I will be sure and do that. Strange the lawyer didn't suggest it. They did give me a form to lay out my burial wishes. I may ask to be cremated and have my ashes scattered in Kate Upton's lingerie drawer.

How are things in the mildew state?

Things are piling up.

I have had a busy summer doing teachery stuff (5 days at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University studying "Space Medicine: The Human Factor", 2 days at Daytona Racetrack creating lessons for "Driving Science" and 8 days beefing up on oceanography and climate) and baby-sitting $1,500 worth of sod (a tedious process). Lots of distractions at work (don't ask) such that the coming school year promises to be...shall we say "challenging".

Mrs. cope is still vastly underemployed (and uninsured until that communistic, socialistic, Kenyan Obamacare comes into play) presenting us with various financial challenges but daughter and family just moved into a brand new house that is a bit quicker to get to (less than 2 hours) and that is good.

Sounds like a mixed bag of things. Some good and some not so good. Is she not teaching? I can't complain on the insurance front. Between my NALC insurance and Medicare, I have really good coverage.

Her teaching gig lasted one school year then her position was given to a nurse from the county office who had seniority.

She is doing contract work (i.e., no salary, no benefits, no fixed schedule) as a home health care nurse for a hospice organization. Her last paycheck (as well as several previous ones) bounced.

I need 6 more years of teaching to get my 30 years in the system at which time I will be LXX. I think I can make it but the way the education system is being systematically destroyed for the profit of various corporations, it will be difficult to weather the storm.

We have a new principal with an unknown agenda and the assistant principal in charge of my department will be retiring after this year. I was in good graces with my previous principal and current assistant principal so right now, I'm golden. All that can change in an instant, however, so I never really know what's coming down the road.

I am sure there is a silver lining in there somewhere. You might as well hang around here some. You can vent your frustrations, post some electric pickle videos, and you might get the inspiration to start playing the banjo again.

There is always a silver lining. I expect I will hang out in here a bit more often and quit just reading things online (politics, education) that serve only to raise my ire.

I have in fact tuned my 12-string acoustic to an open G tuning and am working on improving my skills using a beautiful ceramic slide my loverly wife got me for my b'day.

Electric pickle videos...maybe not so much as I got some blowback about how unsafe my procedure was. More likely, I will try to become more proficient using my various telescopes and cameras. Yeah, THAT'S the ticket...

So it goes.