Lastest Happenings

Not much exciting news to report from Sparta. Some good news is that the semester is rapidly approaching the end. The last day of classes was Friday and finals week is next week. It is nice to know that I have almost a month off from work before classes start back in the Spring. I do have some work related activities over Christmas break (including my trip to Paris and class prep for Spring) but for the most part it should be a relaxing and fun time with family and friends.

This coming year could be an interesting time at the college level here in TN. We are expecting huge cuts in funding and with that there will be changes coming our way. There is talk of involuntary furloughs and other cost cutting measures to help with budgetary constraints. A part of me is tempted to volunteer to be furloughed for a year or two and travel or volunteer at an overseas school. For a few years I have been playing with the thought of teaching at an international high school in Vietnam or Malaysia. With all this is going on here this might be the time to take a year and go do it. I'm not sure why but Dalat school keeps popping into my thoughts as a place to serve and give of my time and talents. My only concern with overseas work is accessibility issues that could cause a burden on the school. I'm not sure how accessible the Dalat campus is or if it could even work for me to teach there for a year or two.

The building is still slowly progressing. It has rained a few times this week so all outside work is on hold until Monday but the electrical and plumbing rough-ins were inspected and approved and the insulation has been installed. Monday the drywall guys are supposed to get to work and sheetrock the walls and ceilings. Hopefully I can line up the painters and have it painted while I am in France. Then if Bob is willing he can start laying the floor for me and simultaneously the tile guy can be tiling the bathroom. If all goes well I will return from my trip with the bathroom finished and some/or all of my floor in place. Also if I can agree to the price I will have the HVAC guy install the radiant heat system, water heater, and air conditioning system in place. If all of this happens I will be on my way to still meeting my goal of moving in before teh start of the Spring semester.