11/26/08 making laptops talk nicely to each other

I have a lot of work to do, but here's what I did instead. This is my old laptop, my school laptop, and my new laptop. See the screen on the one on the left on the floor? That's the symbol for that one being in "target mode" which is allowing me to pull all the data and applications off of that one and put them on my new one. The other one is just waiting its turn. There is so much time involved in setting up a new laptop! But it's so worth it!

8/6/08 Singing in the Rain

We didn't go to Boston today. It was too rainy. In fact, that's all it's been doing is rain. If it had been drizzly or gray (which we've had plenty of as well), we might have gone, but the drive was supposed to be part of the fun and in this kind of rain it seemed pointless to set out on a less-than-safe trip of 8 hours on rain-slick highways.

What to do instead? We went through many many alternatives and then decided to watch a movie. Went to the video store, had one in hand, looked at others, thought of some that they didn't have available, and then ended up watching this one. How perfect is that?!

It turns out that Rodney had never seen Singing in the Rain, so I was double thrilled that not only was it the perfect movie for today but that he could now cross this off his list of movies every person should see.

Then we watched Fever Pitch. How could Mr. Red Sox never have seen that one?! It was fun to watch that one again as a new Red Sox fan.

Here's the scary part. We stopped at the grocery store to get the perfect snack for movie watching in today's weather: hot chocolate and marshmallows. Yes, it's actually that cold and damp here. Yesterday I had to wear a fleece jacket and today I broke down and wore a sweatshirt. I'm actually liking that aspect of the weather. It's August and Dallas has had 22 days over 100 degrees at last count (that was a few days ago). And I'm wearing jackets and sweatshirts in August. I am a happy woman.

Who knew I was geographically challenged?

When you live in Dallas all your life, compass directions are pretty easy. Mexico is south, almost all of the US is north, and "East Coast" and "West Coast" make sense because that's what direction you go to get there. When you move to the East Coast, your perspective has to change. I just told a friend, who wanted to know where Farmington was within the state of Maine, that I was 2 hours north and east of Portland. Later, I realized, "You can't be east of Portland . . . that would put you in the Atlantic Ocean!" But how can anything in Maine be "west" when all of Maine was "east" for your whole life?

Lindsay, this is why I make so many u-turns when we travel together on the East Coast. It's especially weird when I'm on Long Island and
I want to go to New York City. There's no way on the map in my head that New York City can be "west" of anything! But it is, in fact, west of Long Island.

5/19/08 Old Fashioned Road Construction Flag Man Set Up

I remember this from my childhood and was trying to figure out why I hadn't seen it in so long. I guess most of my driving has been on divided highways since my childhood and I just hadn't run into this. But here is an old fashioned flagman who is stopping the traffic in one direction while those of us coming from the other direction utilize the only available lane on the two-lane highway. Behind me was a truck that was part of the construction crew and he was the last one to get through from my direction. The flagman back on the other side of the construction had put up his STOP sign and was halting traffic coming from my direction. As soon as the truck and I get through, this flagman in the picture will turn his sign from STOP to SLOW and allow this line of vehicles to utilize the single lane. As I recall, back when gas was cheap and walkie talkies weren't, the construction truck was the signal of the end of the line and the time to let the waiting traffic proceed. That truck would then turn around and get at the end of the now moving line and follow it through signaling the other side that it was now their turn. I'm thinking it's all done by walkie talkie now but it was a fun flashback.

PS This was on the road to Dixfield where I taught my graduate course this semester. Except this time I wasn't going teaching, I was going to Mexico, Maine, which is just a few miles beyond Dixfield, and is the closest Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. I got my Maine driver's license today!

4/9/08 A new blog

I started a new blog today. Check out "Write On, Wipe Off". It's about the messages that college students (and others) leave on my message board on my office door. I'd been collecting the photos for a while, though I was never sure what I was going to do with them. I just knew that I wanted to capture the fleeting moments.

There are 14 entries to get the blog off to a jump start. Mostly this blog will be about the photos but there are stories to go with the photos sometimes. It's actually an extension of this Mainiacs blog because it's still about life in Maine, but the new blog will be specific to UMF Mainiacs that I know personally. You'll have to check it out to see what I mean. ;-)

Friday, 8/10/07: Office Magic

I spent most of Friday afternoon getting my office in shape. I had packed everything up that was mine before I left so that when Mike came to move his stuff out, he wouldn't have to mess with move extra stuff. This is actually one of the best offices on the floor, and as one of the most senior faculty members, he got one of the first choices. I shared the cool office with him while he was on sabbatical, but now that he's on leave and I'm here for 3 years, I get my own office. He graciously offered to let me keep the better office since I was actually going to be using it for the next 3 years. Wow. What a great guy!

So when I came back, I had all of my stuff from last semester sitting on the floor in bags and then I added all the stuff I brought in my car. It was pretty messy. Here are two "before" photos:

Here's a "during" photo . . . I had already put back the stuff from the floor from last semester before I took this, but I hadn't unpacked yet.

And here's the payoff for a job well done. Everything's unpacked and put away. I don't have nearly as many books in my professional library as Mike had, but I at least have "stuff" on the shelves now. I still need to get the electronics sorted out, but UMF is ordering a new laptop for me and once that arrives, I'll be able to better set up my desk and computer peripherals. So I guess these aren't "after" photos as in the finished office, but just "after today's work" photos.

Tuesday, 8/7/07: Krazy Kristin and the Office Supplies

On Tuesday, when I took Marty to the Education Center and we met "the gang," we found the box with my regalia in it. It was supposed to go to Kristin and she had agreed to open it up and hang up the regalia for me. But instead, it sat in the mailroom for 6 weeks because someone else had carefully tucked it away to keep it safe. oh well. But inside, I had packed a goofy pink pen with a thank you note on it for Kristin. So I wanted to open the box now and give Kristin her goodie (plus hang up the regalia). I suddenly realized that I didn't have any scissors. Last semester, I had used Mike's scissors, but now he was moved out.

In May, Kristin asked me for a list of desk supplies that I would need. I emailed her a list (I don't have a copy anymore because I apparently sent it from my UNT email) that not only described what I wanted, but what I didn't want. For example, I know the description of the stapler said that it should take a full strip. I didn't want have all those small pieces of staple strips lying around that you get when your stapler doesn't use a full strip. I guess I carefully described the scissors and mentioned that I didn't want round points. And I vaguely remember that the scotch tape dispenser description included that I wanted it heavy enough to stay in one place while pulling the tape off. Kristin said that the list so cracked her up, that she had gathered all the supplies I wanted AND all the supplies I didn't want. She didn't get a chance to wrap them up, but she gave me the box. Below are the contents . . . both the wrong kind and the right kind.

After a good laugh, I used my new "right kind" of scissors to open the regalia box and hang it up. The pink pen had a tag on it that said, "Thank you, Kristin!" Even though it was intended to be a thank you for hanging up the regalia, it was now a thank you for having a great sense of humor and making UMF a fabulous and fun place to work.

Continue to Pray for Sarah

One of Sarah's classmates reported to me that he had gone to visit Sarah. He said that she is "completely off sedatives and is making a slow recovery. Doctors say everything is healing as it is supposed to. Doctors are, however, unsure of how long the recovery will be. They say between a month and a year, possibly longer. She may have brain injury but the extent of the brain injury is not yet known. She can see and hear, likes touching things, and can identify her mother. She ate for the first time since the accident (she has feeding tubes). She ate a little bit of chocolate pudding and licked most of the remainder off her lips by herself. She held my hand when I placed my hand on hers and though she did not focus on me or anyone thing I think she knew how I was based on the way she held my hand. It was almost as if to tell me she's alright. She is going through therapy right now (she is sitting up, moving appendages, that sort of thing). As I left she also gave what appeared to be a thumbs up but I could just be imagining it."

This is good news but there is obviously still a long way to go. Please keep praying!

Please pray for Sarah

One of my students, Sarah, was in a horrible car accident last Saturday (May 5, 2007). It wasn't certain that she would live; the good news is that now it looks like she'll make it through. Below is the newspaper article about the accident and an email update from the University. Sarah is a bright, creative, eager student and a kind, outgoing young woman. I'm holding out for a miracle. Also, please pray for the family of the other driver in the accident who died at the scene of the accident.

From: Celeste Branham
Subject: Update on Sarah Mueller's Condition
Date: May 9, 2007 12:35:53 PM CDT

Dear Members of the UMF Community,

I spoke with Sarah Mueller’s mother moments ago and wanted to share with you news of Sarah’s current medical status. Sarah remains in critical condition on a respirator, but the doctors say her prognosis is good; they expect to remove the respirator sometime later this week. She has undergone several surgeries to repair broken bones in her feet and legs, and though she suffered chest trauma, her lung functions are good. She continues to be sedated, and an assessment of her head injuries will be made when the sedation is eliminated. From my conversation with Sarah’s mother, I was able to glean reason for optimism, and wanted you to know of her progress.

As ever,

Celeste

Ms. F. Celeste Branham
V.P. for Student and Community Services
University of Maine at Farmington

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mercer car crash leaves 1 woman dead
By CRAIG CROSBY
Staff Writer
Monday, May 07, 2007

MERCER -- A woman is dead and a teenage girl critically injured following a head-on crash on U.S. Route 2 Saturday evening.

Cynthia Gee, 55, of Skowhegan, was pronounced dead at the scene, said State Police Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance.

The other driver, Sarah Mueller, 17, of Anson, a student at the University of Maine at Farmington, had to be extricated from her vehicle and was airlifted to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with life-threatening injuries, Perkins-Vance said. Mueller was listed in critical condition at the hospital Sunday evening.

The accident occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday when one of the vehicles crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision, Perkins-Vance said.

It has yet to be determined which vehicle crossed the center line or why, though neither speed nor alcohol appear to be a factor, Perkins-Vance said.

Gee was not wearing a seatbelt, Perkins-Vance said.

Both Gee's 1998 Toyota Corolla four-door and Mueller's 1992 Ford Escort four-door were totaled in the crash, Perkins-Vance said.

Craig Crosby -- 861-9253

ccrosby@centralmaine.com
retrieved May 10, 2007 from: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3881411.html

May 5, 2007: 10 Dozen Postings

That last posting about Peepers was my 120th blog entry since moving to Maine on January 8, 2007. It's almost 4 months (it will be 4 months on Tuesday). That means I averaged 30 postings a month . . . one post a day (though regular readers know it was more in spurts than a nice daily posting).

How cool is that? I really didn't think I would keep it up. But now I have a backlog of photos to post and I haven't been keeping up my photo website. Maybe I'll get caught up this summer (HA!).

I'll be back in Texas for 3 months and then back here in Maine for 3 more years. I don't know if I'll post anything while I'm in Texas, but I plan to keep it up when I get back to experience more Life with the Mainiacs!

May 5, 2007: Peepers!

Here in Maine, there’s a special sound that you only hear for a 2-3 week period. It starts in the south and fairly quickly, moves north across the state. It is the harbinger of spring, the indicator of the end of Mud Season and the beginning of Spring Season. It’s the sound of peepers. They are some kind of tree/brush frog and only make this sound in the spring. Here’s a website with lots of biological info on the species AND a project that local students can do to help the Maine Bureau of Land and Water Quality keep up with them:

http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/doceducation/jeepers/peeper.htm

When I flew back from Texas on April 21, MRM and RBF heard them in a marshy area just outside the airport when they came to pick me up. They even drove back around after they got me so that I could hear it for myself. Not too long after that (May 1, to be exact), I heard them in the creek beside the Education Center. Last night, when I was walking home, I recorded their song on my Palm voice recorder. It’s not the greatest quality recording, but it’s MY recording. :-) On the Maine.gov website above, you can hear a better quality recording, but I’m posting mine here for documentation’s sake.

May 3, 2007: Great News for UNT!

This doesn't have anything to do with Life in Maine, but I'm so excited, I have to share it somewhere. [Or maybe it's related to life in Maine because if an albino squirrel can make headlines in Texas, what's so odd about a donkey making headlines in Maine? Maybe our cultures are more alike than we think.]

At University of North Texas, we had an unofficial mascot of an Albino Squirrel. Last summer, "Baby" met an untimely, but natural death when it was attacked by a hawk. It would be the natural fate of an albino squirrel to be easily spotted by a predator. But Baby was actually the second albino squirrel to be spotted on campus. And now a third is found! This is a baby squirrel and it is assumed that it's "Baby's baby." Below is the article, but also the link to the source article because if you go to the source, there are links to an article about Baby's death (which made BIG local news on all the TV stations and radio stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area . . . even the memorial service was aired on TV) and there's a link to the Albino Preservation Society, a campus organization. I personally own an Albino Christmas Tree ornament and a series of "Albinotines" -- special heart shaped greeting cards with photos of Baby sent in lieu of Valentine's Cards. It's all great fun.


May 03, 2007
New baby albino squirrel discovered living on UNT campus
Posted by: Julie Elliott Payne



The UNT campus community was in mourning after the campus’ albino squirrel, "baby," was killed by a red-tailed hawk. But as the spring semester winds down, it turns out “baby” left a legacy - a third albino squirrel has been discovered on campus.

The newest squirrel - a baby - is living near Maple Hall and was first seen the week of April 27. It is part of a group of several baby squirrels living in a tree near that residence hall.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Some students consider the albino squirrel an unofficial mascot and good-luck charm. Just last month, a memorial was dedicated at the Willis Library Cyber Café in honor of “baby.” K.T. Shiue of the North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts took the photos of “baby” used in the memorial and was able to capture several photos of the new squirrel.

The first albino squirrel on campus, nicknamed "Thelonius," was spotted around 2000. It is unclear what happened to that squirrel. “Baby” was first spotted in April 2004.

In 2002, a group of students founded the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society to raise awareness about the animal.

story and photo retrieved May 5, 2007 from: http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?commentID=1777

The story also made the local TV news' website with even more photos:
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13258627/detail.html
And here's a personal connection: some of the photos (the one on this blog entry that came from the UNT website and two of the one's on the Channel 5 website) were taken by K.T. Shiue who was in my doctoral program with me.

April 24, 2004 missing that springtime weather in Texas . . . NOT

This just came across email at UNT, issued by the National Weather Service at 2:00pm:

200 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 230 PM CDT
FOR DENTON COUNTY...

AT 200 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND
DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
DENTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
KRUGERVILLE AND AUBREY BY 205 PM CDT...
RAY ROBERTS PARK ISLE DU BOIS BY 210 PM CDT...

HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS STREETS...DITCHES AND
UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS AS THEY
MAY BE WASHED OUT.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING
FOR NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only to be followed by this one that was issued at 2:10pm:


BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
210 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHEASTERN DENTON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...

* UNTIL 300 PM CDT

* AT 210 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR OAK POINT...OR ABOUT NEAR LAKE DALLAS...
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
KRUGERVILLE BY 215 PM CDT...
AUBREY BY 220 PM CDT...
PILOT POINT BY 235 PM CDT...

EVACUATE MOBILE HOMES FOR A STORM SHELTER OR PERMANENT BUILDING. IF
NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH AND COVER
YOUR HEAD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

quarter-size hail, floods, tornadoes, . . . aaaah, springtime in Texas. It must be time for the Byron Nelson Golf Classic.

Spring Break

April 14-22 is Spring Break here at UMF. I went back to Dallas for the week and worked at UNT. It was very hectic but I did get to see a bunch of friends and have some fun besides. Then, all of a sudden, the time was up and I was back on a plane to Portland, Maine. Now I only have 18 days and it's back to Texas for graduation (Friday May 11) and a family reunion (May 10-12).

The Dean sent out the email below to everyone in the College of Education, Health, and Rehabilitation while we were on spring break:

------ Message ------
From: Katherine Yardley
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:40:10 -0400
Subject: Theresa Overall

Hi All,

Please join me in congratulating Theresa Overall who has accepted the Visiting Professor of Secondary/Middle Education position. She will be assuming Mike Muir’s position while he is on leave. Theresa will be offering the introductory course, in addition to courses in technology integration and classroom management that are part of the Secondary Block.

Please join me in wishing her well!

Kathy

Katherine W. Yardley, Dean
College of Education, Health and Rehabilitation
University of Maine at Farmington

------ End of Message ------

Looks like there might be 3 more years worth of Life with the Mainiacs and I can't wait!!

Snowshoeing

I actually did get to go snowshoeing. It was a while back and I was waiting to write about it when I got the pictures and video figured out. Then I forgot about it. I promise to write more later, but meanwhile, I did figure out how to upload the video of the momentous occasion. The video is actually pretty hysterical. If you click on this link below, you can read all about it before you view it. The link is going to take you to another website (podbean.com). After you laugh at the video, click your browser's back button to come back to this website.

http://texastheresa.podbean.com/2007/04/14/snowshoeing

Going to the movies

I think the last time I went to a movie in a movie theatre was before I started my master's degree in 1997. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but I really think that's true. If I went to a movie with you, would you please email me and remind me. Even if I did go to the movies in the last 10 years, it has only been once or twice. It's very safe to say that I rarely go to the movies in the theatre.

But now that I've finished that dissertation . . . I've been 3 times in Farmington!! The theatre is close, there's rarely a line, the seats are comfy, and the price is incredibly reasonable. Best of all . . . I have time to do it! And can go guilt free. :-)

In February I saw Dream Girls**, in March we went to Bridge to Terabithia, and Thursday night, in the middle of all the Friday the 13th snow, we went to see Firehouse Dog. There were probably 10 people there and 1 employee. So Judy, the assistant manager would sell a few tickets, then go work the concession stand, then go start a movie, then come back. She was very nice and efficient. It was kind of fun. How small town can you get, eh? We were the only ones in our theatre. We talked during the movie and laughed out loud whenever we wanted to because we could.

BTW, I can highly recommend all three of those movies.

**see the Feb. 7 posting "cigar box under the counter" for details about the movie theatre and the movie Dream Girls

Friday the 13th Weather

It started snowing last night and snowed throughout the night. We awoke this morning to probably 6 inches or more of snow but it was 31 degrees most of the night so it's not too icy or anything. The streets are plowed. But it was a very wet snow and so we lost power in the night, probably due to fallen lines or trees falling on power lines due to the weight of the snow. We lost power at some point, but I slept through it. I had to reset the microwave clock before I could cook my oatmeal. Other than that, I wasn't affected too much. Walking to school was interesting, though, because there was falling snow everywhere. I walked home in a beautiful white snowstorm last night, but this falling snow was big blobs of snow falling off the trees that shade the sidewalk in summer but provide diving boards for snow clumps on days like this. It was like getting hit by lots of tiny snowballs being dropped instead of thrown. I should've used my Mr. Tumnus umbrella.

Most schools were let out early yesterday in anticipation of the storm and some had late arrival this morning. UMF canceled all classes after 5pm (I wonder if the classes that start at 4:30 but last until 6 were canceled or only met for 30 minutes or what they did). But we had no delay this morning. So I didn't have to try to pretend that Friday the 13th was a holiday to keep up with my "it always snows big on holidays" theory. There's a big storm in the west heading this way that is scheduled to hit here Monday with lots of snow. And Monday is Patriot's Day! It's a New England Holiday. So the storms hit Texas Independence Day and Patriot's Day. How appropriate is that??

But we're not the only ones with wacko weather. I just got this email on my UNT email:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: OfficialNotice@pres.admin.unt.edu
Subject: Be aware of evacuation and shelter plans in the event of severe weather today
Date: April 13, 2007 10:25:47 AM EDT
To: OfficialNotice@pres.admin.unt.edu

Weather forecast for today includes the possibility of significant severe weather -- including damaging winds (up to 60-80 MPH), hail, tornadoes and localized flooding -- all campus building representatives are asked to make sure the faculty, staff and students in their buildings are reminded of the building's shelter and evacuation plans.

Currently, the forecasts include projections for rain or possible thunderstorms from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. However, the greatest potential for severe weather is predicted from around 2 p.m. throughout the evening.

In the event a severe thunderstorm warning is issued for Denton, and damaging hail or high winds appear imminent and especially in the event of a tornado warning, people will need to take immediate shelter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Definitely Friday the 13th weather. And I'm glad I'm not leaving until Saturday morning for spring break in Texas. I can survive being in either kind of wacky weather but am not too excited about trying to fly through it.

March 25, 2007: But Wait! There's More

As if a 3 mile walk around the lake (with Benny and Cassie, the dogs, in tow) and all that traveling weren't enough, we went to a concert that night. It was actually MRM and I that attended and Creston joined us. It was really good. It was a concert by a French Canadian music group (which sounded an awful lot like Cajun music to me and they even played some Cajun music) with a local fiddling group as their warmup.

I saw Paul, who's on the Univ. Culture Comm. with me, at the concert. Turns out his daughter is one of the fiddlers. They're going to Ireland in a few weeks and this was a fund-raising event for them as well as a concert for us. The guy who plays fiddle in the quartet is a music teacher at the local school and the director of the Farmington Fiddlers.

The concert was in Nordica Auditorium at UMF, named for a famous opera singer from a long time ago. The acoustics in the room are fabulous and the woodwork throughout is gorgeous. I only wish the chairs were a little more comfortable. ;-)

I really enjoyed the music and even bought a CD!

March 25, 2007: A Walk Around Lake Minnehonk

At the second Sugar House, RBF ran into an old school chum, Christine. She and RBF literally went to a one-room school house . . . not that they're that old but that the rural area they come from is that small. We met Christine's husband, Wayne and before I knew it, we accepted their invitation to walk around the lake to the other side and see their home which is built inside a rescued old garage/gas station. It was a gorgeous walk through the woods, and the house was unique and wonderful.

Along the way, we saw the lines and buckets that their friends who own the Sugar House use to collect sap. It's not one bucket for every tree anymore. They run tubes from tree to tree to tree that then empty into a larger communal bucket.






This ATV came by twice. Look! It has a snow plow on the front (well, a front end loader maybe, but it was going to be used as a snow plow).


Check out the view of the lake from their deck:





They invited us back to do smelt fishing or kayaking or swimming. Wowser. I think I'll have to take them up on one of their offers. They were gracious hosts and a lot of fun. :-)

March 25, 2007: Maine Maple Syrup Sunday Part 2

Then we went to Mount Vernon. We had lunch in the Olde Post Office Cafe. Creston lives nearby, so we gave him a call and he joined us. The Cafe had actually had so many customers that it was out of nearly everything, but we managed to find something to eat and had a good time. Then we ventured out to find another Sap House from the listing we had from the newspaper. We found one!