Quick Post - Steno

I just wanted to insert a quick post to explain why I didn't post on Thursday.

This week my work schedule was altered because I've started a new role as a hybrid supervisor-trainer. This means that I'll still do my normal supervisor duties on the call floor, but if the training department needs help I can pop over there and give presentations or go through materials with the training classes.

I've had fun doing the new software training classes, so applied for this position thinking it would be a good fit. So far the training has been going well, but jumping back and forth between my supervisor and training duties is going to take some getting used to. It involves switching mental gears pretty quickly, and by the time I get home every night I've been pretty tired and just struggling to do the bare minimum prep for the next day of work. So on Thursday I was just too tired to finish my blog, and pushed it to Saturday (today) instead. So you can look for that post later tonight.

The other issue I'm dealing with is my stenography school. I just paid my tuition out-of-pocket, around $1800. Ouch. Before the Christmas holiday, I might have mentioned that my steno teacher chewed me out for not doing the Evaluations and Tests portions of the steno software I'd been introduced to. She said I should be grateful that the school pays thousands of dollars for its students to use the software, and that I needed to stop everything I was doing (including the class we were in) and go take a bunch of evals and tests RIGHT NOW. In a panic, I did, and then messaged the other steno teacher in the course for a video chat because I was also extremely angry. I knew that I was absolutely caught up on my work with the school, and I average a 97 in the course. The other teacher was able to confirm that no assignments were due, and that I could complete the evaluations and tests at my own pace.

My steno teacher sort-of apologized, so although I still felt resentment I chalked it up to a bad day for her and just decided to move on. This was BEFORE I paid my $1800 tuition, and I had in fact looked up alternate schools to transfer to, that's how angry this made me.

So NOW, after the holidays have ended, my teachers have returned to school and are reviewing my coursework. Come to find out that NONE of the tests I've taken are gradeable because the teachers are not receiving the text portion of my tests. Steno tests are only good for when you take them, you can't send materials in later, they're a sampling of your speed and accuracy in the moment so sending materials later defeats the point of the test. Anyway, we contacted tech support and it turns out that the reason they can't see my tests is either:
A) They have not updated their steno software, or
B) Because I have an apostrophe in my last name and my school profile and the software profile are not agreeing on the inclusion of the apostrophe (I know it sounds wild, but this has actually happened to me MANY times before).

Either way, it is NOT something that I'm doing wrong, which was the impression I was given up until tech support got back to us.
To sum it up, I am about fed up with this school. I'm sure my teachers are good people and all, but I have now lost a months' worth of tests because of a software update and/or mismatched accounts. I've been yelled at for doing absolutely nothing wrong, and although that was just a one-time event it rankles, and I dread seeing my teacher because what if she flies off the handle again? Or what if I actually do make a mistake, what kind of reaction will I get then?

It seems to me that all of the stress is not worth it. So, I have steno class today in about 30 minutes. I will see what my teachers have to say to me. And then on Monday I'm going to reach out to the advisory department and see about getting my tuition refunded (it's too late to do a full refund I think but even half would be better than nothing). Then I'm going to see about transferring to another school.

It's a shame, and it's going to be a pain in the butt. But I have at least another year of speedbuilding if not more ahead of me, and I just can't. I can't go through it wondering if my work will go through properly this time. I can't dread every single class wondering if tonight's the night I get belittled again as though I'm a failing student. Maybe that means I'm petty or an emotional snowflake or whatever, well, I guess I am then. I spent my childhood getting bullied and belittled by adults, and as an adult I see no reason to continue to tolerate it, most especially when I've done absolutely nothing wrong. It's just. Not. Worth it. It IS worth the trouble to transfer if it puts me in a positive learning space.

Anyway, this turned into a long post but that's why I haven't posted this week, and I do plan to post tonight about other more cheerful things.

Thanks for listening.

Week 1 Weirdness

The first week of 2021 was a weird one for me.

I'm starting a new hybrid role at work, and they want me to shadow for a full week to get the hang of things. Which is great, but that department has a different schedule than mine so there will be some finagling. Usually Wednesday and Thursday are my "weekend". This week only, my days off will be Sunday and Saturday.

So I worked January 1 and 2, then had 3 off, then worked a full week before getting 1/9 off. Just a little wonky, but there was a lot to learn.

On the 3rd it was very strange to wake up and not have to go to work. With a full week ahead I decided to get some stuff done. I did laundry, prepped my breakfasts, and made Scotch eggs just because I've always wanted to but never had the time or knowledge. I used a sausage recipe from The Dude Diet because it's a lot healthier than store-bought sausage meat: lean turkey instead of pork, and way less sodium and preservatives. I seasoned the sausage meat with shredded apple, fennel seeds, allspice, salt pepper, garlic, and coriander. Then I wrapped it around eggs I'd boiled earlier, using plastic wrap to evenly distribute the sausage around the egg. Then i dipped each egg in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs and cooked them in the air fryer.

They turned out pretty good! The only thing I'd change next time is to boil the eggs one minute less, I'd like the yolks more soft. I served them with mustard and mushy peas.



In the afternoon I had a nice zoom chat with my ladies from the Ruby Princess all-female band. It was good to see everyone (well, almost everyone, Molly didn't show up) and see that we are all still hanging in there. Here we are making various faces as Stacey demonstrates a brass musician's specially modified face mask.


After dinner I helped Jameson take down our Christmas tree and heave it over the back fence into the swamp area behind our house. We do this at night because we don't want the neighbors to see...pretty sure it's breaking some tree disposal regulation or something. It's the second time we've disposed of our tree this way...I'm thinking of making us shirts for next year that say, "3rd Annual Roccella Court Tree Sneak" and "Yeet'n since 2019", lol.

We didn't take down the yard decorations because it had rained all morning and we didn't want to put away wet lights (this is Florida, = MOLD). Jameson ended up taking them down while I was at work later in the week.

Mid-week I decided to try making whole wheat bread, not realizing that wheat flour complicates the breadmaking process pretty significantly. My recipe was by volume rather than weight, and it primarily used a mixer, which I'm sure didn't help. I followed the instructions almost to the letter, but when my dough was stickier than expected I made the mistake of kneading it even after it had been in the mixer for 20 minutes. Noooope, shouldn't have done that. I ended up with a deflated, overworked loaf. Although I have to say, it's not a brick, and the texture is actually pretty good. It's just dense.


I made the ever-stupid mistake of asking the internet advice, and got all sorts of comments about how to make focaccia or how to prep all the types of yeast I didn't use, or how other people are REAL bakers who NEVER use mixers. Oh internet, you are so unhelpful and narcissistic.

I will try again next week with these changes:
- Replace 1/4 of the flour with either regular flour or more finely ground wheat flour
- Use a recipe that measures the ingredients by weight rather than volume
- Use the mixer only until ingredients are just combined, then knead by hand so I can feel when it's ready

...I mean, that's pretty much it. I'm already using vital wheat gluten to help with protein content, and a little lemon juice, and my recipe accounts for some extra water for the whole grain wheat. I think these changes will make a difference, but we will see.
This is also why I usually wait until the weekend to bake or cook. I get about 5 hours of sleep each night during the work week, and it really takes a toll on my concentration by the end of the day. When making something new I want to give it my full concentration.

Anyway, to sum it up this week was very stressful (see last post about steno school and work).
I had Saturday off but had a steno class, in which my teacher got the time of the class wrong, started the class 15 minutes late, and got interrupted about 10 minutes by a package delivery. Based on the info given in my last post, what would you guys do? Would you transfer? Am I being a little b*tch about all this?

While out tending my plants on Saturday I heard a rustling and saw this Cooper's Hawk(?) stomping around in the grass. He didn't seem to actually have a prey item, so idk what he was doing, but he was cute as hell.

https://instagram.com/p/CJ1_2EAA9xW

I was surprised to see a few blooms on my hibiscus too. I'd thought it was done for the winter. How nice...it really brightened my day :)


There's not much else I can say, I just wanted to give a summary of the week. It was a rough one but hopefully the stress now will pay off later.
Now I have three more days of work, then three days off, which will be very much needed.
Over the three days I will do chores and stuff of course, and practice my steno. I need to pick up my bass trombone from the repair shop, and call my school's advisory office to see about the steps for transferring.
Other plans include starting the Chia Pet Jameson got me, making lemon ricotta pancakes with my last meyer lemon, attempting the wheat bread again...and f*cking chilling out.