Worrisome Information

I got my door lock fixed! Finally.

(ICYMI: The lock on the inside of my car, driver's side door, broke one day. It's been months, but I finally found someone to fix it. As it turns out, the school where I'm doing my long-term gig has an auto shop. They took a look at the lock, recommended the part they'd need to fix it, and I ordered it. When I picked it up, I fell. So, this has been an ongoing ordeal for me. But it's finally over.)

Wednesday. I dropped off my car at the side gate of the school (rather than parking my car in the parking lot), and I went about my day as normal. At the end of the day, Mr. A, the auto shop teacher, informed me that things weren't quite all good. It took him a bit to get my car door put back together.

My car is thirty-one years old. Students were working on the fix. While the lock mechanism was fine, my door lock is showing its age. And now I can again lock my door from the inside.

But that was not what was worrisome...

Thursday. Fifth period.

The students were entering the room. Adriel passed by me. 

"I put the lock in your car." 

I really, really hope my face went blank, because my mind was whirling. 

I mean, it's okay, right? I had driven my car home. I worked the lock. The lock worked. It was okay...

Just because Adriel doesn't do math doesn't mean he's a terrible auto shop student, right? Right?!?

(I checked. He has an A in auto shop.) 

I mean, I agreed to have the students work on my car. I trust that Mr. A didn't leave them in incapable hands. He supervised. 

It's okay. It's fine. 

(I've been driving my car for days since then. The lock works. It's fine. It's fine!)

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Locked In, Part 2

Because I don't usually blog on Saturdays, my A to Z plan is to just post a picture and be done with it. And we saw how that worked out last week...

Let me start with the picture:

But the picture needs context, so... 

Back in February, I wrote about the day I tried to get out of my car at work, and the lock snapped on me. Have I gotten this fixed since then? Of course not.

I tried to find an auto body shop... Okay, so I meant to find an auto body shop, but I haven't quite gotten to it. I can lock my car door from the outside, so I've been doing that. And promising myself I'd figure out how to get the lock fixed eventually.

But guess what? The school I'm doing my long-term assignment at has an auto shop.

There's a long story of me ending up in a room with the auto shop teacher (there was a meeting about a software program that our students are using), and the conversation turning to the students needing projects, and I mentioned my little issue.

Mr. A, the auto shop teacher, had me leave my car with the auto shop (which is just a couple buildings over from where the classroom I'm in is). They took a look at it, and the above is the part needed to fix the issue. (I also allowed them to "inspect" my car. Why not? It's for their education.) 

I went to order the part. It would arrive during spring break. I got the call it was in. I went in to pick it up. On my way to my car with this in my hot little hands...

Splat!

The asphalt of the parking lot is very cracked and uneven. I was wearing sandals. I was walking too fast, probably. I'm not sure. I lost my balance, and I landed on my chin. Well, mostly my right knee. And my left knee. And I have a bruise on my left palm. My right wrist is very sore.

(I'm writing this on Friday the 5th. It happened yesterday. By the time you read this, I should be considerably less sore.)

I had about five bystanders immediately around to help. Sigh. I never seem to do this sort of thing without an audience of some sort. (I have done this sort of thing too many times.)

As you can see, the part is undamaged. Now it's just a matter of getting on the auto shop's schedule to get the part installed. (They were supposed to do it this week, but wires got crossed and it didn't happen. Hopefully soon.)

When I got home from my little spill, I discovered my face full of asphalt. (I got a nice purple bruise on my chin a couple days after, not pictured.) So, bonus picture:

I couldn't resist the selfie. I washed the black muck off my face right after I took the pic.

Wishing you all an accident-free Saturday. Now, tell me your fall stories.

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Locked In

Wednesday. I had accepted a gig covering a moderate to severe special ed class, so I was prepared for a certain kind of day. It's not that I have to mentally prepare myself or anything as I've covered those classes enough times in the past that I'm not worried. But I do go in with certain expectations.

I arrived at the school. I parked. I attempted to get out of my car...

I have an older car. It has a manual lock. I flipped the lock open, and it snapped. My door remained locked and I couldn't unlock it. I couldn't open the door.

I managed to climb out via the passenger side. But now I was in a panic. What was I going to do now?

I attempted to focus on the job. I was at school. I could work. 

For the first block (second period) we had "unified cheer". The school has been doing more inclusive things with this population, like having intramural basketball tournaments and such. They can't do all the intricate tricks and gymnastics that the general population cheer squad does, but they can do the basic cheers. So, they practiced those.

The class is mostly special ed, but it has a few general ed students, and they helped the kiddos along. It's a PE class for all of them.

I was the co-teacher in this situation, so the main PE teacher ran the class while I "assisted". (Read: hovered at the perimeter of the class while inwardly panicking about my car.) 

Yeah, I wasn't much of an assistant.

It turned out that I had a prep period after this. After one of the instructional aides suggested Auto Club, I attempted to call and get a person to see if they had someone that could help. But, alas, it's all automated now. But, during the block of my prep period, I managed to meet with a tow truck driver only to discover that I could unlock the driver side door from the outside with my key, so I could get in and out.

Well, that's something. 

Apparently, I need an auto body shop to make that particular repair. Which is something I need to do now.

But, until I find that, I can get in and out of the car and drive it around. So, I was able to get home. And to work the next day.

And I had some time to calm down so I could be of some use to periods six and eight. 

(The classes went pretty well. We had the usual behaviors, but nothing too terrible. I've had some days with some doozies of behavior, so it was a pretty decent day.)

Teaching from Home, Again

Thursday morning. I walked into the classroom, and the lights did not click on. (They have an automatic sensor.) The room was stuffy. (The a/c is on a constant vent air due to Covid. It might not blow cold, but something should have been blowing.) 

The power was out. 

Before I had a chance to panic, I glanced at my phone. I had a text from the school's secretary: 

Good morning. Mr. L [the principal] sent out a message instructing teachers to teach from home today. There has been a power outage.

Um... 

If you recall from last week, my car was once again in the shop. Yes, it had been a week, but it was not yet done. (I got it back later that day.) The nice person who had given me a ride had dropped me off and left. 

I called her and politely asked her to turn around and retrieve me. 

Then it was a scramble. What did I need from the classroom? Being on a long-term gig, I knew what the plans for the day were. I had been leaving the flash drive with the PowerPoints for class lectures at school. (Considering getting pulled and car trouble, I wanted to make sure if I wasn't there, whoever was could keep the class going.) 

I grabbed the flash drive. I grabbed the page the economics class was going to do. And then I waited for my ride to retrieve me.

I had taught at home for a couple months (November through March, to be exact), so I had this. Right? 

Well... First period suffered through my technical difficulties. But by third, things were going pretty smoothly. Their teacher, Mrs. O, had scrambled to post the notes and the assignment for the day, so all I had to do was present things. 

I got it done. At least this wasn't a new thing, teaching from home. And I could do it without a mask. Small victories. 

(There had been a car accident that took out the power to that area. They hoped to have it restored for Friday. Or, the district would bring in generators.)  

Car Trouble (Yet Again)

Last Thursday was Back to School Night, the night when parents are invited to campus and the teachers present what their classes are about. This is not something that I generally have to deal with, but since I started a long term subbing assignment, I was required to cover it. 

While we are in person for school, the district decided that we'd do Back to School Night virtually, although they'd require the teachers to do the presentations from campus. 

I was on a long term in April when we did Open House, which is a similar type of thing (although it's more of a "what we did this year" event). 

For Open House, I figured it would be easier to stay on campus from the end of the school day until after Open House. With Back to School Night looming, I looked back on that decision, and figured that I'd rather come home after school and just go back later in the evening. (The Open House day ended up being very long.) 

Little did I know how much I'd need that time.

The day prior, my roommate noticed a spot on the ground where I park my car. When I arrived home after school on Thursday, that spot had grown quite a bit. (From a spot to a puddle a good six inches across.) This was a leak that needed to be dealt with immediately.

But I had just taken my car in for repairs!!! Twice. (I took it in for some routine maintenance in June.)

And, the garage I take my car to has been so very, very busy. I figured I'd be car-less for at least a week. Again. 

It was the middle of the day, so I was able to drop off my car. (And my roommates were kind enough to give me rides from the garage, to and from Back to School, and to and from work on Friday.) 

Friday afternoon the repair shop called. It turns out that some gasket that they installed in June is defective. Which means the repair is UNDER WARRANTY! 

At least that's good news. It was still going to take them a few days to complete repairs. Hopefully by the time you read this all will be done and I'll once again have a car. Fingers crossed.

Overdue

When was the last time you washed your car?

Sorry to admit, I'm terrible about doing that. So, when my roommate mentioned a place nearby where you run it through a tunnel where all the work is done, I was sold. (I usually do it myself, hence the reason why it hasn't happened lately.)  

Upon my return home, I discovered a little something missing from my car...

That big gap is where the front license plate should go. Sigh. 

(Hey, at least my battery was intact.) 

It was only then that I recalled that my front license plate had kind of been hanging on by a thread for a while. One of the screws had snapped some time ago, and I have no idea how to get a screw with no head out. Now I have two. 

So, I can totally see how the action from an automatic car wash might make the license plate go flying.

Well, it's not like I'm really going out too much, anyway.

(I called the car wash up once I discovered the plate missing. They found it. I retrieved it. Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to get it reattached to the car.)

Powerless

It was just an ordinary Wednesday at the high school. They worked; I watched. I looked about for something, anything interesting to post about.

The day ended. I checked out. I headed for my car.

The hood of my car was open. It wasn't propped open, but it wasn't fully shut. I closed it, and I wondered. Had I accidentally popped the hood as I got out of my car that morning? I've never done that before. Was it possible?

When I went to start my car, I realized I hadn't accidentally opened my hood. Because, my car wouldn't start. And unlike when my battery has died (which it has done a few times over the years), I had no power at all. That's when I suspected...

I opened up my hood to be greeted by...

...a big gaping hole where the battery should be.

I didn't have any time to process this turn of events on my own, as one of the security guys noticed my distress, and he was standing with me when I opened the hood. He immediately called for the rest of the security team.

While they were talking about "the video" and how long my car had been in that spot (all day), I was contemplating next steps. I needed a battery. AAA has roadside battery service. So, I needed to call AAA.

The guys were concerned that something else had been taken out of my car. But I could tell that nothing was missing. I don't really leave anything of value in my car anyway, and besides, it didn't feel like they'd been inside the car. How did they gain access to the engine (as the hood release is inside the car)?

Waiting for AAA to arrive, another of the security guys was talking about insurance and police reports, and only then did it occur to me that I should probably call the police. I mean, one does call the police when one has been robbed, correct? And what is the proper term for this? Burgled? Thieved?

Security got word that they found the incident on the video surveillance. (The school has cameras all over.) The thieves were in a silver Nissan with no plates. Apparently, the whole theft took them five minutes. They reached beneath the car to release the hood. I was invited back to see, but I didn't really need to. I doubt I would recognize them, and I was waiting for those I had called, anyway.

AAA arrived. He was just getting started when the police arrived. The AAA driver made a comment that he does arrive before the cops, but I had called AAA first, so that really doesn't count.

The cop asked how much it was going to cost me to replace, and the AAA driver quoted him the price.

I gave my statement. The cop was surprised to hear that there was video of the incident. He asked if he could see it, and the security guy said, "Of course". It sounded like the cop had been to the school before, for he knew which office he'd need to go to for this.

AAA finished just slightly before the police were done with me. I was given a file number for my report, and then I was on my way.

I have been subbing a long time. I've been working at this school for years. This is the first time my car has been broken into. Still, I was nervous to return as I was already scheduled to cover a class there on Friday.

Friday came and went. My car was in the same state as I had parked it in. But I'm still going to be a little nervous for the foreseeable future.

Look Both Ways

It was just after 7 AM the morning I subbed, and I was headed to school. I was just a block away from my house when a small white dog darted in front of my car.

The dog was too close. I hit the brake, but I knew that I didn't have enough space to stop. I cringed at the moment that the dog should have hit, but because of the size of the dog and the front of my car I couldn't see it happen.

Then, from about where my right front tire was, the dog rolled away from my car, bouncing off the tire of the parked car next to me (the reason I couldn't swerve to avoid the dog). He bounced up, regained his feet, and ran back the way he came.

That's when another little dog (more chihuahua like) ran from the direction the white dog had come. Dog 2 was chasing white dog. Dog 2 took off following white dog, and both safely made the yard across the street.

However, I was still shaking.

The dogs' owner called for my attention then. She had seen some of that happen, but not all, for she asked if I had hit the dog. I confirmed that I had. But she didn't see white dog take off, so I pointed out where white dog was now running around.

Perhaps I had slowed my car down enough so that white dog was not injured. He certainly seemed to be still in play after the incident.