When Stubborn Wins Out

So it appears my special snowflake does not work well with anyone else.  

In a desperate attempt to get him to work without the total stress on me, they wanted me to come in today to simply sit in the room while he worked with someone else.  

For the first 1/2 hour, I took the lead and showed the other tutor how I keep him on task and working.  For the second 1/2 hour, I tried to sit back and let her lead, and for the third 1/2 hour, I left the room completely.  

When I left the room, he was more than 3/4 done with his program but, apparently, he did not work very well when I wasn't there and they were not able to complete any more work.  

ARG!!!!!!! 

I have a feeling I am going to be back to full time with him.  

When You're Good at What You Do

When I worked part time at Universal I started to notice that I was always being scheduled to close.  When I "casually" mentioned this to my team lead she said, "that's because they know when you close everything will be done and be done well." Wait...What? That did not seem fair.  

But, it seems to be the prevailing theme in my life lately and, being only human, it sometimes proves too much of a burden for me to bear.  I've been at Huntington Learning Center for about 8 months now and I really do like it.  It is the perfect second job for me because the hours are great.  However, the way they schedule the employees is a bit unusual.  They wait to see when their clients sign up for tutor times and then will schedule the employees to cover those times.  A child might come in for six tutoring sessions and have six different tutors over the course of those sessions.  I have some kids that I work with more than others but there are just as many kids that I have only worked with one or two times.  You just never know who you will be working with until you come in for your shift.

However, the past two months, I have been scheduled with the same child EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! I have worked and it just happens to be the most difficult child the center has!  As I put it to my managers, "we get the work done but it takes every trick in my book of tricks to get there."  I don't mind this once in a while but to have to put that much effort in every single time I work was getting to be too much for me.  It all led to a big meltdown last week on Saturday when I showed up to find out that not only had they scheduled me to work 10:00-2:00 (when my availability was only till noon) BUT I also was scheduled to work with the two most difficult students back to back!!!!  

I cried right there!  I feel like, once again, I am being penalized for being good at what I do!  The boss pulled me in his office and acknowledged that it was true...that there only 3 people that can work with this student and I was one of them.  However, because they are amazing people, they have agreed to back off a bit and give me "easier" students to work with during the week. On Saturdays, I'll still be working with my "special snowflake".  

Of course, I jump over one hurdle only to be faced immediately with another.  On Friday morning I had a student join my class.  It was a transfer from within the school because she evidently is hard to handle! And why my class particularly?  I already had 16 students (now 17) when the other 2nd grades only have 15.  Here we go again...I can hear the mantra..."we'll just give 'em to Judy...she can handle it."  

I have no choice - I have to handle it.  

First Week of School is Over - Well...Sort Of

This was a very unusual first week of school and I am hoping not an indication of how the school year will go.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were normal days but on Thursday, I was greeted at the door by the director announcing that we were dealing some kind of power outage that was affecting parts of the school. 

Because the outage only affected some of the classrooms (mine was not), we were originally told to gather our students from the cafeteria and double up in the unaffected rooms.  

But not five minutes later, we were told they were sending all the students home for the day.  Again, because the outage was spotty, teachers had to stay and have a non-student work day.  By noon, we had received the news that there would also be no school on Friday for students...teachers put in another work day but we were allowed to leave at noon.  

It seems that a pipe burst in the ceiling which created a short in the wire affecting the electricity.  I don't mind the work days as long as they count as school days *which I think they will* but I will be a little less than pleased if we end up having to make up those two days.  

As far as my class this year...so far it seems pretty good.  I have some super quiet and obedient students and a couple that are going to require a little of "Ms. Koeck's training program."  But truthfully, those students end up being my favorite because, by the end of the year, I can see how far they have come.  I can look back and know that I was a part of helping them learn obedience and self-control.  

Week two ahead and because of the eclipse on Monday, we are offering excused absences to all the students so it will be interesting to see how many will show up.  

55 Years

It does not seem possible that it's been 5 years since we celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary!  

We were not able to be with them to celebrate their 55th because they are in Michigan/Wisconsin to celebrate my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary but my mom sent me this picture of them on their special day.

Wow!  They look so good!  I'm so grateful God gave me such amazing parents.  

The Stupidity Factor

Today, I received this e-mail

-- 

William G Emad

Interim Assistance General Manager,

(Operations,Maintenance,Transportation)

McCarran International Airport

285 Rodgers Pepper Lane,

Las Vegas, Nevada 89149, USA

Tel: +1 662-594-2166

Email: williamgemad@gmail.com

                                                Re: Your Abandoned 

Package For Delivery

I have very vital information to give to you, but first I must have your 

trust before I review it to you because it may cause me my job,so I need 

somebody that I can trust for me to be able to review the secret to you.

I am Mr. William G Emad, head of luggage/baggage storage facilities 

(Operations,Maintenance,Transportation) here at the McCarran 

International Airport USA. During my recent withheld package routine 

check at the Airport Storage Vault, I discovered an abandoned shipment 

from a Diplomat from Africa and when scanned it revealed an undisclosed 

sum of money in a Metal Trunk Box weighing approximately 110kg. The 

consignment was abandoned because the Contents of the consignment was 

not properly declared by the consignee as “MONEY” rather it was declared 

as personal effect to avoid interrogation and also the inability of the 

diplomat to pay for the United States Non Inspection Charges which is 

$3,700USD. On my assumption the consignment is still left in our Storage 

House here at the McCarran International air port Nevada till date. The 

details of the consignment including your name, your email address and 

the official documents from the United Nations office in Geneva are 

tagged on!!

the Trunk box.

However, to enable me confirm if you are the actual recipient of this 

consignment as the assistant director of the Inspection Unit, I will 

advise you provide your current Phone Number and Full Address, to enable 

me cross check if it corresponds with the address on the official 

documents including the name of nearest Airport around your city. Please 

note that this consignment is supposed to have been returned to the 

United States Treasury Department as unclaimed delivery due to the 

delays in concluding the clearance processes so as a result of this, I 

will not be able to receive your details on my official email account. 

So in order words to enable me cross check your details, I will advise 

you send the required details to my private email address for quick 

processing and response. Once I confirm you as the actual recipient of 

the trunk box, I can get everything concluded within 48hours upon your 

acceptance and proceed to your address for delivery.

Lastly, be informed that the reason I have taken it upon myself to 

contact you personally about this abandoned consignment is because I 

want us to transact this business and share the money 70% for you and 

30% for me since the consignment has not yet been returned to the United 

States Treasury Department after being abandoned by the diplomat so 

immediately the confirmation is made, I will go ahead and pay for the 

United States Non Inspection Fee of $3,700 dollars and arrange for the 

box to be delivered to your doorstep Or I can bring it by myself to 

avoid any more trouble but you have to assure me of my 30% share.

I wait to hear from you urgently if you are still alive and I will 

appreciate if we can keep this deal confidential. Please get back to me 

via my private Email ( williamgemad@gmail.com )for further directives:

You can call me on my telephone number and drop a message at +1 

662-594-2166

Best Regards

William G Emad.

I responded with:

"ha ha...you're joking, right?  I am not stupid."

First of all, there are at least 3 different grammatical errors in the first paragraph alone. "Cause me my job." Hmm...I think you mean cost.  "Review my secret to you" Um...I think you mean reveal?   Once was bad enough but to write it twice!  Ugh! 

Second, as per the email, "I must have your trust before I review it because it may cause me my job." And then proceeds to reveal the "secret"anyway.  For realsies?  I would NOT be someone who could be trusted with this info.  Seriously, I would call McCarren International Airport this very minute and tell them about their dishonest employee, Mr. William Emad...but I would just be wasting my time because no such person exists.  

Third,  Africa?  Enough said!  

Fourth, the address AND the zip code are wrong.  The airport is actually on Wayne Newton Blvd.  98119,  I would advise a simple google search if you are planning on running a scam...it would help to get the simple, vital information correct.

Fifth, personal e-mail?  Ha ha!  I think not!   

Sixth, um...supposedly, according to the contents of the email, my name was on the package.  Why then, did you not address me by name at the beginning of the email?  


And last, even if  (and that is a big if, especially with the personal e-mail and all) the whole business was above board, it sounds highly illegal.  Hiding money from the US Government? Oh yes..please...sign me up!!!!!   NOT.

Today I Felt Like A Complete Imbecile

Next month will mark 4 wonderful years taking Tramadol for fibromyalgia.  My current dose is 2 pills 3x a day for a total of 6 pills.  I get 180 pills per fill which equates to 30 days worth of pills.  

I last had my prescription filled on July 15 which, because July had 31 days, should have covered me until August 14.  I have NEVER taken more than 6 pills in a day so as today is August 10, I should have had 4 days of pills left for a total of 24 pills.  

But that is not what I had...I only had 9 pills left leaving me 15 pills short.  So before I went into school today, I dropped by the Publix pharmacy to have a little chat with the pharmacist.  The pharmacist wasn't there yet but the lady working made a phone call and was advised to count how many pills they had on hand to see if the missing pills were accounted for and just accidentally not dispensed. 

 Needless to say, their pill count was correct.  My response? "That doesn't surprise me.  I highly doubt it was an honest mistake."  Yes...very judgmental of me and it would come back to bite me later.  Anyway, she said she would speak with the pharmacist when he came in and see what they could do.  

By 6:00, I still had not heard from them so I stopped in again on my way home from work.  The same lady was working, recognized me, and said, "yes...we filled your prescription."  I thought she meant that they were replacing the 15 pills but when she rung it up, I realized that they went ahead and filled another 180 pills for me. This medication is outrageously expensive (thankfully I finally get prescription coverage next month) and I could not afford to pay for the full amount so I asked if I could just get the 15 for now.  She said I could but that only the pharmacist could change the already filled prescription and he was unfortunately gone for the day.  

I was ok with that and said I would just come in tomorrow to get them and then added, "and I don't think I should have to pay for them since I paid for 180 pills but obviously did not get 180 pills," and I turned and walked out.  

This evening, I decided to switch purses and there they were!  The rogue pills were at the bottom of my purse!  The cap must have come off of the bottle at some point and they must have fallen out.  (can you say idiot?)  

I called the lady at the pharmacy and told her I had found them and then, very humbly, apologized.   

(Mostly) Finished Classroom

We still have 3 full days to work in our classrooms getting everything ready for the school year - mine is pretty much finished.  I still need to buy a few small items but, overall, I consider it done.  

I will spend tomorrow getting one of the remaining 2nd classrooms ready.  There are still two openings for 2nd grade teachers and there are 0 applicants for an interview.  I hope that changes soon because, for some reason, starting the year with 30 kids in my room is not my brand of fun.