The Venting Thread

[cathwen]

Count me in as one more person who finds the deluge of emails begging for donations extremely annoying.  I don't even read them—I just delete them automatically.  I do contribute to specific organizations, but on my own time.  I will not be bullied into "giving Tuesday" or any other imaginary deadline.

[apl68]

The only one of these I get that really annoys me is a forestry conservation group that I dealt with a couple of years ago to have some seedlings planted in memory of a member of a family I'm acquainted with.  Ever since I've gotten endless mailers from them.  What annoys me most is the irony of their wasting so much paper.  And this is a legit organization, too.

[RatGuy]

Alabama should not play in the College Football Playoffs and listening to the all the arguments in favor of them is exhausting.

[Parasaurolophus]

Wow. Samsung's texting app sucks.

[clean]

I have had it with Examity!

what other proctoring services have you used, and would you recommend them?


(The old adage that 10% of the people take 90% of the time is true.   And Murphy is right, and I try to tell students, that IF they wait until the last hour in the window to take the test, they will have problems! 
IF I could convince myself that the STUDENT should take responsibility for their time choice and IF they insist on picking the last 2 hours AND encounter a Problem, that a zero on the exam is what they are accepting!)

For this student , I have been online with her for almost 2 hours, and I was on the phone with examity for the last 35 minutes.  She has not YET started her exam, so I am on hold hoping I dont have to call back!)

MY classes alone generate nearly $10,000 in revenue for them in a year, easily!  And I can not get anyone to call me to help resolve the problems!! Some/many of which are EXAMITY's own problems!   

[bio-nonymous]

My "friend", who I had recommended for a position in another department here on campus, flaked out and just quit without notice to go to industry--by email. UNBELIEVABLE--can't be bothered to even fill out a resignation letter or go through the proper HR channels! This isn't like quitting a fast food job... Uggggg!!

[clean]

Industry is different.  When they want you, they want you NOW, not at the end of the term, not at the end of the month.  IF they can get you NOW, then now is the time. 
My job here now, is a result of someone that was offered an industry job. The other factor was that his significant other had taken a job with the same company and was transferred and this job opened up and it was his IF he could start right away, not in 3 months when the term ended.  So to be with his SO (and because it was a better offer to boot), he let them know that they would need to find a replacement for the rest of the term.  (He left in Mid/late September!)


With ALL that I have dealt with today with students and idiot faculty members saying that they would do one thing 2 weeks ago and NOW when the docusign letter hits their desk not only does not sign, but clicks the button so that docusign wont finish processing .... requiring me to remove this idiot asshole from the signing list, and then have everyone ReDo it!     He claims that it is a conflict!  Why invent conflicts that do not exist?  But I am trying to get over being angry by remembering Dale Carnegie's statement " A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still".  So I will not argue with an idiot asshole, I will simply spend the time to redo the work that should not need to be redone.

I will simply say this... He is Off My Christmas Card List!  (assuming I had one!) 

For what it is worth, my preliminary, target retirement date is 760 days away!  ... But who is counting???


and not to get too far off the topic, that date is 12/31/2024.  I can imagine waiting until May 2025 to retire, but to loop back to the top of the post, WHEN I give them notice, especially if it is in the Summer, it will be August 1 at the earliest!  (State law requires that IF teacher or faculty note that they will not return in the Fall, then the state does not pay their health insurance premiums for the summer.  While that wont matter for me as I will retire with health coverage, MY Bride will not, and that means I will have to pay for her policy an extra 3 months.  NOPE!  As my deductions are over 9 months, Im not going to have deductions AND then pay the added premium for 3 months!  I didnt set the rules, I just live under them!..

So to wrap up, I am sorry your coworker left with no notice, especially if that is a hardship for you, BUT I am happy for them that they escaped to something that is clearly a better situation for them.  Remember that the state will ALWAYS do what is in its best interest, and IF you are not looking out for YOU, then NO ONE IS!

[FishProf]

No, there isn't a way to do an extension or schedule a makeup when you are out of quarantine FOR A LAB PRACTICAL.

Take your incomplete, and we'll revisit this in January when the semester resumes.

Oh goody, you've appealed to a higher authority....

[AmLitHist]

Just got an email from TPTB that they're SO proud we've been nominated as one of The Best Places to Work in our city. 

Say WHAT????

To be fair, if you're one of the admins making six figures, driving your company car to the shiny new building, never setting foot on our falling-apart, crime-ridden campuses, and never having to deal with the student body or us peon faculty, it probably is pretty sweet. 

[Parasaurolophus]

Was somehow roped into righting and redecorating the Christmas trees in the village square that blew over last night.

Not a big deal, but definitely not how I was planning to use that hour of freedom.

[apl68]

Was somehow roped into righting and redecorating the Christmas trees in the village square that blew over last night.

Not a big deal, but definitely not how I was planning to use that hour of freedom.

Last Saturday we set up a "story walk" of story book pages on stands up and down Main Street as part of the library's presence at the annual local Christmas festival.  We had over 20 of them.  If you made the whole round of the festival area, you could get the whole story.  It was well-received last year.  This year, we kept having the story page stands blown over by gusts of wind.  I made several rounds of the festival area to keep setting them up.  I also had to tape a set of story pages back onto their stand.  Others tell me that they kept setting stands up again when I wasn't nearby.  The wind made a real mess out of our attempted story walk.

[Parasaurolophus]

If you want to schedule a 30-minute meeting, and you tell me 11h30-12h00, and I confirm, then don't be surprised when scheduling me for 12h00-13h00 doesn't work.

[paultuttle]

All the good people leave this world too soon! And all the bad people stay in this world too damned long.






That is all.

[Langue_doc]

Washed a load of dark-colored garments--triple checked the pockets to make sure that they were empty. Lo and behold, every single garment is flecked with teeny tiny pieces of a kleenex. I'm now down to several lint sheets, with only partial success on just one of the cardigans, both of which have pockets as do the two pairs of pants.

[sinenomine]

This is the last day campus is open before the winter break — many folks have left already — and there's a major storm on our doorstep. So why do I have a strategic planning meeting this afternoon? How strategic does the meeting organizer think people will be??