DoE Headaches II
Last week, when I found out that the university never got the paperwork necessary for me to receive financial aid, I called the Department of Education. I had been told in October, when I first called and asked for this to be done, that the paperwork consisted of a letter which stated I was eligible for aid, and it was supposed to be sent directly to the school.
Last week the DoE told me that it wasn't a letter, it was form, a U23, or something, and it wasn't sent to the school, it was sent to me, and I needed it out and then give it to the school. I would have it, I was told, in seven to ten days.
The ten days was up yesterday. I had received nothing.
I called again this morning. I was told today that there was no record that anything had been sent to me last week.
I think it's time to bring in Liddy. About ten years ago I enlisted the aid of her predecessor with a similar problem.

Tales from Drayton Hall
A guy I know who's from Charleston told me another version of the story about why Sherman spared Drayton Hall. He said Sherman had a fling before the war with a Drayton girl, and he didn't burn the house out of affection for her.
The tour guide the day we were there told another interesting tale. He said that soon after the National Trust bought the house in the seventies, Jackie O. called him at home to ask if she could come see the house. He said sure, but he asked her how on earth she got his number. She said so-&-so in Savannah gave it to her.
Rob told me later that he was sure the name of the guy in Savannah was the same as the guy in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and that basically the tour guide had just told the whole group he was "family."
The guide went on to say that the day Jackie came to the house, the preservationists were repairing some structural problem, and the stairhall was completely full of scaffolding. Jackie wanted to see the second floor. The guide said the only way to get up there was to climb the scaffolding.
Jackie slipped off her shoes and said, "Let's go."
The guide concluded the story with "She went up in a black dress and come down in a grey one, but she said it was worth it."

MLK Get-Away
Rob invited me to go to Charleston for the long weekend. I had been thinking about going to spend more time with my parents, but I'd had such a rough week with the school thing, I changed plans.
Charleston is just chock-a-block with history. I think it's really cool. I had been twice before but the last time was in sixth grade.
Saturday afternoon we were walking around and I spotted a house I'd toured as a child, the Nathaniel Russell house. Most of the place was closed because there was a new restoration going on, as well as some garden archeology.
On Sunday we went to Drayton Hall. The National Trust didn't acquire this property until the seventies, so I don't think it was even open yet on my earlier trips. I never heard of it until later. But it is an awesome, awesome house. The tour guide said the family had a story that it was saved from being burned by Sherman's troops because they hung a sign at the gate saying the place was being used as a smallpox hospital.
The guide also said some of the original Drayton Hall furniture was in another museum, the Heyward-Washington house. So we went there. Drayton Hall was cooler, even if it is completely empty of furniture.