Happy New Year?

[stoutfellow]

And the new school year gets off to a roaring start.

The semester began yesterday, but my classes are all T/Th, so effectively my semester begins this afternoon.

This morning, the motor in my dryer apparently died, in the midst of a load of laundry. I now have wet (more than damp, less than dripping) clothing hanging from doorknobs, cabinet handles, chair backs, open interior doors... I can only hope that some of them will be dry by, say, 1:00.

Also, the door of my mailbox has fallen off. I may be able to jury-rig a reattachment, but it looks more likely that I'll have to buy a new mailbox.

On a more pleasant note, I just saw an online ad for Doggy Steps, which I might order. (Here's the problem. My doggy door - actually, the inner doggy door - leads from the house into the garage. Unfortunately, the garage is a foot or two lower than the house, so I put a small table just under the doggy door; the dogs jump through onto the table, and then jump down to the garage. Now, Murphy's developing trouble with his hindquarters make that second jump - and, even more, the return trip - a bit difficult, which may have something to do with his recent pattern of misbehavior. A set of Doggy Steps next to the table might be the ticket.)

This semester I'll be teaching two regular courses - The Development of Modern Mathematics (one of my favorites) and Differential Geometry - plus an independent study in Abstract Algebra. I should also be shepherding three - or maybe four - Senior Projects. (Topics: the history and development of generating functions; regular and quasi-regular polyhedra; Hilbert's reformulation of Euclidean geometry; Regiomontanus and spherical trigonometry.)

I hope this morning's events don't prefigure the semester...

Comments

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

A quick thought: you said "apparently" died. If you didn't hear dying motor noises, you might check your lint filter. I thought our dryer was dying for the same reason about 8 months ago. Then someone sent me an email about *scrubbing* the lint filter. Apparently, the dryer sheets cause an invisible film to cover the filter, and even though one removes the lint after each load, the dryer won't function if the film gets bad. I thought it was worth a shot even though I'd never heard of it before, scrubbed the filter, and the dryer worked perfectly again and has ever since. Hmmm. I haven't scrubbed it for a couple of months. Better do it today.

Poor Murphy. Has the production of byproducts in the house continued?

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Well, the noise that was coming from the dryer suddenly changed in quality - which was what alerted me - and the barrel stopped turning. The last time I had trouble with lint accumulation, the barrel continued to turn but the airflow was cool. I'll try your suggestion, but I'm not very hopeful.

As for Murphy, I've adopted the expedient of making sure he goes outside last thing at night and first thing in the morning, and there's been no trouble for the last several days. Still, he does visibly hesitate and gather himself before making the hop (there, or inside the house), so I do want to see if there's anything I can do to help with that.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the dryer!

I do remember carrying Clarissa outside when she was older, because of the difficulty in getting up or down. Poor Bassetts; arthritis sucks.

[kd5mdk.livejournal.com]

While steps are good, would a simple ramp do? Something you could probably knock together out of any scrap wood lying around.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I think you underestimate the number of thumbs on my hands.