do my banking with them. Shortly after opening my accounts, though, SouthTrust got eaten up by Wachovia -- a giant bank. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but the local face of the bank hasn't changed much. A couple of recent events, though, have led me to a new appreciation of Wachovia Bank, N.A.

First, a Wachovia rep (Jo) tried and tried to get me to come into the bank and talk to her. What was the issue? I wasn't getting the most out of my "assets". I had a line of credit that they could rework to get me a better interest rate and I had too much money just sitting in my checking account, barely earning any interest at all. I appreciated the fact that they put that much effort into something that seemed to benefit me more than them.

The nicest surprise, though, came when I went in to order some new checks. Given that my bank and account number has changed, I figured I couldn't just use my check reorder form. The last time I was in there, I asked if they could order the checks for me and, sure enough, it wasn't a problem. The teller (Jo, again) told me to call them if I didn't get the checks within two weeks. Given the holiday mail disruptions I wasn't just sitting on the mailbox every day, but it turned out they did show up within the predicted time frame. I thought that was the end of the story, but Monday afternoon I got a call from my local branch, asking if I'd received my new checks. I just thought that was right nice of them. I'm sure they have a procedure where they log the date of order and then automatically place a follow through call later, so I'm not so deluded as to think they were doing this especially for me. Still, I thought that was a nice extra touch, something they didn't really have to do.

Anyway, it's so rare that a corporation does something that unexpectedly surprises me, I thought I should give them their due. Plus, I may need them if there is a roofing "surprise". Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Today is ...

the first day of the rest of my life. Of course that's true of EVERY day. No today's significance is that it's the first day of the new semester. It's the one day each semester when I can foster hope that THIS TIME things will be different. The students will be bright, attentive, hard working, and engaged. We'll have wonderful discussions about the intricacies of economic policy and they'll all make A's. It doesn't take long for reality to set in, but for today ... Ah. No, in all honesty, my students are no worse than others -- at any of the 3 institutions of higher education I've toiled at -- I just wish they were better.

Oh well, in another "first day of the semester" tradition, this is the only day of the term the students will see me in a tie. This sort of goes along with the hopes mentioned above. Oh and this semester I'm also sporting a beard. It started at the end of last semester. I stopped shaving in anticipation of a camping trip. The camping trip never happened, but I decided I'd keep the beard a little while. I haven't decided how long, but for now it's hanging around. I've been told it makes me look more professorial. I'm thinking of going pipe shopping this afternoon, and maybe pick up a jacket with patches on the elbows. What do you think?

Actually, this afternoon I have to go to city hall and get a building permit. It turns out the roofing guy can get started today! That's good news, but now I have to deal with the local red tape factory. I can already feel my blood pressure rising. I'm sure I'll have a good story about that tomorrow.

Football notes

I don't follow football quite the way I used to, but I still like it -- especially the college game. Hence, I figured I'd offer a few thoughts on the college bowl season thus far.

First, I'm pleased that Notre Dame lost another bowl game. I don't like it that I root for someone to lose, but I just do not like ND. I think it's the whole "birthright mentality" that keeps getting them more respect, higher rankings, and better bowl games than they deserve (based on their performance). Hmm, think getting invited to bowls above their ability level has anything to do with the fact they've now lost 9 bowl games in a row? Mark Schlabach, over at ESPN, does:

Even without record-setting quarterback Brady Quinn, receiver Jeff Samardzija and many more of its best players next season, Notre Dame will finally end its postseason drought, now the longest in NCAA history.

The Fighting Irish will end the postseason losing streak that dates back to 1994 because next season they'll be playing in some second-tier bowl game in a non-descript place like Shreveport, La., which is where they should have been playing during much of the last two decades.

On a related note, I'm already anticipating being upset at the soon-to-begin talk of which conference was strongest this year. See, I expect some "experts" will look at the bowl season and crown the Big East king because of its stellar bowl record -- 4-0 now, could go to 5-0 Saturday. A closer look, though, shows the Big East was the opposite of Notre Dame this year. They were playing in bowls below where they should have been. Okay, two of their bowl games are/were second- or third-tier games and I really have no idea about the parity of the matchups. Let's look, though, at the big 3 of the Big East. Louisville, West Virginia, and Rutgers all were vying for a spot in the BCS (and perhaps the title game) until the very end of the season. Now who did these jugernauts match up against in the bowl season?

5th ranked Louisville was the BCS representative, but they were matched up against what I think was pretty clearly the weakest of the automatic BCS teams, 15th ranked Wake Forest. Louisville won.

16th ranked Rutgers, which was headed to the BCS until the final game of the season, was matched up against an unranked Kansas State team. Rutgers won.

Finally, 13th ranked West Virginia squeaked by an unranked Georgia Tech team playing wtihout its star quarterback.

As I said, I can't comment on the other two Big East bowl berths (South Florida vs. East Carolina and Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati), but it's really going to chap me that some will tout the above games as proof of the Big East's superiority this year. Maybe it was the best conference this year, but I think its marquee teams needed better bowl matchups to test that hypothesis. Note, I'm not blaming the Big East. I think they got ripped in the bowl matchups -- especially Rutgers.

Finally, how about Boise State and that Fiesta Bowl? That may have been the most exciting college game I've ever seen.

Well, that's about it for me and the bowls. Oh yeah, I hear Bama finally hired a new coach. Though not really a Bama fan, I think this was a great hire. I'll go ahead and extend my sympathies to the Vol Abroad. I think this is going to make it tough on y'all the next few years.

Moo, y'all

According to the BBC, cows have regional accents.

They decided to examine the issue after dairy farmers noticed their cows had slightly different moos, depending on which herd they came from.
[...]
The farmers in Somerset who noticed the phenomenon said it may have been the result of the close bond between them and their animals.

Farmer Lloyd Green, from Glastonbury, said: "I spend a lot of time with my ones and they definitely moo with a Somerset drawl.

Anybody want to take some shots at that "close bond" phrase? Actually I'm quite tickled, mentally assigning voices and characters to "Elsies" all around the country.

Oh, here's the BBC's full list of "100 things we didn't know last year."

I'm back

Yes, Christmas vacation has come and gone. Now it's back to work -- almost. We have an "all employees" meeting today and I've got "duty days" the rest of the week, but classes don't start until the 8th. Still, I'm back at work.

Oh, last week's roadtrip was fun. The delta is very, very, very flat -- just as I remembered. I did, though, see and do a couple of new things. First, I climbed the observation tower at the Great River Roads State Park in Rosedale, MS. It's kind of weird. There's just this gigantic wooden observation tower about 0.6 miles from the main river channel. Given how flat everything is, though, you can see for miles. I also took a path out to the river and that was kind of cool. I found a "jetty" of sorts and I was able to walk almost halfway across the river. Oh, and I skipped rocks in the Mississippi -- one more thing crossed off my life list.

After leaving Rosedale, I drove down toward Greenville. My original plan was to head back toward Hwy 61 and Vicksburg from there, but I decided to cross the river and go down the Arkansas/Louisiana side of the river. I hadn't realized it, but they're building a tremendous new bridge at Greenville. I have to go back once it's finished, but I could already tell it's going to be a gem. For the time being, though, you still have to cross on the old, NARROW bridge. Actually, it wasn't the width of the bridge that bothered me, it was the height. See, as you approach the river, the bridge starts going up, up, up. By the time you reach the actual river channel, you are FAR above the river and the guard rails are not that high. I felt really exposed up there, but the view was fabulous. Oh in case you are wondering, the AR/LA delta is just as flat as the MS side. I did, though, stop at the Panola Pepper Company. That was kind of interesting.

Of course the highlight of the trip was visiting with Angie and her family. I even got to watch Allie Kate's dance group practice for an upcoming competition. Eventually, though, I had to come back home. I always sleep better at home, but I wasn't too tickled with what greeted me New Year's Eve morning. I was awakened at 5:00 a.m. by water dripping onto my bed. I first thought Gumbo was punishing me for leaving her alone for a couple of days, but no the roof was leaking. I called Builder Bob (of the bathroom renovation) and he indicated he had a guy. No work has been done yet, but hopefully the wheels are in motion. Yep, a new roof for me. What a way to start the year.

Okay, I'm through complaining. Oh, here's a picture of the ironically titled "Full o' Love" shack I stayed in at the Shackup. [Grr, photo uploading is not working; here's a link to the picture.]