Peet and repeet
I mentioned I had some errands to run this morning before work. Well, I had one errand...and one meet-up. I've wanted to get together with Dr. K since his concert, since that didn't happen, but the few attempts since then have not come to fruition. He'd mentioned taking a band trip this summer, with the tentative embarkation date as tomorrow; it stuck out to me because it's Bastille Day, and he was planning to take them to Montreal. I'd wanted to see him before the trip so I could hear what they were going to do, so I texted him on Sunday to see if we could get together before he left town; he said, I'm sure that can be arranged! And then nothing. Last night, I finally went, uh, were you still planning on getting together this week? I'm thinking, you have a day before you leave... And he asked me when I was working today. Since I had the morning off, we agreed to meet at 10:30, and he apologized for not getting back to me since he was so busy with a few things, including planning for the Cincinnati trip.
...Uh, you misspelled "Montreal" there.
So, yeah, Montreal fell through, so he put together this alternate trip. One of his degrees is from a conservatory there, plus he's from the area, so they're going to visit the campus and play an outdoor concert, plus visit an amusement park and have dinner on a riverboat cruise. His parents are in Dayton so they'll come down and visit; he also mentioned their anniversary is next week. We discovered our parents' anniversaries are just five days apart. Wow. Next year, he's looking at taking them to Europe. Holy cow. Good luck with that. I also asked why he was taking them over the summer; the two lead professors in the department have their set times when they take trips and he doesn't want to rock the boat, I suppose. And this way he's not, say, taking over their Memorial Day break, since he wants to be able to enjoy that himself. Also, they're not leaving until next Tuesday and they return next Saturday.
(Funny moment: I asked if he was ever going to come see my band play, and he immediately put a reminder in his phone about coming to see us on one of the next few Thursdays, though I didn't mention next week. He asked, what's wrong with next week? I went, where are you going to be? It took him a few moments before he went, ...Right! Yeah, he's kind of a doofus.)
Aside from that, he's working on research related to his getting tenure. I had no idea you had to do something similar to a dissertation to earn tenure. I think he's up for it next year--I know it takes five years, but I don't know if it's during your fifth year, or at the end of it, or what. But his falls are so hectic due to marching band and classes that he knows he's not going to have time then, so he has to do it now. He's even passed along writing the music for the upcoming marching band season to a recent grad, the guy who'd been drum major for the past two years (at least), so that he can concentrate on researching. Interesting.
I got to tell him about the saga of my car, and he'd recently had a car issue, but it worked out. Strangely enough, he was coming home on 88 and recognized the car of the flute teacher, and they were waving and what-not, and she pulled off the tollway after him--just in time to see his tire blow. Yikes. Lucky she was there to help out, and the tire got changed and got replaced the next day, but what a weird case of serendipity for him.
We were there for over an hour, and he mentioned how cold it was here in the summer. Meanwhile, it was going to be 93F and humid, with an air action day warning. This is cold? Apparently southern Ohio is very warm and humid, owing to the river, similar to St. Louis. (As a curly-haired person, believe me, I know it's more humid in St. Louis than here.) He also said it's really cloudy there, that there's not much sun. Who knew? And I don't feel like the summers we've had recently are representative of a typical Chicago summer. High 70s/low 80s? That's summer to me, but then again that's still cold to him. Well, believe me, we can hit 100s at times and that's not pleasant.
Overall it was nice to see him; I actually haven't seen him since May, after his concert. He did a lot of the talking, which he apologized for and attributed it to the coffee. We went to Peet's, which isn't far from campus, and which also isn't too far from my job, so that was nice. He even paid for my drink, which was kind of him and I wasn't expecting it. I'd gotten there early and was waiting in my car, and I saw him go in through my rearview mirror, so he'd just beaten me inside and therefore was ahead of me in line. He ordered, then said "and whatever she's getting," so, well, there you go. I'd told him it wasn't necessary, but thanks. Thankfully when he'd suggested it last night, I looked at the menu and the Wildberry Hibiscus Tea Fog sounded intriguing--plus it was pink--so I went with that. Believe it or not, that is the first non-water drink I've had since Lent started. No joke. Exactly five months. Crazy, right? And I think there was a bit of caffeine in it, because I felt a little rattled and jittery once I got to work--that, and I basically had to jump right in with both feet today. It was definitely *not* the day to have to work one less hour, because I felt like I couldn't get anything done ("What?!? How is it 3/4/4:30 already?!?"). Oh well. There's always Monday.
...Uh, you misspelled "Montreal" there.
So, yeah, Montreal fell through, so he put together this alternate trip. One of his degrees is from a conservatory there, plus he's from the area, so they're going to visit the campus and play an outdoor concert, plus visit an amusement park and have dinner on a riverboat cruise. His parents are in Dayton so they'll come down and visit; he also mentioned their anniversary is next week. We discovered our parents' anniversaries are just five days apart. Wow. Next year, he's looking at taking them to Europe. Holy cow. Good luck with that. I also asked why he was taking them over the summer; the two lead professors in the department have their set times when they take trips and he doesn't want to rock the boat, I suppose. And this way he's not, say, taking over their Memorial Day break, since he wants to be able to enjoy that himself. Also, they're not leaving until next Tuesday and they return next Saturday.
(Funny moment: I asked if he was ever going to come see my band play, and he immediately put a reminder in his phone about coming to see us on one of the next few Thursdays, though I didn't mention next week. He asked, what's wrong with next week? I went, where are you going to be? It took him a few moments before he went, ...Right! Yeah, he's kind of a doofus.)
Aside from that, he's working on research related to his getting tenure. I had no idea you had to do something similar to a dissertation to earn tenure. I think he's up for it next year--I know it takes five years, but I don't know if it's during your fifth year, or at the end of it, or what. But his falls are so hectic due to marching band and classes that he knows he's not going to have time then, so he has to do it now. He's even passed along writing the music for the upcoming marching band season to a recent grad, the guy who'd been drum major for the past two years (at least), so that he can concentrate on researching. Interesting.
I got to tell him about the saga of my car, and he'd recently had a car issue, but it worked out. Strangely enough, he was coming home on 88 and recognized the car of the flute teacher, and they were waving and what-not, and she pulled off the tollway after him--just in time to see his tire blow. Yikes. Lucky she was there to help out, and the tire got changed and got replaced the next day, but what a weird case of serendipity for him.
We were there for over an hour, and he mentioned how cold it was here in the summer. Meanwhile, it was going to be 93F and humid, with an air action day warning. This is cold? Apparently southern Ohio is very warm and humid, owing to the river, similar to St. Louis. (As a curly-haired person, believe me, I know it's more humid in St. Louis than here.) He also said it's really cloudy there, that there's not much sun. Who knew? And I don't feel like the summers we've had recently are representative of a typical Chicago summer. High 70s/low 80s? That's summer to me, but then again that's still cold to him. Well, believe me, we can hit 100s at times and that's not pleasant.
Overall it was nice to see him; I actually haven't seen him since May, after his concert. He did a lot of the talking, which he apologized for and attributed it to the coffee. We went to Peet's, which isn't far from campus, and which also isn't too far from my job, so that was nice. He even paid for my drink, which was kind of him and I wasn't expecting it. I'd gotten there early and was waiting in my car, and I saw him go in through my rearview mirror, so he'd just beaten me inside and therefore was ahead of me in line. He ordered, then said "and whatever she's getting," so, well, there you go. I'd told him it wasn't necessary, but thanks. Thankfully when he'd suggested it last night, I looked at the menu and the Wildberry Hibiscus Tea Fog sounded intriguing--plus it was pink--so I went with that. Believe it or not, that is the first non-water drink I've had since Lent started. No joke. Exactly five months. Crazy, right? And I think there was a bit of caffeine in it, because I felt a little rattled and jittery once I got to work--that, and I basically had to jump right in with both feet today. It was definitely *not* the day to have to work one less hour, because I felt like I couldn't get anything done ("What?!? How is it 3/4/4:30 already?!?"). Oh well. There's always Monday.