The Venting Thread

[mamselle]

Is that what they call a "learning experience?"

(ducks and runs...)

Me...I've just been a bit grumpy and bored all day, despite having a lot to do.

Just figured it out, thanks to a friend's transformative listening: I'm endorphin-deprived from a month's lack of seriously good dancing.

Have to get some alternatives going....chair-dqnces, maybe?

Something....

(Wanders...well, crutches...off...)

M.

[zuzu_]

Y'know that feeling when you assigned a reading because it looked interesting, but you read it the night before you have to teach it and it turns out to be (1) bad on formal grounds, (2) straight-up anti-feminist backlash, (3) one giant straw man, (4) ill-informed, and (5) has a super(!)-racist aside near the end?

Yup. Just had to teach that. Sigh.

Ugh.

Reminds me of the semester a few years ago when I had an entire unit in my online course that focused on The Cosby Show. You know how this story ends. Even all the links I had to video clips were suddenly dead.

[ciao_yall]

Y'know that feeling when you assigned a reading because it looked interesting, but you read it the night before you have to teach it and it turns out to be (1) bad on formal grounds, (2) straight-up anti-feminist backlash, (3) one giant straw man, (4) ill-informed, and (5) has a super(!)-racist aside near the end?

Yup. Just had to teach that. Sigh.

Ugh.

Reminds me of the semester a few years ago when I had an entire unit in my online course that focused on The Cosby Show. You know how this story ends. Even all the links I had to video clips were suddenly dead.

Once had to change a whole textbook mid-summer and restart the prep.

8th edition had been really good. 9th edition - cheese was sliding off the cracker in spots. By the 10th edition - WHERE WAS THE EDITOR?

[Parasaurolophus]

Is that what they call a "learning experience?"

(ducks and runs...)

For me? Nah! I will absolutely continue to assign the occasional reading I haven't read and don't plan to read until the night before. For them? Actually, I think so. We had a pretty good discussion about it all.

Ugh.

Reminds me of the semester a few years ago when I had an entire unit in my online course that focused on The Cosby Show. You know how this story ends. Even all the links I had to video clips were suddenly dead.

0_o Wow. Spectacularly bad timing! I can't even imagine.

9th edition - cheese was sliding off the cracker in spots.

I've never heard that expression before, and it just made my day!

[ergative]

I just had a grant rejected. Normally, this is not cause for comment---I'm used to it---but it had gotten through the outline-proposal stage with flying colors, and it was a good project, appropriate for the funder's values, and I had a really good feeling about it. I can resubmit it somewhere else, sure, but this one hurts.

[mamselle]

Ouch.

Sorry, hopes are precious things, and seeing one being attenuated or miscarried is so hard.

M.

[AmLitHist]

Sinus infection. (No surprise there.)  But the NP ordered me to stay at home until March 23, which did surprise me--I'm not contagious, but she doesn't want me picking up something like the flu from someone else.

She started to write the note that I'd be released on 3/23, but I stopped her:  next week is spring break, but I'm sure that had I been ordered "off" that week, HR would have charged me sick days for it.  It's just how they are.

So, Introvert Me is fine with the "stay home" order, but childish me is kind of irked at being home sick over break (even though I wasn't planning to go anywhere or do much anyway).  Sigh.

If that's the biggest thing I have to vent about, it's a pretty good day in Lake Woebegone.

I guess I could vent about the stock market, but our pension fund came through the big recession actually making a little money, so let's hope that happens this go-round again.

[sinenomine]

I'm a department chair, currently on Spring Break. I'm not privy to the conversations, but it's clear my campus is preparing to transition courses online. The department admin just reached out to ask me for all faculty phone numbers, which are in her files. The dean also asked her to ask me for a spreadsheet of all courses currently running, which I dug out of an email ... from the dean. I know this is an unprecedented situation, but c'mon, folks — don't run to me without taking a deep breath and looking for the info you need that's already at your fingertips!

[mamselle]

Plus, wouldn't you expect to privy to at least some of the conversations around the issues at hand??

And I can echo your vent. The director I currently support is horrible about his emails. I have to re-send stuff multiple times, or, as you describe, send back things he sent out, because he deletes stuff, can't use the search function in gmail correctly, apparently doesn't file or label stuff so he can see the latest version, etc.

Good thing one of us is on top of things...in both cases!

M.

[archaeo42]

More a lament than a vent...

Spouse got into a car accident last week. They're fine. Insurance has deemed the car a total loss though. We've decided to take the buyout. So now we're looking for a new (used) car in all this mess.

[bibliothecula]

The senior faculty in my department are selfish jerks.

[Parasaurolophus]

Argh. Just recorded two lectures, only to find out that the cat had turned off my mic. =/

[mamselle]

They liked hearing the sound of your voice and wanted to be sure to hear it again....

M.

[Vkw10]

Morning email to chairs, deans, directors: In the event that employees can not come to work due to state, county, or university mandates, please send me a list of employees who could/couldn't work from home.

Aargh! Bad enough I spent entire day collecting info about feasibility of employees working from home, dealing with panicky employees assuring me they'll do anything to keep paychecks, dealing with others who refuse to consider changing routine to work from home. You just had to send email blast that stirs them all up again at the end of the work day.

I'm trying to get my AC1 levels down pre-diabetic to normal. You are NOT helping.

Time for a walk before I give in to desire to overload on carbs.

[clean]

Awoke to a flat tire.  Flat to the ground flat!  i pumped it up and then took my other vehicle to the local grocery for some supplies (and wait to see if the tire would hold air long enough that I would not have to put on the spare to get the tire fixed).

At the grocery store, the story is mixed.  I wanted some pre-made salads.  Those are gone!  The entire cooler they should be found was closed off!  On the plus side, the store had eggs, and milk.  The cereal had mostly returned.  I didnt do too much exploring.  I did peak at the Ben & Jerry's section.  I wont say it was empty, but there was NO B&J!!  It was filled with Blue Bell ice cream!  Blue Bell is ok, but nothing that Bluebell has compares to New York chocolate (whatever it is called).

I returned home with the loot i was able to wrestle from the grocery store and ate some lunch. The tire held air well enough so I was off to the tire store.  THey are practicing Social Distancing. You have to call the store and tell them what car you are in and they come out when they are ready.  They decided that I needed a new tire!  (run flat damage) and that the other tires were still in the good range but were over six years old.  Worse, the tires I have on the car have been discontinued.  Anyway, i was thinking that I would go ahead and get new tires all around, but i needed to wait in the car for at least an hour until it was my turn. 
I waited with the engine running for the AC as it was already over 80 degrees in this part of the world now.  AFter 40 minutes or so, I turned off the car as I figured that it was cool enough for a while.  Then they came by and said it was MY TURN!!  Hooray!!  Then the car woudl not start!!!   The battery would turn it over, and it would sort of start enough to sputter and sputter, but if I hit the gas, it died right away! I just could not get it to keep running and eventually it stopped even sputtering. 

I had to call my fiance to rescue me as I had left my AAA card in my 'travel'wallet.  After 20 minutes or so she picked me up and took me home. I took my truck to the tire store and called AAA.  They said the wait would be about 2 hours.  So I waited. This time with the windows open, because the AC in the truck seems to have given up the ghost and I have not been able to get it looked at. 

After the 2 hour wait, the tow truck arrived.  I explained the problem.  He said to give it a try so he could hear it.  Sum-bitch started right up!!! 

I drove it the 3 blocks to the closest repair shop (not my favorite place mind you), and the tow truck followed.  Tomorrow I hope that the shop will tell me what they think that they will fix.  (From my experience with them, it may not be what is broken, but it will be what they want to try to fix first!)

AFTER that, I went to Wendy's for lunch/ dinner really as it was now after 4 pm! I ordered single combo NO CHEESE!  I paid, but I needed to move forward while they got my order ready. When the lady brought out my bag, I asked "No Cheese, right?"  and the reply was "No cheese!"   So I didnt check.  Well, Im sure that you know that IF they had the order right, i would not be in the VENTING thread!!!  Bastards! 
The worst part is that this is the SECOND TIME!   We can only visit the drive through these days, and I visited them last Saturday too.  And they screwed it up then too! 

Not to worry!  I wont be visiting them any time soon.  AND IF i can find my reciept I will fill out the Talk to Wendy webpage telling her off! 

OK.  Venting over for now.