Within the past 12 hours, life has gone both good and bad. Do the goods outnumber the bads? I hope so.

Good: Laptop and laptop decals arrived in Germantown.
Bad: UPS tried to deliver Laptop while I was at work.
Good: Laptop retrieved from UPS successfully.
Good: Laptop Decals successfully retrived from DHL.
Good: Joint writing occurred last evening.
Bad: Realized allergies were really a cold - or worse.
Good: McDonalds for breakfast.
Bad: Breakfast spills on white shirt.
Bad: Having to wear a sweater all day - an 85 degree day.
Good: Copies for class successfully made.
Good: Calculator numbers delivered to Department Aide.
Bad: Quizzes still not graded.
Good/Bad: Betty goes on vacation. (good for her, bad for me. XD )
Good: I get the keys to Betty's blog.
Good: Jenny is back from hiatus.

Goods: 9
Bads: 5
Mixed: 1

Hrmmmm. Let's hope this trend continues for the rest of the day, eh?

Update! The white - which I attempted to clean - is mostly dry now and doesn't look so bad! I can wear it! Horray! So - one less bad and one more mixed. YAY! (=

Posted by: Pandora - 09.14.2005 - 7:09am - Permalink - Comments (2)
Posted in: Real Life

. . . it's back to work I go . . .

Yes, yes. That is correct. I, the laziest person on this planet over the summer months of the DC area, am once more part of the working force. Yes, once more, I must arise from my bed before the sun has even thought about rising, dress, pet the cat, and go into work. So sad.

Why so early? I am, as some of you know, a math teacher at a local high school. Yes. I said teacher. Yes, I said math. And I like it. So - mleh! ::makes faces::

Although the kids returned to school this past Monday, the 29th of August, I went back to work last Monday, the 22nd of August. Lots of planning, copying, and room organizing to be done, you know.

And I'm actually not quite done. We had insane meetings last week. Meetings for the whole faculty. Meetings for the departments. Meetings for the subjects. Training meetings on information I already knew. (Yes, that was annoying as hell. Don't get me started. Or do - your ears. (; ) The amount of time we had to just be in our rooms and set up the things and do planning for ourselves and copying and whatnot - not nearly enough. Fortunately, it seems the IC - instructional council - knows how we feel and will make changes for next year. Yay.

The week has not actually been too bad so far. Let's run down what I've got.
Five classes, like all 'normal' teachers. I am teaching three Precalculus classes and two Algebra II classes. Yes, I miss my honors students, but it's okay. There are enough of my previous Honors Geometry and Honors Algebra II students now in regular Precalculus to keep me from pulling my hair out. :grins:: Each class on its own is actually pretty good so far. I mean student wise. IE: the students in it, the way those students interact with both me and their peers, their math levels, their motivation levels. We'll see how it goes.

For your information, here's the schedule, so if I moan about this period or that period, you know what's going down.

Period 1 - Planning
Period 2 - Precalculus
Period 3 - Algebra II
Period 4 - Precalculus
Period 5 - Planning
Period 6 - Precalculus
Period 7 - Planning
Period 8 - Algebra II

I don't know how I feel about being 'off' first period yet. I've never had that before and I am finding it quite strange. I get a lot done - but it's just weird to me yet. I'm sure I will be loving it (read: needing it so bad it hurts) eventually.

So - that's the basics. Anything more would need an extended entry and I'm too lazy for now. I think tomorrow I'll toss in the details of today's Junior Planning meeting when I run down tomorrow night's 'Back to School' event. (Oh, that's a joy. XD )

Posted by: Pandora - 08.31.2005 - 10:08pm - Permalink - Comments (0)
Posted in: Real Life

I thought about saving this for Monday - but that's too far and I'm just really irritated by it. Mergh.

So, in the meltdown I talked about the 'hoodlums' running around near me that vandalized my driver's side mirror. Bleh. May their fingers cramp and keep them from relieving their frustrations - if you know what I mean.

Rant inside. Crack it open, you know you want to do it.


Anyway - I took the car to the Honda dealer this afternoon so they might look at it and fix it. I like this Honda dealer because they have a 'courtesy' van that will drive you home and pick you up so you do not have to wait at the dealership for your car's repairs to be completed. Very cool.

Not cool - the shuttle driver saying Armegeddon is coming, that the floods and wildfires which have recently occurred - ie: Hurricane Katrina doing a number on New Orleans - are written in the 'Good Book' and the end is coming. Er - okay, believe what you will, but please, please, please, don't torture poor, little me with it just because I am your captive audience. I understand the guy fervently believes the end is nigh - but I don't. So, suffice it to say I was more than slightly uncomfortable.

Also not cool - having to wait for an hour for the shuttle to come and get me once I get the phone call that the car was ready and waiting for me to come get it. Yes, I know there are lots of people to shuttle, but the dealership is about five minutes from my house. That's it. Not to mention that it took 45 minutes from the time of the call from the service guy to when the shuttle driver called to see where I lived.

Gah. Irritating. Because I was waiting to have my dinner until I got the call. I was told it wouldn't take more than an hour to diagnose the car and then fix it - if it was fixable. I dropped the car off at 4:40 pm. Got the call the car was done at 7pm. Shuttle driver picked me up at about 8:15pm. When did I finally get to eat? 8:45pm. Keep in mind - the last meal I had was at about 1:00pm. Starving much? Oh yes. Grrr.

OH! And then there were the IDIOTS at the Honda dealer. They were doing SOMETHING to a car there. Inspecting it, checking it out, I don't know what. But they were parked in the road that connects the service building to the service road that connects Honda to the main drag there. And they had the driver's side door hanging open. And the lady saw me wanting to get by. She *stared* at my car for a full minute. And then proceeded to ignore me and talk to the guy she was with. And I'm left there going - are you fucking MORONS or what? So, I edge my car around. There's another car against the curb. There's just enough space for me to drive past. So - I'm not as pissed as I *could* have been . . .

But there is just the one thought reverberating in my brain . . .

Why didn't the moron guy who was AT the driver's side door - CLOSE the damn thing?!
I mean, it's not like you can MISS my car. It's a Honda Accord and the HEADLIGHTS were on. HELLO?! How are these two people functioning members of society?!

UGH.

I bet you they've spawned too.

Goddess save us all . . . .

Posted by: Pandora - 08.31.2005 - 10:08pm - Permalink - Comments (3)
Posted in: Real Life

It's a sad, sad day in the house of Evanescing. A very sad day. ::sigh::
The only upside is - I was right. Very poor comfort. Poor comfort indeed.

Here's the situation. Last June, I bought a laptop from Dell. It has worked beautifully for me for the past year. Now, as you know, standard warranties are for a year from purchase date. June 9, 2004 - June 9, 2005, the laptop worked perfectly fine. Of course it did. Come the end of June - it stopped recognizing the power adapter. Would only run on battery power. My mother had recently purchased a Dell laptop. So I go to mom's and try her power adapter. My laptop complained it wasn't the correct power adapter - but it worked. Charged the battery and ran on AC power. And my laptop's power adapter ran my mother's computer. Weird - but it worked.

I visited my mother at the end of July - and it stopped working. My laptop would not see her power adapter. Hers will recognize mine still, though we get the message 'the power adapter isn't correct and the battery will not charge.' But the laptop will draw on the AC power.

Conclusion? My power adapter works fine - there's something else wrong.

What happened when I contacted Dell about the problem?

Dell: The power adapter is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Me: My mother's Dell laptop runs on the old adapter.
Dell: The problem is with the power adapter. I'll transfer you to Sales so you can order a new one.
Me: Fine. I'll do it your way.

So I do. And does it work? Hell no. ::sigh::

*I* was right, stupid Dell tech support on email were wrong. Very cold comfort indeed.

I called tech support this evening - as I received the new adapter today - and talked to a very nice young man named Brett. He was very helpful - though I basically managed to stump the poor boy.

His bottom line was that there was a problem not with the port where the adapter plugs in, but with the motherboard itself. Most likely a short in the wiring. Lovely. What does that mean for me? New motherboard is 800 dollars. Why? It's no longer under warranty. Stopped working abotu three weeks after warranty expired. Now, he also said I could buy a new warranty, which could cost up to 300 dollars depending on the warranty I purchase, but the system would have to be recertified first. That runs 300 dollars.

In short - I can spend 600 dollars or 800 dollars for them to replace the motherboard, and that's most likely still not a guarantee.

How much is a new laptop these days? Yes, you know it, barely more than that.

Congratulations to me! I am the proud owner of an 1100 dollar, 11lb paperweight.
HORRAY! I'm so EXCITED!

(If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sulk . . . . )

Posted by: Pandora - 08.23.2005 - 10:08pm - Permalink - Comments (3)
Posted in: Real Life

So, those of you that visit me on IRC (ha, I don't think any of you do. XD) - you know it's not been exactly a good week for me so far. I've been moody and pissy, generally just not fun to be around.

Or - maybe you just didn't notice at all. I tend to get like that. All the 'MEH' stays inside and things are just 'fine'. Most of y'all know where I am on this one. I'm sure you do.

But - anyway. I took the day off from IRC, to wallow in my self-pity. Hey. Vacation is over. I'm allowed. Besides, once school starts, I won't have time. (;

Then, as is bizarrely normal in my life, reality called. No, really. It called me on the phone. In the form of my Sis. Yes, my Sis. I love her to death, but she NEVER calls me. Ever. She rarely sends me an IM. So - getting a phone call from Sis at all was weird.

So - picture this. I'm lounging on the sofa, watching MASH. No, not in my pajamas. I *DID* at least get dressed today. Pffft. As if I'd wallow in self-pity in my pajamas. (Okay, okay. I refuse to go get the mail in my pajamas, so I had to get dressed.) Just lounging around with the cat. Sis calls. And it goes a little something like this.

Me: Hey?
Sis: Hey. So - uh - what are you doing, like, today or tomorrow?
(At this point, I'm wondering if she's in town and wants food or something. My family does weird stuff like that.)
Me: I don't know, why?
Sis: Mom got fired.
Me: SAY WHAT?! *eye phone with strange, disbelieving stare*
Sis: Mom got fired from work.
Me: What the hell for?
Sis: Surfing on the internet.
(Okay, let me break in again to say that Mom is not your standard office jockey. She's not a secretary. She's an RN/CCRN currently working in an office on OTHER things. I don't remember the details exactly. I believe she was originally hired to oversee some education classes for the staff.)
Me: You are KIDDING, right?
Sis: No. She was looking up travel stuff for her trip.
Me: Freakin' Christ.

Anyway. There was more, but - jesus god. If there is ANYTHING I know, it's that my mother would not need to be FIRED over that. For the love of Christ, she is the hardest working person I know. I mean, you'd think they'd WARN her. When I was working as a temp - a FUCKING TEMP - I got the warning when I got caught. (In my defense, I wasn't 'surfing' so much as trying to get my favorite radio station to stream while I worked. But it's hard to tell the lady who just tapped on your shoulder that. It creeps you out to get that tap.)

So - those of you who know me well know there's a trip SOUTH in my immediate future. I don't think Mom has been fired in her LIFE. Resigned, quit - yes. Fired? Never. (To my knowledge.)

This is not right. Course, they've really been looking for a reason to fire her. But - honestly. This has got to be the STUPIDEST thing I have EVER heard in my life. EVERYone should get the 'dont' do that at work' lecture before they get fired. And if it was her LUNCH HOUR - who the FUCK cares? GAH.

So - yeah.

Self-pity: 0
Reality: 40000000000000

Score is exaggerated - but, seriously, when I start to sink into the morass of my petty problems, life generally gives me that kick that says, you IDIOT. Your life is NOT that bad.

Posted by: Pandora - 08.17.2005 - 8:08pm - Permalink - Comments (2)
Posted in: Real Life