Today went non-stop from 6:00am when I woke myself up, to school around 8:00am, to errands (including a laundry delivery to ‘s house) until 5:45pm, to dinner and library duty until around until 9:45pm, when I took off my tie and sat down to call my sweetie. That’s a long-ass day. I covered for one of Ben’s classes, covered the library, and shopped for food for the camp-out with Pat afterward. I have been home and ‘off-call’ about 49 minutes today, and I’m wiped.

I have a visitor from another school coming in tomorrow to observe my classes. I have no time to prep. I’m screwed.

It sounds like Ben had a good time at this technology conference. I wish I could have gone. I’m not sure what it says about school, but it’s odd that I have three teachers willing to cover for my history class and none for either of my English classes. Of course, both English classes are the groups that need the most additional support and attention, but it may simply be that there aren’t enough teachers available during those slots to teach, much less cover for colleagues. I also noticed that my request to slip out of school 20 minutes early for a doctor’s appointment was basically passed over, if only because the kid I tutor last period on THursdays was never assigned to go elsewhere. Pat asked why I didn’t just send them all to study hall? I could have gone to the conference then.

Why didn’t I just send them to study hall?

I think it comes back to something Ben said. 90% of our job involves dealing with the kids, and that’s great. The other 10% involves dealing with adults, and that is great or otherwise, depending on peculiar circumstances.

Wrote that last night. Got so busy I couldn’t get back to the computer to push Update Journal. That’s my life these days.

From the New York Times this morning:

Mr. Wilkerson suggested that the dysfunction within the administration was so grave that “if something comes along that is truly serious, truly serious, something like a nuclear weapon going off in a major American city, or something like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that will take you back to the Declaration of Independence.”

“What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues,” he said.

I have to admit, I don’t know this guy Wilkerson from Adam. But I’m re-reading Ben Franklin’s Rules by which a Great Empire may be transformed to a small one, and seeing his comment this morning about ineptitude and returning to the Declaration… well, it’s ugly in my head this morning. Ugly, I tell you.

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