The month in review

Aside from last week's quick post about the snowfall, I've been too busy to blog for almost a month. A quick recap of the past month:

Spent the weekend of the 13th-14th up in Ottawa, visiting Fiend and exploring Winterlude. My skating skills seem to have regressed since January. I fell down on the frozen Rideau Canal more often this time around than I did on my first visit. Could it be that I'm getting overconfident? The snow and ice sculptures, the "bed races" across a frozen lake, and the other appurtenances of the Winterlude festival are all pleasant memories, even if the ice sculptures were a bit drippy due to some unseasonable warmth the previous week.

With the end of my current contract at Huron State rapidly approaching and no word about renewal, I've returned to my jobhunting ways. That is to say, I am once more inundating the postal service with resumes and cover letters going hither and thither and yonder across the country with little visible result. I did have one telephone interview with a place I'll call Gulf Coast State University during the month. It seemed to go reasonably well. Although I don't have much experience performing the exact functions they're looking for, I did manage to blurt out some questions and observations which prompted actual conversation with some members of the search committee, rather than just the usual packaged rote questions and answers. Certain family and friends who reside in the Lone Star State would probably like to have me closer at hand, or at least have a free place to drop their luggage while they head for the beach. Unfortunately, it's about 1500 miles in exactly the wrong direction from some other places I'd like to be.

The Ann Arbor Model Railroad Club sponsored its usual annual train show this month. I was disappointed by the lack of modular layouts on display. Last year there were three or four operating layouts; this year, that number was reduced to one, with the rest of the show dedicated to dealers hawking their wares. I did end up patronizing the latter, though. I spent more than I should and less than I wanted to. At least I'll have some nifty toys to show off, if I ever manage to make it to a local model railroad club. And the Lionel layout at grand-dad's house will look a little spiffier next Christmas (or whenever I next get time to fiddle with it).

Unfortunately, I was back in Missouri on more sombre business this past weekend, attending the funeral of Great-Uncle S. He was not a relative with whom I'd ever spent a great deal of time over the years, but I always havd a great deal of respect for him. He was the epitome of a gentleman and a capable, responsible, sensible man in every way, and his influence on the family and the community in which he lived will be greatly missed. It is possible that in the absence of his calm and moderating influence, both may fragment and dissolve. I hope not.

My return from Missouri was delayed by the inevitable encounters with shirt-tail relatives and community acquaintances with whom one must, for the sake of politeness, share a cup of coffee, or a lunch at a local restaurant, before departing. Many problems of the world were solved, and the moral and intellectual character of many individuals not present was analyzed in deep and searching detail. Consequently, instead of making it all the way back to Michigan on Sunday evening, I found it necessary to check into a cheap motel near Fort Wayne, Indiana, at about 3 a.m. I noted that, for a cheap motel, it had a surprisingly large bed and mirror. I didn't realize until morning that it was right across the street from an ... ahem ... "gentlemen's" club. (I don't particularly want to think about why the wooden ceiling beams near the bed had bolt-holes through them.)

Accomodations notwithstanding, this proved to be a fortunate delay, since I was able to visit the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana the following morning. It's one of the best antique-car collections I've ever seen, and although the cars and displays are not arranged in any particular chronological order, it does a good job of showing that at one time Indiana was home to a number of thriving and historically significant auto makers. I knew that Cord had introduced things like retractible headlights and front wheel drive to North America several decades before anyone else, and that the Duesenberg roadsters of the late 20's and early 30's were among the most glamorous creations of their era. But who knew that the same family of companies had also introduced the hydraulic brake, superchargers, and unit-body construction? Even for those not particularly entranced by automotive engineering, it's worth seeing if one ever passes through northern Indiana with a couple of hours to spare. The cars are gorgeous, and the building, the former headquarters of the Auburn Automobile Company, is a fittingly grand place in which to see them.

Unfortunately, the rather curt woman on duty at the next-door National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States was unable to provide any information about the "Samson" or "Sampson" truck which my great-grandfather is said to have driven. Also unfortunately, the Garrett Historical Society Museum, housed in a former B&O railroad depot, was closed. Fortunately, it is located next to an active CSX switching yard, and while I was parked there, a fellow ferroequinologist dropped by. According to him, the partially-dismantled Florida East Coast steam locomotive which is en route from Traverse City, Michigan, to a proposed tourist railroad in Colorado, and which has been the subject of much discussion on Michigan railroad messageboards, was in a train waiting in the yard. Unfortunately, the train in question was hidden on the inaccessible side of the yard, behind another train, limiting his (and my) ability to photograph it. Apparently he did eventually get a chance to photograph it, though, since I later received copies of the photos from him via e'mail.

Unfortunately, I had no time to wait for trains, since I was due to work the reference desk at Suburban Public Library that evening. And so homeward through the snow flurries and the slush. Waiting at home: two hungry cats, an overflowing litterbox, at least two piles of cat-puke on the carpet, and two phone messages about potential job interviews.

So it goes....