Catching up-

Well, why I haven't I written anything? After all, I'm out of school this week, so I must have time on my hands. Right? Not so fast there Bucko! It might seem to you outsiders that I'm living the idyllic life but hey, I've been busy.

Friday morning was studying for my Biology final exam, which was at lunch time. I got 46 out of 50 right on the test. I'm still waiting to see my final score for the class but it should be an A to match the A that I earned in Public Speaking. I've pushed my GPA up to 3.96 with these two classes. After lunch I loaded up and headed out to Impact Guns and their indoor range for some shooting and to test my newly purchased 17. But first I diverted to Wal-Mart for an oil change for the truck and to get pictures developed that were left over from son Noah's summer travels. I ended up buying a box of ammo for the Ruger 45 since I forgot to pack that into the range bag. The engine light came on for the second time in as many weeks while I was out, so I stopped into AutoZone and they kindly hooked their OBD-II tester to my truck's system and pronounced that I had a bad O2 sensor.

I did finally, make it to the range and you can read all about that fun in the post below this one. Friday night I got guns cleaned up and I think the spouse and I just collapsed in front of the moving picture box until I started snoring in my recliner.

Saturday I was up early because Honest-1 garage opened at 8 and they had already promised to get my truck in first thing and to try to get the lean condition reported by the computer tester fixed before we had to drive to Logan for Parents Day at Noah's fraternity. Luck was on my side at the garage because the mechanic very quickly determined that I didn't have a failed O2 sensor at all but instead a PCV vacuum hose had split, allowing air to enter the intake where it wasn't supposed to, causing the lean condition. The cracked hose was molded and the shop didn't figure Ford would have it in stock, so we agreed that some black RTV squeezed into the crack and some electrician's tape to hold it in would be a good fix. And a few minutes later, my truck was healthy again and the shop refused to bill me for the work! That was really decent of them.

So, back to the house in time for a shower, then off to Logan for Parent's Day. We had to wake the boy by phone when we were just 15 minutes out as he had slept in from the night before. We did make it over to the Sigma Chi house for introductions to some of the guys. There was some introductory remarks by the chapter president- only 6 years and he was already a senior, and a video that introduced the 7 initial members of the fraternity and their principles. We skipped the little bit of food that was available for a group lunch and had a little tour of the building with Noah. The words "fire trap" seemed to keep floating behind my eyeballs as we got the grand tour! Funky, nasty carpet runs throughout most of the building. The hallways outside the residential rooms was really bad, just gross! The meeting room in the basement was ringed by sofas that had obviously been carried in from other people's curbs. There were uncovered electrical boxes, holes in ceilings and walls and an air of more than just gentle dilapidation- it's a wreck! But the boy's not really as certain about remaining a frat pledge as he was some weeks ago. I think he has figured out that there may not be too many guys that he shares any common interest with- except the frat. He's also discovering that it is a huge imposition on his time and his other non-frat interests. I suspect that he might make up his mind to drop it for this year and reconsider later in his educational career.

After a dandy Korean food dinner with Noah, we returned home in time for me to get some of my winter preparation chores accomplished. I got the swamp cooler on the roof drained, dried out and disconnected and a new cover installed and lashed down. The only part of that task I didn't get finished was inserting the insulation plug into the duct in the house.

Sunday, I got to sleep in! I had coffee with Vickie the English professor for the first time in months. We had a very pleasant chat in the sun out front of the local coffee shop. Afterwards I ground 10 pounds of coffee into 106 individual servings, carefully sealed into ziplock baggies. Just as I finished, Daughter-in-Law Sara finally called me back and we made arrangements to meet her and her mom and the babies for dinner.

We had a really nice time with dinner at Sizzler. Grandson Astin, who will be 2 in December, is a whiz with a fork and spoon. The little guy really shoveled away his helping of macaroni and cheese, with very little mess and with a bunch of determination and dexterity. He even managed to eat most of his helping of JELL-O with his fork! In between bites we played with the John Deere tractor set that I brought for him and he even seemed to get less shy of me by the time dinner was over. Sara's headed back to the Midwest to return her mom to her home this week, setting out on a big road trip with such little kids. She says she will be returning in December, in preparation for getting back to work in January, so its going to be a little while before we get to see the grandbabies again... And I forgot to take pictures! Take my word for it, they are both cute kids!

Monday, yesterday, it was back to work so I could rest up but even that was interrupted with an early return home to gather up the BSU and take her to a Dr's appointment. In the evening it was the first extreme ski movie of the year, Anomaly by Teton Gravity Research. Noah even came down from Logan to see it with me then spent the night at home since he didn't have an early class today.

The rest of this week? Government business of course and the BSU's birthday falls on Thursday, so I have to call and cancel my lunch date with Karen for that day! Its also our anniversary the same day, so I suppose we will be celebrating with dinner out someplace. I'm hoping to get her embroidery sewing machine up and running as a gift for her.

Now its time for me to get some lunch!