It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve gone over to Soda Springs. Meanwhile, mother’s computer stopped working. If the computer is online, I have the ability to log into it from home and do maintenance. However, it was not online and mother was unable to get it to respond. So, while Nina and her niece Ashlyn were up at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center doing a craft class, I drove over to Soda Springs on Thursday. We’ve been getting a lot of rain Wednesday and Thursday along with some snow in the higher elevations.

The computer problem was quickly solved, but no apparent reason for the problem. The computer was on, but not responding. Pushing and holding the power button did nothing. I finally unplugged the computer, waited for a bit, plugged it back in, and it started up normally. I had a nice visit with mother and an uneventful drive over and back.

For a couple of months I’ve been thinking about registering for school at Idaho State University and taking a couple of Chinese classes. In 1963-1964 I was sent by the US Air Force to Yale University for an intensive Chinese language class. In the meantime, I’ve forgotten almost all the Chinese that I ever learned. I felt it was time to rebuild that capability. So, the other day I called the registrar’s office and was told to go online and make an application. I tried with a very strange outcome. I was “kind of” registered, but some required files were not created. The university is bringing a new computer system online and it definitely didn’t work correctly. After spending some time working with their help desk and talking with the registrar, it turned out that the process for registering as a “non-degree-seeking student” was broken and I had to go into the registrar’s office and fill out a paper form. I went over to the office and learned that there would be no Chinese classes this fall.

The information from the Registrar’s Office was that the professor had left the university and because of a hiring freeze due to the budget crisis, a replacement wasn’t going to be hired for the fall semester. The back story is that the professor was forced out and that the entire language department is being brutally dismembered. I’ve not been impressed with what has been going on at the University lately and this is just another debacle in process. The faculty last week voted “no confidence” in the provost and the level of dissension is unprecedented. Meanwhile, I don’t get to take a Chinese language class. I’m not pleased.

TTFN!