So... how was your day?

[Parker Luciani 10,293]

4 hours ago, Brock Lovett said:

Please refrain from movie quotes. These are not productive posts. 

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

I've spent the day relaxing  recovering, from a week-long children's music camp.

I loved working with all those kids (approximately 50 of them, aged from between 6 and 15) but, boy, can they be tiring!

An easy work week, next week. Phew.

[Andy 7,910]

I’ve done weeklong science camps with 10 year olds.  Keeping them occupied is like planning 5 days of 8 hour birthday parties.  So I know how you feel. 
 

I don’t do them anymore.  It’s too much. 

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

Just put them in a new escape room every day.

[Andy 7,910]

Kids are great…. Until they’re not. 
 

They have really individual needs, whether by nurture or nature.  So it can be overwhelming keeping a large group of them somewhat happy. 

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

15 hours ago, Andy said:

I don’t do them anymore.  It’s too much. 

 

You don't do kids, anymore?

That's reassuring 

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

4 hours ago, Andy said:

Kids are great…. Until they’re not. 
 

They have really individual needs, whether by nurture or nature.  So it can be overwhelming keeping a large group of them somewhat happy. 

 

It's easier to go for sad. 

[Xander Harris 9,808]

I mean what's so wrong with kids? Do you think they have been taken to the camps?

[GerateWohl 6,537]

1 minute ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

It's easier to go for sad. 

True. I recently read, that we must work harder on our kids resilience. They need more disappointments and failures, so the learn to deal with it.

[Andy 7,910]

1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

True. I recently read, that we must work harder on our kids resilience. They need more disappointments and failures, so the learn to deal with it.

Well, yes and no.
 

It’s tough to be a kid in ways it didn’t used to be.  Adults have created a world where anxiety is the norm.  Kids feel social media pressure and perceive inequities in ways they never did.  There are plenty of disappointments.  So they may feel like failures when really they aren’t. 
 

Failing in school… well yeah that we do a really poor job using those teachable moments.  Kids can pass school without ever showing up.  I am not exaggerating, that’s firsthand experience.  Think about that.  There are kids the teachers have never seen, and their principals are asking them to pass them with a 52%.   The schools don’t really care because they just want the numbers to get their state funding. 
 

I agree we have to produce resilient kids. But we don’t even have resilient adults. Most people can’t cope in the societal machine without some form of medication for depression and anxiety just to stay afloat. 

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

9 hours ago, Andy said:

Well, yes and no.
 

It’s tough to be a kid in ways it didn’t used to be.  Adults have created a world where anxiety is the norm.  Kids feel social media pressure and perceive inequities in ways they never did.  There are plenty of disappointments.  So they may feel like failures when really they aren’t. 
 

Failing in school… well yeah that we do a really poor job using those teachable moments.  Kids can pass school without ever showing up.  I am not exaggerating, that’s firsthand experience.  Think about that.  There are kids the teachers have never seen, and their principals are asking them to pass them with a 52%.   The schools don’t really care because they just want the numbers to get their state funding. 
 

I agree we have to produce resilient kids. But we don’t even have resilient adults. Most people can’t cope in the societal machine without some form of medication for depression and anxiety just to stay afloat. 

 

This.

THIS!!!

[Bellosh 4,552]

I'm pretty sure I had ecoli this weekend. I had all the symptoms (except for blood in the liquid death that was coming out of my ass) no joke I would just sit down on the toilet and it would already be coming out with no push.  I think I was on the toilet a total of over 30 times over 2.5 days.

 

I couldn't even do test farts to see if it was just gas. Nope. Junked up my shorts trying that. Straight to the toilet all weekend.  Countless times.

 

Had a fever and body aches...those I can take it's the fever dreams and thoughts i can't. Just no concentrating on anything besides confusion.  I wanted to crawl into the ground.

 

Finally over it. I think I lost like 5 lbs.

 

 

[Xander Harris 9,808]

Well, I don't know about that.

 

I had a fairly uneventful day. I got a good haircut at some point when I had about 15 minutes of downtime.

 

 

I had a couple of things that happened to me, though. Pet peeves if you will. Instances of TMI that raised more questions and caused more anxiety than necessary. 

 

The first was during lunch. I had a chicken wrap but also had some tuna packed to mix in. It's a go-to to mix in with these wraps. Like peanut butter and jelly. It's hot. It's summertime in the OC and my lunch got warm in the truck. I placed the packet of tuna on the AC to chill it and suddenly noticed large print warning "DO NOT MICROWAVE."

 

Okay. What does that mean? There's no explanation, just a declaration, really. Now, my mind is going in circles. Will a microwave explode the packet? Is that why there's warning? Will heating the tuna (which no one would ever do) poison it or something?? Again, no one would ever microwave tuna. Now I'm worried that I may be adding poisonous tuna to a chicken wrap because it got hot in the truck and the packet was hot, similar to microwaving it. Once more, no one microwaves tuna. Why is God's name is the warning on there except to make me paranoid on my lunch hour?

 

Next annoyance was when my GPS suddenly alerted me to an upcoming Sharp Turn. Not just any turn. She made a point to note that it would be a Sharp Turn. Now, I'm gearing up for something out of the ordinary and potentially dangerous. Well...it was a standard right turn.

 

Fuck sake.

[Andy 7,910]

Coulda been food poisoning. Did you eat anything weird?

[Mr. Hooper 9,298]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

Coulda been food poisoning. Did you eat anything weird?

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

@Bellosh, does what happened to you happen often?

Could you have IBS?

Sometimes I can have up to six BMs per day. Every so often, my body decides to have a natural colonic. There's no rhyme or reason; it just happens, and I have to go with the flow (in a manner of speaking!).

 

Anyhoo... this is my first full day off, in eleven days, and I'm glad. I love working with children, but it can be draining, both physically, and emotionally.

The biggest decision I have to make, today, is whether to have pizza or pasta for my evening meal. It's a doozy 

[Bellosh 4,552]

@Naïve Old Fart @Andy

 

No IBS and I'm almost certain there was no food poisoning because of the time frame from eating something to when the hell started.  That's why I think ecoli since it can take a couple days for it to hit.  I also didn't vomit which I always assumed was related to food poisoning but I was not nauseous at all during this.

 

Thanks chaps for reading my shit, literally.

[Parker Luciani 10,293]

Isn't E Coli related to Food Poisoning anyway?

[Bellosh 4,552]

Probably but I don't think it's as 'instant'

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

Does anyone else enjoy a sauna?

I've just been for an early morning swim, followed by a sauna, at my local leisure centre.

It's quite warm, isn't it?

I was sitting in it... and I decided to put some water on the stones - "hissing stone on sweat lodge fire", indeed - and in about ten seconds, the temperature went from manageable, to "fucking hell, it's hot!!!!".

Now I know what to expect, I'll go back, next week.

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

1 minute ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Does anyone else enjoy a sauna?

 

No.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

5 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

No.

Good answer. Boring, but it got the job done.

Why not?

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

I feel I get problems breathing. 

[GerateWohl 6,537]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Now I know what to expect, I'll go back, next week.

When I read the first part of that sentence I thought you are talking about afterlife in hell like

"At least sauna prepares us for that..."

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

4 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I feel I get problems breathing. 

 

I can see how not breaking would be a teeny weeny bit of a problem.

In the UK, there is something called Olbas, which some people put in the water, and then sprinkle the water over the hot stones. It pongs like how's your father, but it and the heat clear the sinuses.

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

33 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

When I read the first part of that sentence I thought you are talking about afterlife in hell

 

Scotland. 

[Omen II 1,302]

I beat my personal best time at parkrun by 21 seconds this morning.  Just saying.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

6 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

When I read the first part of that sentence I thought you are talking about afterlife in hell

 

6 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Scotland. 

 

 

Not  funny.

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

2 hours ago, Omen II said:

I beat my personal best time at parkrun by 21 seconds this morning.  Just saying.

 

So you decided to jog this time, eh?

[Andy 7,910]

Well, shit. Our family has gone all this time without getting Covid until now. 

 

My daughter tested positive today. I tested negative so far. We’ve been visiting relatives out of town and are now leaving a day early to drive home. 
 

Now I play the waiting game. 
 

[Mr. Hooper 9,298]

Hope you and your family are doing okay.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

I'm very sorry to hear that, @Andy.

I hope that all your family have speedy recoveries.

 

 

 

 

 

On 06/07/2024 at 9:24 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

It's easier to go for sad. 

 

I've just done another 3-day kids' club. Honestly, children - especially the age group that I worked with, 5s to 11s  - don't know how to be sad. Everything is an adventure, for them, everything is fresh, new, and exciting.

That's why I like working with children so much: they are life in its purest form. To quote Joni Mitchell, they are "unfettered and alive".

[Andy 7,910]

Thank you. So far my Wife and I are still testing negative.  Not too worried, although my last booster was almost a year ago. My daughter is okay, for her it’s like a solid cold. 
 

47 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

 

I've just done another 3-day kids' club. Honestly, children - especially the age group that I worked with, 5s to 11s  - don't know how to be sad. Everything is an adventure, for them, everything is fresh, new, and exciting.

That's why I like working with children so much: they are life in its purest form. To quote Joni Mitchell, they are "unfettered and alive".

 

GREAT age for kids there.  You’re right, they haven’t become fully institutionalized, nor have they been corrupted by cynicism. Usually their parents limit their social media exposure.   They are open to having fun learning cool new stuff.  Good for you!

 

[bollemanneke 4,360]

Day began great, new computer was going to arrive. Day ended badly as I had to set up Windows. Tried to restore a back-up from 'the cloud'. WHY? Why can't Windows just do it like Apple? No, let's do it half-assed and make sure nothing of substance gets transferred. App? Fuck that. App registration info? Fuck that too. Desktop? Meh. Icons to the apps that tell you you still have to download it yourself? Hell yeah!

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

Sorry for laughing, @bollemanneke, but you make it sound so entertaining.

[bollemanneke 4,360]

glad it brought you some joy. Now I can begin re-installing apps.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,207]

That sounds like a lengthy job.

[bollemanneke 4,360]

And I haven't even managed to re-map a certain key on the keyboard, but the brand is helping at least.

[Xander Harris 9,808]

Today I had an incident at Walmart.

 

I went in there on a whim because I had some time during my lunch break and I realized, hey, I need to replace my 15 year old work belt and they have those decent Dickie's ones here, as well as bungee cords and assorted Yellowstone merchandise. I'll pick up a few things.

 

Everything was going great until checkout. See, my B of A card is a piece of shit. Since not long after I got this latest one, the chip doesn't work when inserted. I don't want to replace it because every account and auto-pay bill has this particular card associated with it, and it's a huge pain in the ass to redo everything.

 

That's fine because everyone has a tap now. Never had an issue tapping and actually, I never even knew tapping was a thing until a girl I know showed me. Huh! That's all you have to do? No more fighting with the Chip Read Error.

 

Well, Walmart doesn't allow tapping. Walmart, unlike the rest of the civilized world, doesn't want you tapping your debit card but rather struggling impossibly to get the chip reader to not spit out a Chip Read Error. See, Walmart has something called Walmart Pay, so you can't tap your regular debit card. Sons of bitches. 

 

I went through one woman at the self checkout and then to a regular cashier and fought a losing battle with the Chip Read Error. I'm sure I'll see Chip Read Errors in my nightmares. I made a scene and just walked out, defeated and impotent, and I never got my belt or bungee cords or the nice Yellowstone mug.

[filmmusic 3,315]

Not good!

I have an eyesight problem since September 11th (it was the first day of school, that's how I remember), and I cannot see well.

I cannot see all the wonderful grain in my blu-rays/UHDs/film scans, that I love so much! 

Actually, I cannot see the subtitles well too... I hope it's not permanent.

I'll visit another doctor too, to get a second opinion.

[Parker Luciani 10,293]

4 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Not good!

I have an eyesight problem and I cannot see well.

I cannot see all the wonderful grain in my blu-rays/UHDs/film scans, that I love so much! 

 

The Digital Eye..

[Bespin Copilot 10,896]

I finally got a deep-fryer.

 

[Jurassic Shark 16,530]

A deep freezer?

[Xander Harris 9,808]

I don't eat deep fried foods. It's not good for you.

[Armenian Money Train 11,254]

Probably full of seed oils.

 

Cook with lard or beef tallow.

[Xander Harris 9,808]

I would try deep fried gator or snake, however

[filmmusic 3,315]

Today I was very impressed by a 2nd grade (!!!) student that usually doesn't pay attention and makes a fuss in the classroom.

I was showing in the class excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker (the film from 1993 with Macaulay Culkin).

The minute he heard the Russian Dance he said:

"That's Kevin's music!"

 

Wow! a kid that young realized that John Williams was influenced by this music for the Holiday Flight in Home Alone!

 

[Parker Luciani 10,293]

Plot twist: it's actually music his cousin Kevin listens to.

[filmmusic 3,315]

Today 2-3 more kids from 4th to 6th grade identified the Russian Dance as being the music from Home Alone!

I guess I have some very observant students! (and maybe potential film music lovers?)

[Andy 7,910]

Shitty end to 2024. I just put down my second cat, Beezus. Her sister Ramona went back in September.  

 

 

Beezus was a great pal. She loved to eat, and was the ultimate lap cat. My daughter got them back in 2010, so she grew up with them from age 7-21.  It’s a hard loss.  Just two days ago, we adopted a new cat to keep Beezus company, but they never even met, as Beezus went downhill fast, lost a ton of weight and stopped eating. 
 

All I can do is imagine some silly scenario where she finds her sister again in some existence elsewhere. 
 

I don’t really do social media, so thanks for letting me share here.