I think an important category of skils is "making choices"--everything from understanding that choices are an every day part of life, having strategies for making choices, learning to accept the consequence of choices, and knowing how to learn from poor choices. Time management and money mangement are really about making choices.

I asked the questions because I know more people who did not have family in the South who definitely know that their ancestors held slaves (and some who know that their families profitted greatly from the slave trade or slave labor) than people I know of in the south. While at the beginning of the Civil War, states in the south had more slaves than states in the north, that is a very small snapshot of the horrid situation. Slavery was (and is) a problem irregardless of one's geographical location. And, the impact of slavery often goes far beyond the location of where I slave is actually being held.

Having an exiting, non-expired passport IME does nto change the processing time for a passport. Timing is unpredictable.

I am glad you had a great time! And--glad your friend was able to retrieve her passport.

I know very little about my paternal granmother's ancestory. From what little I do know it is likely that she had ancestors who owned slaves in Alabama. I wonder why you asked if the question to people whose families are from the South. I know people who have never had a family member live in the South who are certain that their ancestors were slave owners. And, I have a friend who is Canadian who is certain that her family fortune stems from slave trade and slave labor.

I am in the same spot. I recently went to a small, local shoe store where the worker was in her 60s and very knowledgeable. She sold me a pair of casual shoes that are very comfortable and a pair of Birkenstock inserts to wear in flats. She said that they could make a big diffference when wearing flats. I have not gotten used to the inserts yet and don't know how well I am going to like them. But, the shoes are so comfortable I will be heading back to look for more options.

One thing I would consider is how is the McChicken and fries being eaten? Is it eaten in the car (along with a soda to drink)? This is a very different experience than sitting at a table for a meal. If a family is accustomed to the taste of fast food and intimidated (or overwhelmed) by cooking, a transition can be stopping at the fast food establishment and getting a large nugget order (and perhaps fries)--you have to look at the menu and determine whether this is cheaper than getting kids meals but often it will be. Then, take that home and put it on the table for everyone to share family style. Supplement this with a jar of applesauce, a can of peas, carrot sticks, or whatever is available. Drink water or milk with the meal. You can even have ice cream or some other "treat" for dessert. But, this is getting people in the habit of sitting at a table, talking to each other, and trying a variety of foods. After a while, it becomes more and more obvious how much time the "quick stop at the drive-through" is taking and how much that is costing.

My two are relatively close together, but my siblings and I are six years apart. I was 12 and sister was six when the youngest was born. As an adult, I am much closer to my sibling who is 12 years youner than I am than the one who is six years younger; we just have more in common. I also know siblibings who were close in age who are not close; they have very different personailities and interests. Having a sibling close in age does not guarantee that they will be close/good friends--I wouldn't have another child simply so they have a sibling close in age. If you are interested in having another child that is a different story...

Even Julia Child did not shy away from using some convenience/canned foods. Some of her cooking revolved around having top-quality ingredients with inctricate, time-consuming prepping. But, she also emphasized how to make an egg dish quickly and easily or how to use canned French Onion soup to make a meal.

There are many canned options with no added salt--I can buy peas, tomatoes, corn, beans... with no added salt. An easy,, quick option when my kids were young was quesidillas--store bought tortillas, some cheese, Then I would add what I had on hand, maybe some leftover rotissere chicken, grilled onions and peppers, leftover taco meat, canned tomotoes, canned corn, black beans. It was a good way to use some scraps if we had some, integrate some fresh items if we had some, or add in some canned veggies.

I think that it is easy to start thinking of home-prepped meals as full-blown Norman Rockwell-style meals. A dinner of salami, cheese, and grapes takes less time than stopping at McDonald's; a grilled cheese sandwich and carrot sticks is not time consuming to prepare; a scrambled egg with an apple; yogurt with granola, nuts, and fruit; oatmeal and strawberries; a tuna fish sandwich, a PB&J sandwich.... These are all fine within a balanced diet (especially if kids are eating a larger meal at school) I think it is helpful to have a few handy items in the freezer or the pantry for very rushed times (frozen pizza, peanut butter, etc.)--this provides a break from the "we need to stop for fast food routine". Then I think it is helpful to begin with familiar, low prep items (like frozen chicken nuggets and fries) and add ONE item, like frozen green beans, canned fruit, or grapes to the offering to begin developing broader tastes and begin to see it is easy (and enjoyable) to add some fruits and veggies.

I admit to feeding my children all three of these meals at different times. The nutritional value of chicken nuggets, frozen french fries, and pasta roni can vary across flavors and brands. Even the time and cost dimensions are not static. If I needed to pick up one child from baseball practice on one side of town and get another child to a music concert on the other side of town in one hour--there may not be time to go home, heat the oven, and cook the nuggets. If I am picking them up from school and going home for the evening, it can be faster to go home and pop the nuggets and fries in the oven than sit in line at McDonald's.

Thanks for all the information! I have passed it on. This person is active (mid 70s), doesn't have significant dexeritiy problems or significant hearng loss--but enough that bacground noise is problematic.

I am sorry they are experiencing this. It is not a situation I would want to live in. Unfortunately, this type of situation can occur if it is not clearly outlined how decisions like this will be made. People often don't think of what "might" happen when they enter into these living arrangements. I have extended family that have several different families with homes in the same fenced multi-acre area. For many years they have lived in harmony with kids wandering in and out of aunts/uncles and grandparent's houses. Now, one parent has had an adult son return home due to drug and legal problems. Now the others on the property are realizing they don't want their young children exposed to some of what has been occurring with that situation.

How much width is there on each side of the fireplace? Do the walls on each side of the fireplace run into another wall (form a corner)? Or does a wall end for a walkway on either or both sides? What is behind the walls? (is there any possibility of opening up the wall and placing shelving between studs?)

I teach mostly juniors and seniors. My colleagues and I are seeing things we had not encountered in the past--students not putting their names on exams (or putting "Michael" when there are 200 students in the class), filling out Scantrons in pen, scribbling and scratching out answers on a Scantron, going to the classroom for office hours, asking what to do if they aren't sure if the answer is A or B, asking if they can get partial credit for a T/F question... Not are we only seeing weak math and study skills, we are seeing a general lack of knowledge of how to be a student. (We even had a group of students petition the dean asking that all faculty be required to provide a copy of the exam and answer key before exams were given so that they could study!) This semester an adjunct professor in my department was terminated in the middle of the semester-I have never seen this happen before--but the individual's teaching, class atttendance, grading, etc. was so atrocious, that a recently retired faculty member has been rehired to finish the semester. So, I have seen major shifts on both sides of the classroom experience

First the bags stand in a vertical position (not all two-wheeled bags do). The wheels roll and manuever like no bags I have ever had before, The wheels are integrated into the bag--so they do not "stick out" at the bottom of the bag to get caught on things when the bag is being loaded/unloaded.

I have found Osprey two-wheeled luggage is much easier to handle than any 4-wheeled luggage I have ever handled.

I have a family member who needs a hearing aid. This person is asking people to repeat things, is getting conversations confused, and doesn't hear some things like the oven time going off. An audiologist confirmed some hearing loss and has suggested hearing aids--the cheapest starting at $5400. I have heard of a number of people going to Costco for hearing aids and see that they have some starting around $1500--which is significantly less. Are these hearing aids of significantly different quality? Any advice?

I have been teaching at the university level since the mid-1980s. Over the years, I have had a number of students who came to me and I regraded their work. Sometimes I missed part of a students answer, sometimes I couldn't read their handwriting, sometimes they made one careless error that through them way off and once they pointed it out to me I could go back and grade from the error and give them extra points, sometimes I recorded a grade incorrectly, sometimes I misadded points, sometimes a student explained their misinterpretation of a question and how their answer showed reasonable knowledge of the material given their misinterpretation, a few times a smudge on a paper has led to a Scantron machine misgrading a paper. I am extremely careful when grading and recording grades, but I have had semesters with 750 students, some of which I have had 24 hour turn-around time from giving a final exam until grades had to be sumbitted. Errors do occur. Talking to a professor about grading and having a professor correct an error, or reevaluate the paper, is relatively common, in my experience. Students having an administrator overturn a grade a professor assigned, however, in my experience is extremely rare. Over the years I have had students who have not been happy with their grade, and I have alwys pointed out the process they are to follow to appeal a grade (which has varied by university). In all of the years, I have had ONE student who has filed an appeal. At that university the process was that a written appeal was made to the department chair. The department chair did not overturn the grade; the student had the right to escalate the appeal to the dean's office (and then the provost) but chose not to. I directly know of two other students who have appealed grades. One was a student who had been witness to a professor sexually harassing another student (for which the professor was disciplined); the student had to take a class that was team-taught by that professor because it was the only offering for her major; she received a low grade because of grading on subjective work (presentations, etc.) and was able to appeal that it was retalitaory grading; she won. I know of another student who was able to get a grade overturned on the grounds of capricious, discriinatory grading; that case went through the entire appeals process of the university. I also know of students who have appealed grades that they received due to academic dishonesty. At some school a professor determines academic dishonesty has occurred and grades accordingly with the student having to appeal if they disagree with the determination; at other schools, the professior cannot penalize a grade on the grounds of academic dishnesty without submitting the violation and a committee ruling that it has occured. I know of no cases of adminiistrators changing grades because the class was too hard, too confusing, overall grades were too low, etc.

Every university I hae taught at has a process for a grade appeal. That process is clearly outlined in the student handbook. Generally the student has to have some grounds for the appeal--evident bias in grading; grades were not calculated int he manor described on the syllabus, course grade was miscalculated, etc. Grades often cannot be appealed for things like student things the course was too difficult, student needs a higher grade to keep a scholarship, student did not show up for an exam and received a zero.

I think CC experiences vary greatly depending upon the state you are in. You add online/asynchrounous class structure on top of that and, unfortunately, some of these classes are of very low quality. Sometimes these courses are taught by adjuncts who have little experience and little support who quickly become overwhelmed by more students than they can handle while being paid peanuts.

I went straight from undergraduate to a PhD program; much depends upon how the particular school structures its program.

Government cheese - Wikipedia--here is a bit of the long history of "government cheese" I grew up on grits, but usually grits and butter, rather than cheese grits.

I was in a ZOOM meeting with someone from the Dallas area approximately 15 minutes after totality there. There were fireworks going off in the distance in her Dallas location--I do not know if they were going off during totality also.