so…interesting week?
So..we had snow, we had cold, we had..interesting driving conditions, we had a road rally..then the week got interesting. Jem had 2 interviews, Jem got one job! I tried to drive the route there and back and had a foretaste of hell and quite frankly, started praying. Why? I’m not religious. The answer was shit visibility, heavy rain, wind, and a dual carriageway in the morning rush hour..2 lorries, and my poor Astra = driving through a muddy carwash style deluge, and hitting a patch of standing water,sending the car sideway towards the barrier.
It’s been a bit off since. Started it the next morning, and it revved itself up, and sat there revving the engine while I sat back and sighed. Eventually it settled down. I assume water in the electrics, making the FI system have a minor fit. I’ll look at the system when it warms up and see what I can do. She’s approaching a 6000 mile interim service anyway, the first one I’ll have done on this one.
I’ve found a new route..6 miles, through town. Monday morning will be the first test. It’s only the same route I used to drive when I worked at the Priory, so..not too bad IIRC.
How will the extra 36 miles hit my petrol costs? Very little I reckon. On the days I take Jem in, I’ll probably go to work via Buildwas and miss Wellington out. I should be able to keep my current mileage more or less.
What else? Hmm. We’ve blown up our..4th? 5th? Kettle in 2 years. I swear that socket is possesed. One second it works, the next..dead. The “last” kettle is sat on the table in 4 peices. It seems to be a probable manufacturing fault thats done for it. I’m going to patch it up and reassemble it, and call it “spare”.
It’s cold again…I’ve been cold all day. I can honestly say that nothing beats lying down on the fireside rug, with your back to the banked up open fire. Even Splodge is looking fluffed up, so either he’s cold, or he’s pissed off.
All is good on the work front..hectic, but not too bad. Apparently I’m a bad man though…I had a run-in with a staff member who was allowing students onto the internet using their username, as the children in question were blocked by me for bad behaviour. This staff member couldn’t see that they’d done anything wrong. I explained that teacher level access allows less stringent internet filtering, and access to material on our network such as the management databases etc that students should not see.
The staff member then started to tell me that I..what was the phrase? Oh yes..”I had no right to judge the way she conducted herself”, that “I had no idea how it worked down there”, the students in question were “good kids” (so why were they in the punishment centre? let alone playing games), that the students involved “were not playing games, I was monitoring them” (Really? I was watching their screens for 15 minutes, and me and the internet access log say otherwise)..so I thought “fine, get personal then. I’m not. “. I just kept repeating “nevertheless, it’s unacceptable for you to do that”.
Eventually, the staff member said “I’m not justifying myself to you”, and turned their back. At which point I asked “would you like to justify yourself to T&W? They set my rules, and I’m fair handed. I treat staff exactly as I would treat kids. No Favouritism. I wouldn’t tolerate a child abusing this system I’ve worked with for six years, or a staff member.” I swear staff think they’re immune to regular access sweeps and monitoring. They’re not. I’m not!
Eventually I had to leave the office…I’m not quick to anger..most staff never get to see me angry, or most kids..those who do are often quite..taken aback. Apparently I upset this staff member. Oh dear. They’ve been “off sick” this week, and news of my outburst seems to have reached a few senior management members..several of which seem to approve.
Damned if I’m apologising or feeling guilty. I’m doing my job. You break the Acceptable Use policy, I’ll come down on you like your worst nightmare. IT are the “thin line” between kids and staff, and the internet. We exist, as does the filter, for a purpose. You circumvent it, I get upset. It may be crap, and frankly, it needs replacing..but thats no excuse. If a child is banned by a staff member, only we or that member of staff can rescind the ban. If needs be, we can reinstate the child concerned on a whitelist of pre-moderated sites..we do appreciate that internet access is an integral part of school these days..there really is no excuse for what happened.
Ah well..heh. All done with now…relax, it’s the weeekend..:D