Two down, None to go
2008-05-19, 8:27 p.m.

Day 1366

Well, that�s that. Eric�s a graduate. All that�s left is the bills. No more trips to Fredonia, no more parcel post packages with shoes & cookies, no more school loans. Until he starts work, there will even be someone home to get stuff out of the freezer for dinner, in case we forget. Like we do every other day.

One subtle little thing we have noticed � spontaneity just went right out the window. Or, right out the bedroom door. Oh well. Just have to adjust.

Friday, I got in a single lap of our neighborhood. Just enough distance to test out the new spoke and wheel truing (sweet!) and give the biking shoes a test run. Aligning ones foot with the pedals didn�t seem too bad. They clip in easier than I thought they would and there is a fair amount of wiggle room for foot angle. My foot can actually rotate 10 � 15 degrees in the horizontal plane � necessary for taking pressure off the knee. In one very flat � mile loop with 3 pretty tight turns, I was able to pretty easily maintain 19+ mph. That�s hardly an indicator of performance on a 50 mile ride, but I�ll take it.

Saturday was all about Eric. Up at 6, on the road shortly after 7, pick up my mom at 7:40, stop for breakfast on I-90 (to go, thank you), drive like the wind and slide into our parking spot in Fredonia at 9:30 � a whopping � hour before the start of the graduation ceremony. We all took a rest room break upon arrival. Zach, Bob & I were in & out in minutes while Cindy & Mom basically located the end of their line in that time. Heh. Is it the plumbing that makes a difference, or the associated activities in the restroom that make a difference?

Anyhow. Earlier in the week, I was guessing that Eric�s ceremony would run 1.5 � 2 hours. His class had about 1200 kids, but the graduation was split into two shifts. Between the no-shows and grad students, I figured there might be 500ish kids walking the stage. Cindy heard reports that other schools with similar class sizes were running their ceremonies out to 3 hours! 3 hours on gymnasium style bleachers. Oh, my aching butt.

In the end, we lucked out. The class president (classic overachiever � out in the working world, everyone is going to hate this guy) gave a decent speech. The guest speaker was a Fredonia grad, best selling author, with over 70 books to her credit � Wendy Corsi-Staub. Apparently she writes young adult fiction, chic-lit, and some other stuff I�m not likely to ever read. But she did give a solid graduation address. Then they got to the presentation of graduates. They used dueling name readers, pin-ponging them back & forth. Read off a name roughly every 3 seconds. Poor university president was standing at the center of the stage shaking a hand on the left, turning to the right, shaking another hand, turning back left, lather rinse repeat � for 500 kids. Took around a half hour for the promenade.

Sunday was a semi lazy day. Got some outlet plates mounted, sealed the backsplash tiles and cleaned the garage. A little. Finally got rid of my pile o�(s)crap wood � stuff left over from the demo a few months ago. Salvaged some needed trim pieces, saved a few good 2 x somethings and gave up & tossed the rest. Finally. Need to make room for storing more furniture as we tae on re-doing the room formerly known as the family room.

Time now to go watch the hockey game. The Penguins need an opponent. Doesn�t matter who it is. Bring it.

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