There’s a week and a half until the end of the semester…will I make it? I’m giving myself a 50% chance of crawling across the finish line and then curling up into a soggy ball of tears, vs. a 50% chance of exploding before the end of the term and then raining down as smoldering cinders.
I could see this coming way back in August — it’s been a long decade — so I cleverly scheduled student presentations for the last bit of the term. I don’t have to do any class prep right now, even though I’ve got a lot of material lined up just because…because I can’t help myself, and am always tweaking things and making additions just in case I need it. For the same reason, I can’t leave well enough alone and every year I rewrite and change my classes despite having taught this stuff for about 30 years. Nothing is going to help. No matter what, I’m going to be clawing my eyes out and suppressing screams as every term comes to a close.
I really ought to retire, but I can’t, not ever. I guess I get to look forward to death.
The weird thing is that I like teaching. This would be a lot easier if I didn’t care.
Never mind me, I just have to scream into the uncaring void every once in a while.
PZ, I can relate as I will be working until I die as well. With the destruction of the economy by the dear leader: my 401k, pension and SS, I’ll (59 now) keep going until I’ve assumed room temperature. I thought I’d be able to retire but now that’s a dream (unless I win the lottery). But one thing we have in common is that we love our jobs. If we didn’t life would be hell. At least I don’t dread going to work and have a great boss and a wonder team I work with. Many people I know aren’t as fortunate.
We’re an uncaring void? Oh well, I’ve been called worse.
“unless I win the lottery”
I can’t retire either the way things look, but what you’re describing is endstage capitalism using the possibility effect to keep people hopeful they can somehow still do the American Dream thing and be rich. The possibility effect, if you’ve ever been to a casino, is the million grand jackpot that makes you play that machine.
https://medium.com/@ameet/the-possibility-effect-why-lotteries-and-insurance-exist-17a636cf3bd6
The various undead in films and TV seem to have it much easier than actual living humans.
Dying seems a swell way of making a living, especially if your nation has been Reaganized / Thatcherized.
Just drinking blood or snacking on a brain now and then, no paying for heating because you thrive in room temperature. No paying rent if you find a suitable crypt.
You cannot be out in the sun but if you live in Ireland or Britain you do not lose anything.
“It’s a race to the end”
Why did I think this post was about White House policy?
See, it would be much easier if you were a heartless sociopath like those governing this country. You could do the minimum and coast by. But, no, you have to be diligent and care about teaching and your students. (sarcasimus maximus)
p.s. @5 larper is right – the magat and his admin. cockroaches are in a ‘race to the end’ . . .
a race to the end of civilization in this country!
Nothing for it but to keep raising spiders once you retire so you’ll have a new class to lecture to every few weeks.
I got my pension payment confirmation just yesterday. I’m out and there’s no-one who can drag me back now, so I feel like Alcatraz is shrinking in the rear-view mirror. I should be celebrating, but this glass of wine is emptying so slowly that it doesn’t seem that way at all.
Hi, My dad taught English for over 40 years at highschool in the Netherlands. Once retired, he lasted for 4 months. Then he decided to go back to teaching. So he taught from his 66th until 72 well into his pension.
Actually kept on changing his lessons to suit the new kids coming in all through his career, same as you. There is no helping some, as I know to well.
He was diagnosed with cancer, and kept on teaching. Even into the hospice, where he taught via internet to help give the kids the best chance at making their exams. He made a couple of newspapers: ‘the teacher who cannot stop and from his deathbed is still teaching’.
As I said, if you have the ‘teacher dna’ there is no helping you, you will go on until the end,….
Rich Woods @ 8
Congrats!
Robert Reich is officially retired from UC Berkeley but probably won’t stop.
In my e-mail this morning I found his latest substack missive which was about the last actual class that he taught.
There’s hope, PZ. 8-)