Periodically I have a day at school which makes retirement the farthest thing from my mind. Such a day occurred Thursday when I spent two hours after school sitting and chatting with three of my favorite students (from one of my best Honors Algebra 2 classes ever last year) and another two hours at night with another favorite student.

Like I told one of my students, only my innate need to write books would ever make me consider leaving my students. Other than family, those are my two loves, and I have basically neglected the writing for 30+ years while spending time with my students, so it is time to balance the scales.

I have been intrigued by Amazon’s kindle ever since it was released. While I really love the feel of books, and having them on my shelves, I also think I would enjoy the convenience of an e-book. But I have always hesitated buying new technology before it can be fully tested by the public and all the flaws worked out through various revisions. Plus I recall those people who bought 8-tracks instead of cassettes, or Betamax instead of VHS, both of which soon went out of existence.

Now that Apple has announced its Ipad, I am pleased that I did not buy a kindle, since it seems likely that the Ipad will not only do what kindle does, but also enable me to write and listen to music while we are traveling, all of which I hope to do. Patience is indeed a virtue.