Fall

It's 59 degrees outside.  Hurray!  The birds and animals are very active...I have chickadees, titmice, cardinals, a brown thrasher, hummingbirds, chipmunks and squirrels at my feeders.  We had rain all day on Sunday, steady soaking rain.  It was just what we needed and made for a good day to study.  I'm still studying queueing theory and Markov chains for my Thursday meeting with Dr. Gue.  I certainly know a lot more now than I did six weeks ago; I hope I know enough.

I've been watching "Education Nation" and listening to Alma and Colin Powell--they are passionate supporters of education.  They haven't mentioned New Orleans or any city or state in the South though and I'm a little disappointed in that.  You'd think that the only problems are in New York and also that the only good things happening in education are happening in New York.  One of the PhD students in our department is passionate about education.  He will be teaching mathematics at West Point when he finishes his degree and he's writing his dissertation about education reform and the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education in our country.  He's an impressive young man and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to talk with and get to know him.

One more item of interest!  I'm feeling more confident on the unicycle, but still not completely comfortable.  There are three youngish (in their late 20's or early 30's) men in my class this quarter.  One of them is the father of a 2nd grader in the class and the other two are his friends.  They are having so much fun and have each other to practice with when we're not in class.  I need to ride every day.  I wish I had someone to walk beside me when I ride; I've done something to my right knee and I'm afraid of making it worse.  Getting old is the pits!