Happened to me a few months ago. Since I had to go into DMV, I took the verifications needed for the Real ID. No written or driving tests.

Everything is for sale in LA: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-16/l-a-golfers-in-uproar-over-scarce-tee-times-at-city-courses-scalpers-selling-reservations

I am trying to work this through. If we take away that lyrics "where the roots all twist" will this song be about nectarines?

I don'ts have the service to watch the redo of Shogun. So, i did a search for ways to watch the original series. Found this : Internet Archive archive.org Best part is that it is free and commercial free.

Agree with you. I am gifted several small $$ Amazon gift cards every year. Without Prime for free shipping and large enough to qualify for free shipping, they are almost useless.

Students can still use their own CB approved calculator, instead of desmos

Thanks for the tip on the Grayl. We lived 1000 yards off a lake for the last 30 years. Every year, I say we need to get a purifier for the emergency kit. But just couldn't pull the trigger on a $400 Berkey system to store until the apocalypse. Looked at the Grayl products, and bought one. 24 ounces of filtered water in seconds would more than cover our needs.

It has been a while since my last trip to Asia. I would always take a couple of cartons of Marlboros with me. Asian friend had told me a pack or two will be a much appreciated gift/tip. Looking at the price of cigarettes now, I am not sure this would still be considered an inexpensive token.

Try shopping in Cina town. Look up seafood markets in Honolulu.. great deals on poke and locally caught fish.

When schools and offices started reopening in my area after covid, they required daily temperature testing. I bought 4 infrared temp guns that were the same type being used at my office. They all seemed very accurate for around $25 each. Much better than the digital oral thing. There is no no branding on them, so unable to make a recommendation.

My college freshman took all of Thinkwell's college sciences and math classes. He had excellent AP test scores. The problem with the TW's AP classes is that TW s simply reorganizes the order and material of the college course to follow the typical AP class order. Hence, the occasional drop off and disjointedness of TW's AP classes. TW's full college classes probably have less than 10% more content than its AP classes. As far as problems sets go, TW has way more than D.O, because it provides new problem sets if you redo a lesson set, hw, or section tests. Tw problems are also a little more challenging than DO. As to grading turnaround, grading is instantaneous. BTW we did do alg 1 with CTY, and all instruction was TW videos. There was teacher who simply monitored progress, but I don't remember if the teacher had his own test material or used TW's. I think it was the latter because I don't remember a lot of communication with the CTY teacher.

Family Handyman site has a couple of easy diy methods for handling popcorn ceiling. The easiest is just covering it with sheet rock or plywood.

This girl "laughed when we asked are they real!." ?????

It depends on what you are making. Last week, I tried a pretty authentic jerk chicken recipe. I had every thing but fresh ginger. I did have some old powder ginger on hand. Chicken turned out very spicy, bit it was definitely messing something from the jerk chicken I had in Kingston. I am going to try this recipe again with fresh ginger.

My freshman will graduate with zero debt thanks to need based aid and a generous four year scholarship he earned back in the 7th grade. I stumbled onto this board when he was in 5th grade. I was surprised by the number of very young kids who had taken psat, or sat in elementary and middle school. We started testing around 5th grade which led to CTY and CTD. More importantly, when he applied for the scholarship, he had test scores (especially math) that would have qualified him for some very good colleges.

Hubby might remember.

Maybe you can get a white chicken and give it the Tijuana zebra treatment. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/how-zebra-painted-donkeys-became-tijuanas-hottest-tourist-attraction

I am paying for his phone service, but overall I have very little economic leverage on this kid. He would find some way to avoid it. Plus, he has had a phone for 10 years (so that he could call from summer programs, etc) , and I would feel awkward trying to impose it on him now.

Whenever, I hear these stories, I look for the missing part of the story. In this case, he is CS from Silicon Valley. The pool of CS applicants from that area must be extraordinary. Where was his work experience before applying. Take a look at his e-startup--basically just a web page. Kind of like students who lists that they started a non-profit.. No school activities listed. No comments from teachers. I imagine his recs letters were weak:: " He did well in my ap calc class, I am sure he will be successful in college." With to slight intended, the kid's overall package does not seem that impressive. my cynicism comes from helping over 100 students from my local h.s., over the last 20 years, apply to UCs. They all apply to UCB and UCLA. Nearly all end up at UCI.. When their parents first contact me in the 12th grade, and show me their kid's 4.0 gpa and 1400+ SAT, I already know they are going to UCI. The main reason is that the parents but so such much emphasis on grades and SAT, the students did not participate in things that would boost their candidacy. When I tell the kids that they needs some ECs, they run to a couple of weekends of river clean-up, food kitchen, etc. I heard many college admission rep say that anybody can be straight A if all they do is study. They would rather take a 3.5 with activities, because that student adds life to the campus, and could have been straight A.

I only have experience with the SAT. But, I understand that every test has one or two quesrions thst separate the wheat from the chaff. The students that know or can guess the answers make the perfect 800.

Speaking of Harvard, https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/why-harvard/affordability#:~:text=Harvard costs what your family,percent of your annual income. Harvard and maybe 5 of the schools that appear on every top ten ranking are far more affordable than most people imagine. My kid is not at Harvard (rejected), but his family contribution on total cost of attendance is less than what his cousins (family incomes under $80k per year) at UCs are expected pay.

I had to look this up. I don't think I could get him to join. Maybe, i might really not want to know.

Since i just saw an Uber acknowledgment that my kid took a ride to an Amtrak station yesterday at 6:00 a.m., , and today being a school holiday, i can only assume that he is off to see his high school sweetie attending college 3 hours away. So, I think he is not having difficulty adjusting. Can't ask him about this trip w/o revealing my source.

Don't overlook National Merit. I just now joining in because OP kids seem past the 11th grade. But, now that conversation has broadened, I bring it up. There are many schools that give free rides, some with stipends, for NMSF and NMF. But, to have a fairly reasonable shot of reaching NMSF takes some planning starting around 7th grade. A kid that has completed Precalc (rather than Alg 2) by end of 10th grade will have more than enough math to do well. The verbal portion is very teachable. Just take a couple of practice tests in 8th grade and start training any weakness. Then 9th and 10th grade start taking practice SAT tests--the NM test and SAT are very similar. the SAT is a little more challenging, but not that much more. Plus you kill two birds with one stone, by prepping with SAT materials. The reason a lot of really smart kids don't make NMSF is because most high schools treat it like a practice SAT exam. No prep or practice, just get a baseline for the real SAT. In my state, a high achievement state, NMSF are kids most likely to get 1500 on the SAT. In some very high achievement areas like MD or D.C., the winners are kids likely to 1530+ on the SAT, However, there are many low achievement states, where a projected 1380 might make it. The actual amount of money National Merit awards is one time $2500. But, there are a lot of schools that will offer full rides for NMSF or NMF, regardless of financial circumstances. If I remember correctly, there were even a few schools that we looked at that did not even require a financial aid app. It didn't help my kid because most of the very generous National Merit scholarships schools are in the south or mid-west. My kid only applied Northeast, and one on the west coast.

When is he taking the SAT/ACT. Most of the highly selective schools claim to be test optional, but are really test biased. Also, ED or EA apps have a significant admission advantage.