[Tales of your travels]

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

 I also had no credit cards back then, no cell phones, and only a limited amount of traveler's checks

It's amazing how different travel is now. I was an exchange student in Berlin in the 80's. When I went, i used traveler's checks. When those were gone, I was out of cash. No credit card because who would give a credit card to a 16 year old? I didn't have a way to notify my exchange family that I hadn't made it to my connecting flight and I think I talked to my parents maybe twice that year. It was too expensive. Letters took a long time before they were received. I sent all my film back home to be developed and didn't actually see any of them until I returned home the following summer. My mom told me she was so tired of seeing animals and scenery. She wanted pictures of the people I knew, but there were very few of those. 

By contrast, when my dd went to Germany in college, we talked all the time and sent messages back and forth. She shared pictures with me almost immediately after they were taken. She could access money easily with her credit and debit cards and find her way around the cities with Google maps. 

[HOA rules in Texas]

28 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Having been on the receiving end of this question frequently in Texas, it's weird and intrusive.  It's a nasty question, because the conversation is then steered 1 of 3 ways if you are not the same as your neighbor:

1. "Come visit our church!"  (No, if I wanted to be there, I would.  Knock it off)

2. "Athiest/Jewish/different denomination?  I can change you!"  (No, you can't. Knock it off.)

3 "Catholic/Muslim?  You are a devil worshipper, and a lost cause.  I will not talk to you."  (Great. Bugger off, you freak.)

 

There is no win here unless you are of the right denomination and like intrusiveness.  Otherwise, it's your neighbor being a complete donkey of a human and sticking themselves where they shouldn't be.  It is nobody's business how or if you worship. 

Up until the question is asked, the conversation is a friendly, get to know you conversation. After I answer the question with a 'no', the tenor of the conversation shifts. It's like the other person is thinking that maybe they don't want to be friends anymore. Honestly, their reaction to my answer gives me insight to who they are. 

[Job situation update.]

7 minutes ago, KidsHappen said:

I do have lots of things to sell, it is just a matter of going through things and pulling out what can be listed. My health has been particularly bad the last two weeks with three doctors appointments. At this point they are looking at something like MS or MD. I will get my eldest to come over sometime soon and help me. I did pull out an entire bookcase worth of books to list and some of them are worth a good amount for a book. 

If you have books, there are probably teachers in your area willing to buy them. You could post on several local FB sites. If you'd sold them locally, there wouldn't be any shipping expenses. 

[Restaurant Table Manners]

It's generally still a thing in my circles, but if food isn't being brought out all at once, we always make sure to tell the others to eat while it's hot. 

[Suicide Hotlines Promise Anonymity. Dozens of Their Websites Send Sensitive Data to Facebook]

I think there was something about Meta and patient portals a few months back, too. We tell our kids to be aware of what they post online, but they (we)  also need to be aware of what should be secure data likely isn't. I hate that people who need it for life and death issues aren't guaranteed privacy. (And I'm glad when dd had a friend in need that I called for info instead of her. I would hate for a young person to be potentially penalized for reaching out for care!)

Here's an article about patient portals and Meta.

[Petty whine: nonprofit marketing]

3 hours ago, SKL said:

Have you checked to see whether your car insurance company offers roadside assistance?  It can be way cheaper than AAA and they won't send you all kinds of nonsense.  😉

I have AAA, too, and get annoyed with all the other junk I receive from them. However, their roadside assistance is better than USAA's. We had a friend drive to our local area and her car started having problems, so she parked it at a dealership until she could get it repaired. USAA refused to tow her car to a more reputable repair shop because she was already at one. (Unfortunately, that dealership didn't have a good reputation for repairs.) They also only cover 50 miles of towing, which isn't a lot when driving in rural areas. 

My son, on the other hand, has AAA. When he was struck by road debris on the interstate and couldn't drive his car safely, AAA picked him up and towed his car 100 miles to his house. Then they towed him from his house to the repair shop for an estimate and towed the car back to his place when the shop couldn't do the repair for 6 weeks. (He had to pay for the 4th leg to get the car back to the shop when it was time. AAA pays for 3 tows per year.) AAA paid for itself last year just in towing. 

(He pays for the extra towing because he drives back and forth between our house and his college, a 15 hour drive.)

[Petty whine: nonprofit marketing]

The principal at the school where I work is a big believer in blood donations and schedules several days during the school year for community and staff to donate. She is supportive of covering each other so we can donate during the day. I really like this option because it's convenient. I don't have to drive anywhere and it really doesn't take time out of my day. It's win-win. 

[Petty whine: nonprofit marketing]

1 hour ago, Annie G said:

Count me in on charities being annoying. My 91 year old father receives all kinds of crap in the mail from charities and thus feels obligated to donate, which just means MORE stuff is sent.  And then the charity sells his name/address and even more crap comes.  He truly doesn’t understand that it’s all just a ploy to get his money, and we finally took his checkbook away - he sent $10-$20 to each charity that sent him socks or whatever, and it was routinely adding up to $400-$500 a month.  

This was my MIL. Every year when we went to visit her, she had a drawerful of things from these non-profits to give my kids. A cheap t-shirt made by indigenous peoples in _____ country, cards, socks, even coins, usually nickels, sometimes pennies, that had been sent to her when asking for her donation. She, too, didn't understand that she didn't need to pay for those items. Even 7 years after her death, we're still receiving free items. Everything, including the coins, automatically gets File 13'd.

[New grandchild arrived! (and a bit of a spinoff of baby names)]

Congratulations on a sweet granddaughter! I'm glad she's feisty and doing well! 

[Oral Comprehension and Fluency Test Administration]

I'm not a specialist, but rather a beginning teacher who is currently taking an STR course. 

Were they told they would be asked comprehension questions at the beginning of the assessment? That was important information for my 1st graders when I assessed them. 

I don't think they should look back. Comprehension is based on understanding the text, not just looking at the pictures. If they're struggling so much to decode, it will show in their comprehension. I wonder if the student could instead reread the story, then answer the comprehension questions.

Hopefully someone else with more knowledge than me will be able to answer your question. 

[would you eat this? Jelly]

I wouldn't eat it. I would call and see if it could be exchanged.

[I’m complaining a lot, but ….might as well …]

I've found it's easier to go to an urgent care clinic than it is to see my doctor. When I tried getting an appointment, the soonest I could get was about 4 months out. Not helpful when I need to see her now! I'm seeing more people use UC as a regular doctor because either they can't find a doctor or they can't get a timely appointment.

In addition to the UC's, we also have stand alone ER's that don't have a hospital attached to them. We've gone for things such as broken bones because they have the x-ray capability the UC doesn't have, but would go to a hospital ER if there were anything serious they couldn't handle. Usually we've called an on call nurse associated with our medical insurance to confirm where to go and make sure they will cover us before we go so we don't get caught by unexpected expenses.

[amazon return question]

I've returned things at both Kohl's and UPS. Kohl's is usually faster for me because the line is shorter. I've also been caught off guard at UPS when I'm supposed to have a box to return it in. I've had to make 2 trips so I had the box. Kohl's doesn't require a box.

[Forgetting the Terminology of Phonics]

In our classroom, we use Secret Stories. It's not really a phonics program per se, but gives little stories about each letter. For the bowls specifically, there are several stories for the different sounds. The stories are what my students remember as to help them decode words. We use this in a public school, but they also offer items for homeschooling. 

[Amazon and family members]

4 hours ago, Lady Marmalade said:

Both of my kids are on my account, we all use the same login information, including DH.  When one of us is shopping, we make sure to choose our own debit/credit cards for payment unless I have offered to buy them something.   Yes, they could see wishlists if they wanted to, but mostly everyone just uses their own to add things to it from time to time.

When it's a gift giving time, I will archive the orders immediately after I make the order, and I will also clear the browsing history so the kids don't know what is coming.   It's not a perfect system, but it works for us. 

The only snafu we've run into is with gift cards.  DH has $78 worth of Amazon gift cards stored on the account, and none of us can use our gift cards until he uses his that are already on the account. In addition, every time we check out we have to uncheck the box to use the gift card balance first.  Don't ask me how a 49 year old man can't find anything he wants on Amazon...

This is what we've done, too. I've only been able to add one adult family member, so the rest of us share mine. Last I checked, the other family members had to be teens. I'll check the link above to see if it's changed.

We haven't had gift cards, so that's not been an issue for us. However, I receive emails for everything ordered, so sometimes I find out about stuff I wasn't supposed to know about. 

[Inheriting a vehicle]

It probably depends on which state you live in. Wen we were in a similar situation, it was decided to sell the car for $1. It's been awhile, but I think it had something to do with registration and taxes. Probably would be best to call your DMV. 

[Bluetooth headphones recommendation please]

I just bought the Anker Soundcore Q20 for $60 because I'm going to be traveling and need them for my class. They are ok. Not as comfortable as the gaming headphones and there was what sounded like static for a bit, but it went away. I haven't worn them since then, so I don't know if the odd sound was a once off. I couldn't wear them as long as I would've liked because they were pushing on the resources of my glasses. 

I had purchased a pair of gaming headphones that were incredibly comfortable, but between the issue I was having with my new laptop and the new class I'd just started, I didn't have the bandwidth to figure them out. They were also a lot more expensive. 

[Funny or not? (boy/girl issue)]

5 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

His view is that stuff like this happens and kids, including ours, need to learn to be assertive and not be afraid to say something. OK...but these are still kids. And our dd had never encountered anything like that before.

It is difficult to be assertive when one doesn't know they're involved in the situation.

Once your dd knew, she could handle it. But often, it's a much bigger problem when they find out and more difficult to contain, especially for kids. 

[Justine Bateman's aging face]

Reported

[Help/Advice Needed re: Apartment hunting in TX]

On 4/21/2023 at 12:37 PM, SquirrellyMama said:

That would be great if she has advice. I'll tell her to check air bnbs too.

 

Kelly

I just spoke with dd and sent you the info she shared with me. Let me know if we can help any further. I hope she'll enjoy her time in College Station. Congrats to her for her acceptance into grad school!

[Boy shot for ringing doorbell]

4 hours ago, MercyA said:

I travel to Chicago a couple times a year, and just about every time friends warn me to "be careful." They are afraid to even take a train back from the city at night.

The thing is, they are MUCH more likely to be shot ANYWHERE in Texas than in Chicago. But I don't hear them worrying about travelers to Texas, KWIM? It doesn't fit the narrative. 

I think there was something spouted somewhere about the violence in Chicago. I have a family member who routinely checks a specific website about the violence in Chicago. This person has told me he knows these other shootings (including school shootings) are horrible, but that people really need to focus on how many people are killed in Chicago each day. I truly don't understand it. NYC has more shootings than Chicago, but the focus is Chicago. The funny part is I live in Texas and for so many reasons, I don't feel entirely safe here. 

[Help/Advice Needed re: Apartment hunting in TX]

What about an air BNB? My dd will be living in one for 6 months for part of her training. She found that easier than trying to find a rental.

Another dd lived in college station at several different complexes. I can ask if she'd be willing to talk to your dd if you'd like. 

[I’m the meanest mom because…..]

17 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle Again said:

I made someone change his underwear this morning and refused to buy all the baby chicks at Tractor Supply and let them live in his bedroom.

When I was a kid, I thought the garage should be a great place to keep a horse. I also thought my bedroom would be a great place to have a watermelon patch. I was very upset at my parents for not letting me have either! Of course, my bedroom had  green deep shag carpet, so the watermelon patch would have fit in very well. 😜😂

[More things I never thought I’d say before becoming a parent]

1 hour ago, AmandaVT said:

Middle school teacher edition: "We do NOT eat pencil erasers. Wait - you're having a contest to see who can eat the most??" 🤦‍♀️

4th grade here:

"Please  take the paper out of your mouth."

" Why? It's Friday and I'm allowed to eat paper on Fridays."

For the record, he's not allowed to eat paper any day off the week. 

[Does this article on spending resonate with you?]

We're spending more on us than we have in the past. All the kids have, or will be this year, graduated and are living independently, so we have more flexible income. And next year, I'll have a regular salary for the first time in 20 years  But it's mostly all items we've planned for, the rugs when our incontinent dog passes away, the couch and chair when we replace the rugs. We've also bought plane tickets to visit kids.