The ethical issue resolved to my satisfaction, and I was able to finish the essays yesterday. I still have about a dozen more to go, but they are for a different class and don't need immediate attention. Yay all around.

I am about 1/3 of the way through an enormous batch of essays I've had hanging over my head. I find myself preoccupied by the ethical question I cryptically referenced yesterday. I still won't elaborate specifically, but I wish I could, as I seriously need to vent. I'm definitely going to push until it's solved -- I just hope I can force myself to finish the essay grading task I dislike before I am able to clear my mind of the unanswered questions I have. Not easy! But end of semester looms and there's no time for procrastination.

I am facing a task I dislike, grading essays. Many students procrastinated (they have four topics and two chances to submit an essay, either early or late in the semester) and so there are a lot more than half the class to do. Ughhhhh.

What's not helping is that a problem has cropped up re: last semester's plagiarism case. Nothing to do with the student hassling me, more of a process concern that is making me very alarmed about ethics. I'm almost, but not quite, mad enough to write about it here.

It was presentation week in my classes and the students did great! It always causes some anxiety for them, fueled mostly by procrastination (and a little by being uncomfortable speaking in front of class). So now end of semester countdown begins, two weeks of classes to go!

 Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a picture until the job was started, but here is the before photo of the back of "the chair."

And here's "the chair" all done!

I do my own taxes -- with pencil and paper, no software. It's a math activity that I like enough to not feel the need to pay for. But overall, I hate the task. I can't stand seeing how much we pay, and sometimes have to pay. It isn't that I want to shirk paying my fair share. I'd never cheat to try to get money back or avoid paying. But seriously? I also cannot stand the convoluted paperwork. Really? I'm 100% a public sector person, have great respect for civil servants, but are you kidding me? I can just imagine the ridiculous process that produces these absurd calculations.

What hurt this year was that I'd planned Friday as "the day" but then I was too sick to even attempt getting started. So it waited until yesterday. I still didn't feel great, but I had no choice. I finished at 2:45 AM, and the mailman took the envelopes away at 9:45. Yay.

I can't really write this on fb as I have a few "friends" who are "on the system" types who also are fb bullies. It gives me no pleasure to contemplate that my $ goes into their pockets -- they are perfectly competent, even privileged people who are lazy or crazy or both, and just feel entitled to take. Anything I wrote would be interpreted as if I was either a militia type or a 1%-er. Then, I don't want to empower the other extreme, the sprinkling of anti-government types among my "friends" who would perceive me as a kindred spirit! LOL. There's a lot more nuance possible here at GBP.

The other distasteful thing about the annual task is that it takes time away from my to do list -- and the clock is ticking on end of semester.

Thank you gift from a boy in faith formation

Thursday night after I got home from campus, I came down with the worst stomach bug I've had in years. Ugh! The details are TMI, but let's say you can just rip yesterday's calendar page out. At this point, I am up to ginger ale and toast (one piece). Since I don't eat bread or drink soda, this took some doing!

The case of the missing chair: recently I moved into a new (much nicer) office. The prior occupant left behind a wooden side chair with tattered upholstery. The chairs in her new office are in better shape, and she said I could have it, or if I felt it was too forlorn, I should throw it away.

I liked the chair, despite the worn fabric, and decided I would keep it. When Bob visited to see my new space, he immediately said "that's a Gunlock chair." So I bought fabric, and hauled his cordless screwdriver to campus on Tuesday to begin the reupholster job.

I took off the back, but discovered the seat required a regular screwdriver, which wasn't in the case. I decided the fabric needed ironing anyway, so I'd have to finish on Thursday. Thursday morning I arrived with another screwdriver and an iron...and my chair was gone!

After looking around the department (lots of moves, painting, etc. taking place at present), I contacted the office that has responsibility for such tasks, and was referred to email elsewhere, which I did. No response. Suddenly our department coordinator had a bright idea...she found my chair in the tunnel (four stories below).

Now, I have some ideas...but who took my chair and why?

Studying social class in Toleration class. I assigned groups of students a class, and had them make posters.