I'm curious where this came from. Do you have a link? It looks like 2 different graphics from 2 different years for the same 6 men. Assuming the bottom portion is more recent, not everyone's wage went up. Mark Bertolini and Joseph Swedish both dropped by 50%. No doubt it's a lot of money, but there's information missing.

I tend to think of elementary school kids because that's where I teach. I can't imagine kids saying something like that. It's terrible! I will have self affirmations in my behavior class this year, but those are completely different. Things like "I am kind" that help my kiddos remember they matter. Not this mumbo jumbo educese that is over the top useless.

How much of that would kids actually understand?

Houston ISD is eliminating some libraries to turn them into areas for students with behaviors. It's not just removing the libraries, but replacing them with places most students will see as bad. There has been a big focus on Science of Reading, in which students are explicitly taught how to read, how to increase comprehension. I think what's getting lost is reading for pleasure. Not everything should be researched based all the time. My kids grew up as voracious readers. I was a voracious reader until I didn't have time to sit down and read. They're all post college and still like to read when they can. My oldest and youngest are into the big multivolume sagas mentioned above. I'm not sure if they'd read individual books, not part of a series, they way they consume these sagas. My middle one has stacks of books and plans vacations around cool bookstores with her best friend, taking an extra suitcase to bring home her finds.

One of my dd's former roommates was moving her things from her old apartment to the new one in the same complex she was sharing with dd. She discovered she'd inadvertently left the garden door unlocked on the old apartment when she went back to clean that evening and found a clean young man in professional clothing hiding in plain sight in an open corner of her living room. He was not one of the obviously homeless people who live in the area. He asked her to let him stay there overnight because he had no where else to go. Based on the conversation, it sounded like he had a job and may have been unable to continue paying rent in that complex. She kicked him out. Now whenever I hear of evictions, I think of that professional young man and wonder not only how he's doing, but also where someone goes when they're down on their luck even when they have a job. It's a high COL city, not someplace a young person just getting started could easily afford.

Are the Gadsden plates the same as the Gadsden flag or is there a different meaning for those plates?

My dd ordered an under desk walker that was supposed to arrive last week. Then she got an email saying it was delayed, another one saying it would arrive today (this past Monday), but hadn't shipped yet, then her credit card was charged. If she hasn't received it by now, I'll suggest she give them a call to determine the status if she hasn't received it. When I've called for customer service, I have always spoken with a native speaker and whatever the issue is has always been resolved in my favor. The phone number I use is over 12 years old. I have wondered if there are different service levels of phone numbers and the number I was given is an upper level customer service number.

This describes our family. However, one is getting married next spring, so I'm looking for ideas how to handle gift giving going forward. They all like opening thoughtful gifts instead of receiving money, but I frequently have a hard time coming up with gifts. I sometimes do stockings for those who are home, but dh would like me to end that because of the extra expense.

I would look at it as those who are interested have already scheduled a showing. I would be more concerned if showings were cancelled after seeing the pictures. Adding the pics doesn't make it a new listing, so it won't garner the attention the initial listing did. There will be more showings. Just give it time. With any luck, you won't need any additional showings!

Riffing off of @heartlikealion's post, Costco also had reduced cost prescriptions. If you're a member, the cost is further reduced. They also do pet prescriptions. There is a federal law of some sort that requires Costco to offer non-members their pharmacy services. I expect it's the same for Sam's.

Be aware if you cut it in half that it can still bite. I love to see snakes, but not in my house and definitely not a rattler! When we moved in, we blocked all the weep holes with steel will to prevent scorpions from getting in, but your house may not have weep holes. I've been told that's an old wives' tale, that babies can regulate how much venom they use. There's a National Snakebite Support page on FB with doctors and veterinarians who are experts in snakebites and offer assistance to anyone, human or pet, who received a venomous bite.

I've had this problem. Now when it gets bad, I do T-Tapp hoedowns on YouTube. Takes me about 5 min to do them and usually within 15 min, I need to go.

I loved subbing! I loved the flexibility and that nothing was the same. I was learning all the time! I'm getting my certification now after subbing primarily in elementary 9 years. I started because I needed something to do outside the house, but needed flexibility while the kids were in school. I liked many of the different schools, but found a couple I liked better than others. Each school was different; staff and admin could be very supportive or not supportive at all and the tech was different in each school. After awhile, I stopped subbing at schools I didn't like because I was receiving regular calls from my preferred schools for long term jobs. I have a job waiting as soon as I'm certified and will be a sub in it until then. I subbed in that class all of last year. Pay is about $140/day depending on the school (title 1 schools pay more), class (some special ed pays more), level of education, and whether it was a long term job or not. I don't remember receiving any training; it was trial by fire for some things, but I treated the students the same way I treated my kids and they seemed to respond to that. With the older students, I always had a riddle or puzzle on the front board for them to figure out when they came in. That bought me a little time to either visit with the kids or get the last minute things together. For the most part, the days went by very quickly. I arrived earlier than I was required to, but that was so I could go over the lesson plans (sometimes find the lesson plans), and be prepared when the students came in. Classroom management is definitely important. Having a presence while still being friendly is a bit of an art, one I still haven't mastered. I tend to err towards the friendly side. I was told several times that even if we don't finish the lesson plans, if the students go home happy it's a good day. I think subbing can vary between school districts. I've been told a neighboring school district pays better than mine does, but I didn't want to travel that far. The expectations of students and subs will also vary. If you do FB, there are several teacher and sub sites and there are often questions posted anonymously about specific districts. If you don't know anyone who subs or teaches to ask, you might find someone knowledgeable about your district who could answer questions specific to your area. If you decide to sub, I found some time fillers and chants for walking in the hallway for free on TpT and other sites. If you'd like me to send some your way, let me know and I'd be glad to.

Ours just went up 12%. We looked around and everything else is either the same or higher. Every year we get a phone call wanting to reassess our insurance. It seems to me just an excuse to find a reason to raise our rated. Every year they've called, our rates have gone up.

To the best of our knowledge, my husband and I haven't had covid. We haven't masked for about a year and aren't taking precautions. We also had covid in our house twice with one person, a doctor, who knew better than us when we asked him to stay in his room. He insisted it was better that he load his dishes in the dishwasher so we wouldn't come in contact with them. (Now watch. I'll say this and come down with it when I return home from traveling! 😂🤪)

I wonder if you could take this job as a step in the for and plan to change your shift as soon as you have the opportunity. I admire your efforts and resilience. You're trying all avenues to stay near your kids. I wish your state paid a living wage.

I wonder what the ratio of paid vs unpaid internships is. Two of my kids had paid internships, though one had to do a careful analysis to see if her paycheck would cover her expenses. Had they been unpaid, they would've needed to live at home. Neither of them wanted to do that. COVID affected their internships. One couldn't find any available and the other had accepted one just before the outbreak, though the parameters changed so significantly as to be useless in her field of study. They still paid her, though.

I wonder if part of the inability to purchase a home is due in part to college debt a young adult has and financial support from parents. My oldest could afford to purchase a house, but is still moving around too much for it to make sense. My middle believes she won't be able to buy a house in her hcol area, but she also wants to enjoy life, travel, not be limited by a mortgage or saving for a down payment. My youngest just graduated college and is unsure about home ownership, though he has an excellent job. His focus seems to be hard work, but plenty of time off for fun. I'm very glad to see different priorities for them. (That means that any grandkids won't arrive any time soon, which I'm bummed about, but I'd rather the kids be happy and healthy. A couple of mine have already said they don't want kids, so my expectations are low anyway.) My kids all graduated with small savings intact and no student debt. Dh has been able to support us well throughout the years and we were able to save for the kids' college funds. I'm now getting certified and will be bringing in mid 5 figures hopefully this year. Despite living out of state, we are able to support our kids when they have to move unexpectedly or have other surprise financial or support needs. This is a financial support that many students don't have and allows our kids freedoms that many of their peers don't have. I don't consider us wealthy, but what little money we've been able to accumulate has benefitted our kids in less tangible ways.

Zombie thread. Though I didn't realize I should be using special soap on my counters until I read the whole thread.

That's more or less what I've told my kids I'd like, too. I've told them I really don't care what they do with my ashes, but they can't put me on their fireplace mantle or wear me. They don't mind the spreading of ashes because they were a part of it with both grandparents.

My favorite trip was on a Windjammer cruise for our 15th anniversary. It was a small sailing ship. They pulled into a cay and let us jump off the side of the ship, then let the current carry us back to do it all again. I could've done that all day! That cruise spoiled me on cruises. Dh keeps trying to get me to go on another cruise, but we only see the huge ships and I don't want a floating city. I loved my floating population 200 town.

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.

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.

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.

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.