I was not emotionally mature at 17 in a lot of ways even though I seemed that way. I would have benefitted immensely from a couple of gap years working

O hai, it me! And the school eventually agreed and I got rusticated for a year, came back part time, and failed out again. Got a couple three jobs, took a class or two, and eventually went back for real, for serious, about 5 years after my HS grad date.

This is basically Emmett's path. He started college when he was 17, turning 18 that first month. And he fucked off and fucked around and fucked up the first two years. He got bounced to the community college and at age 20 the pilot light in his brain turned on and he really started getting into his studies. He was focused and taking so much in, and his grades were good and he did that for about three years (working part time so not taking full loads) until the lockdown hit.

And online college classes were not engaging to him and long after the lockdown ended, his school had not returned to in-person classes. Then he had terrible difficulty transferring back into his four year school in the major he wanted and...thats why he and his gf, Kalena, were getting so depressed up in Sonoma. Neither one of them have finished their degrees yet.

Now he's leaning towards becoming an electrician.

Emmett was definitely not ready to go to school at just-turning-18, whereas I was eager as hell to get to college at the same age and soaked it all up.

Matilda is taking a gap year. Which we had tentatively planned on one even before JZ got sick. But there was just now way to focus on college applications this year.

So neither of my kids are going to have the educational experience I had, or Jacqueline had.

A gap year will be excellent for her, I suspect. L's doing community college and seems to enjoy it more than high school, though the quality of education in SPS was suboptimal, so the math necessary for the current preferred path is a struggle.

Ben did 1 year of college and got good grades but was disillusioned anyway. Said he had no idea what major he'd want, so he's been working (and caddying on weekends). He has some thoughts about his path going forward but none of them include a traditional 4-year school.

In terms of heated seats, the used car I bought had only two issues -- you can't roll down the passenger window unless you're sitting there; the passenger seat is heated, but the driver's seat is broken. Not Amused. But hurray for Steph and Tim's butts!

I will once again put in a plug for heated steering wheels being maaaaaaaybe even nicer than heated seats. I had one in a rental car once and it was amaaaaaazing.

Brendon had a heated steering wheel and loved it dearly.

Even with the heat here I will use the heated seats if my back is aching. They are comforting.

I took the more or less traditional route, but with community college and being a transfer student. I think I got a decent education out of CC, though, although going to school with everyone's mom was not exactly a social bonanza.Usually had a cough drop when I needed one, though. And, because of structural factors, I'm not sure I ever got to do anything because of it but make my mother proud for a minute and follow David Simon's media-consolidation rants now and then. Sometimes it feels wasted. Definitely not sure I could tell a young cripling who wasn't just loving what she studied to Stay In School and all that.

I definitely did the expected graduate high school go right to college finish in 4 years, but if I’d had the opportunity to do a gap year that would’ve been awesome, as long as it wasn’t “stay home and work in a shitty job and deal with my family”—because that was a big part of my “work hard in high school and get the fuck out of Indiana and away from the fam” plan.

Atropa, your dad is all right now, yes? And hopefully making sure to tell you when something is going on?

Yes to both! I think my almost crying at him in the hospital room while explaining that he needed to tell me these things may have finally gotten the message through.

I didn't take time off after HS, but I did go to cosmetology school, which gave me something to do while I was trying to figure out what I wanted. And since cosmetology school was at the community college with a highly-respected music department, that made my decision pretty simple.

The post-high school decision may depend on where you're at. Pretty much everyone I knew went away to college mostly to get out of town. It was really the socially acceptable way to escape.

I don’t know what I would have done with a gap year. No money for travel, no car, no public transportation where I was living to get me to an entry level job. Might as well do college. It’s definitely not the only path. If I’d wanted to apprentice to a trade, my folks would probably have supported it. And I probably would have made more money, if my body had coped with it.

Pix and Drew, I hope the stressors get reduced soon.

Hec, much Christmas~ma to you, Matilda, and Emmet.

Atropa, I’m glad your dad’s doing better.

I get my lashes and brows dyed, as I can’t be bothered with mascara and they’re invisible without something. The last time I went it was a chilly day and the aesthetician had a heated pad on the table. It was so nice! I’m definitely on team Heated Things, especially in the winter.

I’m in a local astronomy club, and tonight I’ll be going to a Solstice star watching demo in a nearby town. It became really obvious to me that the club is mostly retirees, because the request was for people to get there and have everything set up by 4:45. I’ll be lucky to leave the apartment by 4:45, and have a half hour drive to the event. Not to be all inter generational warfare, but jobs are still a thing. Oh well, it’s still a good reason to get out of the apartment.