Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Oof.


Last semester was hard.  Really hard.  I was trying to figure out what was going on where my health was concerned, running on empty, and trying to do more than usual.  I didn't do a very good job with any of the three classes: I was stretched way too thin.  

This semester...wow.  I wasn't thinking it would be as difficult to deal with as it is.  I have Tuesday/Thursday classes only.  MWF classes are 50 minutes per class; TTh classes are 75 minutes.  I didn't think that the extra 25 minutes would be so much of a difference, but they are.  And even worse, the two hours between classes don't help a lot where regaining stamina are concerned.  Mostly because I'm supposed to wait an hour before taking anything after my Levothyroxine, and four before taking herbal supplements.  

That puts my adrenal support supplement at 10:00, at the earliest.  Because I take the thyroid med right after the alarm goes off at 6:00.  And the adrenal support supplement is to be taken with a meal (at 7:00, then at lunch), and I often don't get lunch on TTh.  So, the days when I need it most, I don't get it. 

Yes, I will likely ask for a similar schedule next semester.  Four days in a row not at work helps.  

No, I will not ask for three classes.  Not any time soon, and perhaps not ever again.  I have a reason beyond just being unable to keep up.  Despite making a bit over $2,000 more per semester, we took a tax hit of a bit more than double that. 

Y'see, that bumped us up a tax bracket.  And instead of most of the tuition for the kids' school being covered by the EITC (think: unintentional voucher), the tuition is going to come out of our savings for a house outside city limits.  

They tax cigarettes to try to change behavior, and get people to stop smoking.  By the same logic, an income tax...yeah, I'll leave you to think about that.

9 comments:

  1. I stopped working double shifts a million years ago when I figured out anything over 16 hours of OT just went straight to Uncle Sam, never even hit my bank account. Back then I was working as a nurse's aid.
    Now, several decades later, I still watch how much per diem I take on, not only do I get hit with higher taxes, but also it takes me 2 weeks to recover, and any time I do pick up extra, it never fails but that I get sick. Just not worth it.

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    1. Such was my conclusion. Rather sucks because I honestly love teaching, but there it is.

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  2. For me the tax hit was not really worth working for pay anytime I worked over about 10 hours of overtime per week. If I did work hours over 10, I would try to take the additional hours as compensation time.
    That comp. time was a little easier to do as a blue-collar worker, don't know how that would work when you are a teacher.

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    1. I don't do overtime. I don't get paid for it. I teach for free; they pay me to grade stuff and post grades. It's why I quit teaching online: the pay wasn't enough to do nothing *but* grade stuff after they took away my class and gave me a template class created by a moron who adored worksheets and busywork.

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  3. Ah, yes, the trap of making just enough to go up a tax bracket, but not enough to cover the additional taxes. Unfortunately, there's really no good way to get around it.

    Hopefully you'll be able to find a rhythm that allows you to handle the longer classes and still get what you need to take care of yourself.

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    1. Workin' on it. It helps when I can manage to avoid the nasty colds that the kids bring home (which I failed to do last Friday).

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  4. Concur with DB... That is just wrong, but .gov wants that money! Youngest daughter is a Paramedic, she gets 8 hours of OT per shift, .gov takes 40% of it for taxes!!!

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    1. I'm a contract employee. My credit hours and pay are laid out in my contract--doing more classes gets more pay, but spending more time per class does not.

      Honestly, I just shouldn't have taken that one other class.

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  5. I ran into that trap a couple of times when I was working. Largely because I could not determine what my annual Christmas bonus could be, and it doesn't help to have a months pay dumped on you the 23 of December when you expected only half of that. But my boss found it amusing to keep everybody ignorant of the bonus, knowing full well he was actually screwing some of us by keeping us in the dark.

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