Last week I was in Jacksonville, Crazyland. I actually had a good time- I was teaching a 2-day class to a group of statisticians and business analysts for a large bank. They had lots of questions, they were really interested in the course material, and they ate lunch and dinner with me while I was there. Which is always nice. But I still say that Florida should be renamed Crazyland. Those people drive on the shoulder, cross the grassy medians to make U-turns, and pass in the turn lanes. F'ing crazies.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm in Denver this week and will stay the weekend and fly to Dallas on Sunday, and stay there until Tue night. I was planning to go hike a 14'er this weekend while I'm here, but the locals have talked me out of it- they said there'd be too much snow and I shouldn't do it alone this time of year. So instead I'll go check out the hiking trails in some of the lower-altitude state parks instead.


In Dallas, I'm booked to stay at the Hilton Dallas North, which some of you may recall (haha, like you'd really recall this) was the hotel where Tony and I had our wedding reception. It's only a mile or so from our Dallas regional office so it was a convenient place to stay, and I'm looking forward to seeing the ballroom again and reminiscing a little bit.


And I'll be flying home on election day. HEY-- have you voted yet? We early voted last Saturday-- stood in line for 2 hours, but we got it done. Like it matters, since we're in a "red" state. But really, it does matter. If every single Kerry/Edwards supporter in NC actually voted, we'd take the state in a landslide. And then we'd beat up all the W supporters. And finally we'd smear ourselves in the W ketchup in representation of the blood of the enemy. I swear, the next time I see one of those idiotic black "W. The President" stickers on a car I will seriously consider putting a brick through the window. On the side with the driver. Getting a little rowled up. Must re-center and find inner peace (oooohhhhmmmmm ooohhhhmmmm ppppht).


I've been trying to keep my workouts going while I've been on the road, but for some reason I am completely unmotivated. I get dressed, go out, but on my headphones, start jogging, and then.... hmmm... nope, this sucks. Then I go back to the hotel and watch some TV. Wierd. I'm so good at keeping my workouts going when I'm home.


After the Denver/Dallas twin trip, I'll have a trip to Indianapolis, Ugh. But I've been informed that it might be cancelled. Fingers crossed. Oh, I hope. Because if it cancels, then I won't have to go anywhere until after Thanksgiving. And in December, I have 2 great trips-- one to Austin and another to Toronto. Now, maybe Toronto in December sounds pretty bad to some people, but I can't wait. You see, we close on selling the old house next Tuesday (!) and so I will be able to once again go SHOPPING! And Toronto has terrific shopping. Most of downtown can be accessed from underground (where it's warm) and the exchange rate, while not as good as it once was, is still pretty good. And they have different stores than we have here, so I can get nifty things that I wouldn't be able to find at home. Ha. Ha! Shopping! whEEEE!!

Short update-

When I bought my new hiking boots yesterday, I also bought a pair of Vasque trail-running shoes, and today I took them on their maiden voyage on the rock-and-root-roll-your-ankle trail in the state park, 4 miles. It was GREAT! I luvluvluv my new shoes. They turn rocky-bumpy terrain into smooooth pavement. nice.

Happy Days Are Here Again


Well, OK, I didn't get out and vote on Friday. It was the 2nd day of absentee voting, and I figured the lines would be pretty long. So I'll either go today or Friday. I leave tomorrow morning for Jacksonville, FL. Florida, a.k.a. Crazyland, is one of my least favorite states to go to. I don't mind Orlando too much- it's the least pretty of the Crazyland cities, but there seem to be fewer Crazies there, so it's OK. Yes, yes, I was born in Crazyland (Tampa) and lived there until I was 7, but I like to think that most of the maniacal serial-killer tendencies were washed away by living in New Orleans during the formative years (7-16) and Texas during early adulthood (16-26). It's amazing how one's environment shapes their outcomes: instead of a maniacal serial killer who drives badly, I'm a woman of relaxed moral standards with tendencies toward vigilante justice.


Anyway, if I don't vote by the 25th, I'm screwed because I'll be out of town from the 26th-Nov 2.


That'll be a FUN trip. I'm teaching in Denver the 27-29 (W-F), and then in Dallas the 1-2 (M-T), so I'll stay in Colorado for the weekend and just fly straight to Dallas Sunday night. That means I can drive out to somewhere near Georgetown, CO and hike a 14'er on Saturday morning. :-))) I hope the snow isn't too high at 14K feet! Last night I bought a new pair of gore-tex hiking boots which I'll break in next weekend. I've got waterproof ski pants. Is that enough for hiking at 14K feet in the snow in late October?


On Friday our house went under contract- Yay! -so we spent the weekend doing more work on the decks. The realtor insisted that we have both decks inspected by the city (which is wierd- nobody does this, but she was all insistent about it) and so, of course, the city inspector had a long list of things to be done to bring it up to the Residential code. Well, thing is, it was designed and built by a structural engineer, and it is more than strong enough for all the load bearing requirements, but because the inspector has a list ("building code for dummies") of specifications, he doesn't like the shape of the footings, the type of beams, color of the wood stain, whatever, and it has to be changed. The biggest project was pouring new footings for the front deck. Totally unnecessary, since what we had already far exceeded the load requirements for NC building code (according to the Structural Engineer), but it will make the inspector happy, so we did it. There was one thing we had to do that we always suspected we'd have to do-- add pickets to the handrails on the back stairs, so we did that too (and added some unnecessary X-bracing, some unnecessary anchor bolts, and unnecessary screws). But hey, it's done! :-) :-) And the house is selling. I'm glad, because it is a nice house- and SO MUCH NICER than it was when we bought it.


I probably won't blog much this week, so look for more around Friday or so!

Did You Watch Any Of The Debates?


I think for most of us decided voters, the debates were just a good excuse to go do some yardwork, take a nighttime bike ride, catch up on all the overdue loofah-ing that was ignored in the last 2 months, or go to bed early.


I mean honestly? Anyone who is not a decided voter by now has either been under a rock for 4 years or is late for a date with a straightjacket. Oh, that also goes for anyone deciding to vote Bush in '04.


Which reminds me. File under "gee, we've come a long way, and no, political correctness is NOT a bad idea," Tony is currently working on a project that was built in the 50s, and at the time was officially known as an "Idiot Colony." Idiot, for those not quite up to speed on their psychological lingo, was one of the (now antiquated) terms used to refer to the mentally handicapped. Makes it sound like "idiocy" is a communicable disease, like leprosy. And speaking of leprosy, we got to see lots of dead armadillos while we were back in TX last week. Ahhh, home sweet home.


Back on topic. We did accidentally watch about 5 minutes of the first debate. All we caught was a lot of Bush smirking, then lying, then smirking some more. We turned it off once we realized that our ears were ringing from yelling at the TV so loudly. Here's a snippet of the transcript:


J Lehrer: Mr president, question

Bush: lie, lie, lie

(JL: Mr Senator, question)

(MEANWHILE, catandtony): YOULYINGSONOFABITCHHOWCANYOUSTANDTHEREANDLIELIKETHAT!!!

B:(smirksmirksmirk snarf!!)

JL:So, Mr President, question

B:lie,lie,lie misunderestimate nookyooler lie

JL:mr senator...

(MEANWHILE, catandtony): YOUSACKOF*(&^HOWDIDANYONEELECTYOUFORPRESIDENT,YOU'REAMORON!!


(catandtony): did you ever hear Kerry say ANYTHING? No, I didn't. Did you?


Ah, I've got to go vote tomorrow. Then perahps I'll find some kind of inner peace. Hey, this is the first time I've ever lived in a battleground state! Who'da thunk NC would be a battleground state!


Don't forget: vote early and often.

True Tales of a South Texas Bridesmaid


No blog for a long time because I was away from a computer all last week, and have spent this week catching up at work from being gone last week.


My cousin Twinkie #2 got married last weekend in Uvalde, TX. I was one of eleven bridedmaids (4 junior, 7 senior), arranged at the altar by height. The only reason I wasn't in the VERY back of the line was that I was a senior bridesmaid, and the junior bridesmaids had to line up behind the senior bridesmaids. But they were all (ages 12,13,14) taller than me. grr. grr. I was, thanksfully, taller than the flower girl.


I flew into Austin Tuesday. Mom picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to Uvalde (about 3 hours). We had a nice time chatting in the car. I managed to get my workout in Tue, Wed, and Thursday. After that, all bets were off.


In spite of the title of this blog, it was a really pretty, tasteful wedding. But boy, was it a lot of work. There was quite enough to do with wedding preparations anyway (flowers, dresses, various tuille-wrapped thingies, glue-guns and ribbon) but on top of it all, we spent several days just cleaning my cousin's house and yard. I was not expecting this kind of wedding preparation, and with 3 dogs and somewhere around 20 cats in the house, it was no easy job. But she wanted the wedding reception at her house... (next time I will offer to pay for a reception hall)


Around 150 guests came to the wedding, most of them from our family. Tony flew in Thursday night (we picked him up in San Antonio) and was put to work first thing Friday morning, and had work to do up until the end. Various wedding praparation things, mostly. He was also Mr Catering, being responsible for picking up and setting up the food at the rehersal dinner Friday as well as the appetizer table at the reception. We cut up several coolers-full of cheese, fruit, and veggies. After the ceremony, he rushed back to the house, loaded up all the food onto a 3-tiered platter, set out dip, toothpicks, napkins, plates, etc. and then kept the platter replinished throughout the evening. Too bad nobody tipped. :D


In side news, dad raced in the Texas state road race championships Saturday and took 2nd place-- not bad for a guy who had prostate surgery just last June! The only guy who could beat him was a fellow who got 2nd place in the nationals last year.


Sunday, our flight home was out of San Antonio at around 7pm, so we had all day to play around. We helped a little with the cleanup, but I wanted to have some fun time as well, so dad, Tony and I drove in to SA and spent the day at the Riverwalk. We had a terrific time and just chatted over coffee for several hours.


We had some delays on our flight home, but nothing too bad, got home around 2am, slept late Monday, and I've been trying to catch up at work since.


In more news-- Someone Might Be Interested In The House......shhhhhhh.....can't count my chickens before they hatch.......

I'll keep you posted. Light a candle and say an Ave for the house to sell!

A Long, Boring Blog About Exercise: You've Been Warned! (but I had fun writing it)

OK, I've now jogged to or from work the short way (2.3 miles) 4 times, and I've gone the long way (4.25 miles) 3 times. I'm still biking too, because that's the only way I can carry stuff to/from work.

As a reminder to you who are on the edge of your seats about my work commute, the short way is all on roads-- 1/2 mile in the woods leaving my neighborhood, 1/2 mile in the woods on the road that goes alongside the state park, and then 1.3 miles on campus which is a blend of woods and farmland, so it's pretty well shaded. There is a sidewalk on campus. Not too many cars, but there are some.

The long way is 1 mile on roads (same thing- 1/2 mile out of the neighborhood, 1/2 mile to the State Park entrance) and then 2.25 miles on trails, and another mile on a busy street that crosses the interstate, but with a sidewalk the whole way.

I like to go the long way better than the short way, but I get so sweaty that I can't do it in the mornings on the way to work, only in the evenings going home. On the long route I see more wildlife. Yesterday heading home I saw 6 or 7 deer. Lots of teeny baby deer that look just like Bambi- all speckly. And dogs. People with dogs all over the park. I like the dogs. :-) Except yesterday I was chased by a hound dog whose owner was nowhere in sight and he was BIG and it scared me a little.

I've been biking to work for almost 3 years, on roads, on mtn bike trails, on routes as short as 2 miles and as long as 12 miles each way. I loooooove biking to work. Maybe I'll feel that warmly about jogging someday. Maybe. It is a completely different workout to jog than it is to bike. You can't coast when you're jogging, so there's no rest time. On the other hand, hills are way easier on foot than on a bike, so it's also less high-intensity to jog. If you see a big speed hump, you can WHOOSH rush up to it on the bike and go FWOOP!! FWOOP!! and get a thrill. On foot, it's more like --fwap--fwap--fwap--fwap--fwap--fwap--fwap--fwap. Overall, I'd say the jog is harder than the same time on a bike mostly because you can't use wind to cool you off and you can't coast downhill. I'm getting blisters on my toes. That can slow me down. I usually get a stitch in my side when I jog. I don't get that doing anything else, and I don't know how to prevent it. :-(

It doesn't help that I am 1) the most high-maintenance jogger in the world and 2) the slowest jogger in the world. Oh, you don't believe me?? If I have to pee, I hate jogging. I won't jog with a backpack. If iPod bounces *at all* on my arm on in my waistpack, I get aggravated. If my bangs bounce and touch my forehead, I get aggravated. Same with my sunglasses on the bridge of my nose. If I can hear sweat beading up on my headphones (yes you CAN hear it!!), I will stop and wipe them off. If my shorts ride up a little and my thighs rub together, I get aggravated and start running all chicken-legged to shake them loose. I've turned my ankle doing this. more than once. I don't like to run if I just ate, or if I'm hungry. Shoes too tight, shoes too loose, shoestrings too long so that they bounce and touch my legs? Grrrrr. AND- that 4.25 mile jog on the trails takes me *1 hour.* So, how many mph is that?

On the other hand, *nothing* bothers me on the bike. I can wear pretty much anything, I don't care if I'm sweating, or if my eyes are watering from the cold, or if it's a million degrees out, if I'm thirsty, hungry, just ate, have digentional distress, none of it matters. It's all tuned out by the joy and rush of wind, speed, scenery, flipping the proverbial bird at auto-commuters everywhere.

So why am I jogging? Well, like I said, I want to feel that way about jogging, too. I didn't always love biking so much. I can remember once, when I was a teenager, telling my dad (who has been a bike racer for over 30 years and is now a cycling coach) "Dad, biking is *your* sport. I just don't like it as much as you. I'll stick to aerobics. I'll never like biking all that much so just stop bugging me about it, OK?" Some of my fondest memories of age 12-15 were riding the tandem with my dad on the weekly Monday-Wednesday Lakefront training rides in New Orleans. This was a 6-mile loop that passed along Lake Ponchartrain and looped back on Robt E Lee Blvd. To get hills in there, we'd cross an overpass that took you over a canal into New Orleans East. Then, I tried racing. At the time there were no girls racing, which I now see as the major problem, but didn't realize it at the time. Anyway, I was competing in races with the 15-17 year old boys. And compared to them, I STUNK. How fun is it to always come in LAST place in EVERY race? It didn't matter that I was first in my "class" (junior women) ...biking just wasn't so much fun anymore.

OK enough regression therapy. Back to jogging. Eventually (especially if I can beat the Stitch In The Side) I'm hoping that jogging be fun, too. If not, well at least it's good cross-training. For a few years I was swimming a lot (now you want to see slow-- WHOO! 1 mile per hour, oh yeah!) and I think there's a triathlon in me somewhere. And I can ride fast enough now that maybe I won't come in LAST place...

If anyone knows what the heck that stick in the side thing is, or how to get rid of it, please tell me!

With thanks and apologies to Dr Bronner...


The project I'm working on right now is a 2-day course on multiple imputation of missing data. Way-nerdy stuff, even if you're a statistician. I am trying to overcome a dilemma in how to write the lecture portion of the course material.


Well. We have standards. For instance, we're not supposed to use bold, italics, or underlining for emphasis. There are very specific circumstances where these tools are used, such as defining a new term for the first time, and that is all. Which means that if I want to draw attention to one or two points on a page that are particularly important, there's not a good way to do so.


So in the shower this morning, it occurred to me- I'm adding a new style standard, known henceforth as the Dr Bronner method.


For example, instead of:

Most data analysis situations involve the estimation of unknown parameters from a sample drawn from the population of interest, typically with some assumptions being made about that sampling process.


You'd see:

Assumptions are being made about that sampling process!! OK!

Observations provide information for estimating the parameters corresponding to the variables used in the analysis!!!!! OK!


And instead of:

Nonignorable missingness depends upon either of two conditions. The first condition states that if the mechanism that leads to the missing observations (PHI) is unrelated to the (unknown) parameters for the model, THETA, missingness is nonignorable.

The second condition is more likely: if missingness for a particular variable is related to the true value of that variable, then we say that missingness is not ignorable, and furthermore, that it is not random.


You'd see:

Understand nonignorable missingnes!! Two conditions!! Two! Two!! OK!

First Condition: Phi is unrelated to Theta!! Unrelated! Unrelated!!!

Second Condition: Missingness is not related to the True value of the variable! Not related! Not related! Not random!!!


And finally, instead of:

Sophisticated methods of handling unobserved data can perform reasonably well even with nonrandom missingness. Specifically, it may be possible to model the missing data mechanism before performing certain types of imputation. The more information you have about your observations, the more likely it is that you can adequately model the missing data mechanism PHI and make the missingness ignorable.


you'd see:

We can handle the nonignorable missingess!! AllOne!! AllOne!!

Model the missing mechanism before the analysis!! Before the analysis!! Before the analysis!!

Find the model for Phi!! OK!!

We must protect ourselves from nonrandom missingness to protect Spaceship Earth!! OK!


This approach, I think, would really reach students where they live. Way more effective than long, boring paragraphs. What do you think? Will it work?

I'm still feeling the BBQ from yesterday.


I met a deadline at work yesterday-- 3 days early, I might add-- which means I now have a little more time to work on the *other* project that has an unrealistic deadline. But now I have the "woo I finished that final exam and now it's SUMMERTIME" blues. I've got to find a way to get started on this even though I'd rather surf the web at work. Or write in my blog. hm.


A coworker had a neat idea for a diet- she said that she thought her metabolism was slowing down, so instead of eating 2 or 3 big meals a day, she's eating 7 or 8 tiny meals a day. I call it the Hobbit diet, but she didn't like that nickname too much. Anyway, I might try it too. I already eat like a hobbit, but most of my meals aren't tiny. So I'd only be changing one thing, right? Anyway, I've gotta try something different because I outgrew another pair of blue jeans this month. And until we sell the house I can't go shopping for more. Dabnabbit.


Modean has been especially affectionate lately. He usually gets that way after one or both of us has been on too many trips without him, or when it's cold. But he's just spontaneously become Mr oohdon'tleaveIneeeeeedyourloveNOOWWWW. And he's eating his food. Something's up with that dog.


I need to plan what to bring to Uvalde next week. It'll be warm, for sure. Shorts and t-shirts. I'll need the bridesmaid dress and shoes, of course. Something for the rehersal dinner? Will there be a rehersal dinner? Will it be the customary (for my family) eating wild pig and venison fajitas around a camp fire? Or will the groom's family plan something a little more civilized? Does he have any idea that, in marrying a Rhodes girl, he's actually marrying a Rhodes clan? That he'll never again have any secrets? Just who does this guy think he is, anyway, and can his mama cook a roux?


Oops- tangent. And by the way, Tony may seem like a saint to have stayed married to a Rhodes girl for nearly 10 years now, but the truth is that Tony is actually being kept cryogenically frozen in an undisclosed location and he was replaced immediately after the wedding with a mandroid. Oh, crap, I wasn't supposed to tell you that.


(just kidding, Roy, we love you. Now be a good boy and follow Tita into that door marked "secret underground lair")

Today was the department picnic-- BBQ, fried chicken, cole slaw, hush puppies, brunswick stew and lemonade. And hot apple and peach cobbler. No dinner for me tonight!


This was the first year we've had the picnic without any inflated pompous speeches, "welcome" recognition for people we've hired this year, and other formalities. I suspect that this was because practically all of upper management are recovering from knee reconstruction surgeries and didn't want to stand up from their tables. Whatever the reason, everyone ate happily in peace, sat with people we don't get to see every day because we all travel and some people work in a different wing of the building when they are in town, and discussed why the meal was just going to wreck our low carb/ low fat/ 6 meal a day/ 1 meal a day/ no wheat/ vegetarian diets. It was great! I hope next year's picnic is as much fun.


Next week I'll be heading to Uvalde, TX for Twinkie #2's wedding. I'll be bringing iPod with me, and so far I've loaded up through the Fs in my CD collection. Hopefully I'll get through the rest of the alphabet before Tuesday. Yesterday and this morning I jogged with iPod and it was SO MUCH better than jogging with a CD player. I have an arm-band thingie, which is a little wierd but I'll get used to it. In the dark, it has backlighting so I can see it to skip past crappy songs. :-D

Well, my cousin PartnerInCrime should get kickbacks from Apple, because I got an iPod over the weekend. It's pretty nifty. I went for the 20GB version, a good compromise between the oh-so-stylish mini (4GB) and the just-a-little-too-heavy 40GB version. It's white with a shiny silver chrome back. I know why the people in their ads are all wearing gloves- they're trying to keep from getting fingerprints on the back of their iPod. I find myself compuslively rubbing the back of my iPod on the front of my shirt.


The documentation for this thing is really funny. As someone who does a lot of writing for software, I understand that there are corporate style and usage policies, and one of them at Apple is apparently to never refer to the unit as "an iPod," or "your iPod," or "the iPod." This is because, you see, iPod is a proper noun. It is "iPod." Period. Be sure iPod is fully charged before you sync it with your computer. When you plug in iPod, iTunes will automatically update your music. To turn on iPod, press any button. To turn off iPod, press and hold the Play/Pause button. Always keep iPod in a cool dry place. Be sure to feed iPod at least twice a day. Never, never, never shake iPod.


I had some trouble with iPod at first. I couldn't get the software to detect that iPod was plugged into my computer. I read on the discussion lists that iPod doesn't like USB all that much, and I was suspicious about my USB ports to begin with, so I called tech support (I know the super-secret-tech support numbr now). They talked to iPod, but iPod was being surly and just stared at the wall. Tech support sent me to the Apple store. I went. While iPod and I waited for a genius/iPod therapist, I emailed PartnerInCrime and asked if she knew how to alleviate iPod's woes. Turns out she did have the same problem, and had a solution that probably would have fixed it, but I didn't see her email reply until after I left the Apple store. armed with a new Firewire card. It worked! Now iPod is happy and well-adjusted.


On other news, we spent the entire weekend working on the old house again. We repainted the kitchen, dining room and utility room-- and now almost all the rooms are back to the ugly builder-beige that the house was paitend when we bought it. This was out new realtor's idea. Hey, if it sells the house, I'll paint it purple. We still haven't painted the front living room, but it's a very subtle blue-green (called Tea Time, as I recall) and is more of a relaxing aura than a color. We'll paint in there next weekend if we have time, but I think it was more important to get rid of the bolder colors in the house. We also cleaned up a lot, had the house, driveway and sidewalks power-washed, we changed a bunch of fixtures and switchplate covers, and did some more yardwork


And today another former hurricane is coming to town. That'll mean more yardwork next weekend.


Tomorrow is my division's annual picnic- yay, 2 hour lunch! I hope the hurricane has moved on by then!

We met our new realtor last night (YAY) and I have a lot of hope that we'll be able to sell the house with her. She had some revolutionary ideas, like putting pictures on REALTOR.COM, leaving MLS sheets/flyers out in front of the house, and actually sending us the email feedback she gets on the house from other realtors. Wow, it's all so innovative I just don't know what to do with myself (you may be rolling your eyes, but really, the other realtor? wouldn't do any of those things. Even when I asked her to).

And the weather is SO GREAT this week, I've decided to start jogging to work some of the time instead of riding. I have this great system planned: Bike to work the long way (through the state park, 4.3 miles), jog home the short way (through campus, 2.3 miles) and the next morning, jog to work the short way and bike home the long way. I did it yesterday and today, and it takes almost the same amount of time to jog the short way as to bike the long way: <30 vs 20 minutes. Only downside is I get a LOT more sweaty jogging than biking: there's a lot to be said for a 20 mph breeze. Once the weather cools down mre, I might start jogging the long way as well. That'd be probably 50 minutes each way.

Tomorrow night some friends are coming over to watch Bubba Ho Tep and eat burgers and crepes-- sort of a texafrance theme, I guess.

Well, we finally are doing it-- we're getting a NEW REALTOR. Woowoo! I hope this one is more successful at getting the house sold than the last, but we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, she's given us a ton of homework to do:

Power wash decks, brick on the house, driveway and sidewalk

Re-paint the living room, bedroom, dining room, bathroom, dining room, utility room

Replace the (recently replaced) light fixtures again (rereplace?)

and a few piddly things I won't take the time to recall here.


Just last weekend we re-floored the utility room, and it took our whole Sunday. And it was a really pretty day.


So the next few weekends will be taken up with chores at the old house. And if you're wondering, yes, the new house is still exactly as we bought it- we've done no painting, no renovating, no fence has been built, no cabinet added in the kitchen, and it's not because nothing needs to be done, if you catch my drift.


At work I'm sitting in another 3-day class, this time it's a test teach for a course written by a Canadian colleague. Sadly, I will have to ignore most of his lecture because I've got some crazy deadlines approaching. But the bike ride to work through the park has been particulrly nice lately- it's been around 55-60 degrees and clear in the morning, so as I cross over the lake on the bike trail, there is mist rising from the water and the trees and cliffsides reflect on the water and it's really pretty. I don't know how I make it into work each day, honestly. One of these days I'll just sit on that bridge and stay there all day long.

Right now we are underneath Ivan, or what's left of him-- mostly just MUG-GY and windy, with occasional blasts of precipitation (I think I used to work with a guy like this). Some cool cloud formations-- dark dark grey clouds punctuated with little bits of clear blue sky. Of course I did ride my bike to work today, as I usually do on days that we have tornado watches. I am just glad that New Orleans gets to stay above ground for another year, or so it seems right now.

The 3-day Boot Camp class I attended is over, and I think I graduated- yay? What that means is that now I can once again teach classes with this software at customer sites (rather than be restricted to our own training centers). That's good and bad. Good: more opportunities to teach classes at some fun sites. Bad: if too few other people are certified, then I teach TOO MANY classes at customer sites, and have no time left for what I'm supposed to be writing right now when I'm at the home office. Good: I feel better prepared to handle unexpected configuration problems (as in, I'm a statistician, not an IT person, so your server's port # for the IOM bridge-- not my problem) Bad: more on-site opportunities for unexpected configuration problems. In all, the goods are weightier than the bads. I like this software and I kind of miss teaching it.


On the "oh I wish I was you" front, 3 of my coworkers are headed off to Europe in the next few weeks. Fuzzy scored a class in Germany that he'll be flying to next week- unfortunately he won't have a lot of time to visit. NewGuy will be teaching in Denmark (or is it Belgium? Danishes, Belgian waffles-- you can see why I'd confuse them) in October and RenaissanceWoman's fiancee was assigned to 6 weeks in Paris for business (Oh, how I wish I could get an asssignment like that) so she'll be going for 2 weeks in October to visit. She's boning up on a few French phrases and made her first phone call in french yesterday. You can read about it here. Aah, I remember my first french phone call:


Hotel: Bonjour, (name of funky french art hotel in Saumur), puis-je vous aider?

Me: uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, oui, uuuuuuuuuuuh, je- voudrais- faire- une reservation- pour- votre- hotel, s'il vous plait?

H: Oui, Madame.

M: uuuuuuuuuh

H: Pour quelle date?

M: OH! Nous - arriverons - le (date of arrival) et - nous - partirons - le (date of departure)

H: Tres bien, madame. Zhe zhe zhe fru fru fru?

M: Uuuuuuh- pardon? Je - ne - comprends - pas...

H: zhe zhe combien personnes fru fru?

M: Ah! Oui! 2 chambres, pour 3 personnes. 2 - personnes - dans - un - chambre, 1 personne - dans - l'autre - chambre.

H: Alors. zhezhezhefrufrujuneee?

M: Dites encore? Je -- suis -- desolee, mais --- je -- ne -- parle -- pas -- tres -- bien...

H: Yu want ze brekfahst?

M: Oh! Non, merci, pas de petit dejuner pour nous.

H: Alors, a quelle heure..what tihme weeel yu be ahrivingg?

M: OH! uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, uuuuuuuuuuuh, dans l'apres midi? Pres de 3 heures de l'apres midi?

H: Oui, madame. Tres bien, zhezhezhefrufrufru!!

M: D'accord...merci....

H:frufrjevjevwawa...

M:D'accord... merci...

H:(pause)

M: merci, madame uhhhhhhhh

H: (paaaauuuuuse) au revoir, madame!! Bye-bye!

M: OH! au revoir.


Although I've come a long way since then, I still have not quite figured out how to end a phone conversation in french. In English:


1: well, OK, I better run...

2: Oh, yeah, me too...

1: OK, talk to you later.

2: OK- see you!

1: bye!

2: bye


It's like a little dance that we are so good at that we don't even realize we're doing it. Like the slow walk towards the door that gets everyone else up out of their seats and also headed towards the door, and then there is an appropriate "break point" where it is appropriate to ask, "Oh, are we going now?" and that is like the "spin" right before the "dip" at the end of the dance.


I hope everyone has a great time in Europe. As soon as we sell that stupid house, I'm buying a pair of plane tickets.