Ar Wahan's home office water cooler

Yesterday I went to Amherst for the 25th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast. This event, held at the middle school, was started by a local black woman to raise money for scholarships for African American graduating high school seniors. I think they said they've given money to 68 students over the years. I went for the first time last year with some other UUs, and was very impressed by the speeches made by local dignitaries and the scholarship winners themselves. I was also rather horrified to see that in the program, a lot of other churches and the Jewish Community Association had big ads (one source of financial support for the scholarships), but my UU had NEVER placed an ad, even though we've always had our folks attend. I told the board last year that we should place an ad this year. However, I wasn't at December's board meeting to raise this issue again. So last week I cobbed together a 1/4 page ad for our UU and paid for it myself (a business-card-sized ad was $40, but you could go up to a 1/4 page for only $20 more! Seemed worth it to me.) I might be partially reimbursed later, but if I'm not, it's no big deal. Betsy from our UU (who always attends) told me she and her husband might help pay for it too.

I'd say the audience was half POC and half white. The MC was white, and the panel of speakers was all POC. With the inauguration pending, there was of course a lot of talk about Obama and hope and change and commitment and promise -- that this is a man who will really listen to us, and we have to prepare ourselves to work hard WITH him, because he can't do it all himself. There was one woman who teaches women's studies who also spoke about how great it is to see a couple who respect each other and see each other as equals and a unit -- and that historically (because of slavery and other factors), this has not been the experience of most black families. It was very moving.

I arrived just before the breakfast itself at 9 a.m. (Doors opened at 8:30 a.m. for coffee and mingling.) Our friend Stan was the MC, and he apologized to the audience during the breakfast itself (the speeches and awards were afterward in the auditorium) for some "delays" that I hadn't known anything about. It turns out it was so cold, some pipes had burst. I don't know if this was in the kitchen or if it affected the heating system. Everything seemed fine by the time I got there. (Going through a hallway to the auditorium, though, there was a VERY VERY cold spot. There was even ice on the floor!)

Michael B., who was the Early Transition Program coordinator last year at the high school (this was the program that let Samurai spend her senior year at the community college) was there, and afterward I told him how Samurai was doing, and that she credits her success fall semester to her "head start" on college work through ETP. He was pleased to hear that. (She had been posting before the winter break how so many of the freshmen had been freaking out about studying for finals, and she was not -- because she'd experienced college final exams already.)

And how cold was it?

( The answer and other stuff )

Samurai's dorm had a mock election yesterday. The Young Republicans who share a suite on her floor removed most of the Obama votes from the ballot box on the resident adviser's door, and stuffed it with McCain ballots. And THEN someone else stole the ballot box itself, so her floor doesn't even get credit for participating in the mock election.

The Universe was smiling on us yesterday... today it is cold and damp and dark and snowing again, but yesterday, when we faced hours of driving and lots of walking, it was beautiful, sunny and, the closer we got to Boston, warmer, too! The grass was actually starting to turn green there, and I saw forsythia blooming! *faints*

I drove us on the Mass. Pike to Newton and the Riverside T station (the end of the Green Line). An extremely nice attendant helped me figure out how to use a machine to buy our fares and save 25 cents each way by getting something like a debit card that one swipes in front of the turnstile. We got off at the Boston Common stop and walked less than half a block to Suffolk Law School, where the registration for this "Suffolk Showcase" open house for admitted freshman and parents (and the occasional sibling) was held. There were posh refreshments and a little mingling, with friendly students in special jackets drifting around to answer questions. We'd been already divided up into smaller groups, and the room number in each student's welcome packet told the student and family where to go to get an overview of the university. The remarks by the registrar, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a current student, and an alumnus (Class of 2003) were relaxed and inspiring and often funny. As Samurai and Spouse later noted, the academic buzzwords "Innovative" and "Collaborative" were never uttered, which is a good sign. :P

We then trekked off over several blocks to the other side of Boston Common to meet up with other students who would give guided tours to small groups. Spouse had told Samurai that parts of Suffolk are a "stone's throw" from the Statehouse, but he wasn't kidding. It will be easy for her to meet up with Stan for lunch or a cup of coffee (he's a friend who is also a state senator). The whole area was pretty now, and when things are in bloom, will be even lovelier.

Tomorrow we're going to the Suffolk University open house for incoming first-years and parents. We have to register between 10:45 - 11:15 in a hall at Suffolk Law School. Because I have the energy-efficient Prius, I'm driving. Plan is to leave here a little after 8 a.m. and park at the end of the Green Line -D (there are several Green lines) in Newton, where there's a big parking lot, and take the T in to Park Street (which is by the Boston Common). The Law School is right there, across from the common! The trains run every 10 minutes. But it took me a bit of searching to find that info on line.

The last few days have been days of puttering in addition to interviews for a work assignment. I boxed up two Duncan tartan bagpipe bag covers and the matching set of cords/tassels (used to connect the drones to each other) and shipped them off to Bob Duncan's 14-year-old grandson, along with a bunch of old bagpipe music books my dad had. (The grandson is studying the pipes.) I sent the leather sporran ("purse" that hangs at the waist) and one of my dad's balmorals (caps) to Colin, another of Bob's grandsons... this one is a young adult who received my dad's Duncan tartan kilt after my mom gave it to Bob. He doesn't play the pipes, but he likes wearing the kilt to the family reunions.

Any bagpipe music that was written down on blank sheet music paper in my dad's handwriting is staying here. Same with his Stewart tartan balmoral, and his skean dhu (the black knife that fits into the top of the stocking).

I am starting to feel a little foolish about my on-line order of the bagpipe display rack I mentioned in my post of the 19th. I've had no confirmation of the order, and upon revisiting the web site, discovered there was no contact information at all! (Even though the site says "Any questions, contact us below." The links below have no links within them with which to contact them.) I considered pointing this out to eMartCart, which handled the transaction, but after doing a Google search did find an email address for the company. I think this is a home-based operation, and it's only been a week. Also didn't see anything bad written about it by irate customers.

No more weird dreams last night. Whew!

I have an assignment to write Monday, but I'm not going to think about it now! :P

Last week I also sent in my passport (which will expire tomorrow), new photos and the fee for a passport renewal. I am kind of intimidated about going to Japan, but I think Samurai and I should still do it this summer. I need to get my act together and start figuring out how long we'll be there, though, so I can book our flights.

So many of you have been talking about how it's spring where you are. We got MORE SNOW the other night, and it is still very cold (27 degrees last I checked). But if you can find a sunny spot here out of the knife-like wind, the sun is warm on the face. Spring will come, will come ...

OK, so both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile will need to be "corrected" once I have exact figures for profit, loss, taxes paid (I usually get a big refund because I pay my self-employment tax on the high side, to be safe.). There is no way I could do my taxes myself. And the earliest I could get an appointment with my preparer is March 17!

Well, the guesstimates I made are pretty darn close; the only actual "error" is the mortgage one. I think I'd better send that correction out now, rather than waiting a month and a half, and then send out the other corrections later.

*sigh*

Well ... not quite. I'll have to go back and revise when I get the actual, vs. estimated, numbers for my business profit after the losses are calculated. But still...

*thud*