Laws of Gravity

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Thugs in the Airport

Have you heard about this? ICE officers set to deploy to airports as delays mount, border czar Homan confirms. This is such a bad idea. The largest federal workers union says 'untrained, armed' ICE agents should not replace TSA.

"ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security. TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification," Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, said on Sunday in a statement posted online.

The ACLU is also sounding the alarm:

President Trump and his allies in Congress refused to fund TSA and manufactured a crisis at airports across the country. Now, the president apparently wants to use ICE as his private security force, reminding all of us that ICE is not retreating from lawlessness but assigned at will by the president for political retribution.

This makes me rethink plans to go away this summer. Probably best to stay home, eh? Some others' thoughts, too:

Stunned by all the “ICE isn’t gonna do anything more than what TSA already does” rhetoric.
Untrained white supremacists who’ve been told by bosses they’re not subject to laws will have POC and women lined up in front of them to grope and abuse and they don’t even have to chase them.

I've linked to the Bluesky post (as embed seems to be not working for me today). It's an interesting thread. I urge you to click the link and follow it. And one more thread that says a lot more than I can:

4) ICE is not trained! And the public in airports is annoying and nasty! And they are going to be having them do sensitive things with sensitive people!
What do you think is going to happen when someone doesn't respect their authority?

Do you have to fly anytime soon? Are you rethinking any travel plans now?

Monday, March 23, 2026

Just the Collar

I have a sweater.

All that's left is the collar.

If all goes well, next week at this time, it'll be in the mail. Hopefully it'll be there, actually, because next Monday is my brother's birthday.

A couple months ago I ordered my brother's birthday gift, and the plan was to have eldest nephew's sweater done in time so I could mail them all together. And... I really would have liked to have mailed this past Saturday. Sigh. I still can mail the birthday gift and just mail this sweater later, but I'm so close.

So close.

Fingers crossed.

I mean, it's only three months late for Christmas. That's not bad for me. Really.

The sweater's previous posts:

Friday, March 20, 2026

Observed

Thursday. Eighth grade math, special ed. Third period.

It was a complete-the-online-assignment day, and half the class said they were already done. (On a newly-assigned assignment? Not likely.) I noted who said they were done and left that information for the teacher.

The phone rang. It was the health office letting me know they were sending over someone to observe the kiddo in the class who already had a one-to-one aide, but they didn't want the student to know. Something about a seizure disorder.

I don't question when staff shows up in class. We have various observers for various things all the time. One day the new principal showed up while I was doing something with a class. I didn't know who he was or why he was there, but he was with another staff member I did know, so I kept doing what I was doing. Another time, the new district superintendent showed up in class. Again, she was with a staff member I did know. And again, I kept doing what I was doing until we had a moment to talk.

So, when the staff member, who I did recognize from seeing around campus, showed up, I just kept doing what I was doing. (Read: watching the kiddos play games on their computers rather than do the assignment.)

But, now there were two other adults watching one kiddo. And they questioned what he was supposed to be doing. So, he dutifully found the actual assignment. And then got stuck.

Well, that part was my job.

They were turning word problems into equations. It wasn't too hard, but the kiddos were having trouble deciphering whether they needed to add, subtract, multiply, or divide.

The kiddo did not have any seizures while in class. (They don't usually.) But at least he got some math done.

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Out to Lunch

As I mentioned yesterday, Monday and Wednesday I was back at the adult transition center. It's been a while since I got to be there, so it was nice to see the school again. The students, however, are ones I met at the high schools now. The ones who were there when I was there for practically a school year have since aged out.

On Monday we were supposed to go on Community Based Instruction, or CBI. Basically this means we leave school to go out to lunch. But, with the last minute call out of the teacher and with several of the students having not brought money, it had to be cancelled. Which was a disappointment as we were supposed to go out to celebrate the birthdays of two of the instructional assistants. (Yes, both of their birthdays were March 9th.)

But Ms. J left us stuff to do, so we did that.

Then I went back on Wednesday. And Ms. J told me they were going to go out to Chili's. So, I headed to the school, expecting us to go out for the day.

But, of course, things did not go smoothly.

First, a couple students hadn't brought money (even though this was their usual CBI day). Then, they thought about changing our destination, but we couldn't do that without principal approval (and she wasn't on campus at that moment).

Eventually, it all got straightened out, and we headed out. To the bus stop. It wasn't a long distance, but we had a student in a wheelchair, and the bus was easier. Then we had a half hour to wait until the Chili's opened. We took over one whole section.

I sat with two students. Josie had brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She had money, but she didn't want to spend it on lunch.

After we ate, we headed across the (busy) street to the Dollar Tree. There, Josie spent her money. On nail polish and lip balm. As one of the instructional assistants said she would.

I mean, that's impressive. I would have wanted lunch. But no, Josie knew she'd rather have something else, so she made sure to bring other food from school so she wouldn't be tempted.

Then to the bus and back to school.

It's good practice for the students. And it was fun to get out again during the school day. It's been a while since I got to go out for CBI.

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Booking the Week

Monday morning, sometime after midnight, I finally caught an assignment for Monday. I had tried to grab a couple before this, but both informed me that another sub had taken the assignment when I clicked on the book button. So, I was just happy to be working.

Monday is the late start day, so I was lazily on my phone as I had a whole half hour before I needed to leave when the sub desk called. Would I be willing to switch to the adult transition center? Well, sure. But that meant I had to leave... right then... and I wasn't dressed yet...

I managed to make it, but just.

The adult transition center is where the very special ed kiddos go after they age out of high school. I basically spent the 2021-22 school year there. So, while the students are different, I know the drill. (The teachers I covered at that time retired, hence why I ended up there, so there are new-to-me teachers there now.)

Tuesday I didn't catch an assignment. Sigh. But Ms. J, from Monday, reached out to say she was going to be out again Wednesday, and I did I want to work? I managed to catch the assignment again. (Whew.)

Turns out, Ms. J probably shouldn't have worked Tuesday. She's really sick. As is one of the instructional aides. As well as a couple students. What can I say? It's going around.

Then, Wednesday night, Ms. J again asked if I could cover her again. I was totally willing, but I had an assignment for Thursday. Considering how I can try to book an assignment only to have another sub snatch it out from under me, I had concerns. Ms. J said she'd contact the school (who would then contact the sub desk who can just assign me).

But Thursday...? Yeah, I ended up working the assignment I had previously booked. Hey, I was working that day. That's the important thing.

This year it's been harder to book jobs. More subs, I think. Which means the schools have far fewer days where a teacher (or multiple teachers) don't have their very own subs. But it makes it harder for us subs to work every day.

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Housing Bill

This popped up in my feed last week. (If you can't see the video, here's the link.)

Or, if you want written, here's an article about it: Senate approves sweeping bipartisan housing bill, but roadblocks remain in the House.

And this sounds like a good idea. This might be something to call your congressional reps about, if you're so inclined.

Monday, March 16, 2026

Seamingly On Track

Well, I made some forward progress. I attached both sleeves:

And I got set up to sew up the side seams:

And that's about it. Sigh.

Hey, it's something. Although, I really need to get this done. Like now. At least, if I plan to mail it with my brother's birthday gift, and have that, at least, arrive on time.

I don't like deadlines.

Anyway... I need your help. Have you heard of Humble Bundle? It's a website that sells digital libraries. Well, it sells video games and computer books, but it also sells other sorts of books. About a month ago they did a bundle of all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and I grabbed that one so fast...

Right now they're offering digital copies of 26 crochet books/booklets. And... I don't need more crochet patterns. Not really. I mean, the amigurumi book looks interesting. But there are books of afghan patterns and baby layettes. (Neither of which I need. At all.)

Please talk me out of getting this. I am so tempted. The price is great. The money goes to charity. But I have books and magazines and so many patterns. I can resist this.

The sweater's previous posts: