Well, it hasn't been a quiet month here in Lake Woebegon
(a.k.a. Winona Lake). It started out with Spring Break
the first week of March, which seems early but it was 
already the middle of the semester. I traded courses with 
Rick Koontz, so that he took over Internet Programming and 
I took over Operating Systems. This was planned from the 
beginning, of course, but it was almost like starting the 
semester over. On top of that, we are getting farther in 
a couple of courses than we got back at Heritage, so I'm 
having to work on ahead and make up new notes and revise 
old ones. (Also getting farther in Visual Basic than 
they've ever gotten here, and the students are going 
through it like a hot knife through butter.) Keeps me 
out of the bars....

Our black cat, Shreddie, had quit eating and we didn't
know what the problem was. First trip to the vet, he
didn't find anything wrong, but second trip he felt a
mass, a tumor, in her abdomen. So we had to send her to
that Big Litter Box In The Sky. The remaining cat is
enjoying her status as the "only" but she's still the
fraidy cat and hides whenever anyone "strange" is in
the house. Some folks don't think we actually have such
a cat. (Like we'd keep buying cat food...?) 

Hey, now, be nice. I heard that remark about "strange"
people in the house....

I made a flying trip to visit my friend for 50 years,
Roland Surdyk, in Snohomish. He was dying of cancer and
I just had to see him one last time. He passed away the
same day I got back home. I know why Jesus wept at
Lazarus' tomb (John 11:35). I also took flowers to my 
parents' graves. So many we love already dead, so many 
we will love not yet born....

Here it is April, when all of you set your clocks forward
and we simply wake up at the same time as always and find
that we're on Chicago time instead of New York time. It 
was shirtsleeve weather about 9:15 this evening as I walked
home from class, cooler by the swamp where the frogs and 
deer live. Redbud is budding, tulips are sprouting, and 
the high temperature for Friday is forecasted to be the
same as the low temperature tonight, maybe with rain. Ah,
spring!

And of course The War is a continual distraction, sort of
a fatal attraction. We've had the TV on more in the last
three weeks than in the previous three months. I keep
fearing a military victory followed by a world-wide political
disaster, but I'm a born pessimist as you know. The bright
side is the belly laughs I got from the Iraqi Minister of
(dis)Information. "We have driven the infidels from the city,
we have surrounded them and crushed them, they are no longer
at the airport, the TV footage was a Hollywood production,
that C-130 you see landing is an illusion as are the 2,000
dead Iraqi soldiers in the streets, pay no attention to the
man behind the curtain...." Wonder where he disappeared to?
He may turn up on the comedy channel. I usually watch the 
sci-fi channel because it's more believable than Abu Dhabi 
TV. God bless those Brits and Aussies who are sticking by us;
they haven't forgotten who pulled their posteriors out of
the fire in WWII. (That's back when the optimists were 
learning German and the pessimists were learning Japanese.
Now the optimists are learning Arabic, pessimists learning
Farsi....) At least we know who our friends are.

The income tax is done for another year. We get something
back, as usual. Yes, I know Uncle Sam has been "using" my
money "for free", but with bank savings rate at 0.5%, it's not
worth worrying about the interest. One year I made a bunch
of extra money programming, which was nice except that we 
had to send Uncle a check for over $1000.00. I prefer to have 
them send me a check. Well, direct deposit. We're going 
electronic this year as much as possible. Had to get Turbo
Tax anyway because of filing an Indiana part-year form,
moving expenses, mortgage interest, church donations yadda 
yadda yadda, so we filed electronically. Hope it works.
And the refund will finance a vacation so we can come see
a lot of y'all out west. Maybe out east also. Air fares are
down to $143.00 round-trip, South Bend to Seattle, about
$140.00 cheaper than three weeks ago, so we may consider
flying. We also have a pile of state maps in preparation
for driving, if gasoline stays under $3.00 a gallon.

We're still working on some jazz arrangements, much fun. But
Kathy's arm and wrist are giving her fits (tendonitis). She's
a good candidate for either physical therapy or cortisone
shots. "Occupational" therapy at $200.00 per half-hour plus
some exercises are doing some good. We'll see. Cortisone shots
would be cheaper but she's allergic to them. She's scheduled 
to play bass in church next Sunday (Easter) if it doesn't hurt 
too much. I'll be on keyboard. We're sort of looking for a
jazz drummer to jam with at the house (snare, brushes, high
hats) or maybe a jazz guitarist. We'll see about making an 
MP3 and attaching it for you to listen to, one of these months. 
Don't listen for us on NPR, though....

Anyhow, y'all keep in touch. Hug a soldier and don't watch 
Arab television.

Rich