Leanne C. Powner

Don't forget to feed your inner geek! You came to academia because you've got a driving internal curiosity. Make sure you nourish that with unrelated-to-work geekiness on a regular basis. Help pique someone's curiosity today by sharing a quirky fact with us! What makes you go Hmm?

Millions May See SNAP Delays This November—Learn How to Prepare Today Millions of Americans could face delays in SNAP benefits this November due to the government shutdown. Jess from Budget Bytes explains what you can do, and how to help your community.

One of my fav food websites, BudgetBytes.com, has a VERY useful post up about preparing for food disruptions. They've got a list of meals under $5 and under $10, and TONS of price-conscious recipes made from a limited pantry.

www.budgetbytes.com/strategies-p...

I'd love to help make BlueSky one of the places where young scholars introduce themselves and their work to the world.

If you're a PhD student whose work at least partially focuses on economics of education or education policy, reply to this thread and I'll highlight your work.

Well, the Purple People have made it home. I'm easing back into work.

If I owe you an email or a reply message (there are a bunch of you!) I'll be getting to most of those today. Please circle back if you haven't heard from me by Monday!

Some unpleasantness in life is necessary. Some is not. What unnecessary unpleasantness can you cut? You'd be surprised if you think about it!

People are reading YOUR work to see what YOU have to say. Where you must discuss literature - and you must - be sure that its relationship to your research question and/or answer are clear!

#acwri

Monday Giggle!

Sunday Planning time! We’re midway through the fall term. How are you doing on your research goals for the term? What needs to scale back so you have a reasonable plan for accomplishing it?

Purple People take Marseille: I am apparently allergic to the south of France at this time of year. But it's beautiful nevertheless.

Self-Care Saturday! Make a concrete plan to eat at least one thing from the pantry that’s nearing expiration.

5 Minute Friday! What's one small thing Today You can do to make Monday You's life easier? No ideas? If you’re in the office, run a pot of clean water through the coffee machine (and dump it!), or check for overdue library books. If you’re home, clean out your wallet or reshelve 3 books.

Update: the missing couple are being shipped back to La Spezia, the port where we disembarked. It's a 2 hr drive. I dunno how they're getting there, but it's not with us.

MIL remains asleep.

...that is certainly one word for it, yes. Lol

They're not at the top of the hill where they were dropped off. Back to the bus pickup depot to see where they are.

Now, though, we are missing 2 people from our bus. They are apparently where we were dropped off FIVE HOURS AGO. MIL is sound asleep as we weave around.

At the bus depot, i convinced the old folks to wait while i ran around looking for not only our bus but that of two other elderly handicapped women just chilling on their rollators.

We met up with the group as scheduled. It's a 1 mi walk back to the buses; that's a big no. The guide got a taxi for me, my MIL, and an elderly Asian couple who spoke virtually mo English. Riding in the front seat of an Italian taxi during rush hour traffic is not for the faint of heart.

We at least managed to walk past most of the sites. I played tour guide at the Duomo with an overview of Catholic Church architecture. Lunch at a random streetside place was "the best she's had so far" and involved NO complaints. I didn't think she knew how to not complain.

Purple People Adventures in Florence
My MIL, who has been unsteady on her feet for months, tripped and face-planted at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio today. She's a little scraped up but "fine," at least according to her. She couldn't keep up with the group, so we struck off on our own.

Yeah my MIL and I had gastroenteritis. I had one bad round; she went 24 hrs & had to go to the ship's doctor. She has no native immune system so everything hits harder and takes longer to recover.

GI illness be damned, she wants to do the 9 hr excursion to Florence tomorrow. Send tots and pears, friends. I will need them.

I am rubbing off on my MIL. For the longest time I never heard her swear. She just said,"shit ton." 🤣

Bring on the dramamine- we're going to need it. (Seas are bad enough that the captain just came on and encouraged people not to wear long skirts and/or heels around the ship tonight - "the photos can wait.")

Purple People cruise update: MIL is recovering from norovirus. My GI is still a little off. Now we have rough seas, headed to 4-5 meters tonight w 50 mph winds. We're skipping dress-up night.

Overwhelmed by a too-long To Do list and facing decision paralysis? DON'T DECIDE. Let the world decide for you. Number the top 6 things and roll a die or ask a random number generator. Do whatever it lands on for 15-25 min, take a 5 min break, & repeat until you have momentum or feel accomplished.

Impostor Syndrome is real, but remember: You might feel like an impostor, but you have YEARS of training & TONS of specialized knowledge under your belt. You ABSOLUTELY belong where you are!

Fortunately no plans for today and tomorrow is a sea day, so hopefully she'll be on the mend by the time we reach Florence.

Update: "just" a virus. Had an IV for dehydration. She's on isolation for the next 24 hrs, limited diet, rehydration packets to mix with water. She has virtually no native immune system, so I'm not surprised that what hit me as a relatively minor illness has flattened her.

So I'm sitting on our balcony admiring Messina (Sicily) from the ship, waiting to hear if she's ok.

When she came back, it was her turn. She spent most of the night vomiting, now diarrhea nausea etc. Had to call med group for a wheelchair to get her downstairs.