This kid, by the way, is getting an F. He's not even close to being on the borderline of passing -- he's clearly failed.

I've had more than one parent call me, and my students are law students, not undergrads.

"Your son has already failed my class. Don't make him fail at life too. DON'T BE THAT GUY!"

And then, get it made into a stamp.

You need to work the phrase "Do the math" into your reply to the parent, too.

The father says his son "showed improvement on the final exam." No, he really didn't.

Hil, that's ridiculous.

WS & DCJ good luck with the new truck!

Dear Teenager upstairs: When you talk about me to your friends on the landing right outside my door, amazingly enough, I can hear you.

No love,

me

"Your son has already failed my class. Don't make him fail at life too. DON'T BE THAT GUY!"

And then, get it made into a stamp.

*hugs billytea tight*

"showed improvement on the final exam."

Even if he did "show improvement" there's the whole matter of NOT GETTING ENOUGH POINTS to pass the fucking exam. Let alone the class.

I swear, on all that buffistas hold holy in this universe I will NEVER EVER EVER try to get my kid's grade changed if they fail to do the work, get the answers right, don't show up to class or just generally fuck off at school, any school, in any grade or university.

Rakesh is not only a swell altruistic dude, he's a handsome dude!

Hil, I think my jaw is still on the ground somewhere.

I have spent the last couple hours doctoring a recipe to achieve KICKASS Mexican chocolate cupcakes. During the process, my sister who has the flu came down to get a glass and use the kitchen tap (instead of calling us to bring them to her). I washed the tap down before touching it. I don't know if it's psychosomatic, but not long after I started feeling the way I feel when I'm starting to come down with something. Either I'm imagining it or I'm coincidentally coming down with it just after she visited the kitchen. She's had it two days now. I've tried to stay the hell away from her but if she's been doing things like nipping down to the kitchen, she's probably been spreading her germs for a while now. Grrr!

I had a rare opportunity to meet people tonight but I won't be going if I'm coming down with something and likely to expose them. I also don't need to be sick because I need to rehearse for the upcoming gig. Man, I miss living alone. One good thing about my hermitry was that I hardly ever got sick. With the constant stream of my sister's babysitting jobs that she brings *here*, it's a never-ending tap of creeping crud.

That's goony, Hil. I've never had a parent petition me to change a student's grade. Can't your department head deal with the grade change petitions?

Can't your department head deal with the grade change petitions?

We've been told to respond to all of these by just listing the grades the student got and saying, "By the guidelines set out in the syllabus, your grade is ___."