Spring semester classes have just finished week 3. Last night (starting about 4:30 p.m.) we received a big winter storm, and campus is closed today. I'm thankful I'm only missing my Instrumental lab this morning. It snowed about six inches overnight. Cypar agreed to work for a colleague today, so he got up early and ran the snowblower to get his car out of the driveway. I'm going out later to shovel the sidewalks. So far, I've answered emails, graded online quizzes, and reviewed a student's lab notebook.
I also sent one of my classes a notice that they need to improve their attitudes and their performance. There are only three in the class, all junior and senior majors. They all took my fall analytical class last semester. They know me, and they know I have high expectations of them. I understand that this is a tough time for students, and there is always a bit of rust that needs to be knocked off after a long break, so I tried to be understanding and gentle the first week or two when some students didn't watch the lecture video, or forgot when the homework was due, or whatever. But now it's week 3 and instead of getting their acts together, they seem to be less engaged and less attentive. None of them have been to a single office hour in three weeks. One seems to have copied homework answers directly from the solutions manual (which they aren't supposed to have). Two of three did not do the assignment for yesterday's class, so we had to spend half the class period on that and then we went over time trying to accomplish what needed to be done. We have two 3-hour lab periods each week, and I've watched them spend that time surfing the internet looking for jobs, watch class videos for other classes, and talk about sports. After yesterday, I decided I had to say something. I told them their behavior this week was unsatisfactory, I reminded them of the many hours during the week that they have my attention, and I told them they need to get it together because the way they are currently acting is disrespectful to me and to their classmates.
I'm glad to be back to teaching after the five week winter break. I am actually in a classroom with my nonmajors' class, with half of them on Zoom and half in person, alternating each day. That class is fun to teach, and I think at least one of the students is really enthusiastic about it, which helps. I have a handful who are taking the class "fully remote" and I told them they had to source materials and do the lab activities on their own. We'll see how that goes.
I am still plugging away on the six pairs of mittens I committed to in November. I just started the fourth pair this week. I finished the cowl for my mother's birthday and a pair of socks for my father in early January.
I started a pair of socks for Cypar and a baby blanket for my sister's second child, due in May. The blanket is a heavily cabled pattern and it has 196 stitches per row, so it's slow going. It takes me about two hours to do seven or eight rows. Also, I noticed immediately after class started that I come home a lot more tired, so I can't do much knitting in the evenings. After supper and washing up, most evenings I only last one or two hours before I am falling asleep where I sit. I try to do one repeat of the sock pattern and a few rows of mitten each night, but I don't always manage it.
We had a few more minor disasters at home. I brought home a live rat for Cody the Friday before classes started and put the carrying box on top of the recycling bin in the garage. The rat must have knocked the box over, and it fell off the bin and broke open. So then we had a domestic rat loose in the garage for several days until I could acquire some traps and catch it. Luckily, it only chewed a little insulation off one of our extension cords and didn't do more damage. I felt very guilty about the whole thing. It was my fault for putting the box on the bin instead of on the floor, and instead of being eaten by my python it was hungry and cold in the garage until I killed it with a trap.
Another morning our furnace came on and cycled on and off for an hour. I knew that wasn't normal and I had Cypar call the HVAC people we use. It turned out to be a dirty air filter that was easy to replace, and I felt kind of dumb because it cost us money to have the tech come to the house just to tell us to replace the air filter.
After that, the bathtub drain stopped draining. We tried the drain opening chemicals and the hand snake, but couldn't fix it, so the plumber had to come and he ended up replacing the whole drain pipe. Which was expensive. But now the drain works. As a bonus, the plumber replaced the old tub stopper which didn't work with a new one, so now a person could actually have a bath! The plumber also installed that hot water shut off valve under our kitchen sink that I needed in December. Cypar and I used the sketchy shower in the basement for a couple of days while waiting for the plumber, and it's nice to know we have that backup in time of need.
One neat thing that has happened lately is that I discovered our local Buy Nothing group through Facebook. This local group is really active, and while most of the stuff they have to give away is not of interest to me (kid's clothes, tchotchkes, some old furniture), I appreciate what they are trying to do. People in our group are also offering a lot of food, homemade soups and cakes as well as packaged things, especially for people who can't get out. I've seen them offer to pick up groceries for others, offer rides to the doctor, and shovel each other's sidewalks. I got my rat traps from someone in the group, and I've given away a couple of things so far.
