First day of classes. Get into my office, ready to print up my syllabus and various other materials, ready to walk into class ready to wow students and start the term off right. So, naturally, I got into my office a little later than I’d wanted.

No matter. I’d left plenty of margin for error.

So, naturally, my new computer isn’t speaking with the printer. No matter, I have other computers. None of them are tied into the printer yet.

No matter. Down to the department office, where there are other computers and a bigger, better printer. It took some doing, but I found a machine that I could use. And apparently I was asking the printer to produce the most sophisticated configuration of ink and white space committed to pixels in the 21st century.

It ate into class time, not the best way to start things.

But we had class, and everyone stayed awake and we are off on a wonderful adventure of writing and editing.

Later I swam 1,750 yards. I haven’t been in the pool in ages, but it turns out that I still remember how to swim poorly.

I also saw this on the back of a local repair man’s truck:

I took this to mean that he’d surveyed the competition. He’d listened to his customers. He realized that there were plenty of people out there who were having trouble getting work done at home and having even more trouble getting someone out to work on the problem. He surmised that this magnet would mean something to people: I will be there.

And he’s correct. More than a few times over the years I’ve tried to have people come out to work on this or that, but was left with disappointment. This magnet sign might earn someone a try. Now, if on the other door, there was another that said “And we bring our own tools!” Then you’d be on to something.

Things to read … because reading always puts you on to something.

UAB launches an online cure for the common doctor visit:

It uses a diagnosis and treatment software system to collect a patient’s symptoms by asking a series of questions that would in other cases be asked by a clinician in a face-to-face meeting. The patient’s responses are then reviewed by a UAB clinician who provides a diagnosis and personalized treatment plan.

“eMedicine is an urgent care service that enables patients to use their desktop or mobile devices to interact with our providers,” said Dr. Stuart Cohen, medical director of primary care in UAB’s School of Medicine. “This will add to patient convenience for those who are suffering from upper respiratory infections, flu, allergies and other things very common in an urgent-care setting. It’s really a novel way to extend the physician-patient relationship.”

College Football Hall of Fame opens in Atlanta

Report: Alabama’s economy sixth slowest in the U.S.:

Business Insider noted that the state’s wages increased by 0.78 percent from 2012 to 2013, and its unemployment increased by 0.3 percent in the last year, which was the lowest rank out of the 50 states.

Alabama’s GDP growth rate was 0.8 percent in 2013, according to U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

This is, I believe, one of the better pieces you’ll find at Grantland: When Narratives Collide: Michael Sam Meets Johnny Football:

In our media-saturated InfoWorld, it has become easy for us to make representational action figures out of human beings who have the misfortune of capturing our massed attention.

[…]

It’s part of the deal now, and I understand that. It’s a clause in a subparagraph in the implicit contract struck between athletes and their fans that athletic celebrity is now indistinguishable from a celebrity, full stop. The camera is always on, the microphone always hot. You will stand for something even if all you want to do is sit down and catch your breath. But if you accept all this as part of the legitimate transaction of fame and celebrity, it’s your part of the bargain to understand that it’s fundamentally dehumanizing to use real people as characters in your private passion plays.

Also, they’re just football players.