Back to Work for the Working Folks

Tuesday, May 31 - John left for work before the rest of us got out of bed this morning, and Bridgette left about 9:00, so Joe, Tyler and I had a day to ourselves.  John called Bridgette right before she left to tell her that an article they had jointed submitted had just gotten accepted for publication.  This is a big deal to both of them, and it was their first collaborative publication without another professor's name attached.   So, watch for "Spatio-temporal predictive habitat model for juvenile spotted seatrout in Texas estuaries using boosted regression trees," by John T. Froeschke, Ph.D., and Bridgette F. Froeschke, Ph.D., in an upcoming edition of Fisheries Research magazine.  They have a few minor edits to make, and I don't know how long the publication process takes, but I would guess it will be out in the fall.

We had a few errands to run today (Walmart, Sam's Club, fuel, Beall's), then we dropped Tyler off to swim with his Aunt Barbara (Bridgette's mother).  On our way back to the house, we saw a sign to E. G. Simmons County park, so we checked it out.  It's only about  6-7 miles from JBs, and it has a very nice campground with fishing access from the campsites.  We talked to a guy who was fishing for blue crab, then we stopped at the gate and got the scoop on fishing there from the guy working the entrance window.  It sounds very promising for a little fishing, and we could easily bring the RV over here and set it up for a weekend (or through the week while those working folks work).  He told us where there was a bait shop nearby, so we drove over there and talked to that guy about what to fish with, licenses, etc.  We will probably try to do this next weekend, since we are going to be gone this weekend (to Cape Canaveral). 

While we were getting dinner on the table, Tyler made the mistake of saying (kiddingly, I think) that he was bored, which is definitely against the rules at Bridgette's house and on her watch.  So after dinner, he got to help clean up the kitchen, then we all (except Joe) went for a walk to see the neighborhood alligator (we did not find him), then they (except me) ran two laps around the lake on what they call the "racetrack."  When we got back to the house, Bridgette got out the workout mats, and she and Tyler did a p90x workout.   I overheard him sincerely apologizing for ever saying that "b" word, and he has since completely removed it from his vocabulary.

Somehow, John managed to get to get out of this, although she did force him into running the two laps around the racetrack.  I'm thinking there just wasn't enough room for the 3 of them on the floor, since they have added Tyler's bed to the workout room. 

In the meantime, Tyler also got the privilege of writing a grant proposal.  He accidentally left his cap and sunglasses at Pizza Hut (we assume, since we can't find them), and John has always said if he ever has a child, he/she will have to write a grant proposal for anything he/she wants, so they proposed to Tyler that they would consider buying him a new cap if he wanted to submit a grant proposal for it, addressing all of the elements that go into grant writing:  statement of need, budget, goal, etc. (preferably with tables and charts).  So after he finished his P90X workout, he got on the computer, and I see the old Harbrace College Handbook is on the desk next to the computer.  We didn't see much of him the rest of the evening, so I don't know if we are taking him shopping in the morning or not, but I'm pretty sure he thought it would be much easier just to spend his own money on the cap, even though he keeps his wallet closed pretty tight (if he even brings it with him when we go someplace).

 We are on our own again tomorrow, and we are going to dinner and swimming at Doug & Barbara's, so maybe Tyler will get to recuperate some today.  Our car seems to be running really well since we got it out of the shop, so that's good.  We've enjoyed some of Florida's fresh produce (watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupe), and the weather has been great.  Tiffany shipped us our snorkels and masks that we forgot at home, so we are all set to go back to the beach.  John and Bridgette may have a hard time getting us to leave here.