Random Thoughts X

The ECHL, the fantasy hockey league I've involved in for the last couple years, is no longer a fun league.

Don't know if it's because the commissioner team has been changed or what, but the league is getting to be less interesting.

First off, it was suddenly not okay to make fun of other teams, which was part of the fun to begin with. Whenever I made fun of the Atlanta franchise losing, Mike (who was not even the GM of said team) was intent on picking fights with me on the message board. Repeatedly.

Secondly, when I publicly decided to root for other clubs, that wasn't okay either, with two of the four current commissioners jumping in to attack me. All in good nature, I'm sure, but again, I don't see why I needed to have multiple people bashing me. It's just like, there's a minor problem with the photocopier, let's say, and we have two people there to fix it. Unnecessary. Add to that, there are several making fun of the quality of my team, which is fine. However, there are a few teams right now that are worse than or on par with mine, and yet I don't see anything negative said about them.

Now, suddenly I am told I am a useless GM, with apparently all four commissioners questioning my trades.

This is supposed to be a fun fantasy league. Suddenly this league just isn't fun anymore.

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On another note, back to work:

I'd been teaching the Business program for years now, and with the fact the current student numbers aren't high, I've been asked to take on curriculum development for half of my days. So, morning time it's Business, afternoon time it was supposed to be curriculum stuff for the whole school. (And believe me, I was handed a long list of things to fix.)

However, as luck would have it, some teachers had been sick, or most recently, quit suddenly, and I've been subbing for, and now teaching, afternoon English classes.

When I was teaching Business full-time, it was all a balancing act. Most of the time, be strict, but sometimes, be coddling. Now, it's being strict in the morning with Business students, and being coddling with the afternoon students.

I was invited to a party on Saturday, and normally I wouldn't be going to these student-teacher get-togethers. See, Business students didn't want to hang out with their teachers after school, while English students did. Thus, at these parties, Business students usually weren't around. However, it was not cool to skip these functions for an English teacher. Thus, in my afternoon classes, my students were already asking me to commit to attending. And, because you try to provide a friendly and encouraging atmosphere, it would be uncool to say no. Therefore, I promised I would attend, and I did.

At the party, Chan expressed his appreciation for my being there, and also thanked me for being a great teacher, for explaining things clearly, and my geniune kindness. It was an alright party overall; I hung out for a couple hours before taking off.

It's certainly refreshing to hear people thank you and be appreciative of your efforts... unlike situations where people stab each other's backs in highly competitive work environments. Just a comment.