Tag: working

TBT^256: Back to the Grind 202[5]

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Well, the long, glorious, hot summer is over—at least for yours portly.  Yes, the summer heat beats on, but I’m back at work today.

It’s that time of year again:  the academic year.  The poor public school teachers (and kids!) have already been back to school.  No student should darken the door of a schoolhouse in July—that’s just brutal.  July should be completely devoid of any structured learning in a classroom.  Kids should be reading for fun, splashing in the pool, running around getting heat stroke, not locked in a stuffy classroom.

And what of the poor teachers?  I’m spoiled—I’ve taught almost all of my professional life, with the exception of two years from 2009-2011.  June and July are sacred.  I don’t to put pants on in July, much less a long-sleeved shirt and a tie.

Not that August is much better.  In my considered opinion—not based on what is best for the student, but what is best for me—school should start the Tuesday after Labor Day and the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend.  The school year is entirely too long (for students, too).

But I digress.  No one ever wants to hear a teacher complain—“I have to work every day!”  Well, I became a teacher for a reason:  summertime (and because it’s my calling and I sincerely love it—just not in August)!

With that here is 8 August 2024’s “TBT^16: Back to the Grind 202[4]“:

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TBT^16: Back to the Grind 202[4]

The Portly Politico3 Comments

My two-plus months of living like a French duke and/or welfare queen have come to an end.  Yours portly returns to the salt mines of secondary education today.  Classes won’t start back until Monday, 19 August 2024, but teachers reports back today for the usual bout of annual trainings, AFLAC representatives, handbook excursions, etc.

[UPDATE:  due to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby, we won’t report back until Monday, 12 August 2024—whoa!  But I’m still going to grouse about going back to work.  —TPP]

I’ve never quite understood why we report back on a Thursday, when we could easily cover all of this foolishness in a day or two of meetings the following week.  It seems like a way to deprive us of one, final, long weekend before the drudgery returns.

To be frank, I am not much looking forward to this school year—a sadly common refrain from yours portly the past few years.  Our enrollment is way down, which will bring with it all sorts of austerity measures and demands for teachers to sacrifice more time and energy for the good of the school.

Last year was absolutely brutal, and while I’m always cautiously optimistic, I am having a hard time talking myself into a good attitude this year.  Perhaps simply getting back into a rhythm will be its own reward.

With that, here is 3 August 2023’s “TBT^4: Back to the Grind 202[3]“:

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TBT^2: April Fool’s Day: A Retrospective

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

The Kindle version of The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot goes live today!  If you pre-ordered the book, it should pop up in your Kindle app today.  At $5, it’s a very easy lift, as is the paperback at $15.

It’s April Fool’s Day, a holiday for mirth and merriment, but one I dedicate to remembering the day twelve years ago when I faced unemployment during the worst job market since the Great Depression.

In rereading last year’s TBT and the original “April Fool’s Day: A Retrospective,” I’m reminded how good God has been to me.  Last year I’d lost most of my private lesson students due to The Virus; now, I’m back up to seven students (six weekly, one twice a month), and I’ve just released a book (the Kindle version goes live today!).  Gigging still hasn’t really picked back up, but Bandcamp sales have been decent (and another Bandcamp Friday is tomorrow!), and my front porch Spooktacular was a blast.

I’m still hustlin’, but I’m also taking more time to appreciate life.  Perhaps the hard slog of my twenties has finally paid off here in my mid-thirties.

With that, here are “April Fool’s Day: A Retrospective” and “TBT: April Fool’s Day: A Retrospective“:

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