Nippy

I guess it does get cold in Memphis. Last night the temps drop into the 20's and this morning was in the mid 30' on my commute in. Of course, the heat doesn't work in my old truck, so I layer and bundle up, throw on my gloves and hit the road! If I leave my garage by 6:20 ish, I miss most of the back up at the I40, I240 split heading downtown, but if I get out after 6:30 ish, I most likely get caught in backup, slowdown traffic for a few miles. I like getting to my office during the peace and quite of the early morning, so I typically get up around 5:15, drink some coffee, check on-line, read the sports, then head on out. Oh yeah, my wife reminded me that tomorrow is the 1st of Dec, so our 'secret Santa' program kicks in. I have her name, so I will begin looking for stocking stuffers for her. My daughter loves this stuff, so I will need to take her shopping tomorrow so she can get some gifts to stuff.

Got to get to Patho now. Later.

Good day!

Black Friday?

That is exactly what is wrong with the holiday and with people in general. Though I hate that things like the "black Friday" fights etc at Wal-Mart happens, they do tend to justify (at least to me) how I feel about the commercialization of Christmas and about how stupid people are in general! How can anything materialistic be so important that folks fight, push, shove, trample, curse and generally disrespect other folks? If the Christmas spirit where really alive and well in our country and if folks actually lived as Christ would have them live, would any of that crap happen? Of course not. So, in the name of celebrating the birth of Christ, we treat each other this way to get a "gift" for someone? This just never has sat well with me and I hope I am not the only one that sees the absurd behaviors as just the opposite as I feel Christ would have us behave, particular as we celebrate his birth each year.

Otherwise, my Thanksgiving was great. My wife made an excellent dinner. We ate, rested, played games and yes, watched some football!

Cowboys won, Panthers won, Giants lost.... One of the smallest guys on the PGA tour and among the shortest drivers off the tee won the annual Skins game.... Tiger was second, but probably should have one easily...

Time to head home for the evening....

Good day

It's HERE!

Tomorrow is the big day, but today feels like a holiday too! No classes, leaving the office at noon. Thanksgiving is a good holiday for me. No presents to buy, just food and drink and sports and family (not really in order of importance there)! It is a time to relax, enjoy the blessings God has given us and spend time with family. Of course I won't get to see any of my extended family and I will miss talking to my Mom on T-day, but my wife, daughter, dog, hampster and I always make it a good day. One downside is that after Thanksgiving, the Christmas "rush" really intensifies! Oh well, let me just enjoy this break, get back to classes on Monday and then deal with the madness of the X-mas season. I really do love the Christmas holiday season, it is just that the crass commercialization has gotten so much worse and starts so much sooner now, and worsens each year. But, my family enjoys Christmas and we try to make it more about the birth of Christ, goodwill among all people, good food and family, but "gifts" are still a big part of it for my kids. Anyway, logging off for a few days. Hope everyone has a safe and meaningful holiday!

Good day

Two more days!

Don't get the impression that I like Thanksgiving or anything, but I do enjoy this holiday as much or more that any other. Actually, some holidays we celebrate should be eliminated, as least in my opinion. As you know, I detest Halloween and the whole concept of kids begging for more candy they don't need. I am not Irish, so St. Pat's is out for me, since most folks use it as just another excuse to get drunk and act stupid. Oh, and what in the hell is Valentine's day about? Get rid of that excuse to spend more money before Halloween please. I guess all the "day" holidays are good, ie, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Grand....days, Labor day, Memorial Day etc, but I have doubts about the origin of Memorial Day. I didn't know that many southern states didn't recognize the usual Memorial Day until I got to South Carolina. It apparently was created by the US. govt in honor of Union soldiers buried in the south. Anyway, I can go either way on that one. Sure, we need to recognize the birthday's of some of our past great leaders. So, If I were in charge, we would keep MLK Day, Easter, Mom/Dad Days, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, veteran's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. How in the world did New Year's Day get to be a holiday? So we lived through another year. Is that an excuse to go bananas? Another excuse to get drunk and act irresponsible if you ask me. But, any day that gets me out of work is good with me, right?

My thing about Christmas is that it has become so commercialized that I don't think most people actually stop to think what the day actually represents. I need to look into the history of it, but for most kids in our society, it has become a feast of "how much can I get this year". Love and goodwill toward our fellow citizens and honoring the birth of Jesus too often thanks a background to materialism in our country.

Well, anyway, if I can kill 15 more minutes I am out the door for the day!

Good day

Trimester winding down

For a prof, this is a great time of the year. My first trimester at Baptist College is winding down. Next week is Thanksgiving,my favorite holiday, and there are no classes W,R,F or Sat. Then, two more weeks of classes and FINAL Exams! I usually have all my grades ready, then plug in the final scores and BAM, I am finished! Of course, it is about this time that those students not doing so well start to panic and begin begging for extra credit or additional make up work. I always say the same thing, "extra credit is like extra money, I never have either", so they get the point. But it looks like my API class will be mostly B's and I hope not to have to fail anyone in Patho, but it looks iffy for a couple of students. Micro I think all will pass.

So, lab is over, and I am FREE from work until Monday. Of course, I always take something home to work on for Sunday. It helps me stay a few steps ahead and that is something that I need to do. Next trimester, I will have all my lectures essentially done on powerpoint, so I will have must less busy work to do each week.

UK is getting stomped by Georgia in the third quarter, which is no surprise, but Vandy is actually ahead of Tennessee, which I hope Vandy can win. Ohio St. ahead of Michigan, but it is close and tonite the battle for South Carolina pits Clemson against USC in Columbia. My son will be at the game and I really hope SC wins big! One regret I have and will always have is not being able to go to games with my son. We went to a few games when he was younger, but we could be having so much fun going to big games now that he is 14! Oh well, I have to believe I did the right thing by getting out of that marriage in the long run, right?

Gots to go, grab some brewskies and watch me some FOOTBALL!

Good day

Another Saturday Sunrise

I guess I will kind of miss the Saturday morning 8am class I have this semester. Not the class itself, but it is kind of nice driving into Memphis without so much traffic and it seems that without all the traffic I get more green lights. I can make the commute in 35 minutes or so. And, it is so peaceful on campus on Sat morning. Man, I really got lucky when I got this position. I have a great corner office on the third floor with an awesome view of the sunrise. The tecnology support is above average and with the title of Professor, I have the respect of the other faculty without really having to work for it. I really don't like teaching Micro and I think they are going to stop getting me to do it. I enjoy API, APII a lot, but I had never taught Pathophysiology. Patho has turned out to be very enjoyable to teach. It moves beyond APII to consider all kinds of things that can go wrong with the human body from a systematic view. It is challenging and I find that I have to review a little myself, as I have not been this deep into physio in quite a while. But, the challenge keeps me alert and I think, makes me a better prof.

Got to go now to set up my computer for class. Maybe chat again before I go home this afternoon.

Good day.

Round 3

This morning is Exam 3 time for my Patho and Micro classes. I have watered down the exams to a point that I am almost ashamed to call them college level! The Micro exam is so basic and such easy questions that I hope everyone gets either B's or A's. No one should fail that exam! The patho stuff is challenging, but I try to pick questions that are directly from my powerpoints or the book and very straightforward. This unit is a bit easier, so I hope the class average goes up to around 80 or so. Not that I am that concerned, as long as I am doing my best as the prof, then it is up to the students to pick up their end.

Another beautiful, sunny, cool morning in Memphis. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of weather when we moved here, but it has been better than I could have hoped for, save for the Katrina remnants. Only one other storm since August and the Fall has been beautiful! The lake by our house has really turned into an arena of colors as Fall has deepened and the walk there is so nice and tranquil, save for a couple of barking dogs. The sky is usually a gorgeous blue, with a rare wisp of a cloud or two and the sunrise out of my office window always brings a smile to my soul.

Friday is here, so that means FOOTBALL! This time of year the college games mean more and the pros are getting serious about halfway through their season. The weather is cold and some games on Sunday may even have to deal with snow. As kids, my brother and I loved getting a pick up game of touch football in the snow. Most of the time, it turned into tackle, but it was all great fun.

Got to go tend to my 8 am patho exam. Sat morning means an 8 am API class followed by lab, but I am used to it now and the commute to midtown in so easy on Sat morning.

Good day.

cool, sunny Memphis Nov.

We survived the storms of yesterday. It was really cool (no pun) to follow the progress of the front and feel the much cooler air move into Memphis after the thunderstorms. I had a rough time driving home from work, as apparently, I left just in time to drive into the "teeth" of the front as it moved thru and beyond Memphis. That old truck of mine is not as reliable as it was some 400 K miles ago, so I was "up on the wheel" and really focused on what little road I could still see through the pouring rain. But, I made it to the safety of our house and road the remainder of the storm out from the comfort of my couch! Today is bright and the temp most likely won't hit 50. I heard it may drop to the high 20's tonite! This is really a great time of year with the holidays approaching and cooler weather settling in. Just as I had to suffer through the heat of summer w/out AC in that ol' truck, it doesn't have heat either, but it is easier to bundle up to stay warm than to stay cool in there, so I won't complain too much. Hey, it runs and gets me to work and back (knock on wood).

Adjusting better now to my Mom being gone. I have found a new strength and focus so that I can still hope to make her proud of me and be what she would have wanted. God works in mysterious ways I guess. Haven't cried any in over a day now, so that is a good sign, right? Time to hit the road. It is 2:36 CST and I have gotten all my work done for classes thru Saturday and even started on Monday's lecture. I am giving exams on Friday in both classes and they are done, copied and ready to go! So, adios amigos and sianara hasta manana

good day

weather, weather everywhere!

Tornados are a hoppin! Wow, there must be a serious storm system moving in and around Memphis today. We have been hearing news reports of possible tornados since last evening, but this afternoon is the first I have really seen of the potential. I am in Midtown Memphis on the third floor and I can see some seriously dark clouds moving through and hovering low. The wind is whipping around the corner of my office and the older windows are whining.... eery kind of sound, but I know I am relatively safe here. Off in the other direction, toward Mississippi, it is clear to partly cloudy and doesn't look nearly as ominous. They say the temps are supposed to drop all day and be only in the 50's as a high tomorrow, which suits me fine. I am sure some folks will be complaining about how cold it is, but hey, it is mid Nov and we should be having some cooler weather, right? The 50's are not cold and the low of 32 predicted for tomorrow night will surely chill a lot of folks. Can't wait to make my first batch of chili of the season and sit by our fire place sipping on a cocktail!

Later,
Good day

Gloomy?

A rare gloomy day in Memphis, at least it is rare since I have moved here. I suspect that all of these nice, sunny warm Nov. days we have been having here will be paid for in Jan. Cold, rain/snowy days to get even, right? Of course, my daughter wants it to snow, but it isn't as much fun for me as it used to be. Ever since I had that wreck my second week out here, I have been so jittery driving out here. I guess that is a good thing, since I am more cautious, but I am also very jumpy behind the wheel, particularly in rain. I can imagine how snow and ice will be. My many years in SC has taken some of the edge off of my bad weather driving abilities. Maybe, just maybe, it will be like riding a bike and will all come back to me instinctively!

Good weekend for football: Florida went down to SC and UGA lost. UK won for a change and U of Memphis played UTenn well, even without their star running back. The biggie is tonite: COWBOYS vs EAGLES II! Can the 'Boys beat a downtrodden Ealges team for a second time this season? Or will McNab and Co. rise out of the ruins created by TO and jump all over my C'boys?

We shall see. Sad part is, I struggle to make it through to the 3rd quarter now without falling asleep!

Ahh,, a bit of sun is shining on Memphis now.. Must be time for me to go home..

Good day!

countdown!

The feelings of losing my Mom are still strong. I still breakdown and still feel the huge gap in my life. I have talked to a few people here at BCHS and it helps. In particular, Dr. Roger Duke stops by in the mornings sometimes. He is a professor of religion and a minister. He has some good insights and has also lost his parents. One thing that changed is the "comfort zone" parents continue to provide even when we are adults. To wit, if things get so bad, job-wise, relationship-wise or otherwise, when all else fails, I knew I could always go home to Mom. Now that is gone. I guess I could always go the my Dad's homestead. Dad has my sister (1/2) and one of my brothers (1/2) living in front and behind him in mobile homes. I it came down to push/shove, I expect he could squeeze in a small trailer for me there. He lives on Gearheart Rd. and owns quite of bid of the land around it. Not rich mind you, but does have land, which is a very valuable commodity in eastern KY. Lot's of kids grow up, get married, have kids and get no farther from home than a trailer in the back yard.

Anyway, the comfort zone my Mom provided died with her. She was a good friend to me also, even though we fought a lot. I wish she had been able to relax a bit and let me help her some, but she always thought she was imposing to ask for help and would rather help others. She would either take care of herself or else, I guess.

Weekend upon us again. SC vs Fla, UT vs Memphis, Bama vs LSU and several other good games tomorrow and Monday nite, the COWBOYS vs EAGLES game. Of course, I have 8am, 12pm and 2 pm classes tomorrow, so I will be right back here until 4 or so.

Have a great weekend y'all

Good day!

Dotty

Now upon reflection, I can appreciates my Mom's funeral service a bit more. Actually, the pastor did capture her essence very well. She was unique, to say the least, and very tough. Now I can understand that her underlying fears were her motivations. She was overprotective of her sons (Randy and me) for fear something would happen to them. We were, in many ways, her life. She fought a good fight, raised us well and never quit loving or trying to protect us. If I wanted to point to a fault in my Mom, I would say that I always thought she was over-reactive, tending to get super-angry in situations that I felt didn't call for it. But, I see now how that is just another manifestation of her underlying fears. She lost her own Mother when she was only 13 and her Dad was actually very mean to her after that (and maybe before). She was raised mostly by her older sister, and in turn, helped raise her younger sister. So, in essence, she was always on edge and felt as if she had to be super tough as a big sister and later as a single Mother. She did a great job, as we never wanted for anything we needed, always had a nice home and all the support we needed.

I remember one of several occasions where Dotty held folks at bay with one of her many rifles. We lived up a "holler" (the last house) and the last .2 mi of road was actually our own driveway. Well, a car load of apparently drunk young men happened to get lost or somehow find their way to our drive. Instead of stopping to turn before entering, they came on up and wanted to turn around in our yard... well, Dotty would have none of that, so she grabs a 22-Magnum rifle, scope and all, and runs out onto our porch, brings the rifle to bear on the driver and kept it there until the car had backed all the way out of our drive and out of sight! I don't think I have ever seen anyone sober up as fast nor back up so straight and fast as that driver. Of course I was embarrassed, even though I didn't know the guys in the car, but now I can see this "Dottism" as part of how she lived life. Her reputation was one that folks knew well, and they knew that if you messed with Dotty or one of her sons, you would face her wrath. The other side of her was that of a kind, loving, caring woman who would help the less fortunate any way she could and never wanted any recognition for it. Dotty Gearheart Duncan was a complex woman, with a hard, harsh exterior and a big heart, motivated by fear to be very protective of what was hers.

Dotty will always be in my soul and will remain a motivating factor in my life.

It's Over Now

We put my Mom in the ground on Saturday. I was a mess at the Funeral. Not only having to deal with seeing people and being as social as I could, but having to say goodbye to my Mom and seeing her lay in the casket was tough. I cried or fought tears most all the way through the service. I was glad to see some old friends and family members show up and even my Dad and his wife came to pay their last respects. Everyone was nice and very supportive. My colleagues here at BCHS and my students here have been understanding and supportive as well. The college is going to establish a memorial in my Mom's name to help in the fight against cancer. The pastor for the service had known my Mom since he was 5 or 6 and had been the pastor she turned to recently to accept Jesus has her savior. I seem to recall that my Mom had been baptized years and years ago, as was I, and over the years had gotten away from Christ, but did come back. The Pastor did a great job of capturing the essence of Dotty Gearheart Duncan and shared some wonderful stories and scriptures with us. My brother (4 yrs younger), really did a great job of organizing all this in a short period of time. He not only got the ambulance to take her to the hospital last Tue., but made the decision to remove the respirator and comforted her in her final moments, then had to arrange to get her back home and all the rest. He really did a stand up job and I am very grateful and proud of him.

There is a great void in my life now and I will always miss my Mom. She always had my back, no matter how badly I screwed up, and I felt comfort in knowing I could turn to her anytime of the day or night. My Dad is alright, but I have never felt comfortable turning to him in a time of need, as I did with my Mom. Can't explain that, but it's how I always felt. He has helped me a bit over the years and I am sure he would do all he could if I got in trouble. The best part of this ordeal is that I have gotten close to my brother again. We had kind of grown apart over the years, after having been as close as any two brothers could all our lives. He kids had never met my wife and daughter and my wife and daughter had never met my aunts, uncles and cousins. My brother had us all over to his house (spread really) after the burial and we ate, drank and talked well into the night.

It is done now, over and my Mom is with the Lord and at peace. No pain, worries or sorrows can bother her now. If you are still watching and listening Mom, I love you deeply and miss you greatly. I will try to live the rest of my life as you would expect me to and still try to make you proud of me. Thanks for all you did, for all your love and support. goodbye...

Bad news

It had to happen! A rapper feud pops up again! I know, this is commonplace, but this one is between Kanye West and 50 cent and the feud is? Kanye says GBush showed his lack of respect for the African-American cause during Katrina and 50 says Kanye is nuts, GW and his cronines (my word) did all they could! Now, that is a rapper feud!

On a more solemn note, apparently my mother is not going to live through the night. My brother took her to the hospital last night and this afternoon he told the doctors to "pull the plug", ie, respirator off. She has been battling cancer and illness for a while, but we didn't know how bad she had gotten in the last few weeks. She wouldn't tell anyone nor let anyone help her (stubborn?) and by the time my brother got to her to the hospital, she was mostly gone. A bacterial infection, extremely low BP and organ failure got the best of her, or at least she should be gone in a matter of hours now. She was a tuff one most all her life, raising me and my brother pretty much single handedly (divorced when I was 13). She definitely gave us her best, but since she remarried several years ago, it has been downhill. Stress, sorry excuse (drunk) and abusive husband and excessive smoking finally took their toll. She has always had "low blood", to use a layterm, and always thought she had heart problems. Her work at a coal-mining facility plus her smoking led to deterioation of her lungs and she lost most of her sight several years back (smoking). When she was finally diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, I guess I knew the end was near. Through it all, she supported me, both emotionally and financially (during my divorce and when I left my last FT job). She was tough, wouldn't take crap from anyone and was always on the defensive (paranoid?). I have been praying that she would find some peace and happiness in her life before she passed. It has been a few years since I have seen her, but she was monumental in helping me move to the Carribbean and then on to Memphis, when I got the job here. We talked on the phone a lot and many time we ended up arguing, mostly because we were both unhappy with our own situations. To say that I owe her a lot is trivial, my life and all that is good about it is due to her. I know God has, or will shortly, take her home to the final and ultimate peace that we all yearn for. Love you mom!

Good day

candy, candy everywhere!

Wow! A student in my patho class brought in a HUGE bag of candy this morning! I shared my views of "trickorween" and a few students agreed with me. One or two pointed out that many kids are not choosing not to go out asking for candy, but instead are staying in and watching movies (scary) and eating popcorn ect. Sounds better to me.

I should know better than to look at USA Today news. I saw a couple of headlines that got to me... First, under a headline that one of Ben Ladins top advisors had escaped from a prison in Afghanistan I saw this: "security as been heightened after....'' well, if security can be "heightened" now, apparently it was slack before, thus an escaped criminal..... It amazes me that we are so reactional to these events, then become slack over time... ie, so much security and so many changes after the 9/11 attack, then we let up... when you let up that is when another attack is possible. Why have anything BUT heightened security at a prision where know terrorists are being keep and trying to escape?

The other item concerned the "bird flu" scare. It is a real threat, simply because it is spreading so rapidly through migrant birds and is moving toward Europe and North America. The "Bush man", our fearless leader, is using it already as a scare tactic to get the heat off of his sorry behind! Notice that when the news media are starting to ask questions about HIM and HIS SORRY performance as our leader, he diverts the attention onto something else. Scare these pore idiots enough and they will forget that I am the ultimate idiot (Bush's tactics)! Well, so far the only humans affected are those in close contact with infected birds. We can't get it by eating chicken that has been properly cooked, and so far, we can't get it from each other. So, stay away from live birds and anyone you know may have had intimate contact with live birds and you are pretty much safe. Apparently, the real scare is that the bird virus will mutate into a human virus that can be easily spread from person to person, thus the scare of a pandemic! No evidence exists that this has happened, but Bush is putting the scare out there concerning a US Pandemic so he can create confusion and diversion. Sure, our CDC, WHO and other health experts need to be on top of the problem, but GW's dumb ____ can hardly spell vaccine, much less be the one to inform US citizens about the bird virus. And, he want "billions" of dollars to throw at the problem, meaning more of his rich cronies will get richer....

I tell ya, the more I learn about GW and his doings, the more I know how right I was in seeing how stupid this nation was to elect him, not once, BUT TWICE!


Good day!

up next - TGiving!

Finally, my favorite holiday of the year is coming! Thanksgiving! No, it is not the food nor the football, although those things are great. I love Thanksgiving because it is all about family and not about GIFTS! I don't have to buy anything except the food! I hate it when folks minimized and degrade this wonderful holiday by calling it "turkey day"! Man, how ignorant a phrase. I'll bet some folks don't even eat turkey on that day! Ha!

Anyway, one of the TorTr's gave me a small pamphlet when they came to the door last night. It was produced by "Lakewood Baptist church" near us and explains Halloween. I was right, it is originally a pagan holiday dating back about 2000-2500 yrs ago. Apparently, the Druids felt that on an evening in the Fall, the barriers between the natural and supernatural world was removed and the dead could join us here on earth! It was a celebration, actually, of the Celtic New Year and associated with the harvest. Later, the Catholics invaded the Celts and spread Christianity. A pope moved the holiday to Nov 1 and called it All Saint's Day in honor of Christians who had passed. Of course, the night before was "All Hallow's Eve", which somehow retained some of the Druid influence and became associated with witches. The costumes and door to door stuff came in later based on a British Isle tradition, where masked players would go door to door and perform in return for food. Trick or Treat custom was added in the US, when Irish, Scottish immigrants brought their traditions over and pranks and mischief became part of the All Hallow's Eve tradition. Kids would go door to door and ask for candy. I still think it is dumb to have kids filling up on candy when they are already overweight and largely sedentary, but that is just me!

Day two of diet: 4 egg whites for brkfst, this time with some spice and a dollop of fat free ranch added (taste much better then dry).... time to eat my midmorning snack (4 oz baked chicken, 2 cups lettuce + dollop dressing)...

Later,
Good day