Not sure if this dovetails into this direction of the thread... Just last night, my DD was watching Pretty Woman (because it's one of my favorites and came out 34 years ago this week. She was amused that Princess Diaries had many of the same people, lines, etc. (her gen movie). I pointed out that she could take that story back to a classic lit book she read a couple of years ago in a Literature class. Of course it was Pygmalion, and we had a 15 minute conversation about the common themes, etc. ending with how it could apply to women in today world/politics etc. Nothing high-brow. Just trying to plug in some more modern relevance to the "great conversation". A few weeks ago, I strongly encouraged/mildly forced her to watch Oppenheimer with DH and me. 🙂 She ended up really enjoying the movie, and it made that moment in history really come alive for her (studying WWII now in US History). So when she had to pick a topic for the Physic's term paper, she chose nuclear fission. Now, she focused on a tiny blip in history and will have at best a fuzzy understanding of fission because the subject matter is complex, and she really could not care less about it. BUT these are examples of how we try hard to weave together humanities and science and bring it to something relatable/understandable/relevant. This doesn't happen everyday, but I try to find the little ways to connect it all. This is most definitely why I believe that both humanities and math/science are needed by everyone. Opera vs bluegrass vs club music...I say buy the ticket and GO! You never know where connections will be made. But you can't make those connections unless you stock your brain. 🙂

Totally agree with this, but to be fair the value of theoretical and practical science became pretty darn evident as well. In our own family, we have had so many paths that lead to diverse definitions of success that STEM vs humanities, learned vs life-experience, school vs hands-on approaches are all supported emotionally and financially. And fortunately we have all been relatively financially successful as well which in turn reinforces that it is OK to take a "different" approach. In my crew and extended family, the common denominator was persistent drive via many different paths. I know this does not apply to everyone, etc. Just speaking about my experience. Seems I'm always on a soapbox about not have to choose one or the other. I fully support both, humanities and STEM. I think everyone needs some of both. ETA: It's just as baffling when someone says that they "can't" do math and don't need to know any of it. FWIW, I would absolutely NOT pay for kiddo to attend college without pursuing some path to a vocation. The path can change as much as needed, but there needs to be some end-game in mind. In the cases presented in the OP, these people have an end-game. In our house, that would be supported. But cost of school vs wage-potential etc would absolutely be discussed and attempted to balance.

Several favorites, but tippy top... Frasier

On the college parent forums, everyone has said that the FAFSA this year is broke and crazy beginning with the late release. It's a mess for sure. No guidance on how to navigate the mess either. Seems people are just providing info and hoping for the best. It's extremely stressful for those that need the financial aid to attend--so lots of people. 😞

There is a Netflix documentary called The Program that is made by some of the kids that survived these abuses. It was very hard to watch and completely appalling and still going on. It seems that the money shields these institutions from any scrutiny. Ugh. It's horrific!

Getting close to 20 years for me, too! 2005-the year my first kiddo was born. I was pregnant with her and on a city-forum. A thread was started about homeschooling, and someone mentioned The Well-Trained Mind as a resource. I went looking on the internet and found The Hive. Rarely post, but read almost daily. It has been an amazing resource and constant in my life that I get from no one and no where else. No way could I have managed to get through 14 years of homeschooling. Next year will be my last year so 15 years schooling and 20 years learning. 🙂

Also, I think it can be really hard to discern cheating in a writing assignment. My middle DD in online high school classes probably seems like she is cheating because her final product in infinitely better than anything she can produce on the spot. Every single writing assignment goes through 3-4 iterations before the final draft. She has incredible vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills. But she absolutely cannot access them when she is put on the spot in class with 5-10 minutes to write something in a collaborative group. She just can't. So her in-class work product looks very different from her home-work product. She will always avoid any writing class that requires producing a paper on the spot.

It's not just the online classes. In DD's 300+-student biology 101 class at college last semester, apparently cheating was a problem. When she arrived for the 3rd test, the procedures had changed, and a stern warning was given about cheating during the test. All in person.

Clarita, I agree there. Large-format tile reduces grout lines. Overtime though the grout lines are easier to clean than around the frame itself. I hate moldy silicone caulk.

This has been our experience as well. We solved this by using a "modesty wall" and glass combo for the shower surround. The wall is tiled of course and about 44-45" tall. The rest of it and the door are glass. I avoid shower curtains if I can due to mold. I also avoid framed glass if I can because of mold. (But that al comes at a price of course). I'm 5'6" and my books are blocked from view if someone else is in the room. Many times over the years someone has been in the bathroom (usually brushing teeth or grabbing something) while I'm in the shower. I just need the room cleared for when I am naked outside the shower. 🙂 These are my preferences. I lived long term in every scenario imaginable, even a outhouse situation for 10 days with 2 toddlers (thankfully very short). 🙂

Most of the houses (2000sq+) built in the last 20+ years have a "toilet room" that is called a water closet. Water closets in homes typically do not have a sink in them. I have only ever seen this is a public restroom when a sink might be installed in a handicap stall. I have never seen it in a house (I'm sure a custom setup like this exists somewhere of course). I look at real estate as a "hobby" and have seen hundreds of homes (which is where my opinion is coming from). Having said all that, having a sink in the water closet aka "toilet room" would be very weird in my neck of the woods. In every scenario (short/long rental, vaca home, etc), I would vote a double sink vanity/tub/shower in the main bathroom with a "toilet room" for the toilet within the main bathroom.

Single age 28 in 2002 1600sqft ~$160k mid-level engineering salary (~$65-70k), 2nd engineering job with 4-5yrs experience (entry salary was $32500 in 1998), FHA loan with federal grant for down payment (that realtor knew about-not me) When I had split from cohabitating with boyfriend a couple of years earlier (broke and I was supporting him), we had 3 dogs and 2 cats. I took the cats (and rented an apartment in another city). He kept the dogs. Two years later, he went to jail (financial fraud stuff), so I got the dogs back to save them from the pound or worse. Couldn't rent an apartment with that many animals, so I bought a house. It was sheer necessity in order to keep my pets. I had been in the city for 2 years at that point, but was renting in the burbs in a little town on the outskirts that eventually became the fastest growing city in America for more than a decade. When DH and I were first dating (he's 10 years older than me), he bought his first house (age 38) about a mile away from me. We eventually lived in his house and sold mine (because of the combo of our finances/market/bad advice I had to PAY to sell it...grrrr). That experience made me MUCH more savvy about real estate investing. We own a variety of real estate investments now. Still pisses me off, but I learned a lot.

Any or all of the Kate Quinn novels. Love the stories. Love the readers. Love the lengths (I like them long). But really love the stories. Also love Dervla McTiernan novels. Irish setting, writer, and readers. I'm having a hard time finding books that look interesting in the 2-for-1 sell list that I don't already have. 😞

@itsheresomewhere Would you mind sharing the heater? I have a new 16x24 greenhouse that I am trying to heat with marginal success.

NM. Discussion moved on before I posted. 🙂