Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

Kim in Appalachia

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,347

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Kim in Appalachia

    Well, that took 12.5 years

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I've been called 3x's since moving to this area (13 yrs ago) and I've been exempted each time because I have kids.  Here, jury duty is for 2 to 3 months.  I mean you are on active call for 3 months when court is in session.  Because I have kids who I school at home, as well as cart to activities, and I have no relatives in the area, they exempt me.  

     

    It's sad, really.  If it was for a week I could pull it off, but 3 months is too long.  

     

    When we lived in MD I did get called, and picked, for jury duty.  The case lasted 3 days total (but that includes the day I was picked and we did nothing else that day).  It was an unpleasant experience and has convinced me that we should have full time, professional jurors.

    Exercise Thread- September 20th- 26th

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Kim, how was the 90min hot yoga class?  You didn't feel nauseous or light headed?  90 min is a long time.

     

     

    I love that class.  If I could do it several times a week, I would.  I feel so amazing when the class is done.  I wish I lived close to the studio (I wish I lived close to a lot of things.... :laugh: )  

     

    I do get some stomach issues.  I usually have a green smoothie 2hrs before the class starts. I have to eat something because I'm up early, but any food seems bad once you start the class.  I like the smoothie because then I have more liquid.  If you drink to much water during class it also can bother your stomach.  I've not gotten light headed.

    • Like 1

    Exercise Thread- September 20th- 26th

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Monday night's yoga class was good.  Very different, for me anyway.  It was more like a "power yoga" class, and the instructor played classic rock (so yoga to ACDC).  Thankfully, the studio doesn't have great speakers ;)  Despite the rock music, I enjoyed doing the class.  He adjusted a few of my poses that I'm weak in, so it was good.

     

    Tuesday I did 90 minutes of yoga at home, then a 25 minute walk in the afternoon.

     

    This morning I ran 4 miles.  I finally felt like it wasn't awful.  I'm hoping for at least a 30 minute yoga practice later today.  

    • Like 4

    Exercise Thread ~ September 13th - 19th

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Thursday was 90 minutes of yoga.  

    Friday--I ran 4 miles but now I'm having a bit of knee pain. :(  I also did a bit over an hour of yoga this afternoon.  

     

    It's been a crazy week, with lots of school stuff and emotional stuff with my dd17.  I am looking forward to the new Doctor Who tomorrow night. I can you some fun escape time. :)

    • Like 4

    Where are all of the folks without college degrees?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Earlier today, I was reading an article linked on the college board, which prompted me to go look up statistics about educational attainment in the U.S. And now I can't stop pondering this question:

     

    Where does one find the 70% of the adult population who don't have college degrees?

     

    I mean, I recognize that I live in a somewhat niche-y world. Starting with the people I "know" here, who are, for the most part, committed to providing rigorous educations for their children. For many years, I attended a church known for having a high population of professionals and educators. And I now work in education-related jobs that require a degree as the entry point.

     

    With my lonely little bachelor's degree, I am often the least credentialed person in any professional or social group. And my husband, who doesn't have a degree, feels distinctly in the minority both socially and professionally.

     

    It's easy to move through my life feeling like an undergraduate degree, at a minimum, is the norm. But, apparently, the reality is that only 29% of adults in the U.S. have bachelor's degrees. And only 8% have a master's. 

     

    I think the reason this blows my mind a bit is that it's not like we're living some kind of "upscale" lifestyle. We rent a boring tract house in an older suburban neighborhood in a distinctly not-ritzy part of town. We drive used cars and have stalled our son getting his driver's license largely because the cost of adding him to our insurance is prohibitive. We buy most of our clothing from Target or off the clearance racks at mid-range department stores. We do know some people who own large, fancy homes and buy their teens new cars and make significant donations to local organizations and even a few who belong to whatever the modern equivalent woudl be of a country club, but by far most of the folks we know are living similar lives. It hardly feels like we move in some kind of rarefied atmosphere.

     

    So, where are all of those people who didn't go to/didn't finish college? What are they doing for a living? In what ways are their lives different from mine? Do you know many people who don't have degrees?

     

    Please know that there is not one speck of judgement or disdain implied here. As I said, my husband doesn't have a degree, I'm just fascinated because we move through our absolutely normal, pretty modest lives feeling like oddities because he has no degree and I have only a bachelor's, and I'm having some kind of cognitive dissonance attempting to accept that a large majority of the population is on the other side of that fence.

     

     

    I'm currently living in an area where most people don't have a college degree.  But when I see a number like 70%, I think it reflects the fact that many baby boomers, as well as those older than the boomers, did not go to college.  No one in either of my parents families attended college, a few didn't even finish high school.  It wasn't needed at the time.  In fact many jobs that now require a 2 year degree could be had, in the past, by attending vocational high school.  

     

    More people these days go on to school after high school, but I know where I live (which is rural and poor) most can not go to school.  A two year college degree is now free in the state, but there are a number of kids in my area who would like to attend college but can't afford the transportation to get there.  The closest 2 year school is an hour away by car.  You have to own a vehicle, and be able to afford insurance and gas to get to the free classes.  Those types of hurdles keep college education out of reach for many. 

    Exercise Thread Sept 6 - 12

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I ran on Wednesday, 3.6 miles, but I didn't get to do yoga. It was the first day I missed doing yoga in over 3 weeks. :(  Thursday was hot yoga day, always wonderful.  Today I ran 3.5 miles, and I'm planning on full Primary series later today.  Today is the first day in over a week that I don't have a long drive, and it's the only day until he middle of next week.  Driving wears me out. 

    • Like 4

    Book a Week 2015 - BW36: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I just finished listening to a podcast from CBC with this author being interviewed for this very book. I have to say that, unlike Ali Smith's interview for her book Being Both, I didn't feel compelled to run out and get Kate Atkinson's book. She spoke about her intense fascination with WW2, with Eva Braun and that whole era and how this was her way of working that out.

     

     

     

     

    it's funny, cause the while Eva Braun is certainly there, I think that's the weak part of the book.  It puts it a bit over the top, though I can see wanting to do it.  She does spend time on Eva Braun as a person, and it feels forced.  That section is why I didn't give the book 5 stars, because it seemed to go off the rails as far as the book went.  Her writing is very good, and the concept she explores is well done (It's a very difficult concept to write).  

     

    Off to check out, Being Both......

     

    • Like 8

    Book a Week 2015 - BW36: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I know that I've been AWOL from the reading group.  I've been working on learning Excel, plus school stuff has kept me busy.  But this weekend I had to travel far for a wedding and got to listen to Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson.  Loved it.  I gave it 4 stars, because I do feel like she dropped a bit around 3/4 of the way through the book, but overall I loved it. I loved how it made me think through some what if's as well as gain in a greater appreciation of England (mostly London) though WW2.  The book ended with a lot of questions, but it had to, because of the nature of the book.  It was a bit surreal, listening to it in the car, then stopping and getting out and just seeing people casually walking around.  My head was filled with scenes of smoke, crumbling buildings, and dead bodies.  Then I would step out of my van and it was sunny and hot and people were just milling around.  A very odd feeling.  I do love how a good book transports you.  It's an out of body experience.

     

    I had also read In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.  It was Ok, I gave it 3 stars.  I bought it on impulse.  I got the sample from Amazon and was instantly hooked.  I found the book to be like a fun ride.  I knew exactly where it was going, but I enjoyed it anyway.  It's a great beach read or rainy day read.  I finished it in 2 days. It was a pleasant change from financial worksheets. :)  

     

    I'm currently reading Kate Atkinson's, One Good Turn.   I read Case Histories awhile back, and I thought it was a good mystery.  After my "easy to predict the ending" book I decided to go back to her series.  This one is starting off more slowly than Case Histories did, but that could be because my head is still in Life After Life.  I need to get back to my Excel stuff, but I hope to read more this week.  

    • Like 12

    Exercise Thread Sept 6 - 12

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I've been away for the past weekend.  I was able to keep up my running and yoga routines, which was nice.  Sunday was a rest day, and Monday I ran 3 miles then did the warm up and standing series of Primary, perfect to do before a 9 hr drive. :)  Going to do yoga in just a bit, as soon as my banana muffins are out of the oven.

    • Like 3
×
×
  • Create New...