Considering what my former colleagues are going through right now, with the hassle of switching over to online instruction, I'm extremely glad that I retired when I did.I hope the outcome is that you opted for retirement with penalties. After having already selected my retirement date, I realized that I made a miscalculation based on my assumption that a certain calculation was based on a prorate of months rather than days, and that I would have to work another month to get the calculated retirement pay, otherwise I would get less. I said "screw it, I'm retiring today." Took the loss, never looked back. No regrets, Some things are more important than money. I liked my job, I like retirement more than my job.
Online instruction is fine for some things, but when it comes to chemistry labs---especially analytical "wet" chemistry---it's all about 'technique'. Attempting to teach a student online how to deliver half a drop for a titration, or what to look for on a proper endpoint, is an exercise in futility. Then, of course, there are the other disciplines:
"Doctor, have you done this procedure before?" "Oh yes, dozens of times. Well...I was running 'Qbert Does Cholecystectomy, Unit 1', but I got a score of at least 83 each time."
Best -- Terry