This afternoon I finished up the second half of a workshop on our degree audit system. The real work is still to come, when the Registrar's Office starts building degree requirements in earnest. There were a few bugs in the "compliance" program, things I'll have to look into in the coming weeks. The bugs were inconvenient, but there's so much to learn with this degree auditing system that I was able to discuss other topics. The real pain was the classroom temperature.
The training classroom at Richmond is as close to ideal as I can imagine. There are twenty participant computers in a four-row by five-column configuration. The computer monitors are underneath glass desktops, on an angle so you can easily see both your monitor and the front of the classroom. Keyboards and mice slide out on demand. The trainer computer is connected to a projector mounted on the ceiling. It's a perfect environment. Except that University Facilities has turned on the heat for the building, and once they turn it on they don't turn it off until Spring. The entire building is too hot (I saw a thermometer that read 84 degrees in one office).
So I spent three and a half hours talking to very interested but increasingly sleepy registrars. On a Friday afternoon at the end of a semester. Everyone was great, but it shouldn't have been that way.
Jean and I are taking the night off before beginning a busy busy weekend. I've been expecting a nesting binge from Jean, but I'm not sensing any nervous energy that I would expect with nesting. Both of us need to spend time this weekend on work. Luckily for me, I can do most of mine from home (trainers spend lots of time reading and learning). Jean will have to go into her office to do insurance things. Bleah.
I'll be spending my weekend mornings on the house. We haven't really cleaned the place since just before Thanksgiving when Janet, Katie and Anna came to visit, so there's much to be done. And Lord help me, I'm finally going to rake the leaves in the front yard. I've been putting off for months now.
Jean's up late tonight, since we don't have to be up first thing in the morning. She's flipping through some magazines, looking for recipes. She seems to be moving back into craving things again. Tonight while she was having dinner, she mentioned that for the past two days she's been craving almonds, but now she needs onions.
It's December 4th. Bumpy is due February 4th. I'm not too good with
math, but I think that means my days as an un-parent are numbered.
This is not December. We are still stuck in the seventies. At this
point, I'd be happy if it rained, just for a change in the weather.
Virginia is under a fire alert. There's even a small chance
Williamsburg will have to cancel The Grand Illumination, which is
some sort of fireworks event. On the local news tonight, some town
official was trying to be as reassuring as he could be. The entire
event has been planned with the assistance of the fire department.
They've raked leaves and soaked the ground near the fireworks area to
make it less combustible. My only hope is a cold front that may make
it to Richmond next week. This is no way to have Christmas.
listening: James Taylor Live (James Taylor); Indigo Girls Live (Indigo Girls)
reading: The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
© 1998 Kevin J.T. Creamer