sign from the powers that be?

So about 18 months ago, after thinking about it for a while I applied to an online program at the community college.  It was a program that I could do online parttime in up to 7 years, no problem.  I got accepted.  Then life got complicated, that is both of my aging parents had MAJOR health issues some of which have ongoing fallout in my life.  I signed up for my first course and then dropped it before classes started to get the full refund and kind of shelved the idea of doing this program.  Fast forward to this summer and I decide maybe I really do want to do this program, I got excited, found out that there was still room in a course I could take and sign up.   Today I ordered the text book which is a reference type of book (not terribly expensive fortunately).  The class is supposed to start next week, this evening I open an e-mail that went out to all the students about an upcoming strike vote by the 11,000 instructors in the community college system.  If there is a strike, that’s it, I quit.

On the knitting front, I can’t figure out how the first time I made the hat I am trying to start, I managed to get 70 stitches to fit neatly into a knit 2 purl 2 rib pattern:(

I am also pondered different techniques using longer circular needles, taught myself to knit on 2 circs instead of dpns and also on one long circ too:)  Not sure how much I love the longer circ and if it really is better than 2 shorter circs, I’m still seeing ladders and so on but it is cool to understand now how magic loop works.