The Venting Thread

[Harlow2]

And my related vent:
My students are convinced that I have the power to do things that I in no way can control:
Waive you out of this class after your initial course waiver was denied? Sure, I'll get right on that.
Change this in-person class to virtual on the 1st day of classes? No problem.
Change the classroom the class is held in because we can't social distance in our assigned classroom? I'd love to, but TIIC in all of their wisdom have declared we are back to 100% capacity. The announcements about that went out over a month ago. There are no available classrooms.

Long semester indeed.

I've asked students to phone in.  It is cumbersome but can work if there's a phone in the room you can put on speaker. Or ask someone to be a note taker. Clean, you need a break.


Add:
just 30 minutes prior to class I get a message, "I have a COVID situation.  Can you WebEx today's class?" --- umm  I dont know how to WebEx from a classroom. I Think that we can, but no one has trained us/me how. I know that there is a lapel mike somewhere in the room, but dont know how to use it. There is a camera, but i dont know how to move it.  The IT Expert is also at home with Covid.   ....  SO, though I asked 5 other faculty how, I am NOT able to webex class today, on only 30 minutes notice! 

When I replied to the student that I have not been trained to do it, and with only 30 minutes may not be able to find anyone to show me, student replied, "So odds are I will most likely miss this first class?"
Yep, Pretty good odds!

[AvidReader]

The benefit of teaching online was that everyone put questions/comments in the chat or they would come on video to comment/ask questions, and I could jack up my computer volume and read their lips. It was glorious.   I don't have a workable solution right now, and I'm concerned I'm not going to be able to provide good teaching for my students, and that students just won't ask questions or participate because it's too much effort.   

I'm so sorry. This is deeply frustrating. My in-person classrooms last year had huge noisy air conditioners and I had the exact same difficulty with masked students. I know this is the Venting thread and not a "Solutions" thread, but could you invite students in the classroom to log in to the stream (and mute themselves) and type questions there, or start a thread on your LMS for lecture questions? Most of mine had their phones accessible in class and we did a lot of typing like this.

AR.

[OneMoreYear]

The benefit of teaching online was that everyone put questions/comments in the chat or they would come on video to comment/ask questions, and I could jack up my computer volume and read their lips. It was glorious.   I don't have a workable solution right now, and I'm concerned I'm not going to be able to provide good teaching for my students, and that students just won't ask questions or participate because it's too much effort.   

I'm so sorry. This is deeply frustrating. My in-person classrooms last year had huge noisy air conditioners and I had the exact same difficulty with masked students. I know this is the Venting thread and not a "Solutions" thread, but could you invite students in the classroom to log in to the stream (and mute themselves) and type questions there, or start a thread on your LMS for lecture questions? Most of mine had their phones accessible in class and we did a lot of typing like this.

AR.

Thanks, AR. Yes, I am working with that option to have students log into the stream and put questions/comments in the chat. We were getting bad feedback with the system on Monday (I could not hear it,  but the students said it was really annoying/disruptive), so it's a work in progress. I'm trying out both streaming options that are available.  Tech support said they could not give me any classroom microphones b/c I'm not teaching in a large lecture hall, so using the chat feature will be the best solution for now.   Thursday's lab class will be the real test. I'm also missing orders for lab-related materials I ordered three months ago and received extra random lab stuff I did not order, so this week is just a big vent all around, and it's only Tuesday.

[mamselle]

Hoping a few rays of solace slip through the clouds of all that frustration.

Bon courage--M.

[AvidReader]

[. . .] this week is just a big vent all around, and it's only Tuesday.

Seconding mamselle's good thoughts for solace. I hope Thursday's lab goes better than you expect.

AR.

[histchick]

It's only Week 3 of the semester, and I already hate people.  I usually don't hate people until at least Week 10. 

[wellfleet]

Mom bought a new printer for the house in December, an HP Office Jet Pro that came with a free 6-month Instant Ink subscription. This is a terrible service; resist the temptation, if it ever comes your way.

The printer, despite many resets, is currently locked in every possible way. I may have to wait three weeks to see if I can gain control of the printer even after cancelling the service and replacing all the (not empty) cartridges at considerable expense and at the HP tech's suggestion. I have spent nearly 3 hours today talking to no fewer than seven different HP customer service representatives.

Instant Ink sucks. So there.

[mahagonny]

/

[mamselle]

Mom bought a new printer for the house in December, an HP Office Jet Pro that came with a free 6-month Instant Ink subscription. This is a terrible service; resist the temptation, if it ever comes your way.

The printer, despite many resets, is currently locked in every possible way. I may have to wait three weeks to see if I can gain control of the printer even after cancelling the service and replacing all the (not empty) cartridges at considerable expense and at the HP tech's suggestion. I have spent nearly 3 hours today talking to no fewer than seven different HP customer service representatives.

Instant Ink sucks. So there.

Hasn't there been a huge online hack announcement associated with printers recently?

I don't have one so I haven't worried about the details, but did the service rep ask what your system is and if you've downloaded any software recently?

It might just be the cartridges, as you say, but it might be worth checking that out as well.

M.   

[fishbrains]

It's only Week 3 of the semester, and I already hate people.  I usually don't hate people until at least Week 10.

Better to get it started early. The anticipation can often be worse than the experience.

[apl68]

We've been trying for quite some time now to get a certain project going that involves the library's HVAC system.  Our usual HVAC services vendor had to subcontract much of the work to another vendor that had skills they needed.  This vendor has been dragging its feet.  The week before last, I was told that we would have somebody here working on Monday.  As of Thursday we'd seen no sign of them.  I pointed this out to our contact person at the HVAC services vendor.  This morning I had an e-mail from him asking me to call him. 

Here's what he told me:  The subcontractor was indeed supposed to have two techs here last Monday.  But they don't like each other for some reason, got into an altercation, and were both fired by their boss!  Who turned out to be too embarrassed to give the main contractor--whom he's apparently done good work for in the past--a straight answer about it right away.  Now he says he will personally come to the library in the next day or two.  One of the guys he fired was the guy who came here in person to check out the situation, so this trip, if and when it happens, will be to re-do the first guy's visit. 

Maybe next week we can finally get some actual work done?

[mamselle]

Yee---ouch.

One of the downsides of tiny operations....

Hope it gets resolved soon.

(Maybe, like, before the next hurricane?)

M. 

[Parasaurolophus]

We're away for a few days  the cat sitter was supposed to come by yesterday afternoon, and stay with them till we returned.

I just got a text saying he's ill and can't go over.


The poor loves! They'll be starving by now. Argh!

[clean]

The poor loves! They'll be starving by now. Argh!

But they will be COVID free!

[mamselle]

We're away for a few days  the cat sitter was supposed to come by yesterday afternoon, and stay with them till we returned.

I just got a text saying he's ill and can't go over.


The poor loves! They'll be starving by now. Argh!

And if he recovers and does go over, with them so hungry, you may only find his bones....

   《Pads away, tail twitching, and pauses to clean face and lick lips...》

Actually, if that were to happen to me when I was pet-sitting, I'd presume it was my responsibility to arrange alternate coverage, not just text you while you're away to say I couldn't come...

M.