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KU News: KU announces ExCEL Award winners, concludes 111th Homecoming

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From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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KU announces ExCEL Award winners, concludes 111th Homecoming

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students were named winners of the 2023 Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Awards, presented by Konica Minolta. Libby Frost of WaKeeney and Thanh Tan Nguyen of Phu Yen, Vietnam, were recognized during the KU-Oklahoma football game Oct. 28 in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which concluded a week of activities for KU’s 111th Homecoming celebration.

 

KU School of Music dean candidates to present visions for school

LAWRENCE — Three candidates will hold public presentations this month in a bid to become the next dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas. The name of each candidate will be announced one to two business days before their respective campus visit. Paul Popiel, current interim dean and professor of music at KU, will give the first presentation, which will take place 11 a.m.-noon Nov. 6 in Swarthout Recital Hall.

 

Graduate students to compete in 3-minute thesis competition

LAWRENCE — Entrepreneurs often have an “elevator pitch,” a concise speech to explain their business in 30-60 seconds. Research can be more complicated, so a group of University of Kansas graduate students will get a full 180 seconds to explain their projects in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this month. Approximately 23 students will participate in the 3MT preliminary heats beginning at 2 p.m. Nov. 7, and finals will take place at 2 p.m. Nov. 14. The public is invited to attend.

 

KU to host inaugural First-Generation Student Conference

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will join institutions across the country by participating in the National First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC) on Nov. 8. The inaugural First-Generation Student Conference will provide an opportunity for making connections, discovering community and developing skills for students, faculty and staff. This full-day event is one of many activities taking place throughout the weeklong KU celebration of first-generation college students.

 

Full stories below.

 

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Contact: Paige Freeman, KU Alumni Association, 785-864-0953, [email protected]

KU announces ExCEL Award winners, concludes 111th Homecoming

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students were named winners of the 2023 Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Awards, presented by Konica Minolta. Libby Frost of WaKeeney and Thanh Tan Nguyen of Phu Yen, Vietnam, were recognized during the KU-Oklahoma football game Oct. 28 in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which concluded a week of activities for KU’s 111th Homecoming celebration.

Frost, a senior in business administration on the pre-med track, is president of the KU Panhellenic Association and vice president of marketing for her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.

Nguyen, a senior in business analytics and supply chain management, is executive director of Student Union Activities and president of the board for KU Memorial Corp. He is active in the University Honors Program and led the Homecoming Steering Committee as executive director.

ExCEL Award nominees were selected based on their leadership, communication skills, involvement at KU and in the Lawrence community, academic scholarship and ability to work with a variety of students and organizations. The ExCEL Award was first given in 1991.

The KU Alumni Association also honored Yash Prajapati, a junior in applied mathematics and interdisciplinary computing in economics from Gujarat, India, with the Jennifer Alderdice Homecoming Award, which recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding loyalty and dedication to the university. Prajapati is a student ambassador for the Office of Admissions and a research assistant for the Center for Design Research. Alderdice, of Lawrence, led student programs for the Alumni Association from 1999 to 2009 and earned her master’s degree in education from KU in 1999.

Other 2023 Homecoming award and competition winners:

Rich and Judy Billings Spirit of 1912 Award

Kansas City artist Megh Knappenberger is a 2004 graduate of the School of Fine Arts. During Homecoming week, she unveiled 11 commissioned paintings for the recently renovated Adams Alumni Center.

Student organization overall competition winners

Large group:

· First place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega

· Second place: Sigma Kappa, Delta Tau Delta, and Triangle

· Third place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega

 

Student organization individual event competition winners

 

Jayhawk Jingles

Large group:

· First place: Alpha Delta Pi and Zeta Beta Tau

· Second place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega

· Third place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega

 

Chalk ’n’ Rock

Large group:

· First place: Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Tau Omega

· Second place: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Kappa Tau

· Third place: Alpha Delta Pi and Zeta Beta Tau

 

Sign competition

Large group:

· First place: Sigma Kappa, Delta Tau Delta and Triangle

· Second place: Pi Kappa Alpha and Alpha Chi Omega

· Third place: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Gamma Phi Beta and Phi Kappa Tau

KU’s Homecoming was sponsored by Central Bank of the Midwest, Konica Minolta, KU Bookstore, Pepsi Zero Sugar and StoneHill Hotel.

The KU Alumni Association welcomes feedback on this year’s Homecoming festivities. For more information about Homecoming, go to kualumni.org/homecoming.

 

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The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.

Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.

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Contact: Savannah Rattanavong, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6402, [email protected], @KUProvost

KU School of Music dean candidates to present visions for school

LAWRENCE — Three candidates will hold public presentations in a bid to become the next dean of the School of Music at the University of Kansas.

Dean candidates will describe their vision for the school under their leadership. The name of each candidate will be announced one to two business days before their respective campus visit. The presentations additionally will be livestreamed through links available on the Provost’s Office website.

 

Paul Popiel, current interim dean and professor of music at KU, will be the first candidate to give a public presentation. His presentation will take place 11 a.m.-noon Nov. 6 in Swarthout Recital Hall. The event will be livestreamed, and the passcode is 684789.

The public presentations for the remaining candidates are scheduled for the following dates and will also take place in Swarthout Recital Hall.

· Candidate 2: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Nov. 9

· Candidate 3: 4-5 p.m. Nov. 15

 

Members of the KU community are encouraged to attend each candidate’s public presentation and provide feedback to the search committee. Feedback surveys will be open for two business days following the conclusion of each finalist’s visit. The survey and a recording of each candidate’s presentation will be available after their presentation on the search page until the survey closes.

 

Additional search information, including candidate bios and CVs, is also available on the search page as each candidate is announced.

“Any of these candidates would bring valuable leadership and expertise to the School of Music,” said Derek Kwan, executive director of the Lied Center of Kansas and co-chair of the search committee.

Mahbub Rashid, dean of the School of Architecture & Design, also serves as co-chair of the committee.

In addition to serving as the School of Music’s interim dean since January, Popiel is a conductor and professor within the school. He previously was the director of bands since 2010 and has annually led the historic Lawrence City Band and the Crossroads Wind Symphony through multiple concerts. Popiel recently completed a four-week professional conducting residency with the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra in Japan.

His previous appointments include the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Oklahoma State University.

Popiel has lectured and performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He is a contributing author to several volumes of “Teaching Music through Performance in Band” and the Alta Musica journal, as well as the editor-in-chief of The Wind Music Research Quarterly.

In 2013, Popiel was elected to the membership of the American Bandmasters Association and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Popiel earned his bachelor’s degrees in instrumental music education and trumpet performance from Truman State University, a master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate in wind conducting from Michigan State University. He also earned a postgraduate diploma in 20th century music from the University of Bristol in England.

The dean of music will oversee the school’s strategy, academics, research and creative activities, and is responsible for fostering community engagement and service activities. The dean will ensure talent development of faculty, staff and student employees and fiscal stewardship of administrative structures and the school’s endowment. Additionally, the dean will locally and globally guide partnerships to bring an international audience to its program.

The School of Music seeks to become a model of diverse, creative and innovative approaches to the study and performance of music in the 21st century. The school brings together students and faculty in music composition, education, history, performance, therapy and theory.

WittKieffer, an executive search firm specializing in higher education, aided with the search process and development of a robust and diverse candidate pool.

 

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Subscribe to KU Today, the campus newsletter,

for additional news about the University of Kansas.

 

http://www.news.ku.edu

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Contact: David Day, Office of the Provost, 785-864-0236, [email protected], @KUProvost

Graduate students to compete in 3-minute thesis competition

 

LAWRENCE — Entrepreneurs often have an “elevator pitch,” a concise speech to explain their business in 30-60 seconds. Research can be more complicated, so a group of University of Kansas graduate students will get a full 180 seconds to explain their projects in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this month.

Approximately 23 students will participate in the 3MT preliminary heats beginning at 2 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Burge Union, forums A-C. The six or seven top presenters in the preliminary round will compete in the finals at 2 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Burge Union, Forum C. All members of the KU and Lawrence communities are invited to attend the events.

KU’s competition is part of the Global 3MT, which highlights graduate student research by challenging students to explain their work concisely and effectively to an audience of nonexperts.

“As KU students and researchers make discoveries that change the world, they must be able to help the world understand the significance of that research,” said Jen Roberts, vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies. “Researchers can talk to each other for hours about their work, but explaining to a general audience for just three minutes may actually be harder. The 3MT competition encourages students to build that skill.”

The competition judges, who are not experts in the research fields presented, will select a first-place winner to receive a $600 award and a second-place winner to receive $300. The audience will select a People’s Choice winner, who will receive $150. The first-place presenter will serve as KU’s representative at the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools 3MT Competition in the spring.

Research topics this year include antibacterial properties of bioactive glass in bone cement; predicting drought from outer space; understanding and developing techniques to break chemical bonds in spent nuclear fuel rods; addressing the gender gap in low brass music sections and using exhaust gas recirculation to enhance internal combustion engine performance and reduce harmful nitrogen oxides.

“The 3MT competition is an amazing platform that allows you to look into the creative aspect of the complex research we conduct. It is a nice feeling to have your five-year-long thesis summarized in a way that everyone can finally get you,” said Sayuri Niyangoda, KU doctoral candidate and last year’s first-place and people’s choice winner.

The University of Queensland in Australia founded the 3MT competition in 2008, and more than 900 universities in over 85 countries currently participate.

“The competition offers a dual opportunity,” Roberts said. “Students learn to be concise and engaging in describing their research, and the audience gets a quick introduction to groundbreaking research in a variety of fields.”

For more information, contact the Office Graduate Studies at [email protected].

 

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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”

a KU News Service podcast hosted by Kansas Public Radio.

 

https://kansaspublicradio.org/when-experts-attack

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Contact: Dalton Allen, Hawk Link, 785-864-6744, [email protected]

KU to host inaugural First-Generation Student Conference

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will join institutions across the country by participating in the National First-Generation College Celebration (FGCC) on Nov. 8.

The inaugural First-Generation Student Conference will provide an opportunity for making connections, discovering community and developing skills for students, faculty and staff. This full-day event is one of many activities taking place throughout the weeklong celebration of first-generation college students.

The 2023 theme of Breaking Barriers was chosen to shine a spotlight on a shared experience by first-generation college students. Being a first-generation college student means neither of the student’s parents or guardians has a bachelor’s degree, and graduate students are in the first generation of their family to earn a bachelor’s degree and are now earning a graduate or professional degree.

All the speakers and facilitators at this year’s conference identify as first-generation. The day’s activities include a welcome address by Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, as well as four concurrent sessions, two discussion panels, a faculty/staff plenary professional development session and a keynote from nationally renowned youth engagement speaker Carlos Ojeda Jr.

“Navigating college as a first-gen student can feel daunting and lonely,” said Dalton Allen, Hawk Link Coordinator and chair of the conference planning committee. “Our goal is to help first-gen students gain insights into their strengths and build a community to help them persist to graduation and beyond.”

There are two tracks for the conference: a full day for students and a shorter professional development block for faculty and staff.

Student sessions

Undergraduate and graduate students attending from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. will have the opportunity to choose from multiple workshops and student panels, attend a resource fair, a student-focused plenary session and enjoy a luncheon keynote. Interested students should register before Nov. 6. While all students are invited to attend, space is available for 150 students, and preference will be given to students who are first-generation and who can attend the full event.

 

Faculty and staff sessions

KU faculty and staff are invited to join the event from noon to 2 p.m. for a free luncheon keynote with students followed by a professional development session on engaging first-generation students. Interested faculty and staff should register before Nov. 6.

“This event demonstrates KU’s commitment to serving our first-generation students,” said Misty Chandler, assistant vice provost of academic success. “This is a powerful combination of a student learning experience and staff professional development in support and celebration of our first-gen initiatives. This is a critical strategic priority that we are approaching in partnership with others on campus, and that is what our students deserve.”

KU’s celebration of first-generation college students goes beyond the conference. Events hosted by the KU community throughout the week include a Celebration Kick Off, professional portraits for students, the Center for Educational Opportunity Programs I Am First Too Poster Reception, Tea at Three and Donut Feel Good To Be First-Gen. The week concludes with a FIRST Hawk Link Tailgate at the Nov. 11 KU football game. The full-week schedule and details can be found on Hawk Link’s website.

KU has been recognized as a First-Gen Forward Institution by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

 

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-3256

Fax: 785-864-3339

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

 

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

 

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

 

Pear Honey

By
Debbie Dance Uhrig
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This past weekend was full of shopping, cooking, and prepping. For many the month of December is the ‘big’ month of stocking in, etc. At my home it’s November. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I like to have everything just perfect for the entire week. Dad is here for a couple of weeks, and of course, I want to spoil him at every chance. This weekend I made another batch of apple butter, pear honey, pumpkin pie and brownies. Plus, quite a bit of prepping to make the next 3 weeks run a bit smoother. I’m hoping to get in a pot of candied apples by tomorrow evening, if all goes well.

I hadn’t run my pear honey for a few years and after making it today, I felt it was time to bring it back again. Even if you have to purchase pears at the store, they are in season, so it won’t break the bank. As you look at the recipe, I will tell you I only made a third of the recipe today (10-12 pears). Don’t forget a couple of weeks ago I included my recipe for pear crisp in the column, that would also be yummy with the pears. It’s also something a bit different.

I will mention that I probably cooked my pear honey for about 4 hours today. When you don’t use any pectin, it can take time cooking it down so it’s got a nice body. My accent ‘spice/zing’ was a bit of grated orange zest.

Pear Honey goes ‘way back’ for me. I grew up on my grandparents’ farm in rural Monticello, Missouri. Grandma Lucy always had the pear honey to eat over ice cream, biscuits and toast. Once I left home, I started adding my only little extras on this simple recipe. Fresh ginger is a nice touch; I also like to use lemon and/or orange zest for a nice undertone. You’ll find my instructions rather humorous as I talk about grinding a plateful of pear. Another tip I frequently give is to use an old-fashioned grinder for the pulp preparations. Food processors often break down the fruit too far. Cinnamon and nutmeg can be implemented, the citrus just adds a lift on the palate.

It is good to plan ahead and start on projects, but equally as important is to find time for self and preservation! Don’t bog yourselves down too much so you can’t enjoy the last few weeks of fall.

Once again, I’ve thrown in a simple sauce that’s great to share with others. I happen to have a jar of honey that needs a home! I purchased some in Arkansas a few weeks ago and it’s too strong for table consumption, guess you know what I’ll be making. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Grandma Lucy’s Pear Honey

Pears; cored, peeled and ground using a grinder or food processor

3 dinner plates of the ground pears

3 cans (20 oz. each), crushed pineapple, drained

4-pound bag of sugar plus 3 additional cups

(There are approx. 2 1/2 cups of sugar per pound of sugar)

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger

Dash or two of salt

9 tablespoons lemon juice

Lemon Zest to taste

Put everything into a large stockpot and stir over medium heat until it boils gently for 20 minutes. Allow the mixture to boil down and get rid of any unwanted juice. You will find it thickens a bit more as it cools down. Pack into sterilized jars and seal with a boiling water bath. Yields approximately 12 pints.

Cranberry Honey

3 cans (14-16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce

1 (12 oz.) jar orange marmalade

1 (8-12 0z.) jar fresh honey

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and heat to a gentle boil on the stove. Medium heat is suggested. Prepare clean canning jars, flats and rings. Pack product into sterilized jars and seal with a boiling water bath. Consult canning guidelines for a bigger break down on preserving steps. Yields approximately 7-8 cups of product.

Here Come the Hawks

By
Steve Gilliland
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I love watching hawks hunt and I love observing how they’ve learned to interact with farm equipment as it rolls across fields and stirs up rodents and small birds that scurry about and often end up as a snack for the hawk. Our raised deer blind overlooks a grass waterway that grows up in giant sunflowers and pigweed by summer’s end, becoming a nice secure travel way for deer, but making them hard to spot during hunting season. I try to mow that area every fall, and every year as I mow the last swath of thick weedy cover, fat field mice scatter everywhere and I think to myself “Man could the hawks be feasting here.” A few years back I happened by a nearby field of soybeans being cut. What caught my eye was the enormous number of hawks all around the field; I counted to thirty-some then lost count. I rolled into the field and talked with one of the combine drivers about the hawks. He said they had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere when they started cutting and had been there since. The soybean plants were extra tall and thick that year, and as they ripened and dropped their foliage, it left several inches of duff covering the ground between the rows; perfect cover for field mice and rats looking for warm concealment. As the combines lumbered through the field, they forced all those rodents from their cozy quarters and the hawks were feasting.

We’re already starting to see an extraordinary number of hawks of all varieties as they migrate south toward warmer climates. The extent of our Kansas winter will largely determine whether they stay here for a spell or move on south, and our milder-than-normal winters of late have been a huge draw to migrating hawks. The hawks I observed hunting the soybean stubble field that year were obviously migrants that were getting a good meal whether they stayed or not. The vast acreages of new wheat fields will be a huge draw too, as mice, voles and insects become vulnerable to the hawk’s keen eyes in the short new wheat. Another plus is the type of air currents and thermals that blow through the plains states. North winds coming down from Canada are utilized by all types of hawks, saving them precious energy by being able to soar. So in summary, the mild winters, the open fields and the beneficial wind currents all make Kansas a popular place to see hawks of many varieties this time of year.

One common hawk we see here every winter is the Northern Harrier. They are large hawks with wide white bands across their broad square tails and are often seen gliding effortlessly mere feet above CRP fields and pastures. We also get an influx of Red Tails from northern states as they come here for our milder winters. Swainson Hawks on their way to Argentina stop in Kansas by the thousands. Rough-Legged Hawks migrate from Canada to the western US, including Kansas. Ferruginous Hawks may be seen here as they travel from Western Kansas to parts of the South Eastern US and to Florida. All these truly make for a kaleidoscope of raptors in our Kansas sky.

This article wouldn’t be complete without emphasizing the important role raptors play in our agricultural environment. Raptors get blamed for everything from low pheasant and quail populations to stealing chickens and everything in between. Yes, we all know that hawks and especially owls will steal a chicken or two given the chance, but in actuality, hawks prey on mice, rats, snakes and possums that eat quail and pheasant eggs and newly hatched young. (FYI, feral and stray cats are the worst predators alive for killing young game birds and song birds.) Owls are huge rat and mice hunters and also eat skunks that

carry rabies. If not for these raptors in our midst, rodent populations would devastate farmer’s crops and our environment as a whole. And for the record, killing a raptor of any kind is illegal in Kansas!

You can’t go afield this time of year without spotting hawks silently hunting low over patches of CRP and milo stalks, waiting patiently atop power poles for prey to reveal themselves or putting on shows of acrobatic excellence as they soar above us on the fall breezes. I once overheard a raptor rehabilitator tell someone “We as humans have encroached on them, so the least we can do is let them live with us.” Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected]

East and West (1)

By
John Marshall
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john marshal

It’s nearly two years since Lawrence became an urban foster child in farm country.

After the 2020 census, the legislature’s dominant Republicans were gripped by reapportionment fever. In February 2022, they carved Lawrence from northern Douglas County and the Second District and squeezed it into the far northeast corner of a rural 59-county congressional district.

Lawrence, a growing university city (pop. 95,000) in the five-county metropolitan northeast (1.16 million) was consigned to a western swath running nearly the width of the state. This arrangement, which has survived court challenges, is an impressive assembly of diversity, a 400-mile spread of politics, culture, lifestyle and landscape.

Lawrence is a nesting place for social progressives, free-thinkers, risk-takers, politics of the left. Republicans hoped to dilute its Democratic vote by sending it to a district that is mostly rural, socially conservative, and now elects the Republicans who give the party its veto-proof majority in Topeka.

The change has provoked uncertainty and agitation in the northeast and, in the west, doubt and dismay. Neither place is wild about it.

The census put new numbers to an old story, of metropolitan gain and rural loss. Lawrence is thriving, energetic. Out west, a sense of distance and isolation, of people who leave, especially the young, with no thought of returning, of people who are not attracted or invited to small places in big spaces.

*

A large part of Kansas has lost energy. School enrollments continue to shrink, hospitals struggle ‒ or close. In many places the basics need fixing – roads, public utilities, telecommunication, health care, for starters. Plans and studies gather dust.

The contrast between Lawrence and the west unfolds along the changing terrain, frame of landscape and frame of mind. Popping Lawrence into farm country may be fine for a political map, but it does nothing for the needs and desires of different worlds in the same state.

This isn’t about trouble where we haven’t looked, but where we have found it, and how those empowered to act have looked away. Lawrence just might find that it shares intentions with its rural cousins.

Among them:

‒ Opportunity zones where enterprising communities qualify for government investment in infrastructure improvements, technology upgrades, housing programs and other aid;

‒ Immigration reform, where migrants are a source for employee hiring rather than alien targeting;

‒ Infrastructure, its opportunity for jobs and development. This includes investment in farm-to-market roads, protecting great heartland rivers, and development of rural (and urban neighborhood) broadband.

‒ Solar and wind power have taken root and widened their appeal. So has a process called “carbon sequestration” to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. Corrective farming, a big deal in Lawrence, includes planting cover crops, leaving organic matter in fields after harvest, rotating in additional kinds of crops and managing grazing.

*

The Lawrence-rural connection holds strong in pitting conservation efforts against glorifying production. Policies that stabilize the farm economy cost pennies per meal. So would compensating farmers for environmental services. This would help all farmers. It would improve air, water and soil quality.

It might meld green Lawrence with its distant rural cousins. Both hold a love of the land, and a notion that current policy seems to favor those who skip conservation and punish those who try to be corrective.

(Next: Political power)

Put-It-Together-Yourself America

By
Milo Yield
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Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield

 

I fondly remember the days of yesteryear when I could go to a store and buy what I wanted from the in-store inventory. Usually, I could pick up the item I bought, put it in my vehicle, and take it directly home. If it wuz a big enuf item, the company would happily deliver the item, most often for free.

Those days are extinct as the passenger pigeon and T-Rex. They’ve been replaced by “Put-It-Together-Yourself America.” Today, if you buy an item more complicated than a marble and with at least two pieces, you’d better be prepared to get out the ol’ tool box and put the item together yourself.

Or, if you find an item you like in a store, chances are good you won’t be able to buy it from the showroom, but will have to wait for it to be ordered and delivered at a later date — and then assembled by you.

I’m learning America’s new economic axiom in spades these days after moving into our new home. And, to make matters worse, I have mentioned before in my columns that I suffer from MDS of the brain. That stands for “Mechanical Deficiency Syndrome.” I can’t pick up a nut or screw without dropping it. I can’t change oil without spilling it. I have to tell myself — “Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty” whenever it pick up a wrench to use.

We didn’t move our ancient entertainment center to our new home, opting to buy a new one. We couldn’t find one we liked locally, so we found one we liked on the internet and had it delivered. Naturally, it came in pieces and wuz too complicated for me to put together, so our son-in-law and daughter assembled the entertainment center in their workshop and delivered it to us ready to use.

Since moving in, Nevah and I sold our dining room table because it wuz too big and didn’t fit the new decor. We didn’t sell the four dining room chairs as we liked the old ones and they are on rollers. So, after the Facebook buyer left with our old table, we went table shopping.

After visiting the showrooms of two large, local furniture stores, we found one dining room table at each that we liked. But, we didn’t want to buy the chairs that were package-priced with the tables. The cost wuz more than double with the chairs.

So, we offered each store to buy its table without the chairs. Both places refused our offer to buy just the table on the grounds that it was difficult for them to sell dining room chairs separately. But, they offered to order just the table for us and that we could expect delivery sometime in January or later.

That clearly didn’t work for “table-less us,” so Nevah went online and found an identical table in a warehouse somewhere in upstate New York. The price, even with more than 1,000 miles of delivery costs, wuz less than buying locally. The table is to be delivered within a week, but with the alert that “some assembly is required.” What’s new?

So, bottom line is that the local furniture stores missed out on selling us a new dining room table, when they could have sold us the one on the showroom floor and ordered a replacement showroom table from New York for less money and got it in a week. Go figure.

It was the same story for the shelving I bought locally for our garage storage. Nuthin’ from the showroom floor. Nope. Five boxes of shelving that required us to put-it-together.

I guess the good thing about the new economic axiom is that it’s enhancing family togetherness.

***

I’ve been quick to criticize local furniture store business policy, so I am pleased to report that there are exceptions to the new economic rules. Nevah sold our two old recliner chairs, sofa and loveseat over the weekend via a local internet “for sale” service. So, again we went shopping locally for new stuff to replace the old.

We found what we wanted at the Furniture Warehouse in Manhattan and the owner wuz glad to sell out of his current inventory, and deliver and set up the furniture for a very modest fee. The new sofa and loveseat were delivered just yesterday, so we had to “suffer” without recliners for only two evenings.

And, a funny thing happened at the Furniture Warehouse. I wuz wearing a FARM TALK cap and the owner volunteered that years ago he hired an awesome sales gal who eventually went to work for FARM TALK after graduation. The sales gal lived on a farm near Nevada, Mo., but wuz attending Kansas State University. She worked for FARM TALK for 10 years and, I wuz told, still lives in Nevada, but works for an equipment company in Ft. Scott, Kan. It’s a small world indeed.

***

A farmer and his wife got into a raging argument over family finances. The wife declared angrily, “I think I’ll join the women’s lib movement and demand that a husband pay his wife for doing housework.”

Her hubby retorted hotly, “Well, you just do that, gal. Sounds like a bargain to me. I’ll pay you $50 a day, but I only need you to come in and do all the housework on Tuesdays.”

I’d bet he’s doing his own housework these days — for nuthin’.

***

Mother Natures skipped Indian Summer this week and went directly to winter from summer. It wuz 80 one day and 18 degrees a day later. That rapid change sparked my words of wisdom for the week: “Winter is the season when we try to keep the house as hot as it was in the summer, when we complained about the heat.”

Have a good ‘un.

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