Week ENDs in mess

Being a chair means putting out fires and managing tragedy.

I tried to avoid going to my office today, instead hoping to be able to just go to the north campus to teach my class. Instead, I had to go to the main campus to pick up my class bag (I have my classes in separate bags by subject) and found an email message from a woman my administrative assistant said had been yelling at her about smoking.

Oi, don't get me started. I don't smoke. I hated that my mother smoked and that it killed her. But how much damage, really, can be done by walking through one puff of smoke in the freezing outside air? Control indoor smoking, yes. But outdoors? Sigh.

So this complainer left a long message on my phone, on the dean's phone, and is writing a protest letter to the state of Oregon about various violations on the COCC campus. She though my admin was an art teacher and condemned her for "setting a bad example." It's enough to make me want to take up smoking.

On the horrible terrible side, one of our faculty members had her cancer take a terrible term and is in the hospital. I've got to find a replacement or cancel the classes. Actually, this isn't as hard for me as you'd think because there is one person, a newly minted PhD and son of the admin mentioned above, who might be able to take the classes.

I will be SOOOO glad when I'm no longer chair. I'll be on my feet more in classes and working more, but it won't be as stressful.