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This has not been a great few days.

I woke up yesterday morning, went to the toilet, and upon flushing noticed that the tank was not refilling. On turning on the faucet, I confirmed that yup, we had no water.

This is not the sort of thing you want to have happen early in the morning when you're trying to operate on five hours' sleep.* ( Collapse )
I'd been up late grading papers, and I *still* wasn't done, and grades were due that day, and I'd been up late so I smelled...less than morning-fresh. So the parts of my brain that were still working were hitting panic mode.
My first thought was Portland Water's cut us off. Or cut the whole house off. Are we supposed to pay the water bill? Did Mitbewohner forget, on account of, y'know, being in hospital? It only occurred to me THEN that maybe a water main had broken; but Portland Water's website indicated that all systems were normal. I tried to call the landlord, thought about calling Mitbewohner, and ultimately noticed that the water district has a 24-hr emergency line, distinct from their business hours one. THAT confirmed that the whole Peninsula was without water, due I guess to a busted pipe near the soup kitchen I volunteer at sometimes.
Well. Good news, we weren't in trouble with the water district. Bad news, my backup plan to shower at work** was out; so was my brother, and most of the people I know from the Geek Club. Dad was on the mainland, but he was headed out the door to go to Boston. The nearest person I could conceivably shower with was my old friend Ben, and HE'S way out Rosemont way. After some dithering, though, I begged a shower off him and drove out.
Ben was in the middle of doing some work for, I guess, whatever law firm he's interning at. WHILE also in the middle of a take-home. And a paper.
Ben always makes my levels of overwork seem pathetic.

I regretfully turned down Ben's offer of coffee (with no clean water, there would be none at work), took the world's fastest shower and headed into town to give out the final exam to a couple of particularly idiot students who'd forgotten what day it was due.
On the way, I passed what was evidently the site of the disaster. Someone's car was subsiding into the resultant sinkhole.

I finally finished grading the last few papers last night. It had taken me several days of late nights, early mornings, and too much procrastination, mostly due to how bad the papers were. Two students failed the paper,*** and one the class, for plagiarism. The papers and exams I was left out for them...the Registrar came by and noted that they legally couldn't have grades visible: I'd have to put them in envelopes. What with helping review first-year art projects, I did not have time to do this for everyone. I now have a tide of emails complaining about all this. Fuck my life, and fuck my students' stupidity.

But I am done.


Addendum:Just had to deal with more administrative BS related to students being dumb, plus the one who plagiarized the textbook wrote me to COMPLAIN.
I'm going to go drink heavily now.
(Fortunately, today is the Holiday Staff party, so booze will be provided by the management!)

*Yes, I realize that to some of you this is nothing. On the other hand, you also know how well one's brain works under such circumstances.
** I'm still not sure why the bathroom by the Liberal Arts office has shower stalls, but...
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***And one of THEM was a favorite of mine, and she was among the students whose work I had to go assess.