Almost Done

The teaching part of the semester is done; all that remains are the finals. I gave out the take-home final in geometry Wednesday evening, and it will be due next Wednesday afternoon. My other finals are Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening (and I won't get home until almost 10 PM that day!), and I'm also one of the judges of a Senior Project presentation Wednesday afternoon. Throw in the departmental holiday pot luck Tuesday morning - I'm thinking I'll make quiche Lorraine - and a meeting with the IT worker who's preparing my new office computer, plus the grading, and next week looks pretty busy. Saturday, though, I'm heading out, winging my way to warmer climes. I'm looking forward to the break.

Memento

In the process of cataloging my library, I just added a book on "Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics", by Michael Tinkham. When I opened the book, a sheet of letter paper fell out. It was a note from Bruce Gurney, who was my closest friend in high school; we stayed in touch for a few years afterward. He was studying physics at Caltech, and I, mathematics at UC Santa Barbara. He bought the book for me as a birthday present in 1977, reaching across the discipline boundaries.

I am going to try to believe that I read the note at the time and kept it in the book. I'd hate to think that I never opened my present!