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Thursday, 5-23-2002

Stuff during a Hiatus

Dear Political Diary,

I don't have much penciled in on my calendar for the next three days. If I'm lucky I'll finally get around to filing the heaps of papers on my floor. Bernice from Church did call yesterday to ask if I'd help serve lunch at the soup kitchen on Friday. I agreed but that will only last a couple of hours. It will be nice to see June and tease her about Frank Sinatra.

Yesterday I got started writing the lengthy diary entry for Tuesday. That School Board meeting took the cake. Mary Glass Leblanc leaned over to Bob at about eleven and whispered, "Have I died and gone to Hell?" Its very unusual for Mary to make asides during meetings so it was obvious it was wearing on all of us. Because I had misplaced the recent letter from Frank which I had read out loud I called Julio for a replacement. I wanted to put it in the web connected to my Tuesday diary entry.

Julio was out but when he called back he had very interesting news. It seems that we may be able to work a compromise out on the seven period day afterall. Perhaps our incomplete vote and an expression of our feelings made a difference. Later in the afternoon a reporter from KDLH TV called and asked for an interview. She reported the some sort of compromise was being worked out. I was delighted to hear it and crossed my fingers during the interview. That was the sound bite she chose to use.

Today was another quiet day. Unfortunately I squandered most of it trying to repair some unintentional damage that I had inflicted on my web page. I had to call microsoft tech support at $35 for the consult. I hate having to spend money like that. It took the better part of the afternoon but eventually I got the job done. 

Off and on all day I practiced the piano. I've been taking lessons every other week for a month I've decided that learning a new skill will help me fend off senility. Blow the Man Down has been a killer and I'm having a Dickens of a time learning to remember the notes on the sheet music. I've gotten  beyond my first week. Back then I'd decided that playing a piano was a physical impossibility. 

Claudia popped a TV Dinner into the microwave for me and and after wolfing it down I headed over to the DECC, our civic auditorium, to participate in the year end celebration for the Grant Reading partner program. My partner Tony wasn't there so he missed out on the ice cream. It was nice seeing the many adults who had volunteered for the year long program. 300 volunteers meant one adult for every Grant student.

I met a Grant parent who works for the Reader. He warned me that this week I'd have to turn in my column early because the staff was going to be out of town for a conference next week. Rats! I'm not sure I've got something in mind to write about.

I watched an episode of Upstairs Downstairs with Claudia before bedtime. While I was watching I noticed the book I'd just finished reading outloud to her. We bought Confederates in the Attic a few months ago to prepare us for our fall Civil War tour. It was an insightful and surprising book. I was glad to have finished reading it because I'd forgotten to enter it in my reading list page. Its there now though.