Happy birthday Tom!
'War Stories'
Natter 57 Varieties
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Thanks, everyone!
billytea, did you see this? A fish with forward-facing eyes has been discovered in Indonesia.
I love both San Francisco and New York. And I have affection for Los Angeles, Boston and Philly too. And DC!
psst: pass it on - JavaChick loves everyone.
{{Plei}}
Sarameg - the thoughts you're thinking are wise... it is good to have the conversation, and to keep having it. We're on round... 17? I think. Progress. But no "big house, lots of maintenance" resolution yet. I keep bringing up Sparky's parents as a good example. My sister is helpful on the phone, but nsm in person (12-18 hour flight), so we're the first line there. And DH's parents retired to Ohio at least in part to take care of his grandmother (and to entertain us with complaints about the snow), so I think we are going to be pulled in lots of directions in the future.
Which brings up the big bad of only having one child (not related in my mind, but in my moms? Very. Granted, seeing an ad for laundry detergent sometimes reminds her that she should mention to me that she wants more grandkids.) - or not. Am I setting up my single sprog to shoulder a whole bunch of burdens alone? blah blah dramacakes...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM SCOLA!!
We love you. *smooch*
Hey Victor, lose someone?
Scola Day!
Not a good birthday so far. I have a cold, I got about 5 hours of sleep last night, and I rushed in this morning for a meeting. I get in this morning to find that the meeting has been postponed.
Little bit of teaching news that made me laugh out loud... a Missouri House of Reps council rejected a proposal to boost the minimum teaching salary in favor of another proposal to focus on bonuses and such, including "[a] $2,500 retention bonus...for five years at a district that is financially poor and without full accreditation". Seriously? For five years of some of the worst conditions, you'll give them $500 extra a year? Gee.... great.
Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to be rewarded, but if this is supposed to be an incentive? "Hey, if I put up with abuse, disrespect, and constant scrutiny for just four more years, they'll give me just about what I spent on school supplies during that period!"
It is to laugh. Er, I'm not too curmudgeonly, am I? Maybe I am. Don't get me wrong, there are many reasons to teach in those schools, and a little recognition is always nice, but as an incentive...
Okay, that was today's teaching news rant. Later!
Oh, fuck you.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Ha.
Case in point much?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!!
5th Grader Corrects the Smithsonian
That is AWESOME. I feel a kindred spirit. (Says the woman who at 8 years of age prevented a surgeon from making a HUGE mistake with her post-op care that if I hadn't brought it up would have probably meant several more weeks in the hospital if not worse.)