Acceptance #2

I just received an offer of admission from the Director of Grad Admissions in the Philosophy Dept at University of Illinois — Chicago. This was accompanied by an offer of full financial support, although at this time, they don’t yet know what form that support will take. The dept has nominated me for a competitive University Fellowship, which carries a stipend of $18 000 + tuition and fees for the first and fourth years. A fellowship would free me from any teaching duties during those years that I hold it. The other years (2, 3, and 5) I would receive teaching assistantships, which have good stipends and included tuition and fees. If I don’t receive the fellowship, I would be a teaching assistant for the full 5 years.

This is an attractive offer, but UIC is probably close to the bottom of the choice hierarchy at this point. Not that it’s not a good dept; it is. It’s just that I’ve applied to many other schools I’d rather go to. But UIC is certainly a good option to have.

Technical Breakthrough

In addition to writing the content of the thesis, I’ve also had to concern myself with typesetting it — basically, making sure its appearance conforms to the strict standards of the thesis office. In the fall, I learned how to use a typesetting program called ‘LaTeX‘; I’ll spare you the technical details, but basically I’ve found the program to have so many virtues that I’ve sworn off of word processors. Anyway, to get my thesis to be properly typeset, I’ve had to modify some of the code of the program and I have no code-writing experience! Thankfully, I was able to pick up some of the basics, in addition to having a friend in the dept who is much better at this stuff than I am. Today, we had our breakthrough… we’ve finally got the code to the point where all we have to do is input the content of our theses and the program typesets it perfectly! I’m pretty excited!

Anyway, I know, it’s only a small bit of news, and not a very interesting one at that. But finally getting this solved will take a lot off my mind once it comes time to submit my thesis to the thesis office.

Foolishness in Fort Worth

Well our time in Fort Worth/ Weatherford Texas was awesome! We went with friends Matt and Amy (stayed with Matt’s parents) and Chris and Angela.
We got there Friday late Friday night, after stopping for dinner in Waco where Chris’ parents joined us at “Buzzard Billies”. (Cajin food) In the morning we had a great breakfast, prepared by Matt’s parents and we headed out the door to The Fort Worth Stock Show!

We saw goats, cows, pigs, and horses. It was so cool to stand next to a Longhorned Steer. Matt dared me $10 to see if I could milk a cow. So I went to talk to this lady, asked her a few questions about milking and finally asked her if she could teach me how to milk a cow. She said that they just milked their cow and she wouldn’t be ready for another 2 hours.Too bad, I was so close!

Then we walked around the Midway and ate Funnel Cakes, and watched the people on the rides.

After that we drove to the Botanical Gardens and walked around the Japanese Garden. It was beautiful even in the winter, I can’t imagine what it will look like in the summer.

Later that evening we went for dinner to “Mi Cocina” in Sundance Square (Fort Worth) and met up with some friends who moved from College Station just before Christmas (Branden and Kelle). After that we went to a bar called 8.0. (The amount of time needed for a perfect score while riding a Bull. There were no Bulls there, and even if there was I still don’t think I would ride one!)

On Sunday morning, I was enjoying my breakfast when the boys went out Armadillo hunting. Dave has always wanted to see one, and we thought this would be the time. They came back empty handed. BUT… As we were finishing up lunch, Matt’s Mom let out a scream “Oh My, There it is…” We turned our heads and saw to our surprise an Armadillo! They are known to tear up the lawn and we saw the yard this little guy destroyed! Matt’s Dad got out the gun and shot it twice. WOW what an experience. Not only did we see an Armadillo, but we saw it up close, bullet holes and all, we even saw the Vultures scout it out, and sit on the fence, ready to decend on its find!!

We drove home that evening with a sense of satisfaction. We were able to experience the Stock Show, visit with friends, and see an Armadillo!

The WWF’s (Wilke/Wiens/Faulkner) next trip is planned for Summer 06 to Canada, so we can show them our neck of the woods!

One More Time Around

A new semester has begun and the race to the end is on. This will be our final 4 months here in College Station.

This new semester is going to be a busy one. The least of my worries is my course work. I’m taking one course for credit (Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge), and auditing (i.e., sitting in on) two others–one on the philosophy of law and the other a seminar on two figures in the history of philosophy, Leibniz and Berkeley. I’ll also be teaching Intro to Philosophy again this term. But the biggest rock in my jar this term is the thesis.

My defense is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28th at 4pm. This means that I have less than a month to complete the final draft. I think I’m in good shape. 3 chapters are written already and each has been through several drafts. I’m writing my final chapter in the next couple of days. After that, I’ll draft the intro and conclusion (hopefully by the end of the month), and then a couple weeks of revisions.

Then the defense. I don’t really know what to expect yet. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Still no word from other schools. We should start hearing in the next 5-8 weeks.

Our Holiday In Review

Well here I am! It has been a week since we got back and Dave has posted twice already. I have finally gotten a chance sit down and write my post! So here it goes:

We arrived in Buffalo late December 21st and were greeted by Jessica and Mom. When we walked outside the airport we were greeted by the cold weather (which was very refreshing, after sitting on a plane and in airports all day).

On the 22nd we enjoyed catching up with our family, as we enjoyed a great meal (prepared by mom) and then opened presents late into the evening. It was so funny to watch Owen open all his presents plus all the ones for his brother Simon and cousin Sam! We got some great stuff. Dave got a gift card to Runner’s Edge for a new pair of shoes, Star Wars Episode #3 and Sudoku For Dummies. I got a beautiful amber necklace, a belt, the movie The Notebook, socks and a Madonna CD. The siblings decided to buy for couples and Jeff and Becky had our names and bought us a Horse and Buggy ride through Niagara-on-the-Lake and a gift card to The Shaw Cafe. (We will use it in the summer, so that Dave dosen’t complain about the cold!) Thanks Guys!!

Friday the 23rd we watched Owen and Simon in the morning and ate lunch with Becky and had a great time.

Christmas Eve we attended the service at Southridge. It was a fantastic service.

Christmas Day we enjoyed a brunch with Mom, Dad, Jess & Mike, Jon & Karen, Sam, Jeff & Becky, Owen, Simon, Uncle Ferd & Aunt Muggs, Mike & Lauren, Matt, Ryan (a Korean student staying with Ferd and Muggs) and Tom. Later in the afternoon we went to my Dad and Leslie’s house and saw Kristi and Erik, who had arrived that morning. We had a family gathering with Leslie’s side of the family in the evening and after they left we opened our gifts. Dave got an electric razor! And a really cool hat (and beer book) from Kristi. I got a pink purse (well, it more like a small suitcase!) and a “Roots” watch. From Dave and Pauline, who couldn’t be there I got a real pretty address book and some marker pens. Thanks Guys!

On Boxing Day (DEC 26th) we just hung around the house, drank coffee and chatted. Very relaxing.

On the 27th Kristi, Erik, Dave and I went to the outlet stores in Niagara Falls where Kristi did most of the shopping, and to the Pen Centre, to exchange some stuff and to use up a gift card! The crowds were crazy, which was to be expected! I met up with a few friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. That evening we went to the Wiens extended family gathering at Bethany Church. It was great to see family that lives in far off places and we get to see them only once a year! (and see how much their kids have grpwn!) After the gathering we went to a local bar where Dave’s old drum teacher was playing with his band “New World Sun”

On the 28th we drove 2 1/2 hours to Erie PA. and had another gathering with the Andres family. We met in a hotel “Garden Atrium”, ate lunch, played games and chatted for the afternoon. It was great to see Mark and Shelly, Andrew and Danielle, Dan and Juli,Brent, Scott and the uncles and aunts. Grandma was up for some games (telephone!) and singing. The Durksen boys played and had the opportunity to play with Mark on mandolin. It was great to listen to.

The 29th, we drove to Hamilton where Jon was playing in an All Star Hockey tournament. This was Jon’s first year to play hockey and watching him play was very entertaining. The shifts were very short, so as soon as the puck would come close it was time to change again. We stayed for 3 other games that day. I really missed watching hockey. Living in Texas, they don’t broadcast it very much. We sat three rows from the ice (at the Hamilton Bulldogs Game) and I was so excited to see someone being smashed into the boards! or a fight, even better!

Friday the 30th we realxed at Grandma Andres’ for brunch, visited with Grandma Boldt and Uncle Wally, (Vic was taking a walk) and Dave got a chance to visit with Grandpa Wiens. Later in the evening Dave and Erik met Tom and Jeff at Cat’s Caboose for a few drinks and Kristi and I went shopping with Dad and Les. For dinner we went to a new English Pub. (a little to clean to be an authentic English Pub), Dave and Erik met up with us there.

Kristi and Erik left early on the 31st. In the evening Dave and I went to Jon and Karen’s house for dinner, with Kim and Sean, and Adam and Steph. We had great food and drinks. Thanks Sean for cooking! At about 12.05am we were so tired and left for home and were in bed by 12.45am.

January 1st we went to Southridge, and then saw Kim and Sean’s new house (they moved in at the end of that week!) And to Uncle Pete and Aunt Mary’s for lunch. And in the evening we met up with some old friends.

Monday we went to Jeff and Becky’s for dinner and play time with the boys. When the kids were in bed Jeff taught us how to play Poker (Texas Hold’em); I didn’t do so well. Monday afternoon Mom made New Year’s Cookies, and I helped! I wanted to get mom’s expertise and then make them for our friends in Texas because they have not experienced the greasy goodness of fired dough! (Fried other thing yes.. but not New Year’s Cookies!)

Tuesday & Wednesday were spent relaxing, meeting with friends and visiting with family.

Thursday morning we left and started our long journey home. We finally made it back to our little apartment at about 8.30pm, cleaned up, unpacked, ate a pizza and went to bed!

The Honeymoon Is Over

For the last three months, Barb and I have been receiving an extended cable TV package free of charge. (We actually discovered this quite by accident back in October, so we’re not exactly sure when it started.) In some senses, this has been great. I have been able to watch ESPN and the Law & Order channel (aka, TNT) and Barb has been able to watch TLC and HGTV as much as we want. But this could also be bad; watching these channels too much has been a bit distracting.

But, today the cable company noticed that they had been giving us a free ride (which was probably more deliberate than accidental–they were probably trying to get their hooks in us so that we’d pay for the upgrade when they came to collect). It’s probably best that we’re–eh-hem, that I’m finally cut off, as I’m trying to complete and defend my thesis in the next two months.

Back In The Saddle

We’ve returned home from our northern vacation. We were actually able to avoid the snow and extreme cold. But I’m not going to say too much here; I’m leaving it up to Barb to post a synopsis of our holiday.