Wednesday evening things

 * One of the news stories I was looking at about the tornadoes referenced CNRA's Facebook page, so I got more information from there.

They lost a lot of the big old trees in Flower Park, which is sad, but the Vendome Well (which was going to be one of my sampling sites) looks okay. And the Travertine Nature Center seems to be okay (they said all the animals in it - mostly things like tree frogs and small turtles in vivaria - are okay). Also their bison (including a relative newborn!) are fine.

I guess it'll be a while yet before I consider going there though. It'll be interesting to see if my knee's healed enough to hike first, or if they're back fully open first. (depending on when I DO go, I may decide to carry a lunch, since a lot of the restaurants in the downtown were wiped out.)

*All of "my" students (the ones in my classes) are accounted for; no one was affected by the storms. I'm waiting on two "student support services" (extra time accommodation) exams and then I'm done.

I'm tired; I gave and graded two exams today, including my largest class (soils). And I graded an exam yesterday. I posted the grades for that class yesterday, one guy showed up to verify that he really DID earn a B (rather than a lower grade) but he did well on the final and that pulled him up into B territory (he was close before) and he was happy about that. 

I also had a student who is (apparently) dropping out stop by. They didn't do well on the exams; there were several factors that probably affected that though from watching them in class, it was NOT for lack of interest or "applying themselves." I tried to help a little, and I was really pulling for them to do better, but it wasn't to be. They stopped by to say goodbye and told me I was a good teacher, even if they couldn't make a go of it in the class. I admit, it broke my heart a little; they're a good person and I'd have liked to have seen them succeed.

I did also have someone ask for "consideration" (free points) on their grade to pull them up into "passing" territory, but they were (a) pretty far away from passing and (b) not someone who made much of an effort so I said sadly there was nothing I could do. Wouldn't have been fair to the other students, like the one who worked hard and managed a B because of working hard on the final. 

* I did knit while giving the finals; I am within a dozen rows of completing the second sleeve on Chalcedony (Well, I do also have to do the cuff). I did a little more this evening but as I said, I'm tired, so it will probably be an early night.

* Also it's been an emotional week. A colleague of mine is retiring and we have to say goodbye to him on Thursday. And all the effect of the tornadoes - it really is heartbreaking to see a town you knew reasonably well (I've been to Sulphur many times, and it's pretty close to me) be almost totally destroyed, reduced to unrecognizable piles of brick. 

And the troubled student has been harassing my colleagues again; one of them said today she had to get her husband to come and drive her home because she was so upset and panicked. And yes, when I went in early this morning to get ready to give the exam, her car was there even though no one else was, and I was a little unsettled. I told myself: well, maybe she came in early to work in her research lab? But when I realized the rest of the building was deserted, I told myself, "Well, maybe her car wouldn't start yesterday afternoon, and she got her husband to drive her home" but I admit I watch probably too many crime dramas and I had some ugly scenarios poking at the back of my mind. 

But once I heard other folks in the building and no one was making horrified exclamations, I figured my "her husband drove her home" had to be it - and then later when I saw her, she mentioned it (Apparently our department chair, who is almost always the last one to leave, saw her car still in the lot and anxiously called her at home - we all know what's going on).

She's also decided (wisely, I think) to skip graduation and other on-campus big-group things......just IN CASE. (I admit I am also skipping graduation - it's going to be pouring rain and the nearest faculty parking is like a half mile away and I don't relish my slow-walking a mile to and from graduation, and I still sometimes need the cane, and YES, also I worry if something Bad happened and we all had to evacuate, I'd be a liability given that I can't run right now.) I doubt I'd be a target - I don't even know the student in question - but I might be target-adjacent. 

And I HATE that that's part of our calculus now, but it is.

At any rate - not being able to walk fast, and also having pain (arthritis?) in wet weather tells me I'd rather not go.

* I still need to go in and Do Stuff tomorrow, and Thursday I have commitments and Tuesday I have commitments but I admit I'd like just one day to myself right now, before I go on my trip to visit my mom. (And I REALLY hope my knee is okay, both for the long drive and the train trip and I can manage the Superliner stairs okay.)