6/10/2010: V. hot week in Wilmington/Swarthmore. Kept adding to an email entitled “Commencement chaos”—with planes, lodging, etc for Beth, Mom, me, Steve Leon.
Tues stayed till maybe 8:30 there was the regular Tues phone call w/ Japan. Got home maybe 9, ate, packed, & wasn’t asleep till almost midnight so bleary.
6/8 -- S drove me to airport, flights all in order, arrived Madison a bit after 1 PM.
Got car (GPS not available, also, they wouldn’t accept S as a driver), couldn’t figure out how to open trunk till L showed me later, scurried over to campus to meet L for lunch at Indian buffet – he had mtg @ 2:30. Bought maps of Madison, WI, and MN, checked into hotel (Sheraton – free wifi but slow), spent an hour w/ help desk figuring out why the .bat file to map my drives wasn’t running.
Hurried to get Mom – flustered to be driving back & forth across a strange town where I didn’t know the roads (altho I should; it’s my 3rd trip there). Mom was patiently waiting outside in the heat, her usual composed self.
Mom & I went to the hotel – by then almost 6. We went off & met Leon, who directed us around the campus a bit, and then went w/ us to a fancy restaurant near the Capitol. No sooner had we got in than the thunderstorms ahead of much cooler weather broke – it poured & poured, while we watched happily from inside. L talked abt his clueless roommate – e.g. that dishes won’t dry in the dishrack unless they’re concave-down. L hopes to get his prelim done in the course of the summer.
I had a glass of Prosecco, but nevertheless got L back safely to Chamberlin (where he had work to do) and us back to the hotel, and slept v. comfortably.
Next day (6/9), much cooler. Got up @ 6, walked (bike path by road, Madison is such a nice town) dropped Mom off at Chamberlin, where L gave her a tour of his labs, then she & I went to Whole Foods, bought way more food than two older ladies could possibly eat, and set out for Northfield.
The Madison map had print way too small for Mom to read, but it went better w/ the WI & MN maps (which had bought on prior trips but of course had forgotten to bring, hence the new copies). Mom, of course, not a navigator in the Maurer tradition.
We did the drive in maybe 5 hrs – somewhat chilly but otherwise delicious picnic lunch at the rest stop w/ all the yummy, nutritious food we’d bought @ whole foods. For once I didn’t panic on US 52 (due to the directions of a nice info desk lady in La Crosse), and we made our way to Faribault w/o incident (except for discussions of when/whether I’d get gas). Phoned S to stop in the National desk & see if he could get added as a driver on the rental car. When I did stop for gas in Faribault, couldn’t figure out how to open the gas tank; no lever or button. However, a nice young woman at the cash register showe me you could just push in the little door, and voila, it opens.
Hutchinson house is purplish & pin, & the windows on its little turret are boarded up, so it looks a tad threadbar as you approach, but otherwise v. nice.
FLASH (6/10): A has a girlfriend! I never knew. Her name is Edie (last name not disclosed) & she’s in media studies – v. slight, long brown hair & seems v nice. She joined us for lunch & will join us for dinner.
Continuing w/ 6/9, we had dinner @ Fermentations, which was occupied mostly by families of graduating Carls. I was SO glad to see A & S, and even tho S hadn’t succeeded in getting himself put on the rental car, he said He’d drive us home, so I could drink. Had salad & duck confit & 2 flights (sets of 3 small tasting glasses) of red wine.
A more than usually communicative. Abt his clueless roommate Austin, who couldn’t figure out how to use the toaster oven. Abt how nice the landlord was & how he (the landlord) liked to fix things; wked as a carpenter. Abt his phone interview w/ Acumen & how he thought the work would be interesting. Abot how his lease is ending early, so his landlord can do fixes, and he doesn’t know where he’s going (SF or Madison) or where he’ll stay until he does go. That graduating from college marks the end of being able to be irresponsible.
The waitress was 8.5 months preg.
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