I did a rough tally for you based on people who gave pretty definite opinions, IMO: #1: 12 #2: 15 #3: 5

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

I just finished a BBC reading of Kafka's Metamorphosis by Benedict Cumberbatch. It was really quite good. I wasn't planning to listen to it but someone sent me a link and it's only about 1:40 long. Apparently Cumberbatch has been reading quite a few things for the BBC.

Yeah, it's not going to happen that fast. Do you know anyone in LA County who can head over there and then overnight it to you? Or maybe that's what those services do.

Extremely rude and inhospitable. I'm in shock, I really am. How could you be anything but gracious (before and after) if a nice person showed up uninvited? That poor guest. "Oh, I thought ________ was invited as well. I mean, she was standing right there when you were talking about it. You would never do that in front of people who weren't invited, of course. That would be so rude."

I actually did love the description of the schoolhouse and yard quoted from Laddie. Until about grade 4. Isn't there a criminal hearing for the mother today?

kwg posted a link earlier. The story mentions sexual abuse, but it's about the entire hearing, not that specifically. Here's the mention:

Wait, who said the Pats were totally cooperative? I'm lost. That's not what the report said.

Hold the phone...I just realized the older boy also alleged sexual abuse. :sad: ETA: That he was sexually abused. He didn't say that about the siblings as far as I know.

You don't clean them out when they have poop. They collect the waste in a drum (and you add a scoop of compost mix when you go) and when it's filled to a certain point, you remove the drum and keep it rotating like a compost drum. You swap another drum into place while the other one turns to compost. After a certain amount of time (with a bit of curing) it's compost with no smell or pathogens and you dump it out. I wouldn't dump it on edibles, though, just in case. More than you ever wanted to know about composting toilets. I were in a situation like this family, I would rather have the composting toilet over a port-a-potty or a pit latrine. Of course I'd prefer modern plumbing. I haven't convinced you, have I? :ack2:

Wow, I've never met anyone who heard of this book before! It was given to me in the 1970s as a gift. It had a similar effect on me as it did you. Do you know what happened to your copy?

Thanks for the link. The composting toilet didn't bother me at all. I've used them throughout national parks like Yosemite and they're great. They don't smell at all and are much cleaner and less obtrusive than garish port-a-potties.

If I recall correctly the male gathers the materials and the female build the nest. They survive by laying lots of eggs; I think about 6 sets of 2 eggs every season. It's like they know it's not going to work out well! When our doves lost their nest the kids were outside crying, looking at the broken shells and yolks (with embryo) on the ground. While they were watching, right under their noses, a crow strutted up and ate the remains. DD used to love eating eggs but not anymore.

I did some more reading (including that article posted above) and have decided this family is homeless. I think they had it kind of together when they had the pre-fab but once it was repossessed, they became the equivalent of a family living in their car or in a makeshift structure under an overpass. Most people who lose their apartment or home don't have land to set up on. That's the big difference. They're delusional. It's a bad situation. The mother looks malnourished and is 5 months pregnant. She's probably exhausted and not eating enough nutritious food for the fetus.

Did you happen to find out if he was alleging abuse only with himself as the victim, or all the kids? And did he live with them before or after this "off the grid" bit? I'm wondering if testified that the current living situation is abusive (no heat, etc) or if was saying he was abused even before this fiasco.

I'm not sure. I was wondering whether their legal fees would cost all the money donated or if HSLDA was representing them pro bono and they could get legal representation free and actually use the money for property improvements. IOW, the believability of their claims of how the $$$ will be spent is increased if they have free legal representation. I'm wondering if anyone knows the extent of HSLDA's involvement.

How they're going to use the money is one of the things I find intriguing in this case. If most people were living like this and given a list of things to fix to get their kids back, they would throw in the towel because the reason they were living in those conditions was due to lack of funds. What's interesting in this case is that they now have the money to correct the problems but they can choose a different path and use it for legal fees instead. Is the HSLDA going to pay for their defense? Or just advise their own attorney?

Yep, I was tempted to send a dollar and see what happens but I don't want to get caught up in the IRS net when it inevitably comes down. I like bitcoins but I agree it is seriously deficient (read: cagey) of them not to mention the bitcoins change in value.

I don't know. It's being hosted by GoDaddy (yuck) and was registered through Domains by Proxy (Scottsdale AZ) and has a private registrant name. It was created 1/23/15.

Have you tried googling for "your area + micro school"? We have a one in our area that caters to homeschoolers and they can come anywhere from a single class for one quarter to 6 classes per year (3/quarter). But they're two classes/quarter are on the same day of the week, so between the 4 hours of classes, breaks, and lunch, they are there all day. The cost is about $3,000 for this option for the year. The exact cost depends on the level of classes taken.

I love mourning doves too but they make the worst nests. We had a nesting pair that lost its nest in a strong breeze.

Yep, suck it up and go back. It's too big a decision to purchase sight unseen.

Our library has a deal with two online learning platforms, tutor.com and something else. It's free with the library card number; the login is that same as the library's card number and password. Here's the program. Maybe you can see if your library subscribes to a service like this one.

Let's just combine them and call it a "shovel." Never mind, already taken.

I'm sure you'll come back to it when the time is right. I've really enjoyed reading the actual text of Inferno but the outside stuff of reading some of the notes, references, Googling, etc is getting to be a bit of a drag.