Day 8 - the WHO names Omicron a “variant of concern”
Administering the Final in a brick-and-mortar classroom as Omicron rages on…
12/2/21. Thursday
9:00-10:00 – I. am. exhausted. I check my phone and B. texted that he is going to stop by around 11:00.
10:00-10:30 – I go downstairs to greet the dog and she’s lying on the ottoman, tail wagging. I see that she moved from the love seat so I check the slip covers and see strange, mashed up red fruit in several areas. Maybe that’s why she moved to the ottoman? I rub her tummy several times – she was a great watch dog last night! – and we go outside where I wait for her to do her business. Return inside and I make a cup of coffee and give her some cheese. I pull the slipcover off the couch and take it upstairs so I can wash it.
10:30-11:00 – Shower. Lotion. Batik leggings and a long, black fitted shirt. Light make-up. I listen to The Daily.
11:30-1:00 – B arrives with a peppermint hot chocolate. He says he unplugged his phone last night because he was getting too many telemarketing calls.
B. asks me to relay what happened last night and I give him a verbal account. He leaves.
1:00-2:00 – I make scrambled eggs with vegan cheese, then pack my lunch bag for today.
2:00-4:30 – I go to BevMo, pull out money from the ATM for my therapy session, and stand in an insane line at Home Goods in order to purchase gourmet Keurig cups. Return home and I put everything away. I listen to Maintenance Phase.
4:30-5:30 – I check email at Colleges No. 1 and 2 . My suicide student is back, sending numerous emails, one after the other. In one email, she confesses that she did not study during our time off [3 weeks – Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and I took a day off] and it’s possible she may do poorly on the Final. I’m beyond caring at this point.
5:30-7:00 – Driving. Traffic is horrible and I barely arrive on time. I listen to The Political Gabfest.
7:00-10:00 – There are only THREE people left in this F2F class and these THREE idiots [well, one of them is an OSD student who brought her dog the first day and whom I genuinely like] actually reported to class to hear me lecture in person instead of listening to the exact same, pre-recorded lectures on Canvas. I will never understand…what are they doing here? They know the lectures are also on Canvas!
Typically, there would be FOUR students in the class, but one of the students emailed me that he has Covid and will be following along online. Wow - my students are literally dropping like flies…contracting Covid left and right while the weekly report at College No. 1 says 0. I already know three of my students were “slain” this week…these updates are a joke. That’s why the motto for the 2021/2022 school year at this college is Best of Intentions. Does that sound ominous [Omicron?] or what? I can picture our stupid college President announcing, “Losing several staff members to Covid is a tragedy, but we truly had the “best of intentions.” This motto is so dumb.
-I lecture on Chapters 13 and 14, play one last podcast, then administer the Final. I take this time to update Attendance for my classes at College No. 2 and prepare the Discussion Board prompt for my highschoolers tomorrow morning. I also adjust course content.
-My suicide student emails me, demanding extra time on the Final and screaming that she is entitled to it. She wants 90 minutes to complete her Final instead of the standard 60 minutes that the rest of the students have. No. The extra time is built in for everybody, bitch. Most students complete the 50-question, multiple choice Final in 20 minutes…yes, it’s that easy. So, I tripled the time frame for ALL my students. Since everyone gets extra time, you’re NOT entitled to extra, extra time on top of the extra time I gave everybody else. We’ve already had this discussion about the Midterm.
-The suicide student sends back-to-back emails – which I dutifully answer in real time – accusing me of not responding to her emails. I reply that she has emailed me SIX times, in the time span of TWO hours, and I have responded to EVERY email that she sent. After all the accusations…the veiled threats…the extra time it has taken from my professional life to respond to her constant inane requests and emails…after all of the concessions I have given and all of the accommodations I have made, after ACCUSING me of not responding to her most recent six emails when I assert that I did respond…and so much more…she simply writes back ”Ok.” What does that even mean?
-The Final rolls on. I take Attendance for this class and continue updating course content for my highschoolers tomorrow.
-The suicide student finishes taking the Final and asks me if she still has an A in the class. Check the gradebook, you dumb bitch! where your semester grade automatically posted the moment you completed the Final.
The ‘piece de resistance’? I have one F2F asshole who’s been working on the Final for the last 2 hours. Repeat: this is an exam that most students finish in 20 minutes. I was certain that I would get out of here by 9:30…at 9:00, the student finishes, but remains seated at the back of the class, telling me how much he liked my teaching style, with his mask pulled down to his chin the entire time. Please leave. I learn that he is 50-years-old and returning to college was a struggle for him. You’re 50?! Then you should know better. Pull your mask up for Christ’s sake…and get the fuck out of here. At 10:00, he finally exits the classroom.
10:15-11:15 – I leave, walk to my car, and drive home. I listen to Fresh Air and eat apple slices on the way home.
11:15-1:00 – Home and B. is “standing guard”, having arrived at 10:00 to hang out in case “Bill” or the suspect returns.
1:00-2:00 – B. leaves and makes one last check of the exterior perimeter after exiting my house. Nothing. I sit in my chair and put my feet up for just one minute…and wake up an hour later.
2:00-3:00 – I change into work-out attire and try to do an Insanity-Sweat workout, but end up tapping out after 20 minutes.
3:30-4:00 – Nighttime routine. Bed.