Infatuation

I think I forgot what it feels like to be infatuated with a man at the beginning of a relationship. I read other blogs (none which are listed on my blogroll) and think, "Why is this person moving so damned fast? Is the world ending and nobody told me?" Perhaps, I am feeling a little bit more content with my status, and although I experience loneliness, it's not any less than a person who's in a relationship anyway.

I don't like to pass judgment on others, but I don't get this whole idea of people moving so fast, crashing and burning, and then pondering why they are still single. I know why I am single: I don't put myself out there enough. But I do know that once I do, physically and figuratively, that I will meet someone.

I guess I just had to write that out. It's been plaguing me for a while.

And now for a word from our sponsor...

I have no words...

Except that I do. I feel like I am on Punked. How else can I describe the clusterfuck that occurred this morning with this student?

She has already been busted for plagiarizing. I put a post up under Announcements describing plagiarism. As usual, no one pays attention because all of them didn't reference their sources correctly. But she has already been busted because her thesis statement was plagiarized. I know, I know... If you were any common sense person, you would think, "She's not going to pass at this rate, so I should just save us all the trouble and fail her." This student actually had a C-, which she kept complaining about. I know. The nerve!

Last week, she calls my cellphone, and leaves a message stating that I "frustrate her" and she is "not going for her master's" (as if that has anything to do with why she's so fucking lazy!) and that I am "destroying her learning experience." Oh yes she did!

So I go into her bio to see what's the deal with this woman. Ok, she's a year older than me, works in the healthcare field as a CSR, and her bio was well-written. So you know what I am thinking? Too busy to do assignments so copies and pastes from the internet. Now, quoting a few references is cool. But this bitch turns in her assignment.

Ready for this?

85 - yes 85% of it - not hers. But, it gets better. Last night, she sent me her plagiarism report, which showed that 45% of it was not her work but it was cited. Ok, so you're proud that almost half of your paper is from other sources? She said she felt that since she hadn't been in school for 19 years, she thought it was pretty good. This is when I realized, "She doesn't care. And neither do I." I plug in a few more sentences into the ultimate plagiarism checker - Google - and now it's at 85% plagiarized.

Yeah. She's failing the course.

Oh I get it...

I'm the bad guy, I'm the bad guy!

The verdict: bitch or not?

The case:
I am a pretty harsh person. My nieces and nephew are usually very disciplined by me when they are around me. Well, I try to. I am not sure if I set them up for failure. Last night, my niece was being a bit of a shit. Whining, crying, for no reason. Well, she believed she had a reason. She wanted to take this "My size" Barbie that one of my cousins gave her to her house, but my sister didn't want any more toys. Anyway.

We are eating and I said, "Whoever can finish their dinner without talking will get a treat." You know why I said this. To get them to be quiet. She started talking a few minutes later, so she lost the game. My mom and sister were upset because I said she couldn't have the treat. My sister told me later we put too many conditions on her, and I told her, "This is not about the treat. This is about listening." My niece will be 6 next month. We have to ask her about 3 times to do anything: turn off the tv, come to eat, out on her socks. Ask her to come for a treat? She comes running! She has filters for her listening skills. I am trying to get rid of those. And being consistent is what is going to help. She would never take me seriously if I just give her a reward even if she didn't complete the task. Anyway, she's not entitled to the sweet, she wants it. She also didn't earn it. Is this a lesson I am trying to teach her at too young an age? Or am I just cranky because I am an old lady or lonely?

A day in the life...

So I have a student who does one thing diligently. She calls me. She calls me, I suppose, when she is free, and not during my office hours, which I posted for everyone. It's usually the same message. "Hi, I'm [insert name here] from your class. I have a question about the assignment." I usually call her back right away, but you know what? Today, she is going to wait until I have my office hours. It's one thing to call once when it's not the right time, but to do it repeatedly? Oh HELL NO!!

Last week, while I was on vacation AND sick, she called me. I sent her a message telling her I have laryngitis and could we email for the time being. She calls me the next day. I guess she thought I was joking. When I sounded like I was being choked, she asked, "Are you ok?" No, bitch. I have laryngitis. How could someone be that dense?

Here's the real kicker: with all her calling, you'd think she was a good student since she hears straight from me on assignments and asks questions. She is maintaining a solid "F." She doesn't write enough and from what I can tell, doesn't read shit that I post, because if she did, she wouldn't be fucking calling me at 3pm or when I have laryngitis!!!

"Jane, get me off this crazy thing called, 'incompetence!'"

First day back at work!

It was time to come in. I was tired from sitting at home, and I was afraid of muscular atrophy. I did a small fast for a day and a half, it was mostly to get back on track with eating healthy food. Being in VA meant high fatty breakfasts daily, ice cream, and a couple of times, gelatto. Yum.

I can't lie. It was nice. But I was pretty ill. I am still a little weak, but Airwoman and I plan to take in some yoga, and if she doesn't I will go on my own. I was away for the gym because of the new job at UOP and the weather was lousy and sucking up my motivation. Also, longer hours here because of our summer hours made it all the more challenging. I am now over that. I do want to plan another getaway for Labor Day weekend, but it will be a lot closer. No more 7 hour drives.

I have decided that this will be my Summer of Love. I think making that declaration will make it happen, and I have decided to make the most of my summer and enjoy it while it lasts.

Recovering

I was a real winner last week. It was a Read and Discuss week, which meant the students had to give their half-assed answers to the discussion questions I posted, and I had to be sure to post at least 10 messages in each classroom. Oh, and I had bronchitis. By Wednesday, I wound up at a clinic wheezing and coughing. It was too much. I hadn't slept the whole night through until Saturday. I have been sleeping intermittently and today I stayed home. I will have to go into work tomorrow because if I don't, I will just be tired from not being at work. Sigh.

I loved the beach and Busch Gardens but I was at about 60% so it was really hard to get the full effect. I didn't go into the water because I probably would have developed pneumonia. My sister and brother in law and the girls came in and surprised us. I wish I would have gotten better sooner, but at least I am almost fully recovered this week. I hope to have another vacay later this year to make up for this bust. :-(

Note: Sorry for all the negativity, just sleep deprived.