I'm doing quite well, thank you. My fever seems to be gone, though I'm still feeling kind of blah. S is still battling the icky fever, but it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as it was yesterday morning.

Nice work, Parent Whisperer. You should have your own show.

Heh. Oh dear...it's only a matter of time before they have that reality show. Which I will watch and mock and most definitely not be on.

Ha! You're probably right. Although I bet being a fly on the wall in the teachers' lounge (do they still have those?) would be hilarious. Then again, they'd probably have to censor themselves for cameras. Still...

Ha! You're probably right. Although I bet being a fly on the wall in the teachers' lounge (do they still have those?) would be hilarious. Then again, they'd probably have to censor themselves for cameras. Still...

Oh yeah. It would be hilarious and would instantly result in the firing of everyone present. (Yeah, there are still teacher lounges. But we call them "faculty rooms" now, and no one ever uses them. Well, except sometimes at lunch or if there's a copier in there. Actually, a fly on the wall wherever the copiers live would be the best reality show ever. "You want to know the truth about teaching? Ink stains and paper cuts, bay-bee, ink stains and paper cuts.")

I think teacher's lounges stopped being essential when teachers stopped smoking at school. It used to be the place where they could all light up out of sight of the kids. I remember going in a couple times as a kid and they just reeked of nicotine and caffeine.

I'm so excited for you! There will be LOTS of pictures, right?

I think that's a certainty. We have a whole day set aside just for photos.

we call them "faculty rooms" now, and no one ever uses them

Why not? They seemed so occult and fascinating to me when I was in high school. I can't imagine not needing a place to escape from students. Hell, us instructors flee to behind the front desk, which annoys the people actually working back there. The students can still see us, and perhaps hear us, but are geographically urged to not have long conversations with us.

A couple of times at our sales conventions, when we've been doing massive overhauls of all the laptops, et cetera, we've actually kind of barriered off the room and got somebody to act as a receptionist. Because the sales reps -- pushy by nature, you know? -- will come in and talk the ears off the tech types and push to get better upgrades for their laptops.

I do mean actualy barrier -- long tables pushed together so that you have to carefully maneuver to get in and out of the area. Telling the reps "you can't come in" just doesn't register, but then they've self-selected for a profession that doesn't take No for an answer.

I remember going in a couple times as a kid and they just reeked of nicotine and caffeine.

Oh man, me too.

Today it's supposed to be 53. Finally, it's up to normal temps for the season. ION, I am on a choo-choo.