The latest...

A vehicular change was made at our house recently, putting us among the ranks of minivan owners. It mostly took place this past week because our old Mazda 626 had some serious transmission issues so we opted to just change vehicles instead. In the picture above is our new Mazda MPV. So far so good.

Also, the looming faculty strike at Ferris was averted at the last minute, so we started classes yesterday (Monday the 28th). We sweated through a 2 hour meeting waiting for our bargaining team to return, and they finally showed with a tentative agreement. It was interesting to read about your job in the newspaper, although the University's statements about how they were "cooperative and serious" about negotiations over the summer were utter malarkey.

Five weeks until the playoffs start! Will the Tigers be there? And Notre Dame vs Georgia Tech this Saturday!

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

I just attended my first very serious faculty union meeting, and someone actually said that. I was privileged enough to be part of an overwhelming vote to "authorize the negotiating team to call a strike if necessary." So, we're not on strike (yet), but we may well be as of next Sunday night. It's excruciating, as an individual taught to think logically and use reason, to endure the irrational, political mind-game that is the negotiating process. I'd much rather be thinking about and teaching mathematics than feeling disrespected (even though that's not a verb) by the administration.

Meanwhile, our 8-year-old Mazda 626 is having serious transmission issues, so we get to try and prepare for a new school year this week with one functioning vehicle and jobs that are both 35 minutes from home in opposite directions. It's not the best of my life right now.

It's hard for me to keep everything in perspective sometimes, because ultimately these are temporary problems that will be overcome, but I still hateithatehateit while it's going on. Ugh.

Lexington, Cincinnati, and Columbus

We're back from vacation number two! All three stops were scrumtrelescent:

Lexington: a great time with Dan and Rebecca, complete with lots of Kentuckyish stuff - a banjo played in church, a visit to a horse park (with equines of all types), country-fried steak, Kentucky bourbon barrel aged ale, and a street named Versailles that is pronounced Ver-sales. Oh, and chocolate angel strata for Dan's birthday.

Cincinnati: an especially good place for Annika and Abby, since we stayed with friends that have two girls the same ages as ours. Highlights: Coney Island (the largest pool I've ever seen and Annika's first trip down a water slide), the Cincinnati Zoo, a nearly shaved long-haired cat, and overall fine company.

Columbus: another good family time, along with North Market (featuring ice cream, salsa, and tabouli), swimming at Lifetime Fitness, playing at the park, drinking scotch ales, and seeing the mighty Ohio State Fair (featuring Annika's first solo roller coaster ride, the world's largest boot, a cow made of butter, a log-rolling dog, and general fair mania). Back at Nick and Beth's, Annika had lots of fun doing sit-down-stay tricks with Maeby.

We owe thanks to all those that we stayed with, and special thanks for putting up with the chaos generated by a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old.

All of a sudden the new school year is looming large. I'm hoping that the faculty at Ferris have a contract in two weeks so we can start the year with classes instead of a strike.