Winter 07 Week 1

So... survived the first week of the new semester. It was not particularly fun - problems with j's OSAP (still waiting to hear about T's), HR at the college and so on made for more stress than I needed.... they - HR, that is - say that they overpaid me last summer and I should have noticed it (by checking my pay stubs - which might actually be so, except that they SUCK at getting my pay stubs to me - they send them wherever strikes their fancy any given week, and I've long since given up on tracking the stupid things down) - they had no hesitation whatsoever about just not paying me until the entire amount is paid back.

The information I was given at first was rather incomplete - they said it was 96 hours, but the person who got the lovely job of telling me about it was not told which job, when, or anything else that mattered. I asked to speak to HR directly and was told no, she was to handle it - she went back and got the information, and also arranged for a more reasonable repayment scheme.

Turns out it was ~only~ 48 hours, not 96, and it was for the lowest paying job... so one hour of my current salary = almost 5 of those hours... so not nearly as big a problem as first told to me.... and, because I made a fuss, they have reluctantly agreed to take it out over 4 pay periods rather than just leaving me with no income at all until - aren't they generous? They asked that I sign a paper agreeing to this - and left it unopened with a front line coworker, which was, I thought, very poor form - my salary, past or present, and the details of the repayment plan being none of anyone's business! ...but anyway, it is worked out, and without either the kid or I having to drop out of school for the semester, which was my first thought as a possible ~result~

Actually, in one way, the whole exercise in frustration turned out to be a positive thing.... I was reminded once again how very very lucky I am... stopped into the store on my way home - stressed out, upset and all.... and even though business @ the store is so bad now, and we haven't found anything that works yet, R's response to my suggestion that I drop out and try to get my money back so that I can use it to support the kid(s) is to tell me to stop being an idiot.... both J and I are going to school, and of course we will manage it, of course we will support her. As far as he's concerned school is the most important thing.... if I want to quit work, even, and focus on school (and thereby not have to deal with the sorts of BS and stress they cause me, that's fine by him - but as long as I want to go to school, we - he - will make that happen).

Have I mentioned that I am very very lucky? And very spoiled, also?

Anyway, got it sorted out - and then, when I got home on Friday, in my email I found an ~invitation~ to participate in a survey of how well HR is doing their job! LMAO Excellent timing, don't you think? Too funny!

School itself was okay.... was feeling totally overwhelmed on Monday - 6 hours of one prof is exhausting, especially when both courses are Part 2, and I didn't take Part 1 of either. And then to go teach for 3 hours (no break in between) is a bit much ....especially given that it was snowy and blowy and the drive home SUCKED .... AND Tuesday morning I have 6 hours straight, again with no break.... so driving home at 10 p.m. knowing that in a very few hours I'm going to have to turn around and drive right back .... yucky! But by Tuesday at 2 p.m. the bulk of my classes are done ... 4/5, anyway.... and I have Wednesday's off, at least for now... I am teaching some one day courses on Wednesdays, but those don't start for a few weeks...and in the meantime I get to be the Grandma and watch the kidlet on Wednesdays :) Not every week... it will likely work out to every other (which is good; can use the days off for writing essays).

On Thursdays I teach 2 classes, and Fridays I teach one, then go to my 5th university class, in Canadian Literature, whih I really enjoy. The prof for that one is excellent, and I'm learning a lot from her - not so much about CanLit, necessarily, but about writing. She is an excellent editor, and willing to spend extra time on proofreading essays and so on ... I've asked her to be my supervisor for my 4th year independent study paper because I learn so much from working with her - well that, and because I really really like the work of Margaret Laurence, and want to focus on it for my paper. I much prefer CanLit to 17th & 18th century ~stuff~!

Had fun with my classes - the ones I teach - I think they went very well. Rather than work directly from out textbook - we start the course with 3 weeks of PowerPoint .... I had them create a PowerPoint about themselves. Things they like, things they dislike, what they want to be when they grow up, a joke... that sort of thing. We cover off the stuff that's in the first few chapters of the book.... working with design templates, images, and master slides and so on ... but we have fun doing it. And it helps me to learn their names - the more I learn about each of them as individuals, the easier it is. I always preferred the teachers who bothered to learn people's names, so I try to make a point of doing it myself with each new class.... the All About Me powerpoints work very well (and, because I had them submit them, and posted them on Blackboard, the online course system we use, it gives me a way to refresh my memory too!)
Next week will be soon enough to start getting into the actual textbook!

Anyway.... a very busy week... but I've got almost all my reading done for next week - oh! and I didn't tell you my discovery that is going to take some of the stress off re: those courses in which I've jumped into Part 2 without taking Part 1 .... when I got home on Tuesday I happened to pick up the textbook that the prof of those courses (and of one of my Tuesday classes as well) wrote - guess what is all covered - in very readable fashion - in his book? All the works that he refers to - the ones they studied in Part 1 - and how they fit into things. So now I've read almost the whole textbook and I think I'm pretty much up to speed - and I know it's there, so if I need to refer to it, I have it.

Got to go ... D is still lying in bed, but she's awake and ready to be got up for breakfast - she's very talkative today... just told me that if I need her she'll be at Valerie's LOL