Yes, I'm Missing It and Rachel's Capstone Presentation

I'm missing my truck. My neighbor told me that he'd seen it on the lot of a used car dealer in Farmington (the city where I work) and emailed me a couple photos he took of it. My truck was resold at auction and could easily have gone anywhere within a few hundred-mile radius. That it ended up in Farmington was bittersweet in a way. I drove by G & M Select Motors after work on Monday just to have a look-see considering I never thought I'd see it again.

I parked my car in the lot of the business next-door and walked over to where it was sitting. It was actually kind of a sad moment for me. The lot it's on is a place where I'd probably never do business. It's just not. It seemed a pathetic new home from the garage that once protected it. I took a few photos of my old friend and actually talked to it while I reminisced just a bit. I told it that I missed it.

What percentage of people take a video of the last drive with their car or truck? I'm among that very small number.

Although I'm really enjoying my new Forester, I developed a definite connection with my truck that I don't yet have with my new ride. But then, I've only had my Forester for 2 months whereas I had my truck for 13 years and they were 13 of the best years of my life.

I was on my bike later in the day on Monday and went a little out of my way to have one last look. That rendezvous captured at the mid-point of this video.

Speaking of riding, I waited for 3 days after my Synvisc injection before getting on my bike and putting my knee to the test. I'm not supposed to notice much improvement for 3 to 6 weeks but there was no question that the hyaluronic acid injection was already helping me in a very noticeable way. I tried to avoid pushing it too hard but that's like taking a kid to an amusement park and telling him to have just a little fun. Yeah, right. I did the best I could to not push it. My knee was fine through the first 37 miles but then a dull ache developed and followed me the rest of the way home.

Maybe in the near future, I can only ride a few days a week to keep from overstressing my knee. Perhaps my 300 to 500-mile weeks are over for this lifetime. I don't know but I'll manage somehow.

Tammy and I drove down to Rochester today to watch Rachel give her Capstone presentation. Capstone is a finishing touch that seniors at UMR put on their academic career there.

From the UMR website: Capstone experiences are a critical component of the BSHS curriculum. Students are expected to write their capstone proposals during the spring semester of their junior year. Each student will be assigned a UMR faculty sponsor, who will oversee their capstone experience, and each capstone proposal must be approved by the UMR faculty capstone committee.

Students are encouraged to customize their capstone experiences based on their career and professional goals. The capstone may include a combination of upper division required or elective courses, international or domestic travel, an internship or research experience. Students will receive academic credit based on the number of hours completed (150 hours is equivalent to 3 academic credits). Capstones may include up to 30 upper-division academic credits. Research or internship experiences with external organizations may be paid or unpaid. It is the responsibility of the student to work with the off-campus internship or research supervisor to identify learning objectives, project goals, assessment measures, and scheduling details.

She had several people in attendance, from UMR faculty to STLF co-workers, residents from the retirement home where she works as a Certified Nursing Assistant and an assortment of friends. It was a pretty full conference room that she stood before. We're proud of her! We had several people tell us during our time there that they were so impressed by Rachel and were excited about her future. So are we!