Schooooooools...OUT...FOR...SUMMER!

Ack! A month went by. Well, another year ended at Ferris, and I was too far down on the rotation list to get any summer teaching assignments. That's a good chunk of change that we won't get, but with the depressing gas prices I don't really mind NOT driving up to Big Rapids. So, I'll just be in GR for the most part, trying not to spend too much money, mowing the lawn, teaching Annika to ride a bike, and doing a few mathematical things that I've been hoping to do.

At the end of April I attended the math meeting that the Michigan section of the Mathematical Association of America holds each year. This year I contributed a 20-minute talk on dividing squares and rectangles with into smaller squares, and the highlight was showing off the quilt Mom made using one particular pattern that divides a square into 21 smaller squares, no two of which are the same size. The quilt was a big hit. We had talked about showing it at the Tulip Time quilt show in Holland, but I needed it for my talk during the show. Maybe next year. Amazingly, I don't have a picture of the quilt.

Until next month...(hopefully not)...

A Roaring Start

The official prediction by Sports Illustrated is that the Tigers will beat the Cubs in the World Series next fall. The Tigers have indeed put together an incredible lineup, something I never could have imagined a few years ago, and they have some pretty decent pitching. ESPN amassed separate predictions from around 20 of its writers, and nearly all of them have the Tigers in the playoffs, and either the Yankees or the Red Sox out (that hasn't happened in awhile). So, the season started Monday, and the Tigers went and got swept by the Royals this week in a three-game series in Detroit. The Kansas City Royals! Yuck.

Adventures in Minor Car Repair

I am not gifted at car repair. I mostly prefer cars to do their job and then sit in the garage (and only speak when spoken to). As a result, Lisa's dad is usually involved when things go wrong with our car. On Friday my car started to make a loud rattle underneath, and this weekend we stopped by Lisa's folks to take a peek at it. I actually found the rattling part after a quick inspection, and after Lisa's dad found a hose clamp in the basement, we managed to tighten up a loose piece of the exhaust and essentially fix the problem. In between those steps is where I "helped."

To get under the car Lisa's dad got out his ramps and we went to drive the front wheels up them. In the past Lisa's dad has usually done this, but I decided to just do it, since I was at the wheel already. So, as I've tried in the past, I used both the brakes and the engine simultaneously, crept up the ramp, reached the top, and then proceeded to shoot completely over the ramps. When you do this, the car drops over the far edge of the ramps, lands loudly upon them, and with the wheels still spinning some, keeps going. For a moment I had visions of plowing into all sorts of things at the back of the garage. During this time, the ramps, which are being crushed by the car into the cement of the garage floor, were dragged along with a deafening grating sound.

Fortunately, the car stopped relatively quickly, we easily jacked it up to release the ramps, and I successfully made it up on a second try. The ramps do have some dents on top where the frame of my car landed on them, but they appear to still be entirely functional (phew!). So, anyway, yay for incompetency in car repair.

KBS Day

Of course, KBS stands for Kentucky Breakfast Stout. Friday night, as planned, Nick, Dad, Kevin and I went to Founders, but only after we fed ourselves at Yesterdog (Kevin's first time). It was busy, but we got a table, each had a couple delicious beers, and munched on some peanuts. Later that night, after rejoining the ladies, some of us watched Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (on VHS!) to get ready for the fourth Indy movie in May.

On Saturday, Nick and I headed back, after the 11am start time for the sale of this year's batch of KBS, the beer currently rated as the 6th best beer in the world by BeerAdvocate.com (Nick and I are both members). It wasn't very busy and we both ordered some KBS and sat down to enjoy it. We each got the official KBS goblet to take home, too. In the end, we bought a case (24 bottles) of it to split:



I have yet to try one of my bottles, but the sampling we had at Founders was as glorious as ever. At $4.75 a bottle, it's expensive (I'll let you do the math for a case of it), but that's equivalent to a $20 bottle of wine, which some people don't blink an eye at. Either way, it'll be a while before I spend big money on beer again.

The Boss

My latest favorite song lyric:

"Mister as I bent and kissed her, she was picked up by a twister;
My Oklahoma woman blowed away."

-Bruce Springsteen, singing "My Oklahoma Home" on We Shall Overcome

Coming Attractions...

It'd been a month, but here's some coming excitement:

• Founders on Friday night with Kevin (and maybe Nick)
• Founders on Saturday with Nick to buy some Kentucky Breakfast Stout on the day that it's released, and then time spent at some other cool GR beer locale
• Determination of the March Madness brackets for college basketball on Sunday, and then all the ensuing hullabaloo

Now that's a weekend to look forward to...

Football Eulogy

Farewell, oh 2007 football season - you were very good to us. You had upsets, suspense, scandal, and you even made history, both good and bad. Thank you for giving us a splendid Super Bowl. It went perfectly with my India Pale Ale and homemade hot wings (thank you, Kevin). I was disappointed not to see a perfect season by the Patriots, but in the end it seemed fitting and just, since they might be big old cheaters. Even my typical disdain for the success of New York sports teams waned a little. Maybe it's because Eli Manning seems like a nice guy (although he and Peyton will probably be in ever commercial during football '08). So, thanks again, football, for being there for me on the weekends. Maybe I'll even see you in HD next year (I can dream). But Notre Dame football 2007 - I'm glad you're gone.

Now, we will just try to survive the next 6 weeks, until March Madness sets in and baseball finally starts.

See you next year, oh noble, glorious football.