A Forgotten Diary

A British soldier's pocket diary of life in the trenches during the early days of the Battle of the Somme have been made public for the first time.

From Telegraph.co.uk

The idea of a forgotten diary is like brain candy to me.

A Hopeful Sign

9:38 a.m.

Well, I've found out that there are several openings for 101 classes next quarter, but there is a limit as to how many hours that I can teach as adjunct per year; 20. I didn't know that there was a limit. If I do another 8 hours next quarter, then I'll only have 4 possible in Summer - though we'll be on Semesters so I don't know how that will change the limit.

I met another member of the faculty this morning who seems to be in charge, to some capacity, of hiring adjunct faculty. I think he's on a committee that decides which classes to farm out and which will be handled by the professors. The odd thing was that he, just like the Chair, seem almost directly avertive. He spoke 'around' me for a few moments - to Sandy about scheduling. Then he finally introduced himself to me but when he spoke he all but looked away from me the entire time. Only when I stepped back to the doorway of the office, practically removing myself from the conversation, did he feel comfortable enough to look in my direction and speak 'to' me rather than 'at' me.

Very confusing.

However, he did mention that it would be very handy if I could help them out next quarter with some classes - possibly in the evening. Then he realized who I was, apparently, and said that if I can teach in the day that they could use me there too and that it would probably be easier to just have me teach 101 again since I am teaching it now.

Oops, class is about to start. I need to head across campus. The professor who has the room before me -always- holds his students until the very last minute and usually longer. To me, that's rude and inconsiderate; it's as though he belives that his class is the only class the students have.

See ya later.

1:40 p.m. Well, the afternoon blew past me in a blurr. I barely remember the time but the chapter I reviewed for Soc wasn't really holding my thoughts that well. Isn't interesting that when you have nothing to do, time can drag on and take forever and when you're busy, two hours isn't long enough to finish anything?

It's all a question of relativity. The perception of the passage of time is relative, not constant because our perception is relative.

Yeah, I've been wanting to make some deep, meaningful statement on my blog and that was probably it for the month.

I'm sitting in the classroom for my afternoon class, sociology, and listening to the various conversations of the students who are waiting here for me to begin. I usually get into the class about a half-hour earlier than when I start so I can try and talk to the students a bit and get to know them.

Oh yeah, I found out that it's 28 hours per academic year not 20. I asked Sandi once I got back from this morning's class and she clarified. There's also, no limit for the summer quarter since normally it's voluntary for the professors to teach at that time. I'm not sure if I'd get any classes then or not, but I need to see if there's anything part-time on campus that I can grab just incase one of the quarters they don't have as many classes as necessary.

Since the academic year is only from Fall through Spring, I doubt that I would exceed 28 hours. It's going to shift to 19 hours when we move to Semesters, but the average course has 3 hours rather than 4. If they have me teach 6 hours a quarter, then I'll just have 12 for that year.

Here's to hoping that they use me for 101 classes for the indefinite future.

Weekend Get-Away

9:19 a.m. As usual, I'm the first one active this morning at Barb & Zak's house. I can't say that I'm the first one awake because I'm almost absolutely certain that Kat woke someone up sometime during the night. I originally woke up at 8 a.m., just like I do every morning since I started teaching at the University, but today I endulged and let myself zonk out for another hour before I got up and did a small workout. Yes, crunches still suck, but I'm getting better at them.

I'm going to give Bryian and Judy a call in a few minutes to see if they're up and coherant, or when they will be, so I can go over and visit. I haven't seen either of them since the Event in December and then it was only at the Event. I missed the joint birthday party for Morgana and Bryian but I was able to give him a call and talk to him. Things got busy and money got tight so my traveling was severely restricted.

I just checked outside. I think that I'm blocked in by one of the cars. I should be able to maneuver myself out but it'll be an interesting few moments.

brb.

Ok, car problem has been fixed. I love their big driveway.

I'm going to work on my Psychology lecture so I don't have to kill myself on Sunday night to get the thing done.

Later.

3:00 a.m. It's raining freezing slush outside right now. There's a layer of rain and slushy ice on my car in B&Z's driveway. Hopefully the roads won't be too bad tomorrow when I head back to Portsmouth. I need to get back and work on my Psych stuff. This was a nice weekend to get away, but I still have 3 weeks left of classes.

23 Weirdness

Ok, so I saw the trailer for 23 on tv, but didn't think too much about it.

Then Em flung me the link to the site and I saw a different trailer.

The guy's birth date equals 23. His social security number equals 23. Etc. etc. There's something about the devil involved in this too but I'm not sure how.

Well, for fun, I thought that I would see what my birth date equals and such.

... and then I freaked out.

Ok, my Birthdate: 8/25/1972

8+2+5+1+9+7+2 = 34. 3+4 = 7

My SSN: (just believe me on this) = 43. 4+3=7

The date of my eye injury = 9/4/1983 = 34 = 7

Graduation for my BA = 6/5/1994 = 34 = 7

Graduation for my MA = 5/20/1998 = 34 = 7

Weird.

Yeah, go ahead and do your own. Ya know you want to.

Oh yeah, I'm also 34 years old.

Quiz Day

10:45 a.m. Ok, so here I am sitting in my classroom burning in some time since the students who did show for the quiz have already taken it and left. I'm going to give any stragglers until 11 a.m. before I bug out.

Here's my problem: I have close to 18 students who have not emailed me prior to the test to let me know that they would not be here. Most of those who have, said that their roads were iced up and it was too dangerous to drive today. I can accept that as a permitted excuse for missing a quiz. Weather becomes a big issue on a campus where most students commute.

I don't want there to be an issue where the students said that they couldn't get to their email to send me a note because of their power being out or something like that. That too would be an acceptable excuse if there were wide-spread reports of downed power-lines but I haven't heard anything of the sort. I think that those 18 students didn't put forth the effort to protect their grade for this quiz.

I need to talk to my Chair about this since it's not just 2 or 3 like the last time. With each quiz being 1/4th of their overall grade, giving someone a Zero, not just an F, for a grade is harsh.

Ugh.

I just spoke to Sandi, our department secretary. That woman knows everything. I'm still going to talk to my Chair about this but she said that if the students don't follow established class procedures for absenses (emailing before hand) then they loose the points. I'm nervous about failing that many students.

Ok. It's now 11a.m. I'm tempted to go ahead and leave. However, the second that I do, I'll have a student who shows up (or says that she has) and claim that I wasn' t here for her to take the test.

I've made my one phone call to try and occupy my time. That didn't really work out so hot. The weather has hit Athens and shut down the public schools, but there is a chance that it will thaw out before this weekend. I'd rather drive in rain than in freezing, slushy, snowy, badness.

12:39 p.m. Back in the Faculty lounge. My Soc test is copied and prepped for the class and the cancellation emails keep pouring in. I think I've stopped in to the Success Center about four times today to drop off make-ups. I'm still up in the air about what to do about the 18+ students who didn't contact me prior to the test and didn't show. I got no assistance from the Chair at all. His favorite food must be waffles.

After conferring with a student friend of mine, from Marshall, I think that I'm not going to let the students make up the test (those who didn't email me at all). If I don't get some kind of email from them between now and the class on Monday, it's their fault. I've had people mail me through their friends and I believe even one of their parents. If it's really important to you, you'll find a way to get that email sent.

2:30 p.m. Only 5 students left to finish the Soc quiz and I can run down to grade them. It seems that the students finished a lot faster for this quiz than the last so I hope that means they understood the material better.

One of my students said that it's already started snowing again so the roads may get nasty this evening. I think I'm going out to dinner with a friend tonight. I'm going to try and finish Psych's lecture before Friday so that I can head up to Athens if I can work it out. I know that my mother wants the NEC that's waiting for her up there. She's even bought a memory card and a USB card (I believe) for it as well.

It's such a handy thing.

Slush

9:45 a.m. Slush. That's what we got from the big storm last night. There was some snow but apparently it warmed up over the night and now we have a mixture of snow and and rain slushing the roads. As expected, Mabert (beyond 17th street) is a frothy mess of slippery, slushy goodness. Well, perhaps not goodness.

I'm down at the University in the library waiting for the Army Reserve guy. He wants to go over the materials from the study guides since he was out for a few classes with military things. He's the first person to ask for my office hours so I'm inclined to let him ask questions before the test tomorrow. I intended to copy out my psych test before he showed up but by the time I got down here it was too close to the meeting.

I still need to finish the soc quiz when I get home and do a few loads of laundry. I didn't expect it to keep piling up on me. I guess that while I was sort of 'working at home' I didn't go through that many things but now with me working out 3x a week, I'm going through stuff a lot faster. Speaking of working out, I found myself pouring over a men's exercise magazine last night. I was researching some different ab workouts since my crunches aren't getting me the results I want. Currently I'm doing 6 sets of 15 and although it does burn, it doesn't feel like it's hitting all the places I want it to hit.

Yeah, I just talked about working out, ab-ripping routines and the like. Run for the hills, the world is ending and my army is pressing its way through the gauntlet as we speak. It's not entirely unlikely that an archaeologist can be in shape. I remember one time when Chris and I were watching SG-1 and normally he's the one commenting that something on the show wouldn't happen the way they showed it (something military). Well, this one time, they showed Dr. Daniel Jackson laying in his bed with his shirt off; the man is in great shape.

I remember saying, "That's not possible." It caught Chris' attention for a moment and he looked at me for an explanation. I realized what I said and snickered, "Archaeologists don't look like that! God won't allow it!"

Of course, my mental picture of an archaeologist is a mixture of Dr. Elliot Abrams, my instructor from Ohio University, and Dr. Jeb Bowem, the 'Digger who inspired me when I was a kid. Both of whom are skinny, pale white-guys who don't get tanned so much as just getting burnt in varying degrees. Look to the image of Dr. Robert Langdon from the Da Vinci code; Tom Hanks doeth not an Adonis make.

Even if I can't become completely ripped - though that would completely floor some of my friends - loosing all the fluff I gained in the 'Corporate-Chrome' phase of life will definitely be a step in the right direction.

11:24 a.m. Well, the Army guy was late but apologetic. He didn't need help with the review; he said that it was pretty straight-forward and didn't have a problem with the material. He did, however, want to pick my brain about psychology as a possible field for him. He's a first quarter student who's been out of Academia since high school and is trying to do something with his life. I talked to him for a while and found that he picked 'Sports Management' since it was going to be easy for him but he was concerned that it wouldn't be marketable. I suggested crisis counseling to him since he's had years experience as an NCO in the Army and enjoyed the feelings of success when he could help one of his soldiers get through some tough times.

After our pow-wow about some of his choices, he wanted me to show him the gym since he wants to work out more. He even quoted something we had gone over in class; how working out releases seratonin which is a natural depression inhibitor. He seems like a really good guy and I expect him to be one of my better students. He's definitely got more drive, focus and determination than most of them.

Grumble. Hrm. Getting hungry.

Once I get the test copied, I'll be heading home to grab some food and start laundry.

U. of Indiana Bookbinding Site

I came across this link from Notebookism. It's a great "how-to" site for how to make a book.

Click here to go to the University of Indiana's site.

"One of the best ways to illustrate book construction is to make one from raw materials. So that is what we will do in this section of the manual. We use some special shop tools, but since obviously not everyone has them, every attempt has been made to offer instructions for doing this with hand tools everyone is likely to have at home or can obtain without difficulty."

Ahh, my Peeps are out there and helping spread the infection. :)

Firsts

1:33 p.m. Well, today was a bunch of firsts. I changed my workout schedule to get back to mornings after I found out that Shawnee seems to be hosting swim meets almost every day for the area schools and all right after my class gets out at 4. So I have plenty of time to work out in the afternoon, but I end up having to wade through a bunch of high school kids who want to play around in the sauna. Not my idea of fun.

So then, while on the way to my morning psych class, I checked my mailbox and found that I had a message from one of my students. It's even addressed to PROFESSOR RILEY. Yeah, that gave me a warm & fuzzy.

And yes, I actually scanned it in. It's a big deal for me to finally be working in my field. :)

As class was wrapping up, one of my students, the Army Reservist, asked if I had any office hours before the quiz on Wendesday. He's been out lately because of getting pulled back in by the Army to run a project in Panama to build a school this April. He's excited about the command but getting things coordinated has kept him out for the past three classes. So I'm going to meet with him tomorrow morning in case he has any questions over the review questions.

Then, I went to speak with my chair after he sent me an email asking that I track him down. Apparently one of the students who is ADD and suffers from Bi-polar disorder and Turrets, complained that I was singleing him out because he told the class that he regularly abused marijuana. I didn't recognize the name of the student at first, and didn't really know who he was talking about until he mentioned the bit about marijuanna. Apparently the student is prone to making too much out of things and is quick to complain about professors. He, the Chair, just wanted to ask me about it so he could tell the University what my side of events were.

I only barely remember what he was talking about and what I told the student was that he shouldn't abuse drugs and that he's lucky that "I forgot my badge" that day. So the student felt persecuted or something and complained. This is weeks ago, mind, you. Sometime back in early January when we didn't have snow as far as I remember.

Well, after that, Gypsy called me to ask something about the SCA. It's not exactly a first but it's the first time he's called me this year and that was good enough for me.

5:15 p.m. Home now. My dishes are done and I'm taking a break before I start back on creating Soc's test.

I am getting sick of rice and peppers. Ugh.

-T

Back up

The cell phone wasn't found but I used my old model and had them switch the numbers over until I can get the other one back.

-Tom

Phone Karma

Oh where oh where has my little phone gone?

Oh where oh where could it be?

GRRR.

Loosing weight has its' problems. My jeans are loose and the cellphone case just slips off my belt now.

So my phone is either at the Mongolian BBQ place or in Dan's Tardis.

Grr.

-T

Reflections of a Hobby

9:00 a.m. Well, it's sometimes amazing the things that I find on my computer. This morning, while deleting some pictures of cats and other bits of blog-fodder, I found this image. The original picture is of Rusty, my cat, sleeping on the edge of my love seat under a window.

When I looked at the image more closely, I could see that there was a reflection in the window of what was on the table in front of the seat. The unmistakable outline of a journal was visible on the right of the image and a few blanks, ready to be fit with a cover, was on the left. I can only guess that the journal is something that I made for Chris because I didn't keep any of the journals I made around the time the pic was taken.

Heh.

Strange things ya find in your computer or around the house.

The Assos Journals of Francis H. Bacon

The idea of finding a set of journals kept by an Archaeologist is one of those that just tickles the edges of my little black heart. Considering that these early notebooks were considered primary sources for much of the early work done in the field, many researchers studied art to be able to more accurately represent maps, objects, recovered pieces of art and the like within the pages of their journals.

Prior to photography, all that we had was a sketch journal or perhaps some artist's work to capture the likeness of a statue or ruined building.

In its early years, the Archaeological Institute of America sponsored investigations in the American Southwest from 1880 to 1884 and excavations at Assos (Turkey) from 1881 to 1883 and at Cyrene (Libya) and Quirigua (Guatemala) during the early 1900s. Extracts from the journal of Francis H. Bacon, one of the Assos expedition leaders, appeared in the April 1974 issue of ARCHAEOLOGY. Those are republished here, illustrated with a selection of photographs and drawings from his monumental publication of the excavation, Investigations at Assos.

Click here for more of the story.

So it began with a phone call

2:35 p.m. Brr. Cold feet. Yesterday, in the early evening, Em gave me a call and asked for my help since her car had overheated. So I grabbed some supplies and headed up to see what I could do.

I am not a mechanic by any means. Anyone who knows me would agree, but I figured with the temperature dropping that I should go help if I could.

The original plan was to remove the thermostat from the coolant line since that has gone bad in the past and once it's removed it will still let the engine run without overheating - but other things might not work as well.

This involved my socket set and an elbow joint to get into a very tiny place. The wind was very cold and the chill in the air dropped quickly as the sun went behind the hills. It took a while but I finally got the bolt off and removed the thermostat. Putting it back on should not have been that big of an issue.

SHOULD...mind you.

I didn't have a long-handled screw driver to actually tap the mounting neck back onto the engine so it didn't want to sit right. When I thought I had it, I tried to screw down the bolt in hopes that it would pull things into place. It didn't exactly work. The elbow joint broke just as a huge gust of wind crawled up the small of my back and under my jacket. Well, without needle-nose pliers to pull out the broken socket or a new elbow joint, I had to call it for the evening and try again today with the sun up.

So, after a quick trip to Walmart to get a new elbow joint, I got it back together and followed Em on her way back home in case there was a problem. She got about 2 miles or so and then pulled over because of the temperature warning light. So we pulled over and let it cool down. The second leg took us into Ironton, but had to stop before crossing the bridge into Russel. The last leg got her parked in front of apartment and then I came home.

My toes are still cold.

This was not my idea for an adventure.

But, these things always seem to happen when it's half-dark and in the worst weather imaginable. Rarely have I ever heard of anyone breaking down during a nice, sunny day within 2 miles of a garage or parts store, six hours before they close. It must have something to do with the grand unified theory.

Buttered bread always lands butter-side down.

Cars always break down at 9:00 p.m. on a weekend night 20 miles from the nearest parts store during bad weather.

The moment you need to use your cellphone to call for help, there will be no signal.

Etc.

-T.

Prehistoric Romeo & Juliet

I ran across this article on CNN where archaeologists found a pair of lovers in a last embrace somewhere near Verona; the setting for Romeo and Juliet.

Click here to read more about the article.

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.

I doubt that they'll be able to find that many details about the pair other than that they're young. They're not even sure if they're male and female.

Yeap, it's real winter

11:00 a.m. Well, I just shoveled out my driveway and threw about a bag of salt out there. There's at least four inches of snow on the ground if not more in some places.

I decided to get out and clear the drive just in case I wanted to go somewhere tomorrow. Since my driveway is usually a sheet of ice with all the run off from the hill, I have to make sure it's salted as early as possible or there's no way to get the car up or down it.

So, rather than skipping a workout entirely, I was out clearing snow. When I got down to the sidewalk, I turned and saw that my front stairs looked kinda interesting. Yeah, this is a little dark but my battery was dying and the flash didn't work. I've tried to lighten it but I'm not the best with color correction.

-T

It came!

Well, after I spent the time to email all 120 of my students yesterday to tell them that I was canceling classes, the University helped me out by canceling the whole thing. So, today, I get to sit in my sweats and goof off because I have the rest of the weekend to myself and I get paid for it.

I was planning on heading up to Athens this weekend but I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off unless the snow melts and the weather gets a little better.

It's Coming

Close all shops in the malls.

Hoard food.

Abandon the Elderly

Board up the Windows & Doors

Get the Sled Dogs

Dogs and Cats living together.

Mass Hysteria.

This has been an over-reacting bulletin from the general populace of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Jeasus Camp: Follow Up

I found this link from a friend.

Click here to read the article from Christian Today.

The controversial Jesus Camp in the US has shut down after a documentary film which featured events of children praying in tongues and sobbing with repentance in the camp met with a negative response.

Real Winter

Morning

Well, it's in the single digits today as the post below will tell you. 1 degree when I got up. Ugh.

When I got on campus the wind was freezing the last bit of water left by the snow that melted yesterday. It seems as though everyone I know is sick with some kind of flu or bronchitis. Thankfully, I haven't caught anything too severe this season. Being away from human contact for the past year may have either helped me or will condemn me to a fate worse than death.

When I was talking to friends of mine about winter they had different views. One wanted one real good snow just so it's not ice and rain all the time. Everytime we have gotten hit here in Portsmouth, he's got nothing down in Huntington. Another friend talked about how when she lived in D.C. and how they have "real winters" up there. Real is opposed to the faint concept of winter we have around here these days.

When I thought about it a bit more, I thought about some of the information that I've read about the 'mini ice-age' and how there's a cycle of weather that seems to settle that kind of pre-historical weather on the Northern Hemisphere every six hundred years or so. I think that we're do again if I remember correctly, but I don't remember if they had an actual prediction for when it would come of if they're theorizing a ten-year period for when they think it might happen.

That would be a 'real winter', I think. Crops would freeze and fail, people would have to adapt their thinking to a whole new level of climatic survival.

11:40 a.m. I'm back in the Faculty Lounge. The lecture today was short and there weren't that many people in class. I'm guessing that they didn't feel like coming in today. The Army Reservist guy wasn't there today either. He was gone last Wednesday too so I'm wondering if he's pulled himself out for something or perhaps was recalled.

I've decided to switch my workouts to the afternoon. I like the extra time I have to get my act together in the morning and I don't have the urgency to rush to get it done and then run off to class. So, after Sociology, I'll be heading over to enjoy the heat of the sauna and the workout. I just hope that there's no swim meet this time.



Real Winter

These are the days when
the Wind has Teeth,
and the Cold is Hungry.

It remembers when it covered the world
and the sun was a memory.

1 Degree?

I woke up and I was cold. I jumped onto Weather.com to find out that it's only 1 degree outside. BRR.

I don't think I'll be in my dress clothes today. The wind / cold would eat through them easily with its sharp teeth.

Something I saw online

Your Birthdate: August 25

You excel at anything difficult or high tech. In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek. It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with. Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots! Your strength: Your unfailing logic Your weakness: Loving machines more than people Your power color: Tan Your power symbol: Pi Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Considering that the joke has always been: "When my Armies invade, your name will be on the list of those who are saved..." and THIS survey says that I'll take over the world with an army of evil robots...

Makes ya wonder. :)

-T

Tseo says "&%@#*%%!"

So I shoveled my driveway last night in the hopes that things wouldn't freeze up today. There was a chance that we would get cold weather but I wasn't expecting snow.

Guess what? I was wrong.

I shoveled my way out of the drive this morning to go grab my meager paycheck and pay some bills and by the time I was back, you couldn't tell that I had even touched it.

Ugh.

So I made chili and started reading Psych. Yeah, this is my life.

Tseo, my backyard guardian, is half-covered in the white stuff. If there's any hint of a spirit within him, I'm in -so- much trouble for leaving him out in the cold.

-T.

Doesn't this just seem fitting?

WASHINGTON - People once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression more than seven decades ago.

HOUSTON - Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company — $39.5 billion — even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent.


People are draining their savings at a record not seen since the Great Depression and yet the mega-corporations like Exxon Mobil are reporting their largest annual profits. How can anyone think that these two things are unrelated?

And, what's worse - it probably won't change. This coming year the big companies will continue to get bigger and the average person will probably go through the last of whatever savings they were able to acquire just to continue their lifestyles. Are people living beyond their means? Probably. Are the big companies raising prices unnecessarily? Probably. Can we do anything about this? No.

Gods this is depressing.

2006 personal savings fall to 74-yr. low
Exxon Mobil posts record annual profit