Cool

There were storms that finally broke the heat wave. Hopefully it is now cooler for the rest of the season, not just a few days. It actually feels like autumn out there, damp and cool. It is before noon, and I have mowed the front and most of the back yard. I had put the battery charger for the weed-eater out of sight for the open house, and couldn't find it for quite awhile this morning. Finally found it, and so the battery is charging. I can't get the tractor over large parts of the yard, and use the weed-eater more like a small lawnmower. If I keep chipping away at it the yard will start looking better. I still haven't touched the yard at the new house, but all in good time...

The lady still wants to buy this house, but the latest is that it will take at least 2 weeks to get the financing together. Well, the realtor's contract is up at the end of the month, and I will start calling the 'we buy ugly houses' folks. I will honor his contract if she comes through before I sell it to someone else, but I'm not going to extend his contract again.

On a different subject, I have been pondering a few things. This is always dangerous. I feel a certain lack of knowledge in many areas. The one that crystallized this is my lack of advanced math skills. I was/am afraid of math because of having a math teacher in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades that I hated. One of the problems with going to such a small school is that he was the only game in town as far as math went. So, as soon as Algebra 1 was done, so was I. In college I took the technology track so that I didn't have to take the more difficult math classes. I still passed 2 semesters of calculus, barely. Hanging with the geeks, it is an area that I am reminded at times of how much I don't know.

Along with this train of thought I remembered Heather, from Peace and Carrots farm. She was homeschooled through high school, and when it was time she decided to do the unschooled thing with college, and started her own college, ORION. That is: Outdoor Recreation Institute of New England. The link to her school is here: http://www.homestead.com/peaceandcarrots/Orion.html . The information is a bit outdated since her mom sold the farm in Vermont, the Heather is an interesting person. When she needs something, she figures out how to make it or go do it. I haven't caught up with her adventures lately, but she was building her own cabin, built her own kayak, was rebuilding a van, etc. She also set out to do a long distance hike, which I intend to read about in her journal soon. It is at: http://www.heathershikinghiatus.com/

So, what does this have to do with my lack of math knowledge? Well, I started thinking about what my own personal university would look like. What the curriculum would be, what the responsibilities and requirements are. There would need to be structure, or it would end up looking like my current life, with bunches of holes still showing in my blanket of knowledge. So, I am mentally working on what the University of Gaelio will be. Stay tuned. Oh, yeah, I'm sure it will have a home improvement track in it as well as the math...