Finley has been using a Chromebook for schoolwork since they sent everyone home last March, and apart from some initial confusion as to where things were (the cloud) and what it could do (it actually connects to our printer!) it’s been pretty bombproof since then—as a piece of hardware. The software they’re using for the curriculum is hot burning trash. I could have designed something better than this shit on a napkin in 1998. As it turns out, someone else realized this and brought the entire thing to a crashing halt with ransomware late last year. We parents used to be able to log into an account and see our child’s progress but that’s been shut off since the breach, so we’re completely dependent on what Finn sees through her login.

This morning her password stopped working. All three of us tried entering it with no success, so I clicked on the “forgot password” link, which then failed to work. We found the support number and I called it, then sat on hold for 45 minutes until a disinterested, barely conscious woman took my information down, gave me a ticket number, and told me someone would contact me…sometime.

We have Zoom links for Finn’s classes but there’s no direct way to contact her teachers—although I think Jen sniffed out the email addresses and sent word along. But she can’t do schoolwork, and if there’s no other way to contact her, she won’t know what’s happening in class. So far, there’s no word from tech support. Swell.

* * *

Meanwhile, word from Baltimore County about the COVID vaccine is sparse and confusing. Apparently I’m in the fourth tier (C), which contradicts some earlier information we’d been given, and I’m not eligible for the vaccine without some kind a note from my doctor. I contacted my oncologist and got a form letter back which basically says don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you. So who knows what’s going to happen.

Meanwhile, our governor has decided that the kids need to go back to hybrid learning by March 1, to which I say: FUCK YOU. Unless we three get vaccinated, Finn will be learning from our dining room table until further notice.

Date posted: January 22, 2021 | Filed under general | Leave a Comment »

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