Happy Holidays!

Hello loyal readers and fellow Knights! Since starting my Business Management studies, I have little time for chess. This is a sorry state of affairs, believe you me. The worst of it is all those tactical exercises rotting within my brain and my openings becoming antiques. I try to play a few times a month on Playchess just to keep my account active so I do not revert to a pawn in the Playchess social status.

This term at the university, I had the task of opening a bakery. While all this was theoretical, I did impress by creating some baked goods as part of my business plan presentation. Nothing like fresh baked jumbo oatmeal-raisin cookies to produce the desirous A. Additionally, my son loves it when I bake. The smell of seems to draw him out of his room and he hovers about the kitchen while they cool...at least until I ask him to help wash the dishes.

Happy Holidays to all and enjoy the cookies!

What is up with the Retired Pawn?

"How come you don't post any longer?" I hear it all the time from folks who follow my postings. Once upon a time, I would post many times a month. These posting covered subjects concerning my life in retirement, chess, and my amusement park outings. I loved to post about trains and my hometown in Dansville, NY. I never started this blog with the idea that it would be just about chess and my quest for tactical proficiency. No, that came later as I strove to improve my chess play. Once the blog became one dimensional, it began to become hard to post good articles. Couple that with the demands of my degree program and you get one post a month saying I am sorry for the lack of content. Just to be clear, I have no intentions of quiting my quest with the Knights Errant, nor am I quiting my blog. I ask for understanding and support while I work on personal life and my degree program.

No Time

Oh, the joys of college homework. I am learning all types of new things, such as how to format a paper in MLA and APA. I have to learn each because I attend two different schools. Upper Iowa University uses APA, while Kansas City Kansas Community College uses MLA. Before the 8th of August I was unaware of such a format(s). Today, I am busier than a one legged man in an a** kicking contest with my Business Ethics course. I have to read 100 pages and turn in a paper by Thursday night. Great! I am sure this will help me stress related issues...not.

I don't see how the average student at an University has time for anything other than study. I must produce a paper for each class every Tuesday and Thursday. I might be a little old and slow, but I am not that old to know that each assignment eats a whole lot of time. In fact, it eats my chess playing time, my chess study time, and my family time. How do you do it, Mister College man?