Running Amok

Running amok: I decided this morning to look up in the dictionary, the phrase "running mok". Apparently this most useful phrase comes to us via southern Asia... it apparently means killing spree but has recently been watered down to just going crazy. I was going to use it because I thought it meant going crazy... I had no idea that in reality it meant going on a dreadful killing spree.  This morning I feel like Running amok in the traditional sense because we have deer out ripping our bales of hay to shreds and acting like we're intruders when we try to drive them away from the bales.  One buck even tried to turn and nail Narmie to the ground with and antler.... as a result I look at him and see...

...and of course running amok seems to fit pretty well with that image.  It's just too bad that hunting season is over....

Now running amok also applies to life these days in the more modern sense.... I seem to be going crazy. I get up in the morning with my day planned out before me and I think, I can get this done. But more often than not night arrives and I have nothing done and I am left wondering where the hell all the time that lay before me in the morning has gone. See... running amok.. that's me with time. I have not worked on my level 5 homework for days... and it is seriously starting to stress me out. The sad thing is I can't figure out what it is that keeps me from getting it done. 

This is Wednesday for heavens sake and Teapot and the Daughters will be heading back to school tomorrow. No, the strike has not been resolved but the teachers are only allowed to demonstrate for three days. I'm not sure where they go from here. I think they are trying to disrupt the schools enough to inconvenience  the government so that they will do something about getting them back to work... but it's all so political that it is hard to figure out what the heck they are trying to do. I just wish that a negotiated settlement would be made once and for all. I blame the government for this terrible situation. They have resolved to take away the rights of teachers... rights that are promised to us all under our constitution.

I could go into why the teachers are their own worst enemies and talk about how most teachers like kids... they like helping kids.... they like teaching them not only in school but out of school too... they like doing extra curricular things with the kids... most teachers are conscientious people who like to improve their teaching capabilities. They spend hours of their own time doing professional development courses and workshops that better equip them for teaching. They do all kinds of extra curricular sports programs that they don't get paid for. They go into school before classes and after classes to tutor kids who need extra help.... and they do this so frequently that the public and the government take it for granted that these "extras" are all part of the job. I have had to really remind Teapot of this. Last winter the school district that he works for, wanted him to do extra math courses but he would have been expected to give up Friday evening for two months... and because he lives so far away from FSJ where the district would be holding the course, he would have had to leave here about 4 p.m. What was he getting for this... nothing... not even a pay raise at the end of it which is what any other business would have offered. Friday night is valuable family time and I reminded him of how the last time they went on strike they had an imposed contract... he thought about it for a few days and turned them down.  Recently we found out that the Shop teacher at our school has no funding for the high school shop courses... so there are no materials to work with for these kids. Then we found out that the shop teacher was going in to FSJ to buy supplies from the lumber yard because it was cheaper and he was paying for it out of donated money since the school was not giving him any budget for supplies.... in addition, he was picking it up on his own time and using his truck and not getting re-embursed for the gas money. When asked why, he said that they would lose the program if kids didn't enroll in shop (no supplies?!... why bother enrolling) and he would be out of a job and as well as, our small school couldn't afford to lose any more programs.... The public needs to know how bad things are becoming here in Canada for public education. Sometimes I want to smack these teachers in the head and tell them to smarten up. Stop being so damn giving.... Teapot regularly has to put in extra hours doing homework packages for kids who are off sick or, what really gets his gonch in a knot, is when parents come to him looking for a homework package for kids who are going on vacation... because they are taking their kids out a week before March break or taking a week after Christmas holiday to enjoy the Carribean or a cruise or where ever.... they always come back with none of it done.... like WTF! It's just a big waste of his time. But he does it because it is expected. Just once I'd like him to say, "no... there's no point... the kid won't do it anyway". The proverbial shit would hit the fan that's for sure. But parents never take into account that that's maybe an hour of extra work for the teacher when he could be correcting...

I read a really good blog post of a teacher the other day that is really worth reading... and it was an eye opener for even me... if you would like to read it then you can go here. She talks about her situation in Port Coquitlam and if that doesn't make you realize just how bad a situation teaching is here in this province then we might as well all quit.

Ok I'm off... now that I've had my speel about the teachers I promise to keep my mouth shut on that subject again except for maybe an occasional update on Teapot. Now see I've been writing here for a good hour.... yup... once again I'm running amok. Next thing you know it will be lunch time ... for heavens sake the day will be half over and I'll have nothing done. I'm outta here....