Respiratory Infections

I've had a long history of respiratory infections.  I can remember my first case of pneumonia during my first year of graduate school.  My digestive system rebelled against the antibiotic erythromycin and I was growing weaker and weaker until a nurse suggested yogurt and all was well again.

I had recurring pneumonia for a decade or so every year or two.  I imagine with each case my system became more susceptible. Finally a kindly nurse pointed out that I had a standard trajectory:  sinus infection to sore throat to pneumonia, and that if I was faithful with irrigating my sinuses I could stop the progression early on.

That has worked for me, unpleasant as it is to irrigate daily.  I still get colds, sore throats, etc. but since then no pneumonia for which I am exceedingly grateful.

This came to mind as I am now recovering from a chest cold and sore throat.  April seems to be when I am most worn-down physically and prone to catching something. I am glad to be on the other side of it now.

Drained

My wife returned from her travels with a bad case of pneumonia. I've been doing a lot to help out at home and not been able to sleep with her coughing. Now I'm going to drive 400 miles to PA and back for a wedding.  I am not feeling very energetic right now.

Leadership Position

I'm going to be nominated to chair a large regional professional association.  I'm not yet elected but I don't know of any nominations from the floor at the business meeting where the election occurs so it seems likely.

I'll spend a year as chair-elect, two years as chair, than a year as past-chair.  The organization has appeared to be getting careless, with many things related to conferences being settled close to the last minute.  I believe that I can help with that as I tend to be well-organized.

I had considered this post but had thought that it had passed me by.  The request to be nominated came late so it is likely that I am not the first choice.  I'm still pleasantly surprised that my name came up. Apparently there is not much competition from NC, which is where they were looking for the chair to come from.

If elected I will need to end my service contributions at work in a number of ways to free up time. It is a good choice but that still comes with an ache.

Home = Terminus

We have a lot of coming and going in our household in the coming weeks. Our son just returned for his Spring Break, our daughter leaves on a school trip, our son returns, our daughter returns, I leave for a conference, my daughter and wife leave on a school trip, I return, they return, all four of us converge in Pennsylvania for a wedding.

It makes things more stressful in general, trying to coordinate.  I think that I'm getting more serene about it all.  I could be wrong.

I am looking for a little peace and quiet when I have the house to myself.

Grading

I'm back at it, three classes in the Spring Term.  Right about now the grading is wearing me down.  So far the class preparation (recycled from courses from the past two semesters) isn't so bad.

I want to do a better job of grading, offer more advice and counsel.  Yet the time pressures build up and it's hard not to just assess.

Back for More

Our Spring semester starts tomorrow.  I'm ready for my classes. The committee work is still hanging over my head, but things are basically going okay.  Just have to keep my head down and plow through the next three months.

Joint Mathematics Meetings

I'm off to the JMM in Seattle this year.  I've enjoyed Seattle the two times that I've been there, but it's been years, so my memories are both hazy and outdated.

I'm looking forward to seeing my friend Doug who lives there and whom I haven't seen for many years. The conference should be good as well, and it will be good to connect with colleagues.

The greatest thing on a personal level is to go back to being an individual instead of the most responsible member of my family.  Choosing for myself instead of what's best for someone else will be nice, especially after family visits over the holidays.

Always hard to come back---