Back On Line

And Back At School

The snow was nicely cleared from the roads around here, but apparently some of the roads the other teachers had to drive on to school were icy and still snow covered. Hard to say what the differences are in plowing techniques around the State, but I surely do have to commend the road crews in my County.

Testing went on without a hitch, after I told the Principal I had no coverage for my homeroom. (The Vice Principal in charge said she had no one to take over.) The Principal said not to worry about it and I should just go to the testing room to set up and administer the test. I did. I guess they found someone to take over my other duties.

Proctoring/administering the test requires reading all the directions aloud, making sure the students are all on the right pages, seeing that no one talks, and counting and keeping a close eye on every test and paper handed out in the classroom. I have to sign for the tests in the morning, keep them under close watch, and then make sure I have given all the same tests back at the end of the day. During the three hours of testing, I and my proctor are just supposed to sit and watch the kids take the test. It is a tedious was to spend the time.

Meanwhile, back at home, I'd fed the Boys their hay in the stalls as it was only about 8F outside and the snow was cold. When I got back home from school, Tucker and Toby were playing some kind of game in the paddock while Chance just watched. I gave them more hay at dinner, even though they had some left from the morning. I don't want them to be hungry when it's so cold out there.

Before I left in the morning, I tried to watch the news on TV only to find my cable was out. Then I discovered that my phone and Internet were down too. I had no time at all in school to call the cable company for repair. When I got home, everything was still not working, so I had to use my cell phone to call in about the trouble. I'll keep the story short. Three disconnected calls and well over an hour later I had one appointment for repair on Thursday (between 3 PM and 5PM) and another on Wednesday (between 3 PM and 7 PM) as well as another one for my aunt next door whose cable was also out.

Now, mysteriously, the trouble has been corrected. I watched a new DVD I bought of the BBC's Shakespeare Retold series (kind of fun versions of Shakespeare's plays told and acted in modern English) and picked up my telephone just on a whim to hear a dial tone! Then I loaded up the Internet on my computer, and here I am! I will guess the trouble was in the line and that it was either corrected from the computers at the central cable office here in town or the guys were out on the road and found something or other disconnected. If it is still working in the morning, I will have to call and cancel all the appointments. That should take me another half hour or so. *sigh*

Tomorrow is also supposed to be cold, but then it starts to warm up again to almost springlike temperatures. That means the snow will melt rapidly creating....mud. To top it off, there are several days of rain predicted during the next 10 days. Back to the soggy mess. So far, Tucker seems to be holding his shoes, but he has lost two bell boots. I think I have at least two more new pairs to put on him, but in the snow they tend to flip up and don't do much to protect his shoes. I guess it's just back to the wait and see philosophy. I have cleared the snow for the shoer's truck so at least he can get in...just in case.

More testing tomorrow and Thursday. I will try not to scream from boredom.