Pearson Scoring Distractions and Anxiety

     So we are beginning our second week of “At Home Scoring” for Pearson, and Cheryl and I are encountering the issues that your career councilor failed to mention about working at home.  First,  there are distractions.  For me,  there are these two fuzzy creatures that think they have be on top of me while I score.  Cute, right?   After a while,  not so much.    You see, they lay on my anchor papers and rubric, lick them selves, nuzzle the computer, and pass gas!   The passing of he gas, ( especially from Rashi) can be a inhalant problem,   But really it is the licking.    Ever hear cats lick themselves?   Up close?   Ever get water in your ear and struggle for hours to get it out?   Double that….that is what I’m dealing with. 

Then there is the anxiety issue.   Having the constant threat of being kicked off the project is on par with the Sword of Damocles.    Cheryl is perhaps feeling the sword dangling over her head more than I am today.   She gets messages ever hour about “minor adjustments” to her scoring.   She is beginning to sound like me yesterday. 

With Me, it’s validities.   Every time I blow one,  I get irritable….add in the cats meticulous grooming and gassing and you may understand a bit better.   I started strong with 100% accuracy.   The next day I tried to push my rate a bit and missed three!   Yesterday I missed an additional one, dropping my overall accuracy to below 75%  I’m not sure where the cut off is, but if you continue to drop, you will have to requalify….then if your accuracy drops again,  It’s Bye Bye Birdie!

Still….75% is not bad…and I only missed one today, so hopefully I climbed back up a little.  At 75% accuracy with a fair scoring rate, you get a nice 15-30 dollar bonus at the end of every day.  

Cheryl pointed out this morning that we should not let Pearson bully us and instead try to squeeze them for as much money as we can.  This is a better perspective.  Instead of thinking of ourselves as the prey being pushed by the predators,  we think of ourselves as the parasite trying to drain the host for as much as we can.  ( It might be disgusting, but parasites have a function….somewhere in the ecosystem.)  And when was the last time a mosquitoes apologized?  Take THAT Capitalism!

Hopefully we will fall into a groove, and our rate, hours, and bonuses will all align.   We need the money, and the more we can gather up the softer the cushion for the summer.