I really couldn't decide on what reaction to give this. Yes, it's funny but also huh?

No scare tactics. When it comes up for a vote, it gets voted down. Most NJ voters don't want to pump their own gas or they don't care either way, so it never changes. Around my area, pumping gas is a very common job for new immigrants.

I've never seen anyone smoking at a gas station in NJ, although it's rare for me to see anyone smoking at all. I have seen people smoking at self-service stations in other places. Always makes me super nervous (and think they are serious idiots).

I don't see how you can be 100% sure that this girl is the one who made the scratches, but I do find it weird you noticed her feet so much. Are the bottoms of the stall walls higher than normal? I also wonder what someone would think of me in a public restroom. Picture - feet facing forward, skirt pulled down so can be seen, stand up, shuffle feet forward a little bit, turn slightly to one side, turn back forward and shuffle forward a bit more, skirt may "disappear" for a minute, turn sideways again, then skirt pulled up so it can't be seen, feet facing the back, turn around and leave. (sit down and pee, stand up, wipe, turn around to throw in toilet, forward again to reach for purse, pull out a pad, holding skirt over arm so it doesn't drag, unwrap the pad, turn around to throw out the wrapper, pull up skirt, turn around to flush, face forward to leave) I can definitely picture other things that could be happening there.

I went and saw Barbie with older dd (29 years old) last week. She had already seen it but was willing to see it again with me. I loved it and she brought me to see it because she loved it. I did find a lot of it hilarious. There was a lot of laughter in the audience when we went. I'm in a blue section of that heat map but we went on a Wednesday evening three (four?) weeks after release and it was crowded, so I think things may have shifted around here. This dd played a ton with Barbies, as well as American Girl dolls but not so much with baby dolls IIRC. Yesterday I took my younger two kids to see it. Dd (just turned 16) and ds (turning 18 in a week) haven't been to see a movie in years. They don't watch shows on tv or go see movies. But dd had heard about it from friends (it made her girlfriend cry at parts) and ds wanted to get out of the house. Neither ever played with Barbie dolls. Both found the movie funny, thought-provoking, and just really really good.

No guns in regular stores where I'm from, but yes there's usually an aisle with a few paperback books, puzzle books (crosswords and word searches), some magazines, and yep, usually at least one bible.

I'm a super introvert who teaches all day so I definitely prefer not to do casual chatting when I'm shopping, etc. I ALWAYS use the self-service registers at stores if they are available. Getting gas doesn't bother me at all. Maybe because it's what I'm used to but it barely feels like an interaction with a real person. I'm sure the lack of interaction would bother some people but it's really not much of a thing. There is no chatting. I do have a few 24 hour stations around me despite them having to be manned. I'm in a pretty major metropolitan/very densely populated area though.

Morning Happy Sunday. I'm taking the younger two kids to see Barbie this afternoon. In the meantime, Laundry!

I rarely pump my own gas but I know to look and see where the diesel pumps are and don't go to them. All stations I've ever been to have it as a completely separate pump in a different color very clearly marked. In my suburban area, there is usually only one diesel pump. I think in some of the newer rest stops on the parkway/turnpike, they are a completely separate area since there are more large trucks. I've never had spillage when I go to the gas station. The attendants are pretty efficient and since they are doing it all day long, they have the moves down pretty well. Usually it's at least a minute or two before they remove the pump after it stops (they generally stop automatically and the attendant is assisting others before coming back) so maybe that takes care of any drips? Since they aren't pulling it out the second it stops or even before it stops, which I've definitely seen people do at self serve? As others have said, hand them the credit card, ask for what you want, they insert/tap it, sometimes ask for zip code, hand you the card back right away or at the end along with a receipt. No tipping. This did remind me of one advantage to full serve - with attendants constantly on duty and very familiar with their pumps you are less likely to have those readers stuck on the machines that are cloning your card information to steal your card number.

Both would annoy me. If I need to have an orientation/informational meeting for a class or one of my 4H clubs, I have it at the same time that the class or group will meet if I need people to actually attend. If it's completely optional and I don't really care if everyone is able to make it then fine, but if that's the case, why have a meeting? Send the required information over an email and call it done. I don't ever send group texts. If I need to send a message to a specific group of parents/students/members, I send it by email with everyone BCC'd. IF it's a general message that can be public, I'll put it on the Facebook group (private for my 4H clubs). I don't mind my phone number being shared because it's the public phone number for my business, but I'm not going to share other people's numbers without them giving permission first.

(((Susan))

Hello, I've been doing walking, my under desk elliptical, yoga, some strength but kind of sporadically. Schedules have been pretty busy lately but thankfully I'm no longer sore from my fall or from my time at fair. I started Weight Watchers (again, I've done it before) and I have lost about 10 pounds total in 3 weeks. Although 6 of them were in one week during fair, since I was walking/moving a ton plus eating mainly vegetables and fruits I packed to avoid the food trucks of fried food. I usually walk on a path that is near my work that is flat, paved and straight that is very popular among walkers, joggers, bikers, etc. It runs alongside a road but a bit separate from it. I took a walk there yesterday and it was really bothering my knee and my calves felt super tight and sore. Earlier in the week I was getting work done on my car and took a walk on a path that ran alongside a river. It was uneven, gradual ups and downs, curved around, roots and rocks to walk over/around, some parts gravel and some parts packed dirt. That walk didn't bother my legs at all. I'm thinking the varied terrain using different muscles and movements is better than very repetitive motion, even though objective speaking that walk was "harder"?

Yes, you can pump your own diesel. And yes, they are completely separate pumps in a different color with big signs on them. The price is generally a bit more than the regular grade too so that's generally noticeable. There are a few cars that take diesel or are available in a diesel model, so the attendant might assume the driver knows what their vehicle needs.

I forgot about pods. Pods seem to be a thing only around here, although they seem similar to the "homeschool partnership programs" mentioned above. They basically popped up during Covid, usually the kids go full time 5 days a week to a persons house or another location to get taught by the teacher. We have absolutely no homeschool laws but some of these are pretty close or over the line to being illegal childcare centers. There are a few pods that advertise themselves as co-ops but have no parent participation and it's all drop-off so they are NOT co-ops. Pods are mostly a new homeschoolers/escaping from public school thing and seem to be dying down some as the schools get back to "normal" but there still seem to be a few out there among newer homeschoolers. Around here unschooling and relaxed homeschooling are easily the most popular among longer term homeschoolers. I don't see much of the racing to AP classes, heavy schedules, etc. I see high schoolers who are learning pre-algebra or algebra, and heading to community college. Which IMO is a very valid choice for many kids, especially these days with anxiety so high.

We have a lot of nature schools around me. Also a few hybrid schools that seems to be doing okay but aren't super popular, possibly because at least one of them seems to be getting a poor reputation for how they handle issues. Some coops but most are religious and we have quite a few secular homeschoolers so individual classes seem to be more popular in general - art classes one place, science classes another place (I run a science center), PE/gym activities at the Y, a couple casual but reliably attended park days. Classical Conversations exists around here but doesn't seem to be a super popular option. I've actually seen more people homeschooling high school than I have in the past. I live in a state where it's super easy to homeschool and pretty much anything goes.

I also hate how nobody reads anything. I constantly get asked questions that are easily answered from the same post people are asking the question on. Or my website. Or it was actually mentioned in that email you received. I just accept now that people will not read anything and send it to cover my own a$$ and expect people to not know things.

Yes!! The questions that can easily be answered by google or that have been answered 5 million times in that exact same group. Homeschooling takes work. If you can't handle googling the basic information so at least your questions are specific and not overly repetitive, it may not be for you. I also hate when someone asks "what's the best science (or english or math or history) program?" and everyone jumps in with a bunch of suggestions without asking - do you want secular or Christian? What age are you looking for? Kindergarten is very very different than high school. How much money do you want to spend? Do you want textbook? online? videos?

Morning Happy Friday. I worked the morning yesterday for one of my teachers who had an appointment. This week's camp is a smaller, quieter group so it was pretty easy. I work the next two weeks of camp and the hardest part is going to be getting up early. Getting up yesterday was hard because I went to see the Barbie movie with oldest dd the night before. It was really good. Funny, yet thought-provoking, with a good message. Probably will be taking the younger kids to see it this weekend. They haven't gone out to the movies (or watched any on tv) in years but dd heard a lot about it from her friends and ds wants to get out of the house. We don't know yet if dh is going to come. I'm very disappointed in how this summer has gone so far. Lousy weather and air quality means we haven't done nearly all the stuff I wanted to. We only managed a few field trips, didn't take ds driving at all (they were tearing up the road right outside our neighborhood for a while), barely went to the lake. And I have a ton of planning to do for classes still. We don't start until September 11th so I definitely still have time. Dd has been doing math all summer but other than that won't start school until my classes start. She's taking math, literature, science and possibly history at the center.

I got gas yesterday and it was $3.25 a gallon.

Generally no. NJ still has some of the lowest gas prices in the country. They used to be even lower but we've had some new taxes in the recent past. Something about the shipments coming into the Port of Elizabeth so have less overland transportation costs. That is another rationale I've seen to keep the full service - that prices were already lower so self-service wouldn't really make them any lower.

So below is what the NJ legislature says is the reasons for not having full service gas. I know I've also seen that it started a long time ago to prevent price fixing - some gas station owner tried to undercut prices by offering self-service so the rivals pushed through a ban. I've also seen it tied to employment numbers. It's a very common job for immigrants near me. As Catwoman said, I like not having to get out of the car in rain, snow, heat, late at night, etc. It's just one of those things about living in NJ. It doesn't usually take any longer than self-service does in other states. In fact, last time I was out of state, I think in Connecticut, it seemed like people took forever to put gas in their cars. Many of them seemed to have no idea what to do, walked away and left the car for longer than it took to fill. The lines were ridiculous. Nj legislature official wording on gas pumping: a. Because of the fire hazards directly associated with dispensing fuel, it is in the public interest that gasoline station operators have the control needed over that activity to ensure compliance with appropriate safety procedures, including turning off vehicle engines and refraining from smoking while fuel is dispensed; b. At self-service gasoline stations in other states, cashiers are often unable to maintain a clear view of the activities of customers dispensing gasoline, or to give their undivided attention to observing customers; therefore, when customers, rather than attendants, are permitted to dispense fuel, it is far more difficult to enforce compliance with safety procedures; c. The State needs stronger measures to enforce both compliance by customers with the ban on self-service and compliance by attendants with safety procedures; d. The higher general liability insurance premium rates charged to self-service stations reflect the fact that customers who leave their vehicles to dispense gasoline or other inflammable liquids face significant inconveniences and dangers, including the risks of crime and fall-related personal injury, which are a special burden to drivers with physical infirmities, such as the handicapped and some senior citizens; e. Exposure to toxic gasoline fumes represents a health hazard when customers dispense their own gasoline, particularly in the case of pregnant women; f. The significantly higher prices usually charged for full-service gasoline in states where self-service is permitted results in discrimination against low income individuals, who are under greater economic pressure to undergo the inconvenience and hazards of dispensing their own gasoline; g. The increasing use of self-service has contributed to the diminished availability of repair facilities and maintenance services at gasoline stations; h. Even in filling stations which offer both self-service and full-service gasoline, customers are less likely, because of the much higher price usually charged for full service, to have attendants make needed maintenance checks, thus causing significant neglect of maintenance and danger both to the customers and to other motorists, as well as the unneeded costly repairs which often result from deferred maintenance; i. The prohibition of customer self-service does not constitute a restraint of trade in derogation of the general public interest because the Legislature finds no conclusive evidence that self-service gasoline provides a sustained reduction in gasoline prices charged to customers; and j. A prohibition of self-service gasoline will therefore promote the common welfare by providing increased safety and convenience without causing economic harm to the public in general.

I'm in New Jersey so I still don't have to pump my own gas usually. But I do know how to do it since I travel out of state enough. And it's really not that hard. There have been different rationales for keeping it illegal here. Employment, safety, gas prices, etc. Whenever it comes up for a vote it basically gets defeated.

My youngest just turned 16 but I think will be a little bit slower to launch than her brother who started cc at 16. I'm probably looking at 2-3 more years of at least semi-actively homeschooling. I started a homeschool science center 7 years ago and I plan to continue doing that as long as I am able. Dh is talking about retiring so that may affect things.

I just made something in Powerpoint, printed and laminated it. But you can order cards from HSLDA or Homeschool Buyers Club.

I don't know if it mattered but I live/lived in a very diverse area of the country that is considered to have good schools. There was still a lot I didn't learn about until I took a college history course that used Howard Zinn.