The paper was put to bed at about 2:30 this morning. I slept for about four hours and then started this new day.
Hit the gym for squats and arms and rode 10 miles on the bike.
Visited Sam’s Club, because I need a new tire for the car. I made the mistake of arriving before my puny little membership would let me in. I could, the nice lady at the door said, upgrade my membership. But I can also wait 20 minutes and save 60 bucks. So I did.
While they put on the new tire I walked around the store. Figured this would be an opportunity to test the microphone on the iPhone in a noisy environment. Also, it was a good time to make fun of product packaging. Most of these jokes aren’t especially good, but the microphone proved better than I expected.
It is sensitive to movement. You can really tell when it is closer to my face based on the sound. Next time I’ll try an attached microphone to see what that sounds like. I’ll also not be buying a tire, next time. Already that experiment is more fun.
Returned to the office — wasn’t I just here? — and looked over the paper. Not a bad start. There are obviously things on which we can improve, and I’ve no doubt that will happen.
We had a critique meeting this afternoon where we discussed what went right and wrong and what to fix for next time. I told them of my high expectations for the year. I want them to set high goals because they can reach them. They have a lot of exciting things in the works for the year and I want them to see those plans come to fruition.
Here’s the requisite welcome back type story. Super Bowl champion Tony Dungy dropped in for a surprise visit, which also made the front page.
Had lunch with the university communications people. Critiqued the paper. Visited the library. I found a big stack of negatives and compact discs of old photojournalism assignments. I found at least one sitting U.S. Senator was in the 20-year-old stack of negatives. The special collections people in the library basement like that sort of thing.
The extended family got a bit more extended. He arrived a few days early, but is handsome and smart. Word is that he’s already teaching calculus in the nursery. I made a video for him, but managed to delete it. Just imagine it as being the funniest thing ever composed on a phone, and then reduce your expectations by 17 percent.
Returned to studying.
I purchased, and nearly filled, that binder tonight. The good news: only the last 100 pages of that are for my class tomorrow.
So back to it, then.
