A Very Silly Way to Spend a Weekend

For about 14 months I have been on a committee mandated to find a replacement dean (we have been without a dean for over 2 1/2 years and after an absence of leadership for over a year, the university decided to do something--create a committee that would sit idle for about a year, then spring into action, dissolve and then reform 6 months later). So here I sit in a fancy pants hotel room in an airport outside Detroit. We had a three hour "prep" meeting earlier this evening (it was called a "working dinner" which is a good way to ruin a decent meal), after which we were instructed to reassemble tomorrow morning bright and early at 7 am. We will have 7 one hour interviews tomorrow (sorry I can't say more than that--I probably shouldn't have even said THAT much since it is all very "hush hush and hoosh hoosh") after which we have another "working dinner". Monday we (can you guess?) meet again at 7 am and trundle on until either we kill each other or settle on four people to bring out to campus for three day long visits in a few weeks. I hope to become very very ill during those four visits so I don't have to take part in that part of the process. So, since I can describe the hotel, here it is:This LOOKS like an outdoor shot but it taken within the lobby. It is very dark inside, perhaps to obscure the black mildew or so that we can't see that dull-eyed, travel-weary look in everyone's eyes. I thought those were live bamboo trees but upon close examination I realize the are simply giant plastic tree replicas. A little sad.I was told when I checked in that I would be treated to a "room with a view". Given the dreary darkness of the place, that seemed lovely. So the first thing I did when I got to my dark room was open the curtain to see this...this is the view: a giant wall of aluminum. If I look straight down I can see a handful of ground crew personnel going about their business. After staring out of the window for a while I realized that airports are very ugly places.Here is my room. It looks exactly like the room I was in in Vancouver last April. (That room did have a nice view.) Yep, here is the same square shower "rain fall" shower head. It has the same green tea leaf shaped soap bars, too. A flyer in my room boasts that this is THE PLACE to get "Michigan Muesli" ("famous the world over"--really? That's a bold claim.) I strongly suspect that I will be seeing that tomorrow at the "breakfast briefing meeting".

A mug's game

Thomas has to have his morning tea in the perfect cup, and I managed to break his last one (actually last several - clearly I have repressed feelings of violence towards him, can't imagine why) so here is the replacement. The only problem with it from his point of view is that the picture doesn't go all the way round so that both he and any possible interlocutor can simultaneously gaze on his beauty.

The New York Times is obsessed with Flint

Here's yet another story - and this time it's sort of positive!

That tree again

A couple of years agoI took a series of pictures of a fave tree of mine on Franklin. Looking back, I did a much better job from a better angle then, but here's the tree again. The relevant dates are the 13th and 26th of September, then the 10th and 24th of October:

(The September pictures are a lot clearer because I was on my bike - I took them on the way to play tennis. By the time October rolled around, no more tennis, so I was in the car.)

Tail end of the fall colo(u)rs

Spend to save (or: another Zojirushi gadget!)

Backstory: First, Frederick eats a lot of chickpeas.  We're talking more than a can a day some days.  And as cans are (a) expensive and (b) full of sodium, I decided to give dried chickpeas a go.  Second, I have discovered that I have an arthritic toe.  ("Not to worry," says my doctor brightly, "I know somebody in Flint who does big toe joint replacements!")  So, third, I have decided, on Jami's urging, to give gluten free a try, as she swears it cured her arthritic vertebra, if only just to prove that it doesn't work for me.  (Unfortunately, it seems to be helping.)  Since I can't eat any bread, I need to find a replacement, and the obvious candidate is rice.  So, long story short, it would be good to have something that both makes rice and cooks chickpeas.  I know: a ricemaker!

Here it is.  We have owned one before (can't remember why we got rid of it - what fools we were) and it was also Zojirushi, the maker of both our bread machines as well.  (Look for the little elephant, the mark of quality Japanese workpersonship.)

Does that really say "Neuro Fuzzy"?

Yes, apparently it does.  God knows why.  Anyway, I got it last week and it has been running pretty much non-stop.  Not only does it make perfect rice (overnight if you like), it makes perfect chickpeas and perfect steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast.  Yum.

Turns out I'm quite handy

 So, as regular reader(s) will know, I managed to crack supposedly unbreakable ceramic glass on our woodburning stove.  Above you can see the cracked glass removed - the tape is to stop the tiny shards scattering everywhere.  Getting it out required getting special Allen Key (tip: they're not called that here - or at least, not in Home Depot) drill bits because the (surprisingly cheap and few) screws holding it in were apparently slightly melted and unbudgeable by Simon-power alone.

 Here's the incredibly expensive (presumably because of the stupid shape, including special bite removed to make way for the handle in the - I now realize - stupidly designed door) replacement, with gasket already glued on (although I'm worried about that little gap at the bottom).

And Bob's your uncle!  Let's hope the now-only-three (because the other screws were irreparably damaged in removal) screws hold it in for the duration.

October is the prettiest month of the year

Seems a shame to eat them...

Hey - Flint made the Guardian!

And not for our excellent Institutes of Music and of Arts...
UPDATE: All's well that ends well!

First fire of the season and then...

October really has come in with a blast of cold air. So yesterday I lit the first fire of the season:

And then today I was trying to force a too-big log into it, and...

Jami, who would never in a million years attempt such a thing, says this video makes repairing it look easy. Especially if you have a lathe and in general a fully-equipped metal shop.

In 20 years you can say "I knew him when...."

Or something like that. This is a peek into Thomas's future, or so he believes at this time:
Here is how Thomas describes it: "Music for the first world in the hit video game, Blorp's Adventure. This piece evokes the boisterous and innocent emotions of beginning a grand adventure, with a pleasant repetitive guitar melody backed with the rich bassoon. Composed by esteemed musician Thomas Cushing." There are loads more (Dungeon Dirge is a pretty affecting, too.) Just go to the XYoshiApipomX YouTube channel to check them out. Designing computer game music really is a career, I kid not. Thomas made the game, Blorp's Adventure, a few years ago as part of a freshman year long project. Composing music is how he fills the evening hours. Last night seemed to require a lot of frenzied tap dancing. I'm not sure WHAT that was about since we aren't allowed to enter Thomas's room at any time (unless there are loose turtles or angry wasps in there) we can only speculate that Blorp was entering the Land of Flamenco Dancers.