A Week in Review

This week has sped by, so here is a review of the highlights. Our property manager notified me that the real estate agent they work with found tenants for our condo. The only hurdle is that they have to pass the credit inspection of the HOA (Home Owner's Association). The property management company has already cleared them. If the HOA is satisfied, they will move in on June 1st. Like Rumpelstiltskin, we had to promise our first born, ah, rent check to the property manager, so we do not receive anything until July. Keep those fingers crossed.

The thesis grading nightmare has not ended. I had four BA theses to read and grade, but I just finished them today. The first round of State Exams will be this Wednesday. Hopefully, that "I really am on summer break" feeling will kick in before July 1st. Though with almost weekly State Exams on Wednesdays, through June 23 and extras on the 25th, it just may be at bay. 

What I intend to do on my summer vacation, by Ryan James. 


I plan to sort through my photos and find the best the best from the last 17 years. I have found print on demand companies on the Internet where one can create a "store" to sell merchandise from greeting cards to sweatshirts with everything in between on a per order basis. 

Another goal, or as my students love to say, an aim is to create a new website. I have bought the domains www.ryanjames.org, www.drryanjames.com, and drryanjames.net because I am going to get serious about starting a Life Coaching business with specific specializations. Don't waste your time  checking the domains now, there is nothing there. When they are up and running, you will be informed. I really wanted ryanjames.com, or ryanjames.net, but some singer has the .com domain, while some strange little characters that look like they have been kidnapped from South Park are on the .net domain.

In the meanwhile, to keep myself off of the streets, I have been playing around with freebie websites. Here are the ones I have created. 

Dr James Thesis Advising - This has all of the MLA and writing tips. I was tired of repeating it a million times. 

ElTE Journals - Spotlighting my budding writers, they have some of their work here. Good, bad, and indifferent, that is what writing is about, the process. 

Dr James Writing Program - Being the coordinator of this program, having all of my class information and program requirements in one place made sense to me. One stop shopping for students. 

Social Problems MA Class - This is for new class I will be teaching in the MA program come fall. I have not done much more with this site other than create it. The text books I ordered are sitting in Texas, waiting to come here. 

Dr Ryan James - In my travel writer's group, one of the organizers claims there is no such thing as having your name all over the Internet. This is really just a place for me to store things that I will reflect on when I retire. But, it draws attention, so be it.  

BudaBaB - Using the wisdom of more is better for page ranking, I created this supplementary site just to send more people our way. 

BudaBaB Wish Lists - As the name infers, this is where I just humble myself and say, "Hey, if I have helped you with my website and you did not stay with us, here are things I would love to have as a token of your appreciation." I think I did it in a genteel manner.

I have these websites down cold now. I should offer to design websites for people in exchange for books. Any takers?

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Say It Ain't So

Last night, my student Balazs wanted to go out for a good-travels dinner since Ron leaves for the States on Wednesday morning. Using a frequent flier ticket, he had to go from Budapest > Warsaw> Toronto > Denver with all but the last leg on Polish Airline LOT. He will Amtrak from Denver to Iowa and when he leaves there, will be flying from Cedar Rapids > Chicago > Newark. On the way home, he is routed on TAP the Portuguese airline Newark > Lisbon > Budapest. I have him primed for the NJ stint, working on the storage POD from here as much as I can and putting as much in place as possible. I have been trying to arrange for a disposable mobile phone for his arrival too. This morning, I found this e-mail from my brother: Hi, We had some excitement over the weekend, we had the cops over to daddy's house. Stuff was ransacked, the door was busted open to your storage room. I don't think any of your stuff was stolen, but whoever it was cut open boxes looking for something. We padlocked the back door and locked everything else up. We're going back next weekend to start the cleaning up process. We'll call you guys this Thurs - last week was very busy for me at work and it got away from me. Talk to you later.... The fact that Ron is leaving for the States on Wednesday has totally escaped him. My greatest concern now is Ron's sleeping at the house alone. We will have to see what we can work out.

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Friends = Relatives

My friend Daphnee go way back to the point where we just refer to each other as sister and brother. We first met in a Comparative Religions class when I first decided to return to college for my BA degree. It was a summer course and my partner at the time had gone to FL to visit a friend. This was 1976 and we have been close ever since. Daphnee has always been there for me regardless of the distance between us; I have been there for her when she has opened up and let me know she needed me. We spoke on Sunday about Ron's returning to the States and making his way to NJ to do something with our storage at dad's house, so the house can be sold. I have been looking into a moving POD, where they bring the storage unit to you, you fill it, and then they take it away to the storage place. This seems ideal for Ron. They can place it in the backyard and he can fill it as energy allows. Daphnee had a better idea. She contacted and plans to pay her college-aged grandson to be Ron's driver and mover helper. Neither of us have a driver's license, so renting a car is out of the question. Her other idea is to check out flights; if there is a reasonable one, she will fly back and meet Ron to help him. My great concern was that he will not transportation and will be stuck at my father's house without a computer or Internet access even if he had one. Her generousity over the years has been amazing, but I cannot pass this over without saying that her partner Ellie is just as supportive with finances. Ellie has been just as generous with coming to our rescue when needed without a moment of hesitation. This is a prime example of where friends become family.

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