Missouri Family Life

Photos for Fun

2008-01-28T14:46:00.001-06:00

These are fun. Rather than send the obligatory forwarded email to everyone in my address book, I'll post here. I particularly like the cow (but I know someone who would really appreciate the pandas: http://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2005/may/jest4.html

Remembering Art Saltzman

2008-01-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I learned in a phone call that Arthur Saltzman, Professor of English at Missouri Southern State University, had passed away due to a brain aneurysm at the age of 54. This statement was met with ten full seconds of silence as the full impact descended upon my consciousness. One might think me an unlikely person to write a tribute to Dr. Saltzman, as I did not know him particularly well on a personal level. However, I find myself impacted greatly by his loss, and besides, what else is a blog for than to express my feelings.

Art Saltzman was my colleague as an instructor at Southern. But before that, he was my teacher. I respected him greatly, though I would never have considered him my friend. As a student, I felt him perhaps to be above my station, and I knew for a fact that I had not lived up to his expectations. As a colleague, I could never really get past the teacher-student hierarchy, though this did not pose a problem with the colleagues I work closely with who were also once my professors. I think this is because Art never would have seen as much of my professional work as he did of my student work some 20 years ago.

Of all my college professors, I have found myself over the years thinking of Dr. Saltzman probably more than any other. Even yesterday morning, before I received the phone call, I was listening to a story on NPR about the notable American author Raymond Carver. The last time--who am I kidding, the only time--I read Carver was in Dr. Saltzman's course in college. In fact, I can say the same about Cheever, O'Connor, Salinger. I never would have chosen to read these on my own; I prefer other genres of fiction. But I value having read them, being able to participate in conversations about them, even if the only thing I can recall about Flannery O'Connor is that she wrote from a Roman Catholic perspective. And naturally, upon hearing a story about Carver, I thought of Art Saltzman, and his course, and I felt even a bit smug with the knowledge that I could understand the reasons and content of the interview with Carver's widow.

One of my favorite remembrances of Dr. Saltzman's wit in the classroom was a lighthearted ideology that he espoused on more than one occasion. Upon bemoaning the continual prevalence of crime against others in society (such as thievery or murder), Dr. Saltzman suggested that everyone in the world should be named "Bob." Since many crimes are committed against people that are unknown to the perpetrator, Dr. Saltzman theorized that his proposal would reduce the crime rate. After all, he would say, a potential murderer would think twice before pulling the trigger because he would know that the potential victim was Bob. "I can't shoot Bob," he would think!

I was a bit disappointed in myself, as I found my thoughts turning to what I have lost with Art's passing. I had intended to go to his book signing last month, to buy his latest collection of essays, have him sign it, and perhaps open a dialogue that might begin to resolve the conflict of my professional adolescence. And going would have shown the respect that I felt for Art that I was too immature to show as a student and too sheepish to express as a coworker. But I left another event that evening, with my wife and young kids, and it was easier to just skip the signing. Now, I thought, I'll never get that chance, nor will I get my book signed. How selfish and shallow of me. But how natural, to think first of oneself.

I did go straight to Hastings yesterday and buy the book. I've only read a page or two, but I know it will be great. The humor and wit will be especially poignant, like what I imagine a newly-married bride's last moments with her war-bound husband might have been.

I had Dr. Saltzman for two courses. The second was an American Literature course. I actually remember little of the class, except that I was supposed to keep a regular journal (perhaps of my readings, thoughts and experiences, but I really don't recall) and that I received a poor grade. The poorest ever for me, in fact. At any level. By two letters. I recall sitting in the library on the day after classes ended, beginning to attempt to try to recreate some semblance of a journal that I had not kept. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I attached a note to what little work I had actually done over the previous four months. In the note, I apologized for the lack of effort put into the journal, and the course, and asked Dr. Saltzman to give me the grade I deserved. Then I dropped it off in his mailbox, or with the secretary. Or perhaps I handed it to him. That part I don't recall. But I know there was no discussion, and I know that Dr. Saltzman honored my request.

Not able to face him again after that, I retook that course from another instructor (who did not require keeping journals) and made an A. But I knew I had taken the low road. I did learn from the experience that I don't really have the dedication to keep a regular journal. I am more of a deadline-oriented worker. This blog (or lack thereof) is evidence of that fact. But I regret not taking the course again and forcing myself to do the work despite my disinclination to do so. I made an A, but I know I could have done better. I know for a fact that a letter grade does not indicate the magnitude of the lessons learned, because I learned more from that D than from any course I ever "aced." It just wasn't about American Literature.

I always wondered if Dr. Saltzman/Art thought of that incident whenever we encountered each other in recent years. I know I did. But he never would have said anything. I had hoped to bring it up with him someday, kind of a confessional. Perhaps he could have given me some penance, or a scholar's pardon.

And now I am the Director of the Honors Program from which I graduated 18 years ago. Art was with the program from its very beginning in 1984 until yesterday. We have lost undoubtedly the most prolific, most respected author and sharpest-witted wordsmith in the history of the university. To say that he will be missed is, well, honestly all anyone can say--but no words are sufficient to describe how he will be missed, or how much . I grieve for those students who will never have the chance to be in one of his classes. I grieve for those who have had the chance, but will not have it again. I grieve for his companion, Joy, his children, and all those close to him. I grieve for the English department, and indeed, for Missouri Southern. I grieve for myself, though I can't put into words exactly why I am so affected. Perhaps it is because he opened my mind to new and strange ideas in my so-called formative years. And he did so for, literally, generations of college students--all at a small school in Joplin, Missouri. He dedicated his entire career to doing so, in fact. How amazing, that something like that could happen. And how wonderful.

Arthur Saltzman... you will be missed.

The twelve days of Christmas

2007-12-24T22:02:00.001-06:00

Not many people these days know that the twelve days of Christmas, from the song of the same name, *begin *on Christmas day and go until Epiphany on January 6. Of course, I considered myself one of the enlightened few, always keeping my holiday lights on in the evenings days after others had already removed them from the house. So when I explained this to my daughter, she naturally asked me, "What's Epiphany, Dad?" To which I said, of course, "Um... I'm not really sure. I'll have to look it up." Leave it to a 5-year-old to expose your long undiscovered gaps in knowledge. Oh, and I'm not going to try to explain it here. It's really quite complicated, and Wikipedia does a better job than I could.

But this post is really about something else. Namely, why many of you on our Christmas card list will be receiving yours even later than usual this year. I had intended to mail them this morning. But after the two-year-old daughter woke up at 3 AM with repeated trips to the bathroom, laundry room, and back (I'll spare you the details, but this went on for hours and eventually she slept intermittently on the bathroom floor with her mom), the trip to the post office was postponed. Later, about 1:30 pm actually, I found out that a) the local snail mail office closed at noon, and b) the stamp machine doesn't dispense 1 or 2-cent stamps, which I needed since there were already stamps from 2005 on most of the cards...

But there is still time for you to receive your requisite holiday greeting from us within the 12-day window. Merry Christmas!

Fall Photos

2007-12-17T16:51:00.001-06:00

I thought it was time to post a couple of new photos. We have one Audrey picked of herself and her sister for her own Floam photo frame, one at the pumpkin patch (Fredrickson's), and one of me with the kids on Halloween before they took me to the airport to leave town. :(

Letter to the Editor

2007-12-14T21:58:00.000-06:00

Here is a letter I sent to the Editors of the Joplin Globe in September. Not only did they not print it, they never acknowledged that I sent it. I sent it twice just in case, but never heard from the Globe.

Dear Editors,

There you go again, Globe Editors. In your "In our view" editorial, "Hope where none existed," (Sep. 5, 2005), you refer to the wonderful, heartwarming, perhaps miraculous story of six-year-old Rylea Bartlett, who was born blind, but whose sight was partially restored after receiving stem-cell transplants from umbilical cords. But then your true colors show.

Referring to opponents of embryonic (not umbilical cord) stem cell research, you state, "We don’t fault those who follow their consciences, but we think that they are caught in between rapid advances in medical science that have outpaced medical ethics and public understanding." In effect, what you are saying is that we the public are too ignorant to know what is good for us. You go on to once again push your agenda, claiming that the best hope for those suffering from various unnamed maladies that reduce quality or duration of life is "somatic cell nuclear transfer research here in Missouri." Non sequitur!

Well, the public is not so ignorant as you seem to think. We understand that the creation of human beings (embryos) by the process you so single-mindedly promote, only to destroy them in the hope that others' suffering might be decreased is and forever will be unacceptable. And furthermore, as Rylea's story shows, treatments are being developed utilizing stem cells that do not involve violating this ethical deadline. Wouldn't the wise, compassionate course of action be to hold off on somatic cell nuclear transfer? There is plenty of hope for treatments arising from research using non-embryonic stem cells and from other related techniques under development. I predict that the "need" for embryonic stem cells for medical research will be fleeting. Let's wait and see.

Sincerely,
mpg

Why is the media trying to force legalized human cloning?

2007-12-14T21:45:00.001-06:00

Since the beginnings of the stem cell research debate, I have argued that somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep and numerous other animals since, is unnecessary. Why? Not because adult stem cells are underutilized (which they are) or because the research shows no promise of helping treat or cure disease (which it does), but because I predict that soon, researchers will be able to overcome the obstacles that prevent reprogramming cells to perform other functions, and the production and destruction of human life in the form of embryos will simply be unnecessary. The article quoted below from www.nocloning.org seems to show that that day may be closer than even I thought.

Creator of Dolly the Sheep Abandons Human Cloning in favor of More Promising Research

Professor Ian Wilmut Believes Cures More Likely to be Found Without Human Cloning

ST. LOUIS, MO - In news that "could mark the beginning of the end" for the human cloning procedure promoted by the Stowers Institute and other human cloning supporters in Missouri, the London based Telegraph is reporting that the creator of Dolly the Sheep has decided to abandon the cloning technique he helped pioneer in favor of more promising stem cell research.

The Telegraph reports: "Prof [Ian] Wilmut, who works at Edinburgh University, believes a rival method pioneered in Japan has better potential for making human embryonic cells which can be used to grow a patient's own cells and tissues for a vast range of treatments, from treating strokes to heart attacks and Parkinson's, and will be less controversial than the Dolly method known as 'nuclear transfer.'" (www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/16/scidolly116.xml&page=1)

"Today's news serves as a wake-up call to Missouri citizens. One of the most respected scientists in the field has decided to abandon human cloning experiments because new developments in stem cell research hold more potential for cures and treatments," said Jaci Winship, Executive Director of Missourians Against Human Cloning. "This validates what all of us who support the Cures Without Cloning Initiative have clearly stated - human cloning is unethical, unproven and unnecessary."

Winship went on to challenge the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures to abandon human cloning and support the wide spectrum of truly promising stem cell research.

"Human cloning just doesn't offer the promise to find new cures that its supporters contend," Winship said. We applaud Professor Wilmut for his foresight and wisdom in ignoring the hype and focusing on stem cell research that holds true promise. We hope this helps pull the wool from the eyes of those who have been misled about human cloning experiments."

Missourians Against Human Cloning is part of a broad-based, statewide coalition of grassroots organizations committed to prohibiting the cloning of human beings in Missouri. Interested citizens are invited to visit www.nocloning.org for more information.

Resurrecting the blog

2007-12-14T21:43:00.000-06:00

So, I've decided to resurrect the blog once again. For my first new post, I'm copying a news item from last month. Well, that will actually be my second new post (coming up next)... I've also added a link to the MAHC (Missourians Against Human Cloning) website.

U.S. Lets Missouri Family Host Vietnam Orphan

2006-03-08T14:02:00.000-06:00

This article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette AP National News popped up in my RSS feed today... It's great when the system actually works!

New name for the blog

2006-03-07T16:07:00.000-06:00

Michael's Musings was getting a little worn out, and I never really got around to posting many "musings"... So I've decided to give the blog a new name: Missouri Family Life. We'll see how it goes.

Our Article in The Chart

2006-03-03T14:37:00.000-06:00

So, our campus newspaper, The Chart wrote an article about our trip to Korea. They even got most of the facts right. Errors: the guest house was furnished, but there were no people around; two captions on photos got switched; they wrote "Madeleine" when they meant "Audrey" when talking about people on the subway. Not bad for a newspaper article. See it for yourself--Family adopts Korean child.

Madeleine's Announcement

2006-02-28T09:39:00.000-06:00

I have had these announcements for some time now, but I finally got around to mailing them. So I can post the picture here without spoiling the surprise. Well, since no one actually reads this, I don't know what I was worrying about...

Open Loops: Twelve Ways To Mark Up A Book

2006-02-27T15:34:00.000-06:00

Bert Webb has an interesting guide to how to mark up a book that you are reading and/or studying. Note: this does not include a highlighter!Open Loops: Twelve Ways To Mark Up A Book

On the way to the airport

2006-01-15T21:56:00.000-06:00

This one speaks for itself, I think...

Family with Billy at the Morning Tomato

2006-01-15T21:55:00.000-06:00

Audrey wasn't so sure about the person taking the photo, but she did like Billy! The Koreans really favor children, and she began to like everyone taking a fancy to her all week! This is probably the first photo with all four of us.

Madeleine JooYun and foster mom on gotcha day

2006-01-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

See how much she was loved? This was an emotional day for all; sad and happy all at the same time. I've got two more photos, but not much to say, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Leaving Seoul

2006-01-12T13:00:00.000-06:00

Here's to a happier ending!

Sorry I haven't posted the last 2 days. We've been getting in late (7:00 is late) and I was just too tired.

Tuesday evening there was a note on the door from Mrs. Lee saying that she had found us a guide for a tour following our 11am meeting and well-baby doctor's visit with Madeleine Joo Yun. It was so nice of her to go to what I'm sure was extra trouble...

Wednesday we had the well-baby visit , and met the foster mom and dad again. This time, we had a card expaining why we were late to our first meeting, the gifts, camcorder, etc. The FM gave us a beautiful hanbok for Madeleine (and we had bought them also for Susan and Audrey). She also had a photo album just filled with photos of Madeleine and the foster family!

Susan could tell that she was asking if we could go to lunch with them, but Mrs. Lee told them no, that we were going on a city tour. How sad. We enjoyed the tour lots (see below) but we really missed out on a special time there, I think.

Then we met Song, a 20-year old who begins university soon. He had made us reservations for lunch in the district near Gyeongbokgung palace, but Audrey was very sleepy and I had to carry her most of the way (my back!), so we missed the time. So he walked around until he found a restaurant that would take us... for a fixed menu Korean lunch. We each had a whole fish (Audrey wouldn't touch hers) and maybe 20 side dishes (various kimchis, fish, oysters, anchovies, seaweed, lotus flowers... on and on). It was wonderful!

We went onto the palace. This wasn't as exciting as it might have been, having seen Cheohndokgung the day before, so we went through rather quickly and onto the Korean Folk Museum. I would love to have had more time to look at everyyjing there--Korean history from around the birth of Christ to the present. Then onto Insadong, which was fun. We didn't see all of it, but ate an early diiner and went on home and to bed.

Yesterday, I wanted to get the last shopping done. We got an early start, and I intended to go to the Hyundai store in the basement of TechnoMart that Cheryl said was at Gangbyeon Station. It took an hour on the subway to get there, and we arrived about 9:45 to what was basically a mall. Most stores didn't open until 10, so we looked around for a while. Actually, the store in the basement was not a Hyndai store at all, but a Lotte Mart, so something must have changed. It was as Cheryl described, though, similar to a US Wal-Mart. Found some bottle nipples for Andie and bought lots of cookies/snacks to take home for gifts for nieces and nephews...

I don't regret going, because this was our only trip out of the city center, and we saw some scenery (the icy Han river, mountains) that we would have otherwise missed, since our planes arrived and are leaving after dark.

Then onto City Hall station, and we walked to the Kyobo building and bookstore. Wow! We found some large storybooks in Hangul and English, on a table near the primary school English readers (Grade 1, 2, etc.)

Then we walked toward Namdaemun, and stopped at a likely Korean restaurant. Susan got some noodles that she saw someone else eating, but I stuck with the dolsot bibimbap, having exhausted my adventurous spirit and wanting something that I knew I liked. Still, the waitress really wanted to help me stir it all up (I prefer mine not stirred so much). And only 8000 won for 2 meals.

Then onto Namdaemun where we finally found the name chops (see other thread) and ended up making ourselves 5 minutes late to pick up Madeleine. Who knows when we'll be back, so we had to get them now!

Back to Hapjeong, where Susan went ahead and I stopped by the florist. When we got to Holt, there was a radio crew there doing a story. They had alsready done one on domestic adoptions and were doing one on international adoption. They were interviewing the FM and took her photo with Madeleine. We also agreed to answer a couple of questions, and they recorded our voices and Mrs. Lee's translation.

Finally we were ready to receive Madeleine. Mrs Lee said a prayer in Korean. Susan wanted to videotape it, but I didn't feel right doing so. I don' know what she said, but the prayer went on a long time, and that's when the emotion of it all really got to me. It is obvious how much love and care everyone involved puts into giving these children a chance for a family!

The whole foster family were crying, even though fd was trying to stay in the shadows... The fm gave Audrey a knitted hat and scarf (purchased) and a hat for Madeleine (that she made herself). She even gave Audrey a sack full of cookies and snacks. It was a very emotional time, and one that we will mostly have to remember without video or pictures, because it happened so quickly.

Last night went better than I expected. Madeleine cried quite a bit for a while. It is obvious that she missed her fm. But then she had some happy time, and she slept in the bed with Susan and me. She got one bottle sometime in the middle of the night, and woke up around 5 am. We gave her another bottle and she slept with Susan until 9:00! I know we are in for some tough adjustment, but I am so happy to have slept when I had been prepared not to, and to have had some good bonding time with Madeleine!

It is now 12:40, and our van leaves for the airport at 3:00, so this may be my last post. I wanted to send some photos, but may not have a chance. So I'll post again from home! Goodbye Korea!

Tuesday in Seoul

2006-01-10T05:31:00.000-06:00

We were really depressed last night. So many glitches. No driver at the airport, they wouldn't let us into the new guest house over the weekend, no volunteer could be found for the city tour, we got the wrong information about our 1st visit with Madeleine and the foster family, and were lucky to be only 30 minutes late (and with no list of questions, no gifts, no camcorder), and we could tell they weren't terribly impressed.

So we needed a great day like today to change our attitude. We wanted to do Gyeongbukgung palace, but read in the guidebook that it is closed Tuesdays. So we gave another go at getting into the new guest house. This time, the doorman let us through--I think he thought we had an appointment--and we met Stacy and her mom and neice. We all went to a Hyundai market looking for baby stuff. We didn't find much (and why are all the dolls caucasian?) and it was expensive. I thought I recalled that someone said that it was like the Korean Wal-Mart, but we didn't think so. The basement was extremely cool, with kiosks vending cheesecake, tea, wine, toiletries, and one we had to try--some kind of hot pancake with a sweet sesame seed/cinnamon/apple (?) filling. Excellent? Anyone know what these are called (hato?). Also a really upscale grocery that has to be seen to be beleived.

Then we intended to go to lunch at a restaurant supposedly near Changdeokgung Palace, but even with the hangul and asking directions at the police station, we couldn't find it. It was not a total loss, though. We went on to the palace and got the tickets for the guided tour in English. We had half an hour and no lunch in us, so we went back to the french patisserie in the Anguk subway station--heavenly pastries (sweet and savory) and a cafe mocha.... And the palace tour was great. It seemed warmer today. The sun was out and it was calm, but maybe we're just getting used to the weather.

Then we went to Namdaemung market, arriving about 4:00. Much cheaper souvenirs (tassel ornaments, keychain fobs... than Itaewon), and the tourist info was able to direct us to the indoor "Korean Folk Market" where Susan found a hanbok for herself (already bought one for Audrey at Itaewon, and we'll get one for Madeleine if we aren't given one, which seems likely at this point).

We lost Stacy and family at the market (understandable) and Audrey was crashing out, so we stopped at a restaurant and had dolsot bibimbap and then back to the guest house.

When we arrived, there was a note on the door from Mrs. Lee saying that she had found us a guide for a tour following our 11am meeting and well-baby doctor's visit with Madeleine. It was so nice of her to go to what I'm sure was extra trouble...
More tomorrow, I hope. What a great day!

Whew! Made the first meeting!

2006-01-09T05:21:00.000-06:00

We were a little slow in getting around this morning. The heat in the old guest house went out about midnight, and it was getting colder and colder. The Holt driver brought another dad to check in a little before 6 am, and we asked him about the heat. He got someone to look at it, and I think they had to cycle the power to the boiler... anyway, the ondol floors are great, but they don't exactly act quickly. So it was a cold morning, and when the hot water ran out in the bathroom upstairs and Audrey was getting really cold, we had to rush to the downstairs shower to finish up.

We stopped by the Holt office at about 9:45 this morning to confirm our 1:30 appt. and to inquire about the city tour (which we had requested, but never received any confirmation about). We were told (as best we could understand) that they were in chapel and to try back after 10, so we went for coffee/hot cocoa and a muffin at the Morning Tomato, and came back about 11. I'm glad we did, because Madeleine was there, and they were quite anxious that we had not arrived for our 10:30 appt! We were unprepared, as I was going to change clothes and we didn't bring our gifts, list of questions, camcorder, etc... I think the meeting went OK, but I'm sure the foster family found us quite thoughtless.

We have another meeting scheduled Wednesday, and will meet with the foster family and the doctor. Hopefully we can make amends for being so late and unprepared for the first appointment.

And BTW, no city tour--they couldn't find a volunteer guide--but now I'm not sure if they even know we asked.

All this aside, Madeleine was BEAUTIFUL! What a precious little girl! It is obvious that she has been loved and cared for immensely. I can't imagine what it must be like to raise a baby from infancy only to give her away 6 months later.

Sunday in Seoul

2006-01-08T05:35:00.000-06:00

Only one more day before we meet Madeleine!

We woke up at the usual 3:30 am, read the Holt board and found that the Morning Tomato was closed Sunday. Decided to go to church! I found the International Lutheran Church which has services in English (it's near the Spanish embassy), and we went. It was great! We met a woman who teaches middle school at the Seoul Foreign School, and she gave us ideas for where to go and what to do. She would have invited us for dinner, but school just started back last week and she has play practice every evening. She did give us her email and phone. We talked with lots of people, and had lunch at a nearby Korean restaurant (behind the Harley Davidson dealer). Sat on the ondol floors and had kimchi chigae (soup) and pollock (koldadi?).

Everywhere we go, Audrey attracts attention. Lots of people, mostly girls but not all, say hi, wave at her, pull her pants leg down to cover her ankles, ask her name... It makes the subway much more enjoyable than the typical "look down and pretend you don't see anyone" experience.

Our "guide" thought we might like to shop at Insadong because she thought they might have more there on the weekend, and it was near the Korean Folk Museum (indoors) and Gyeongbokgung palace. But since it seemed like today was going to be the warmest, sunniest day, we decided to do the Itaewon/tourist shopping thing. It was fun. We bought some typical touristy stuff for us (chopsticks/spoons, a sweater for me, a really cute hanbok for Audrey) and as gifts (dolls, tassel ornaments...). Audrey collapsed about 4:00 and fell asleep in my arms, so we had an early dinner of Korean BBQ pork ribs, stopped by Starbucks for a mocha--a happening place, 3 stories, warm, crammed with young people chatting, playing scrabble, studying (Chinese, I think), etc. And here, we were able to communicate because lots of English was spoken, or the vendors had cards with prices on them to point to. Tip: don't buy at the first place you see, and haggle!

We meet Madeleine tomorrow! This process has been almost a year and a half for us, but it hasn't really seemed real to me until we arrived in Korea. I'm so glad we came, even with the early stress.

{I forgot... we took someone's sugestion and bought the subway cards today. Since we obviously were not communicating what we wanted, a young man who spoke some English came up and tried to help us. However, we still had to basically argue with the attendant for several minutes to get him to sell us the card! He even gave us paper tickets and change, which we made him take back and give us the cards. BTW, they cost 2500 won to buy, then we had to add 5000 won to the card at purchase time... well, I guess we had to. So it was 15000 won for the two cards, but you get a discount of 100 won on each trip}

Found a Coat!

2006-01-07T05:22:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all who had suggestions about where to find a coat! Wish I had read the one about the Hyundai store... We went first to the Myeong-dong district and went to the Lotte department store. It had a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shop on the first floor, and children's clothes on the seventh floor. But the clothes there were more expensive than we were looking for. Then we went along to Dongdaemun market. It was too COLD to shop outside for long, so we went into the high-rise department stores and found one that Audrey would wear in the second one, Doota. Of course, the one she wanted cost twice as much as 2 others Mom and Dad liked, but it IS cute. We didn't find the actual markets, which are supposed to be large, indoor buildings (sort of like fancy flea markets, but with new (not recycled) stuff for sale.

Had lunch in a little restaurant near Doota (called Song, I think). A Korean middle school teacher approached us and wanted to help us pick some things. It was nice to have some recommendations other than our standard bibimbap. Then she had us write Audrey's name and something she needed in her life on a card, because she wanted to pray for her. I didn't totally understand it all, but she was very nice.

On the downside, arriving on Friday evening was probably not the best thing. We didn't think of using the info desk at the airport, as someone else did to ask the driver to come; Susan called the reception desk but the language barrier prevented communication. Holt offices are closed, and the people on duty speak no English, so we're pretty much on our own. We went to the new guest house thinking we might commiserate with the other families here, but they wouldn't let us in. We can't even get the attention of the watchman at Holt to give him our room key, so we've been carrying it around (on it's long stick)!

Guess we're going to go to Itaewon today and freeze and try to shop.

We made it!

2006-01-06T05:16:00.000-06:00

Here we are at 6:30 am in the old guest house. The computer is all in Korean, so it's a bit hard to figure out, but it's the same old Windows98...

Our driver didn't make it to the airport (or we missed him) so we had to tak a taxi. We mentioned the word "taxi" ("taeksi" in Korean) and a "cabbie" approached us and asked if we needed a taxi. I was more than a bit apprehensive, but when I saw his minivan with the taxi advertising on it in English, it seemed OK. The trip was uneventful until exiting the freeway at the Hapjeong Station exit. Then, after driving crazily back and forth and stopping to ask directions 4 times (the third time at the new guest house), we got here about 8:30 pm local time. I went looking for some food and bought a couple of items in the subway and at the bakery. I saw a udon stand (think hot-dog stand in New York) and thought I would take some back to DW Susan and DD Audrey in the room. I ordered (3000 won, about $3) and then realized I had to eat it there. (Later I heard that the Korean word for this kind of place literally means "stand and eat" or something like that.) There was a tent of sorts, with a kerosene heater inside. I ran back to get the family and we shared the udon (and pickled radishes and kimchi) in the tent. The lady gave us some extra broth and a fork for Audrey.

We've been awake since 2:30 am, and just found the computer upstairs, and now, only 2 days before meeting her, we have a new photo of Madeleine! The first one since the referral!

Shortly, we'll go over to the new guest house and hope someone is there! We have no plans for the weekend, and it's so hard knowing no Korean. The old guest house is great, if you like quiet. It's not so bright or noisy as the new guest house... just what we needed. The PC is upstairs; that's why we didn't see it at first). No one is staying in the other rooms.

The rooms are quite warm, but I can't figure out how to get it anything above 60 in the 1st floor common area. Both the sleeping rooms and the common area have the ondol floors, but the ones in the common area are not as warm.

Also, we left Audrey's coat in the car at the airport. We're asking on the Holt bulletin boards if anyone has a suggestion for where to get one.

More later, I hope. We meet Madeleine Monday!

Going to Korea

2006-01-04T05:12:00.000-06:00

Our long wait is almost over! We leave tomorrow with DD Audrey (age 3.5) to bring home Madeleine JooYun (age 6 months)!

HS complete Sep 2004
I-600A Nov 2004
HSTK Dec 2004
Referral 08 Sep 2005
EP 12 Dec 2005
Travel Call 30 Dec 2005! (along with 4 others at Holt! Congrats to all of you, and perhaps we'll meet in Korea!)

Referral!

2005-09-08T20:45:00.000-05:00

Tonight I was at home with Audrey. It was about 7:15, and we were just finishing dinner and waiting for Susan to come home when the phone rang. It was our social worker from Holt. She said, "Michael... I have your referral!" I said, [pause] "You don't!"

It turns out it was all done via email - a new thing for Holt. She confirmed my email address, and by the time I fired up my PC, there were the photos and all the documents right on my computer screen! I printed them all out, with Audrey sitting by my side, the whole time wanting to see the photos of her baby sister. When she saw them, she said, "Is that me?"

By the time Susan got home, I had a stack of papers in hand and we got to give her the wonderful surprise.

We've picked out a tentative name but will look at her Korean name and think a while before deciding for sure.

Whoopee!

Dora and Korean food in Springfield, Missouri!

2005-07-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Susan, Audrey and I went with my sister and her 3-year-old to see Dora Live! Susan was originally not interested as she thought that there would just be characters in costumes with "big heads," but Dora, Boots, et. al. were real people. There were some in headed costumes, like the Pirate Piggies. But it was great! I would call it a mini-musical for kids. Lots of fun, and the singing was really good and entertaining.

We also found Soo's Korean Restaurant on South Campbell--they have apparently been open for many months. Finally, a real Korean restaurant within driving distance. Highly recommended!

How many "X-Rays" did I receive today?

2005-07-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

Paraphrased from two posts to the CHEMED-L discussion list, yesterday and today.

Today I was driving from Joplin, Missouri to Tulsa, Oklahoma along Interstate-44. On the way, I passed (overtook) four trucks which I recognized from news stories in the local paper as being the ones carrying low-level radioactive waste from the former uranium refinery at Fernald, Ohio to a Texas storage site. (see story and photo captions at http://www.joplinglobe.com/archives/story.php?story_id=101798 http://www.joplinglobe.com/archives/story.php?story_id=101443; the original news story seems to be unavailable online) Update: I found it at http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=191496&c=87. If you don't want to visit the links, here is a short quote:

Each of the flatbed trucks will carry two steel canisters, each weighing 21,950 pounds.

The canisters contain uranium residues, fly ash and portland cement. When combined, they form a solid concrete monolith. About 70 to 83 percent of the material in each container is non-radioactive, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The department is overseeing the shipments.

Still, the waste is of some concern because it is radioactive. Standing close to one of the containers during shipment might be equivalent to getting a medical X-ray, according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C.

Keith Stammer, the new emergency coordinator of Joplin-Jasper County Emergency Management, said the public should use what he calls the "thumb rule" with regard to the shipments.

"If you stick your arm out and hold up your thumb and if your thumb does not cover (the view of it), you are too close - just back up."

I also found the website www.fernald.gov and at that site, a fact sheet http://www.fernald.gov/NewsUpdate/PDFs/4-28-05%20Silos%201%20and%202%20Transportation%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
According to the fact sheet:

Typical maximum radionuclide concentrations per waste package (pCi/g):
Radium 226 - 100,000
Thorium 230 - 15,000
Lead 210 - 100,000
Polonium 210 - 100,000
Actinium 227 - 2,000

So, let's assume that I passed within 2 meters of each of the 4 trucks/8 canisters at a rate (difference) of about 100 m/min (I did hit the accelerator a little). By stepping outside and holding up my thumb while looking at the entry door of an adjacent building, (without using any trigonometry or exact measurements) I'm estimating that the "thumb rule" is about 100 m, so I was inside that distance for a total of 8 minutes. Of course I was inside my car, so there was a little shielding. (And actually, the second through fourth trucks were close together, perhaps within the 100 m boundary, but let's ignore that).

Is there a simple way to estimate the dosage of radiation I likely absorbed? How would that amount compare to that from a typical medical X-ray (radiograph)?

An exact answer is not even possible, given the ranges from the fact sheet; there are just too many variables of which I have little understanding about for me to even make an educated guess. But it seems to me that before these trucks were allowed onto the public highways, that data would be available, presumably to the public. Suppose the federal government does have this data. What would it take to find it? John Stossel?

And yes, I'm worried about the drivers. I'm assuming that there is shielding built into the trucks and that any individual driver is limited to a certain number of trips and/or wears a radiation badge. But how would I know?

(Here are the best photos I could find; neither quite matches what I saw, but they're close.)

Designing a Science Lab

2005-07-12T10:07:00.000-05:00

From time to time, money magically comes along to build or renovate a science laboratory. Inevitably, administrators and architects have their ideas about how the lab should be designed. We the instructors are often consulted, but we may have no experience with lab design and may not know what to plan for. In the absence of planning, what you get is probably similar to what you had before, just newer (right?) The Lab Safety Institute has been examining a floor space requirement, and the Chemistry Educators discussion list has had some recent useful discussion about laboratory plans. You can Search the CHEMED-L Archives for the phrase "Occupancy Load" to find some relevant posts from a March 2005 thread.

I also came across a treatise prepared by Michael Chejlava from Lafayette College. He has apparently had significant experience in redesigning labs, and has a lengthy discussion of what to plan for.

You can see in a post in this blog a couple of weeks ago an example of a so-called "studio lab" that I had the opportunity to see at Washington College. This type of setup lends itself to multiple uses, such as having "lecture" and "lab" in the same room, sequentially, or moving back and forth as required. This means that the course schedule does not have to have separate "lecture" and "lab: times scheduled, and the two parts can be integrated.

I hope that I remember to come back to this if MSSU ever has a chance to renovate some laboratories.

Adoption Update

2005-07-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Our family and friends all know that we are in the process of adoption. Susan and I have planned to adopt a girl from Korea for years and years, since before we were even married. Susan came home to her forever family in 1974 with the help of Holt International (www.holtintl.org), the pioneer agency in international adoption. She is so thankful that God found a family just for her, and she wants to do the same for another little girl. I thank God every day for Susan's parents, for if they hadn't seen her photo in that HiFamilies magazine in the early 1970's and made that decision to make Susan part of their family, I would never have found my life partner.

Some prospective adoptive parents keep track of the exact dates of every part of their process. You can just read the posts on the online adoption forums to see how anxious they are. We didn't feel the need to do that. We decided to go through the process, and just accepted the fact that it would take as long as it would take. Of course, we have already been blessed with a biological daughter, so that makes it easier for us.

We were waiting until Audrey was about two years old before beginning the process, because we expected it to take about a year and that Audrey would be 3 and the baby would be 6-12 months old when she arrived... about right, we thought. We began a home study with Holt (Kansas City office) last summer after Audrey turned 2.

The home study actually took only several weeks. The first part (and in retrospect the most difficult part, sans the subsequent and current waiting) was filling out a very lengthy questionnaire; detailing why we wanted to adopt; what our views were on many issues, such as religion, disciplinary measures, how we work out disagreements with each other, finances, health issues, on and on.... Then we needed to meet with the case (social) worker (SW) a total of three times. This turned out to be pretty straightforward, because we had already worked out most of our issues when writing our responses to the questionnaire.

We also needed three letters of reference from people other than family members, physical exams for all three of us including TB and AIDS tests, past years' tax returns, background checks with the division of family services and highway patrol including fingerprints (trip to Jefferson City), fingerprints again with the USCIS (trip to Kansas City), and paying large fees both for the home study and the USCIS paperwork.

We recieved the USCIS preapproval in November, and thought we were ready to go. A few weeks later I wondered if I needed to send a copy of that to our SW. Turns out I did. So that delayed our application a month. She said it probably wouldn't, but it seems as if it did.

As I mentioned, I feel that we've been really patient. But finally last week I emailed our SW to see if we could get an update. Here's part of the reply.

"Your documents were mailed Dec. 10, 2004. It may still be some time. You might look at some of the children who are listed on the website, if they have acceptable medical issues, as this would speed the process. Otherwise we have to patiently wait for Holt-Korea to make an assignment."

This is not very encouraging. "Some time" isn't very helpful. And there are no girls from Korea at all on the waiting children list. Holt has been averaging 7-12 months to make referrals, according to others posting online, while other agencies are much shorter. For example, see an excerpt from this recent post I read.

"My husband and I are working with AIAA in Michigan (although we live in Massachusetts). Their partner agency in Korea is SWS. Our homestudy went to Korea on May 5, 2005. We had a referral nineteen days later on May 24, 2005. And we should be getting our son's travel call this coming week! It doesn't get much quicker than that!"

I can parrot all the reasons for the disparity in these timelines. Holt is the first and largest agency placing children from Korea. Hence, they have the most applicants and the longest wait times. Girls are more in demand for adoption than boys. But it looks as if it is going to take us 18 months from start to finish, when others are getting through the entire process in a matter of a few weeks. This is getting tougher to handle.

I don't know that we would change anything (except being a little more communicative with our SW to avoid any delays). Susan feels a real connection to Holt and Korea--both of her sisters have adopted through Holt. One sister has adopted three times from Thailand, and the other once from Romania. We firmly belive in the mission of Holt, and have sponsored children for years. But it is getting harder and harder to wait, and we are getting older. And if it takes too much longer, our USCIS preapproval will expire and we'll have to get fingerprinted and approved all over again.

I still feel as patient as I can. But I know that only a small percentage of the children in the orphanages get adopted at all. It seems such a shame that it is so difficult to match them with families who want only to love and take care of them... forever.

Selling a Car on eBay

2005-07-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I just sold my wife's 1994 Subaru SVX on eBay. It's a bittersweet experience. This was her first new car, and we had hoped to keep it "forever." There were only 25,000 of these ever made worldwide, and they still turn heads 12 years later. We thought it might be a collectors' item. In a way, it is already, with a small group of enthusiasts.

But with one 3-year-old, an another on the way hopefully soon (more about this later) we needed a more practical car. With 4 doors. So I bought a cool, Strato Blue Mazda3 5-door. My wife wanted a hybrid auto but wasn't happy with the limited choices currently available (2 Hondas, the Toyota Prius, Ford Escape, and supposedly this year a small Lexus SUV). So she'll drive "my" 2000 Subaru Outback for 5 years or so and then see what new choices she has.

She had fun watching the bids go up on her car, wanting me to show her the eBay page each evening to see what the newest high bid was. In the end, we made $1300 more than I advertised the car for in the Big Nickel. A US Army soldier from Arizona is flying to Tulsa on Saturday, and we'll deliver the car to him there. Susan gets to drive it one last time...

So if you want to know the "ins and outs" of selling a car on eBay, I'll be happy to share my experience. Just ask!

6 kinds of Diet Coke

2005-06-28T13:09:00.000-05:00

What's up with all the kinds of Diet Coke out now? I went into the convenience store to buy a beverage yesterday, and bought the Diet Coke with Splenda because there was a 30-cent coupon. I made the comment to the clerk that there are "like six kinds of Diet Coke out now." So later I got to thinking and I actually underestimated. I count 7 kinds: Diet Coke, Diet Cokes with lemon, lime, and Splenda, Diet Vanilla Coke, Diet Cherry Coke, and the newest, Coke Zero, which seems to have gone from nonexistent to everywhere in the last week. Can Coke Zero actually be creating a new market? Isn't it just going to draw from the usual Diet Coke (or regular Coke) drinkers? By the way, Coke Zero has the same ingredients as Diet Coke, with the addition of another artificial sweetener, acesulfame potassium, along with the aspartame. I'm drinking one now (59-cents for a 20-oz bottle). It doesn't seem that different from the "original;" perhaps a little sweeter. Things that make you go "Hmmmmm..."

Joplin AirFest

2005-06-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

Susan and I took Audrey to the AirFest yesterday. She still remembers going last year when she was just 2 years old. We couldn't go until Susan got off work at 2:00, so we missed the first 2 hours of the program. Audrey was less interested in the airplanes and more interested in the "kids' stuff" this year. I took her on the "Watermelon Slice" (the same one she rode a couple of weeks ago at the Festival of the Four States)--but first she wanted to ride in the small, closed-cage Ferris wheel. We had to wait for another kid to ride with her, since they had to have 2 per car. She chose the watermelon ride over the train, but the train was a nice photo. The other photo was a troop transport plane that the National Guard brought and let us walk through.

It was hot, but we had a popup shade tent. After the rides, we had time to eat a funnel cake, and then Audrey and I shared a watermelon flavor (her choice) tropical sno shaved ice. It was her first one ever, and mine too. Mmmmmm! (But $3.00 for some ice and a squirt of flavored sugar water. I need to get into that business.)

The show was over by 3:45, and we were the last ones on that part of the field because we had to finish our treat!

Lab Envy

2005-06-24T13:33:00.000-05:00

So I just returned from the POGIL national meeting at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. They had a new chemistry building, including this Organic Chem lab. Wow. Check out how clean it is. It can be used for the hybrid "studio" courses in which lecture and lab time can be used interchangeably. I wonder how long it will be before we can get a similar remodel at Missouri Southern.

Maybe this post will reinvigorate my interest in maintaining a blog. I just haven't been able to find a reason to maintain it...

In Perspective

2003-09-19T10:12:00.000-05:00

Originally published in the MSSU student newspaper The Chart, 19 Sep 2003.

Southwestern Missouri is a great place to live. Sure, there are things I would change if I could, but a day like we had last Sunday makes me feel happy with the world.

I spent the whole day at Joplin parks. The weather was amazing. Sunday morning, along with my wife and 16-month-old daughter, I attended a church service in McClelland Park commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther School. We also had a hog roast, picnic games for the kids, singing, reminiscing, and lots of dessert. And I helped park cars before and clean up afterward.

After that my wife and I took our daughter to Parr Hill Park. She had a wonderful time playing in the sand, sliding down the slides, climbing through the tubes.

After a while, her grandparents showed up and we all went out for dinner.

I could have done the same things lots of places—even in Joplin twenty years ago. That is, without the wife and daughter, and with the “rocket slide” at the park instead of the new multi-function climbing equipment on a bed of mulch.

I grew up in this area, but this is not the Joplin I grew up with. There are many more things to do and places to go.

Twenty years ago I might have eaten a slice of pizza and an ice cream cone at Orange Bowl at the mall. The Orange Bowl is gone, but we have Schlotzsky’s, Panera Bread, Japanese and Indian restaurants, coffee shops, and IHOP.

Twenty years ago I might have bought school supplies at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Today we have Target, Hobby Lobby, Lowe’s and Home Depot, Toys-R-Us, Office Max and Office Depot, and Best Buy.

Twenty years ago I might have complained that there was “nothing to do.” I would have been wrong then, but I would be even more wrong now. In addition to the parks, restaurants, and businesses, we have museums, paintball fields, water parks, festivals, and cultural events.

Last Thursday I stayed home with my daughter while my wife went to hear someone she knows perform a poetry reading at the “open mike” night at Dioko Coffee Co.

Our University is the center of “things to do.” There are two or three events each week connected with the Cuba Semester, and then there are the art shows, sporting events, theatre productions, science fairs, choral and band concerts… I no longer complain that there is “nothing to do,” but instead that I cannot “do” enough of them!

Yes, there are things I would change about this area. The weather is too hot in the summer and often too cold in the winter. We are too far from the ocean and the mountains.

We could use more sidewalks and biking trails. Indoor tennis courts (that I could afford) might be nice, and it would be great if our movie theater showed anything other than Hollywood sequels.

But fall in Joplin is wonderful, and after a day like last Sunday, I can’t complain.

Rules

2003-04-25T20:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been months since my first "musing," and ideas have come and gone for what to write about. I intended to write more often, but, as usual, there always seems to be something else to do, and I feel guilty when I think about wasting my time writing about nothing. (I have no problem wasting the time reading, tinkering with my computer, or watching TV, though. In other words, I am rationalizing my procrastination.) But here I am on a plane to Salt Lake City, and there is one topic that has been on my mind regularly.

When I was first hired at Missouri Southern, I was asked in an interview for the campus newspaper The Chart, what my philosophy of life is. I said that it was that one could never have too many T-shirts.

It was a silly question, and a sillier answer.

I don't really have just one philosophy of life. I think life is too short to spend it doing things you hate. I think that the most important things in life are the people you love and the time that you get to spend with them. I think that there is no reason for people to be inconsiderate to each other, but that "political correctness" is not the way to accomplish this. And I think that good rules should be followed, and that bad rules should be changed rather than ignored.

Apparently I hold a minority opinion in this area.

Take Major League Baseball, for example. The rules state that when the baseball is put into play, a "force out" occurs when the defensive player obtains possession of the ball and touches a base before the runner (having no open bases behind him) reaches the base. If the ball and runner arrive simultaneously, or if the ball arrives after the runner reaches the base, the runner is safe.

However, the rule should really have an additional statement, namely, that if the ball arrives just a little bit after the runner, the runner is still out if the defensive player made a really good play. After all, that’s what really happens.

The rules used to state that a pitched ball was a strike if it crossed over home plate at a height above the batter’s knees and below his armpits. However, umpires routinely modified the "strike zone" to be above the ankles and below the waist. Realizing this inconsistency, MLB changed the rule to something like "from the knees to halfway between the armpits and the letters on the chest of the uniform." This change had no effect.

The rule should state that a strike is a pitched baseball that crosses the plate in a region that the umpire feels is close enough to the defined strike zone; that each umpire is entitled to his own definition of close enough; that he does not have to share his definition with anyone; and that he is free to change it at any time, during or between games.

Maybe this is the real problem with having rules that actually mean what they say… they don't sound like rules any more!

Rules shouldn’t depend on who is enforcing them at any given time. They should apply at any time, to anyone. That’s my philosophy.

Speed limits in America are not really limits at all. They’re suggested minimum speeds. (That is, unless you are driving on the weekend or in farm country, in which case they are unattainable maxima.) Speedy checkout lanes are for people purchasing 10 items or less, or for anyone else who is really in a hurry. Homework due dates are absolute, except for students who had to work late the night before.

I remember a course in which I was supposed to keep a journal. I didn't. This meant regular writing, and as evidenced by the span of time between this musing and the last, writing regularly is not a strong point of mine. So, I handed in a late, sloppy, pieced-together document toward the end of the course, along with a note to the instructor stating that he should give me the grade I deserved. He did. It was a "D," and I accepted it without complaint. I didn't follow the rules, and I paid the consequences. (I later retook the course from an instructor who did not assign journals and earned an "A.")

Maybe there are more people who feel as I do about rules, but if so, I don't know them, or they must keep silent about their feelings.

Recently a study was performed to try to discern why the stretch of Interstate 44 near Joplin has recently been the site of so many fatal accidents. While no one reason was given, one conclusion that was reached was that reducing the speed limit would be a bad idea, because it would increase the difference in speeds among vehicles on the road. This conclusion assumes that people will ignore the speed limit. What is wrong with this picture? What would be wrong with assigning actual, reasonable, speed limits, and expecting people not to exceed them by even one mile per hour? Instead of a 25 mph limit on a residential street, change it to 35 mph, and give tickets at 36.

It’s a different philosophy, isn't it? I think that there are too many incentives in our society for trying to "get away with something." But there’s a topic for another time…

As far as my career goes, I think I ended up in the right discipline. Science has rules that are followed by all (or nearly all) in the scientific community. If you don't follow the scientific method, your conclusions carry no weight. There are rules for nomenclature of chemicals that everyone in the world agrees to use. The laws of physics cannot be disobeyed, and scientists spend careers trying to figure out what the rules are. If an experimental result or observation is inconsistent with the rule (law, theory), and if the result can be confirmed to be replicable, then the rule is changed to incorporate the new piece of data. The statement goes, "the exception proves the rule," but the exception is itself a rule and also a measure of our incomplete understanding of the nature of the universe. Science is based on the discovery, creation, modification, revision, and application of rules.

I guess that what I have discovered about myself in the course of writing this musing is that I wish that the rest of society could work more like science does. And I suppose that that discovery shouldn't surprise me. I think I may have just modified my philosophy of life.

My New Life

2002-08-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

Originally written August 26, 2002

Well, here goes. I’m not sure if my new life will involve writing more, but I’d like to hope so. I think about writing a lot, I just don’t actually DO it. Now with a little extra personal motivation, I begin, and write about the source of that motivation.

What does “my new life” mean? My life is new every day, or at least that’s how I choose to think about it. But most recently, my new life revolves around my new daughter, Audrey Marie Garoutte, age 14 weeks. I have been catching myself thinking, “I love my new life. Thank you, God, for giving us a wonderful daughter,” while sitting quietly at home, driving to work… whenever I have a spare moment.

There is a story here. I just don’t know where to start.

Susan and I always knew we wanted to have children. I don’t think she knew how important it was for me. I think that men—some consciously, some not—see in their chosen mates their possible offspring from day one. I always wanted Susan to have our baby. I wanted her genes in that little package, and if some of mine had to be dragged along, then so be it. And I always talked about having a “little Susan.” Yes, I hoped we would have a girl. It’s not politically correct to say that, and I didn’t say it to anyone before she was born, but I guess it’s OK to say so now. And we are led to believe that most men want to have a son. There’s a topic for another time. Of course, now that we have Audrey, we know that she is not a “little Susan” any more than she is a “little Michael.” She is her own person, and we started getting to know her months before she was born. But I digress…

Here’s an example of my new life. What was my day like today? Susan and I woke up about 6:30 or 6:45. No alarm clocks, we just woke up. Now there’s a change from a few months ago. And no, the baby wasn’t up yet. We took advantage of the freedom to have a little time to ourselves. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Audrey was up and we started the day for real. I showered while Susan nursed her. Susan showered while I fed her some formula. Susan took her to daycare as I went to the office.

I had a good day at work. I’ve been in a good mood since school started, actually.

I had to leave a meeting at 5:30 that could have been over, but wasn’t, to get to the daycare by 6:00. Audrey hadn’t slept since 2:20, I discovered, so she fell asleep in the car. At home, I transferred her to the crib and she slept for half an hour.

Here’s the good part. She woke up at 6:30, and as usual, cried some. I went in to get her, and, again as usual, she stopped crying and smiled at me. I could stop right there. I don’t need any other reasons for having children than that. That smile could carry me for weeks.

So I picked her up, took her into the living room, and put her in the new “seat on a spring” that a patient of Susan’s gave us a couple of days ago. (An aside—having kids is a great way to see the generous side of humanity. Everyone loves a baby, and they all give you stuff.) What this is is a chair held up by three straps. These straps are connected to a spring, which is connected to another strap, which connects to something like crawdad pincers which hooks over the molding at the top of a doorway. Cool, huh? Well, Audrey can’t even sit up on her own yet, but she can hold up her head, and she has strength in her legs.

So I put her in this seat, and just watched. The entertainment value is amazing. Forget TV; babies are it. Especially your own.

For about 15 minutes she sat in this chair. Right away she figured out that moving her feet was causing her to spin around. But I was waiting for her to start bouncing up and down. I didn’t expect her to get it right away, and she didn’t, but she loves bouncing on my knee, and I was sure she would like this seat too. Well, pretty soon she figured out, sort of, that lifting up her legs made her bounce a little. She squealed with delight. Wow! This was so neat to watch that I had to call Susan at work and tell her, and let her hear the squeals. Audrey couldn’t repeat the bouncing at will, but she did it a few times before she got frustrated that her legs weren’t doing quite what she wanted them too and started getting fussy (about the time I got Susan on the phone).

Then it was bath time, dinnertime, and bedtime for her. Susan got home about halfway through dinnertime.

So now, after our dinner (thank God for leftovers and a wife who knows how to plan ahead) and after reading through the issue of PC magazine that arrived in today’s mail, I have time to write this. Its now 9:43, and Susan told me she was getting ready for bed 45 minutes ago. I’ll follow her shortly.

So my new life includes most of the same things as before, and they are all just as important to me as they were before. I just have a new priority added at the top of the list. And I wouldn’t change that for anything.

If you have kids, then you probably understand exactly what I am talking about. Even if you don’t, imagine the joy at watching a new little person discover everything about the world from scratch. That those things in front of her face are actually her hands, and that she can hold them in that place for as long as she wants to study their form and function. That she can make herself bounce in a chair by picking up her legs. Her whole world is confined to the room she is in, and we get to watch as it, and she, grows and grows. And maybe we can make her world better than ours is.

Honors Convocation Speech

2002-05-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is the text of a speech I gave at the MSSC Honors Convocation on May 1, 2002. I was the chair of the Honors Convocation Committee, and as such had the privilege of addressing the honorees and their guests.

All of us here on stage—and your peers, instructors, families and friends in the audience—have gathered here for the same reason: to honor you, our outstanding graduates. We are here to recognize you and your success at Missouri Southern.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Self-trust is the first secret of success.” On the other hand, he also said, “Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentiment in mankind.” Perhaps the post office has changed.

Barbra Streisand once said, “Success to me is having ten honeydew melons, and eating only the top half of each one.”

As I talk to you this morning, I would like you to keep in the back of your mind two concepts: success, and change—two perhaps seemingly unrelated concepts. I believe that both are relevant to this audience.

Twenty-five years ago, the first annual Missouri Southern Honors Convocation was held. It was instituted by the faculty to honor our outstanding students and to encourage underclassmen to aspire to excellence.

Sixteen years ago, an anxious seventeen-year-old started school here at Missouri Southern. His mother bought him sheets for the dormitory-sized beds and helped him move into a room in Richard M. Webster Hall.

Fifteen years ago, a busy young student was often found carrying his 5 ¼” floppy disk to the Learning Center on the third floor of Spiva Library, where he would use that disk to boot up an IBM PC, write an English paper or laboratory report, and print it out on a 9-pin dot-matrix printer. Or he might even use a typewriter.

Thirteen years ago, an anxious young man sat in the audience in this auditorium, participating in the Missouri Southern Honors Covocation, just as you are today, and planning to attend graduate school. He was uncertain about his future, but happy that the school he had chosen for his graduate work was close enough to his girlfriend to allow him to see her on a regular basis.

Eleven years ago, an anxious young man walked down the aisle and married his college sweetheart.

Six years ago, a young college teacher changed jobs, happy to take a new position at Missouri Southern State College.

A few minutes ago, a thirty-something college teacher began his remarks, while anxiously awaiting the imminent birth of his and his wife’s first child.

I would call each step in this story one of change, and of success. Since it is my story, I am free to do that. I am not sure how much of that success is due to my own choices, fate, or gifts from God. But I am free to decide for myself my own definition of success. So is Barbra Streisand. And so are you.

At Missouri Southern State College, many things have changed in the last twenty-five years. Our freshmen have never seen a 5 ¼” floppy disk. We have a new Webster Hall, and the dormitory has a new name.

Many things have not changed. We are here today to honor our outstanding graduates, just as was done twenty-five years ago. You can be proud of the successes that you have achieved so far. And perhaps you are not sure where your future will lead you.

So students, as your lives move on to the next stage—and as I congratulate you on your success at Missouri Southern—I encourage you to trust in yourself. Keep striving for success. And as you do, each line in your story will be a story of change.

What will you be doing ten years from now? Will you have succeeded in your current goals? Perhaps you will … or perhaps you will have decided upon an entirely different path. Choose wisely, and again, trust in yourself. No matter where your choices take you, remember that it is all right to change your definition of success. As long as you are happy with your choices, you will succeed.

My Spring Break Report

2001-03-20T14:10:00.000-06:00

I found this old email in my files, and it seems like it should be a blog entry. But there were no blogs in 2001, so I am predating this to the original email date. Now it's recorded for posterity...

I am sending this e-mail to you because I do not have the energy right now to give 50 oral reports on our trip. I have come down with quite a cold (reasons for this follow :-). Also, I want to get all the complaining out of the way at once so that I can get on with remembering the positive aspects of my vacation.

As you probably know, I spent Spring Break in Paris as a participant in a tour led by Prof. Markus Muller. We traveled in conjunction with another group consisting of students of Prof. Chad Stebbins. These students were attending the International Media Seminar at the American University of Paris.

Due to a mixup with the travel agent (as I understand, a member of the dept. of Communications), four of us (Brenda and Larry Kilbe, my wife, and myself) were forced to take flights separate from the rest of the group and to make our own arrangements for travel to and from Kansas City. We flew from Kansas City to Paris, with stops in Chicago and Boston. Both groups arrived safely in Paris, and we took a bus to our hotel together. (An aside: you lose 7 hours of sleep due to the time difference, so we started out pretty tired).

At this point, if you so desire, you can safely skip the description of the trip and go straight to the "lessons," which are indicated by a row of asterixes below.

Let me start by saying that Susan and I had a wonderful, if extremely busy, time in Paris! We visited the Louvre, the Museé d'Orsay (famous impressionist paintings--great!), Napoleon's Tomb, and a Naval Museum. We toured the Père LaChaise cemetery and the Sainte Chapelle chapel. We walked through the Latin Quarter, and shopped at the booksellers along the Seine. We went to markets, with separate shops or booths selling meat, seafood, cheese, produce, etc. Just walking through many of the different districts in Paris was neat, and we have many photos. (Thanks to Prof. Muller for guiding us to many of the more important sites). The drizzly rain followed us around nearly every day, but it was really no more than a nuisance. Friday was the only day without any rain; we were really lucky here because that was the day that we went to the palace at Versailles. Here, we spent maybe half an hour actually looking throught the state rooms in the palace (yes, they were beautiful, but we had seen so many at the Louvre that the "oooh-ahhh effect" had worn off somewhat) and spent the rest of the time in the gardens. Then we rented bikes and rode around the grounds to see the Trianons--the getaway home and the getaway-further summer home of Louis XIV; the getaway home of Marie Antoinette; and Le Hameau, Marie's own little 12-building hamlet, in which she "supervised" the operation of the working dairy in her spotless white muslin dress.

But the best thing about Paris was the food. No matter how hard we tried, we could not find bad food in Paris. (OK, the falafel sandwich at the gyro stand came close, but that's about it). We had better and more food daily (or even semidaily--is that a word?) than we usually eat at home. I will really miss the fresh baguettes, pastries, and cheeses.

I got a chance to practice my French and to find out how bad it really is. When forced to communicate in French (e.g., at the train station), I could get by (just barely). Usually, people would start speaking to me in English after I tried my phrasebook French on them. But nearly everyone was extremely nice and helpful.

Thursday, I had the opportunity to visit the Université d'Orléans. I was a little (i.e. , extremely) nervous, mainly because I had missed my train to Orléans and had taken a later one. Luckily, Madame Maryse Curé (the director of the Service d'Affaires International) had waited for me at the train station, so she calmed me down, and I only missed a little part of the visit.

It seems that they really "rolled out the red carpet" for me. I met with Madame Curé ,and with the Dean of Sciences (a biochemist) and two other faculty of Chemistry.

Much of the time was spent with them explaining to me the system of French higher education, and the MULTIPLE tracks for getting degrees in the sciences. I have notes on this. I will have to study them further to determine if a student exchange would be in order in the field of chemistry (or other science). The differences in 1) the educational systems and 2) the language of instruction are difficult barriers. For much of the rest of the time at Orléans, I toured various facilities--mainly the chemistry laboratories.

I should say that everyone with whom I spoke seemed extremely open to the idea of further discussion leading to the possible exchange of students. Now that I have some contacts, I may be able to explore this option further. Many of the logistical details are already worked out, as we already exchange students with the Université. I did not discuss the possibility of a faculty exchange, but I will give this some more thought in the next months. As I said, all my contacts at Orléans were quite encouraging.

Another interesting story relates to my family, the Garouttes. I turns out that we are quite a small "clan," and that most of us live in three general areas: Missouri, Oregon, and the south of France (Marseilles area). I was able to contact a distant cousin of mine who was originally from Marseilles but now lives lives in Lyon, France. He invited us to come for a visit. Now, Lyon is almost 300 miles from Paris: 5 hours by car, but only 2 hours by the TGV "bullet" train. So Saturday, we went. Régis Garoutte (we have a common ancestor about 9 generations back) gave me a short tour and history lesson in Lyon, and then we went to his house They talked us into spending the night so that we could have dinner with them (and three other families that they had invited). So we crashed their party and had a real French dinner. The kids had pizza and played video games on the PlayStation. We took only a few photos (time was short) but were invited to stay longer the next time. It was cool!

So,Sunday was to be the last day of our trip. We took the TGV back to Paris at 8:00, and arrived back at the hotel around 10:45. We cleaned up, packed, and made the bus at 12:30 to the airport. There, we and the Kilbys said goodbye to the rest of the group and waited for our own plane.

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Now comes the part of the story with the lessons, children. Firstly, never take Air France for a flight. And secondly, never, ever, EVER, even THINK about taking two different airlines for separate legs of a trip. We had heard that this was a bad idea, but now we know firsthand.

Our itinerary to return home had us flying Air France to London and American from London to Chicago to Kansas City. Our flight to London arrived at 4:35, about half an hour late, getting us to the airport about 40 minutes before our flight to Chicago. By the time we reached the transfer desk at the other terminal, there were 30 minutes to go. The airline (American) said that the flight was "closed" and would not let us on. (Actually, I believe that the flight was overbooked and that they had already given our seats to other passengers). So after about 2 hours of discussion and typing on the archaic flight reservation system, we were put onto the (overbooked) 6:40 AM flight for Monday. American referred us to Air France to complain about the missed connection and to inquire
about lodging.

The Air France representative agreed that their flight was late, but blamed it on "airport delay," for which they, as the airline, are not responsible. This category apparently covers weather-related delays, but there were none in Paris. Anyway, this representative appeared to take delight in the fact that she could deny any help to us, indicating that there were no more seats available that day for passengers "in our class," and that they would happily not help us with getting hotel reservations or other arrangements.

By this time, it was after 8 PM, and we were to be in line at 4:30 AM the next morning; so we had dinner in T.G.I. Fridays (we missed American food and ice in our drinks, and it wasn't too expensive) and tried to find a place to "sleep." We spent an extremely nervous, uncomfortable, nearly sleepless night in Heathrow airport (among other things, they "tested" the airport alarm system every five minutes for an hour), contributing to the decline in my immune system that has led to the lousy cold I now have. We did make it onto our 6:40 flight,got to KC about 13 hours later (~1:30 PM) and drove home last evening. Then we had a bath, ate a snack, and went to bed.

This is why I missed class on Monday; I was still in the air somewhere over the USA.

We still had a wonderful time in Paris, and the "interesting" trip home does not spoil that.

And this story serves in multiple ways to further illustrate the tag line in my signature file, which roughly translates from the French into "Learning never ends!"

Deterministically yours,
Michael

L'étude ne termine jamais!