That's IT. I am taking the rest of the day as a SICK DAY.

I walked into my 9:30 class - for which I really didn't feel revved up, as it hurts a lot to talk - and found that the computer fix-it guys had removed the ceiling projector. And not replaced it. And not thought to warn ANYONE in the department - not even the secretary, who, had she known, would have let all of us know.

I could not face 75 minutes of trying to conjure up images of Galapagos tortoises and the route that the HMS "Beagle" took with my poor croaky voice and the chalk and chalkboard. So though I feel very guilty about doing it, I handed back the exams and released the class. At least they heard me speak and realized it would be a hardship.

I would have done it IF the projector had been there. But it just overwhelmed me to think of teaching with NO pictures and NO maps and NO graphs. (We don't have document cameras or anything else snazzy - just the lone computer, hooked up to a ceiling mounted projector).