I think the challenge in this case is that OP has health challenges and really needs to avoid getting sick. A generous makeup policy is meant to encourage students not to come for a lesson if they are at all sick.

Maybe offer two sick day make-ups for everyone per term, and explain that more may be requested for extenuating circumstances such as extended sickness. You might want a separate policy for planned absences such as for a family holiday or other planned-in-advance event. Maybe 1-2 planned-in-advance absence makeups and 2 sick day makeups? I assume you are already making it clear that you really take sickness seriously out of necessity.

Microsoft 365 is what most universities provide student accounts for now--it's in the cloud just like the Google suite and has these same benefits.

One of my kids who doesn't pick up tech stuff easily did Testout's Office Pro course and found it worthwhile. https://w3.testout.com/courseware/office-pro

Brother, I assume?

Have his SS disability applications both been filed in his current state? I'm thinking it might be worth filing in California. Sometimes just getting a different person to look at a case can make a difference. I'm not an expert on SS, but I'd continue to pursue that if I were his parent. Autistic adults struggling to be stable and maintain employment is very, very common. Disabilities that impact the brain are serious and need to be taken seriously as disabilities.

My girls have all loved craft kits at those ages.

This is me, though I don't go more than 5mph over the speed limit unless the flow of traffic is over that. I keep a very respectable following distance. If I'm going faster than right lane traffic I'll often stay in the left lane long enough to pass several cars on the right even if they aren't super close together. If there are more than two lanes in my direction I rarely drive in the rightmost lane. I'm also habituated to driving in the carpool lane when I'm near home, so driving in the leftmost lane is what feels most natural.

I remember the chase; we were flying back to the US for a brief visit from overseas, and it was breaking news playing on all the TVs in the airport. I had zero context for what was going on--had never heard of OJ Simpson, didn't know why the chase was happening. It was just one more out-of-context fragment like so many over the course of my childhood as I struggled to make sense of unfamiliar places, cultures, histories, and expectations.

This is actually how my grandparents arranged things. They lived near my mom's youngest sister, she took care of them in their later years. Thousands upon thousands of hours of care. They left their house to her in exchange. This was an up-front deal and how my grandpa wanted to do things. I think one sibling might be resentful, the others understand it as a fair exchange of property for services rendered. No-one else lived close enough and my grandparents wanted a family member to care for them.

I haven't followed the case closely, and I don't know if manslaughter is the most appropriate conviction. I do think it is reasonable to hold parents accountable for actions that directly or indirectly contribute to their child's murderous actions (such as buying the gun and failing to ensure it was not easily accessible to a minor with active mental health struggles). Do not quote: I live this experience. I share a home with someone who has, in the midst of a mental health crisis, talked about shooting people. I will absolutely not permit firearms to be stored anywhere on my property. If needed, I will use every tool available to prevent tragedy and get a person with a malfunctioning brain help. I estimate the odds that at least one person would be dead had firearms been accessible in our home over the years at about 50%; the most likely victim of course being the person directly afflicted by mental illness. When one person's brain has devolved into irrationality, it is the responsibility of people around who have healthy, functioning brains to act to mitigate the consequences and risks of the malfunctioning brain. This is doubly true for parents and others with direct responsibility for minors.

We had a wonderful time. I mentioned the eclipse in a family chat with my siblings over a year ago and we made spontaneous plans to rent a big AirBnB in Texas and watch together. We ended up with all 10 siblings plus my mom there, and a majority of the grandkids; eclipse + family reunion made for an excellent combination! We had excellent weather for viewing-- some scattered clouds and a clear view of totality.

Late responding because I've been driving all day to get home. The point that not everyone will find themselves awed by the same things is a totally valid one. My point was more that no-one who hasn't experienced a thing can be confident they wouldn't find it awe-inspiring based on having experienced a slightly related thing. And a 99% vs 100% eclipse really, truly are only slightly related things. I don't mind that not everyone is awed by a total eclipse. I'm just very aware that presumptions about the experience based off of a partial eclipse are going to be way off base. I'm also glad to be back home 🏡 😌

It was darker last time for us viewing the eclipse from Idaho than it was this time in Texas. I wondered if the moon was slightly farther from the earth this time?

99% to totality is the difference between viewing a trickling stream going over a 3 foot fall and viewing Niagara Falls. You have to experience it to understand. You might think "I've seen a waterfall, it's not all that exciting" after seeing the stream and wonder why people get so excited about Niagara Falls--but if you actually go to Niagara Falls you will realize that the two experiences are not at all the same. My family drove 20 hours for this one after experiencing totality in 2017. My kids do not love car tripping, but every one of them said it was worth it. I was not as personally affected this time; there was a transcendence to the 2017 experience for me that I have never in my life experienced before or since. It didn't get as dark for us this this time--maybe because we weren't as close to the center of totality, or maybe because of other factors related to the positioning of the earth and moon or to our positioning. But the sudden arrival of dusk and the blazing ring of fire with a black center--those are such incredible, unique experiences. There is no way to understand without experiencing it yourself. Seeing Venus shine high in the afternoon sky was a neat thing for me this time; I saw this bright star and knew it had to be a planet, but when someone said it was Venus my mind just couldn't wrap around that at first--Venus is always near the horizon! Then reason clicked into place--we only see Venus near the horizon because it is always near the sun (I've always known this) and dusk and dawn are the only times it is dark enough for us to see it. Of course Venus is high in the sky when the sun is high in the sky! The moment of transition from 99.99% of the sun being covered to the entirety of the solar disk being covered is quite astonishing as well. One moment there is the tiniest sliver of light from one edge of the sun and it still feels like daytime out, though a bit like an overcast day. A millisecond later that tiny sliver is gone and darkness has fallen. And you stand there awed by how much difference 0.01% of the sun's light makes.