Yes! And he mentioned they like to go back to where they were (recidivism?). They had to relocate them maybe?

Here's a possibility... Not finished yet, obviously, but a start for tonight. (Not edited for spelling or grammar! Straight from dd#2) Michael reached down and unclipped the blue bag from the cat’s back. “Michael, no!” Sarah tried to grab it from him. “What are you doing?” Dexter turned around as Michael unzipped the clinking pouch. “Ah, excellent choice. You will need to remember this: As you explore Walking Taco Land, You must find the helping hand. Clean up the sloppy Joe And don’t go too slow.” Something cold enclosed Sarah’s right wrist as she heard Michael’s yelp of surprise. Her head dipped down to stare at the thick silver band wrapped around her wrist as everything began to blur around them like a mixer swirling batter. The world continued to swirl and mix until all the colors had turned into a dull white. Sarah closed her eyes. “Sarah, look!” Sarah’s eyes opened upon hearing her younger brother’s voice beside her, and promptly had to close them again due to the brightness. “This place is so green.” Michael said as Sarah squinted around. Compared to the slightly over cast gray light that had hung out around Sarah’s small town, the full on brightness of this new place was over-powering. Michael was right. Not only was it very sunny, it was also very green. They stood on a carpet of vivid moss surrounded by thick-trunked leafy trees. Sunlight shone through the wind swept limbs high above, dappling the ground. “Where are we?” Sarah asked, blinking and slowly pivoting around, taking in the story book scenery. “Land of the walking tacos, remember?” Michael said, wandering toward an especially thick-trunked tree, absent mindedly licking his fingers. “Dexter said that we had to clean up something, I think.” He bent down to finger the thick moss by the protruding roots. “I wonder what he meant by walking tacos.” Sarah looked up at the moving branches above, again. That was when she realized that there was no wind. “Michael, I think there is something com-” Sarah was cut off a loud crunching, rattling, swooshing sound from above. Both children spun around and looked up toward the canopy of leaves. At first Sarah couldn’t grasp what she was seeing. A dozen large hard shelled tacos swung through the branches, grasping vines with their thin, spindly arms. A sound like when you bite down on crispy lettuce came from them as they flew through the air over head. “Sarah, are those tacos?” Michael whispered. Neither of them could take their eyes off of the strange sight. Sarah was about to reply, when suddenly . . .

So, dh, dd#1, and I were on the UCF campus today and DD sat in on an Honors Calc I class. A couple of take aways: The campus is well-designed. It doesn't seem like it has as many students as it does. Dh was worried it would be super crowded. The students were polite (even to us old fogeys), and none seemed overly stressed. DD enjoyed the teaching of the professor. There seemed to be a lot of involved students. I quoted dmmettler because we had dinner with some old friends. We were doing a run down of the kids and I mentioned dd#3 loves herpetology. I wasn't sure they knew what that was, so I was going to explain but one of our friends said he already knew. In fact, he has six of them working for him! Something to do with working with gators (measuring, chipping, getting blood samples) and endangered species (can't remember any of the names, but one was some sort of burrowing turtle, maybe?).

In the spin off social media thread, @texasmom33 said it seemed like you almost had to have a Linkedin account nowadays to get past a certain point in job opportunities. Later in the thread, someone else pointed out that companies search social media & the internet for info on candidates. It seems that there is a bit of "Darned if you do; darned if you don't." This board is my social media according to DH. Otherwise, we pretty much don't have anything out there. Does The Hive think that a social media presence will be required to get interviews & jobs in the future? Or will it be possible to stay under the radar and still be employable in tech jobs, public media, & other fields where credentials and who-you-know is important?

Can you explain the "slowly die" comment further? The state we live in right now has nothing like this and no funds for it. Our little country town is being overrun by "community cats" and I have kids who would lime to start a "catch, spay, chip, & release" program. But they are looking at all sides of the issue before they get going.

Ditto what madteaparty said because after an advisor points me to an annuity, I question every other piece of advice, wondering how much he's going to make off of it. (Even if it was in good faith.) Low cost, lower risk mutual funds, index funds . . . Not guaranteed by a long shot, especially with the current market, but better than most annuities. (Fidelity and I think Vanguard have low fee, easy to get out of annuities.)

Did he suggest putting it in your Roth IRA? (I don't recommend this.) Annuitites, in general, are money makers for the people who sell them and not for the people who buy them. Now, sometimes they are a good idea, but only in specific situations and in certain accounts.

So glad to "see" you again, Rose. Glad Shannon is doing better. It is amazing to read old threads, old worries, and either smile at your old self for worrying or weep to know you've struggled for so long with the same problem. (I mostly do the former but have read some journal entries where I realize some daily struggles have been ongoing for 6 or more years.) It gives perspective to look back.

Yep, one kid asked me last night, "Do we have school tomorrow?" Yes. And the day after . . .

I used to have a Jan-Dec kid--just one. I could never remember her grade level so I decided to go ahead and switch her to the Sept-May calendar (which didn't do anything but flip when I changed her grade level). It didn't help me remember her grade level. I have to look it up. Otherwise, I just guess. 7th? 8th? Who knows.

I have no idea what a "dog whistle" is as used in this thread and am one of those who did not equate hanging with lynching. (I would have said lynching=tar and feathering if anyone had asked me to describe it without looking it up.) @bolt. I'm glad you came back to let people know you were Canadian. I remembered you weren't American and the wording of your post reflected that, but I couldn't remember where you lived. I, on the other hand, grew up in corn country and I simply don't have the same cultural background and historical associations as many people in the South. I think the history studies and books from my schooling years were geared toward emphasizing harmony and getting along vs outlining the racial bias and deep divides that many at the time wanted to believe were in the past. (Obviously, this wasn't the case, but for a kid growing up where and when I did, different color skin usually meant you were in a rival gang. That was more relevant than any history book.)

Here are some timeframes for you. (Different than what I remember.) These are questions geared to employers. From https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Other-Insurance-Protections/cobra_qna.html Q10: What notification requirements apply when there is a qualifying event? Separate requirements apply to the employer and the group health plan administrator. An employer that is subject to COBRA requirements is required to notify its group health plan administrator within 30 days after an employee’s employment is terminated, or employment hours are reduced. Within 14 days of that notification, the plan administrator is required to notify the individual of his or her COBRA rights. If the employer also is the plan administrator and issues COBRA notices directly, the employer has the entire 44-day period in which to issue a COBRA election notice. Q12: What is the next step in the process once appropriate notice of a qualifying event is given to the health plan administrator? Plan administrators that receive notice of a qualifying event must notify qualified beneficiaries of their right to elect COBRA coverage. Qualified beneficiaries have independent election rights, and therefore they must each be notified. If all the qualified beneficiaries reside at the same address, the plan administrators may either include separate election notices for each qualified beneficiary in a single mailing that is addressed to both the employee and spouse, or send a single notice that clearly identifies all qualified beneficiaries covered by the notice, and explains each person's separate and independent right to elect COBRA continuation coverage. Each qualified beneficiary then has 60 days to decide whether to elect continuation coverage

My experience is 15+ years ago, but I'll echo that I got a letter in the mail and had 30 days (retroactive to my last day) to decide. It was hideously expensive and DH's new insurance kicked in 20 days after my last day. If dd#2 would have shown up early (between my last day and his first day of work), I would have signed up for COBRA. As it was, she was early, but not that early and his insurance was in force. (Still ended up paying three deductibles for that pregnancy and going through endless headaches with my old employer's insurance because old employer insisted I didn't work on my last day and that was the day the one's office billed all my pg care to.) So, we didn't end up signing up for it. Best to try to get the new insurance (assuming there is another job offer in the wings) going as soon as possible.

It seems like I live in a very small world. One old story & one newer one. When I was in college in State A, my roommate's ex-bf attended her old college in State B and was a counselor at a Boys Scout Camp in State C. One of the other counselors (who lived/went to college in State D) at the Boys Scout Camp was reading a letter from a friend he'd made at a high school national event (FBLA) a few years before. The ex-bf thought the last name on the letter looked familiar & asked the fellow counselor about this friend. The counselor pulled out the friend's senior picture & confirmed that it was his ex-gf's current college roommate (me). The odds on that just seem crazy. My dd#2 practiced with the local school's cross country team this summer. The coach is a teacher & wrestling coach. We got to talking one day while the kids were running & I found out he went to the same college my oldest brother had. Now, the age gap is probably 15-20 years, but a story I told about my brother's college years helped him make the connection that they were there at the same time. As it turns out, he actually knew my brother because my brother used to cover the sport this coach was involved in for the city paper. I'm sure my brother would have remembered him, too, since he had a great memory, but my brother died last summer, so I couldn't ask. The college is only 200 miles from where I live now, but I still find it incredible that they knew each other.

We're definitely later on the spectrum for some of the books on Lori's suggestion list. I have a sophomore in high school that I wouldn't give the Book Thief to. I have a senior who loves dystopian lit, but she's not read the Hunger Games or Divergent. (I don't think the second and third book of the Divergent series is worth wasting time on, personally. Back when HG was popular, I determined she wasn't old enough yet to read them. By the time she was old/mature enough, she wasn't interested in reading 'popular' dystopian books.) My girls are all readers, but there are some books I wouldn't give them in 8th grade that others here would hand to a younger child.