@ai6yr I am reading a ton. When I cannot concentrate as well, I reread older books. When my concentration is better, I have new books to read. Heading out for a walk later this afternoon since it is sunny with an expected high of 54° - straight up balmy for Feb-March up here.
I'm at school. Started hearing some weird noises outside & went & looked. Construction guys from the construction site next door who are blocking the entrance to my school just climbed the fence & hooked up their hoses to our hose bib. I suspect this is not the first time they've done this. Just called district security.
Friend who is a HS teacher in Seattle says only 8 kids present in 1st period class. Lynnwood light rail parking filled up earlier than usual says another friend. #Seahawks parade today.
I just realized that the reason I felt almost normal today was that after several weeks of subsisting on maybe 5-6 hrs of sleep, last night I slept for 10.5 hours. It was a hard sleep - I don't think I moved at all - and I clearly needed it. Not my normal at all.
Support Nathan Hale HS's public radio station c89.5 by signing in PRO for state public media grants. It will cost $2.40 PER YEAR to support public radio & TV in WA after mango fascist & his nazis cut federal funding.
Legislation (HB 2579) has been introduced in Olympia to provide state funding for public radio and television stations across Washington. If approved, this bill would help create a sustainable future for Washington public broadcasters.
Wealthy white parent just dropped off a bag of whistles & warning cards for the staffroom here at school along with $500 in grocery cards in $50 increments for our low income families. We had a family seized by Gestapo-ICE last week. The nazis are waking up a sleeping giant.
Many teachers & school staff cannot afford to live near their schools. The commute on bad weather days can be deadly; we lost a staff member in my old district who commuted from Arlington & was killed on her way to work on an icy road when a car spun out & hit hers. Buses slide off roads.
Also, most elementary buildings have ONE custodian who is already busy, does not have the time & equipment to clear all parking lots, walkways, stairwells, etc., so another safety issue for staff AND students.
Just for a little amusement over the sheer stupidity of some people...
If you're a substitute teacher or aide, don't be so stupid as to bring your vape pen onto school grounds & especially don't be so stupid as to bring your THC vape pen onto school grounds AND use it in the staff bathroom during the day. That shit might be legal in the state, but you STILL can't have it or use it on school grounds.
(Person was escorted off school grounds by security & summarily fired by the district.)
None of our Portuguese-speaking kids have been at school since Tuesday after Gestapo-ICE was spotted multiple times kidnapping in the Puget Sound region. We're missing 30+ kids in this group.🖕ICE 🤬
I correctly surmised by the number of fireworks going off that 1) the #Seahawks won and 2) it was a blow out, all without watching the rest of the game.
One adult and two children in the same family were infectious from Dec. 27, 2025, through Jan. 1, 2026, while visiting King and Snohomish counties from South Carolina.
Looks like I have a bunch of branches to clean up after all the wind that hit while I was gone. Think my neighbor just moved everything over to my side. 🤬
(This would be the same neighbor who screamed at the landscaping crew & said some racist shit & now they refuse to come back here.)
My mom has a postcard describing all the ways the fascist Utah GOP is planning to suppress voters, including the new requirements to opt IN for vote-by-mail, ballots must be received no later than election day regardless of postmark (screws both the rural voters & Native voters), & voter id/ballots must include the last 4 digits of the SSN (will also be required on drivers licenses). Utter fascist bullshit, also ripe for fraud, especially since DOGE & the russians have all our SSN info now.
It was 55° here in Salt Lake when I headed to St. Mark's Hospital at 7am. No jacket needed, really. No one masking at this hospital except my mom & I despite the measles outbreak in Utah, plus the rising COVID & flu cases. 🙄
Luckily they did not make her take her mask off for her procedure.
It took over a decade to get the Suiattle River Road (Forest Rd 26) rebuilt & reopened after flooding & washouts. It was 17 years of closure for Index-Galena Rd before it finally reopened at the end of 2023. I wonder how many roads into the backcountry we lost in this storm and how many trails we lost that won't be restored in my lifetime. #wawx
If you are school staff in WA & don't have your vaccination record, talk to your school nurse (if you have one ☹️). With a little info from you, they can access your vaccination record for any vaccines you've received in WA. District just had school nurses run reports to show which students are not vaccinated (very few at my Title school) so they have their exclusion lists ready to go in the event of an outbreak. Ours also got staff info & did the same. Missing something? Get a titer or a vax.
I'm actually quite pleased my district is preparing for this, and also they they took a hard line against the anti-vaxxer staff & won't do paid leave for those staff members who refuse to vaccinate. If you have a legit medical reason for no vaccines, with a legit doctor attestation, then you can be on paid medical leave. Teachers do not have to provide online instruction for excluded students either. There will be a packet of grade level work provided by the district for parents to pick up.
Oof. Just realized my license expires THIS year, not next year. (The last digit of the year is partly on my picture & is REALLY hard to read.) Hopped on to WA DOL's site to make an appointment for a regular license renewal, & nothing is open until Dec. 30th. My license expires next week. 😳
I don't need an enhanced drivers license - just a regular one - but it's hard to tell if I can do a walk-in anymore.
Got up early to go stand in line to get a new drivers license as a walk in & hope for the best. In looking up the DOL address, I double-checked appointments & found a cancellation for Tuesday, so SCORE! Huge relief.
My plans for Thanksgiving weekend are clear, I'm not shopping at Target, HomeDepot or Amazon 🚫🚫🚫. I'm so over corporations that back the admins policies, cave to anti-DEI pressure, let ICE terrorize our communities, and chase tax breaks while people go hungry. Follow weaintbuyingit to get involved #WeAintBuyingIt! https://weaintbuyingit.com
New student again today. This one is my 2nd foster kid so far. Very cynical kid, but also has some solid reasoning & coping skills that are both smart & heartbreaking. Calls foster mom "mom" even tho "she isn't my real mom, but it makes it easier so I don't have to remember all their names, I can just say mom each time." New foster home is apparently much better than the old one: "I have my own bedroom." Gets to go buy a new bedspread this weekend & is very excited.
This one is still has a lot of sweetness hidden away though, unlike my other one who has a lot of trauma & anger & hatred for most adults. I don't have the full backstory on this one yet - meeting with social worker in the morning.
I believe we are now up to 12 foster kids at my school, which is more than we've ever had. ☹️
Well, next summer is going to be full of a shitload of trail maintenance & forest restoration. Hopefully WA State & Washington Trails will have a plan to bypass the Feds & get us into these areas that are currently burning, as well as maintain the trails & areas that are being trashed by social media hikers. In some areas, we've gone from 11 rangers to 1 (the Enchantments), first summer I've never seen a single ranger on any FS trails.
If I could afford to quit teaching, today would have been the day I did.
Got a new 4th grader on Monday, IEP thicker than a science textbook. My room has been trashed every single day by this kid. I've been punched, called a fucking bitch, & had to evacuate my other students from the room to prevent them from being hurt. Parents INSIST this child should be in a gen ed classroom. No 1:1 support. District SPED person agrees. But what about my other students? This is such BS.
Another week, same shit. Luckily today the assistant principal ended up restraining this kid after they chucked books at me and 2 of my other students. Was in the office for 2 hrs, so we crammed a whole lot of instruction in.
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What’s the best way to avoid the Revive I-5 traffic? ( www.kiro7.com )