Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Saturday is Dump Day

Saturday is Dump Day

Today Mark will be over and we will go and cut wood. I suggested 2 truckloads and think that will be enough. I have three (3) reviews to complete having done four (4) already. One has some sharp edges I need to smooth off.

It is going to be a beautiful day. This has been a mild winter and I have only burned about half of what I did last year. When the temperature drops below zero and reaches down to twenty below for a few days in January I have to fill the stove up to five times a day. That is cold….real cold. This year it gets down to zero at night but goes up into the teens or higher during the day.

Yesterday Linda and I took a drive around the country side. We visited a number of local antique shops and didn’t buy anything. The quality is just not there like it once was. My brother and I and our wives are planning a trip to France in September, to the village we grew up in as boys. I am looking forward to walking around and getting reacquainted.

When I do a review I put the student vignette on my Apple and crank the font size up three times. The Apple also has a capability for sweeping pages and I can really navigate around well while reviewing. On an older laptop I call up the word processor, take the review template and commence to reviewing. This really works well for me and takes at least an intense half an hour to complete one…sometimes longer.

These are comprehensive and great reviews, (better than anything I have ever gotten) and the students usually respond with a “Thank-You”… even when I think at time they would prefer a “Kiss my grits, Percy.” Actually I have gotten some pretty sharp, albeit gloved replies….”I must respectfully disagree with this review,” I hear from time to time. There is the one that questions my competence to teach the course…. That’s when I know I have hit a raw nerve. I used to get the dreaded, “How Dare You!” opening but I must becoming more socialized because I don’t get that one anymore. In one group I had to respectfully withdraw to the tune… “Don’t let the screen door hit you in the butt.” These days, however, the tension level is low and the students seem to enjoy, even if they don’t always agree, the comments they are receiving.

Oh my Goodness! Linda just brought me a plate of grapes and donuts and a cup of hot steaming Coffey. Am I pampered or what?