So... how was your day?

[The Great Gonzales 6,041]

4 hours ago, Brock Lovett said:

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

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

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 5,002]

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 12,801]

Just put them in a new escape room every day.

[Andy 5,002]

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 10,229]

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 12,801]

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. 

[John Dutton 7,207]

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

[GerateWohl 4,926]

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 5,002]

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 10,229]

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 3,811]

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.

 

 

[John Dutton 7,207]

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 5,002]

Coulda been food poisoning. Did you eat anything weird?

[Mr. Hooper 2,981]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

Coulda been food poisoning. Did you eat anything weird?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

@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 3,811]

@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.

[The Great Gonzales 6,041]

Isn't E Coli related to Food Poisoning anyway?

[Bellosh 3,811]

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

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

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 12,801]

1 minute ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Does anyone else enjoy a sauna?

 

No.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

5 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

No.

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

Why not?

[Jurassic Shark 12,801]

I feel I get problems breathing. 

[GerateWohl 4,926]

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 10,229]

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 12,801]

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 1,249]

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

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

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 12,801]

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 5,002]

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 2,981]

Hope you and your family are doing okay.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

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 5,002]

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 3,529]

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 10,229]

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

[bollemanneke 3,529]

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

[Naïve Old Fart 10,229]

That sounds like a lengthy job.

[bollemanneke 3,529]

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