Everything keeps happening all the time
Apr. 14th, 2020 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
corrielle I haven't journaled in a while, but boy have things happened fast.
Joe Biden is the presidential nominee now. Bernie Sanders endorsed him. Neither of them would have been my first choice (I was Team Warren Has a Plan for That), but either of them are preferable to Trump.
Easter came and went. I don't really celebrate any more, but we had Irish bangers and mash for dinner that night, and it was delicious.
Rae and I are getting into a rhythm where we can be in the house 24/7, get our work done, and spend quality time with each other. She is busy as heck because of the way that her classes are structured and extra responsibilities she took on to help people in her department with transitioning to online portfolios. I try to make sure that we eat normally and that the dishes are clean.
My lower back hurts. It was worse yesterday, and is a bit better today. I think it was because of my period. I'm hoping it goes away at the end of the week.
And the big not-so-good news is that I found out this morning that one of my fall 2020 courses is getting cut. The English department had a choice between cutting five classes by getting rid of an entire position (probably someone in the comp department, probably not me) or cutting one class from five people. I'm grateful I still have the four classes I got, and Mary, the chair of the English department, was so sweet and so good about trying to help me understand the decision making process. She's a good person. There's a possibility that I might get that fifth class back if enrollment is higher than expected, and I'll be one of the first people who gets a canceled course back.
Still, I hate the uncertainty. Losing 20% of my units means taking a 20% pay cut, and while I've been told that it's fine for me to seek out an extra class elsewhere, something that my university usually discourages full time lecturers from doing, I don't know if any colleges or universities in my area are even going to be hiring adjuncts. They probably have enough of a time getting classes for the people who are already entitled. I'm going to put out feelers at the college up the hill and the one where I used to teach that's a bit north of me, though, just in case.
Even if I don't get another class, we can take the pay cut. It'll mean making some changes in how I save and spend, but it isn't going to mean we can't pay rent or cover any other essential obligations. We'll be very practiced in not eating out by the time this is all over, so there's one way to save right there. (To imagined future readers: Please hear the sarcasm there. I did NOT eat out enough to make up for a 20% pay cut. before all of this started.)
And as if this day couldn't get any more heavy, one of my students just emailed me apologizing for not "keeping up with the work" because her dad tested positive for COVID-19. I wrote back and tried to be as empathetic and supportive as possible because I know what it's like to have someone I care for sick with this thing.
OH RIGHT. I forgot to mention it before, but Jess and Amy probably both have it, though they never got bad enough to go to a hospital and so probably won't be tested unless there is wide spread anitbody testing later. It's scary to have friends not be able to come to a Skype chat because TALKING is too tiring.
And now, I'm going to go bury myself in fandom and tumblr until I need to be a functional adult again. Probably some time around dinner.
Joe Biden is the presidential nominee now. Bernie Sanders endorsed him. Neither of them would have been my first choice (I was Team Warren Has a Plan for That), but either of them are preferable to Trump.
Easter came and went. I don't really celebrate any more, but we had Irish bangers and mash for dinner that night, and it was delicious.
Rae and I are getting into a rhythm where we can be in the house 24/7, get our work done, and spend quality time with each other. She is busy as heck because of the way that her classes are structured and extra responsibilities she took on to help people in her department with transitioning to online portfolios. I try to make sure that we eat normally and that the dishes are clean.
My lower back hurts. It was worse yesterday, and is a bit better today. I think it was because of my period. I'm hoping it goes away at the end of the week.
And the big not-so-good news is that I found out this morning that one of my fall 2020 courses is getting cut. The English department had a choice between cutting five classes by getting rid of an entire position (probably someone in the comp department, probably not me) or cutting one class from five people. I'm grateful I still have the four classes I got, and Mary, the chair of the English department, was so sweet and so good about trying to help me understand the decision making process. She's a good person. There's a possibility that I might get that fifth class back if enrollment is higher than expected, and I'll be one of the first people who gets a canceled course back.
Still, I hate the uncertainty. Losing 20% of my units means taking a 20% pay cut, and while I've been told that it's fine for me to seek out an extra class elsewhere, something that my university usually discourages full time lecturers from doing, I don't know if any colleges or universities in my area are even going to be hiring adjuncts. They probably have enough of a time getting classes for the people who are already entitled. I'm going to put out feelers at the college up the hill and the one where I used to teach that's a bit north of me, though, just in case.
Even if I don't get another class, we can take the pay cut. It'll mean making some changes in how I save and spend, but it isn't going to mean we can't pay rent or cover any other essential obligations. We'll be very practiced in not eating out by the time this is all over, so there's one way to save right there. (To imagined future readers: Please hear the sarcasm there. I did NOT eat out enough to make up for a 20% pay cut. before all of this started.)
And as if this day couldn't get any more heavy, one of my students just emailed me apologizing for not "keeping up with the work" because her dad tested positive for COVID-19. I wrote back and tried to be as empathetic and supportive as possible because I know what it's like to have someone I care for sick with this thing.
OH RIGHT. I forgot to mention it before, but Jess and Amy probably both have it, though they never got bad enough to go to a hospital and so probably won't be tested unless there is wide spread anitbody testing later. It's scary to have friends not be able to come to a Skype chat because TALKING is too tiring.
And now, I'm going to go bury myself in fandom and tumblr until I need to be a functional adult again. Probably some time around dinner.