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adventures / iPhone / photo / Samford / Wednesday — Comments Off
11
Apr 12

Travel day

The Yankee planted this and we’re watching it grow:

Admire that while I’m on my plane.

Later, from San Antonio: we have arrived safely and in time for the Southern States Communication Association’s annual conference. The Yankee and I hold positions in the organization. We also have four or five papers and a panel to present during the conference.

Sadly, the banana pudding I purchased from Dreamland to take to all of the old Alabama grads did not make the trip. It turns out the federal government is afraid of it.

Let me say that again: the Transportation Security Administration feels that bananas, wafers and creme are dangerous.

The problem, you see, was that it was only partially frozen. Had it been solid they would not have been scared, because the guy who was making it up as he went along said, frozen things can’t be explosives.

We’ll wait as the chemists in the crowd have a little chortle.

So the pudding didn’t make it. I apologized profusely to a few people who’d been waiting on it since I promised it last year. But next year’s conference is within driving distance. Unless the TSA is going through my car by then — and at this rate … — we’ll all be indulging next April.

Saw this sign as we walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner:

Dinner was at Rosario’s, which is apparently considered the best Mexican in town. It was quite delicious. And within walking distance of our hotel. One of the local conference-goers took us there.

I’ve been promised some barbecue this trip. I wonder if it will be at County Line.

Hey look, here’s River Walk:

It is quiet at this time of day on a Wednesday, I’m sure it will pick up.

Tomorrow the conference begins. I’ll post pictures, and spare you all of the conference details. Unless you want to hear about the methodology on this content analysis, or that discussion on the primaries, or the response I’m giving to a handful of mass comm papers, or our Super PAC paper, which promises to be a big hit …

Yeah, pictures then.

Auburn / baseball / iPhone / photo / Samford / Tuesday — Comments Off
10
Apr 12

Thing I saw today

Driving in today, I passed the largest bathtub in the world:

It won’t fit our master bathroom, yet, but I can knock out a wall. I will also need to knock out a wall in the neighbor’s place, but I’m sure he won’t mind if I pitch him the idea just right.

The key is in the delivery.

Speaking of deliveries, I discovered tonight that my phone won’t take a picture fast enough to catch Trey Cochran-Gill’s baseball in flight:

It is in there somewhere, as Auburn pitches to Samford late in this evening’s game. If you find it, do let me know.

Auburn won 7-5, by the way.

Had a big media meeting on campus today, which will set up another big meeting in a few weeks. And now I have to pack. We’re taking a conference trip this week. I have to figure out how to get four days worth of clothes, including a suit, in a carryon.

The good news is there will be pudding for all of our Alabama expat friends. Stopped by Dreamland this evening to get just enough to make me the most popular boy at the conference.

adventures / cycling / iPhone / Monday / photo / Samford — 1 Comment
9
Apr 12

Things you can do with a Monday

Breakfast this morning at the Barbecue House, the new weekly tradition. It was quiet today. Few people, lots of tables. Sometimes you can time it like that, and you just want to linger as the place shifts from breakfast and the grilling meat smells drift in as they get ready for the lunch crowd.

Other times you can’t find a seat or walk. Barbecue House is a popular place.

Mowed the lawn for the first time this year. There was nothing remarkable about it, because there is little remarkable about the yard just now. There was a lot of winterdust kicked up, though. Thin grass, drought conditions, sandy soil and my sneezes. The lawn mower and my nasal explosions were the soundtrack of the neighborhood for a brief while.

Wrote big emails. Planned two classes.

Wrote two presentations for upcoming sessions, about 15 pages for 30 minutes or so of talking. I have one more of those to do.

Edited a paper.

Rode 50 miles.

I think I bonked. Probably when I looked down and saw that zero on the computer. And then I realized I was standing rather than pedaling. So I started riding again. My bonk said, aloud I think, “I don’t have the energy for this.” And so the last few miles were just inertia and mindless mindlessness.

Saw some pretty scenery, part of the national wildflower program:

Or is that the county’s “We don’t have money for a fuel budget” program? I always confuse the two:

Truly, it made for a lovely day.

Auburn / cycling / iPhone / photo / weekend — Comments Off
8
Apr 12

Catching up

The attempt to unload a lot of pictures that haven’t appeared on the site this week. Pretty things to look at for you, easy content for me.

And Happy Easter. Hope you enjoyed it in thought, with family, chocolate and peeps.

From the NCAA gymnastics regionals at Auburn last night. See the lady in the background? She’s the coach at Bowling Green. Also, she was one of The Yankee’s high school gymnastics teammates:

Sure you could do that. Right up until it came time to land:

This Michigan State gymnast had a lot of time to admire the ceiling:

At Georgia they call them Gymdogs:

That’s hardly flattering. When they perform as they did last night they should call them superwomen:

West Virginia had a great turn on the beam:

This is one of the Bowling Green gymnasts. The vault always looks a little painful to me …

She’s trying not to fall. She saved it, but this happened to her a few times. Shame, too, it was a nice routine:

The Auburn Arena is now just in its second year of use. They spent $92.5 million building the thing, and it is a handsome facility. For all of that, though, my favorite feature is that wraparound script:

The moon:

Clouds over the Samford University campus:

Told you I was replacing the seat on my bike. Can you tell which saddle is old and which is new?

I love the way the stickers are peeling away from this sign. How many summers do you think it has seen?

Saturday was just another beautiful day in the loveliest village:

Changing The Yankee’s tire:

Fond de Jante? There is a thin site with that name as a URL, but I doubt this website is official. Nevertheless:

They say dressing well is all about the details. The time spent obsessing is rarely repaid in public acknowledgment. Likewise, when repairing a bicycle, the attention paid to mechanical and aesthetic minutia will seldom be fully appreciated or understood by the rider. But, the worth of neither pursuit is diminished.

It means “inside the rim” or “rim base.” This rim tape is the best.

Auburn / cycling / movies / photo / video / weekend — Comments Off
7
Apr 12

The Hunger Games, the drain defeat and a gymnastics meet

We watched The Hunger Games last night.

It was better than the Twilight Poorly Acted Emolodramas, though I could have done without the insertion of Team Jacob in the third act. It was not as good as its spiritual predecessors, Star Wars and Shakespeare. (And that’s the only time Lucas gets that I’d bet.) I eagerly await the second movie, The Hunger Strikes Back, even if we have to sit through Romeo and Katniss. I’m also looking forward to the inevitable anti-bullying campaign.

Yes, I’m sure the books are dreadful. (Or the best thing since Potter, which might best Steinbeck and Hemingway in that crowd.) I don’t care to read them. Seeing Donald Sutherland as the most normal-looking guy should be left to stand without any further narrative.

Did something incredible today. We lost an earring down a drain yesterday, but it isn’t the kind of drain you can take apart. So we Googled. And then we called everyone we knew to try to borrow a wet-dry vacuum. Finally we found a friend who’s father had a friend. That man let me, a total stranger, borrow his vacuum.

So there we are, hands and knees, trying to figure out a way to get a four-inch hose fit inside a two-inch drain. Ultimately we settled with putting a little drainage tube inside the wet-dry hose. We kept the vacuum by stuffing the excess hose with a washcloth. On the end of the drainage hose we tied off a stocking.

We delicately send the hose down the drain. On the third try, when I was ready to make intubation jokes, I found a second bend in the drain pipe and twisted accordingly. There was the trap. I slowly pulled everything back out. And at the end of the tube, held to the stocking by the power of the vacuum, was this important little earring.

The Yankee sterilized it and put it away for safekeeping. I walked around like a hero for a while. It was a lucky stab, but it saved the day, so this is a “file it away, it might come in handy one day” story. And we couldn’t have done it without the kindness of a friend and a stranger. So this is also an “I love my town” story.

Had a nice little 25-mile ride. I installed the potential new saddle for a test ride. Did a mile or so and realized it wasn’t set right. Off the bike, into the multi-tool. Move the seat approximately three centimeters, making a much better fit.

It is is stiff as possible. Love it.

As I got back in the neighborhood I got heckled by kids: “Get it! Get it! Make those thighs work!”

I tried to put on a good show, but I doubt they were impressed.

Gymnastics regionals were tonight, and they were very impressive.

I enjoy watching them cheer in the background:

Not sure why they are in disguise though …

And, sadly, this is the last time we’ll see Laura Lane tumble:

The co-scholar-athlete of the year is graduating and moving on to other things. Shame, too. She was a lot of fun to watch.

Six teams compete in the regionals. The top two teams in each region advance to the national championship. Auburn finished fourth, posting their second-highest regional score ever. They’ll be somewhere in the teens, probably, in the final gymnastics rankings of the season. And, we counted, about half their routines this year were performed by freshmen.

The future, as they say, is bright.

More gymnastics pictures tomorrow.