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Rum Drum Crumb

It has been a bit more than hectic since my return from the sanguine experience at deer camp. A deadline for an important grant has been looming and it has been occupying most of my work related time. Time away from work has been hectic as well, with my wife having a myriad of illnesses to attend to, fortunately none of which have been too serious. I hope to have the grant application off my desk by Wednesday at the latest. Then I will have to wait several months to see if I have been deemed worthy. The grant request is rather minor (~$10,000) but its cache in terms of regional value is large. But with it off my plate, I am hoping to work on another, much larger grant (~$190,000) that is due in February.

On the first day back at work following deer camp, I decided to bite the bullet and get my annual flu shot. It has become standard practice for most of us professors as we come into contact with hundreds of sniffling, mucousy, students almost daily. As usual, I was not looking forward to the vaccine, as I know how there can be side effects (most typically, the symptoms can be pseudo flu-like). Fortunately, I had no noticeable effects.

I have accomplished 64 straight days of walking, an amazingly satisfying sense of consistency and stick-to-it-iveness envelops me and helps me get started on these below freezing mornings.

I have been thinking about my mother and father a great deal this past week. Today is my father's birthday. He would have been 85 today. I miss him and I miss my mother as well. I took out one of his favorite pipes today and thought of him while I smoked a bowl of his favorite burley.

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