what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Khan]

I think what I object to is the way that the theme of the grad party has changed. Instead of the benevolent oversight demonstrated by TromboneAl it's mutated into a posse of vigilantes waving oaths, conducting personnel searches, and essentially locking the teens away to "be safe". Supervision at the absolute lowest common denominator. Scramble to get in line to be carted away for mandatory fun.

I'm surprised that our teen is putting up with it. She's already declined school's opportunities to do an "optional" senior-year project (required to qualify for valedictorian) and to participate in the graduation ceremony. She's quite accustomed to going her own way regardless of whether that appears to be a good idea or not. I had expected the parental personalities involved with Project Grad to cause her to veer away from this one, too, but I guess the combination of mystery and "last chance with friends" make it irresistible.

Maybe it's cultural/family expectations. High school graduation around here is a very big deal compared to college. Over 10% of her senior class is already not qualified to graduate or dropped out long ago, and of the remaining 90% only a handful seem interested, let alone excited, about college. Most of the stories are "Oh, yeah, I guess I'll take classes at UH" while living with the family and working minimum-wage shifts.

I saw college as my chance to [-]get the hell outta Dodge[/-] gain some independence and start my own life. I guess if these seniors aren't looking forward to that then high-school graduation seems like a pretty important rite of passage.

Maybe the seniors have yet to learn what a number of 19- & 20-year-olds at taekwondo have already figured out. They're scrambling for scholarships, applying for internships, transferring community-college credits to universities, and turning black belts into résumé bullets...

I guess I'm an old fogey who doesn't understand why young ones don't want to leave. I was so ready to leave that small town and head out to who knows what.

 

[TromboneAl]

it's mutated into a posse of vigilantes waving oaths, conducting personnel searches, and essentially locking the teens away to "be safe".

I'm not sure how effective it is, but I get the rationale. Around here, in redneck country, it seemed very common for teens to get drunk the night of graduation. It resulted in some accidents and deaths.

So someone suggested that they fund a big party with prizes that would attract at least some of the kids that might otherwise drink and drive.

The party we "attended" was pretty over the top, with chocolate fountains and tons of prizes, including a car. My feeling was that the bad guys would feel too cool to go to the party, and that kids could always get drunk and drive the next night, but it's possible that it could save a life or two.

 

[Walt34]

What I 'almost' did today:

A guy honked his horn at me because I didn't turn left when he thought I should. I almost got out of my car to do a little damage by ripping his car door from the frame.

Ohhhhmmmmmmm......

I understand completely! That's one reason we are soooo happy to have made the move to WV from MD. People even share and wave at the one-lane bridge down the road. There was another one-lane bridge in MD near where we lived and about once a year a fistfight would erupt over "who goes first", not to mention the daily horn-honking and finger-waving contests.

Took the motorcycle to the shop this morning for a new rear tire. The guy said I was doing good to have gotten 10k miles out of it.

DW astonished me last night. Said she'd bought a chain saw! The one I use is too heavy for her so she bought a smaller, lighter one to use at her Dad's house. Chain saw safety lessons will soon follow. Those things will go through your leg faster than they will a log.

 

[TromboneAl]

Chain saw safety lessons will soon follow.

Don't forget kevlar chaps, helmet with face shield, ear protectors, chainsaw boots. Definitely worth it. Google Image chainsaw injuries if you're not convinced.

 

[Nords]

A couple weeks ago the phone company said our DSL line was slow, although they'd be happy to send someone out to our house to check it out (for a "nominal" fee).

I unplugged our splitter and UPS jacks from the DSL line so that the DSL modem was connected straight into the wall jack. But ater a week of running various speed tests and getting consistent 0.5 MBPS results, I decided the phone company wasn't just trying to upsell me. So I got out my 100-foot phone cord and got ready to plug the DSL modem into the terminal box at the service connection.

After cleaning out the gecko eggs (and evicting some very angry geckos) I opened the cover to our line. The red wire fell off the terminal post that it had been resting lightly against. The loop of its wire had corroded or broken at the terminal post and it was baaaaaarely making contact. So I stripped it and reconnected it. Fastest troubleshooting & repair I'll see for months.

2.5 MBPS on a 3 MBPS subscription. Good enough. I can't tell the difference for browsing & e-mail but we'll see if our kid's iTunes downloads finish in one-fifth the time.

Swapped more e-mails with spouse. She's having a good time restoring the American economy's trade balance...

 

[freebird5825]

I was out ALL day doing shopping errands and visiting a friend. Can you tell the snow has finally melted? Don't laugh too quickly - just 2 nights ago, there was a dusting of that white stuff on my back deck.

I just realized I have only 8 days left to get myself packed.
Oh no...a DEADLINE.

 

[Meadbh]

Every day I check in here but every day I have nothing to say except that I w*orked.

Bummer.

 

[DangerMouse]

Had a busy one here today. Did my 3 miles on my treadmill, seemed like a good day for it as it has been bucketing down all day.

We bought a condo in Hawaii on Friday, so have been busy since then gathering all the necessary paperwork to get this thing thru to the end. Have to say not something I would want to do every week.

Just getting ready to cook a chicken and vegetable stir fry for dinner.

 

[Meadbh]

We bought a condo in Hawaii on Friday.

This thread is useless without pictures!

 

[freebird5825]

Every day I check in here but every day I have nothing to say except that I w*orked.

Bummer.

And perhaps made a difference in someone's life?

 

[TromboneAl]

We had a great gig the other day at a PBS fundraiser. Hundreds of people, nice stage, good food, etc. The only problem was that right after we played, they started the auction, so we had to wait 1.5 hours before we could remove our equipment from the stage. And it was so loud ("hundred, hundred, hundred, hundred and fifty, hundred and fifty, blah, blah" that we couldn't talk and relax.

 

[harley]

I installed Turbotax yesterday. Today I'm going to use it.

 

[citrine]

On my third cup of coffee
Had a really nice conversation with a friend of mine.
Depost some money in the bank.
Spend the rest of the day massaging

 

[Nords]

Finally finished the last 10% of the tax returns, which seemed harder than the first 90%.

Unfortunately e-filing isn't an option due to one entry on an obscure form. I wonder how much e-filing revenue Intuit loses when the IRS won't accept an e-filing. Maybe Intuit should offer to overhaul the IRS' computers and e-filing systems... sure, it'll cost them hundreds of millions of dollars, but think of the possible future revenues!

Today we'll make sure we have all the paperwork in the right places, sign it, and get it outtahere.

Finally got the parts for a broken microwave, so I'll find out if my troubleshooting was right or wrong...

 

[DangerMouse]

This thread is useless without pictures!

Not sure if it works, but I will give it a try.

 

[DangerMouse]

Think this posting pictures may be beyond my technical ability. I'll see if DH can help me out tonight.

 

[rescueme]

Gave blood ...

 

[W2R]

Think this posting pictures may be beyond my technical ability. I'll see if DH can help me out tonight.

There are two ways to post pictures. The easiest (it seems to me), is to click on the little paperclip icon above where you are writing your post. Then browse and find the picture on your computer, and upload it. It will appear at the bottom of your post. Hope this helps!

 

[DangerMouse]

Hawaii Condo Purchase

Ok, thanks for that tip W2R, lets see if it works now.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

The IndependentlyPoor family is suddenly poorer by $2777.70, the cost of a new MacBook Pro that my partner just ordered. He has been waiting impatiently for the new models for months. Much jubilation this morning when the Apple store website was down, signaling a new product launch. Some grumbling when he discovered that the local Apple stores (two in Geek heavy Austin) do not have them in stock and don't know when they will arrive. So, an online order it had to be. Now the interminable wait for delivery begins.
Subtract 10 LBYM points for us this month.

 

[W2R]

Ok, thanks for that tip W2R, lets see if it works now.

Hmm! Well, they aren't huge pictures but I can still tell that it's a beautiful condo! Congratulation!

 

[bruce1]

Gardening other relaxing fun stuff. fixed rototiller. Bought new rooster at auction sale.

 

[CuppaJoe]

...Apple stores (two in Geek heavy Austin) do not have them in stock and don't know when they will arrive. So, an online order it had to be. Now the interminable wait for delivery begins....

There is nothing quite as joyous as receiving an overnight package from Shanghai! What fun.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....
We bought a condo in Hawaii on Friday, so have been busy since then gathering all the necessary paperwork to get this thing thru to the end. Have to say not something I would want to do every week....

Congrats, DM, will it be your only residence?

 

[freebird5825]

I discussed my upcoming escape with my life coach. Then I went to the credit union and got travelers' checks. Next I delivered and ate lunch with dh2b at his office. I came home, and finally got caught up on some emails. Just because...I ate a small handful of Hershey's kisses.
Tough day all around.