bicycles, birds, baddies

It was a beautiful morning for a bicycle ride today, and that's exactly what we did. Really feels like spring has sprung. While tooling through a particulary ritzy neighborhood - visiting how the other half lives - we came upon 4 or 5 wild turkeys.

Although rare, I've come across wild turkeys within the city limits before, but this particular "rafter" (had to look that up) of turkeys included comparatively large and quite lovely birds. Others have seemed scraggly and weak looking. 

I slowed a bit to take in this healthy bird crew as a pickup came up behind us. So I moved on along to not block the pickup, but then pickup guy pulled alongside of us and asked, 

"Didja see the turkeys?! They're HUUUUGE!"

The group let out a good gobble-gobble, just to show off, as we carried on our way. 

Shortly afterward, a lone blue heron gave us a flyby, and a while later, a pod (google again) of pelicans gracefully circled overhead. A morning of bicycles and birds it was.

I have no photos of these majestic bird sightings. Know that I at least momentarily considered pulling over and getting pics, but talked myself out of it. 

I didn't experience the local "Hands Off" rally first hand yesterday, but heard that it was peaceful. However, later in the afternoon, we got several news reports of a "possible gang-associated" shooting at the local mall with a suspect on the run. 

So that was news for our sleepy, relatively low-crime city. Authorities were still looking for a suspect when we went to bed.

Around 4:30 this morning, I was awakened by what sounded like someone knocking on our glass door or one of our windows. About 6 knocks, followed by a pause and 4 more knocks followed by a pause and 2 more knocks in quick succession. 

A disconcerting sound, certainly. But then I figured if someone was knocking on one of our windows or doors, the dogs would be going bananas, which they most certainly were not.

"Hmmm, it's probably gun shots or fireworks", I figured, which made it strangely seem less disconcerting. 

No news of it today other than from Ring neighbors and Nextdoor people who were similarly awakened and wondering, so it was likely fireworks.

Fireworks are illegal in Colorado, but not so in Wyoming, which is about a 45-minute drive from here. So we get firework shooters year-round and learn to just go back to sleep.

Anyway, we learned that the police identified and arrested a suspect in the mall murders - yes, both victims died. Some teenager. Under 18. WTF.

on track

It was good to be back to the "normal" schedule this week, with students back after spring break. Catching up with tutees, many stuck around and just enjoyed the break, while others took advantage and went somewhere fun. 

• I've been wondering about Thor this week. He is not one of my tutor students as I am just his designated scribe, but I typically see him every day in the tutoring center. I haven't seen him at all this week, nor have I heard anything about scheduling his next math test.

• Another of my students is currently battling cancer. She's one of the nicest people you'd meet, intelligent and hard working too. Always has a smile and positive temperment. Makes my minor gripes seem silly.

• Another student has a neurological "condition". I'm curious to know more, and he'd probably tell me if I asked, but it feels wrong to ask. He often reports to me about recent seizures - "about one every coupla weeks" - and yesterday, he showed me his new watch. It's meant to alert him, and others around him, when he's about to have a seizure.

I've considered what I'd do if a seizure comes on during tutoring, and I think I'll be able to react appropriately. So far, so good. I will say that his math skills are sharp as a tack. I think his parents chose to sign him up for tutoring mainly to keep him on track with his assignments, but once we get passed the chit chat, our sessions are mostly me just watching him do everything correctly. 

Speaking of smart watches, I'm liking my new toy purchase from last weekend.  It's a little too "Mother Hen", though, a la:

What is this "harder training up ahead"? What does it know that I don't??

And speaking of coaching, there's a shakeup at the nearby high school. Ten of the twelve track and field coaches (why were there so many to begin with?) were abruptly fired earlier this week.

The only explanation so far is that they "violated district policy". And the official statement also included "no students were involved". 

Piecing together from the rumor mill, it sounds to me that all ten were drinking, most likely during a track event/meet. If so, then yeah, I can see the abrupt canning of the bunch. Student safety is the coach's responsibility during an out-of-school activity.

I feel bad for the track kids, though. Their season JUST started. C'mon, adults, actions have consequences. I wonder how they were found out?

I'm sure more details will come out eventually. 

carriers and ducks

On Saturday, we went to that big honkin' sporting goods store, SCHEELS. Apparently, it's so big, we're supposed to write it in all caps.  

I'd only been there once before, and that was mainly a field trip of sorts to check out the big honkin' sporting good store "everyone" was talking about. We spent a good amount of time there on that visit, just gawking. Didn't purchase anything.

Saturday, I was there to pick up an activity tracker/ fitness watch I purchased online for store pickup. I've never had one, hadn't felt the need. I still don't really feel the need, but I was talking to Chaco last week, and he was telling me about the one he recently got and how much he liked it. I was sold. Mine is not as fancy as his, but good enough for my old lady years.

I got a new phone a little while back. It's bigger than the old phone. Bulky when "fitnessing" about. The watch is a very nice alternative. 

I happen to belong to a running group on facebook. A question that often (sadly) comes up is for women runners - how to protect yourself when running alone on a remote trail or after dark/ before sunrise? 

I've been somewhat surprised to see that a good 80% or more of the women who respond claim they have a concealed carry permit, and carry their gun while running. 

My first thought is, "sheesh, talk about bulky". 

While at SCHEELS, out of curiosity, I searched and checked out the wall of gun toting holsters, belts, belly bands and such - mainly geared toward women. I'm not in the market. 

FYI, most of the other respondents who aren't toting a gun say they run with their big dogs. The last category would be women like me who stick to safe routes, don't wear earbuds, and rely on their wits. I've never had any trouble *knocks on wood*. I think there are plenty others in that group as well who, like me, don't bother to respond.

Speaking of safe places, I snapped these ducks during a recent run when I still carried my big bulky phone. Spring looks to be springing, and there will be baby ducks soon.

chewing

I've cleaned our floors, washed the car, and laundered the winter jackets. Short of sacrificing a virgin, I don't know of other strategies to help bring on some precipitation, so now we wait.

I'm enjoying this taste of spring break, which will come to an end for me Thursday as I'm scheduled to work a shift at the testing center. One of my more dedicated tutees still wants to meet online this afternoon, while the rest of the bunch has opted for the week off. I'm not complaining about the light schedule.

I'm assuming the testing center will be quieter than usual with the students out this week. As such, maybe I'll get a chance to have that talk with Boss about my future employment there. 

My testing schedule now is pretty sparse and inflexible. When Buzz transferred over from a different campus and then Kitty returned from family leave, I took that opportunity to increase my tutoring and decrease the testing. Once the tutoring schedule is set, it's set for the semester.

Now after Star has moved on to a better place, Boss is feeling the void she left. Let's just say that neither Buzz nor Kitty are the most robust of workers. That, along with Blossom's frequent absences, leaves Boss overworked and stressed.

He'd be justified in hiring another part-timer, but with me and my skimpy schedule, can he offer someone else enough hours to make it worth their while? We've had others with skimpy schedules before, again, because of outside obligations. So, I'm pretty sure he'll continue with me if I want to, but I don't want to if it's more of a hindrance than a help, y'know?

Then there's Thor. 

As of now, I'm the only amensui...  emenuens... amensui... scribe on tap for his (lengthy, exhausting...) exams. As much as I'm opposed to there not being a plan B and other easily available scribes, if I jump ship before the semester's end, that would leave Thor and the disability support team scrambling to get someone else. Doable, but unsavory.

Oh well, just ruminating 

Meanwhile, doesn't look like there'll be any rain today. 

if you leave

Happy spring break! One week off for the college kids. The testing center is still open , though, so I'm expected for my two shifts. Fine.

This week, we felt the effects of Star's leaving the testing center. We have just enough staff now, so if someone is out sick (happened Monday) or if someone is off scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student (me, yesterday), the void is quite obvious.

Boss was rather frazzled when I returned from Thor's test yesterday. He and Kitty were the sole holders down of the fort for most of the afternoon. I was a bit frazzled after scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student. Kitty was frazzled because she's still getting back up to speed after her recent return from family leave. In short, the frazzled three stayed late to get everything caught up.

I haven't yet had the "should I stay or should I go?" discussion with Boss because it's been... well, too busy.

On a related note, I learned a new word this week: amenuensis

"a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority.

In some academic contexts, an amanuensis can assist an injured or disabled person in taking written examinations.

Hmm, our documentation shows "scribe". Does an amenuensis make better pay? Syllable based pay?

No epic plans for the break at my end. Maybe do some spring cleaning, as that's always a good time. 

Last night, we watched the movie, [Metal Lords]. Typical plot of high school outcasts banding (literally) together and finding meaningful relationships. 

Not bad, often cute. About an hour and a half of not having to think too much. It's humorous, but also touches upon bullying, rebellion, and mental illness.

One of my tutees this week told me she's looking forward to her psychiatrist appointment on Monday. 

"I haven't taken any meds for two months!", she excitedly revealed.

"Oh? And you're feeling good?", I asked.

"No, not at all!", she replied, wide-eyed and smiling.

ADHD, not for me.

shooting star and a limp biscuit

Lately, I've been contemplating how much longer I wish to stay on working at the testing center. I've been slowly increasing my tuting while simultaneously decreasing the testing. They are two distinct positions at the college - two different bosses, two different pay buckets. 

I'm now down to two short shifts per week in testing plus the Saturday rotations. I enjoy tutoring more, which does coincidentally pay a little better. I'm coming up on four years at the testing center. It was the job that got me in the door at the college, and I picked up the math tutoring later, after getting to know some of the "math people". 

I'm actually a bit surprised at how many students sign up for in-person tutoring with all the other resources at their disposal. But there seems to be no shortage of requests, and I can seemingly add more hours at any time.

Test administration is fine, but truth be told, there is little to no creativity in that job. I do enjoy my coworkers. All of us part timers are similar in that we have other things going on, and don't wish to work in testing full time. All of us except for Star.

Star, as I've mentioned before, is young, intelligent, hard-working, without many obligations outside of work. It was a mystery to me as to why she was languishing at this part-time job, and now I get it. I get it, because she's announced she's leaving to accept a full time admin offer from a nearby medical research center. I realize she was building up her administrative experience to enable her to move on to bigger and better things.

So, good for her! Her last day working with us was yesterday, and it was certainly bittersweet. I'll miss her but I'm super happy for her. 

Thursday morning, I arrived for my short shift to find Sarge running around, still getting things set up while testers were starting to show up.

"You opened by yourself?", I asked

"Yeah, Boss texted", he explained, "Biscuit (Boss's cat) lost the use of his back legs. Boss is taking him to the kitty ER"

Well, that didn't sound good. Sure enough, Boss texted us a short time later. Biscuit had a big ol' stroke, so Boss had him put down and sent for aquamation, a process I was unfamiliar with before Biscuit.

Bottom line, it's probably not the best time to tell Boss I'm gonna leave.

In other news, the PEO year came to a close and the new year has begun. I agreed to stay on as Prez for one more year. ONE more. Magnum and I visited the big greenhouse down the road last weekend, and I picked up these little plants of appreciation for the other officers from the past year.

They are drought resistant, we'll see how long we can keep them alive.

New slate of officers heading back to the philanthropy trenches:

polar vortex and stirring the pot at the library

"I'm so dumb, I think I'm smart"

A student made that remark about himself last week. We chuckled a bit, but I was thinking, "well... he's not wrong..." I don't think he realizes how far in over his head he is. 

Meanwhile, I asked the Mom/ wife/ student tutee how her day "off" with the kids went. Not well. She took them to the library, thinking she'd get in some study time, but EVERYBODY took their kids to the library that day, since there was no school and it was fffffrrrrrreeeeezing outside. 

"Do you just not sleep?", I asked her.

"Well, no, I guess", she answered, "since I have to get all this done and still have time to fight with my husband!" 

Priorities.

I worked today at the testing center since my turn came up for Saturday rotation. I worked with Kitty. Remember Kitty? Coworker of last summer's shotgun wedding?

Kitty had her baby a few months ago, and came back to work in January. Kitty is a fun, rather laid back coworker. Almost too laid back sometimes, as she's not the hardest worker, but she holds her own okay. 

She's so laid back, I wondered how she'd be at home with a baby, requiring much upkeep. Thankfully, she seems to really be thriving in her new familial role. She mentioned that she and her husband are enjoying parenthood so much, they're sort of  toying with the idea of having another baby. She's in her late 30's, so I was assuming she'd be a one-and-done, but hey, who knows?

Meanwhile, the college library - which also functions as part of the city library system - is renovating its bathrooms. Going all-gender with locking stalls. I'm sure it will ruffle some feathers, already has actually. In  the meantime, they've set up a temporary bathroom outside of the library, so of course, I had to check it out and reflect. 

It sits out back, next to the observatory

Honestly, the experience was not too shabby. I mean, it's not Buc-ee's but I've certainly inhabited worse facilities. The loo was about twice the size of a typical passenger airline bathroom, which isn't saying much. But it was heated and very clean and well stocked  - I'm guessing because hardly anyone uses it since there are other buildings where one can have such needs met

Meanwhile, we finally emerged from the latest polar vortex. I walked home while it was in the upper 40's, and it felt downright hot after the past several days. 

The cat got his sunbeam back and doesn't look to be giving it up anytime soon.