Yesterday was not a good day for me. Lots of negative human interactions; someone doing that "I have power you don't have, so I'm going to tease you in a borderline mean way, and you can't say anything" that I hate so much. AND the van for the fieldwork was wedged in in such a way that I had to enter from the passenger side and very carefully winkle it out to avoid hitting any other vehicles in the lot. (Fortunately, I had gone over early to pick it up, so at least I didn't have the stress of "this is eating up valuable lab time"). And lab was...not great, because increasingly, it feels like, people don't listen to instructions. And yes, I got a little short with the students when it turned out they HADN'T followed instructions.
But whatever.
It's cold today, but at least there isn't any wind, so it feels less cold. I went out prepared for it to be "take your breath away" cold and it wasn't. I had a hat and mitts and a cowl (I think I like cowls better than scarves now; they are easier to keep in place and easier to pull up to cover your ears) and my big heavy boiled-wool coat. And I'm wearing slacks (which is rare for me) and a heavy pullover.
If my parents' town loses power, my parents will be OK, they have a generator that ties into their natural-gas line and will run the furnace starter and blower (and keep the fridge on, and allow them to run the microwave and the coffee maker and have a few lights). Their neighbors will be OK too - after seeing how my parents remained comfortable after an ice storm a few years ago, they decided to invest in a generator too.
Also, it sounds like - from a quick note my mom sent me with something else she was mailing - that he's working harder at the PT stuff and has regained some stamina for walking farther, which right now is the biggest issue and biggest worry. I hope he keeps up with it. I know it's hard to exercise when you hurt but one thing I've learned - even with my far lesser issues (some lingering bursitis/arthritis in one hip, a bum shoulder where I probably had broken the collarbone in the past) - is that you hurt MORE if you don't keep up with at least some exercise.
One of my friends from church is retiring from her bank job. There is a reception this afternoon. I probably will go; I think doing that kind of thing is nice. I remember how happy (and moved) the bell-choir leader was when we showed up to her birthday open-house.
I'm working away on the squares for the Color-Bar Blanket. I am halfway done with the green squares now; then I have 14 yellow, 9 navy (IIRC), 9 grey, 17 or so black, and 21 white to make.
I can complete a square in about 10 minutes now, and I have the pattern pretty well memorized. Maybe that becomes my "tote along during exam times" project until it's finished....I could maybe get 4 or 5 squares done during a typical exam time. I'd just have to especially remember to take a scissors or nail-clippers to have something to cut the yarn with when I finish a square.
Still thinking about "when do I 'do' my birthday?" One thing I realized, and this is silly but whatever, I bet a lot of people operate this way: No matter what day I choose to do it, it will be after my routine bloodwork (next Monday) and also after my checkup (at which I get weighed*) so whatever I do, I can get a nice lunch out, and if there's somewhere that has nice desserts, I can get a nice dessert and not feel so guilty. I'm gonna see. The week of February 11-15 is going to be a heck of a week for me: two evening meetings, I feed the college kids' ministry, I have my checkup, there are two post-tenure review committee meetings, one of which I am chairing...so maybe that Saturday would be a good day for it, to let my mind relax. I'll have to consider the weather though. (The other option: I *might* still get done early enough on the 23rd for something; I think for Honors Day our commitment only lasts until noon). I don't know. I wish I had a weekday I felt free enough to go and do it; I suppose maybe I could plan to leave out of here at 11 some Friday - when I'm done with class - and get lunch FIRST, then do my shopping fun.
(*I don't *think* I've gained any. But I don't think I've lost any either. I guess holding your own is OK but I would like to be a little slimmer)
I also have a little money to play with at Webs. I had asked my mom - a long time ago - for a gift card for Christmas from them. I didn't get one at Christmas but I thought, "I got lots of other good stuff, I guess they decided against ordering one." Well, it turned out she HAD. But she had tucked it away somewhere and when my dad fell, and a bunch of other stuff happened, she forgot about it....and found it last week while she was putting some stuff away. So she mailed it to me and I have $30 of "free money" at Webs. I haven't decided yet whether to just buy a bunch of random sockyarn (they sometimes have excellent closeouts on sockyarn), or to look at my Ravelry pattern library and choose a small shawl or some other thing I've been wanting to make and get the yarn for THAT, or, put it with some of my own money and get a sweater's worth of *really nice* yarn. (And of course, there might also be a "really nice" yarn on one of their good closeouts). I'm going to wait a couple days until I have a little more time to think. Maybe I get a couple colors and do a striped sweater? I've been wanting to make one for a while....That Saturn Rings sweater in one of the recent issues of IK is lovely, but I'd definitely want the called-for yarn for it (Rowan kidsilk, and a laceweight Rowan) because of color-matching and all, and Rowan is EX-PEN-SIVE. And it would take 14 balls of various colors to make my size (I think the lace is a small put-up.) (I don't even know if Webs carries it; I know some US distributors don't any more). I'll have to think on it more, and maybe skim some of my pattern books (and my Ravelry patterns).
And thinking back to one of the negative interactions I had yesterday: I often recite the old gag-line about "if you can't be a good example, be a terrible warning" and yeah, that was a warning to me: if you have power over someone, don't be like that guy. (My inclination anyway is not to be). I don't tend to tease people much, and if I do, they tend to be equals (like, there's one or two colleagues I sometimes tease gently). But I wouldn't tease a student in the way the guy teased me, because that would just make me feel like I was being a jerk, and I don't like feeling like a jerk.
1 comment:
Some of my MD colleagues browbeat students routinely, and I think it's very wrong. I know they say it's their "culture" and that students have to learn to be tough, but I'm not going to be part of it. My university sees itself as very woke about sexism, racism, and diversity issues, but they won't address this specific form of bullying at all, apparently.
My busiest teaching time starts during my birthday month (July), and extends throughout the fall. The course I co-direct starts the first week of July and goes through September, and we have classes every weekday from 7:30 AM to noon. Two or three afternoons each week I'm a lab instructor in another course, and then on the weekends I catch up with household chores, grocery shopping, and food prep for the week, so there's really no time to take off. Can't remember the last time I had a birthday cake or meal, to be honest, and I can't see that changing until I retire or stop teaching that intensive course.
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