Where's Gordon?

A variant of Where's Waldo (remember him?), look for Gordon in the official College of Wooster Orientation 2007 pictures. If you have small children this should keep them busy for hours. Here's a hint, he's in three pictures. Here's another hint, he's really tiny, perspective-wise. More? He's in photos 1, 15 and 19. More hints tomorrow or in a day or two.

http://www.wooster.edu/photography/images/07-08/orientation/

The frantic pace seems to have slowed. Tomorrow, Sunday, is the first day Gordon has had to sleep in for over a week. Classes start this coming week.

Susan's adventure is complete...

Susan arrived back home Thursday night, about 9 PM.

LA Times: Lee? Your party is here

I couldn't resist posting this. I'm flashing on the Chinese family association banquets I used to attend as a kid, and meeting scads of people whom I couldn't understand and wouldn't recognize on the street minutes later? Wow. Now multiply by 20...

Hundreds from around the country who share the Chinese surname descend on L.A. to celebrate heritage, ponder future.
By David Pierson
August 20, 2007

They came from every corner of the United States to Los Angeles' Chinatown on Sunday to celebrate their kinship and their surname.

Hundreds of Lees from Boston, Oakland, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, to name a few places, marched down Broadway and officially commenced the 19th national convention of the Lee Family Assn.

Formed nearly a century and a half ago in San Francisco, the group flourished for more than 100 years, like many other Chinese family and village associations, by providing members a place of refuge in a country that long shunned and discriminated against the Chinese. They anchored the Chinatowns across the United States by offering members loans, securing burial plots and helping settle business disputes for a community denied access to most mainstream institutions.

But in modern times, with their aging ranks and challenges from newer and more prosperous Chinese communities in the suburbs, family associations such as the Lees face an uncertain future. [more]

Gordon is into his dorm room

Thought I'd share these words from Susan about getting Gordon into the dorms. I've edited out some for brevity, marked by "[...]".

Just a note to let you know that we have truly appreciated all your prayers for us. Also to let you know that Gordon is finally moved into his room at 226 Wagner. He has a corner room on the second floor (a guy floor; girls are up one floor; I think the hall is 4-5 floors tall). On one side of his room, he has a maintenance-only parking lot, another dorm, and a green & beautiful view. His door opens up to the 2nd-floor hall and the stairwell. His window across from the door looks out on a tarred roof, with the door going out to the roof being on the final side of his room. This position can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on how Wagner Hall's personality turns out. :-)

One blessing is that the girl in the COW marching band that he's been in touch with is on the next floor up. She's really sweet, organized, and cute -- esp. at 4'10", I think Gordon said. Another blessing is that the guy he stayed with in February(?)/March(?) is Wagner Hall's student director or Resident Director.... JaQuan Bryant. [...] He also met JaQuan's friends and like them. And JaQuan is from Oakland, CA!) I met JaQuan today, and he is JUST as tall as Gordon! [...]

Gordon will be going 24-hours a day now, from his dorm. [This is an exaggeration, of course. Not to worry, Mom. The schedule is busy though, but more like 7:30 AM to 11 PM. - gsl] The Scots Marching Band will be claiming all his time for the next week, and when they aren't claiming his time, the Freshman Orientation schedule will be. Apart from dropping off his fresh laundry tonight, I won't see him until Wednesday morning for a couple of hours (~maybe!~); that afternoon, he'll be with other Freshmen, and I won't see him until the 4:00-4:30pm "Goodbye to Parents". All parents must leave the college at that time, so Thursday, I'll be flying home. In the meantime, I'll be reconnoitering around Wooster, and attending meetings Gordon and I signed up for before we knew he'd been in the band.

So now that he's unpacked what did we forget? Well, no coax cable to connect the TV to the cable service, no remote (maybe these were deliberate on our part? Nah!), and no Ethernet cable for a wired connection. Fortunately he can get a wireless access point from his room.

The Road to Wooster, the final stretch

Before we start on today's installment, this special announcement: Happy Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, Susan!

Gordon and Susan alighted in Sandusky, OH today. I'm still not sure why Sandusky since it's only about 5 hours from South Bend and it's only another 1-1/2 hour to Wooster. It wasn't to stop at the Cedar Point amusement park, though. However, Susan made contact with her old boss ("boss of long acquaintance") from Campus Crusade days and will be able to meet up with him and his wife tomorrow. When Susan was in Crusade she was very close to them and even volunteered to babysit regularly. Now the oldest of the children is a full professor of English literature at Wheaton College.

The Road to Wooster, Day 7

Gordon and Susan made good time today, driving all the way to South Bend, IN. They're staying just a stone's throw, by Gordon's arm, away from the University of Notre Dame. As close as I can figure it, they drove over 9-1/2 hours today. Wooster is the next stop, about 4-1/2 hours away if Susan stays at the speed limit.

And I want to wish Susan a happy anniversary. We celebrate 25 years of married life tomorrow, August 14! I think I'll take myself out for a candlelight dinner....

The Road to Wooster, Day 6

At least I think it's day six. Gordon and Susan pulled into Lincoln, NE yesterday and stayed the day today to rest and to visit. Susan reports that she's had no bouts of fibromyalgia, meaning no pain. Gordon reports that it's a good thing he's along to make sure Susan finds her way.

Lincoln was forecast to have extreme heat index values this weekend but fortunately thunderstorms today quashed that. Susan and Gordon are relaxing and rehabilitating aided by Steve and Kate's lovely and gentle dog and a cat who takes to Gordon.

Tomorrow they're on the road again. Next stop - somewhere in west Illinois.

The Road to Wooster, Day 4

Today was a rest day for Gordon and Susan. They must be having a great time with Jo Ellen and Rembrandt - we haven't heard a peep for over 24 hours.

My brother asked why Susan and Gordon took I-70 rather than I-80. I'm not sure of all the reasons but I know that Susan reeeeally wanted to drive US 50 and that she had the rendezvous worked out with Jo Ellen in Fort Collins. Choosing I-80 after US 50 (via I-15) would have meant backtracking south on I-70 to reach Ft. Collins and maybe longer time over all.

Wanna test my hypothesis yourself? Curious about the route? Check it out on Google Maps. Use the new route altering feature to see which route takes longer, at least as far as Google is concerned.

Keep them in your prayers. Steve in Lincoln, their next stop, reports that the heat index (temperature plus a factor for humidity) will be 110 degrees over the weekend.

[8.10.07 10:38 PM - Edited to fix link to the Google Maps page with the route information.]

The Road to Wooster, Days 2 and 3

The Great Adventure continues. Yesterday Gordon and Susan traveled from Eureka, NV to Grand Junction, CO. It was a longish trip depending on whose standard you use. I think it was almost 10 hours of driving. Today was a much easier trip from Grand Junction to Fort Collins. They met up with Susan's "friend of long acquaintance," Jo Ellen, and her son. They'll stay an extra day in Fort Collins to have more time to yak, er, talk. The next travel day will be Saturday. They'll be headed for Susan's brother's house.

Gordon is off to college

Gordon and Susan left this morning for Wooster, OH, in a rental SUV. They left this morning at 8 am with the back of the SUV full except for the top 12 inches of the volume. They arrived in Eureka, NV at 6:30 pm. Wait, you say, Eureka, NV isn't on Interstate 80, is it? No, it's on US Highway 50, otherwise known as the Loneliest Road in America. It's a road Susan has wanted to drive on, and so she did. She said it was busier than she imagined, but there were still stretches where they didn't see another vehicle for half an hour.

Next stop is probably somewhere in Colorado. Watch for a silver Kia Sportage. Stay tuned for progress reports.