Annoyances in New Beginnings

My refrigerator is dying, or at least only working under protest. A few weeks ago, it started making this horrendous buzzing. I had an appliance repairman come look at it. He said the condenser is going bad and that it would cost $1,200 to fix. I can replace my refrigerator for $500 less than that amount, so I placed an order at Home Depot yesterday for a new one. I didn’t need that $700 anyways.

Every semester, I have at least one student who likes to make my life difficult. This semester’s problem student is Josiah. He’s in my ACCT 1100 class, and I think his goal is to not let me eat lunch. His class is on Wednesdays & Fridays at 1:00 PM. Whenever he needs help, which is pretty regularly, he asks if he can come to my office before class. My office hours on those days are from 10:00 AM to noon. Of course, he doesn’t want to stop by before my lunch hour. I think the one time he came at 11:30 AM, he stayed until it was time for class, so I’m not sure if his coming early would alleviate things.

It’s frustrating because he asks for help with topics I’ve explained in class. We’ve talked about what accounts are impacted by what transactions. We’ve talked about how journal entries are entered into the general ledger. We’ve talked about how to book closing entries. Where was his mind visiting when we were talking about these topics in class. I’ve made flashcards for the entire class. Not only did I make them, but I uploaded them online on a website called Quizlet, so my students can download them to their phones. When he asked me how to succeed, I explained to him that this material was half comprehension (do you understand it when you read the text book or when we talk about it in class) and half retention (can you draw upon the information when I give you a paragraph of information plus a question). The flashcards help with the retention if you review them every day, so of course Josiah ignores them.

I haven’t spoken with Erika in a few weeks. A year ago was the weekend she and I rented an Airbnb in Nashville, so I wonder if her distance is her feeling wistful. I know she’s also busy helping her friend, Mary, who was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. She’s also rehearsing for a performance in December, so any number of reasons might have caused her back away. However, I talked with my sister last week, and when I found out that Erika had been venting to my sister about our break up unbeknownst to me. I don’t know when or how often she called my sister, but it’s made my calling her that much more awkward. I still care about her, and I want to maintain our line of communication, but I don’t want to reach out to her if my doing so is going to cause her pain, and I’m doubly wary about calling her if she’s going to call someone on my side, as it were, and complain behind my back. Not that I say anything that could be used against me, but it still feels slightly duplicitous.

All my sister really said was that Erika seems very clingy. Right after we broke up, Erika made a bunch of dramatic posts on Facebook. We buried the hatchet pretty quickly, but right after that she had a falling out with her best friend Mary, and made a bunch of dramatic social media posts again. I had to explain to Lauren that the several months of Erika’s social media posts about betrayal and treachery weren’t about me. I suppose she is clingy. To be fair though, everyone has baggage of some type. She also shares a lot of my values, beliefs, and goals in addition to being very easy on the eyes. I’m inclined to hold on, but my instinct is to do nothing. If I don’t reach out to her, will I hurt her because she wants me to call. If I do reach out to her, will I hurt her because the anniversary of our first trip is weighing on her and she wants to forget.

I haven’t been to Jiu Jitsu in a couple of weeks. I twisted my knee and sprained my thumb a little while ago, and they’re just now feeling better. I’ll try tomorrow, and hopefully not everyone has leveled up without me.