The Venting Thread

[Parasaurolophus]

Of the 30 active grievances against my university which are in/headed to arbitration from the last two years, fully 5 concern parental leave.

One concerns the fact that our pay stubs do not show the information they are legally required to show, meaning that we cannot tell whether we are being under-paid (or over-paid, not that we would be).

So.

[Parasaurolophus]

Couldn't start the car today, meaning I couldn't get to the Friday morning activity I run. And it's chilly, and I have no way of contacting whoever shows up (it's drop-in).

So now everyone is angry with me. Including my partner, because she got an angry call from the admin person I report to (whom I called and emailed, incidentally). Sigh.

[Harlow2]

Our graduate-level department wants all the faculty to personally select alums and email them individually requesting donations.  I never agreed to do this, and would much prefer if a single email with all our names went to all alums.  I think I' m going to refuse to do this; it feels creepy and awkward.

[AmLitHist]

All three of us (me, spouse, and Kid #2) have COVID.  Dammit.

ALHS went to the doctor yesterday for what was sounding like bronchitis.  Nope:  COVID.  Daughter and I have been sick this week, me with a rotten sinus infection since last week, and her with a cold, so we both tested.  Yep:  COVID. He started on Paxlovid last night. She and I are both feeling much better this morning, so we're foregoing the office visit and meds.

This is Week 8 upcoming, so I'm going to ask my chair how to handle my F2F classes and plan to just stay home on T/R, as my GP suggested. The following week is Spring Break, so at least there's that.

I'm glad none of us are dreadfully sick.  It's more just the idea that we finally caught it. Sigh.

[smallcleanrat]

All three of us (me, spouse, and Kid #2) have COVID.  Dammit.

ALHS went to the doctor yesterday for what was sounding like bronchitis.  Nope:  COVID.  Daughter and I have been sick this week, me with a rotten sinus infection since last week, and her with a cold, so we both tested.  Yep:  COVID. He started on Paxlovid last night. She and I are both feeling much better this morning, so we're foregoing the office visit and meds.

This is Week 8 upcoming, so I'm going to ask my chair how to handle my F2F classes and plan to just stay home on T/R, as my GP suggested. The following week is Spring Break, so at least there's that.

I'm glad none of us are dreadfully sick.  It's more just the idea that we finally caught it. Sigh.

Oh, no. Sorry that the virus has got you all.

Hope you and the family have swift recoveries.

[Langue_doc]

All three of us (me, spouse, and Kid #2) have COVID.  Dammit.

ALHS went to the doctor yesterday for what was sounding like bronchitis.  Nope:  COVID.  Daughter and I have been sick this week, me with a rotten sinus infection since last week, and her with a cold, so we both tested.  Yep:  COVID. He started on Paxlovid last night. She and I are both feeling much better this morning, so we're foregoing the office visit and meds.

This is Week 8 upcoming, so I'm going to ask my chair how to handle my F2F classes and plan to just stay home on T/R, as my GP suggested. The following week is Spring Break, so at least there's that.

I'm glad none of us are dreadfully sick.  It's more just the idea that we finally caught it. Sigh.

That sounds quite depressing, ALH. Hope you all get better soon. I heard from a friend that Paxlovid tastes terrible or leaves a bad taste in the mouth, so sending especially strong healing thoughts.

[mythbuster]

But least you could still taste! That is very preferable to what I have heard from friends who lost taste for months. Healing thoughts for the AmLitHist household.

My vent to day is that my new credit card arrived, but Mr. Buster had to activate it for me since I'm the secondary card holder. What is this, 1952? They really need to learn that spouses are people too- with our own cell phone numbers to boot!

[Larimar]

Get Well Soon to you and your family, ALH.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

All three of us (me, spouse, and Kid #2) have COVID.  Dammit.

ALHS went to the doctor yesterday for what was sounding like bronchitis.  Nope:  COVID.  Daughter and I have been sick this week, me with a rotten sinus infection since last week, and her with a cold, so we both tested.  Yep:  COVID. He started on Paxlovid last night. She and I are both feeling much better this morning, so we're foregoing the office visit and meds.

This is Week 8 upcoming, so I'm going to ask my chair how to handle my F2F classes and plan to just stay home on T/R, as my GP suggested. The following week is Spring Break, so at least there's that.

I'm glad none of us are dreadfully sick.  It's more just the idea that we finally caught it. Sigh.

That sucks, ALH. I hope you and your family feel better soon!

[Harlow2]

So sorry, ALH. Hope it will pass soon.

[AmLitHist]

Thanks for the good thoughts, everybody!  So far, we all feel like we're in some stage of getting over bad colds. The main difference for all of us is feeling really tired from mid- to late afternoon onward. ALHS is the only one on Paxlovid, and his cough has stopped after the first dose, but he's noticed the metallic taste since shortly after taking that first dose. 

We've all had 4 doses of the vaccine, so presumably that's helped.  Stay well, everyone!

[apl68]

Our HVAC trials continue.  The new hot water pump for the system that we had on order for two months turned into a four-month wait.  In the meantime, the patched-up old pump blew out and had to be re-patched, after wasting thousands of gallons of water.  Then the new pump arrived the week before last.  Then a case of butterfingers busted something and led to a postponement of the re-installation.  Today it was supposed to be installed again--and started leaking immediately.  Now the installation has been postponed again until tomorrow, while the techs make a five- or six-hour round trip for parts.

Meanwhile, the week before last we also had technicians checking out our hot water lines over the ceiling.  They cleared some gunk and got the water flowing more freely.  And then the water started leaking around several failing valves.  This, plus the installation of the new hot water pump, made it necessary to drain our hot water lines so that we've had no heat whatsoever in the building for well over a week now.  We've left the air handler unit shut off for most of that time so that we at least don't have cold air blasting through the building.  So, no circulating air, and everybody has been wearing jackets at work.  At least the weather has generally been mild.  Now we're running into a spell of colder weather.

Still hoping we can finally have the heat back on soon, and that the air handler unit doesn't flake out when we try to turn it back on after several days of inactivity.  Its motor is on its last legs, and we've got a replacement for that on order as well.  Will the old unit last that long? 

Yesterday I saw a quote for a comprehensive overhaul of the system.  It's well above the cost threshold that requires us to put a project out for bid.  Even though we know that for all practical purposes there's nobody else in the region who could do the job.  This process will take weeks.  I've asked them just to do the minimum patching up needed to get the system running, to buy time to address the more comprehensive overhaul.

[Parasaurolophus]

I thought this was week 11 of my courses, but apparently it's week 10.

When the hell did I get a week ahead?!

[Parasaurolophus]

The new "vice president" of HR just broke the bargaining conditions imposed by the university itself to inform us of the great new raises the university is offering us--which turns out to just be the money the provincial government has already given to all employers in our sector for that purpose. So, money we are already owed, irrespective of the new contract.

So, so many of the people in charge here are such clueless goofs, it's unreal. (It's not that I know better--I don't. It's that they're particularly incompetent at their own jobs. Don't even get me started on the crisis the registrar just set off for the second time in as many years.)

[paultuttle]

Thanks for the good thoughts, everybody!  So far, we all feel like we're in some stage of getting over bad colds. The main difference for all of us is feeling really tired from mid- to late afternoon onward. ALHS is the only one on Paxlovid, and his cough has stopped after the first dose, but he's noticed the metallic taste since shortly after taking that first dose. 

We've all had 4 doses of the vaccine, so presumably that's helped.  Stay well, everyone!

Hope y'all all get better soon!

My own vent: I'm tired of the constantly varying temps--60s-70s in the afternoons and below freezing overnight and in the early mornings. Dammit, Mother Nature, decide that it's spring already! And stop killing the flowers with this below-freezing crap.