Day Diary – May 15, 2019
This day is starting as many normally do: waking, showering, dressing, making the bed. All the classic “everyday life” things are already happening, so it should be a good day, right?
Had a discussion with my daughter as she prepared a bagel for breakfast about square ro0ts as parts of fractions in calculating angles in geometry. She has a test today. I sort-of followed what she was saying, but the fact that I didn’t know you could have a square root as part of a fraction tells you where my math skills are.
It’s 7:00 a.m. I type these notes.
Celebrated the life of Tim Conway by watching an old Carol Burnett Show sketch. As usual, he has Harvey Corman in stitches. Also watched a New York cabbie explain the crazy way French numbers work. My wife was adding some comedy to the breakfast table by showing these videos. That’s not part of our normal breakfast routine. R.I.P. Tim Conway.
My wife took the kids to school as she’s off the Indianapolis for the morning. She called from the road to discuss dinner options.
I have the house to myself. Time for breakfast for me.
Summer semester is on and I’m a teacher. So, I’m answering student emails and introductions. This is week one.
After some grading I prepared for a meeting.
Had a long conversation with a colleague, in two parts, about a range of issues related to our workplace. We have the possibility to reshape what we do in really innovative ways but there doesn’t seem to be support for it at the higher levels. This is something we’ll have to work on, but the older me is fatigued on these issues and doesn’t see the point at the moment. I want to do it but not if it goes nowhere.
My first meeting leading this particular group on this new project went well. Everyone is nice and we’re off to a good start.
After the meeting, more conversation with this same colleague. I think s/he just needed a sounding board and I’m happy to be that.
Finally home at 1:00 to a lunch of leftover pasta.
My wife returned from Indy.
(The U.S. National Anthem is playing on the radio. A violin version. I might take a knee. I’m not feelin’ it right now.)
Now back to grading.
Today is the day where if I go out in my driveway, someone new is there to meet. It’s practically like living in my old apartment in Greenwich Village, except here, we talk to each other.
Case in point: I’m minding my own business, enjoying a piece of cornbread in my backyard (as one does), when a man in a utility vest comes over to audit the power line tree clearing work done last fall. In case you’re wondering about the outcome, the ivy on the telephone pole (which I don’t control) is back.
Case in point: I’m leaving to walk to get my daughter at school. A woman walking stops to introduce herself. I now know how many kids she has, where they live, how many grandkids she has, and why, even though she has a place in southern California, she lives here. Maybe it’s her winter quarters. Very nice! We are both owners of smaller homes in this neighborhood, so we bonded over that. Right friendly in these parts!
Clearly I need to spend more time in my driveway. My social life would improve immensely.
Now, having walking to and from school, I’m settling back into work.
It’s 3:23 in the afternoon.
Back to work, answering student emails and reading student work.
Older daughter returned from an afterschool thing to find me boiling a few potatoes.
Mowed the lawn and did a little yard work. It’s a nice weather day today.
Got the younger child to do her trash duties.
Got her to practice the clarinet. Small victories.
Back to work. Now I’m working on some notes for a unit about teaching about or with Islam. I’m interested in what these different traditions have to teach us about how to live, how we think of the self, the nature of reality, and other great questions. I participated in a workshop on the topic of teaching with Islam last week and this is part of that work. It’s interesting in a good way, to say the least.
Enjoyed the air and the light while wandering in my yard between 6 and 7 p.m. No new friends in my driveway for now.
My wife came and went from her yoga class.
Friends came over about 7:30 to watch Survivor, something we’ve been doing for more than a decade, believe it or not. I don’t care about the show but I enjoy the social aspect of having them over. One contestant is really working hard toward victory and his playful attitude about it had us charmed.
Did some cleanup and then some stretching before bed and called it a night.