Eleven Weeks from today will be last day

The weeks keep flying by. Today, we are awaiting "the last big snowstorm of the season" - or something like that... coming in from the west. 4-8 inches, perhaps!

President Lane and Provost Mehring are scheduled at my Dept faculty meeting at 3:30 pm, after SB faculty meeting from 1-2:30... will be an interesting afternoon.

It is a very good day... so far! ;-)

Week 12 mark came and went - in Austin

We were in Austin with the grandkids (and their parents, of course) this weekend so the Week 12 marker came and went, as did "Spring Break" last week. Stories of the week's events are buzzing around the office all day, here in the office, of course.

I prominently displayed my University of Arizona mug with Arizona logo, today, with our Wildcats making it the Sweet Sixteen, when many "pundits" thought they should have not been in the NCAA tournament. Guess we show'd 'em, huh?!?! ;-)

With Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma also joining the Sweet Sixteen, out of the Big 12, we will really enjoy the Thursday and Friday night games this weekend... after that, we'll see... ;-)

It is a very good day, despite the high winds and weather warnings - we are in Kansas, after all! ;-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This would have been my Mom and Dad's 71st wedding anniversary!
They would have enjoyed our wonderful spring like day, in March!

It is a very good day! ;-)

Thirteen Weeks to end of Contract-New Activity

This week I finished the Kinnick Early US Family History book on lulu.com with the ISBN number on it. I'll get my first copy early next week. By doing this, of course, the book is open to full distribution and I could open my storefront: Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar; at:
http://stores.lulu.com/drbillshares

This book, for the first time in print, starts with the first recorded Kinnick in the US, in Maryland, Jasper Kinnick, father of William Kinnick, the Sergeant Major in the Revolutionary War, and his brother, Jasper, who became the father of John Kinnick, who moved his family to North Carolina. As recorded in the 2003 Kinnick Genealogy Book Online, and related databases at worldconnect.com, this current book then records the history of three generations (actually four, with the list of children) from John and Ann (daughter of William; John and Ann were first cousins) to North Carolina and then Tennessee and Indiana, and, John (William's son; Ann's brother) and Mary to Ohio, then Illinois and Iowa. The John and Ann line goes down to, for example, Nile Kinnick, Sr. (father of Nile Kinnick, Jr., the Heisman Trophy winning football player). On my side of the line, the John and Mary line, it goes down to Alonzo Kinnick, my great-grandfather.

Subsequent books in the series will bring all of these lines, and there are many, into more recent generations. I am currently finishing the Schwyhart family line, that includes Walter and Susan (Schwyhart) Kinnick, which includes Alonzo Kinnick but also his son, my grandfather, Paul Kinnick, for example. Another book will have a section on Nile Kinnick, Jr., of course. There were Kinnicks in both lines that settled in Montana. Each of those will get a book, as well, of course. Watch Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar for the latest Kinnick books available, along with some historic fiction books by author Bill Leverne, and some creative nonfiction as well.

Retirement will not be dull, that is for sure. Come along for the ride.

It is a very good day! ;-)

Truck to Retirement Cabin

As Week Fourteen came and went, yesterday, we celebrated Allison's birthday, Friday, by unloading the truck at the storage and cabin, that we had loaded in Emporia, the day before.

We had a 16 foot Penske (white, not yellow) that worked just fine (photo of the truck outside the storage unit, with Allison on the right, behind). We had earlier taken our small bookcases, two at a time, but needed to get the taller ones, and some more storage shelving down there. So, this run included 4 big metal shelves for storage (and all the boxes, etc. that had been stored on them in our garage), as well as four big-tall bookcases and four tall bookcases from our bedroom... and about 20 boxes of books, from the bookcases, etc.

I had sprained my left leg (behind the knee) early in the week, so I was hobbling a lot... looked like an old man, for gosh sakes! But, with help from Nancy, neighbor Paul (a bit) in Emporia, and a lot of help from Allison, we got them all loaded on Thursday and unloaded on Friday. Also on the truck were my new desk from Staples (unassembled) and Nancy's new four drawer file cabinet. Oh, and by the way... 5 Mar it was 81 degrees in Emporia; 6 Mar it was 83 degrees in Branson/Hollister!! Great for working...

Saturday, after birthday lunch with Allison, I spent the rest of the day and evening assembling my desk... after the first hour, I said it would be done in September; a couple hours later... maybe sometime in August. I stopped a little after ten; had the main assembly and three drawers done... two drawer thingees yet to do... Perhaps in April! ;-) It literally had several hundred parts to sort and assemble. 37 page booklet! Fun! Really neat desk... when it is done.

It was a productive weekend... and today was a great day! ;-)