1. She had a great knack for being right.

2. My arm is by my side, always.

3. I know this: water is quite wet.

4. Our electric meter is not even sorta still.

5. These words apply to me: flumoxed and cobbler.

6. I got a sunburn yesterday because the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a game, tomorrow my plans include fireworks and Sunday, I want to sleep.

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to act like talking puppies.

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a someone who is not named Al.

3. Sometimes a stomach bug is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy being told how crazy they are by the press and their children.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine earrings and shoes.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without chewing or swallowing in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Up, tomorrow my plans include mowing and Sunday, I want to chill!

Lame Attempt at Blogging

I stumbled across a blog this evening that satisfies my interest in blogging and my lack of interest, I mean ability, I mean time for actually having to think and/or tell people about it. Basically, this little blog offers a few statement-starters that people can finish to reveal random and useful things about themselves. They put these out every Friday. Maybe this will become a habit- maybe not.

And...here we go!

1. I grew up thinking but came to realize few people actually care what I'm thinking.

2. Yahoo.com was the last website I was at before coming here.

3. Why don't you reconsider "putting up?"

4. Sleeping helps me relax.

5. Thanks for the memories.

6. I find pretentious people very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

Ripples

People have been very kind in their expressions of concern since Dad passed away a few weeks ago. Our family has benefited from many meals, cards, flowers, memorials and the like and all are appreciated. Perhaps one of the more touching things we have received, though, is the letter below. It’s especially meaningful in light of how Dad thought his attempt at teaching high school was a pathetic failure. This letter, however, shows how even when we may think our efforts are miserable or unnoticed or influence may have more impact than we ever realize. Still waters may run deep, but maybe that lets those droplets of influence travel that much further.


Dear Family of Victor Durrington:

I am writing to express my sympathy to you for the recent death of your loved one.

I knew Mr. Durrington briefly during the 1954-55 academic year when he taught in the Republic, Missouri, High School. I was a freshman in high school at that time and enrolled in a general math course taught by him. Thanks to his effort, that turned out to be a very special course for me - one of the most significant courses I took in high school. Three of us in that class benefited from special pains he took on our behalf. He recognized that the three of us - two boys and one girl - were more talented and knowledgeable in math than the rest of the general math class in which we were enrolled. He offered us the opportunity to study trigonometry book, I assume from his personal library, and let us work through those books at our own pace. We sat in the general math class, but read and did homework problems from the trigonometry texts. It must have taken considerable courage on his part to risk his teaching reputation by allowing us as very immature high school freshmen to chart our own course that year. I marvel that he did this at a very young age – I calculate he was 21 or 22 at the time – and with very little experience at teaching. The Republic position must have been his first teaching position after graduating from college.

The seeds he planted in that course surely were significant in pushing us toward our eventual education and careers. The two boys in that group each went on to earn PhDs in physics: mine from the University of Missouri at Rolla and the other boy earned his PhD in physics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The girl in that group earned her degree from Indiana State University in Terre Haute (I think, although I am not certain) and went on to marry a gentleman who became president of a small college. I recently retired from a 39 year career teaching physics at what is now Missouri State University. The three of us acquired a strong interest in mathematics and a head start on our mathematics education thanks to Mr. Durrington’s insight and daring. I think the results of his teaching are pretty remarkable, considering we were members of a freshman class of less than 40 students in a small high school in a somewhat isolated farming community in Southwest Missouri during the mid-1950s, well before the population and technology explosions that have occurred in the Springfield area in the last 40 years.

It is somewhat ironic that last Wednesday (March 4), I think the day before Mr. Durrington passed away, I had visited the other boy in the group who studied trigonometry, and in the course of our discussion we reminisced about the trigonometry we learned in that freshman math class. I have not seen Mr. Durrington since that freshman year, and I regret that I never got to thank him in person for the contribution he made to my life.

Sincerely,
Bob Thurman
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Missouri State University

3/9/2009

Fearless

It's that time of year again. When the hint of fall lingers a bit longer in days that are getting shorter. When our calendar adds a digit as we enter October. When ghastly images of a pagan holiday fight for shelf space among the already-appearing images of holidays focused on giving thanks and accepting the birth of Jesus. And when on the first weekend of October Nashville hosts the Zoe conference. This year, the theme is:

FEARLESS

Tonight's speaker asked us to consider what we are afraid of. In this climate of world events the list could be pretty long- including the economy, terrorism, our own government, asparagus, parenting, clowns and much, much more. A video even included images from movies with scary characters. Honestly though, I have to admit that there might be one more thing that was more frightening than the images in the video. I cannot really describe it, so I'll just reveal it here. If you have small children, you might want to ask them to leave the room before you scroll down. Don't say you weren't warned.

Bailout

Not that any of you asked, but I want to go on record as saying I think the bailout is probably a bad idea. I am not for doing nothing, but the sad reality is that there are more waves of trouble in the financial sector right behind this one centered in the mortgage crisis. Automotive and other big-ticket item financing and credit cards or other revolving credit are those gathering storms making your joints ache.

There simply is not enough money to bail out all of the problems on the horizon. Well, the fact that we're once again raising the debt ceiling pretty much proves that there isn't enough money now. Not only that, a flood of foreclosures that would almost have to result from government servicing or enforcement of substandard mortgages will create a disastrous real estate market with a glut of homes but very few who can qualify to buy them. It will be great for landlords like myself, but homebuilders and building material suppliers will be sucking wind and asking for their own bailout.

If the the government is spoiling to get into the fray, I would suggest they pass legislation wherein all loans in default are brought to current status. In this scenario, the amounts in arears along with any interest, penalties and fees would not be forgiven but would be added to the end of the note with interest. Doing this would allow many to regain their footing and enable them to continue to manage their mortgages. Some would still eventually default on their notes, but to a lesser degree than if all the notes were demanded and over a more spread out impact than all at once. The fact is, for most people living close to the margin, owing 6 months of payments is akin to having to pay off the entire balance- out of reach- so they give up. Having a clean slate from which to pick up (a'la the Year of Jubilee) would give them an opportunity to keep their homes. They would be more likely to meet this obligation given the new stricter underwriting standards already being implemented.

Lenders could still service the loans but all lenders would be responsible for the nonsensical underwriting procedures they used rather than passing that burden to the government and would hopefully apply improved procedures to future lending. Now the one area where the government might be somewhat heavily involved would be in the investigation of how loans pools have been assembled and distributed. Fraud is bound to have been rampant and sooner or later such opportunities must be blocked. The best part, the burden of default would still ultimately lie with those who caused the problem in the first place.

This is not to say that some problems will completely go away, but I think to try this and let capitalism (even if it is capitalism on training wheels) would still have a chance. At least until the next crisis comes along- and it will- in the form of automotive credit. And I have something to say about that, too. If I feel like it I may spew more of my ideas of ridiculous auto financing that not only encourages but creates a total lack of equity for the buyer, of flaws in the securities markets and of glaring issues in consumer credit. Regardless of whether the $700 billion buyout plan gets passed, it is going to be a very bumpy ride.

Again, so much of this would never have been reality if we had term-limits. Forcing those elected to govern rather than perpetually run for office would have meant that legislators would never have bowed to the pressure to allow such shenanigans to take place.

Okay, rant over...at least for now.

Life & Other Nonsense

Wow! Forgive me reader for I have sinned. Almost two months have passed since my last post. Life has kind of been getting in the way. I'll try to offer a brief summary:



School has started again. The kids all seem to be enjoying it though they won't admit it. Connor is playing football with full pads for the first time. I'm not exactly sure what the learning curve is but I think he is behind it. The girls are enjoying their year so far as well with the promise of good days ahead. Actually, at least one boy has called the house this year so I think I'll retract my last statement.



Work has been absolutely wild. I am starting to get a new office set up. Long story short- I hate it. Well, maybe "hate" is a little strong. I guess it just leaves me horribly depressed and wishing I could find a job as an island hermit. Ooh.... Sorry. I drifted off to another world for a second there.



We have a new foster dog. He is hilarious. His name is Finn and he is part Great Dane and part Pit Bull. I used to tell people he had the size of the Dane and the attitude of the Pit but having gotten to know him we have realized he is a big softy. If he doesn't know you, however, he will probably use you either as a chew toy or a snack.



I am still really enjoying leading worship at Highland. It would be great to concentrate solely on worshipping- even with worship planning thrown in. But constant recruiting can be somewhat taxing. If anyone reads this and is interested in giving praise teams a try, let me know. Before you get involved in a regular commitment you are welcome to give it a try as an alternate for a while- in which case you can respond to a call for a replacement only when it suits you. If you are interested leave a comment.



Kendra and I reached a pretty cool milestone a few of you may be aware of. I can't really discuss it in such an open forum, but there are clues on my Facebook profile.


Finally, many have asked about how Dad is doing and sadly, the news is not good. Some complications resulted in a few trips to M. D. Anderson that Ike did his best to complicate. Ultimately, though, a new bone marrow biopsy showed that 90-95% of the cells in the biopsy were cancerous. Further, he was diagnosed with an additional type of cancer. Now he has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in addition to the hybrid of leukemia and lymphoma with which he had already been diagnosed. We are not yet aware of a treatment plan or diagnosis but we are on a heightened level of concern and anxiety.



So there you go. While it may not have seemed like a brief synopsis, believe me it was. I won't guarantee that I will write with more regularity but I'll try to at least feel guilty if I don't.