Ice Skating In the Hot Place

MLB noticed last night that she'd missed a call from The Nephew, who is in the early stages of his sophomore year at A&M. It was too late to return the call, so she waited until this morning to see what he needed.

The call was, as expected, about money. What was unexpected was the specific inquiry: "I have more money in my account than I think I'm supposed to have."

OK, quick show of hands. How many of you parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles/etc. have ever, in your entire lives, received such a call?

Yeah, neither have we. Excuse me for a moment while I bask in the feeling, however short-lived it may be.

It's unfortunate that we can't actually confirm what his balance is, and neither can he, because our bank's online system has been down for almost a week now. But that's another post for another category. "Just Plain Silly," while appropriate for the factual aspect, doesn't begin to describe my emotions about the situation.

Fish Drill Team Performances

Want to see how a national championship military drill team looks in action?

This was filmed at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, last Sunday (April 13). The Texas A&M Fish Drill Team, consisting entirely of freshmen (including The Nephew), performed during Parents Weekend.

If you watch the entire video (and, indeed, why wouldn't you?) you'll hear in the expert audio commentary a reference to a split rifle. This refers to something that happened during the FDT's practice exhibition a hour earlier, which I also happened to capture on video (it's a much shorter snippet):

I held one of those rifles and I can assure you that they're not featherweight. It's easy to see that when the cadets are described as having invested "blood, sweat, and tears" into their training, it's a literal reference.

Insufferable? You ain't seen nothing yet!

Bill over at Prairie Point drew my attention to the just-released national college rankings as determined by Washington Monthly. You can download the PDF listing the top 30 national universities if you can't believe what I'm afixin' to tell you: Texas A&M is El Numero Uno.

I like the way the press release describes the purpose behind these rankings, as contrasted with similar (and more controversial) rankings by US News & World Report:

I take these rankings with a huge grain of salt. And while it's nice to know that we're sending copious quantities of moola to a highly-ranked entity, I hope the university doesn't use the list as an excuse to raise tuition next year!

Nevertheless, I have to admit that this news rates a major "whoop"!

[I can't help wondering how many A&M fans are thinking, "OK, fine; but when will we get to see the football team get the same ranking?!" Gotta have your priorities, right?]

Technorati tag: Washington Monthly College Guide

College Daze: And so it begins...

That highly anticipated event is almost upon us and we're giddy with, um, anticipation. No, it's not Paris Hilton's imminent release from prison, it's the beginning of the Nephew's college career.

It got real last night as we helped him get signed up for a session with a faculty adviser (800 miles of driving for a one-hour meeting on July 30th – bye-bye, Blogathon), got the details for the mandatory student orientation in mid-August, and, most importantly, nailed down the deadline for mailing the first tuition and fees check.

We also hopped onto Apple's Education Store website and ordered him a MacBook, meaning that he'll now have a better computer than me, not that I'm jealous or anything.

It's all pretty exciting, actually. I haven't been back on the A&M campus in at least twenty years, and I'm sure I won't recognize much of anything. I doubt that the Corps quad has changed a lot, though, and that's where the Nephew will be calling home for the next four years, if things unfold according to plan.

I'll try not to burden you with every detail – but, no promises. This is a big deal; if he does graduate (and he will) he'll be the first in his family to do so.

Prayers gratefully accepted. Cash, too. ;-)