A matter of timing

I did make it to the balloon launch (I'll post pix later) at Point Mallard Saturday morning, but the big news of the weekend was my attempted trip to Nashville.

A friend and I decided a quick trip to the Music City would be a nice holiday weekend diversion. I picked her up Sunday morning and we were on our merry was up I-65 when my car suddenly and completely died -- right there on the interstate, at 75 mph, she just quit. Fortunately the road wasn't crowded so I was able to get over on the shoulder and coast to a stop. Unfortunately, I was not able to get it restarted. Also unfortunately, (as has been noted before) I do not have a cell phone. Most unfortunately (for me), my friend does. Hence, I've had to put up with much grief ever since. Things like, "NOW don't you wish you had a cell phone? HUH?" Of course my answer has been, "No, I don't need one as long as everyone else has one!" It's classic freeriding, I know, but in all honesty -- the time may have come.

I've been aware, for some time now, that "number portability" means you can take your number with you from provider to provider, but my old pal Thailand Jeff now tells me you can even get your landline number switched to a cell phone. Now if that is the case, then there's really not much reason for me to hold out. I (really) hate to admit it, but there seems to be no reason for me NOT to just give up the landline and get a cell phone instead -- assuming I can just keep my current number. WAIT -- hold off on the "I told you so" comments just a bit, I haven't given in yet. I can still think of a couple of objections.

First, it seems to me that I often have trouble hearing people when I'm talking to them on a cell. It seems much better than it used to be, but sometimes it's still a problem. That's tolerable in a pinch, but I don't think I could live with the, "Huh, what'd you say?" as my only phone option. Second, I'd have to keep up with the thing. See, even if I were to get one, I'd NOT (at least I'd fight it as long as I could) strap that thing to my side to be with me 24/7. If I didn't keep it on me, though, I'm sure I'd leave it at home (defeating the very purpose that might lead me to get one) or at the office (and be without a phone at home). My proposed solution to that would be to just leave the thing in the car unless I'm at home.

A few caveats are in order. First, I willingly admit I probably would not stick with this. I know lots of people who began their cell phone lives that way, but now they would not more think of going out in public without their phones than they would without their clothes. I'd like to think I'd fight hard not to, but I figure eventually I'd probably cave. Most importantly, though, is there a possibility of damaging the phone by leaving it in a hot car (I'm in AL after all) all day? Ooh, also ... Does anyone know if you really can transfer a landline number to a cell phone?

I know lots of you are (deservedly) chuckling with glee at the prospect of my getting a cell phone, but I've looked a tiny little bit at some websites and basic packages seem to cost about the same as I'm paying for the landline. If I really can just take my current number, and if consistent reception is not a problem, and ... (all those other issues) Well then, it really does seem to make sense.

Okay, go ahead and fire away, but I'd also appreciate it if you could share answers to any of my questions/issues above. Also, any suggestions for providers to seek our or avoid?

By the way, the problem with the car was the timing belt. Yes, it's one of those things I've MEANT to take care of for months, but I never had. Fortunately it didn't completely come apart and damage any valves/pistons/etc., so the only extra punishment (above and beyond the belts) was that I had to replace a ($114) crankshaft sensor. Oh, the most amazing part of the story, though, is that the service guys at the dealership actually worked yesterday (Memorial Day) so I was able to get the whole thing taken care of on my off day. For a car trouble incident, I figure I really got pretty lucky.

What am I thinking?

You know how in novels/movies/sitcoms you sometimes have the main character doing a voice over that indicates he knows he's screwing up even as he's doing it? Well I have that internal voice screaming at me right now! So what ill-fated act am I contemplating? I'm thinking of buying a piece of property!

Though I've never had a desire to be landed gentry, I do have a vision of the future that includes a wilderness retreat of my own. A place where I can go "sleep in the dirt", as a friend describes it, for a weekend without any elaborate planning. In the ideal version of this future vision, my wilderness retreat has some sort of basic permanent shelter (no electricity or anything mind you; just 4 walls and a roof) where I could store my gear, thereby making my weekend getaway even easier. Oh, it also needs to be within an hour or two of Decatur.

Anyway, that's my "someday" dream. Last Sunday in the classifieds, though, I thought someday might have arrived:

8+ acres, secluded, 2 waterfalls, rustic cabin, large timber,
abundant wildlife, ...

And it was (sort of) reasonably priced. There was a similar piece of property listed last year, but I bought Lucinda (the Jeep) instead. This time, though, I was determined to, at the least, go have a look and see if this was my Walden. Problem is, the (purported) seller won't talk to me!

I called Sunday and left a message with both my phone numbers. No response. I tried again on Tuesday and then yet again on Thursday, and I keep getting an answering machine. Today I left a second message. What gives? They took out an ad in the paper so I assume they want to sell the property, yet they seem to be impossible to contact. The only consolation is I figure no one else has been able to buy it out from under me. Sigh.

Oh well, it's the Memorial Day weekend. I think I'm going to see the balloon launch at Point Mallard tomorrow morning. Good thing it's not until 6:30; I figure I can sleep in.

Once more into the breach

Yes it's true, summer school has started. In general I'm not a big fan of summer school. I mean, what is the ONE most attractive thing about a career in education? It's the long summer break, right? Regardless, this year I'm only teaching half the summer, so I'll have more free time than I have in recent years. What to do with that free time is another question, but I figure I'll manage.

In the meantime, I have to survive the next five weeks. Yesterday was day 1. It's hard to get a read on the students just based on the first day. I do almost all the talking that day so I can't tell if I'm going to have involved, motivated students or bumps on logs. For another day or two, though, I can hope for the former.

I do already have one "small world" incident though. In the summer a lot of our students are "transient students" -- students who attend a distant school, but take a class or two at the CC while they're home for the summer. Though I'm teaching Econ 1 (the way we number them here), I suspected that some of the transients might have already taken the other principles class somewhere else. When I asked about this, sure enough I had a couple of students in that category. I asked one of them where he had taken it and he told me he took it at Bama. I asked him who he had and it turned out it was one of my old grad school profs that I used to house/kid/dog sit for when he the wife went on summer vacation.

Anyway, today is the first real day of class. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm trying to remain optimistic. Wish me luck.

Short trip

Though it was over quickly, the Oxford road trip was a blast. I decided I'd chronicle the trip with photos:

I took my time and got to Oxford mid-afternoon Thursday. After a yummy meal at Newk's and coffee at Uptown Coffee, I headed up to Puskus Lake and set up camp.












After that, I had some time to kill, so I worked Thursday's crossword puzzle and then settled down with a Larry Brown novel -- it seemed appropriate, given where I was. Anyway, the workers at Puskus Lake must get kind of bored because they've made some wonderful improvements since the last time I was there. For instance, several of the campsites now have docks that extend out over the lake.







When I first got to Puskus, there were a couple of other groups of people fishing, playing, etc. By sunset, however, I was the ONLY person on the lake. There wasn't much moon Thursday night, so the dock was a wonderful place to stare up at the stars and the planes on their way to Memphis. Very serene.









Though it was a little chilly Thursday night, it was almost perfect camping weather. If possible, the lake was even prettier and more peaceful the next morning.












Finally it was time to break camp and head back home. No trip through that area, though, would be complete without a stop at Elvis' birthplace. No, I do not know the woman. It was the closest I could get to a clean shot.











While this one doesn't really fit into the travelogue, I just couldn't let it pass. It's hard to make out the details, but this is a "steer" made out of a 55 gallon drum and some metal tubing and such. I can only speculate that the owner uses it to hone his roping skills. Oh in case you're wondering, yes the barn lot also was populated with 5 or 6 hound dogs. They just fit.









All-in-all it was a great trip. I'm thinking of making it an annual event.

Lyrics

Sorry, anonymous, but I was out of town for a while. Regardless, here are the Speed Train lyrics, as passed along by JJ (sorry for the weird formatting, but this is how it was sent to me -- minus the chords and such):

Speed Train
Verse 1
I took that speed train down to ya
around the bend
remembering the last time I talked to ya
It sure seemed like the end
you ask me why I come - I don't know
as you lean in the door
you ask me what I want - I don't know
just want to try once more
I got two bags on and two on the floor

Verse 2
I met your mama one weekend
it didn't go well
But I had a
beer with your old man
and he was all right
and we all drove down to the bar
for a shot of rye
and we kept that honky tonk jukebox
playing all night
and I asked your hand one last time

Bridge
Fourty minutes on an Amtrak train
knowing there's just me to blame

Verse 3
So I took that speed train down to ya
around the bend
Got a little something to give to ya
that I could not send
you ask me why I come - I don't know
as you lean in the door
you ask me what I want - I don't know
just want to try once more
I got two bags on and two on the floor

Another plug

I know I've extolled its virtues before, but forgive me for once more plugging Pandora -- the internet "radio" station that you customize to your heart's content. Thanks to Pandora, I've found several new artists that I really like. My latest fav is a guy named JJ Schultz who is obscure enough that even Amazon didn't have his music readily available.

So I ordered one of his albums from iTunes. I like the immediate delivery of iTunes, but I miss the liner notes and especially the lyrics sheets that some CDs come with. This was especially vexing with this album because it has a song called "Speed Train" that is just a fabulous "driving around in the Jeep with the top down, sing along song," but I couldn't figure out a couple of the lyrics.

On a lark, I tried emailing JJ to see if he could point me to a lyrics site. This morning, I had a reply:

Hi St. Caffeine - really cool to hear from you. I attached the charts that I used
when teaching my band the songs - hope they help. I was just looking them
over, and it looks like I got kind of lazy on a couple of the songs, so if
there's something you can't figure out, just drop me a line.

Nah, no southern tours right now. I've just been playing shows around
California for the last few months - I've been in the studio working on a
new record. Hopefully I'll release it this summer. Where're you located? -
I'll drop you an email if I pass your way on tour to promote the new album.

That's cool you're on pandora. I'm on there too:
http://www.pandora.com/people/jerodschultz

See, stuff like this is why I think the record labels are making a HUGE mistake by fighting internet music rather than embracing it. Pandora, for instance, is fighting a big battle for its very survival right now. Basically the suits want Pandora to pay even heftier royalties. I'll save that whole issue for another day, but I can say, for absolute certain, JJ Schultz made a sale and picked up a fan he'd never have captured without something like Pandora.

Anyway, I just find the whole thing very cool and I encourage you to start your own Pandora station if you're looking for new music.

In defense of boredom

Given that I have a little time off right now, I have to figure out what to do with myself for a few days. Actually I had a startling (to me) insight on this topic the other day. I was talking to our secretary last week and I told her I'd probably see her some this week, even though we (the faculty) are not "on the clock" this week. She expressed surprise that I'd come into the office during my week off, but I told her I had some stuff I needed to get caught up on and, besides, I didn't really have anything else big to do this week. She basically said she felt really sorry for me if my life was that empty.

I've heard similar things before, but this time I realized something new. I LIKE the fact that my life is that boring. I talk to friends and co-workers who are so stressed about things they MUST get done and I figure being bored is not bad. Sure it's boring, by definition, but I'm okay with boring (for a while). No this is not one of those, "But I'd rather keep busy," issues. I like having something to occupy my time, but I really don't like having no choice about what occupies my time. If I decide to go to Huntsville one day, well I will. If I want to go geocaching one day, I can. If I want to take a road trip, well that's an option too.

Speaking of road trips, I have one in mind. If you're a frequent reader of 3rd B, you know how much I like my former hometown of Oxford, MS. I especially like Oxford when there are no students around. This week, there will be almost no students. Hence I'm thinking of loading up Lucinda (the Jeep) and taking off to Oxford. A little internet searching also verified that primitive camping is available at Puskus Lake. The only potentail holdup is the weather. Though I dig primitive camping, I'm not too keen on driving a topless Jeep around MS in the rain. The trusty Weather Channel, though, says Thursday/Thursday night/Friday might be a good time. We'll see, but it sounds fun. Right?

Ah, memories

Here's an entertaining list of 118 sure signs you're a college student. Okay, that's not the actual title, but I like mine better. Anyway, reading over the list brought back many memories, though the list does seem to be a little more fixated with laundry than I was. I could tell my all-time favorite laundry story here, but the "goat" of that story still reads this sometimes and I don't want to cause her any unnecessary flashbacks.

I see a lot of lists like this and I usually disregard them. This one, though, had a touch of verisimilitude that made me think it was written by an actual college student rather than some older dude (like me) trying to be hip. Proof positive is my personal favorite -- item number 91:

You are no longer thankful that fire alarms are here to protect you.

This is one you couldn't fake. All these years later I wouldn't have thought to include that one, but when I saw it I was immediately taken back to the horror of the hourly hilarity that was the "Hey, let's pull the fire alarm game." I suspect you'd have to have lived in a dorm fairly recently to have nailed this one.

Anyhow, I thought it was amusing. Plus, I've got about a week of free time on my hands right now, so I've got to fill the hours somehow.

Musings

Well another semester is over. Graduation was Friday night. Though it was long and painful, it always does my heart good to see how excited some of our students are by the whole thing. I guess it's worth it -- once a year -- though I do have some suggestions as to how they could speed up the process.

In other news, I sent a book to a friend due to give birth in 7 (I think) days. The book is supposed to be "a welcome relief from the flood of how-to-mother-perfectly tomes, Mead-Ferro’s short and sweet book is a reminder not to take parenthood so seriously." I like the general idea of the book, but what really sold me on it is that it's written by a woman named Buffy who grew up on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. Even though I gave the same book to another friend a few years ago, I never realized the Caffeine family parallel until now.

See, one of the Caffeine cousins is named xxx, but since childhood she has been known as Buffy (or Buff). Further, she grew up on a farm. In contrast to the Slacker Mom author, though, Buffy Caffeine hasn't strayed from the farm life. She recently finished her degree in something like soil science and she just accepted a job in the soybean industry (okay I'm no farm expert, this is as close as I can get) somewhere in Ohio. I imagine agriculture is one of the most male dominated industries in America, and I figure being known as Buffy wouldn't make it any easier. You've gotta' admire that. So good luck cousin Buffy. I've already heard rumors of a future roadtrip in which some of the Caffeine cousins are going to come visit.

Reason 1,000,001 ...

why I'm a Libertarian is this story on yet another failed attempt to allow "direct-entry midwifery, which allows someone other than a nurse or doctor to attend a birth outside a hospital" in Alabama. AL is one of 10 states that do not allow the practice. Why?

Well according to Danne Howard, vice president for government relations of the Alabama Hospital Association, it's because:

[T]he bill would not have provided needed formal training for midwives. She said medical training is needed before a person delivers a baby, partly because of the possibility of an emergency.

"Without formal training, how do you know what to look for?" Howard said.

Several legislators who voted against the bill said they were also concerned that it did not provide for sufficient medical training.

Now even if I were able to look past the blatant self interest of the AL Hospital Association in this case and I truly did believe the stated concerns, I'm still appalled at the "nanny state" mentality of this reasoning. Implicitly it assumes that women would be too stupid to choose the best childbirth option. Gosh, there might be an emergency? I bet expectant mothers would never have considered that possibility unless the state pointed it out to them. I have a friend who recently gave birth at The Farm and another who is planning a "home birth" in 9 days (or is it 8 or 10, stupid time zone differences) and I figure both of them were/are better equipped to make THEIR OWN baby-related decisions than a state legislature!

Now I'm not a 100% Libertarian. I'm willing to admit the state may have a legitimate interest in protecting kids from stupid things their wacko parents might do. Somehow, though, 40 states have managed to allow midwifery without disastrous statewide consequences. Furthermore, I don't think the bill [Full disclosure, I haven't read the bill, just summaries.] would have opened the door for just any old yahoo to open up a birthing barn. No, as I understand it, it would have allowed for the LICENSING of midwives. Hence, it seems to me the legislature's concerns could be incorporated into the licensing process. [After rereading the quote above, one could argue this IS why legislators killed the bill. They didn't think the licensing process was stringent enough. Given this is (at least) the 3rd time such a bill has been attempted, though, I find it hard to believe the sponsors have not incorporated such concerns.]

Of course that's irrelevant as I cannot get past the vested interest of the AHA. It's obvious this is a naked attempt to maintain their monopoly. Oh well, at least I'll have another example to use next semester when we discuss barriers to entry in monopoly markets. See, I'm a "bright side" kind of guy.

Jargon

or argot, cant, colloquialism, idiom, lexicon, lingo, parlance, patois, patter, shoptalk, vernacular, etc. I find it ironic that there are some many words for, "The language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group."

What got me thinking on this? Well in teaching economics I introduce many new terms that, if you think about it, could be understood almost as well using regular old language. For instance:

price elasticity: price sensitivity would work just as well.
externality: a side effect.
deadweight loss: uncaptured gain/benefit in a market.
excess burden: deadweight loss (yes we have a specialized term for a specialized term).
demand deposit: checking account.
monotonicity: more is better.
specie: coins.
utility: happiness/satisfaction.

Those are just ones I can think of off the top of my head. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting a move toward Orwellian newspeak where we pare language down to the bare minimum number of words. Lord knows I absolutely love words (as proof of that, sesquipedalian is my favorite word I've learned recently), I just sometimes wonder if we couldn't make basic concepts easier for people to learn by sticking with simple, clear language up front?

For instance, here's my current textbook's definition of money:

The set of assets in an economy that people regularly use in economic transactions or exchanges.

Here's the definition I give my students (I tell them they will NEVER see my definition in a textbook):

Stuff we use to pay for stuff.

Okay so now I've ranted about fluffy language and I realize I have to take it all back. See the number one complaint about my exams each semester, other than that they deal with economics of all things, is that the way I word the questions is tricky. I agree, to a degree. I hate to ask simple definition-type questions. I try to describe hypothetical scenarios in which the students have to understand and maybe even apply the concept rather than just regurgitate a memorized definition. Now I try not to use overly complicated words, but that's in the eye of the reader. I sometimes am amazed and disappointed by the poor vocabularies of my students. Hence, I guess I should not complain about potential complications arising from too many synonyms.

Anyway, just something I was thinking about today. Any of y'all have any favorite "pet phrases" associated with your line of work? If you've been to grad school in any field, I'm quite sure you could run a pen dry on this topic.

Modernity

There are lots of things in this modern world I refuse to embrace. Or at least I have to be dragged, kicking and screaming to them. But, while it may surprise some of you, I tend to like the breaking down of the walls between many sex-specific functions and activities. What brings this to mind is that I was invited to (and attended) a kitchen shower Saturday night. The son of a guy I used to work with is getting married and I think some of the work folks wanted to do something for the couple. Seeing as how that workplace was never a men vs. women place, it only made sense that men and women would attend. I like that.

Anyway, as for the shower, ... I'd rather have bamboo shoved under my nails than go shopping for a wedding/shower present. Yes, they were registered at a couple of places, but I'd still have to go deal with those kinds of stores and I'd just rather not do that. Fortunately for me, I visited two of my cousins at a local craft show (they're potters) Saturday morning. As I was sitting complaining about how I had to go buy a kitchen shower gift, I realized my cousins had lots of kitchen-themed pottery right there on hand. I ended up getting the happy couple a small mixing bowl with a handle and a spout. Heck, the cousins even put it in a nice bag with tissue paper so I didn't even have to bother with wrapping. The one thing I was missing, though, was an appropriate card.

When I got home, I dug through my stacks of "freebie" cards that various organizations send me and I found a nice one with a wildflower wreath in the shape of a heart -- perfect for a couple getting married. The only problem was that the card was blank -- no heartfelt sentiment included -- and I honestly didn't feel that I knew the couple well enough to come up with my own sincere words of wisdom. That's when I decided to go offbeat and compose an original verse to mark the occasion:

Ode to a Mixing Bowl
If you want to stuff a goose or roast a duck,
well lots of luck.
If, though, you want to scramble eggs or stir a sauce,
then with this bowl you won't be lost.

I felt I had to preserve my reputation as an oddball, but I didn't realize they would open these gifts in front of everyone. I also made the mistake of telling my former boss about the poem and he made sure they knew to read the card aloud. Though it might have been embarrassing in some settings, most everyone there knew me and they thought it was funny. In fact, the mother of the groom said she was going to make sure the ode made it into the scrapbook. Silly me, I didn't even know kitchen showers engendered scrapbooks.

So anyway, it was a good evening and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if it had been segregated. So though it pains me to say so, I feel wedding showers should now be co-ed. I've still got a way to go before reaching the same conclusion on baby showers though. Give me time.

P.S. In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I attended my first co-ed wedding shower more than 10 years ago (I met this guy's daughter there), but it seems they've really only caught on of late. My friends have always been ahead of the times.

It's all relative

Bear with me, it does tie in.

Several years ago I wound up at a Pure Prarie League concert in Nashville -- Poco was the opening act. It was kind of a spur of the moment trip, but despite the fact that the PPL was not really a "name" act any longer, the show was sold out and we didn't have tickets. Through some sort of wizardry, Caffeine Brother was able to get his hands on tickets for us, so we did get to see the show. Before that, though, we heard some biker dude expressing his disappointment at having to miss the show. Quoting from memory, he said something like, "Man, who knew Poco was that popular?"

Even though their big hit (Aimee) was far in the past, I'm 99.9% sure it was the PPL that drew the sold out crowd, not the even more washed up opening act. Still, to biker dude it was proof of Poco's lasting popularity. It's all relative.

I was reminded of this last night. One of my very favorite charitable organizations is The Land Trust of Huntsville and N AL. Yeah, it's a long name, but they do good work. Basically they raise money to buy and protect green space from the ever hungry developers -- of which there must be a million in Huntsville alone! Anyway, one of the things the Land Trust folks do is they have a fundraising concert every year. Last night was this year's show and it featured the funky bluegrass/jazz combo Robinella and the CC String Band. Though I own their first major label album, I never really considered myself a big fan. Still, it was for a good cause and the concert was being held at the coolest venue ever, so I figured I'd go.

Turned out, the show was fabulous! I think a lot of it had to do with the setting. I mean, how can you beat quirky musicians playing a concert in a huge cavern carved out by a former limestone mining operation? Beyond that, though, the music was good too. Robinella and her band even learned "Freebird" just for the folks in Alabama. [Given that they're mostly UT alums, I was afraid they'd play "Rocky Top", but they had better sense.]

The most surprising part of the evening though was the opening act -- a singer/songwriter guy named Jay Clark. Many of Jay's songs were sort of humorous protest songs about environmental issues, perhaps not surprising as he has a PhD in wildlife ecology. He sort of struck me as a cross between the singer/songwriter Todd Snider and the writer Rick Bass.

Anyway, after the show I was buying some CDs from the merchandise table and I told Jay that though I was sure he'd heard it before, I had to tell him he reminded me of Todd Snider. He said he had heard that before and I rushed to assure him it was a compliment. He agreed and then he said he sure wished he could sell CDs like Todd Snider! Inwardly I chuckled at that because Todd Snider is FAR from a commercial success, yet to an independent singer/songwriter I can see how he could be the gold standard. Yep, it's all relative.

Regardless, if you get the chance to see either Robinella or Jay Clark, please do. Also, take a few minutes and check out their websites. Heck, you might even decide to buy some of their merchandise. I'm sure it'd be greatly appreciated and, in my opinion at least, it would not be a waste of money. The same could be said for Land Trust donations/memberships.

P.S. Interesting side story. Before the concert started, I bumped into two folks I went to college with several years ago. Though we've lived in the Huntsville area for close to 10 years, this was the first time I've actually seen them locally. I did see them at an event in Oxford last year, but I had not run across them locally until last night. Cool, huh?

Little stinkers

Let me warn you. This is going to be a rant. Now that I've got the disclaimer out of the way, I'll TRY to be brief.

The semester is coming to an end and lots of us have projects that are coming due. In my stats 2 class, the students have a fairly involved multiple regression project that is due today. In anticipation of student procrastination, I pointed out to my students last week that the computer lab is open for 4 hours on Saturday and that I'd probably be around for a little while for consultation if needed. Many of them assured me they'd be here Saturday and they even asked what time I might be here. Good, I thought, they're finally taking this project seriously.

On Friday, though, I saw a notice that our evening/weekend lab assistant was NOT going to be in to open the lab Saturday! Great, I finally convince them to get to work and now the lab will be closed. In order to avoid irate students on Monday/Tuesday, I decided I'm come in Saturday and open the lab myself. I could think of other things I'd rather do than sit in the lab for 4 hours on a gorgeous Saturday, but I figured the lab needed to be open.

Well I came in, opened the lab (a little early even), and sat there until 4:00. Wanna' guess how many of my desperate students showed up? ONE! Yes, I said ONE! I was so mad I could have chewed barbed wire and spit nails. I'm having NO MERCY on anyone who doesn't have a project for me today! Grrr! I cannot wait for the end of the semester.