Trip to Iceland - July 13, 2026 to July 20, 2026

 Our trip to Iceland was on a Viking Cruise ship.  Flew into Reykjavik, boarded our ship, and then circumnavigated Iceland in a clockwise motion, stopping at the towns on the map below.  Below the map are a few of the photos that we took.  

 
 

Wichita State University Retiree Association

My apologies for not having posted in a while. I have no excuse other than laziness.  I have joined an organization, the Wichita State University Retiree Association .  There are several activities sponsored by the organization which I enjoy.  There is a Dinner Club, a Brown Bag Series on Lectures, and the one that I would like to write about today, is the Book Club.  Each month the Club picks a book to read and then meet and talk about them.  The book selected for this month was "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan.  This book tells the story of the American Dust Bowl of the 1930's.  I won't go into the book at depth, but one of the interesting things that was discussed was the "Ogalla Aquifer".  I encourage you to go to the link and read about it.  Depletion of the aquifer is prompting conservation programs.  

Christmas Video: Toys for the Salvation Army to Distribute

 I've done these videos for a number of years now.  As always Woodworker John Belt does a marvelous job making the toys.  The Wichita Women Artists then paint the toys.  As always a great job! Enjoy the video

  

Total Knee Replacement

 

On March 10th, 2025 I had total knee replacement for my right knee.  According to my physician, I had bone-on-bone arthritis in that knee (as well as in the left knee).  In about two days, I didn't use the walker any longer.  In another three or four days, I wasn't using the cane anymore.  I'm still not running races (as I wasn't before the surgery to be clear), but feel pretty good.  Now I need to decide if I want to have the left one done as well.

 All in all, I am glad that I had it done.  It WAS painful at first, but now I have very little if any discomfort in that knee. 

UPDATE: on June 20th, 2025 I had my left knee replaced.  While at first it did hurt a bit, as of now (October 15th) it doesn't hurt at all and the knees feel very firm.  I'm glad that I did it! 

Wichita University Football

 

The Shockers fielded a football team from 1897 to 1986.  In October of 1970, a plane crashed that was carrying about half of the football team on their way to play a game against  Utah State University. Thirty-one people were killed.  

In December of 1986, Wichita State President Warren Armstrong announced that the university would no longer sponsor football due to the financial strain the program placed on the university.  

The card that I have posted is for the 1941 season.   All of these games were losses, except for a tie with Washburn and a win over Emporia State at Emporia, Kansas.

A notable event for the program came in 1979 when Willie Jeffries became the head coach (he became the first African-American had coach of a Division I-A football program.

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to Key West

 

We spent a few days in Key West, Florida last week (September 24th to the 28th 2024). We were lucky in that Hurricane Helene went to the west of us... we didn't get any rain after the first night, but did get a lot of wind.  We always stay at the Ocean Key Resort.  The resort location is marked with an X in the map below.

 We can see Mallory Square from our Balcony (3rd floor room).  The island that can be seen in the picture below to the left is Sunset Key. 

 

View from our room

View of the palms being whipped by the wind.

Presentation by John Jones on Generative AI and Higher Education

On September 9th, 2024, John Jones, the Executive Director of the Wichita State University Media Resources Center gave a very interesting presentation on Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education. The presentation was part of a Brown Bag Series sponsored by the WSU Retirees Association (I'll write more about this organization later). One of the concerns that faculty have about the increasing influence of AI, is that students will be using it to write papers and therefore not really be gaining the skills needed for writing and research. John indicated that it isn't a sure thing to be able to detect writing that is done through AI. There ARE online resources that purport to be able to detect the use of AI in writing, and it is possible for a writer to use these resources to improve their writing and remove the indications that AI has been used in their writing.  John also highlighted the positive uses of AI to help streamline the generation of written materials. John did some demonstrations that were really amazing.

 

If you want to experiment with AI, you might give ChatGPT a try. 

I have written a previous Blog Post back in 2023, take a look at that if you like.

*Many thanks to Marcia Stevens for the picture!

A New Dog - Meet Gemma!

 

On Saturday March 16th, we had a "Meet and Greet" with Gemma, a Boxer mix under the care of WAAL, the Wichita Animal Action League.  Gemma is 7 plus years old and has been in foster care for over a year.  We decided to adopt her on March 17th.  She is a VERY well behaved dog and enjoys watching TV with us.  She walks very well on a lead.  She seems to be settling in quite well.

 

 

 

 

Here is a Video of Gemma.

 

 

Trip to Top of the Rock near Branson Missouri

 

Last week, February 20th to the 23rd, we took a quick trip to the Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, Missouri. One of the things that we did was to visit the Top of the Rock.  We wanted to see how big the sinkhole was.  The sinkhole began on May 22nd of 2015 and has only gotten bigger.  The picture to the left shows the sinkhole as it exists on the day that we visited.  If you want to read about the initial collapse, read about it HERE.

We've visited this area many times as we used to water ski on Table Rock Lake. See other pictures below.

 

Duke, an English Springer Spaniel

 

.

On Wednesday January 24th, 2024, we euthanized Duke.  He had just turned 13 (born January 8, 2011).  We adopted him through the English Spring Spaniel Rescue on March 15, 2014. We have no information about his first three years.  The first year was a bit rocky, but he became a VERY good boy.  In his final months he suffered from severe arthritis in his hips and back legs.  He had difficulty walking.  It was a difficult decision, but I think it was the right one.  The picture to the left is Duke very soon after he came to live with us.  The house feels empty.    RIP Duke!

Handmade Christmas Toys - 2023

I made this video to showcase wooden toys which were made by woodworker John Belt and painted by Wichita Women Artists.  The video has music, so turn on audio.  You might want to watch in full-screen mode as well. Please watch and let me know if you like it!

2023 Cruise - Days 10, 11, 12, and 13

I have been very lax in posting information about our cruise, so I decided I would make one last post. Day 10 was Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.  We did not go ashore here as we had visited the city on a previous trip. I encourage you to visit Forever Edinburgh for a terrific overview of the city. One of the most impressive sights is Edinburgh Castle. The castle is the site of the annual Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. 

Day 11 was Inverness.  The name from the Gaelic means "Mouth of the River Ness".  The 18th century Battle of Culloden took place nearby on Culloden Moor.  

The River Ness

Inverness Town Steeple

Day 12 was supposed to be the Shetland Islands. However, once again the seas were too rough.  The ship would be moored away from a dock and passengers would need to be taken by small boat to land.  It was considered too dangerous.  I really wanted to see the Shetland Ponies!  Lerwick is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago with a population of about 7,000 in 2010. Below is a photo taken from our stateroom balcony showing the rough seas.

Below is a picture of the Shetland archipelago as we sailed past them.  Next stop - Bergen, Norway!

In Bergen, we toured a church, the NyKirken, the New Church. The church was built on the site of the ruins of the home of the archbishop which was built in the 14th century. Below is the exterior of the church.

NyKirken (New Church)

Below is a photo of the 'Baptismal Angel', a massive carved angel which descends from the ceiling of the church by means of a pulley system, bearing in its hand the bowl for infant baptisms. The original was donated in 1794 in memory of Heinrich Pütter, but was destroyed in 1944 by the explosion of the German ship Voorbode in the nearby Vagen bay leaving large parts of the city of Bergen in ruins. The replacement was donated by Bergen Cathedral, who had always been the owners of the matching angel, but kept it unused in storage. The mechanism for the angel is now electrically operated. (Source)

 

The last photo I want to share is one of the main square in Bergen.  The weather obviously wasn't suited for sitting out on these chairs, but in good weather it would be fun.  

 

2023 Cruise Day 9 - Orkney Islands

The Orkney Islands "are located six miles north of the Scottish mainland. There are about 70 islands within the Orkney archipelago, 17 of which are inhabited.

Both Orkney and Shetland are unique and unlike any other part of Great Britain. They have managed to retain many of their original, unique customs and traditions resulting from their long and eventful history.

In the early 8th and 9th centuries the Vikings arrived in the Shetland Islands looking for land and for the next 600 years or so the Norsemen ruled both Orkney and Shetland. Surprisingly, although the Vikings had a reputation as fearsome warriors, they settled down and became farmers.

In 1468, the impoverished Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, pawned the Orkney Isles to James III of Scotland in lieu of a royal dowry for 50,000 florins. The Shetlands were pawned for a further 8,000 florins." (Source)

The Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle dates back to the 3rd millennium BC and comprised of a massive stone circle, originally consisting of 60 stones of which 36 survive today.  There are also at least 13 prehistoric burial mounds and a large rock-cut ditch surrounding the stone circle.For more information click HERE.

2023 Cruise Day 8 - The Highlands (Ullapool)

 

Unfortunately, due to the rough seas, we were unable to go ashore at Ullapool. The region surrounding Ullapool is dominated by rugged mountains.  I had never really thought of the Highlands as being mountainous, I thought of them as being "hilly".  The picture to the left wasn't taken by me, but shows the small town (1500 inhabitants) on the shores of Loch Broom .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are pictures that we took as we sailed past Ullapool.