The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

APRIL 2007 EDITION 

Weight change in April, 200 to 199.5    

The Value of a Financial Cushion
 
As we closed out April I felt something like George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life hoping Momma Dollar and Poppa Dollar would get to work and start a big family.  Early in the month my main home computer crashed.  It will not boot but I have some hope of getting the data files off of it at work.  I have replaced it in my office (in the family room back-to-back with Nathanael's computer) with my laptop.

In mid-month the noise the van was making got bad enough for Nancy to take it in for service.  I had called her attention to it weeks before.  A week and $6500 later we got our '90 Ford Club Wagon van back, purring like new with a replacement  rebuilt engine.  At least it's cheaper than a new vehicle. 

Also in April the microwave died (again).  And with property taxes due (the April half is $3,151 this year) we can't afford to replace the microwave until June.  We have a lot locked up in retirement savings, but our liquid assets have been reduced to a mere puddle this month. 
 
It's a Job
 
Spring quarter at SPU is the reverse of winter.       My days are spent solving people's problems, processing data, and working on the web.  Teaching presumably my last two Spreadsheet courses takes only a small part of my time.
 
Another expense in April was for the framing of two of my Northwest Indian Art prints purchased in Ketchikan, Alaska last summer.  My "gallery" wall is now complete in my office. (← Click the image)  It encourages me to keep my office cleaner.  I do enjoy my most unique of offices.  No window? No problem.
 
The two monitors are very necessary to the type of work I do.  And, of course, it impresses the students who stop by.  It's easy to configure them provided one's computer has two video ports. 

The Longest Campaign
 
The 2008 Presidential election campaign is already well underway.  Although my March quote (below) was directed at Senator Clinton, I have not discovered a single candidate I can support ― in any party.  


Did you hear what the troops were calling the Sikorsky Blackhawk which Hillary used to tour Iraq?
"Broomstick One"

Yet consider now, whether women are not quite past sense and reason, when they want to rule over men.  
― John Calvin

Youths oppress my people, women rule over them.
O my people, your guides lead you astray;
they turn you from the path.   
Isaiah 3:12 NIV

Nathanael (and Jean) Run Track
 
Nathanael had some very impressive races in April.  At the BCS "Twilight Meet" on April 18th he won the 1600m (left) over Alex Johnson who had beat him consistently in Cross Country last fall.

He followed this up with a 2nd place finish in the 800m (in 2:03:26) at the King's Invitational (featuring over two dozen Christian schools from Oregon and Washington) on April 21st.  He also ran the 2nd leg of the winning 4x400m relay ― all this after running a strong 4:43 for sixth place in the 1600m.

A final regular season meet Friday night May 4th at Rainier High School precedes the League, Tri-District and hopefully State championships on successive weeks in May.

Jean races at Lake Washington High School each Tuesday in May.  She took 2nd in a 200m heat in her first race at the end of April with a time of 31.88 seconds.
Bits and Pieces...
  • We enjoyed Mary's Wedding by Stephen Massicotte at Taproot Theatre in early April.  It was a wonderful love story but, as expected, she married another as her first love did not return from the trenches of France.  "On the eve of her wedding, Mary dreams of the first time she met Charlie. Memories of young love weave together through the letters of their long distance courtship between the farmlands of Canada and the battlefields of France. This heartfelt, critically acclaimed new work explores the beauty of love and the call of duty against the backdrop of World War I."
     
  • At the end of the month we enjoyed She Stoops to Conquer
    or     The Mistakes of a Night by Oliver Goldsmith at the
    E. E. Bach Theatre at SPU.  This is the remolded McKinley Auditorium were I looked up Nancy on September 13, 1980.
     
  • Bill Picketts, long time pillar of the Saturday Morning Bible Study, announced suddenly that he and his wife were moving to Wenatchee.  Bill is one of a small handful of men that have been my mentors at First Presbyterian. This is a regular result of being younger than my peers. (When we talked about the movie Patton with actor George C. Scott, our own George Scott told how he had served briefly under General Patton in France. I lead an amazing group of men.)
  • In April I read The Bomb Vessel, The Corvette, and am well along in 1805, books 4, 5 and 6  in the 14 volume Nathaniel Drinkwater series by author Richard Woodman. Drinkwater is easily as enjoyable a character as Hornblower and his adventures seem more true to the naval life of their times.

I got carrots, green onions, and tomatoes planted at the end of April.  Running the big roto-tiller leaves me sore the next day.

Lunch with Dad at Ivar's last week:  He could not see the Malt Vinegar as he poured it on his fish (and on the table.)  Yet he continues to drive!

 

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