* So I have another job ahead of me this week: Saturday afternoon, heating up some lunch, I heard an odd sparking noise from the oven, and looked over to see flashes. Turned it off and as I suspected the heating element had "arced" and melted itself.
I would be more upset about this except for the fact that my mom has had the element on HER oven replaced twice without incident (in fact, the repair person told her "this particular model of oven is really well-built, so it's probably better to just replace parts as they wear out). Unfortunately, the local parts place was closed on Saturday (normally they are not) so I have to call them today. I have a card with the model number written on it so I can tell them what model so hopefully they can get the correct part.
EDITED TO ADD: they have one that will fit in stock, so I can pick it up today, borrow the tool set again from Dana (I really should buy my own) and install the new one. I've also been told by several people that Central Electric is the best place in town for this sort of thing, so I guess I chose wisely.
* However, that means I won't likely be able to help out with the upcoming funeral lunch (an older member who had been ill for a while died Friday). I was on the point of volunteering and then was like "Oh, wait. No."
* More not-great local news: the food bank nearest campus has closed, because of a variety of reasons, the most immediate being the person who went and fetched the drop-offs (long story, but: the OK Food Bank - the centralized one - will only drop off to one location in town, any of the smaller food banks have to go there to get the stuff) passed away and we don't have anyone with a truck or the time to do it. The problem is: sometimes a centralized spot is hard to get to for people. Lots of folks who are right at the edge lack a car, and a lot of the students on campus lack cars (and yes, some of our students would be eligible for food assistance; we have an on-campus "emergency closet" but that doesn't really provide a sustained menu like the food bank.
(Living without a car here is very difficult. There's a "senior bus" for people who have given up driving but I remember from when Dorothy was alive, it wasn't always the most reliable - once or twice she called me to see if I could drive her home from the store because the bus either didn't show, or it left before schedule. The town is spread out enough it would he difficult without a car. I might just be able to do it if I only shopped at the Green Spray, but even for medicine - well, I could maybe get that delivered, I think my pharmacy does - but it would be hard. That's why losing my sight or losing the ability to drive some other way worries me a little: hard to cope on your own and I don't have anyone to fall back on. And part of my volunteering for stuff may be a superstitious attempt to build up karma points against that happening, I don't know. Yes, I know karma doesn't work that way.)
I dunno. I think increasingly the problem we see with stuff like this is that the people who have the wherewithal to volunteer are working so long and hard to stay afloat *themselves* that they lack the time to do volunteer work.
(I told the minister I'd help if I could, but as the food bank's "handing out" day - when they need the most people - is Wednesday between noon and 3 pm, that's precisely when I'm in class).
And people are retiring later and maybe sicker so counting on retirees won't do it.
I dunno. I will say since moving here from Illinois (where I guess I was more insulated), I've learned a lot more about how precariously some people really do live, and I think my compassion for that has increased.
The other thing was: this was going to be were the Wesley Center students got involved with volunteering (because it was close enough they could walk even if they lacked a car). The main food bank is too far away...
Really, in a sprawled-out area like this where many people who might use food banks can't or don't drive, I think having several smaller ones makes more sense.
*And I got cut off....the fire alarms started going off. At first I heard a vague buzzing and thought "is something wrong with the Pandora transmission" and then I realized it was coming from the classroom part of the building.
So I wandered down to the office to see if anyone knew what was up. The alarms were going off down there, and there was some fairly disgusting acrid smoke in the hall.
A ballast had blown on the old light fixture in the breakroom. The person who spotted it turned the fixture out but of course we had to leave (noise and smoke). At least the firefighters got here fast but we did learn - there are NO fire alarms on my hall of the building; it was only through hearing the ones in other parts of the building I knew something was up.
(We have reported it and I expect shortly there will be much disruption and drilling as they are put in, or, worse, we're all forced to move office somewhere else until it can be rectified.)
I dunno. Everyone came wandering over here - we had three or four fire trucks, and campus police were here, then the Safety guy (who is also the Title IX guy and the Disabilities Concerns guy) and then someone from Physical Plant and I think the horticulturalist pulled her Gator up into the drive to see what was up.
One of my colleagues is making tiresome jokes at everyone he sees about "I TOLD you not to smoke in the bathroom!" He hasn't made one at me but that might be because he knows I will give him a hard stare if he does; I don't find that kind of thing particularly funny.
But yeah. I give an exam in 20 minutes and now I have a headache from the ozoney stuff the ballast gave off...
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