The Venting Thread

[Harlow2]

Another vent vent of a different kind:  In an effort to avoid going to the store for more potting soil, I was sterilizing potting soil in my microwave.  I have done this successfully before, and added (I thought) plenty of water to the mix.  15 minutes later smelled something burning, and sure enough, 3 teeny twigs in the mix were smoldering.  A lot. Filled the downstairs with smoke.  Did not set off the smoke alarms, oddly—they are usually sensitive to even a hot oven.  Soaked the smoldering potting soil, scrubbed the microwave. Aired out the house for an hour.

Question:  when the furnace (forced air)  comes on the house smells like smoke all over again.  Assume the vents are a bit smoky.  Aside from replacing the furnace filter, which of course means a trip to store I was avoiding in the first place, what can I do?

[downer]

A dean emailed a document with 7 pages of boilerplate to be included in the syllabus. This was cumulative from years of boilerplate, and I only had to add half a page to the syllabus. Sad for the students, sad for me, sad for the dean, for all of us to be so thoroughly enmeshed in a waste of time.

Wow! That's a lot of info. Could you possibly talk your dean into putting the boilerplate online? I know some schools do that and all the instructors have to do is put a link in the syllabus. If I had seven pages of additional stuff to add to my syllabus I'd definitely be asking people up the food chain if we could put it somewhere online like the school website or an intranet.

I don't really want to engage with the dean, based on past experience. This is a requirement made of all faculty, and probably comes from higher up than the dean. There is all sorts of info up online, though the website for the school isn't easy to navigate. Then there's the school intranet which is also confusing. I doubt that students are going to read the info wherever it appears.

[FishProf]

A dean emailed a document with 7 pages of boilerplate to be included in the syllabus. This was cumulative from years of boilerplate, and I only had to add half a page to the syllabus. Sad for the students, sad for me, sad for the dean, for all of us to be so thoroughly enmeshed in a waste of time.

We occasionally get the same kind of crap. I don't put it in my main syllabus, but I post it with the Syllabus under Class and University Policies in our CMS.  I also break out Schedule of Topics as a separate PDF in that list.

[EdnaMode]

A dean emailed a document with 7 pages of boilerplate to be included in the syllabus. This was cumulative from years of boilerplate, and I only had to add half a page to the syllabus. Sad for the students, sad for me, sad for the dean, for all of us to be so thoroughly enmeshed in a waste of time.

Wow! That's a lot of info. Could you possibly talk your dean into putting the boilerplate online? I know some schools do that and all the instructors have to do is put a link in the syllabus. If I had seven pages of additional stuff to add to my syllabus I'd definitely be asking people up the food chain if we could put it somewhere online like the school website or an intranet.

I don't really want to engage with the dean, based on past experience. This is a requirement made of all faculty, and probably comes from higher up than the dean. There is all sorts of info up online, though the website for the school isn't easy to navigate. Then there's the school intranet which is also confusing. I doubt that students are going to read the info wherever it appears.

That's too bad. I guess sometimes it's just easier to copy and paste and get on with it.

[apl68]

A dean emailed a document with 7 pages of boilerplate to be included in the syllabus. This was cumulative from years of boilerplate, and I only had to add half a page to the syllabus. Sad for the students, sad for me, sad for the dean, for all of us to be so thoroughly enmeshed in a waste of time.

Wow! That's a lot of info. Could you possibly talk your dean into putting the boilerplate online? I know some schools do that and all the instructors have to do is put a link in the syllabus. If I had seven pages of additional stuff to add to my syllabus I'd definitely be asking people up the food chain if we could put it somewhere online like the school website or an intranet.

I don't really want to engage with the dean, based on past experience. This is a requirement made of all faculty, and probably comes from higher up than the dean. There is all sorts of info up online, though the website for the school isn't easy to navigate. Then there's the school intranet which is also confusing. I doubt that students are going to read the info wherever it appears.

What in the world is all that boilerplate about, anyway?

[downer]

What in the world is all that boilerplate about, anyway?

I don't know -- I didn't look at it!

Well, I did a bit. Policies and information. Rubrics, of course.

[mamselle]

Another vent vent of a different kind:  In an effort to avoid going to the store for more potting soil, I was sterilizing potting soil in my microwave.  I have done this successfully before, and added (I thought) plenty of water to the mix.  15 minutes later smelled something burning, and sure enough, 3 teeny twigs in the mix were smoldering.  A lot. Filled the downstairs with smoke.  Did not set off the smoke alarms, oddly—they are usually sensitive to even a hot oven.  Soaked the smoldering potting soil, scrubbed the microwave. Aired out the house for an hour.

Question:  when the furnace (forced air)  comes on the house smells like smoke all over again.  Assume the vents are a bit smoky.  Aside from replacing the furnace filter, which of course means a trip to store I was avoiding in the first place, what can I do?

Make Moroccan Orange Chicken to get rid of the smoky smell....seriously.

A small trashcan fire in a new apartment was quickly dispelled, but the stinging smell lingered all day--until a friend came over and cooked a birthday dinner for me that night, several years ago.

Smell gone, absorbed, taken up, gloriously replaced by the smell of the dinner cooking.  (I'm glad to PM you with the recipe if you like, too...!)

;--}

M.

[namazu]

Question:  when the furnace (forced air)  comes on the house smells like smoke all over again.  Assume the vents are a bit smoky.  Aside from replacing the furnace filter, which of course means a trip to store I was avoiding in the first place, what can I do?

I've been ordering furnace filters online.  If you're in an area with reliable delivery, that might be an option.  Whether replacing the filter will be sufficient, I'm not sure; if there's accumulated dust/etc. in the ductwork, that could have absorbed some of the smoke and I'm not sure how much you can do about that, short of having the ducts cleaned (which would mean someone in your home, and also duct cleaning may actually mobilize more dust in your home than it removes).  If you have smoke-inhabited textiles (e.g. curtains) near any of your vents/registers, cleaning them (launder, if possible, else sprinkle with baking soda, let sit, and vacuum up later) might also help reduce the smell.  Good luck!

On review: Mamselle, I'd love that recipe!

[mamselle]

OK, to keep thread topics clear, I'll go post it over on the dinner thread in just a moment!

;--}

M.

[AvidReader]

Arrived on campus today for the first day of spring classes. Our building has electronic locks on all classroom doors. Apparently all the lock codes in the building were changed last week, except that the dept. secretary (also in charge of changing the locks) only sent the new codes to some people (not me, and not most of the other people with 8:00 a.m. classes). Fortunately, one colleague was able to get the code for my 8:00 class via text message from another colleague who actually had been sent (some of) the codes (which are different for every room).

AR.

[mamselle]

Ick! That happened to me once when I was teaching 8 AM French I.

I took them around the campus and did a vocabulary lesson a la Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society" since we couldn't find anyone else to let us in (not even the Security Office across the walkway was staffed until 9 AM...!)

Since the weather was nice, no-one complained.

M.

[Harlow2]

OK, to keep thread topics clear, I'll go post it over on the dinner thread in just a moment!

;--}

M.

Thank you! It sounds wonderful.

[Harlow2]

Question:  when the furnace (forced air)  comes on the house smells like smoke all over again.  Assume the vents are a bit smoky.  Aside from replacing the furnace filter, which of course means a trip to store I was avoiding in the first place, what can I do?

I've been ordering furnace filters online.  If you're in an area with reliable delivery, that might be an option.  Whether replacing the filter will be sufficient, I'm not sure; if there's accumulated dust/etc. in the ductwork, that could have absorbed some of the smoke and I'm not sure how much you can do about that, short of having the ducts cleaned (which would mean someone in your home, and also duct cleaning may actually mobilize more dust in your home than it removes).  If you have smoke-inhabited textiles (e.g. curtains) near any of your vents/registers, cleaning them (launder, if possible, else sprinkle with baking soda, let sit, and vacuum up later) might also help reduce the smell.  Good luck!

Thanks.  Curtains right under the vent really did absorb the smell, and they are where I sit in the living room, so off to the washer they go. 

[Vkw10]

Sorry, wrong thread.

[mamselle]

OK, to keep thread topics clear, I'll go post it over on the dinner thread in just a moment!

;--}

M.

Ok, done.

M.