I saw some more people I knew at church today.

Ashley Ott was a few years older than I in high school, and attended the First Alliance church that I grew up in. She came up to me after the service and introduced me to her husband, Rusty. She's getting her Master's degree in ceramics at the University of Georgia. They drive here on Sundays to go to church.

Nathan Brock was also several years older than I and also attended First Alliance. He attends this church now, along with his wife and his sister Tanya. Sometimes he plays drums for the worship band. We talked a little. He also told me he runs a paintball business. I might have to investigate that . . .

It's always fun to discover new people I knew who are still around.

I finally finished my book, Empire of the Bay. It's a 600-page history of the Hudson Bay Company. I bought it back in Kansas City, nearly a year ago. My roommate back then was a history major, and had it lying around. I looked at it, realized that I knew next to nothing about Canadian history, and bought a copy for myself. It told the 350-year story of the Hudson Bay Company and their monopoly on the lands that would eventually become Canada. The men and the stories of their adventures amazed me. I guess the stories of American history and world history don't affect me as much, because of my familiarity with them. This was my first introduction to Canadian history, though, and I loved it.

I picked up a book called Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City at the same time I got Empire of the Bay, because, you know, I realized I didn't really know that much about the history of Shanghai, either. It may be some time before I get around to reading it, though. Too many books have piled up on my "To Read" list while I've been working on Empire.

So many books, so little time.

Today I got evaluated. The Academic Dean sat in on my class to observe my teaching skill and methods and fill in a form with a bunch of "bad -- good -- better -- best" type multiple choices.

I think things went well. The class was responsive, and I had some good things to say about The Glass Menagerie, which we were discussing.

This afternoon they had a chili lunch for the faculty and staff. It came on just the right day; I haven't had time to go to the grocery store, so I was out of lunch food today.

I just got my natural gas turned on this weekend, so I finally have heat in my apartment. For the last week or so, I've been using a small space heater in my bedroom. Up until then, I hadn't needed any heat.

Classes are winding down. The only thing left to turn in is the final paper, so apart from a mad paper-grading rush during finals week, there's really nothing left to worry about. For teachers, the start of the semester is generally much more hectic than the end.

I'm looking forward to the holidays.

Yesterday I skipped lunch and had supper at Quincy’s steak-and-seafood buffet. It was great – catfish, shrimp, steak, and, of course, their famous yeast rolls. I think I like Chinese buffets better, though.

Last night I went to see the movie The Incredibles with some of my students. It was awesome – best movie I’ve seen in months.

I wore my Swiss Army wool coat today. It’s a long, double-breasted blue coat with gold-colored buttons and crossed rifles on the collar. Everybody at school thought it was a Confederate Army coat. Of course, this is Georgia. Nobody thought of that in Kansas City.

In the pocket, I discovered a little reminder of Kansas City: two ticket stubs (#129648 & 129649) for a showing of “Gatherings in Graveyards III,” put on by the Coterie Theatre on Friday, October 31, 2003. “Tales by Poe, Twain, and Jackson – Too intense for younger viewers!”

The two ticket stubs were still connected to each other. The flimsy perforated paper had somehow hung together tenaciously for over a year.

I miss the people I left behind in KC.

Thank you, Sunny, for a great time – and for great memories.

I put the stubs back in the coat pocket, to remind me again – another day, another time – of a happy period of my life.

Last weekend I was in bed with a cough and a sore throat. I hope this weekend goes better.

One more month until Christmas break!

Yesterday was a hard day. I had to give a student some very bad news.

In my school, you are allowed a maximum of 10 absences, with 11 absences being an automatic failure. This is for every course across the board, and is handed down by the administration. It is included in the syllabus for the class, as well as the student handbook.

I had one student who had 10 absences. I told him he had 10 absences. Yesterday he missed his 11^th absence.

I was leaving the lobby of the boy’s dorm, after watching Bush’s acceptance speech, when he came up to me. “Hey, Prof!” he said. “I took my 11^th absence today. I know I might should have saved my last absence, but I stayed up late watching election returns, so it was worth it.”

I just looked at him, and motioned him to follow me. Once we were outside, away from everyone, I just had to tell him, “You are allowed 10 absences. Eleven is past the point of no return.”

“oh, no” he said in a small voice “i just got confused . . .”

His face looked so awful I could hardly bear to look at it. He wasn’t a bad kid; he was intelligent and respectful and contributed to class (when he was there). He was just a slacker, played it too close to the edge, and slipped up. But at that point, it was out of my hands. There was nothing I could do.

That didn’t make it any easier, though. Usually, if a student fails, they find out by mail after the end of the semester. And usually, if a student is failing, they know they’re failing. I’ve never had to come right out and give it to someone face-to-face when they think they’re doing great.

I like being friends with the students. But I have to maintain a professional distance. And there are some times, like these, that I wish I was calloused and coldhearted and could relish the thought of a fool getting his just deserts.

But I’m not and I couldn’t.

I found an error on my credit card bill. There was an $8.38 charge from Blockbuster in Kennesaw. Now, I haven’t been to Kennesaw since I moved away from that area two months ago, so I sure haven’t rented any movies there. I got a little sick to my stomach – what if I had lost my Blockbuster card and somebody was renting movies on it?

I ransacked my unpacked boxes of junk from the move until I found my Blockbuster card, so I knew nobody had been using it. What could it be?

I called Blockbuster (long distance – on my dime), and they looked up the charge. Apparently, it was an overdue fine. They couldn’t find the movies I returned, so they charged my card. But then they found the movies and realized they weren’t overdue, but then they forgot to uncharge my card.

The employee was very helpful and removed the charge (my card should show the credit next billing period), but still, it was one of those unpleasant things that happen from time to time. Just goes to show, you’ve got to look over the billing statements and double-check their figures every time.