Dr. Joseph Laythe

My writing has been sparse lately because, well, life gets in the way sometimes. Sadly it's death that has spurred my fingers to move across the keyboard once again.

As I try to recall Dr. Laythe, there's not much there. And it's not anybody's fault, it's just how my brain works. I don't remember a specific moment in his class or a specific conversation with him, but I do remember his face. His wispy blonde hair that was rapidly thinning. His infectious smile that was very much like a cat-ate-the-canary grin. And his insane skill to memorize your name. After learning about his death this past weekend, I learned that the hair was gone, the smile was still there, and I learned a bit about his trick to memorizing your name.

I had planned on writing a decently long essay of sorts about Dr. Laythe but realized it simply wouldn't do him justice. Nor would it score a decent grade in his class. So instead, I'm giving you what little I do have from my own collection of ephemera.

My notes from October 8, 1997 for my American Urban Development class (HI377):

Portland
- at the Columbia and Willamette Rivers
- Oregon City was the headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company (HBC)
- just north of the Willamette Falls
- HBC was a large British trading company
- 1820s to 1840s - important city
- 1845
- Pettygrove set up a better trading site at current day Portland
- with in 2 years Oregon City has lost to Portland
- warehouses and wharves were built
- plank road was built into the Willamette Valley
- Portland expands rapidly after gold rush in CA
- 2/3 of the population went to CA while the remaining 1/3 remain and make money
- the elite in Portland are very conservative
- Portland’s population
--- 1880 - 17,000
--- 1890 - 46,000
--- 1910 - 200,000
- Seattle’s population
--- 1880 - 3,500
--- 1890 - 42,000
--- 1910 - 250,000

My list of classes for 1996 through 1998:

And finally, the best image I have of our History Club shirt. It says "Think Historically, Act Hysterically:"

Resources:

Leigey, Macala. Longtime Professor Reflects on Career, in Midst of Cancer Battle. edinboronow.com February 17, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2016. http://www.edinboronow.com/article/longtime-professor-reflects-on-career-in-midst-of-cancer-battle

2014 Run For The Achievable Dream 8k, Kid's Fun Run, and Half Marathon Race Reports

Wow. This has been quite the four day weekend. We've signed papers for the new house, done a home inspection, gone to three races, shopped, and I can't tell you how much else. I do know that I've run too much this weekend, eaten too much this weekend, slept too little this weekend, and stressed too much this weekend.

The calm before the 8k race.

So, to start from the beginning, as best as I can remember at least, we have our trip to Williamsburg on Friday. I placed some more cameras on the trail, got my stuff packed, and fed the kids lunch when they got out of school early. We headed to Williamsburg, did a little shopping at the outlets, went through the expo, ate dinner, and checked into the hotel. The kids swam for a bit and then it was bedtime.

Met a teammate for the first time. He has good taste in clothes.

We were up early Saturday morning since the 8k race started at 0700. We dropped William off with my dad who was a few doors down in the hotel and then Elizabeth, Yvonne, and I headed to the Start line. Traffic was decent and I'm glad we got there early. With the new start area by the Visitor's Center, we ended up parking in the overflow lot. Which meant a short hike to the start line. Once parked, we headed over to just chill out until we could run.

The kid's shirt says "he not heavy, he's my brother." They were part of Team Hoyt.

We stuck to our plan which was to have Elizabeth and I run together while Yvonne ran her own race behind us. Last year I let Elizabeth run off ahead of me with a mile left so this year I increased it to two miles. We eased into the run and even though she wanted to run out fast, I reeled her in and kept her on pace. We did pretty good through the first mile and then she started to need a few more breaks. Our pace was a little slower overall but we kept moving. We talked about all sorts of stuff and while I'm sure she can turn into an all-star runner, I'm glad I'm not like some of the other parents I saw later in the day dragging (sometimes literally) their kids through a race.

At Mile 3 I gave her some last minute advice and let her truck off. I was able to keep her in sight but she gapped me pretty good. Around Mile 4 I slowly started to reel her in as I picked up the pace a little bit. In the end she still beat me but only by 9 seconds. I gave it all I could at the end and so did she. According to the race results, she placed second in her age group (10 and under).

Weather:
Temps were about 60F at the start but warmed to about 70F by the finish. Sun was out in full and there was a light breeze. No humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Nothing before the run. During the run I had just plain water. No recovery.

Aches and Pains:
Nothing really hurt.

Gear:
No special gear.

Heart Rate:
The first few miles were pretty easy to stay near my Zone 2 goal but as she picked up the pace and I tried to keep up with her I kinda tossed that zone under the bus.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:36 (AVG HR - 147)
Mile 2 - 12:30 (AVG HR - 151)
Mile 3 - 13:13 (AVG HR - 154)
Mile 4 - 11:08 (AVG HR - 172)
Mile 5 - 10:07 (AVG HR - 181)

Finish - 58:29 (3 minutes slower than my PR)

Shortly after her race finished, I ended up running and walking with William for his fun run. I had plenty of time to cool down and drink a little water before we headed out on the track. We ran out of the stadium, ran a goofy loop around the parking lot, then ran back onto the track for the Finish. The route was pretty well marked but I'm not too sure younger kids would really know where to go. Especially if they were unsupervised.

All the stats above are all the same except the time below.

Splits:
Finish - 15:45 (AVG HR - 127 )

Total for both events:
1:14:21
AVG HR - 153
MAX HR - 200
MIN HR - 94

After both races were over, we went back to the hotel to eat our free breakfast. And like the Heck family, we do our best to eat our fill of free food. Even though it wasn't really free. So after I overate, I showered (as did everyone else), then we headed back out on the town for some shopping.
 
This marked the darkest timeline of our trip as we discovered the local toy store was closed. I felt a little part of my childhood die as I walked into the store and suddenly realized it was full of shit instead of the toys I expected. I was so pissed off. I was probably more upset than the kids. It truly was a staple of Merchant's Square.

So after that sad news, we headed to Retro's for lunch. Thankfully I discovered this little burger joint a few blocks away and it's worth it. We went back to the hotel, chilled out, slept, watched TV, and then went out for dinner.

Then we went for a little pirate mini-golf.

Before I knew it, I was getting up at 0430 for my half marathon. My alarm was set for 0500 but sure enough, I woke up entirely too early. So I got some coffee in an attempt to jump start my bowels. After I showered and lubed up, I started my walk to the Start. That's right, I walked the 2.5 miles to the start line. Who does that? This guy. It may sound crazy, but that walk was less stressful, even with a gurgly belly, than trying to wrangle two kids, a wife, and a father so you can make it to the Start on time.

Once at the start line I finally got my bowels to cooperate and I was left with that pleasant empty feeling. I drank my GenUCAN and chilled. Suddenly, through the crowd, as if drawn by magnets, I see a teammate. I had met one the day before and was surprised to see a second. The three of us chatted for a few minutes before the start then we went our merry way.

The course this year changed. Again. And while it was much cooler, the scenery was less than desirable at times. The little piss-ant loops through parking lots suck. The paved trail through the trees was awesome and will be even awesomer when it's 20 degrees hotter and the sun is out. The slog down the road with nobody on it was depressing. The hills on the paved trail were hard but not quite as hard as last year's hills.

Best of all, the weather. It was a cool 60F or so at the start and that made a huge difference in how everybody did. This race has been a scorcher in years past and I'm glad it was so nice this year. Anyway, aside from the new course and some pros and cons, the race went well. I had no major issues until the finish when I thought my heart was going to explode. That'd teach me to sprint at the finish.

After I got my beer and dumped it into my bottle, I posed with this guy.

Weather:
Temps were 60F at the start and maybe 75F to 80F at the finish. Sky was clear with light winds.No humidity.

Fluids and Fuel:
Coffee and GenUCAN before the race. During the race I had a bottle of plain water, a bottle of GenUCAN mixed with their new electrolyte stuff, and another bottle of GenUCAN electrolytes. I also had two applesauces, one about an hour in and the second around 45 minutes later. Recovery was way too much food.

Aches and Pains:
Felt like a blister on my left toe but nothing was there. Outside of that, I felt fine until the finish when I sprinted a little too hard, temporarily lost feeling in my legs, and had to take a breather after the finish.

Gear:
No special gear.

Heart Rate:
Did much better just chilling out and staying pretty close to my Zone 2 goal. I'm afraid to look at my end results though. Pretty sure I maxed out my heart rate.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:56 (AVG HR 139)
Mile 2 - 12:19 (AVG HR 144)
Mile 3 - 13:12 (includes a bathroom break) (AVG HR 148)
Mile 4 - 11:36 (AVG HR 152)
Mile 5 - 12:42 (AVG HR 153)
Mile 6 - 11:19 (AVG HR 157)
Mile 7 - 12:01 (AVG HR 161)
Mile 8 - 11:48 (AVG HR 160)
Mile 9 - 12:52 (AVG HR 166)
Mile 10 - 12:09 (AVG HR 164)
Mile 11 - 12:27 (AVG HR 167)
Mile 12 - 12:28 (AVG HR 167)
Mile 13 - 12:34 (AVG HR 172)
Mile 0.1 - 00:30 (AVG HR 200)
Finish - 2:39:56
AVG HR - 158
MAX HR - 207
MIN HR -117

After my race, and after over-eating, we went back out on the town, did more shopping and walking around, and before you knew it, we were back at Retro's for lunch. Then it was off for more mini-golf, this time the old west one, and then back to eating dinner.

Here's William checking out a little stream.

 

Podcast - Mile 46 - Self Abuse

As I drove to my 12 hour race a week after my first 100k, I suddenly found my car making the turn for my home for 5 short years of my life. Edinboro, PA. It's one of the few places in the world that I've felt connected to and I know it has nothing to do with location and everything to do with the people I lived there with. Sadly, I rarely talk to those I knew then. We've all grown older and grown apart. The only person I talk to daily is my wife. We met there freshman year and have gone through a lot together. A lot of that "a lot" was in Edinboro.

So as I suddenly found myself driving through the streets of a small town (I'm talking 4 stop lights here folks - four stoplights), I decided to record a bit for a future podcast. It was depressing. You probably can't hear it coming through, but I felt it. There were times I just wanted to stop the car and cry. I wanted to turn the clock back all those years and go back to my dorm room.

I couldn't though. Not only have I changed but the campus has changed. There were bits and pieces that I recognized but it's like looking at a picture of your parents from when they were teenagers. You can see certain facial features that look familiar but it's just not the same.

In the end, I gave myself a pretty hefty case of "the good old days" and felt down for a good long while. I can't wait for my kids to go to college so I can live vicariously through them. I can only hope they make better decisions that I did.

You can look up my kilt on Podbean or download directly here.

From Ringing Ears to Shedding Tears

Well that was an eventful 24 hours I'd just as soon not repeat. Here's the situation....

A few days before a vacation, a storm decides to roll in. One of those big ones. One of those that will repeat itself tonight if the weather gods hate me. And what does foul weather spell for our house? Here's the checklist:

- Drooling, shaking dog that is so scared he throws up.
- Loss of satellite signal followed by loss of power.

Now that doesn't sound so bad by itself. But there were a few extra factors last night. Like, because I neglected to pull up the rugs in the bathroom, Henry throws up. Time to wash the rugs and clean the floors. And Elizabeth steps in the dog vomit. Time to clean her shoes and reprimand her for screaming bloody murder because she stepped in it because we thought she fell in the tub which was half full of water in the event of a black out. Might as well clean the bathroom while I'm at it. Might as well empty the tub since it looks like it won't rain anymore. Oh wait, there's more thunder coming. William goes to bed and was so scared he threw up. So we had to change him and the sheets. Yvonne snuggles with him in our bed while I watch a movie (Western Union) on the DVR (remember, no satellite signal).

And the storms roll on and on and on. The power goes out so we go to bed. This time though, I'm sleeping on the living room floor. Just not enough room for three people in our bed. Sometime during the night Elizabeth wakes up and joins them. Guess there is room for three people. So I sleep in her bed. And Henry needs to go out to pee. Fastest I've seen that dog pee in a long time while the thunder rolls across the sky. Finally, around four in the morning, the power comes back on. But we've all had very little sleep.

So that was the rough part of last night. The odd part was my dream. My old college roommate (not old like he's an old guy, old like it was a long time ago) gave me a present of an old camera. He works with old film so on his recent visit he brought his old camera. As in you have to wind it to get 16 seconds of silent film. Anyway, he gave me a camera like that (although it looked an awful lot like the surveyor's scope from Western Union) and I was so happy, I cried. And I woke up crying. Yeah. That's never happened before. Me crying doesn't even happen often. And to cry over a gift? Um, yeah. I can only explain it by blaming the lack of sleep and flashing lights in the sky. Maybe aliens abducted me or something, I don't know.

So, how was your night?

From 2 inches to this

...in just five hours.

And no, I don't miss it.

My mom lives south of where I went to school, and I swear we always got more snow than she did.

Anyway, after poking and prodding yesterday, I think I'll survive my trip to the doctors and the lab. For those that don't know me, I'm terrified of needles. Despite having three tattoos. Go figure. The full physical went well. Everything appears healthy with the exception of my shin splints. But he gave me heavy duty Motrin for that last week and it works quite well. I'll run some tomorrow to see how it holds up. After the physical, I got my koondis (aka skin tab) removed. It hurt. Hurt more than my blood draw (thank God she used a small needle on me for that!). But what hurt worse than all of that combined?

Having my lovely wife peel the tape and gauze off my back. At least we were both laughing the whole time.

A giant igloo

Edinboro University opens it's new dome for sports.

And the sad part is, they probably could have used snow to build it. Lord knows there's enough of it there.

Weekend Drudge Report

The good news is, it really wasn't much of a drudge-like weekend. We started out Saturday morning doing a charity walk for the local SPCA (where we adopted Henry from). It was nice to get out and do something besides the usual shopping. And (bonus for me), it gave me an excuse to skip the Y the day before and after so I could run the two mile route Saturday. I didn't do as well as I wanted (kind of hard to run as fast as you did 15 years ago), but I'm happy with my time. I did learn that I need to make sure my socks are on right as I'm now sporting a blister on my heel. After that we did a mini-run to the stores and I got some lights for my shed with some gift cards.

Then it was home for showers and naps before heading back to town for an alumni gathering for our college (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania). It was nice to see so many people from the area (nearly 100) but I only knew like two people. And one of them was my wife. But we met some other graduates and had a good time. And to prove we were a married couple with children, we spent the rest of our date night shopping for groceries. If you have kids, you'll understand.

Yesterday was more shopping in town, more groceries, and more prescriptions. I swear strangers would think were all drug addicts by looking at the long line of meds on our counter. But they all help. A lot. And William appears to be over his upset stomach and even seems to be taking to drinking more water. Something we'll be encouraging after learning about too much juice from Elizabeth's dental trials.

Today was catching up with laundry, dishes, and recovering from the Steeler's win last night. I love my big screen, but man am I tired by 11pm. But I did make it to the Y and did a mixed workout today (damn blister hates me when I run). And they finally got their showers fixed, so I could clean up before coming home.

New and Old photos

Finally got around to uploading some photos. Check out the wedding here and the winery trip here.

The Dreaded Weekend Report

Dreaded for you as a reader, not for me living it (thank God).

I took off Friday from you-know-where to get things prepped for the picnic Sunday. Got a few things done around the house and generally just cleaned. My shining moment of stupidity came when I went to install the new spark ignitor for the grill since the old one "broke." Turns out it just needed a new battery. And we did some grocery shopping as well. Costco is on my shit list as they've prohibited me from carrying a firearm in their store. I'll be sending them hate-mail later.

Saturday was a great trip to Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, VA. A college friend's sister and husband run the place and this past weekend was their grand opening. Got the "inside scoop" on much of the operation, building, etc. The weather was awesome, our friend was surprised to see us (he had no idea we were coming), and we got to see alpacas.

Sunday was our annual picnic where we had friends and family join us for food, drink, and roasted marshmallows. The weather was again great and we had fun. Everyone (kids and adults) slept well.

Monday was another great day, this one spent just running around and doing errands. Nothing terribly exciting until Target decided to get on Yvonne's shit list for charging us tax on first aid supplies when the state has a tax holiday all week for the stuff. Yeah. Sucks to be you Target.

I'm now in my fifth (of six) weeks of school. I'll roll right into my next class when this one finishes, so we'll see how it goes. I was hoping to finish The Lace Reader today during lunch, but instead spent the hour working on my other blog for the scavenger hunt. I've also gone back to the last Wheel of Time book on CD so I have something to listen to and to catch up before I try to listen to the next one that I downloaded from Audible.com.

And that's about it for now. I'm off to research iPods and Zunes.

Holiday Mobile

Heading to the winery to see a friend.

Calling in Well-edited-

-edited-

I know, I know, quit whining.

And in other depressing news.....William is slowly recovering from some sort of stomach bug. He couldn't keep anything down and we've had to scale back to pedialyte in small doses. Yesterday he was able to handle some formula in small doses, so we'll see how he does today at the sitter's.

And in more depressing news.....I'm still plugging along in The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. Reading about kids freezing to death in a blizzard is about as much fun as reading about Nazis killing kids in Night by Elie Wiesel.

In happier news.....I've made some slow progress on scanning more family history (this time a box from Mom). No surprise, there's some depressing stuff in there, but there's also some very interesting reading material. I'm thinking this summer I'll try to keep busy at work by scanning boxes of photos.

In more happier news.....I should be getting some more feedback on a short story I wrote (that's you Paul and Stone). I'll add that to Epheros' and hopefully get a re-write in at some point in the near future (think after April 15th).

And one final depressing story.....because that's my mood right now.....A fellow Edinboro alumni died. Nobody I knew in person, but I recognized from her flights as a kid.

Weekenday Update-edited-

Yesterday was a weekenday for me. Yvonne was proctoring another SAT test (scary that kids these days can't write in cursive, even scarier that one fell asleep during her test). Which means I got to babysit. After getting the kids up, fed, and dressed we headed to the local Home and Craft show. Saw lot of jewelry, hand sewn bags, builders, and real estate agents. Way too many people for Elizabeth and I, but we survived. I snapped these on the way out.

After that, we headed home for a steady stream of Noggin while I worked on chores when William was napping. Once Yvonne was done, we headed to town to do some shopping. Nothing terribly exciting, but I did pick up Dead to Me by Anton Strout to add to my ever growing Reading List. We also ran into a former classmate/-edited- of mine. I actually went to high school and college with her before ending up as her -edited- for a few months. It was great to catch up on things and hear that she's doing well.

-edited-

Triple post day

You should feel special.

I just feel wordy.

So, we have some new photos from our trip to Edinboro this past weekend. And, as a bonus, we have three new videos from the trip as well.

And all I have left is to simply say that my wife is the best wife out there. I'm glad she agreed to marry me despite all my faults.

Weekend Report

If you're looking for photos, you can stop reading now. I haven't had the time to upload them yet.

If you're not looking for photos, or still want to know what I did this weekend, then READ ON!!!

Friday we (meaning Yvonne, Elizabeth, William, Henry, and I) got loaded into Dad's new Suburban (or "burban" as Elizabeth calls it) and headed north. Everyone traveled well in the car. We stopped to feed William once and of course took several bathroom breaks. We arrived in Pittsburgh (have you noticed that I love Google?) around 3 in the afternoon and unloaded. And unloaded. And unloaded. I never thought a Suburban could hold that much. I gave up and told Yvonne she had to finish the rest of it since she loaded it the night before and I was dripping in sweat (temps were in the 90s the whole weekend).

Once the magical bag of holding was emptied, we relaxed and had dinner. Saturday was another early day out the door as we loaded up (not as much this time) for the short trip to Edinboro. We met Dave (my old roommate), Jenn (a good friend), her sister Heather, and Jeff and Lindsay (both friends) and their two kids. In all we had 7 EUP graduates. Not too shabby. After parking and visiting, we headed out to find a spot to watch the parade. We got a good spot in the shade and even had some chairs provided. The parade was shorter and later in the day than we remember, but it was still fun.

From there we stopped at the campus bookstore, bought some goodies, picked up lunch, and headed to the lake for a picnic. After enjoying our food (and seeing an alarming number of naked toddlers playing in the water and sand), we took the kids to the playground (which I remember playing on when I was a kid. Well, when I was in college acting like a kid.

Then we stopped at my mom's house for dinner. Elizabeth got to see some cows and play the piano. Mom was also nice enough to pass along a rare family heirloom. Volume 5 of John Newton's Letters and Sermons, with a Review of Ecclesiastical History and Hymns (circa 1796). Turns out this guy wrote Amazing Grace. It's missing the front and back cover, but is in great shape considering its age.

Then we headed back to Yvonne's parent's place. Sunday was an easy day with no traveling. Yvonne's cousins, aunts, and neighbors came to visit and to see William. Easy enough for me as I got to say hi and be left alone. And I got to watch the Steelers beat the Seahawks on a huge flat screen.

Monday we loaded up again (gotta love that magical bag of holding) and headed south to our place. Got in around 3 or 4 safe and sound. Overall, not a bad trip, just a ton of laundry to do and chores to catch up on. And it was reasonably cheap as there was a gas station in Pittsburgh that had E-85 gas for about $2.39 a gallon. Which means I could fill up a rather large SUV for under $50. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

So, what did you do this weekend?

Great day ends poorly

Today started great. I was awake before everyone else and got my shower in. Yvonne, Elizabeth, and William all went to Elizabeth's swim class so I had some time to myself. I organized the family history so all the scanned items were together. i didn't have as much scanned as I wanted, but it fit nicely in our new waterproof/fire resistant lock box. The other two totes will hopefully be scanned over time.

Dad brought some electrical wire and tools around lunch time. We all (all 5 of us) had lunch and went our separate ways. The four of us (me, Yvonne, Elizabeth, and William) all went into town to do some shopping. We couldn't find the car seat at Target (our main reason for going) but got a rain check. We did pick up a costume for Elizabeth (a witch with a broom), a new ceiling fan for the living room, and baffles for the attic. We also stopped for a very filling dinner of steak and baked potato with Cesar salad.

And how did such a great day end so poorly? Well, I can't sleep right now (it's 2330) and I just checked Google Reader and saw that Colin McRae died in a helicopter crash. And to top it all off, Nebraska is loosing 42-10 against USC.

I can only hope tomorrow's Steeler game against Buffalo will go much better.

PS - We may be going to Edinboro for Homecoming this year. That should be fun!

Status Update

So, where are we now? Hopefully out of the woods. But to get out, I'll need to lead you on a long path from topic to topic, so bear with me. Or skip ahead. Whatever tickles your pickle.

School
I've finally finished all of my assignments for my last week of class (Managerial Communications). I still have another week of posting and responding to do, but the writing is done and turned in. The professor was, well, a bag of hot air. I could get more information form a pile of shit in the street than from this guy. But my fellow students were great and I learned a lot from them. I'll be sitting out the next couple of months due to the pending baby and lack of money and will start again in October.

Weddings
Well, really only one wedding, but anyways. A good friend of ours gets married this weekend. We both want to go, but neither of us feel comfortable being that far from the doctor if the baby decides to come early. So, we're sitting tight and playing it safe. And with Yvonne having contractions everyday, I'd rather play it safe. So sorry, Hutz and Molly, we'll be thinking about you. Guess I have to start calling you Dave now. Or should I call both of you Hutz?

Work
Well, some things don't change. That's good.

Reading
I finished S. M. Stirling's Dies the Fire and promptly took up the next in the series, The Protector's War. Way, way too much Wiccan in it for me, but seeing as one of the main characters is Wiccan, I slog through it. So far The Protector's War has started slow, but there's new characters coming in from Britain, so it should be interesting. After I finish this, I don't know what's next, guess I should look into that. I've also been listening to the Essential Lewis and Clark in the car. Not too bad as it keeps to the interesting parts of their journals, like York getting frostbite on his, well, that "certain male anatomy." I'll listen to Captain Blood next courtesy of LibriVox.

Writing
Ha. No update here. Haven't written a lick in a long time, but I have resolved my issue of where to go next with War Wagon. Epheros, the Chinese invade. That's all I'm saying until I write more. Hopefully soon. And I came up with another idea for a story. Not sure how long it would be, but it's interesting enough to make me curious how everything would work. Think Waterworld meets BioDome. But without the humor.

Survivorman
Les Stroud is back on TV tonight with Shark Week (I'll be skipping that one) and back with new episodes of Survivorman next week. He's the real deal folks, not the faker like Bear Grylls with his conjured bear attacks. I hate to badmouth the guy, but Les humps his own camera gear while Bear has someone else do it for him.

Watching
I've been re-visiting Deadwood lately. I picked up Season 3 on DVD and felt I needed to go back to the beginning to make sure I caught everything. It's been my lunch-time addiction of late. At home, I've been revisiting Firefly. Just a hands-down great show. Dad also picked up a few new movies (Shooter - not so hot, Davy Crockett - decent Disney, and the entire series of Daniel Boone - haven't seen it yet). As for "regular" programming, it's been Hell's Kitchen on Mondays with Monk and Psych on Fridays. Not too much worth my time at the moment.

Waiting
Dad's away shortly to Nebraska for a family reunion and to visit the family farm. I'm eagerly awaiting the goodies he should be bringing back as well as new information for the family tree.

Well, that's about it for now. Catch you all later.

Another Large Photo Update

Starting with our Annual Memorial Day Picnic, we have the family...

And the Edinboro University crew....

Then a birds-eye view of the nearly finished roof...

And the finished roof...

And the new layout in the spare bedroom (where the baby will be sleeping)...

And finally, we have the box of old family photos and letters from my Aunt Mary. It's a treasure trove of history and information.

Oh, and the last little present...my new laptop.

It only takes one idiot

...to ruin people's lives.

Early this morning, the normal routine on the campus of Virginia Tech was rudely interrupted by gunfire. As of this afternoon, over 20 are dead with another 20+ injured.

The worst thing I had to fear in college were exams until the fire we had. That was pretty traumatic. But I was shocked even more when we heard about the school shooting down the road from us (April 24, 1998). We didn't know what to think.

I still get goosebumps thinking about the night I heard the sirens going down the road.

In the end, it only takes one idiot to ruin people's lives.

Sharon Stone visits Edinboro University

Sharon Stone will be visiting her old college, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (EUP). Back in the 1970s, Stone attended school here before going on to a major acting career.

While attending school at EUP, there was a rumor floating around that she used to live in Rose Hall. I never put too much weight into it until I heard it from many different sources. Not exactly the biggest claim to fame for EUP, but it was about as close to celebrity as I could ever get.

Yes, we have Bruce Baumgartner, but to me, the biggest celebrity to come out of EUP was Mister Rogers. No, he never "officially" attended school there, but he spoke at my graduation ceremony. That was big. That was bigger than big, it was huge. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

While Sharon Stone paying a visit to my alma mater is good news, the sad news in this article (after you read between the lines) is that President Pogue will be retiring this year. Bummer. He was always very nice and I felt like he took EUP in the right direction.

Thanks for the info Mom.