The best thing in the world... almost --

Today I called in sick.. I have a cold and feel like crap.

I really didn't feel like going to the grocery store.

thank GOD the best grocery store in the world has an on-line order and delivery service.

The delivery guy is right up there on my list of favorite people... ever.

So, how about that homework....

Dear Logic class,

Savor today, enjoy the B averages you have... because we both know you haven't been doing your homework and don't have half a clue as to how to do basic proofs.

Tomorrow you'll have a quiz. It will be ugly and you'll leave class wanting to cry. You'll also go out into the hallway and look in your textbook for the quiz problems. They'll be there, just like I told you in class. Then look in your notes for the solutions, they won't be there -- because you didn't do your homework.

In fact, you could have asked me any question you'd like. You could have asked me any of those hard questions at any time -- but, you weren't ready for the answers and you had no clue that you hadn't a clue.

You also could have come for the optional days -- about 1/3 of the class comes... the 1/3 that skipped days I told them not to.... so, they were playing catch-up.

When you want to cry about not getting it, I'll be nice and remind you that we've had this discussion about it being hard. In my mind, I'll be laughing at you -- so there.

New long-distance marriage challenge...

So -- on the way home from the airport, hubby mentions the election night chili contest at his uni. He says this kind of like, will you be able to tell me how to make you chili -- you know, give me a recipie or something...

Of course, like any good chili cook, I have no recipie. I go to the store, get the stuff and work on it until it tastes like chili... duh...

We discuss the options and end up with me agreeing to make a batch on Sunday as a starter, then we'll eat some and he can add to it as necessary to bring to school on Tuesday.

As a result, I'll probably do well in a chili contest -- while being in another state. Hubby has decided to call it Red State chili ... in reference to my blog term for this ever so odd but sometimes wonderful state...

but -- dammmmm I make good chili. It smells wonderful and should be just about ready to eat...

A good pedicure does wonders

I have a good friend here in Red State who has opened her own hair salon. Her haircuts are expensive, but worth every penny. She's also like the older sister I never had, so it is always good to see her. Last weekend I got a haircut when I was here.... probably more because I wanted to see her than because I really needed one.

This weekend I went to get a pedicure from someone my hairstylist recommended. Dammm... it was good. Very relaxing, very calm and wonderful. She took care of my feet without complaining about my calouses or the fact that I have a typical Birkenstock ridge on my heel. She did her job well and it was worth the money I paid her.

and, I have bright pink toes....

I don't think I could go to anybody else for a pedicure -- it would be a disappointment for sure.

Burnt Out Adjunct: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry

Burnt Out Adjunct: Kerry, Kerry, Kerry discusses the Kerry situation. Although I left a pretty lengthy comment on his blog, I thought it deserved a bit more.

Many of you may not realize that my sweet hubby is former military -- enlisted. He was in the Air Force for 15 years and has been out for 5. Since then he's become ABD at a top-tier political science school and is currently teaching younings at a top-raded liberal arts uni. All in all, he's no intellectual slouch.

While in the military hubby also had a very successful debate career -- and since finishing debate he's been influential in terms of starting an entirely new debate national championship. Suffice it to say, he can out smarty-pants most of the smarty-pants kids on any playground. The nice thing about these accomplishments is that it isn't just me bragging... there are boxes of awards and stuff at home that say my hubby's got a brain-cell or two to rub together... there is a reason I call him my Google.

Having been a military wife for about 10 years and having taught several classes on a military base in Red State, I can tell you that - while hubby is top of the heap -- it isn't as if he was the only bright guy enlisted in the Air Force. This is why Kerry's comments, and the attitude they reveal -- are so infuriating.

The attitude was actually said rather succinctly by a debater nearly 7 years ago, when he told me (as his judge) that 'people are in the military because they can't get regular jobs and didn't graduate from high school'. This is the same sentiment that I see Kerry expressing with his comments.

This sentiment is due to ignorance and and it makes me ill. The ignorance also smacks of elitism, in that the reason most of these yahoos don't know about the military is because the military is generally an option for POOR people (not dumb ones). Thus, they know very few, if any people who have served in the military -- because those people can't afford to live in neighborhoods with the beneficiaries of Big Catsup.

So, while they want to send the military to do dirty work, they won't admit that the people who serve in the military might do so for reasons other than the lack of a good education. Hello -- how about needing a decent job that pays health-benefits, living allowances and pays for school as well. The military has programs that are attractive to the kinds of people they need -- people who are smart enough to use the high-tech equipment Congress buys them, and smart enough not to use it --- even when the use of it could save their own lives (see Colin Kohl in Foreign Affairs Nov/Dec... great article).

The sad thing about all of this is that Kerry isnt on a ballot someplace and that his ignorant comments may be used against good candidates.

Back in Red State

It was good to get off the plane last night. In a very odd sense, I felt like I was going home and not visiting... perhaps because this is the third weekend in a row that I've been here. I'll be in the cheese state next weekend for debate and then back here again to celebrate our anniversary. Hubby will be home for Turkey and then December is a mystery -- but I suspect I'll be back again at least once in December.

I've decided that I will NOT bring this set of papers back not graded. I have to have them back to my students on Monday, as it will have been almost 3 weeks... aak. When I told my class that their papers would go to Red State with me again, one of them quipped, "my paper has left the state more often than I have, EVER"... which is sad in and of itself... but, funny.

For this trip and the next I'm flying on the chocolate chip cookie airline. This involves a stop in the cheese state to change planes before heading back west... this is kind of a pain, but the cheese state airport is really pretty easy to deal with so the extra time involved is worth saving the few hundred dollar differnce between that and the direct flight.

Besides warm cookies in the air and decent seats, the other advantage to this airline is that, in BN state, this airline has been relegated to what was the 'charter' terminal... why is this an advantage?? NO lines at security, close parking at a lower rate and a generally nice, relaxed airport atmosphere.

Yesterday I got to the airport about 90 minutes before my flight. After a quick check-ing and FAST security check -- which would have been faster without the old guy in front of me -- I had time for a nice lunch before my flight. They brought in a local restaurant to run the food service, and the one that came in has their main location very near where I grew up. What was cool about that is that their decor is all about the lake etc.. and under plexiglass on every table is a copy of an antique map of the lake where I grew up... I got to eat lunch looking at where my childhood home was... it was kind of fun.

I also noticed that, when the Red State flight was called -- all the people I suspected of being from Red State got in line. They (and probably I) have a look that screams, Red State. After you see it, you can pick it out of any crowd...

Today I'll polish a paper to submit as a writing sample here in Red State -- then I'm going to grade papers and relax... no real dissertatin work this weekend. I need a short bit of time off, and I'm going to take it.

A dream dashed...

So, my overly social nature and the fact that I'm so rarely in the office kept me out of my grading jail for too long yesterday.

I did get one section of papers done, but I have several to go.. sigh. At least one of those sets of papers will go with me to Red State again (the third time for this set) -- although, the fact that I'm flying and not driving allows me to grade papers on both flights (a Milwaukee connection saved me over $100.00).

I have also decided that I'm going to take time off from the dissertation-related writing. A version went out on Tuesday night, and I'm going to let it sit for a while and not start something else until I get some feedback. If I can get this current set of grading done, I'll be in good shape until the end of the semester... YEA student presentations in Ethics and Logic that I've taught so many times...