Rant: Even though I've got at least a two to three of days worth of classes planned (only took about 2 hours), and even though its pretty much impossible for me to plan much further in advance for various reasons, I still feel monumentally unprepared for tomorrow. Still, I'd bet anything my lessons go long the next couple of days. Rant: This makes it even worse because I don't have a ton of time. Its crazy how much shit they want me to cover in 9 weeks, especially considering how LITTLE the last teacher did to prepare them. My econ students are completely unprepared for moving on, so I have to spend a week reviewing on TOP of trying to get through the remainder of the book. Rave: The other teachers I'm working with are really supportive and will help me with anything I need. Rant: I am reluctant to ask for said help, because I'm trying to make the best impression possible so I can get a job next year. My thinking is that they'd rather see me make and handle my own stuff than ask everyone for help, and if I can prove I can handle this situation, I can handle pretty much anything they throw at me. I'm still working with other teachers, but there is just a lot of pressure and stress on me for the next few weeks, because I am trying to make a good impression but I am also in a crappy situation and I can't do things the way I'd normally want. TL;DR: Lots of sleepless, stress-filled nights in my future because no matter how much I prepare, I'll still feel under prepared.
Rant: Looks like mum and dads old Rotty is on the way out. He's a top dog so this is a bastard. Rantish: I turn 36 in a week or so. 36! I don't feel fucking 36. Ravish: Throwing myself a party on Saturday night for the first time since I turned 30, am looking forward to it. Suits, frocks and canapés and I have even hired a waiter for the night. The best part is this will all come off a little bit rockstar but is costing me less than $400. The function room is free (think gentlemans club with open fire etc), they have allowed me to provide my own beer and wine (2x20l kegs of microbrew and 1 case of red and white) so the cash is just for the wanky nibbles and the kid to tend bar and deliver said chow. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.athenaeumhobart.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.athenaeumhobart.com.au/</a> All very old school
Rave: I have a bed. Finally. Rant/rave?: Fuck Tassie being a small place. The web is a small place. Whoa. Oo
Rant: Words cannot describe how angry I was with the last teacher that I took over for. Seriously, this person might have been the laziest, worst god damn teacher in history. Just imagine every single horrible, lazy, clearly didn't-give-a-shit teacher you've ever had, and multiply it by 100. Today, they brought me the papers he didn't grade that now fall to me, and we're talking at least four assignments and at least two tests per class that this guy didn't even bother trying to grade. Not only that, it was abundantly clear he had no intention of bothering to grade. They were a complete mess, and just thrown into cabinets in his room before they were cleaned out by the administration. The students HATED him, because of how clearly he didn't even come close to giving a crap about them. This teacher is literally everything and everyone that people who hate teachers will point too, and he is literally the kind of person that should never be allowed in a classroom again. Just. Awful. So, of course, now I have to clean up his mess. As I was sorting his crap, I literally wanted nothing more than to drive to his house and punch him in his face for his absolutely inexcusable crap. Rant: On top of cleaning up his mess, I still have to prepare for my classes and find a way not to continue to completely mess with these kids any further. I put in a 12 hour day today, and I'll likely be putting in another tomorrow to finish cleaning up his crap. Oh, and then I got home and spent another 2 hours on prep. But will teachers like me get any credit for working these kinds of hours? Fuck no, because of lazy assholes like the guy I'm replacing. Fuck him. Rant: I felt the worst for the students. I found notes on some of the assignments about how hard they were and how they had no idea what was going on, because he didn't teach them a a god damned thing. Most of the notes were apologetic. I wanted to just tell the kids that it isn't their fault, and they shouldn't feel bad for a minute given how awful this guy was.
RAVE: The GF and I decided to build some planter boxes and grow some veggies RANT: Bob Vila I am not. Warning: Slightly gruesome pics Spoiler Was trying to screw in the 2nd to last screw but the bit slipped out and came down on my finger. First pic is the entry point, 2nd pic (dot in the middle) is where it came out the other side
Rave: I'm slowly becoming a ninja. Beware of my deadly moves peasants! And thanks Ido Portal. Rave: The new GF and my awesome friends got along really well, as expected. I found a special group of people, it's been a while since I felt this great. Rant: My thesis is going to be the end of me. I work super hard to make my sure my new employers think I'm superman, and I work really hard to make sure my students get a great experience from a passionate teacher, yet I can't feel satisfied because I know I don't spend enough time writing. I'm supposed to submit something on May 15th, yet I'm spending the last weekend of April and the two first weekends of May camping and learning how to teach camping skills, on top of working during the week. I think I'll just forge a diploma or something.
RAVE! Between school, work and internship, my brain has been a little fried lately, and I've had a really hard time keeping track of things, particularly my keys. Are they in my backpack? Messenger bag? Purse? Coat pocket? Fridge? Your guess is as good as mine. But BEHOLD! I have solved my key problem, and perhaps made my apartment very slightly safer at the same time!
RAVE: The boyfriend got a promotion - When my mom asked what that was, I explained it in Law and Order form: If Adam Schiff is the District Attorney, Jack McCoy is his second in command. Boyfriend is Jack McCoy. With it comes a raise and he's in charge of the juvenile court on top of his usual narcotics/organized crime/Vice unit. RAVE: Celebrated with tacos on Saturday. Yeah! Tacos rule! Then Greek food on Sunday. I am pretty sure skordalia is my new obsession. RANT: Might need to see an allergist - the inhaler the pulmonologist gave me isn't working as well as it was during the wintertime. I guess if this is all that's bugging me these days, I'm in pretty good shape.
Rave who fucking knew you could buy coon baculums on ebay for a dollar a piece, I can hardly wait to start handing them out.
So. I have a set of prelim drawings. I'm meeting with the bank on Thursday. I have a framer on board. I can get a materials quote right now. I have roughly 70% of my business plan written. Holy shit, I could be starting a company and buying a house. I figure I can bring it in for around $310,000. That's including land. I'm scared shitless because what if the market crashes or what if it doesn't sell or what if it costs way more because something goes wrong if if if.... I don't know if this is a rant or a rave.
RAVE: Warm weather is finally here. RANT: So are the ticks. Honest to God, you cant walk the dog 15 minutes without the little bastards crawling all over her. We put Frontline on her which kills the tick when it bites her, but it does fuck all for repelling them. So we get to sit and pick them off of her after every walk or have the joy of finding them in the house. May as well infect us all with Lyme's Disease now and get it overwith.
Rave: I was tasked with doing some market analysis at work and our President seemed quite impressed. I also learned nobody else on my team knows how to use Excel to do minimal statistics work. I'm doing well with sales but am not yet 100% in love with it, so hopefully this means a little more diversity on my workload. Rant: The dog got into the trash and shit on the rug while I was at work. That's the first time he's done both. Bad dog. Bad, bad dog. Rave: Tax season is almost over, so I get to see my girlfriend during the week soon!
RANT: My 9 year old son got hit in the head with a baseball while at bat during a scrimmage game tonight. RAVE: He's okay. The helmet took the brunt, but the impact drove the bottom edge of the helmet into his jaw and gave him a nasty welt. It stings a bit but he's totally fine, thank God. RAVE: He took it like a trooper and all the coaches were impressed he didn't shed a tear. They said he was tough. RAVEIEST: After the coaches went over to him, he looked directly at me and came to me before his mother even though she was sitting right next to me. As a matter of fact, he totally ignored her until I reassured him he was okay. I know it's kind of shitty and maybe a little petty to feel that way, but that made me feel really good.
Rant: I miss sleep. And my kid. Rave: All the last guy's papers are graded after another 12 hour day today. I also managed to get a decent amount of prep done. Granted, now I am behind on my own grading, so I'll have to spend another 12 hour day tomorrow getting caught up on my stuff from the past two days (and tomorrow), but once I'm caught up, the stress level should drop off a bit. It'll probably take another week or so, but I am just now starting to find my groove. Once I get there and get everything figured out, prep shouldn't take more than an hour or so a day, while grading will be another hour or so. Granted, that means working 9 to 10 hour days, but working 6:30 am until 4 PM is better than working 6:30 AM until 6:30 PM as I have the past couple of days. Those two and a half hours make a huge difference. Rant: I have a lot of students that are either A) in full senioritis mode, or B) after the last guy they clearly don't give a crap. I am fighting a majorly uphill battle with a lot of these kids. The major issue is that I can't treat them the way I normally would, because I have to absolutely treat them with kid gloves and do my best to ensure they pass. That is the schools ONLY goal at this point: ensure that all of these kids pass, so it is my job to see to it that that happens. That means going way easy on them; easier than I ever would under normal circumstances. It also means I have to switch how I do things. When I taught before, I rarely used the book. It was very much just a basic outline of where we were going, while I made my own assignments, my own discussions, and made zero use of the book or its resources. Now, I have to go almost 100% by the book, because that is what these kids are used to and what they respond to, and it is fucking BORING. Even I get bored, but this is what they want me to do. Rave: Again, its starting slowly, but I am starting to get into a groove and things are starting to slowly fall into place. Hopefully I'm just a couple of weeks away from things really clicking into place and running smoothly. Having the last guy's bullshit now completely in the past should be a great start.
Rave: on a boat back from Finland. Rant: when we got into our low budge cabin we noticed that the previous occupant had managed to attach a condom full of something to the ceiling that the cleaning crew had managed to miss. Rave: The crew was so embarassed that they gave us a suite, free beers, and a bottle of champagne.