Fourth Period Begins

Oh god, it's only the beginning of fourth period. It seems to be a never-ending day of drudgery and boredom. The reason for that is that it has come to be the time of year for me to be consumed with keeping the list of which kids owe what to the school before they can graduate or move up a year, and I am focused on that, but it's an off-day, so I don't have much business, which is to say, not many kids coming to clear what they owe today. Yet I can't get involved in any other chore that requires thought or room on my desk, because I have to be ready to accept cash/books/notes from the nurse or cafeteria at any moment. So far today, I have refined my system of paperwork for this nonsense, have double-checked one thing against another to make sure no kid is listed as owing something that's been paid for, and have called a half dozen kids out of homeroom to clear stuff up (which they mostly did, because we have mostly nice kids.)

It's also that time of year when teachers are sending kids to the library without passes all day, kids are staying here for two or three periods in a row and hiding out in corners where I can't find them, and not signing in, so it's an administrative nightmare. Everybody's finishing up final projects or showing final presentations, and there aren't enough computers in the school. In any given period, I have a class in the library classroom (24 computers), another class in the library's main room (16 computers) and 20 to 30 kids coming in with passes from class (if I'm lucky) to use computers, most of whom I have to send back because their teachers didn't think to call me first and see if there was any room. Attendance-wise, all I can do is remind everyone to sign in when they get here, and hope that nothing troubling comes up, like the office is looking for a kid who can't be found.

After today, there are only three more regular school days. Final exams start on Wednesday, so that's four half days, followed by a full day for no reason, and then a half day with graduation at night. As you can see, our computer network isn't the only thing in school designed by monkeys.

Excuse me for a moment ...

Back from a Crohn's break ... more at home.

Home, and with a haircut I'm very happy with. I won't be able to get it to look like this tomorrow morning, but it's exactly what I want. I guess after 17 years, Ray either reads my mind or understands the nonsense I'm spouting when I tell him what I want.

Tomorrow is Friday; isn't that nice?





watching THE GOLDEN GIRLS :: ENTRY #2064
READING: American Lion: Andrew Jackson by Jon Meacham