Rant of the Day

[vorpal blade]

Good thing Imogen edited that one.

[Emiliana]

My school will lose 15 instructional days due to MOCK testing. That's 3 weeks of instruction kids are missing in the name of data.

I'm so done with public education.

ughhhhhhhh

We have mini-assessments from the district every 3 weeks. They're only supposed to take half of class, but since I have a high concentration of special ed, limited English, and 504 kids who all get extra time, I pretty much have to allow the whole class period.

And then this week we had a full day of mock testing. I just spent 8 hours grading the essays and short answers from that test, and I am less than halfway through, and I think my brain is going to fall out.

[Portia]

In response to the dumb, callously insensitive (to victims of the Shoah and Facebook enemies alike) Hitler relationship "meme," just yesterday I watched a Vlog Brothers video on Hitler & Sex. FIVE of his SIX girlfriends committed suicide. Can we all just contemplate how sick it is to say it's preferable to be in a relationship (with a genocidal dictator har har) and be a suicide risk from your abusive in all ways, shapes, and forms, than to be single?

I'm not the warmest, fuzziest person, but that's so unbelievably cruel and unfunny to me. Watch the video, it's enlightening. Also mentions how a "vanilla, straight man" was accused of being homosexual by the tinfoil hat crowd, despite, oh, that detail of mass executions of those in the progressives Berlin gay scene and top Nazi officials alike.

(On my phone, no links, but easy to Google.)

[Imogen]

So I was annoyed with testing, and then the district added two more days of mock testing for our 7th graders.

Just kill me now, please.

[Shrinky Dink]

I want to make a little complaint about my husband, but I haven't talked about it with him. So I won't at the moment (I've made myself a promise that I won't talk bad about something involving him without talking to him first.)

So, I'll make this small complaint/observation. I'll get cold outside and he'll say, "It's not that cold." Then later we'll be cuddling inside and he'll say, "Why are you so cold?!" .... Anyway, it was a slightly funny observation and he doesn't say it as much but he does still think it's cute/funny when I run to the house from the car.

Now I need to talk to my husband about the first thing...

[mic0]

That seems like one of those things that would be cute/funny at first, but quickly get annoying/frustrating.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I'm in serious trouble in my marketing class. We have a group project due Wednesday, plus my group is giving their presentation on Friday. I have attended no meetings and done no work on either of these projects. This is my fault; I missed the one meeting we did set and haven't reached out to them at all. However, I'm also frustrated because I hate group work with a fiery passion (it's a super bad idea to take an extremely introverted perfectionist and tell her that her grade depends on working in a group), I have been legitimately busy now that I have a job so couldn't really attend any meetings outside class and they seem to have ignored my request that we get together online/discuss things through text, and I have anxiety about the group itself because the guy who chewed me out for telling him to be quiet is friends with a couple of my group members.

Honestly, I would have been much, much happier to have to do all the work myself.

[bobtheenchantedone]

bob rants part II:

We had a test today in my last class, which means I could have gotten home super early but I agreed to meet a friend at 3 so I'm stuck here anyway.

Also, that friend told me to bring my bible if I had one which is totally fine, because I know spirituality is important to her and I've expressed interest multiple times in attending her study group (never had time yet, though) and we've talked about spiritual things BUT after all my "share the gospel!" upbringing I can't help worrying that she's a) trying to convert me and b) only my friend for that purpose.

[Portia]

I'm in serious trouble in my marketing class. We have a group project due Wednesday, plus my group is giving their presentation on Friday. I have attended no meetings and done no work on either of these projects. This is my fault; I missed the one meeting we did set and haven't reached out to them at all. However, I'm also frustrated because I hate group work with a fiery passion (it's a super bad idea to take an extremely introverted perfectionist and tell her that her grade depends on working in a group), I have been legitimately busy now that I have a job so couldn't really attend any meetings outside class and they seem to have ignored my request that we get together online/discuss things through text, and I have anxiety about the group itself because the guy who chewed me out for telling him to be quiet is friends with a couple of my group members.

Honestly, I would have been much, much happier to have to do all the work myself.

Seeing as Monday is mostly shot, I suggest you bite the bullet and do what you have to to pass the class.

I like group work just fine (being an extreme extrovert may help) but presenting does give me the jitters. Two years ago I blew off my final project for Tech Writing, and was stuck in a procrastination death spiral. I can always pump out a grade-A academic paper on the wire, but projects, not so much. I also did not much care for the teacher's style, and it was an evening class the Frontrunner often made me late for.

At any rate, I was proactive, told her that this project was making me just about lose my mind, and while I didn't get out of presenting, I did pass the class with a C. (I had an A on everything else, I think.) Literally no one in a two-year tech writing career cared about that C.

I think you should approach your professor stat to see what you can do to pass. Can you contribute research credits on the project? Can you get a C if you fail this? If you show up and smile and nod will you get participation credit?

Also many of these folks sorry want to work in marketing, which requires compromise, working with others, and tedious meetings where your ideas WILL get shot down. It's not bad preparation for the real world, honestly.

Good luck! :)

[Shrinky Dink]

I had my first phone interview today for an internship that I need to graduate, but I missed it because they're in a different time zone, and my phone happened to not show that a call was coming in and isn't showing the number it came from so I can't even call them back.

I was even prepared in case they called when it was their time, but my phone didn't even show that they called.

Now I don't even know if they'll consider me as a candidate because I missed the call and I'm freaking out that I won't get an internship at all.

[Violet]

How did you schedule the call? Can you contact them that way right now and ask to reschedule based on miscommunication of timezone expectations?

[Shrinky Dink]

I found a toll-free number and left a message explaining the difficulties. I hope they call me back.

[Tally M.]

Emotionally manipulative roommate + finally speaking up + midterm week = I hate my life.

[the anglophile]

Sorry Tally

[Emiliana]

It has rained, snowed, or sleeted every day nearly two weeks. There is a REASON I live in Texas, in what is supposed to be a semi-arid climate, and that reason is that I need to see the sun. DAILY.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I was cutting paper while standing near my computer and my scissors slipped. Now there's an inch-long scratch in the screen of my $200 monitor.

[Whistler]

I was cutting paper while standing near my computer and my scissors slipped. Now there's an inch-long scratch in the screen of my $200 monitor.

I did something similar when I moved a white board in the computer room and scratched my monitor. Sadness.

[Emiliana]

My sister quit taking her OCD medicine. I get that it's totally her right to decide what medicines to take.....but it sure does make her a difficult person to be related to.

[Shrinky Dink]

I'm currently recovering from my second cold in as many weeks

[Imogen]

Texas peeps will feel me:

The STAAR nightmare has begun.