Next in line

I had to get that hairy-backed NASCAR fan off the top of my blog. I like this one much better. I have always liked glass blocks. Wouldn't it be nice to have a glass block shower like this?

I had an exam in statistics last week. We got the grades Monday. I got 100%! I'm thrilled. Then we started something new and I'm all kinds of confused. I can do the calculations, but the logic of it all has my brain in a strain. The answers sound something like "I reject your reality and substitute my own." Replace "reality" with "hypothesis" and that's what it is. The prof keeps saying that if the calculations indicate that what we've observed is very, very rare, then we need to reject that reality. It brings to mind the infinite improbability drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I think "of course this will happen!"

Interesting happenings with the in-laws: I mentioned recently that the sister-in-law (SIL) got married. She was in a loveless, lifeless marriage to The Lump for almost 20 years. Superman and I wondered, even before their wedding, why she chose to marry The Lump. I know why she stayed in the marriage, though. She, like the rest of Superman's family, is very religious. They don't "believe" in divorce. Well, SIL lived with The Lump for as long as she could stand it. Her mid-life review broke her out of that trap. I hope her new husband will be as wonderful as he seems. He really does seem like a super nice fella. And he's willing (yea, eager) to have sex with her. That's something The Lump didn't do. SIL is a very sexual woman. I don't know how she stuck it out in that dead marriage for so long.

The Brother-In-Law is eleven years younger than Superman. (SIL is my age, two years younger than Superman.) He went through a series of girlfriends over half a dozen years before settling down with his wife. They've been together for 5 or 6 years, married for 2.5 years (if I recall correctly). Well, this weekend Superman heard from his brother. BIL is leaving her. This is a shocker to me. I learned a lot about them that I didn't know. For the three or so years they lived together before the wedding, they never consummated the relationship. She's a "good Catholic girl" and wouldn't have sex before marriage. She promised it would be different after the wedding. You guessed it - there hasn't been any significant difference. Evidently they hadn't had much sex at all in the entire length of the relationship. I feel sorry for the BIL.

But wait, there's more. Turns out the wife was married previously. BIL knew about it, so no surprise there. What he didn't know until very recently is that she is still married to her first husband! She was going to get the marriage annulled, but never got around to it. When he found out she was still married, he told her, of course, to go ahead with the annulment and they'd get remarried. She has dragged her feet for I don't know how many months, so he finally gave up on her. When she told him this weekend that she will never sleep with him again, he decided that now is a good time to cut and run. At least he doesn't have to go through the expense and aggravation of a divorce. Their marriage is null and void anyway.

They have lived in the Raleigh, NC area. He's moving back to Chattanooga. SIL's new husband lives and works in Chattanooga, too, so she's there. The parents live just over the border in NW Georgia, so now two of their three children live close by. No, we aren't moving to Chattanooga. I've got nothing against the city itself (especially now that they've done so much civic improvement), but I have a LOT against living that close to Superman's familly. (I shouldn't say "never," because as soon as I do, I'll end up living in Chattanooga. Therefore, while the idea doesn't appeal to me, I won't reject the possibility of moving there.)

My dear Father-in-law is scheduled for surgery on August 3rd (I think) to have one of his kidneys removed. He is old, tired, not in good health, and is showing signs of preparing to die. He doesn't expect to survive the surgery. As far as I know, there is no compelling medical evidence to indicate that he won't survive. His spirit, however, is not willing. Superman is understandably concerned. I will keep you updated.

And that's all the gossip from the in-laws. Other than that, I don't have too much to say.