first game

I had my first intramural basketball game last night. Despite being out past my bedtime, I had a good time. We were getting killed in the first half by 15 or so points, but we ended up making a comeback and winning 41 - 38. The other team had the ball with 7 seconds left and a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer, but I was able to block the attempt as time expired. All in all, I had a pretty good game: I scored 10 points, and all but 2 were in the last few minutes to help us seal the deal. I also came home with two egg-sized bumps: one on forearm and one on my knee. As a result, I'm pretty sore this morning. I think I'm old. The end is near.

it's all fun and games until someone sets a deadline

Because it's still the beginning of the semester, my work hasn't started to pile up yet. And neither has the resultant stress. This semester is set up to be the best term of all time for me (as a grad student) in terms of the potential to get work done. I've only got one class (a seminar where we just sit and talk about research ideas), and I have to skip most of it every week because I'm teaching a class that meets in the middle of it. So that leaves me with most of every day available for research and writing. If all goes well, I'll be able to defend my thesis in April or so, which will leave me on track to get my dissertation started next year, which will leave me on track to get a job in 2032.

One nice thing about the first few weeks of this semester is that I've been able to do little (or no) work on the weekends. True, there have only been two so far, but I'll take what I can get. I've been filling my time with things like rearranging our files, cleaning the garage, etc. Yesterday, I would have liked to get our taxes done, but Sarah hasn't gotten her W-2s yet, so that was out. Instead, I ended up making a big batch of granola, two homemade pizzas, and pierogies (sauteed homemade pasta filled with rosemary and garlic mashed potatoes). Then I freaked Sarah out by rearranging all the furniture in the living and dining rooms.

But that doesn't leave me with much to do in the four hours I have before church today. Maybe I'll put all of the furniture back.

don't try and text me your comments

Let me preface this story by reminding most of you that I am a generally tech-savvy kind of guy. I know about the newest gadgets and trends, and I can usually find my way around all-things electronic without any problems. One place where I've been left behind? Texting. Cell phones hit the mainstream (when almost everyone had one) about the time I was finishing college. By then, I didn't really have any friends, and I definitely didn't need text anyone on a regular basis to find the nearest party, or to say hello, or whatever, so I never really got that into it. Fast-forward to a few years later.

I was playing basketball the other day when one of the guys asked if I wanted to play on his intramural basketball team. I've played with this guy a lot, and we've gotten to know each other a little bit. I should mention that he's a few years younger than me (*ahem* almost 10).  I did want to play, although I don't know if it will work out because the games are probably all past my bedtime, so he handed me his iPhone so I could enter my number into his contact list. Then he said he would text me when he found out the schedule for this season.

Uh oh. I don't have text. What do I say?

Me: Um... I'm really old. I don't have text on my phone.

Him: Blank stare. Look on his face is a combination of confusion and anxiety. Umm...Ok...Umm...

Me: I guess a phone call would be out of the question? Perhaps you forgot, I just handed you my number approximately 1 second ago. Here, let me give you my email address. Just send it there.

Him: Looking relieved. Oh, ok. That will work.

Crisis averted. Next stop: male pattern baldness.

I'm not what you might call a noticer

Our kitchen faucet had been dripping for a while. I don't really know how long. I don't tend to notice things like that right away. When I did notice, I told Sarah, and she said it had been doing it "forever." Like I said, I'm not what you might call a noticer.

Anyway, I didn't really care all that much. Until I figured out (at 6:30 this morning) that it was the hot water that was dripping. My money! Literally going down the drain with each drip! But I wanted to keep that money!!!!

The faucet itself was really old, so instead of trying to fix it, I figured I'd just buy a new one. It's really a simple job (so long as you don't mind the second mortgage--"Oh, you want a faucet? That'll be $150,000). Famous last words. Step one, use the hot and cold water shut off valves to turn off the water to the faucet. Cold water off? Check. Hot water off? No. Turn the valve the other way. Hot water off? Still no. Turn the valve back the first way, harder this time. Hot water off? No!! Turn it until the skin comes off your hand. Hot water off? Not quite. Nooooooooooooooo!!!!! So much for a simple job.

Find a bucket? Check. Get sprinkled by slowly leaking hot water shut-off valve? Check. Get the cat out of the bucket? Check. Get the cat out of my face? Check. Get the other cat out of the bucket? Check. Let the dog out? Check. Let the dog back in? Check. Drop the pets off at the animal shelter? Tomorrow. Two hours later, I'd taken off the old faucet, gone to Lowe's, gotten a new faucet, and installed it.

Take care of the leaky faucet? Check. Take care of the leaky shut-off valve? I don't think so. Now that we have a new faucet, hopefully I won't have to shut the hot water off again before we move. Leave a funny surprise for the future owner of the house? Check.

we're back

Our trip home was pretty uneventful. It was long and uncomfortable, but it was uneventful. Surprisingly, we haven't yet had any jet lag to deal with. I think we never really got over it the first time around, so really, we're just back to our normal schedule.

The cats were really glad to see us. I don't think they like using well-used litter boxes. Barney has been asleep since I brought him home four days ago. He wakes up every once in a while to eat or to go into the backyard to sleep in the sun, but that's it. Our friends who watched him have two big dogs, and I think Barney must have tried to keep up for a little too long. Either that, or they drugged him.

This week Sarah has had to work, but I've just been hanging out at home because I don't go back to school until next week. I've done some bread baking, yard work, cleaning, and organizing. Nothing too major, but I'm trying to keep myself occupied. I've said this before, but I think I need a hobby.