Union Adventures

In Minnesota if one is a public employee, one has a choice of either belonging to a union or paying fair share to the union which represents one's position. If one is a faculty member at a state university, the union is the Interfaculty Organization (IFO). Yesterday and today I attended my first delegate assembly. The purpose of this meeting is to set the budget and hence the dues for the association for the next two years and to propose resolutions to guide the negotiation process for the next round of contract negotiations. It actually turned out to be quite interesting, and a great place for people watching.

In the proposed resolutions I noticed one relating to work that must be done for doctoral programs. It didn't seem right for the doctor of nurse practice program that is being implemented by four of the state universities. So when it came up mentioning only theses and dissertations, I moved an amendment to add doctoral capstone projects. Well, all chaos broke loose! People yelling about why was I being so exclusive. It wasn't even our university's resolution, but it suddenly became my problem. So after debate it got tabled for 30 minutes. Worked out new language and then people said they couldn't understand it and wanted to table it until it could be printed and distributed on paper to everyone. Well, I didn't do that after coming home at about 10 PM last evening.

Back this morning I reported there wasn't any way to do this on a Friday night at home. The whole day was occupied with a budget debate. When that got done, suddenly the proposed amendment was passed out and passed in about 15 seconds! Well, we'll have to wait at least two more years before such language may appear in a contract, but at least the road is started in the right direction. Very interesting experience!

Tax Adventures

Going to the CPA to see the tax return and sign it is sort of like going to the dentist or taking the car in for just a little repair. One never knows what the bottom line will be, and it is a source of concern -- just how much will this cost? Oh happy day! I'm getting back a big refund. That will make the travel to Europe this summer quite a bit less worrisome -- all more expensive since the dollar continues to lose its value. But it is the volunteering and the associated expense that produce the tax refund. It sure is more fun giving money away than paying taxes.

Easter 2008

For me, Easter really symbolizes the start of spring and new life. It is very hard to find that spirit this year, with Easter being as early a date as it will ever be until again in 2228. Here's what my car looked like this morning. What really made this aggravating is that this is the third time in a week we've had overnight snow. Last evening all the walks were shoveled and the car was cleaned off.

I picked up my older daughter and we went to the Nicollet Island Inn. This is the first time I've been there and it will probably not be the last. On a snowy morning, it was wonderful to find complementary valet parking. Service was magnificent through every interaction. We had a lovely table overlooking a channel of the Mississippi River. On a scale of 1-10, the food was an 11! Every bite was wonderful.

My daughter wanted to drive around a bit -- she can't drive, so this is treat for her. We went exploring neighborhoods in which I knew there were condos for sale. What I found was that I didn't want to end up in any of those places -- a good thing to know.

Spring and new life will come soon. This hopefully will be only Dicken's Christmas snow Easter that I experience. Give me green grass and flowers !

Another Spring Adventure?

This morning we awoke to find our world covered in a layer of new, very wet snow. The trees and all the dirty snow banks were totally frosted. A sign of spring? Yes, for in other parts of the winter we don't get this kind of wet snow. Didn't have the camera out so no photos. Just trust all of us, it was beautiful and since the temperature was in the 30s it was quite easy to bear.

Spring Time Adventure

Here in Minnesota we've had the coldest winter since 2000-2001. I recently went looking for some spring poetry and in one by Louis Jenkins, I really resonated to the first line: "This winter has lasted for 11 years." This winter has surely seemed to 11 years long, and yet we didn't get the amount of snow here that is normal. It was the cold, cold weather that got to us.

Today I saw one of the first sure signs of spring. I went out to do some errands about 1 PM, and found I couldn't cross Summit Avenue here in Saint Paul because some organization was having a run. I always call the first time we get blocked from driving across town because of a charity run on Summit Avenue as one of the first sure signs of spring.

Adventure -- Leaving the comfort zone

Last evening I went to a poetry reading session at my church. What's so remarkable about that? Well, first of all all my degrees are in the sciences, and the humanities are always a stretch -- nice, but not an area in which I feel expertise. It proved to be OK. I don't think, however, I'll go again, because I'm a very visual person. I don't like just hearing the poems. I want to see them! But it was a good exercise to stry something a bit out of the comfort zone.

Adventures along the commute

Today I stayed home until about 10:45 reading student papers through the web site for my class. Being on an unusual schedule paid off. I was going along my usual route, Shepherd Road, which parallels the Mississippi River, when suddenly I see an artist on the sidewalk. He has a canvas about 16-24 inches, and looked just as do the painters along the Seine in Paris. A quick glimpse showed me a lot of green and blue that must come from his imagination. The weather is good today -- there is a lot of blue sky, but we've not yet had enough spring to have anything be green. It is good, however, to see that at least one other person enjoys this route as much as I do.