Jean Stars in Almost, Maine

As reported last month, Jean's performance at SPU in Almost, Maine was stellar.  The play's run concluded early this month.

Although there were many scenes, and SPU's poster on the right depicts the prolog and epilog, the poster on the left reminds me of Jeannie Beth's vignette.  Glory pitched her tent in the yard of a Maine local (Easton) and hoped to see the Northern Lights.  That she came with her broken heart in a paper bag was an interesting plot complication.

She was also especially pleased to finally be formally admitted to her major in Theatre. 

Finally, she also applied for a late-summer study abroad trip to Scotland and Ireland.  There's no harm at all in taking after her sister instead of her stay-at-home parents.

Two Pieces of World War II History  

Mick Schleusener from Iowa, the father of my co-worker Deb Schleusener, is a well-known expert on World War II militaria.  At Deb's suggestion, I sent photos of Dad's rifles and their markings to him and this was Mr. Schleusener's reply.

"The first two rifles are Japanese. Number one is a first series made at the Nagoya arsenal in early 1942. The front of the stock was cut off and the handguard taken off to make a lighter rifle. It also looks like the bolt was bent down. Note the 7 over 6 in the serial number, this was a factory mistake. The series mark is to the left of the serial number and the arsenal mark is to the right of the serial number. 
 
Number two is an eleventh series from the Nagoya arsenal in about May of 1945. It looks to be in all original condition except for the paint on the right side of the stock. From 1942 to 1945 many changes were made in these rifles to produce them with less materials and less labor and that is why the second one is so much more crude than the first one. These rifles are called type 99 rifles. Number one should have three characters on the top of the receiver that mean 99 type. Number two would not have this marking because of the effort to speed up production. I couldn’t tell from the pictures but both of these rifles when new would have had a chrysanthemum marking on the top of the receiver in front of the type 99 marking. This showed that the rifle was the property of the emperor. On many rifles this mum was ground off."  

Teaching Excel 

This is one of my "sweet spots."  When I'm prepared to teach, I'm in my element.  Apparently, others agree.  This Spring Break, I decided to offer a two hour overview class on Microsoft Excel.  I got the permission of my dean and the director of HR, reserved a classroom, and sent out an invitation via email a week in advance.  In less than two hours, I had a full class with many saying they'd like to come at a different time.  The wait list ran the enrollment to over 50.

The class itself went by quickly and I finished at 11:01.  Not bad for a set of topics I'd not taught as a series before, in a class that was advertised to run from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.  Here is some of the feedback I was sent afterwards.

Randy Visits on St. Patrick's Day

March 17th fell on a Sunday this year.  My only nod to the day was a green tie, and a six pack of Black Star "Double Hopped Golden Lager" I finished on the 25th.  I would have preferred Newcastle Brown Ale, even if it is English and not Irish.  But 66 cents extra a bottle is enough to sway my beer-buying behavior.  And that when I probably buy two six packs a year.

Randy came down from Everett on St. Patrick's Day and brought a complete Irish dinner, including the corned beef.  But his main task was to have me prepare a PowerPoint for him for an important ASCE meeting.  He paid me $125 and I reciprocated by putting in some amazing high-tech touches.  The animated graphs created first in Excel were nice.  But the animated map of Washington, created from a basic map of the counties was impressive.

President Nancy Sleight

Nancy was inducted this month as President of P.E.O.'s Seattle Reciprocity  group (whatever that is.)  As her husband, I'm supposed to be in the dark about much of what P.E.O. is about, except I hear half of all the phone conversations and help her on the technical side with web pages, publications, nametags, and whatever she needs.

Actually, I believe "reciprocity" represents the coordinating body that connects the many local chapters.  But Nancy lets me "do my thing" with sports photography and Bible teaching, so I stay out of her way on P.E.O.

Catholic Church has New Pope; White Smoke Rises

VATICAN CITY (Associated Press, March 13, 2:38 PM EDT)

Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast conclave.  Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out, many shouting, "Habemus Papam!" or "We have a pope!" - as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica and churches across Rome pealed.

(From ABC News)  The new leader of the Catholic Church was revealed today to be Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina and he has taken the name of Pope Francis. He stepped onto the Vatican balcony dressed in white for the first time to address the roaring crowd in St. Peter's Square. Bergoglio, 76, is a Jesuit from Buenos Aires and is the first pope from South America. The cardinals who elected the new pope looked out from surrounding balconies above the elated crowd.

I actually cried when I read those words — not because a pope was elected, but because the people were not shouting, “Habemus Salvator!”, “We have a Savior!”  What I've heard of the new pope, I like.  He seems to understand and practice Hosea 6:6, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."  But there are other problems that shackle the pope in centuries of tradition.  "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven."   Matthew 23:9 NAS