Saturday, August 25, 2012

Back to Work

I started back at school on Wednesday. Faculty meetings all day. And then Thursday and Friday we had student registration. Thursday was incredibly busy, Friday a little less so. But I had to get all my syllabi copied and get materials up on the "Blackboard" program for students to access for classes. Twelve hour days by the time I got home, and no time or energy for blogging.

Lana's last radiation treatment was yesterday, and we thought we'd be off this weekend, but they told her that her potassium was very low and so we have to go to the hospital today to get her an infusion to take care of that problem. Otherwise, I'm hoping to get a little rest this weekend before classes start Monday.

I know I haven't visited blogs for several days now, and possibly won't be doing so today. I'm sure everyone got along fine without me.  Once school settles into a routine next week I'll be able to start blogging again.

Hope everyone is well.

Charles

27 comments:

Ron Scheer said...

Can't say I got along fine without you. But you both continue strong in my thoughts. Give my best to Lana; I'm glad to know she's done with one chapter and on to the next. As for you, bud, I'll be doubling my enjoyment of retirement and hoping the excitement of the new academic year carries you through to Christmas.

mybillcrider said...

I remember those long registration days, but I thought everything was done on-line now. Best wishes to Lana. Judy had to go back on a tough chemo regimen starting last week. Five more treatments, assuming it's working, which we won't know for a while. She's hanging in there.

Adventuresfantastic said...

I had TA and faculty meeting Thursday and took care of errands yesterday. Didn't make much progress on finishing moving. I'll tweak my syllabus tomorrow or Monday at the latest since I don't have any classes until Tuesday. While Tech has Blackboard, we aren't required to use it.

Hang in there with the medical treatment. I'm glad the news is good at this point. Hopefully you can both get some rest this weekend.

Deka Black said...

First things first: My best wishes to Lana. Is great to listen good things about her.

Second: Good luck with the return to work. Sometimes the world seems to enjoy making us so exhausted that looks like a bad joke ;)

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I'm happy Lana is making progress. May she have a complete recovery soon. And all the best to you on school reopening. As a student I hated the first day at school of a new academic year.

sage said...

The fall is a busy time. I hope Lana's treatments have been successful and don't worry about us, we'll be here you get a break.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ron, I am envious of you at this moment, though so far I'm not burned out this semester yet. :)

Bill, students do register online but yesterday was first time Freshman, who always need a lot of advising, and Friday was transfer students, who also often need a lot of looking at. thanks for your wishes for Lana. I send the same for Judy.

Keith, ever since the evacuation for Hurricane Katrina, we've been required to have all courses full operational on blackboard in case of another evacuation.

Deka, thank you. It does seem the world enjoys frustrating us.

Prashant, The new students in particular always need a lot of advising and comforting, since they are so often really lost. :)

Sage, thanks, man. Much appreciated.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hope all goes well with the infusion. Get some rest this weekend.

Barrie said...

I hope you both get a little relaxation time this weekend. I have been horrible about blogging this summer. Horrible.

laughingwolf said...

hope the infusion works for lana... elsewise, order her a dump truck load of bananas! frozen, keep longer... :O

how long before you're able to 'retire'?... in quotes cuz i know you'll be just as busy then as now!

never fond of registration... my joke to them: 'i gave you all this info in my first year, look it up'!

course, that was in the mists of time, long before paper, never mind computers... they told me the same thing every year, 'we lost the little rock it was on....'

Travis Cody said...

Take care of business. Best to Lana for her post-radiation adjustments.

Liane Spicer said...

All the best to Lana and hope you get that rest! I remember only too well the start-of-school exhaustion. Always took me a week or two to adjust.

pattinase (abbott) said...

We are fine, Charles. You do what you need to and know we are thinking about both of you.

Randy Johnson said...

Lana and school come first. You take care of your stuff, we'll be here when you get the time. Best to you both.

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, thanks, gonna try to today.

Barrie, summer is much easier for me because I wasn't teaching.

Laughingwolf, the recession really hurt my retirement program. I'm probably looking at 15 years till retirement now.

Travis Cody, thanks, man.

Liane, my voice will get hoarse the first few days from all the sudden talking in class.

Patti, thanks, I appreciate that.

Randy, much appreciated, man.

Greg said...

Hope you got to find some rest this weekend.

laughingwolf said...

rats... various gubbamints seem to like to fup duck things more than they have in the past...

the vast majority of those 50+ surveyed here, answered they expect to work beyond the usual retirement age [65] for that reason too, charles... others because they have no retirement plan whatsoever, and know they can't live well enough on what the federal canada pension plan [cpp] and old age security [oas] provide; a max of roughly $20k, most wold get much less

a while ago, some unions were able to convince the feds to get rid of the mandatory retirement age clause, for a number of legit reasons....

nephite blood spartan heart said...

All the best for your writing and Lana's recovery.

Snowbrush said...

Charles, you usually visit blogs everyday? Man, I don't know how you do it. I live with guilt because I don't make the rounds often enough, but I would also live with guilt if I did. Here's hoping the radiation worked. I can't imagine what this must be like for you.

BernardL said...

Taking care of real life is what's important, my friend. I bet the classes with a new set of kids is kind of exciting.

Charles Gramlich said...

Greg, unfortunately not, since on Sunday we had to start preparing for a potential issue with Tropical storm Isaac.

Laughingwolf, if my health is good I don't mind working past 65 in my job, and I could do it since it is not overly taxing physically. But I had hoped to retire relatively early in order to focus more on writing. That doesn't seem likely now.

David J., thanks man.

Snowbrush, during the summer I visited blogs everyday. I won't be quite that regular in the school year.

Bernard, indeed. And yes, the new year always starts with promise. I look forward to it.

Erik Donald France said...

Dude, good luck with all and sundry. Best wishes to you and Lana, to your good health (both) and safe endurance of Isaac's passage. As for Blackboard, it's up and running here, too, so I have an idea of what it entails. Cheers!

Cloudia said...

the important thing is that Lana flourish, and that you pace yourself, Charles. All else is distant second-



Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^=

Inside our hands, outside our hearts said...

My apologies as I was unaware of Lana's illness. However, I will keep you both close and in my thoughts.

T

the walking man said...

Don't fucking be concerned with "everyone" Charles be concerned with your local environment for the time being. Bilbo Baggins in the movie "I feel like a bit of butter spread over too much toast" nah never a good way to be.

cs harris said...

Charles, has Xavier canceled? I know Tulane is telling people they don't have to come if they don't want to (as Ryan said, Who's gonna go to class after that?). LSU Medical School has canceled surgeries but isn't letting the med students go. But I haven't heard about the other universities. Hope Lana is doing better. How thrilling that she made it to her final session! What a relief.

Charles Gramlich said...

Erik, looks like we're gonna have a couple more days off suddenly, because of Isaac

Cloudia, yes indeed.

Inside, thank you.

Mark,yeah, tis true. I'm feeling kind of like that butter at the moment.

Candy, Xavier canceled Tuesday and Wednesday classes. We'll probably leave tonight