Doggers and Kitty Katters:

As many of you know I really love our dog Jill..... and I love our cats Little Bit and Roxy. But, I am particularly fond of Jill.... On our recent trip to Tampa for the wedding of Sandy's niece we had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with some other pretty cool doggers and a kitty kater. I am not sure why I call them doggers and katters, but it is something that started with Jack and Jill and I'm sticking with it.


Kumba the katter!!!


He is named after a roller coaster ride at Bush Gardens near where Sandy's sister lives......

He is a big cat and not really afraid of mingling with the rest of the pet clan........ sometimes he will let you hold him...

Our first night there he slept with Sandy... Sandy was sleeping approximately the same place as the picture above, sometimes the katter was too!!!



Now we have Pogo....

Pogo is a Jack Russel and I am sure in his younger days was more like a pogo then he is now!!! However, he is pretty "bouncy" and very friendly....




Pogo is looking out at the pool - all of the doggers love to swim in the pool... However, Kumba is not that interested in doing that!







This Lexus the pit bull.... she is as gentle as a lamb.

She usually travels with Sandy's brother-in-law but she was home for the wedding, as was he!!!





Lexi, as she is sometimes called, is quite old now but holds her own with the rest of the pet clan!!! Hummmmmmm....








This is Mater (with a long a). Mater is named after the tow truck in the movie Cars.....

He is the youngest of the lot. He was a rescued dogger and is a little shy to get too close to people.... He as a lot of energy!!! Actually, he ownes the young man and woman who got married and was having a sleep over while they are on their honeymoon..


Here are Mater and Lexi side-by-side!!!

Well there thy are - the doggers and katter we visited this past weekend..... I was sad not to have Jill with us... but what we decided is that our dogger and katters can learn to live together in harmony!!!

Remember, take good care of yourself so you can take good care of others. Jesus said, I did not come to be served but to serve... and so it should be for us as well.

Peace, john

Hello - I have been to a wedding!!!!

We are near Tampa Florida at Sandy's sister house..... Sandy's niece got married this evening. Between the rehearsal and the wedding I was able to take about 250 candid pictures... The real photographer took all the posed pictures!!! I had a great time....

Through the magic of the Internet, I have been able to grade students assignments while being away from home......not wanting to miss anything I ask my friend Dennis send us the church bulletin , the Compass. We will be home before you know it and life will be back to normal... whatever that is???

Well, remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. Peace, John

I was at the dentist office, where were you?
I went from there to work, where were you?
I went from work to home, where were you?
I saw tower fell on TV, we all died a little,
Where were you?

God grant us peace on earth and througout the universe.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

There was a total eclipse of the moon this morning. It occurred between shortly before 5am and continued to last until after sunrise. I was lucky enough to experience it shortly after it began until it was total and to capture a few images of it...... they follow:

the previous images were taken with just the regular camera settings operating on automatic... for the next two images (actually, they are the same image with one being cropped and the other being the full image) were taken with a lengthy time delay....... this was the last image I could get before the moon went into full eclipse!!!!

Thank you God for providing the wonders of the universe. It is not at all difficult for me to understand why people from another time may have thought the world was ending with the lunar or solar eclipse..... We know better now........... We are much smarter... In fact, we have figured out much more sophisticated ways of killing each other. It is very difficult for me to understand why we do that.... God bless you all and remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. I love you, john

bloggers meet?

and

We had a wonderful time!!!

pelican horned in on the party... no bird can like the pelican!!

What a wonderful time - love, john

Some thoughts on starting the school year!!!

Hi everyone…. Thank you for caring for me as I had my annual cancer follow-up. As Dennis said, the results were negative and that is positive!!!

Next week, Wednesday, we have our opening convocation of the faculty to begin the school year at East Tennessee State University. Classes start the following Monday. This semester I will have two in-class and one on-line class – all of my classes are full – This year, I will teach, or try to teach, approximately 225-250 students…….

This will be my 24th year at ETSU and my 30th year teaching overall. I taught for 6 years at the University of Louisville before coming to this university and these wonderful mountains… I am a really good teacher, I have done a really good job at university service, but my research productivity hasn’t been that good. That is the main reason why, after all these years, I have not achieved the rank of Professor, I remain an Associate Professor.

I love to teach and have made the transition from chalk boar, dry erase board, TV classes, and now to Internet classes…I have taught on the main campus mostly with some classes in Kingsport and some in Bristol…

Over the years, I have taught somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 students…. When I came to ETSU we were teaching mostly first generation college students. That is, students who parents did not go to college… Sometime their parents didn’t understand the importance of going to class… I remember one student who said to me, when the tobacco crop comes in I will have to be gone for several days when we harvest it….. Sandy has done that and she tells me it is truly not any fun………. That is not something students seem to do any more, thank God. Now, I am teaching some of my students children, that is too weird.

I tried administration at a low level, and really did not like it or do well. I was the Director of the College of Business Honors Program, the Director of Assessment for the College of Business. I found that those kind of administrative duties did not suit my personality, I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about this little duty or that report… I love teaching and it does not wake me up in the night.

I have been the Faculty Senate President and did a decent job of that. I also have been something called the NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative. That is a position that connects the academic community with the athletic… That allowed me to be very active in athletics and also to be very active in the Southern Conference. ETSU belonged to the Southern Conference before we did away with football and had to leave to join the Atlantic Sun Conference.. That is a whole other story.

While I make a very good salary, I am significantly underpaid relative to those just entering the teaching profession…. That is called salary compression… Even with the new raises we will get this year, I will be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 below market for a person at my rank and years of service…. I am sad about that as I begin to close out my career, but I am blessed to make the salary that I do make…

I want to thank God for the opportunity to do this job all of these years. I want to thank God for allowing me to touch so many people and help to educate them. I want to thank God for keeping me healthy enough to have only missed a few days through the years to illness – remarkable considering that I have had cancer three times. Thank you God for sending the Holy Sprit to me with the gift to teach…… I have been truly blessed.

Peace to you all, john

Well, first of all, what I called a frozen section of my urine is really called a cytology test. So, live and learn.......... Now - my cytology tests are back and they are negative.... Praise God. That is wonderful news and I am so happy..... Blessings to all, john

Ok - I have still not heard from the frozen section of my urine.... It will not be two weeks until tomorrow.... so I decided to write something.......... My new neighbors have moved in - remember, they moved in last year and then went back to CA because his Mother was, is, ill.. well they are back..... Yesterday, they were running errands and decided to go to ChicFilet in North Johnson City..... They were walking up the hill and Carol slipped and fell head-over-heals down the hill and broke her ankle.... She had to have surgery today... I haven't heard how she is doing... There son is in second grade and he came over at a few minutes before 6 and stayed with Sandy and I until the bus picked him up at about 7:30.... I now know that not only am I not smarter than a 5th grader, but I am not smarter than a 2nd grader either!!!!

Today I cut the grass at church..... Next week, Ruth will help cut the grass at church..... I hope it is not quite so dry... I was afraid there would be a grass fire it is so dry.........

Here is a picture of my sun flowers.......... actually two pictures.

They did not grow on those fence posts!! I bet you knew that...........

Here is Jill dog eating an elephant.... It used to be Maddie's but she didn't want it any more so Marie gave it to Jill.... Jill was so interested that she was able to get the insides out...

This is Jill dog having a nap - she probably had a nap after getting the insides out of the elephant too, but this was not it!!!

She and I compete for the most naps.....................

Have a great day and remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of someone else. Peace, john

Annual bladder cancer checkup today!!!

Today I had my annual bladder cancer follow-up examination!!!

In 2003 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer, had successful surgery for the removal of the tumor and have had regular follow-up exams since...... Actually, that was the third time I have had cancer.... The first time, 1984, was seminoma, a brand of testicular cancer. We did surgery and radiation that time.... The second time, 1987, was metastatic seminoma in my lung.... testicular cancer in my lung... (that sounds a little odd, doesn't it). We did chemotherapy and I was cancer free until the most recent bout with the bladder cancer.

The examination consists of a urine sample, which is checked by my doctor in the office and then shipped off to the lab for a more extensive evaluation of whether or not there are any cancer cells; a cystoscope of my bladder; and a prostate exam...... Here is a picture of the cystoscope:

After having the first exam without medication, I take medication every time now!!!! My exam today was I still have to wait for the lab results. The initial results were a-ok and I am good for another year....assuming the lab work is okay

Here is a picture of me in 1987 when I was having chemotherapy:

Yesterday's gone..................

Remember, take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. Peace, John

From the beach....................................

Sharks on the right......... na,na,na,na

Sharks on the left!!! na,na,na,na
They'er the best babes in town!!!!!That is also our house at the beach - Mitche's Haven..........

An a couple of pictures of a sunrise from the deck on a hazy morning!!!

Wow, what a trip, what friends................. We had a wonderful time!!!

Remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another..

Peace to you all, john

News about Matthew...... http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/ please send your thoughts and prayers... Thanks, John

The exams are graded, the grades have been submitted to the Registrar's Office electronically and I am trying, as Roz says, to reenter normal society.........

To help with that reentry, Sandy and I are going with the Cope's to dinner at Carter at Main in Elizabethton tonight.......... we are going to eat on the upstairs patio and have a good relaxing time............

This was the first time that I taught summer school school on-line and I have to say it was a most interesting teaching experience, a most interesting time. Tom Selleck, in Magnum P.I., would say that it was an ancient oriental curse that we live in "interesting" times. HIHO, which is a quote from Kurt Vonnegut, is about all I have to say right now. I learned much about the on-line summer process that will make my classes better in the regular terms as well as the summer next year. If there is a summer next year........ You never know with summer school until the enrollments occur.

I am thinking about writing a short story - Tales from the Mails: E-mails that is!! I am sure it has already been written many times, but I think I will try to add to the literary nonsense category - I have received some of the most "interesting" e-mails in the last year and at least I should try to get a paper out of them - my boss wants publications so here I go!!!

On a more serious note - I have heard nothing about Matthew Fay and will let everyone know when I do.

Blessing to those who put up with me during summer school, especially Sandy.

Remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. John

Mowin' maniac........

Today I was a mowing maniac.... I started before breakfast loading the mower and trimmer and then I went and ate a cheese omelet at Beasley's....... then, at about 9:30am I cut the grass and trimmed at church, the parsonage, and at home........ I finally came in the house at 3:30 and took a shower, graded some final exams, and put grommets in a purse.... then I had a glass of wine and Jill and I greeted Sandy when she came home. I bet I sleep well tonight..... Oh yah, I am cooking meatloaf on the grill and Sandy is making mashed potatoes and gravy and peas for dinner.........bet there will be some bread too... I forgot to eat lunch so I am hungry...

I hope you all had as good a day as I had............... remember, take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. Love, john

In MC's blog about quiting smoking I was reminded about a couple of my favorite prayers - the first is a prayer by St. Francis and the second is the Serenity Prayer:

A prayer by Saint Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love

Where there is injury . . . pardon

Where there is doubt . . . faith

Where there is despair . . .hope

Where there is darkness . . . light

Where there is sadness . . .joy

Divine Master,grant that i may not so much seek

To be consoled . . .as to console

To be understood . . .as to understand,

To be loved . . . as to love

For it is in giving . . .that we receive,

It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,

It is in dying . . .that we are born to eternal life

--St Francis


Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.

Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Remember, take good care of yourself so that you can take good care of another.

Peace, john

Tomorrow, June 29, is the day Matthew Fay has his scans done following his last chemotherapy treatment. Please pray for Matthew and his family. Please pray that his cancer is gone. Thank you. Peace, John

Well - that light house that Dennis made is something else!!!

As for me it is grade, grade, and grade some more - the classes end on July 6 and vacation starts on July 13......eeeeeehaaaaa

How about this for excitement - our well started to sputter on Saturday.... it almost quit. After letting is sit for awhile, is seemed to have water... but we realized it is time to hook up to the Town of Jonesborough water.......... Oh my ga!!!! I just paid $1500 for the tap... For those of you who do not know, that is the connection that the water department makes so that you can run the water to your home... The water department has to do it - you cannot do it.

After they do that, a plumber runs a line to the house.... don't know how much that will cost. A plumber is coming this evening to give us an estimate........ The good news is that the pressure for this water is going to be great, it is an 8" water line going down our street.... we have to get a 300psi water valve to control the pressure in the house.... We can still use our well water for yard work...but the two systems cannot be tied into each other they have to be completely seperate... sounds like more work for the plumber!!!

Well, pray that the well lasts until we are hooked up - and remember to take good care of yourself so you can take good care of someone else. Peace, john

There is new information on Matthew

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Please check it out and keep praying, thanks, john

This and that - Hello everyone... Life has been hectic - our previous pastor at church left yesterday and our new pastor is arriving on Wednesday.... my 60 some odd students in two Internet classes are busy doing assignments and taking tests.... three weeks to go!!! 60 assignments and an essay final in the Datamanagement class to go and somewhere in the vicinity of 1oo computer assignments to go in the Management Information Systems class to go.... I'll have a quarter pounder to go!!!

I was inspired by Ruth's blog and her pictures so I thought I would try to share the enjoyment of my garden with you..... Her flowers are really elegant - thank you Ruth. My flowers are more workmanlike... (that is not actually a word, but it will do in this case) I am probably not smarter than a 5th grader, but I do love that show!!!

So here are some pictures from the yard and the garden.

This is a brown eyed car niv or - growing in the straw - nick name - Jill

This is my tomato garden surrounded by marry golds!!

These are tomato hopefuls!!!

This is our perennial garden - I really love echinacea - cone flowers. There are threen varieties here - Sunrise, Twilight, and Sundown..

Here is one up close - it is being eaten by the Japenese Beetels that arrived last week - I will put our traps for them in a day or two....

There are sunflowers. I had a really hard time getting that yard stick to grow!!!!

This is a day lilly - we planted the roots over a year ago and it finally grew - Now, I think it was worth the wait.

You may recall the mullian that I had in a blog a few weeks ago. You may not as well..... anyway, this is it and you can see by the yard stick that it has grown quite a bit... it is not finished yet.

here is Scag man!

with a bug catcher!!!

Thanks for letting me share.... Have a great week and remember to take good care of yourself so that you can take good care of someone else. Peace, john

Please pray for our friend Matthew and his family.

http://www.mattfay.blogspot.com/

Thank you all, peace of Christ, john

Hello everyone -

I wanted to share with you that this week, Wednesday, I was presented with my 7th grandchild.... This was my daughters third child. One of my sons has three and another son one has one. Of course their spouses are involved in all this as well. And, I had nothing to do with it............ There are four girls and two boys. The sad news is that they all live away.... Williamsburg VA and West Hartford CT - so I do not get to see them very much. Soon my son with three will be moving to Washington DC - That is where I was born.

Anyway, I was thinking that news about grandchildren would be a more happy blog than pictures of dead moles...............

This Sunday, yesterday, after church, Sandy and I did nothing. We enjoyed each other's company and sat around the house....... We cooked a "beer can" chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob, and bread on the grill and just had a quite day. The Lord's day!!! Oh, yah, I did water my newly sown grass seed, which is beginning to sprout!!

Next Sunday our pastor and his family are leaving for a new assignment. We will miss them.

The Sunday after that our new pastor and her family are arriving. This is an exciting time in the life of our church. This is a time of renewal and the wonderment of change. I cannot wait!!!!

Remember, take good care of yourself so you can take good care of another. Blessings, john