Off the Wagon?

Well, not really, not like that. But I haven't posted in a long time, so I thought I should update my status. Since I last posted, I found out that I'm going to be a dad, and I taught two new classes, and I finished writing an article on something about pottery, and I was asked to review an article for a very interesting journal, and I bought a whole slew of books, and I got to see Paul Simon and La Bohème and the Nutcracker, and I got a new espresso machine, and I discovered Portuguese coffee in Bloomington, and I learned about how heat pumps work, and I did a lot of other things too. We had several really good friends come visit us over the past few months, and then some of them moved off to other parts of the country/world, but it was awesome to have them visit us here in the Middle, because it really is a very nice place to be. We're planning to have other people visit us in the near future, because until the new person comes along, we're going to have at least one fully extra room, and we can arrange things to work out even after he's here - he won't need his own room for a few months, anyway.

I haven't been keeping up with my old soccer regimen; the weather, my work schedule, and the people in charge of the field space around here have all conspired to keep me off the grass. Fortunately, I can still ride my bike as often as I want to, and whenever I'm on campus I get to climb 6 or 7 flights of stairs, to keep me at least a little bit fit. I do have a great view out my office window, I've posted a couple pictures on that "networking" site, but here's one such view:

Since I'm going to be a dad, I am now accepting mailed gifts - preferably things like Benfica jerseys and Portugal costumes. Well, Portugal did manage to qualify for the 2012 European Cup and Benfica managed to make it out of a really easy group in the Champions League, so that's the justification for those two selections.

Oh, you probably want to see the new espresso machine. My friend Alex gave me a Gaggia Espresso a few months back (quite a few months back, as it turns out!), and I have been happily trucking along with that for quite some time. But I recently developed an urge to go with a machine that has an all brass boiler system, and the Gaggia is only halfway there, so I had to explore my options. I happen to know a guy who knows everything there is to know about such things, so I contacted him and he told me a small portion of what he knows - enough for me to know that I should just take his advice and get a killer deal on the Rancilio Silvia.

So that's the new machine. Thanks to Mr. Les for making that dream possible. I'm currently seeking a new home for the Gaggia, so if you know anyone, tell them to email me. Works perfectly, I have even been keeping it set up, just in case I need to entertain a dozen people with espresso some afternoon (which seems highly unlikely). You can see that the Gaggia has some pretty unique styling, and I can assure you that it makes espresso as well as it looks like it should! I'll be sorry to see it go, but I'm not allowed to keep two machines, according to the contract that I signed way back when.

Ok, I have to go learn some more songs for a thing I'm doing in a few days. Should be a good time for everyone, but for now I have a lot of work to do. That guitar I bought a few months (years) back is still doing its job, I suppose I should upload pictures of one or the other of those sometime.

Finally, the foot is great, no issues, no problems, not even something I think about anymore! The screw they put in my foot so many months and years ago seems to be doing everything it is supposed to do, and in fact I haven't even noticed any issues with the weather changes over the past several months, unlike my knee, which sometimes is disappointed with these pressure fluctuations. Ok, that's really all I have to say about all of that. Happy Christmas, everybody! Or Happy New Year, or Happy Spring, since I probably won't blather on again until sometime in March!

Out with the old

And time to start something new. See, I recently finished a bit of a thesis on late Roman Spain, and I've entered the post-project funk of having nothing important to do (or just not wanting to do the important things that I should now be doing). In any case, I've returned to the laptop to move on with a new project, much shorter in duration (I hope!), focusing mainly on the pottery from somewhere in Spain. Pretty fascinating stuff, if you're interested in this sort of thing, which I am.

My foot hasn't bothered me at all lately, so I'm thinking about developing a new injury elsewhere, perhaps something wii related. Soccer thrice a week in this 90 degree weather isn't going to make my old kelme duende amancios (size 9.5) very happy - they turned 4 this past April - so if anyone finds a lead on some new ones, please to pass along that information. By the way, they stopped making these cleats.

I've recently received a new espresso machine, much happier than the krups xp2070, whose pump seems to have lost a good deal of power and eventually gave me nothing but weak coffees. The new machine (new to me, anyway), was given by a pair of amazing friends from Mexas, and the machine works beautifully. I'm refining my grind settings and tamping procedure to accommodate the new 58mm brewbasket, and as long as I can keep the calcification down in the boiler, it seems like I'll enjoy this new machine for years to come. Of course, I won't object if someone decides to mail me a commercial machine along with those replacement cleats.

Well, since I'm working again, this blog is wasting valuable Spanish emailing time, so I'll get back to that. If you'd like to know more about my soccer cleats, feel free to post something in the comments section. Happy summers!