Today was the last day for one of my classes; tomorrow is the last day for another; and, Monday is the last day for the third, and it is also the last day of classes. I don't do finals, primarily because there is no time to have an assignment due on December December 7 or 8 or 11 and make the grading deadline (December 14). I suppose it is possible if a scantron multiple choice is administered, but I don't like that kind of assessment.

 We got our first snow overnight. It is just a coating. Aside from Elwyn-inspired weather-related news, two other thing to report: First, Uncle Buddy's beloved hound Sally died yesterday. I have many thoughts and emotions swirling around on that subject that I will not share. Second, today would have been Donna's 62nd birthday. I rarely share this sort of information on Facebook and never will about Donna because I don't want a bunch of people clicking crying or caring likies or making comments of the "she's always with you" or "hugs" variety. I don't care much for that kind of thing even regarding someone whose loss has left me heartbroken forever such as my father. I certainly don't want to read it about Donna. I cannot, or perhaps will not, share any sort of truth about her with Facebook friends from high school who recall her as a 15-year-old kid with rosy cheeks. It would just make me seem mean-spirited and I don't need the drama.

We went to the Chatham House for Thanksgiving yesterday. They had a buffet with three seatings. It was packed! I checked the COVID numbers and was relieved to see all of New York and surrounding states are low. It was nice - although kind of hard for a vegetarian on what Bob and I call "amateur night." This is holidays and events at restaurants, when people who rarely eat out are the crowd. There was little for me to eat, besides salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and dessert. The salad was fine, but there were no goodies like croutons or sundried tomatoes or pumpkin seeds. Rolls and mashed potatoes are OK, but not something I'd base a meal on. But, they made me a special entree (pasta primavera). Usually take-out from an all-you-can-eat buffet is a no-no, but I was permitted to take my leftovers home. Bob overheard someone snarl as we were leaving with the tin, "they got to have a take-out." Definitely amateur night.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am a big supporter of free speech, but here is something puzzling to me.How can attacking a private citizen be free speech? I thought such remarks were was slander or libel. Them, this isn't about speech, but in my experience, when someone who is on trial criticizes the judge, it is not tolerated. How is this a-hole getting away with it?

I'm trying to solve a blackboard-to-brightspace dilemma (converting my tools for peer and team assessment, something I've known was a problem for over a year) and a student dilemma (that I can't share, but I am feeling pissed). I'm also trying to (at least) match the number of posts I had last year, which is why I'm writing here more. End of semester looms. We fell back! Yay. I know the company line is to whine about standard time -- but not me. I feel normal again.

In the middle of the night on Sunday when I was in Samsonville, I woke up and sneezed about 50 times. After that, my nose started running like crazy and continued until I was back home. It was sinus related; I had a headache behind my eyes and my upper teeth hurt. The left side was worse than the right. It took two days of neti rinsing to completely go away, and it flared up a little today but is gone now. It has happened twice before in recent memory while I was in Samsonville. Both times I took a COVID test (which was negative) but this time I didn't bother. It must be the weather change, coupled with ragweed or something abundant in Samsonville. The reason I am writing this is because of my father. He had allergies and always complained when he had a cold. He was always so descriptive and funny. My sinus episode reminded me that several years ago, when hurricane coverage was dominating the news, he said a bad cold he had was a category five.

I was at a faculty meeting today. It was both on campus and via Zoom. We had break-out rooms (and teams in the physical room as well). We had two prompts to discuss; one was about what achievements we have and the second was about what opportunities we have. I'm not a big fan of team work or team discussion (even though I use it a lot in my classes). I've always been a loner, and in my student days, faculty allowed me to be independent. I was expecting to be muted and keep video off while eating an apple and a pear. There was no anti-social option today, so I participated, albeit minimally. The reason I am writing this is because a new-ish faculty member from another department recommended re-branding, or rather going back to "SUNY Albany," since no one "out there" has any idea what UAlbany or University at Albany are. It was an observation (almost) everyone in the room embraced, and I wholeheartedly agree with it as well. Alumni call the campus that, the community, media -- and even current students do too. Yet I get my hand slapped if I write it on the department's Facebook page. It seems like a marketing no-brainer.