need gas?

 I've been thinking that I want a new toy. A tablet. A tablet that I can draw directly upon. I justify it by saying how handy it would be for tutoring and for P.E.O, which it totally would, but I really want to play (a.k.a. draw) on it.

And then I'd have to learn to use all the tools for digital drawing. For now, I can only do cartoony things. I do have a tablet that is separate from my screen that is great for online tutoring, and I can use it to play draw. So I did this a little while ago.

Know this guy? Do ya?

Magnum and I made it to the ridiculous gas station that is Buc ee's on Friday. 

I mean, he needed some gas, so why not?

We knew ahead of time that it was huge - 74,000 square feet of convenience store. 116 gas pumps.

A large portion of the pumps were strangely occupied when we arrived. The novelty is still wearing off a bit since this Buc ee's opened about a month ago. Just across the road sits a standard Loaf 'n' Jug. It looked like a Lego® replica in its juxtaposition with Buc ee's.

Then we parked the car and headed to the store, glancing back frequently as we're taught when hiking in an unknown area of the woods. Look backwards often so you know what your return trip should look like, to prevent getting lost in the vast wilderness. It applies in the Buc ee's parking lot.

There were plenty of people there, but the store was so huge, it was easy to walk around. We were instantly struck with the smell of barbecued flesh as there was a LOT of food being freshly made. In addition to all that, there were rows and rows of typical convenience store fare - snack bag stuff, a whole wall of jerky...

So I wasn't too shocked at any of this as I'd heard stories of the Buc ee's experience. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was... the restroom.

I'd heard they had "the cleanest restrooms", but by gas station standards, that's difficulto get too excited about. But Buc ee's outdoes them all by miles!

The bathroom was huge and sparkly clean. You could throw a high school prom in there. And the stalls, omg the stalls - each with its own nearly floor-to-ceiling heavy door with Schlage indicator lock. Inside was plenty of TP, and a private hand sanitizer dispenser. Super bright and cheery because of the individual skylight.

It was quite ridonkulous.

So now I've had the Buc ee's experience. Apprently the chain has a nearly cult following, I mean...

SOURCE

We didn't try the barbecue or the "Buc ee nuggets", as we were fresh from lunch. No tattoos are planned either.

We did bring home a so soft plush blanket, though. 

The cat promptly let us know that we got it for him.

missives

"Me and S send our deepest apologies.  We have other circumstances that prevents us from attending the tutoring session..."

 - a last minute cancel text I received from a tutee this week. It's so... formal.

If not for the grammatical errors - "Me and S" *cringe*; "...circumstances that prevents..." *frown* - I would highly suspect he asked ChatGPT or similar to write the text for him. It's what all the kids are doing these days, right?

This particular tutee is young, intelligent, and personable, but his texts are so formal. Deepest apologies? Circumstances?

Anyway, it was another busy week, and I am now basking in un-busyness. The only scheduled thing I have today is an annual well-woman check later this morning. Coworker Star is back from her worldly travels, so my Fridays are free once again, for now.

I was at work on Monday during the eclipse. We had just a little over 50% of totality here, so no biggie. The campus observatory had their filtered telescopes available, but the line was very long, so I skipped. At least the campus had a large stash of eclipse glasses, and Work Study grabbed a pair we all took turns with.

So I popped out and oohed and aahed a bit with the cardboard glasses, then went back to work. Wolfgang had road tripped to Texas with some friends to see the totality, so after work, I fed his cat. That sums up my 2024 eclipse experience.

Apparently the next eclipse to cross the U.S. will be in 2045. Its path will go right over Colorado. If I'm still alive and in Colorado at that time, maybe I'll have my nurse wake me from my nap.

And speaking of nurses, this week, we got the sweetest gift at work from one of the nursing students. 

We provide testing for several nursing students each semester.  And nursing students take a LOT of tests - sometimes 2 or 3 a week. So we get to know them quite well over the two year program and vice versa. 

They're often understandably giddy and thankful around graduation - "might not see you again... unless you're in the hospital?"

This week, one particularly pleasant student dropped off a box of donuts along with the sweetest thank-you note, even mentioning Boss, Sarge, and me by name. 

It prompted quite the onion-cutting fest, it did. 

And, the donuts? No grocery store donuts. They were from Lamar's. 

"He went to Lamar's" is the donut equivalent to "He went to Jared"

fancy pants in the wind

Like many across the country right now, we're fighting the wind wars. I trekked the one mile to the gym this morning and saw lots of tree trash and bowed fencing from yesterday and last night. It's predicted to taper off this afternoon and evening - something to look forward to.

I worked yesterday with Triple-D and [Chili], which I didn't mind since it was a good day to be stuck indoors. And it was a nice time.  Everyone seemed friendlier than usual, and I'm chalking that up to Chili's presence. 

Also as predicted, my stepfather-in-law did pass away late Thursday/ early Friday. I'm relieved for him as his quality of life was very low by that time. Thankfully, he was able to live with home hospice care with my mother-in-law until the final breath. I'm relieved for her too and hope she can relax some now.

So yesterday after work, while the wind was howling and rattling the windows, I stayed in and did some much needed cleaning. Seems like I could produce a whole dog out of the hair I vacuum up each time - the downside of dog ownership.

I also played with my sketchbook and pencilled another of these Akira Toriyama characters. 

This one is named Kid Buu and is apparently "pure evil".

I really know nothing about the whole Dragonball scene, just find the characters so expressive in their posturing.

Kid Buu or not, after the exercise, I think of him simply as "Mr. Fancy Pants"

We watched a movie - The Novice - about obsessive compulsive behavior and perfectionism (I guess). It got a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I didn't care for it.  And it wasn't just because it was about womens collegiate rowing, I mean, the main character had to have something to obsess about to get the points across. I just didn't care about the character.

Yesterday, I learned that one of the nursing students who tests with us at the college had been a vet tech for years. She said the sick animals made her too sad, so she decided to switch to nursing people because she figures people won't have as much of an effect. Hmmm.

Today's agenda includes a coffee walk in the wind and a dog food and cat litter run. Excitement.

barometers and babies

Going in to work in a couple of hours. I think this is the last Friday afternoon that I'm covering for coworker Star as she vacations around the globe. Or maybe I've got one more cover, I don't remember at the moment, but I'll be there today. 

A little weekly recap:

• I was zoom tutoring yesterday with a student who attends one of our other campuses. Student lives near my brother, Hagrid, and we were talking about the incoming weather warnings. This weekend is set to be windy and low humidity - a bad combination because it raises the fire danger.

So I asked Student how he fared a couple of years ago in that very scary Marshall Fire - the one that [burned Hagrid's house down].

Well, Student didn't lose his house, but his wife went into labor at just 8 months pregnant. AND, the hospital they were sent to actually was the one that had to be evacuated because of the approaching fire, AND the second hospital they went to was nearly out of beds because of all the birthing women. He said it was because of the pressure drop.

The windstorm that whipped up the fire was the precurser to a significant snowstorm, so the barometric pressure dropped suddenly. After a quick google search, I learned this may affect pregnancies (makes me wonder about other mammals) and send women into labor. Studies are "inconclusive", however. Like full moons making people crazy(er) - mostly anecdotal "evidence"  from nurses saying it's so. Who knew?

• Anyone watching the NCAA tournaments? I've never really paid attention to March Madness, but who can escape the hype around Caitlin Clark and Iowa?

I've not watched any of the games or even highlights, just sort of following along. She has certainly put womens college basketball on the map. But what to do with that basketball talent as a woman? I'm sure she'll be a force in the WNBA and get lots of endorsements, but how big of a following has the WNBA?

I have no clue, or interest, as to what's happening in the men's bracket.

There it is - work, weather, and sports. How's that for standard avoidance chit chat? 

I will mention that my 91-year-old stepfather-in-law is likely in his last few hours unless he's already passed away and I just haven't received word yet. He's become quite frail in recent months and took a significant turn for the worse earlier this week. 

Magnum is in Colorado Springs - where his mom and stepdad live - for work today and sure to be checking in with his mom.

break the silence

Hello, blog. It's been a minute!

This week got a bit busy, what with filling in at work for the vacationing Star and doing a bit of cat sitting. But all good. I am going to rant here for a bit about the two high school tutees I have because they BOTH stood me up this week... sort of.

Monday afternoon was the Alison Moyet look-alike. Ten minutes into our scheduled appointment, the mom texted me that they weren't coming - a last minute "unworkable" thing had come up. I appreciated the text, and yes, she paid the late cancellation fee.

Then yesterday morning, high schooler #2: "Omigosh, I totally forgot!" when I texted to let her know which study room we had at the library. She dragged herself in about 20 mins. late.

I get it. They're young. They're busy - theater, tennis, schoolwork, blah blah. But sheesh, THEY called me! I even agreed to meet each of them outside my usual tuting hours to accommodate the busy schedules. 

*EXHALE* Okay, rant over. And I'll add that the college tutees I have this semester are all delightful, so it balances. We still have no word on the replacement - if there even is to be one - for our recently exited tutor boss. She did mention, before she left, that much of the process of matching students with tutors will become automated, so maybe her job was being phased out, hence her jumping ship for supposedly greener pastures.

One of my students is leaving next week to witness the full solar eclipse in Texas. She conveniently has a sister in San Antonio. Not gonna lie, I've got a bit of FOMO around seeing this coming full eclipse after [witnessing the last one] in the U.S. in 2017. Really, a stunning phenomenon to see.

But alas, not this time.

As consolation, maybe Magnum and I will do the next best thing. A brand new [Buc ee's] gas station (for lack of a better term) has opened just down the road from us.  74,000 square feet, 116 gas pumps...

It calls for a field trip, and I'm not even close to needing gas. 

locking down

Wednesday, I was working with a tutee when a lockdown drill anouncement came from the PA. My student, another student who happened to be nearby, and I were shuttled into a smallish "interior, no windows, no lights" office. I learned it was one of the spaces Disabilities Services uses to evaluate and work with accommodated students.

As such we had a variety of options for seating: a modified chair that incorporated a big exercise ball, another with a fidget seat kind of thing, a beanbag that reminded me of the 70s, and a regular 4-legged chair. 

The whole drill lasted maybe 10 minutes tops. But sitting there in the dark with those two - me on the boring regular chair, my student in the beanbag, the other student on the exercise ball - it turned into sort of a therapy session.

My student, S, had made known to me, at the start of our session, that he'd "lost his motivation" a couple of weeks ago after I asked him how his spring break (last week) was. He did have a rather defeated demeanor about him. In the dark lockdown drill room, he continued to spill about his anxieties and frustrations about keeping up with everything. 

He's a super nice and hardworking student, so naturally, I felt bad for him. I'm just his math tutor, so I can mostly hope to alleviate his math stress. 

The other student with us was a girl I know from the testing center because she takes her tests with us. It was nice having her there, because she could commiserate with S on the college/ young adult  anxiety bits and offer some strategies that work for her. 

I found myself in a sort of impromptu facilitator mode. I have no formal training, I'm just there to do math stuff.

At the same time, though, I was happy that S felt comfortable being so honest.

On a related note, my tutor boss is leaving the college for greener pastures. She's taken a similar position at another community college nearby. In fact, ever since our change in leadership a couple years ago, a lot of our staff has jumped to that other ship. 

She assures us that her replacement will be announced soon, and today is her last day at the helm with us. 

Personally, I have no plans to join the exodus. I've perused the job openings at the other college out of nosiness, and they do pay better. But it would make for a not-so-nice commute for me, and my current commute is the bomb.

lead a snot into temptation

Did a bit more decluttering this weekend - I swear it never ends. Who knew I was such a packrat?!

This time I went through my art toys a second time and got rid of things I haven't used in *forever*. My art hobby is quite inexpensive. Pencils, pens, sketchbooks, etc. are so darn cheap.  It's easy to bring stuff home and let it sit. I swear they all get together at night and multiply.

Last weekend, Magnum and I were out for a walk and I wanted to walk passed a cute little art supply store I'd heard of but had never been to. So we walked on by and I caught a glimpse. Magnum noted that the store was open, did I want to go in?

NOPE! I'd end up bringing home something I don't need - like going to the animal shelter!

I drew this anime character on Friday during Snowday 2. I've never really drawn anime before, but I'd read that the creator of Dragonball books, show, and whatever else, died last week. 

I don't know the plot or characters of Dragonball, but I've seen them in the periphery - the weird hair, the baggy pants...

Anyways, good snowday fun.

We got a decent amount of heavy, wet snow, but not nearly as much as areas south of us. Ours was just a "normal" spring snow - about 7 inches - while I see friends to the south buried under 2+ feet. No thanks.

That bit of anime fun got me to declutter the stuff packed into my little art supply case after I discovered the cute graphic pencil I used to draw the weird-haired dude.

Now I'm just down to my faves, including the pencil. In celebration, I drew another anime weird-haired character

In the meantime, Magnum completed our 2023 tax return. I swear he has all the fun.