Sleepy in Seattle

I hope that everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas. I did. It was nice to have most of the family together. My oldest sister and her daughter weren't here this year (they have a pretty good excuse, as they live in England). The rest of us all got together on Christmas day and had a wonderful time.

It was a little bit of an adventure though. One of the breakers in the electrical panel developed a short late on Christmas eve, the circuit that powers much of the kitchen and dining room, as well as the lights in the basement. Normally, that wouldn't be that big of a deal, but we didn't have a spare, and of course there wasn't a hardware store open that late, nor would there be any open on Christmas Day. My stepdad would reset the breaker, and half of the lights would come back on. After 30-40 minutes the breaker would cool down a bit, and the other half would start working again. Then, some indeterminate amount of time later (ranging from 25 minutes to 5 hours) the breaker would flip, and the process would start all over again.

My mom was really concerned that the power would go off in the middle of cooking the roast, or maybe worse, in the middle of Christmas dinner with the whole family and other company there. But God was merciful, and the breaker held until the guests had left. We did end up playing games after dinner by candlelight. Its sobering to be reminded just how much we depend on modern technology and its conveniences in everyday life. It would be interesting to try to go through a day without using any electricity. Anyone up to the challenge?

Things like that make for good memories though. I'm sure that for years to come, we will remind one another of "blackout Christmas" - or whatever it ends up being called.

I'm in Seattle right now, and will be up here visiting my brother and his family for the rest of the week. Even though it is still technically Christmas Break, I am going to get back to work starting tomorrow. I have to get ready for teaching next semester, and also I need to get caught up on my research.

I'll try to post again before I leave for the big math conference in Atlanta next week.