What's Happening In Your Life?

[AlreadyGone95]

On a more serious note, will ya'll keep a little guy named Xurion in your thoughts and prayers, please. He's only a little over a year old, and he's believed to be fighting bacterial meningitis, but the doctors aren't quite sure. He's currently in critical, but stable condition in an ICU unit in Atlanta. Right now, his survival rate is about 50%. I've known his mother since we were toddlers.

There's a Facebook page for him.
https://m.facebook.com/Prayersforxurion/

[Annoying Twit]

Best wishes for Xurion.

[buffyfan145]

Sending prayers for Xurion. That's so sad.

[WS82Classics]

I can't say that I've ever had the experience of having a bad professor, but my College experience is still in the starting stages, relatively speaking. I wish you the best with all of that.

My new semester starts tomorrow. As always, I have mixed feelings for a variety of reasons. I appreciate any opportunities to get out and about—I am taking 3 classes which are held on two days of the week. I am also *slightly* anxious about the possibility of meeting that lady I was really fond of in the Winter/Spring semester earlier this year. In thinking that this last, Summer semester really would be my last at Tech School(and knowing we'd share no classes this go-around), I rather ham-fistedly gave her a couple of parting gifts--Left them in the classroom for her when I was registering for new classes. One was a multi-coloured wool cap that someone with whom I'm no longer friends had passed along to me a couple of years back(when we were still friends, of course). The other was a Gideon's Bible. While I can't imagine that the former would have gone poorly, I'm almost dead certain the latter one did. Granted, I have no regrets in the least about giving her either one. Still, I'm a little nervous about the prospect of facing her again, for that reason and for the fact that I generally get highly anxious when I'm around pretty women.

Looking at area colleges still. My lateness to the admissions game last semester is ultimately why I'm doing one final round of Tech School these next few months. Navigating that whole thing is a real chore, but I am trying my best. It's important.

A couple of months back, I was given a job opportunity with a fairly low-key lawn care outfit. Though I hadn't much experience in weed-eating, I did fairly well with the tasks at hand(according to the manager, that is). On the whole, it was a lot of fun and it paid well. However, a couple of days later, the manager, after previously talking up my prospects, told me that we 'needed to talk' the next day, presumably about my job future. I didn't hear back the next day, and, over the course of the next week-and-a-half, he ignored two texts from me asking what he had wanted to tell me and if he any longer required my services. I have NO clue what happened, and it is incredibly bothersome. To say that I haven't been inclined in the slightest to try finding other work in these past 2 months is an understatement. I guess I'll have to get out there again sometime and continue looking for work, though I often feel that people just take one look at me and decide that they're not hiring me.

Well, that's a window into my life for everyone. I wish all of you the very best in all you're doing.

[Brooke]

Good luck to all you students and teachers going back to school/college.

Also, prayers for those in need.

We got my son and his family moved to their new home 2 weekends ago, after much painting and remodeling the week before. Last week then, I spent mostly trying to get our own house back in order besides some kind of appointment every day. A sigh of relief now and a quiet house when I get home! :yay: Never a dull moment with a two year old around!

[AlreadyGone95]

WS, I hope your first week of college went well.

Lol, Brooke.

Thanks for the prayers for Xurion. As of this morning, he appears to have won the battle for his life, but it will be a long and slow road to recovery.

The weird professor seems to have toned it down some, so I'm glad for that.

I made the mistake of putting college before my health, and I'm paying the price for it. I've got a nasty infection (UTI). I first noticed it a few weeks ago, but with college being 30-60 minutes away from my doctor's office, I didn't have the time to go. I finally made it to my doctor this afternoon after developing a 101 degree fever. I have to go back in 3 weeks to make sure the infection is completely gone.

[Annoying Twit]

Get well soon. Best wishes for your studies for all students here.

[buffyfan145]

Hope you're feeling better soon AG too.

Best of luck to all the students too. I start up my next college class on Monday. Hoping too that this will be my final year finally as if things go as planned as should be graduating at some point next year (depending on how many classes I can take at a time). LOL It's taken so long but I'm getting towards the end.

[travlnman2]

School starts Wendsday. Anyone going to see AXl/DC this year?
Have some family staying over my dad is from Italy so it's my cousins from Bologna.

[travlnman2]

Side note does anyone think that for a Board this is unusually tame compared to bands like GNR AC/DC. I guess it's because there are more ladies on here :twisted::rofl:

[Annoying Twit]

What happens on the GNR & AC/DC boards that doesn't happen here?

[travlnman2]

Arguing,Trolling,Bashing of Band Members,Complaining,Whining etc.

[Annoying Twit]

I go to forums to get away from that!

[Freypower]

Arguing,Trolling,Bashing of Band Members,Complaining,Whining etc.

I think in January most people here decided they wanted all that to stop because there was no point in it any more.

[VillageGirl]

Most people have to put up with that crap in their daily lives! Especially at work. Why would anyone want to participate in a forum on their free time that involves that?

I answered too soon. I can think of a select few drama queens I always keep a nice distance from who would probably love that type of chaos...

[travlnman2]

Agreed. But even before I Januray I noticed this is a very passive forum. Which I like.

Can't believe I start my Senior Year Of High School Tommorow

[LuvTim]

Hi, tm2. Best of luck with your senior year! 8)
I hope you have the time of your life!

[LuvTim]

AG, best wishes for you as you recover from your infection and continue your classes. Stay strong.

[UndertheWire]

I think you can put it down to the board being well-moderated. Problems are dealt with before they get out of hand and people are reminded of the rules. Internet wars can be quite exciting in the short term but it gets old and depressing very quickly.

My elder son is moving out properly tomorrow - or so he says. He's finished university and is starting a new job in London in a few weeks time. He hasn't spent much time at home over the last few years but it's still been his base. Next week, my younger son goes back to university. I'm getting ready for that "empty nest" feeling.

Meanwhile, my father-in-law seems to have settled down after a troublesome year. For his age (92), he's pretty good but he was getting confused and irrational. He wasn't keeping up with his mail, cleaning, washing dishes etc and kept changing his mind about where he wanted to live. We tried bringing him to stay with us for a bit and he ended up calling the police to say he was being kept against his will. He's now back in his own home with someone coming in for an hour a day and seems to be pretty normal. He also seems to have finally accepted that he can't drive and uses taxis to get around. Maybe I'm asking for trouble in writing all this! I do wonder how big a part stress plays in dementia. Now he doesn't have to do everything for himself and isn't worrying that he'll have to go to a care home, he's more relaxed and seems to be able to think more clearly. He even seems to have improved with remembering words.

[travlnman2]

I think you can put it down to the board being well-moderated. Problems are dealt with before they get out of hand and people are reminded of the rules. Internet wars can be quite exciting in the short term but it gets old and depressing very quickly.

My elder son is moving out properly tomorrow - or so he says. He's finished university and is starting a new job in London in a few weeks time. He hasn't spent much time at home over the last few years but it's still been his base. Next week, my younger son goes back to university. I'm getting ready for that "empty nest" feeling.

Meanwhile, my father-in-law seems to have settled down after a troublesome year. For his age (92), he's pretty good but he was getting confused and irrational. He wasn't keeping up with his mail, cleaning, washing dishes etc and kept changing his mind about where he wanted to live. We tried bringing him to stay with us for a bit and he ended up calling the police to say he was being kept against his will. He's now back in his own home with someone coming in for an hour a day and seems to be pretty normal. He also seems to have finally accepted that he can't drive and uses taxis to get around. Maybe I'm asking for trouble in writing all this! I do wonder how big a part stress plays in dementia. Now he doesn't have to do everything for himself and isn't worrying that he'll have to go to a care home, he's more relaxed and seems to be able to think more clearly. He even seems to have improved with remembering words.

I am so very sorry for that. It sounds like Alzheimer's. My Nonna(Italian for Grandmother) Had it and was Diagnosed before I was born. So I never got to know her. She passed away in 2014 at 86 having the disease for a unusually long time 20 years. 1995-1996. Your father in law seems unusually old to start showing symptoms which happens at around ones late 60s. It is a horrible horrible disease and to see someone suffer is just any unbearable sight. Thoughts and prayers

[travlnman2]

On a more positive note check out what I got a few months ago

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn33/Stephen_Masi/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpslq5cuy5o.jpeg

It's a lithograph singed by all current members of Guns N Roses commemorating the historic regrouping.

Top left is Axl followed by new member Keyboardist Melissa Reese then Drummer Frank Ferrar with Guitarist Richars Fortus right below Frank's. It spells 4tus. Below Axl's is Pianist Dizzy Reed who has been a member since 1990 so he has the second longest tenure and has played on all the albums from The Ilusions to Chinese Democracy then below his is Slash's and to the right is Duff

[AlreadyGone95]

Best of luck with school, TM. I'm glad that your father-in-law seems to be doing better, UtW. Dementia and Alzheimers are horrible.

Well, the antibiotics have started working. I don't feel as bad today as I have the past 5 days.

I won't have any classes tomorrow, which means I have 5 day weekend. :partytime: My history professor is at conference for the next 2 weeks, so his classes will be online YouTube lectures that I can do anytime over the next 2 weeks. Because of the tropical storm out in the Gulf, my American Government professor has cancelled all of his classes for tomorrow. My family reunion is this weekend, so I know that I'll have a fun weekend.

This Saturday with be my Nana's 96th birthday. I'm amazed that she can still by herself, and that she still has a very sharp memory.

[travlnman2]

First day went great :thumbsup:

[LuvTim]

Woke up to a 5.6 earthquake this morning. All is fine with us here, but the cat was completely unnerved. (And even though this wasn't my first quake, it didn't do me any favors, either, being awakened in that manner.)

[AlreadyGone95]

Woke up to a 5.6 earthquake this morning. All is fine with us here, but the cat was completely unnerved. (And even though this wasn't my first quake, it didn't do me any favors, either, being awakened in that manner.)

Glad that the quake didn't cause any damage. I've never been in one, and I hope I never will be.

My family reunion was a blast. (I posted a photo in the photo thread.) Some cousins I'd never met, but knew of came to this reunion because we celebrated one of my great aunt's 90th birthday.

My Nana had a great 96th birthday. (My Nana and my family reunion are on opposite sides of the family.)

Unfortunately, I learned that a close cousin has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she'll most likely have to have a double mastectomy. She has a husband and 3 sons. One is my age, and the other 2 are in high school and middle school, so this is understandably causing a lot of hardship on them.

School starts back for me in 2 hours. The past 5 days flew by!

[NightMistBlue]

Woke up to a 5.6 earthquake this morning. All is fine with us here, but the cat was completely unnerved. (And even though this wasn't my first quake, it didn't do me any favors, either, being awakened in that manner.)

Oh my. Forgive my ignorance, but is that normal for your area?

[LuvTim]

Oh my. Forgive my ignorance, but is that normal for your area?

I live in Kansas, not historically known as earthquake territory, but this has become the "new normal."

I don't want to get into a controversial discussion, so I'll just say that the fact is the quakes have increased in frequency and in strength since the practice of fracking began. The quake was centered in Oklahoma (but was felt as far north as Nebraska.) Substantial damage was incurred there in OK so the state has finally taken some action now to shut down a portion of the fracking locations.

You can see more about this continuing conversation by searching the internet for pertinent information, of course.

[NightMistBlue]

Ah yes, I saw a news story on the issue. The sharp rise in the number of earthquakes is alarming.

[Brooke]

I didn't feel it, but I talked to a guy in Illinois just across the Mississippi River from me and he felt it.

I'm sure it could be rather scary. I felt one several years ago here. Weird!

[glojo]

Had a four day weekend thanks to Hurricane Hermine. It would have been wonderful if the electricity had not been out for almost 36 hours.

On the plus side, Saturday we had a wedding shower for my daughter Lindsay and her fiancé Josh. They will be getting married on October 8.

[LuvTim]

Had a four day weekend thanks to Hurricane Hermine. It would have been wonderful if the electricity had not been out for almost 36 hours.

On the plus side, Saturday we had a wedding shower for my daughter Lindsay and her fiancé Josh. They will be getting married on October 8.

All best wishes for your daughter and her husband-to-be! :-D

[AlreadyGone95]

Had a four day weekend thanks to Hurricane Hermine. It would have been wonderful if the electricity had not been out for almost 36 hours.

On the plus side, Saturday we had a wedding shower for my daughter Lindsay and her fiancé Josh. They will be getting married on October 8.

I saw on the news that the storm hit the Grady/Thomas county area pretty hard. I feel for my fellow south Georgians who are still without power. At least you got an extra day off :).

Congrats to your daughter and future son-in-law.

[glojo]

Thank you! I have kind of a crazy month ahead of me, but I am ready!!!!!!!

[Annoying Twit]

Yesterday I smashed my record for swimming distance. Almost 12km in one go. However, there was significant 'river assist' (i.e. flow). My record for still water is only 3km, though I'm confident that I can smash that if I try. My previous river record was a bit over 6km.

I'm already looking to see how I can map out a 20km course in the same river. As we went at a relaxed, social, pace (and I had flippers), I wasn't even tired at the end of the 12km. But, in tootling along, it took us 3hrs 37min to complete! That's a long time in the water. (Though, it wouldn't seem so to channel swimmers.)

Off to London today. My partner has a committee meeting to go to, and I'm going with her. But, during the day I'll be wandering around by myself.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Wow, well done with the swimming! I enjoy swimming myself, but only in swimming pools rather than in rivers or lakes which I've never tried.

I'm going down to London myself next weekend - as a surprise birthday present my Dad got two tickets for Liverpool's match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Although I have been to quite a lot of football matches by now this is the first time I've ever been to a ground for a non-Merseyside team (I've been to see both of my teams - I've seen Tranmere Rovers loads of times and Liverpool about half a dozen times, and I've even been once to Everton, who I don't support) I think we'll sitting amongst Chelsea fans so we'll have to be reasonably quiet although I think we are away from the more fanatical element of the home support. If we play like we did against Leicester yesterday then we have a good chance. Come on Redmen!

[Annoying Twit]

Enjoy the football games. Leicester so far have slipped back down the leaderboard to where we used to be. Oh well, last year was nice :)

[Freypower]

Wow, well done with the swimming! I enjoy swimming myself, but only in swimming pools rather than in rivers or lakes which I've never tried.

I'm going down to London myself next weekend - as a surprise birthday present my Dad got two tickets for Liverpool's match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Although I have been to quite a lot of football matches by now this is the first time I've ever been to a ground for a non-Merseyside team (I've been to see both of my teams - I've seen Tranmere Rovers loads of times and Liverpool about half a dozen times, and I've even been once to Everton, who I don't support) I think we'll sitting amongst Chelsea fans so we'll have to be reasonably quiet although I think we are away from the more fanatical element of the home support. If we play like we did against Leicester yesterday then we have a good chance. Come on Redmen!

Enjoy it. They were good against Leicester, weren't they? The Manchester result was good too...

[LuvTim]

Yesterday I smashed my record for swimming distance. Almost 12km in one go. However, there was significant 'river assist' (i.e. flow). My record for still water is only 3km, though I'm confident that I can smash that if I try. My previous river record was a bit over 6km.

I'm already looking to see how I can map out a 20km course in the same river. As we went at a relaxed, social, pace (and I had flippers), I wasn't even tired at the end of the 12km. But, in tootling along, it took us 3hrs 37min to complete! That's a long time in the water. (Though, it wouldn't seem so to channel swimmers.)

Off to London today. My partner has a committee meeting to go to, and I'm going with her. But, during the day I'll be wandering around by myself.

Congratulations, Twit! Very nice! :yay:

[Delilah]

Yesterday I smashed my record for swimming distance. Almost 12km in one go. However, there was significant 'river assist' (i.e. flow). My record for still water is only 3km, though I'm confident that I can smash that if I try. My previous river record was a bit over 6km.

6km to almost 12 km-- that's great, AT!

[Annoying Twit]

Thanks for the comments about the swimming.

I can't help but notice that Coniston Water is an excellent length for me to smash my record for maximum distance in still water :) https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Coniston+Water/@54.3353157,-3.1093176,9026m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x487cbec200cf5b0d:0x4 87cbcc4ed39e015!8m2!3d54.343243!4d-3.0716266

Just as a comment: I think I can say with some confidence that I'm an experienced and knowledgeable open water swimmer who follows normal safety guidelines for doing so. I wouldn't recommend open water swimming unless people have good swimming skills, and take care. (E.g. swimming with experienced people at first, never swimming alone, never swimming drunk, etc.) I don't think anyone here is going to suddenly jump into natural water, but here is the River and Lake Swimming Association's Safety Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBGp-q9oEoQ

(That's me swimming backstroke @ 4min30seconds - I do swim better than that - at that time I was wondering what stroke to do and not swimming seriously. This was also filmed in October, which is why I was wearing so much.)

[UndertheWire]

That was interesting. I like the idea of wild swimming but as I don't really like swimming, I've never been tempted. The scenes of the lakes and rivers look so much more inviting that the swimming pools. Well done with the 12km. Do you also swim in the sea?

[Annoying Twit]

That was interesting. I like the idea of wild swimming but as I don't really like swimming, I've never been tempted. The scenes of the lakes and rivers look so much more inviting that the swimming pools. Well done with the 12km. Do you also swim in the sea?

I swim in the sea when I get there. However, I live about as far inland as it's possible to get in the UK. So, I don't get to the sea very often.

[NightMistBlue]

Well done, AT. :cheers: 12 km is about 7.5 miles - whew!

[Annoying Twit]

Well done, AT. :cheers: 12 km is about 7.5 miles - whew!

It's a lot less impressive when you know how much push the current gives :)

[Brooke]

Good job, AT!

I'm not much of a swimmer. My best swimming was done when I was a teenager and was actually lying on the beach and dipping myself once in a while to cool off. :wink: I would swim out to a dock and back a time or two. Maybe it was 50 feet from the beach at best. :p

[buffyfan145]

Wow AT that is impressive!!! :D I'm not a swimmer either and only just wade in the water, but I love watching the Olympic swimming and have younger cousins that are in the sport in school.

[travlnman2]

Here is a song I just finished mixing. Its a cover of Knocking Of Heavens Door in the style of Guns N Roses. The guitars are sometimes off beat.

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-masi-89354061/knocking-on-heavens-door


I am extremely careful about putting my name in stuff as some troll at a Guns N Roses forum somehow found my social media account and emailed it to trolls. I am minor but he doesn't care :(

[Annoying Twit]

Keep working at it travlnman2. You've got the GnR sound. As you say, perhaps the timing could be better in places. But, that'll come with practice!

[RudieCantFail]

I talked to a counselor today about transferring as a junior. I was freaked out b/c I had no clue that I needed CIS 002, which is just a basic computing course (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and basic programming/coding). The closest CSU to me is San Jose State, which is heavily impacted in Business Administration, and that's the one that requires it. 2 other CSUs I'm interested in, Cal Poly SLO and San Diego State, don't require it. I have a 4.0 GPA at my community college, so I figured that it wouldn't be as bad as a setback. It's not as essential, like economics and accounting. But hey, you never know considering how impacted the CSU system is, especially for business. SJSU is notorious for having only an 11% on-time 4-year graduation rate.

I'm at 16 units right now and I'll be 16 units next spring, assuming I'm taking 2nd semester calculus. The 2nd semester calc is just to keep my options open for a UC. So yeah, I don't want to take 20 units at one time. I think it's weird that my CC has it as a 4 unit class, but SJSU has it as a 1 unit lab. I would do winter, but that's filled up by Survey of Film. I took 2 winter classes last year (Film Appreciation and Counseling), and it burned me out for spring. It wasn't hard, but it was a lot of work to do. "You Belong to the City" and "Crockett's Theme" saved my life during that session.

Anyways, I'm planning on majoring in accounting, business info systems, or business analytics. I haven't picked for sure yet, but I'm liking my financial accounting class. At first, I didn't, but I started doing the HW and it came easy to me. If I do well in managerial accounting next spring, I might just major in accounting. If any of you are or were business majors, any advice is appreciated.

[Annoying Twit]

@RudieCan'tFail - good luck with sorting out your education.

As someone who works in a university, I'll say: please make sure that you take advantage of all the advice that the educational institutions offer. If your institutions are like ours, there will be people whose job it is to advise students (and potential students) to solve problems like you describe, and you may find that they can help you a lot. Phone up and ask?

[RudieCantFail]

Thanks, AT. Yeah, I was going to call SJSU this week and ask them about it. If I don't, I'm going to keep thinking about it. The thing with that school is that the faculty is great, but the administration, counseling, and registration can be problematic. Schools everywhere have their problems, but the whole CSU system is under a budget crisis and it's not pretty. Shortage of classes and impacted majors consist of the environment here. Even about 5 years ago, one of my relatives said that SJSU's advising and counseling were bad. They were described as useless, and you were better off just using a piece of paper as a guideline. Not that a guideline is bad, but I mean, you should expect more from the staff.

[Annoying Twit]

You can use a piece of paper, and phone them. If you think that advice is poor, then double check everything yourself.

We're lucky where I work that we have an excellent student advice centre that is a first port of call for all help. They'll either help (and they're set up to do a lot) or know where students should go/whom students should speak to for pretty much everything. Makes my job a lot easier.

[MortSahlFan]

Almost 2 weeks ago, I came to a burglarized home. Losing the TV, camera, mp3 player wasn't that big of a deal, but my musical instruments - those are like my children. Feel totally violated, paranoid... The police bend over backwards to do nothing about it. I wish they'd just tell us "Hey, it's jungle law" and not arrest me if I beat the hell out of who I suspect.

[UndertheWire]

That's awful. TVs are easily replaced - so long as the insurance comes through, but most musical instruments are so much more personal. I hope you're able to track them down.

The book I'm reading describes how a band's equipment was stolen during an american tour. It was a british made and bright orange with the band's name stencilled on the side and so not easy to re-sell on the black market. When the band returned to the US after replacing the equipment, they received a call from someone offering to sell their old stuff back to them.

[LuvTim]

Almost 2 weeks ago, I came to a burglarized home. Losing the TV, camera, mp3 player wasn't that big of a deal, but my musical instruments - those are like my children. Feel totally violated, paranoid... The police bend over backwards to do nothing about it. I wish they'd just tell us "Hey, it's jungle law" and not arrest me if I beat the hell out of who I suspect.

MSF, I'm so sorry that happened to you. I have been burglarized, too, so I know a little about how you must feel. Again, my heart goes out to you. :-(

[Annoying Twit]

My I extend my sympathies to all who have suffered burglaries.

[NightMistBlue]

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, MortSahlFan.

[buffyfan145]

I'm so sorry too MSF. :(

[RudieCantFail]

Sorry to hear about that MortSahlFan. Hope your insurance covers as much stuff as it can. Unfortunately, the cops don't care b/c it happens too often and it's too hard to figure out w/o leads. If you don't have clear, camera evidence of the perpetrators, then the cops won't do much.

[NightMistBlue]

Isn't there a way to trace the instruments and anything else by the serial numbers? I guess the criminals sand them off.

[Annoying Twit]

In the UK the criminals just seem to leave the numbers on. In confidence that the chance of them being caught is low.

[travlnman2]

So I have to write a College Essay. I have already written one in my Composition Class last yerar. But debating on writing a new one. I plan on going to the Writing center.

[Brooke]

MSF, how awful! I hope you can recover your instruments especially.

tm2, good luck!

[Brooke]

So, I bought a new car a couple weeks ago and (I'm sure some of you already know this) no cd player! I was a little shocked! Not much point in buying cds anymore when you can download and put on your ipod. Or put all your itunes on a card and plug in to car. Or, listen to Pandora or whatever! The times, they are a changin'! It just seems kind of weird!

Also, my mom gave me her record player and I got out my old Eagles vinyl and gave it a spin. Good memories doing that!

[Annoying Twit]

What model car did you buy?

[NightMistBlue]

I'd be upset if I didn't have a CD player.

[Brooke]

What model car did you buy?

It's a Jeep Cherokee. Absolutely love it, but takes getting used to with no cd player! lol

[DJ]

Congrats on the new wheels Brooke.

Well it's been a heck of a week for me. I had to get a back molar tooth pulled last Tuesday, ok I am vain, but can accept it. Then on Thursday the pain came. I thought, it will subside. Nope! Today I went back to the Dentist after suffering for 5 days, I have a dry socket (No blood clot formed over the bone).Well now the hole is packed with horrible tasting medicine and I have to barley eat until it heals over! I have thee worst luck with teeth. Hopefully after Novocaine wears off, there will be zero pain. Here's to Hoping!

[LuvTim]

Brooke, congrats on the new wheels!

DJ, I hope your tooth problem is resolved very quickly. Good luck!

[Brooke]

DJ, that sounds awful! I hope you are pain free soon!

[Annoying Twit]

Best wishes for a speedy toothy recovery.

[MortSahlFan]

Thanks guys... The police don't care, and there's nothing I can do, since I didn't have renter's insurance.

[NightMistBlue]

Oh man, that sucks! You should definitely be allowed to go all Charles Bronson on the creeps that did it.

Good luck, DJ! That happened to me as a child. There were no further complications once they got the bleeding sorted.

[MortSahlFan]

If I went Charles Bronson, THEN the police would act! I'm in a lose-lose situation. It's the feeling of violation, not wanting to leave my house out of fear.. Hearing sounds and thinking "Maybe it's the Russians!" (jk)

It does suck since music and movies are my life, and that's gone...

[AlreadyGone95]

MSF, sorry about the break-in and robbery. That sucks.

Brooke, I hope you like your new wheels!

DJ, best of luck with your teeth problems.


College has kept me super busy over the last week.Between essays, studying, videos I had to watch, and tests, my down time is very low. I'm averaging all A's at the moment, which is great.

I finally got my letters in for proof of disability, which allows me to receive any accomendations from my professors that I need. I had to get each professor to sign a copy. I was kind of concerned about the one professor I wasn't too fond of because of his crazy ways(the one I called Dr. Nutcase), but when I asked him to sign it, we had a 10 minute discussion about my disability, my grades, and my work ethic. That discussion made me see him in a different way. He actually isn't that bad of a guy. He just loves to do crazy things and annoy the hell out of his students.

[Brooke]

AG, glad to hear it's going well for you! Keep on keepin' on!

[Annoying Twit]

AG, that's a great result. Good to hear that your prof. is very much human :)

[buffyfan145]

Glad things are going well for you in school AG, congrats on the new car Brooke, and hope you feel better DJ. I was super busy today being at a festival in southern Ohio where my aunt lives. Can tell I'm getting old at 30 as I can't keep up with my 10 year old cousin wanting to ride so many rides. LOL :lol:

[Delilah]

Buffyfan, you sound like a cool cousin. I've gotten to where I don't like riding the "scary" rides anymore.

[AlreadyGone95]

I guess you could call this a paying it forward kind thing that I was on the receiving end of.
As I was leaving Wendy's to go to my math class this evening, a lady came up to me and told me that she overheard my mom and I talking about me being in college. The lady then handed me a folded up note, and said there was a $100 bill in it. She told me she was in college, and wanted to help out a fellow student. She also asked me to pray for her because of personal reasons. She wished me luck and told me "God Bless You", and she left. I opened the note when I got into the car. Yes, I saw Ben Franklin's face looking up at me. I don't even know her name, but thank I'm grateful for her gift, and I hope everything works out well for her.

I'm not really religious (raised Christian, but am currently agnostic), but I'm really touched by this.

[Annoying Twit]

Bicycle stolen :(

[Brooke]

AG, what a nice lady! Send up a few prayers for her. Can't hurt!

AT, oh no! I hope you get it back!

[Annoying Twit]

AG, what a nice lady! Send up a few prayers for her. Can't hurt!

AT, oh no! I hope you get it back!

I only have cheap old rusty bikes. I'm likely to get a new shiny one now. I do use it a lot, and hence feel that it would be a justified purchase.

It's not worth claiming on my insurance, as the value is not much above my excess and my premiums would go up.

[buffyfan145]

That's so nice Kim!!! :D Love hearing stories like that.

[travlnman2]

I have always joked that I could be the reincarnation of Duane Allman. We are both Blues based guitarists and love southern rock and Eric Clapton etc. We also have the same birthday! I was born on November 20th 1998 he was born on November 20th 1946 he is 52 years older then me. We also share the same birthday as Joe. I also share a birthday with my cousin. He is exactly 18 years older then me.

[AlreadyGone95]

I hope your old bike is found, or you're able to get a new one, AT.

Have any of you ever taken an exam that you just knew you wouldn't do well on, but by some miracle, you did do well?

I had my first U.S. history exam this past Thursday, which covered everything from the beginning of human existence to right before Jamestown was settled. This isn't my area of expertise, except for the very tail end of the test. I barely studied for the test; I barely got any sleep the night before, and I arrived 15 minutes late for the test due to lack of sleep. I just knew I would flunk the test. After doing the test, I told myself "if I get C, I'll be happy." I was the last one to turn in their test, and I told my professor that I thought I'd bombed the test. (I'm a history major, so just picture how horrible that would sound.) I actually didn't finish the test at the end of the class period, but due to my disability, I'm allowed extra time. My professor had confidence in me; he thought I did fine.
Well, I got my grade this afternoon, and made a 100 (150/150 points possible). Needless to say, my jaw dropped when I saw my grade. I'm still not sure if my professor didn't make a mistake while grading. There were 2 extra credit questions I know I answered correctly. I really shocked myself on that one, in a good way. :D 8)

[buffyfan145]

That's great Kim!!! :D I had that happen quite often and some I studied for but still thought I would do badly. The worst was the standardize tests we had to do to graduate high school. I was so nervous I was going to fail but passed them all first try (they've also changed a lot since I took them over 15 years ago).

[LuvTim]

I have always joked that I could be the reincarnation of Duane Allman. We are both Blues based guitarists and love southern rock and Eric Clapton etc. We also have the same birthday! I was born on November 20th 1998 he was born on November 20th 1946 he is 52 years older then me. We also share the same birthday as Joe. I also share a birthday with my cousin. He is exactly 18 years older then me.

Interesting, tm. :-)

[LuvTim]

I hope your old bike is found, or you're able to get a new one, AT.

Have any of you ever taken an exam that you just knew you wouldn't do well on, but by some miracle, you did do well?

I had my first U.S. history exam this past Thursday, which covered everything from the beginning of human existence to right before Jamestown was settled. This isn't my area of expertise, except for the very tail end of the test. I barely studied for the test; I barely got any sleep the night before, and I arrived 15 minutes late for the test due to lack of sleep. I just knew I would flunk the test. After doing the test, I told myself "if I get C, I'll be happy." I was the last one to turn in their test, and I told my professor that I thought I'd bombed the test. (I'm a history major, so just picture how horrible that would sound.) I actually didn't finish the test at the end of the class period, but due to my disability, I'm allowed extra time. My professor had confidence in me; he thought I did fine.
Well, I got my grade this afternoon, and made a 100 (150/150 points possible). Needless to say, my jaw dropped when I saw my grade. I'm still not sure if my professor didn't make a mistake while grading. There were 2 extra credit questions I know I answered correctly. I really shocked myself on that one, in a good way. :D 8)
That's great, AG!! Congrats!:cheers:

[LuvTim]

Bicycle stolen :(

AT, so sorry about your bike. Have you a new one yet?

[Annoying Twit]

AT, so sorry about your bike. Have you a new one yet?

Thank you for your concern.

I did have two bikes, so I am still able to ride. I ordered a replacement bike on Thursday, and I expect it to arrive tomorrow-ish.

[travlnman2]

Interesting, tm. :-)


https://soundcloud.com/stephen-masi-89354061/travlin-man-cover-wilkenson-van-zant

[LuvTim]

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-masi-89354061/travlin-man-cover-wilkenson-van-zant

tm, impressive rendition. :-)

[LuvTim]

Thank you for your concern.

I did have two bikes, so I am still able to ride. I ordered a replacement bike on Thursday, and I expect it to arrive tomorrow-ish.

Brilliant. I would be interested if you cared to post a photo of your new wheels. :-)

[travlnman2]

Sitting in the auditorium for Current Issues. All the seniors are required to take this class. Each teacher gives a lecture. So it's one period and all seniors. Arab Spring is today's topic.

Next period is American lit which I have an F but it is only one assaignment so I have all the HW in. Good thing it's only the third week

[buffyfan145]

Got very good news yesterday that I finally qualify for financial aid for my college and now will be able to take more classes again each semester and hopefully graduate next fall. I used to have to always put down my parents information and that always worked against me, but now I finally aged out to be considered an independent student. This helps so much as I was only taking one class a semester (or less) as that's all I could afford and to avoid student loans. Just such a great relief now and that I can finally work towards graduating soon. :)

[NightMistBlue]

Fantastic, Buffy. Best of luck to you.

[Annoying Twit]

Great news to hear about classes running and financial aid.

Get studyin', all you students!

[LuvTim]

Great news to hear about classes running and financial aid.

Get studyin', all you students!

Couldn't have said it better. Good luck, people. :-)

[Brooke]

Great news, buffy!

And I agree with AT, study hard all of you in school! Make that education work for you! I hope you all get great jobs because of it!

[Annoying Twit]

Brilliant. I would be interested if you cared to post a photo of your new wheels. :-)

Sorry, this took a while.

http://i66.tinypic.com/1zxqhd1.jpg

[NightMistBlue]

How long is your commute, Mr. T.?

[Annoying Twit]

How long is your commute, Mr. T.?

My daily commute is about ... checks google maps ... about two miles. I don't use that bike for my daily commute. I use an older and cheaper single speed bike.

I do like long distance rides. E.g. some time ago I rode from Gloucester to Leicester, a distance of about 90 miles. Still looking to break my own record and do 100 in a day.

[jms18222]

A quick HI wave at everyone. Fall has hit Pennsylvania, it's cold & rainy. A week ago I was still doing PT in the pool, now I have to set-up arrangements to get back into doing it in office again.

Football has started..yea, my Dodgers won the NL West for the 4th straight year & DUKE basketball season starts tomorrow.

[NightMistBlue]

What about the fall colors? Any sign of the trees changing yet? I miss autumn, it's such a beautiful (if brief) season.

[travlnman2]

Everyone said that the Patriots would never do well without Brady.

3 and 0 we can have a bunch of turkeys playing and we will still win woooh.

I am mixing a cover of a song called Better by Guns N Roses. It's off of Chinese Democracy but it is a current staple of the Not In This Lifetime tour which is 21st century's Hell Freezes Over Tour.

Here is the studio version of the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehMPmKHO6Vg

Here is the version played with Slash and Duff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbalXes4RZM

[LuvTim]

My daily commute is about ... checks google maps ... about two miles. I don't use that bike for my daily commute. I use an older and cheaper single speed bike.

I do like long distance rides. E.g. some time ago I rode from Gloucester to Leicester, a distance of about 90 miles. Still looking to break my own record and do 100 in a day.


100 miles in one day is quite a lot, even on a nice new bike such as yours!!

I have a friend who rides for miles and miles on her bike. She and her husband ride together in an event called Biking Across Kansas. I'd wager that's over 400 miles, but, of course, they don't ride that far in one day! :spin:

[Annoying Twit]

100 miles in one day is quite a lot, even on a nice new bike such as yours!!

I have a friend who rides for miles and miles on her bike. She and her husband ride together in an event called Biking Across Kansas. I'd wager that's over 400 miles, but, of course, they don't ride that far in one day! :spin:

I'd like to do long rides like that some day. My partner Carolyn likes riding her bike, but doesn't go long distance. She likes the stars (BSc Astronomy), and I'm suggesting that we ride out into the countryside in the dead of night, but it hasn't happened yet.

I do the long distances rides simply by riding at a slow pace, but just keeping going. I see people on 'carbon fibre wonders' whizzing past me at high speed, but I just ignore them and keep going.

[NightMistBlue]

One of my brothers has done the New York to Boston bike ride twice for charity. I don't know how people survive that.

[Annoying Twit]

One of my brothers has done the New York to Boston bike ride twice for charity. I don't know how people survive that.

Cycling itself is easy. Cycling for a long time is simply a matter of getting used to just keeping going. Part of that is getting fluids and suitable calories down your gullet, which is harder than it sounds. I've found a brand of coconut milk smoothie which is high calorie and easy to swallow even when I'm very tired - useful. I'm hoping to break 200km at some point, but I haven't this year and the weather may be against me.

Boston to New York is 200 miles - so 320km. Well beyond what I've done so far, but they longer you ride the longer you can ride. The human body is very adaptable and can get used to an awful lot. I'm thinking that 300km in a day is probably the most I can manage without getting significantly faster. Otherwise, I run out of hours in the day. For my 200km ride, I'm planning to start at 3am to give me plenty of time. I have good lights :)

[AlreadyGone95]

That's a cool looking bike, AT.

I'm pretty positive that I'll be going on a 2 week study abroad program to Scotland next May. My history professor takes part in this statewide program every year. My Nana gave me a check for the cost of the trip($3,000), but I have to get/raise/save at least another $1,000 for the cost of a passport, the class I'll be taking, and money for food and other necessities while I'm in Scotland. I plan on setting up a GoFundMe to help me have enough money. Luckily, I have several months to save up for the trip. Needless to say, I'm very excited about this!

[Annoying Twit]

Great news AG95. Without wishing to sound too much like an old fogie, I really think it's nice for people to get some foreign experience when they're young. There's a whole big world out there.

[travlnman2]

Well here is the song I have been working on for a month and half.

Better Cover as made famous by Guns N Roses
https://soundcloud.com/stephen-masi-89354061/better-cover-finalrosefinck

[buffyfan145]

That's so awesome Kim!!! :D I've always wanted to check out various parts of Europe and that is so cool your professor does that.

[NightMistBlue]

That's freakin' great, Kim! Scotland is a beautiful country. I don't know if you're interested in Neolithic sites, but the Orkney Islands has standing stones and other ancient sites.

[Gemini]

That sounds like a great opportunity, AG!

[travlnman2]

I am attending an open house at my mom and dads alma mater. Today is also my dads birthday.

[Jonny Come Lately]

That's a cool looking bike, AT.

I'm pretty positive that I'll be going on a 2 week study abroad program to Scotland next May. My history professor takes part in this statewide program every year. My Nana gave me a check for the cost of the trip($3,000), but I have to get/raise/save at least another $1,000 for the cost of a passport, the class I'll be taking, and money for food and other necessities while I'm in Scotland. I plan on setting up a GoFundMe to help me have enough money. Luckily, I have several months to save up for the trip. Needless to say, I'm very excited about this!

Sounds like a cool trip! Do you know at this stage where in Scotland you will be going? (No problem if you don't) Just curious as I've been north of the border quite a few times and know a fair chunk of it.

[WS82Classics]

Have never been a biker myself, but I can see where it might be a fun activity to take up. Wishing all of you the very best in your lives.

Am enjoying this semester of classes at Lanier Tech. My classes are Nursery Production & Management, Sustainable Agriculture, and Small Engine & Gas Repair. Haven't run into anyone who might give me issues, contrary to some of my fears prior to the start of this present semester. However, I do know from personal experience that this is probably not the career path which will be the best suited to me, so I am in the process of going around to area colleges that have the Mass Communication courses in which I am interested and touring the campuses to see which one has the courses and student environment that would be best suited to me. Went to Dalton State College and Truett McConnell College last week, and am in the process of arranging a trip to Young Harris College. Fingers crossed that something comes my way as it regards direction in life.

Should also add that after the "Long Run Survivor" game comes to its conclusion, I will do what I should have probably done some time ago and depart from this place for good. It is more a matter of having far better things to do in my life than to just check in and post on a web page(however nice it may be) at seemingly all hours of the day than it is anything else. You all enjoy yourselves. :bye:

[AlreadyGone95]

Sounds like a cool trip! Do you know at this stage where in Scotland you will be going? (No problem if you don't) Just curious as I've been north of the border quite a few times and know a fair chunk of it.


I'll be staying in Edinburgh. For the most part, the group will do daily commutes on trains to get to different locations. I should be spending one night up in the Highlands. I'll have the evenings and a weekend free tondo whatever I want. On the weekend, I'm free to go wherever I want to within the UK.
In case any UK borderer wants to try and meet up, the trip is May 13-27.

[travlnman2]

So we now have he open house split up into students and parents. Will be here an hour.

I have decided to instead of having a tape filed with different songs of varying quality I will do two songs with really good quality.

My tape will be like a singal you get it and want to by the full album. Hopefully it will work with admissions.

One song is done.
Better by Guns N Roses will be the side a. I have it posted so you can take a listen if you want :).

Side B will be Hotel California.

I had to take the SAT's for the third time yesterday. I think I did better because my anxiety never went up. When I take a test my anxiety would go up and I get all nervous and want to finish as fast as I can. Yesterday it did not do that so I was able to focus. Fingers crossed.

I am trying to keep my senior year grades up. I was albe to improve my gpa lay year from a 1.9 to a 2.5 for the third and fourth quarters.

My sophomore year really hurt me because of a family tragedy. My grandmother died from Alzheimer's and I never knew her so I was really distraughet and started acting out to the point where I had a panic attack in the VP's office.

[AlreadyGone95]

That's freakin' great, Kim! Scotland is a beautiful country. I don't know if you're interested in Neolithic sites, but the Orkney Islands has standing stones and other ancient sites.

I'm thinking about going to Stonehenge. It really depends upon how much spending money I'm able to take with me.

[Annoying Twit]

I'm thinking about going to Stonehenge. It really depends upon how much spending money I'm able to take with me.

If you have the choice, I think the neolithic sites up in the Scottish Isles are more interesting that Stonehenge. You can't really get close to Stonehenge, it's a bit managed and touristy.

Not that I'm saying you shouldn't go if that's what you've had your heart set on.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I'll be staying in Edinburgh. For the most part, the group will do daily commutes on trains to get to different locations. I should be spending one night up in the Highlands. I'll have the evenings and a weekend free tondo whatever I want. On the weekend, I'm free to go wherever I want to within the UK.
In case any UK borderer wants to try and meet up, the trip is May 13-27.

Even better! :smile: Edinburgh is an awesome city, been there quite a few times myself. It's lovely around Christmas and New Year and is also really lively in the summer, especially around the time of the Edinburgh Fringe in August. If you're going in May you get really nice long days too, at that time it won't go dark until between 9-10 pm in the evening (unfortunately that time of year will almost certainly be when I have my final exams of the year). With regard to the Highlands, the furthest north I've ever been in Scotland was a place called Ballachulish, which is just south of Fort William in the western Highlands, although my Dad has been to Inverness.

I've just remembered something random but somewhat relevant - a programme called Michael Palin's Great Railway Journeys - Confessions of a Train Spotter, which tracks the former Monty Python star as he takes a rail journey from his home in London to Kyle of Lochalsh on the north western coast of mainland Scotland. I remember coming across it some time ago and loving it, although I will admit I share Palin's fondness for trains and railways! I found it on YouTube so I'll post a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYi1qLUAJJI

The Scottish portion of his trip starts at 38:54, It was produced in 1980, so the trains they use now are a lot more modern than the ones featured, although I don't think the routes have changed significantly. The scenery is absolutely beautiful (also, if you watch the end credits, you can see a train pass over the Glenfinnan viaduct, which is featured in the Harry Potter films).

I agree with AT that Stonehenge is somewhat 'touristy' - although having said this I did enjoy it I went there about three years or so ago.

[UndertheWire]

Kim, that sounds exciting. I love Edinburgh and there's lot to see in that area - with all the anglo-scottish wars, there are lots of castles and fortified houses. Not to mention the wonderful scenery.

Stonehenge is a long way from Edinburgh and that means a lot of time and money. However, if your itinery includes a stop in or near London, you could take a day tour that visits Stonehenge ( some examples of tours (http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/sightseeing-tours/day-trips-from-london/best-stonehenge-tours#RTSRXTVAwbpbgDYP.97)).

[thelastresort]

Enjoy Scotland AG, a fine country, I spend as much time there as I can justify. I've always been more enamored to Glasgow than Edinburgh but from a tourist point of view (especially if you've come several thousand miles across the sea!) you'll love Edinburgh. It's a beautiful country even outside of the Highlands; but with regards to what JCL was saying about the railways that way on, I can vouch for their beauty, the line from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig is widely regarded as one of the most scenic in the world, and that along with the aforementioned line out to Kyle (the trains are more modern, and none of the routes have changed!) are probably my two favourites (speaking as someone who's covered been on all of them ;)). Sadly Edinburgh isn't on the right side of Scotland to access the Highlands or Islands with great ease, but it's worth the effort to explore as much of them as you can if it's what you're after.

I'm not terrifically up on Neolithic history, but if you do head down to Stonehenge don't forget there's a fair lot more out that way too to explore: I was in a village called Avebury last week and they have an awful lot of stone circles there too, one of which is the largest remaining in Europe. It's also wonderfully pretty too (probably my favourite walking region), and not too far from other tourist destinations like Bath and Oxford.

[maryc2130]

Trvlnman, I'm glad you felt more comfortable taking the SATs this time. Those exams can cause so much anxiety. I'm sure you did great!

AG, I know you'll love Scotland and Edinburgh. They are my favorite country and city that I've traveled to. I love railways, as well. I've only taken the train from London to Edinburgh (and driven over some of highlands and to the Isle of Skye), but from what the others have said, I want to go back to do more of Scotland by train. Especially from what JCL said about Edinburgh near the holidays. I know you will have a great time in the spring. I went both times in May and absolutely loved it!

[travlnman2]

Trvlnman, I'm glad you felt more comfortable taking the SATs this time. Those exams can cause so much anxiety. I'm sure you did great!

AG, I know you'll love Scotland and Edinburgh. They are my favorite country and city that I've traveled to. I love railways, as well. I've only taken the train from London to Edinburgh (and driven over some of highlands and to the Isle of Skye), but from what the others have said, I want to go back to do more of Scotland by train. Especially from what JCL said about Edinburgh near the holidays. I know you will have a great time in the spring. I went both times in May and absolutely loved it!

Gracias:cheers:

[travlnman2]

Since I have a day off of school I am going to continue with my cover of Hotel California for a demo tape I am making it in the style of Farwell 1 without the horns. The horns were my favorite part

[Brooke]

AG, how exciting that you will be traveling overseas! I think it would be wonderful to visit Scotland and it sounds like you have some very good suggestions on places to see! I hope you can come up with plenty of funds so you can see everything you want to see! How nice of your grandmother to help you out with this!

Trvlmn, I hope you did well with your tests!

[Jonny Come Lately]

Coincidentally, I've just remembered that the last time I went to Edinburgh I saw a man wearing an Eagles T-shirt - it was one of the History of the Eagles designs, I think it was black with a photo of Glenn, Don, Tim and Joe in the middle. It's one of the very few times I've seen anyone wearing an Eagles shirt in public once I discount the numerous ones I clocked when I went to see Don!

[Glennsallnighter]

We were in the Pu8eblo Centre in Albuquerque during the summer and there was a man wearing the official HC t-shirt with the Australian 2010 dates on the back of it.

[NightMistBlue]

Sitting in a Starbucks killing time before a pedicure appointment. I lead an exciting life, no two ways about that.

[VillageGirl]

I'm surprised someone hasn't come up with the idea to combine a Starbuck's with a mani/pedi place. You can go place your order, pay, then go pick your color, grab your coffee on the way back and stick your feeties in the warm water. Ouila!

[NightMistBlue]

Good idea. Hopefully the smell of the coffee would overpower the nasty chemical fumes of the nail polish and acetone.

[travlnman2]

I am going Glow Ball golf tonight. Its a fundraiser for my cousins son so alot of my family members are going.

I have to right my term paper by Tuesday so I am going to make note cards Tomorrow and write it Monday I have a three day weekend

[jms18222]

Just did some walking but it's starting to rain. Now I am listening to a podcast while I wait for the Dodgers game to come on.

[NightMistBlue]

Glow Ball golf sounds fun! I'm not a very good golfer though.

[buffyfan145]

Just had a great time at Columbus' Italian Festival!!! :D I had been wanting to go to this for so long. I've been to my city's large Irish Festival before but not to the Italian one till now. I'm Irish and Italian in my ancestry and it was so cool trying all the Italian food, getting Italian cookies to take home, touring the big Catholic church the festival is by, watching the bocce games, and hearing Italian music and dancers. I know there's a big population in Columbus of Irish and Italians, but my Dad's side of the family was from Boston, Massachusetts and my Mom's are from West Virginia/Virginia so it was nice seeing history in my city too.

[NightMistBlue]

Italian cookies! With anise? I haven't had them in so many years. My aunt used to make them; she married an Italian man.

[buffyfan145]

Italian cookies! With anise? I haven't had them in so many years. My aunt used to make them; she married an Italian man.

Yes, they had a lot of the anise ones. Those are my Dad's favorites. I usually don't like them but I love the lemon, vanilla, and chocolate ones. They had so many different kinds of deserts too including gelato and cannolis. :D

[travlnman2]

Yes, they had a lot of the anise ones. Those are my Dad's favorites. I usually don't like them but I love the lemon, vanilla, and chocolate ones. They had so many different kinds of deserts too including gelato and cannolis. :D

My dad is from italy. Even though we are known for Meatballs. In Italy I did not see one restaurant with meatballs.

[buffyfan145]

My dad is from italy. Even though we are known for Meatballs. In Italy I did not see one restaurant with meatballs.

That's really weird. Meatballs are so common here with Italian food and the festival was selling all different kinds. I would think they would have them too over there, but maybe it was somewhat Americanized like how some of the pizza in Italy is very different compared to most in the US.

[NightMistBlue]

Travelnman, when you were in Italy did you ever see pasta as the main or only course? You know like in America, we'll have spaghetti as a meal. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a side dish. That was my experience.

[buffyfan145]

I knew about the spaghetti actually being a side dish thing too as my grandparents have brought that up before, even though we always ate it as a meal. My grandpa says it also changed here because spaghetti was such an easier meal to make after mass on Sundays and cheaper cost wise so it became a meal here.

[travlnman2]

Travelnman, when you were in Italy did you ever see pasta as the main or only course? You know like in America, we'll have spaghetti as a meal. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a side dish. That was my experience.

No. It was Anti Pasto like Olives Cheese etc. Then it was Pasta then Meat or fish as the main course then salad and dessert

[AlreadyGone95]

If anyone would like to donate to help fund my Scotland trip, here is my Gofundme campaign. :) https://www.gofundme.com/2tr2fxng

[Glennsallnighter]

Dan Tanas serve pasta as a side dish with the main course

[NightMistBlue]

Dan Tanas serve pasta as a side dish with the main course

Interesting. Did you like their food, GA? The last couple of times I visited L.A., I very much wanted to eat at Dan Tana's but was too intimidated (maybe self-conscious is more accurate) because I was on my own.

And it looks so packed full of well-dressed people, out with a date or with friends. I'd feel conspicuous and slightly pathetic.

[Brooke]

Dan Tanas serve pasta as a side dish with the main course

I'm hoping Dan Tanas is on the list of things to see and do in January!

[FWIW]

I haven't been on this board for a while. I just lost my father after a relatively short bout with pneumonia. Listening to Eagles music was certainly a comfort, but it still hurts.

[LuvTim]

I haven't been on this board for a while. I just lost my father after a relatively short bout with pneumonia. Listening to Eagles music was certainly a comfort, but it still hurts.

I'm so sorry for your loss, FWIW.

[Delilah]

Please accept my sympathy for your loss. I'm glad the music can provide some comfort.

[RudieCantFail]

I'm sorry for your loss as well, FWIW.

[Brooke]

FWIW, I'm so sorry about your father. Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.

[FWIW]

Thanks for the comforting words.

[sodascouts]

So sorry for your loss and praying for you, FWIW.

[thelastresort]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss FWIW

[Witchy Woman]

I'm so sorry for your loss, FWIW. My best wishes to you and your family.

[L101]

So sorry to hear of your loss, FWIW.

[buffyfan145]

I'm so sorry FWIW. Sending thoughts and prayers as well.

[UndertheWire]

FWIW, I feel for you. It's a hard time but he will always be with you and continue to live through you and your thoughts. Treasure the memories and be glad that the end was quick. I have one suggestion and that's if there is anything you wish you could tell him, write it down in a letter.

[DivineDon]

Sincere sympathies on your loss, FWIW

[Jonny Come Lately]

Very sorry to hear of your loss FWIW. Although I have fortunately not lost either of my parents, my family has experienced the loss of a couple of people who were close to us this year and it's never easy so I can very much sympathise with you.

[travlnman2]

My sister is home for the weekend. I have been working on a cover of One Of These Nights.

Tomorrow I am doing an Alzheimer charity walk because my late grandmother had it.

[Glennsallnighter]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss FWIW. Sending prayers and positive vibes to you from Ireland

[travlnman2]

Term Paper done:yay:. Next up college apps:stunned:

[NightMistBlue]

Keep us up-to-date on your 12-string guitar journey, Travln :)

[Annoying Twit]

I haven't been on this board for a while. I just lost my father after a relatively short bout with pneumonia. Listening to Eagles music was certainly a comfort, but it still hurts.

Very sorry to hear this.

[NightMistBlue]

I'm sorry for your loss, FWIW.

[AlreadyGone95]

Sorry for your loss, FWIW.


I've signed up for my spring classes for college. Two of them I really wanted to take. I'm taking:

Elementary Spanish I ( I have to take it to get into a 4 year university.) This class is a hybrid class, half at school and half online. All of my other classes are fully lecture classes.
Intro into Comparative Politics ( I seriously misjudged my American Government professor at first. He and I have come to respect each other. He wants me to take his other class, so I am.)
Quantitative Skills and Reasoning ( the only alternative to College algebra)
Paired support for Quantitative Reasoning (I have to take the support class.)
United States History II ( I'm taking this with Sam professor who teachs my History I and my Scotland classes. He's done a lot of what I want to do, so he and I talk a lot about history and possible jobs for myself. He's come to know me on a first name basis.)
Bowling (I had a choice of running/jogging, kayaking, or bowling for my required physical education class. I like to bowl and I can handle it despite my disability. This is my last classof the week, and it'll help me wind down from a busy week.

I've made a few friends in each of classes, so that's a nice plus.

[LuvTim]

Good to know, Kim. So happy that you're making friends and enjoying your classes. :-)

[AlreadyGone95]

Good to know, Kim. So happy that you're making friends and enjoying your classes. :-)

Thanks LT :). I can't believe the difference a year can make. This time last year, I was only thinking about college. I thought there was no way I would be to go and no way that I could handle the workload. Now, I've got all A's and am enjoying college.

In other news, I'm sick again with a UTI and chest congestion that's trying to turn into bronchitis. I missed a test in my American Government class yesterday so that I could go to the doctor. I'm glad I did. I'll probably skip my math class tonight to avoid being out in the night air.

[Brooke]

AG, glad to hear college is going well for you! Now, feel better soon!

[buffyfan145]

Glad school is going good Kim and hope you feel better soon too.

[Glennsallnighter]

Glad college is going well for you Kim. Hope you feel better. I too have a Coldy/chesty infection which I'm trying to ignore. We are also on strike today so I've to stand out with my banner on the picket line.

[Desperada]

Good luck with the strike today, GA.
At least the weather is good!!!

[MortSahlFan]

I published my 2nd CD... I play all the instruments, no computer used, just a microphone.

https://www.amazon.com/East-Meets-West-Matt-Selou/dp/B01FRFPVME/

I'd love to hear feedback from some of the greatest music fans!

[LuvTim]

I'm noticing a mailbox in my brother's neighborhood with the last name of Meisner. :-)
This made me chuckle, as I have a guy named Frey in my neighborhood. :-o
Just thought it was a fun observation to share.

[Glennsallnighter]

That's just so cool LT!

My 'cold' has developed into a pretty nasty dose so it's a quiet weekend in for me I think.

[Annoying Twit]

I'm noticing a mailbox in my brother's neighborhood with the last name of Meisner. :-)
This made me chuckle, as I have a guy named Frey in my neighborhood. :-o
Just thought it was a fun observation to share.

Keep up the detective work. I'm sure you'll find a Henley, a Felder, a Walsh, and even a Leadon if you keep searching.

[travlnman2]

I finally finished recording three songs for my EP to send to college.

The songs are Guns N Roses somgs

Don't Cry
November Rain
Estranged

[Annoying Twit]

Well done travlnman2. Great to hear you're enjoying uni Kim. Best wishes to all.

Today, completely unplanned, I became technical support for Allan Chapman (historian) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Chapman_(historian)) for a public talk he was doing.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/resources/images/1823644.jpg?display=1&htype=100000&type=responsive-gallery

[buffyfan145]

That's awesome travlnman2!!! :D

Hope you're feeling better GA.

LT, that's so cool!!! :D I'm sure you'll find more soon. I personally am friends with a guy with the last name Fry (met through the LOST fandom) and he used to live down towards Cincinnati on the Kentucky side but now lives in Denver and has quoted the "Rocky Mountain Way" song before in his posts and pics (he's a photographer). He's also a huge Stevie Nicks fan and went to her concert a couple days ago. Then in Columbus we have a very popular German restaurant named Schmidt's (they have great food), and there used to be a quarterback for Ohio State named Greg Frey in the late 80s.

[LuvTim]

That's awesome travlnman2!!! :D

Hope you're feeling better GA.

LT, that's so cool!!! :D I'm sure you'll find more soon. I personally am friends with a guy with the last name Fry (met through the LOST fandom) and he used to live down towards Cincinnati on the Kentucky side but now lives in Denver and has quoted the "Rocky Mountain Way" song before in his posts and pics (he's a photographer). He's also a huge Stevie Nicks fan and went to her concert a couple days ago. Then in Columbus we have a very popular German restaurant named Schmidt's (they have great food), and there used to be a quarterback for Ohio State named Greg Frey in the late 80s.

:-D cool

[LuvTim]

Well done travlnman2. Great to hear you're enjoying uni Kim. Best wishes to all.

Today, completely unplanned, I became technical support for Allan Chapman (historian) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Chapman_(historian)) for a public talk he was doing.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/resources/images/1823644.jpg?display=1&htype=100000&type=responsive-gallery

How fortunate for him! ;-)

[LuvTim]

I finally finished recording three songs for my EP to send to college.

The songs are Guns N Roses somgs

Don't Cry
November Rain
Estranged

Yes, keep up the good work, tm2. :-D

[WKMB55]

Buffyfan145 while Timothy spells his last name without a "d" (Schmit) , I certainly can't resist a bahama mama and a cream puff when I am in German Village or when I see the food truck out and about!!

[NightMistBlue]

I'm noticing a mailbox in my brother's neighborhood with the last name of Meisner. :-)
This made me chuckle, as I have a guy named Frey in my neighborhood. :-o
Just thought it was a fun observation to share.
Luvy, you know I'd be knocking on the Meisners' door if I was you. Ask them if you can walk their chihuahua :-)
How will you be celebrating Timothy's birthday tomorrow?

[NightMistBlue]

Congratulations, AT. I read the Wiki summary of Dr. Chapman. He sounds very interesting. And it's certainly a lucky break for him that he'll have your assistance.

[buffyfan145]

Buffyfan145 while Timothy spells his last name without a "d" (Schmit) , I certainly can't resist a bahama mama and a cream puff when I am in German Village or when I see the food truck out and about!!

He's the only once I've ever known of that spells it without the d. They do have such good food and love how they show up at festivals too.

[Annoying Twit]

Congratulations, AT. I read the Wiki summary of Dr. Chapman. He sounds very interesting. And it's certainly a lucky break for him that he'll have your assistance.

Thanks. I fixed a computer once for The Society for the History of Astronomy, and now if anything looks wobbly or difficult, everyone looks at me :)

[travlnman2]

I sumbitted my College app last night. One more to go

[buffyfan145]

Today starts National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and this was how I wrote my first novel "If Not for You" in 2011!!! :D For those that don't know NaNoWriMo is a challenge for writers to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. There's an official site, message board, social media accounts, and ways for all of us writers and aspiring authors to support each other. It seems hard but if you write everyday you can get to this word count. There's even one in April but for writing a screenplay/film. I'm not fully participating this year since it has to be a new story but using it to help finish my 6th one. I still can't believe I've self-published 5 novels and am working on my Eagles music inspired 6th one in these 5 years. So grateful for discovering this and finally being able to write my stories. :D

[NightMistBlue]

50,000 words in month, holy cow. How many hours a day do you write, Buffy?

[buffyfan145]

50,000 words in month, holy cow. How many hours a day do you write, Buffy?

Really if I have a good writing day sometimes it's only 1-2 hours. It sounds like a large number of words but really it's not at least for me. Plus page number isn't the same and depends on the book's paper size. Usually 50,000 almost 300 pages. That's why I like these month goals for the sticking to writing each day. When I did my first one I reached the goal with two days left in November. Plus sometimes when you get carried away it just goes by fast, but there are the bad and busy days too. So now I just try to write whenever I get the free time and not binge watching anything on Netflix. LOL

[DJ]

Enjoying the Fall weather and raking lots of leaves. I scored 6 Eagles albums from a fellow who bought an abandoned storage unit with over 500 albums from the 70-80 in it. I have some of the albums, but you can never have enough!! :rockon:

[AlreadyGone95]

Are you taking part in the challenge this year, Amanda?

My next American Government test counts for double since I missed the last test. Whatever I make on this test will also be plugged in as my other grade for the missed test. Today's class was the last class before the next test on Thursday. My professor takes attendance, and asks us if we have any questions on about anything related to the class. No one does, so he dimissed us. He wasn't even through going over the handout for the test. He told us the rest was on us, despite having over 70 minutes left to teach/lecture. I don't know why he did it (other than to see how well we study on our own), but it was a complete waste of time to even go to his class today.

I have a 1,000 word essay in history class that's due Thursday. I've only written the first paragraph, but I plan to do the majority of tonight over the course of several hours.

[travlnman2]

Nightmistblue I am going to order this guitar.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone/DR-212-12-String-Acoustic-Guitar-Natural-Chrome-Hardware-1273888006910.gc

Dropping the Electric part so keeping straight Acoustic.

[buffyfan145]

That's awesome DJ!!! :D

Kim, I'm partly doing it. I'm going to try to write daily to get towards finishing my current story. To fully do NaNoWriMo it's supposed to be a brand new story but I'm helping to encourage some of my other friends who are. Best of luck with your essay. :)

[LuvTim]

Today starts National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and this was how I wrote my first novel "If Not for You" in 2011!!! :D For those that don't know NaNoWriMo is a challenge for writers to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. There's an official site, message board, social media accounts, and ways for all of us writers and aspiring authors to support each other. It seems hard but if you write everyday you can get to this word count. There's even one in April but for writing a screenplay/film. I'm not fully participating this year since it has to be a new story but using it to help finish my 6th one. I still can't believe I've self-published 5 novels and am working on my Eagles music inspired 6th one in these 5 years. So grateful for discovering this and finally being able to write my stories. :D

Hi, buff. My son and my daughter-in-law did this when they were in college. They really enjoyed it, too. Have fun! :wave:

[travlnman2]

My new Epiphone Dreadnought 12 String Acoustic shall arive to my sanctuary in
4-6 Buisness Days. So after Armageddon! :lol::woah:

[buffyfan145]

That's awesome LT. :D It is a lot a fun and have made friends with other authors through it too.

[AlreadyGone95]

On Tuesday, my American.Government professor blew off class. He apologized today, and said he had some things he had to take care of. Because of this, he neglected to teach some of the most important info for the test that was today. To make up for that, he gave everyone a 100 on the test, though he still had us take the test to see what we do know. This test counted double for me, so I got two 100s as test grades without any effort involved. :D:yay:

[Annoying Twit]

On Tuesday, my American.Government professor blew off class. He apologized today, and said he had some things he had to take care of. Because of this, he neglected to teach some of the most important info for the test that was today. To make up for that, he gave everyone a 100 on the test, though he still had us take the test to see what we do know. This test counted double for me, so I got two 100s as test grades without any effort involved. :D:yay:

This is appalling. There's no way that anyone would get away with that where I work. Not you AG95, your professor.

[AlreadyGone95]

This is appalling. There's no way that anyone would get away with that where I work. Not you AG95, your professor.

What's appalling, the blowing off class or giving out a free test grade? If it's the latter, he has no wiggle left in the semester. He's on a super tight schedule, and can't postpone the test, so he did what he thought was fair, given the circumstances. My class certainly didn't complain, lol.

[buffyfan145]

That's great he did that for you Kim. :D

[RudieCantFail]

Wow, you're very lucky, AG95.

AT, as someone that goes to community college myself, I'm not surprised. This situation hasn't happened to me yet, but the professors at my school tend to be fair and they don't try to trick you, like they sometimes do at the CSUs and UCs. The professor could have handled it better. He probably should have given you guys up to 10-25 extra credit points, instead of an automatic 100. For example, if you got a 90%, then you would get 9 or 22.5 E.C. points respectively. I don't know if he uses a pure points system or a weighted grade system, so that's why I gave the values of 10 or 25. Being pressed for time, I guess what he did is the best he could do.

Another solution would be to drop the test altogether, and have the final exam count for double or 150 points, instead of 100. Sorry that I'm not helping your case, AG95. I'm sure you're glad that he just gave you the 100 flat out for both tests.

Anyways, I found out that I have A+ blood today during bio lab. My professor let us prick our own fingers with a lancet and then test it. It was optional, so if I already knew from before, I wouldn't have done it. I was afraid to prick my finger, since you know, I don't normally do that and I hate getting shots. It was ok in the end, since if you push the blade gradually harder long enough, it pierces the skin and blood is drawn. I was happy to finally know.

I also learned that an econ professor that teaches at community colleges in my area was shot and killed this July in the downtown San Jose area. I sat in his class for one day to see if I was going to add it or not last spring. I ended up not taking it, but I felt a little traumatized and shocked seeing his picture on the TV as someone who got murdered. They finally got a suspect today based on surveillance footage, so that's how I found out. He didn't deserve to die tragically and brutally like that, since for the one day I had him, he came off as a nice and a little eccentric teacher.

[NightMistBlue]

My son and my daughter-in-law did this when they were in college.

There's a Luvy Jr. in this world? That's good. I hope he's half as sweet as his Ma. :-)

[Annoying Twit]

What's appalling, the blowing off class or giving out a free test grade? If it's the latter, he has no wiggle left in the semester. He's on a super tight schedule, and can't postpone the test, so he did what he thought was fair, given the circumstances. My class certainly didn't complain, lol.

Both. The combination is, in my eyes, appalling. Over here we could not get away with just giving away marks without those marks being earnt.

Not covering what is going to be examined is bad enough. But, giving away marks is academic fraud. For a degree to mean something, you have to be sure that those graduating have met the learning outcomes. You can't do that if marks are just given away. Do you have an external examiner system there? Or can professors just do what they want on their courses?

Note: I'm not blaming you; I'm blaming your professor.

Over here we would delay the test until the material had been coverd. And I've not heard of lecturers just blowing off classes like that. If a lecturer has a conference or something, they'll rearrange teaching. and delay tests until the necessary has been covered.

[Annoying Twit]

Anyhow. The reason I'm here at 3:00am is that I'm trying to break my record for the longest distance I've ever cycled in one day. I plan to cycle up to Lincoln, then turn around and cycle back again. With a bit of padding, this should be 200km in one day. If I make it.

[LuvTim]

There's a Luvy Jr. in this world? That's good. I hope he's half as sweet as his Ma. :-)


NMB, your check is in the mail.



:rofl:

[LuvTim]

Anyhow. The reason I'm here at 3:00am is that I'm trying to break my record for the longest distance I've ever cycled in one day. I plan to cycle up to Lincoln, then turn around and cycle back again. With a bit of padding, this should be 200km in one day. If I make it.

Good luck, AT!

[LuvTim]

That's awesome LT. :D It is a lot a fun and have made friends with other authors through it too.

Just found out today that daughter-in-law is, in fact, writing again this month.

[AlreadyGone95]

Rudie, my professor uses a pure system. What you get on your test is what you get. There's 7 tests and no final. He'll drop the lowest test grade and average the remaining 6. He also has extra credit. Baby extra points are extra credit on test scores, and Big Mama extra credit points go on your final grade. Here's how it works my grades and extra credit I've done.
Tests #1,2,3, & 4: 97, 93, 100, 100= 98 rounded average
I've done 3 extra credit assignments that were worth 6 big mama extra credit points.
98+6= 104 as my final grade (as of this point in time).
I feel great to have the dropped test grade still available for me.

AT, with it being a small, mostly 2 year school, my professors have free reign over their classes. This guy has been at the school for 16 years. He's the only one qualified to teach the the 2 courses he teaches. Most students take American Government because they have to because it's required for almost any degree. Very few are going into the political science field, like our professor has. Most of us won't care about this information once we complete the class. I'm taking his other class, comparative politics, which is the next step after American Government, because I think that it might do me some good and broaden my possible future fields of study since political science and history are intertwined so much.

As for blowing off class, I know that some unexpected things can and do happen. My English class texted us 6 students that a class was cancelled because she had to attend a funeral at the same time, but she gave us a 24 hour notice. What pissed me off with this incident was that it was a complete waste of time to go to his class. I wouldn't have stayed the extra 3 hours in between classes had I known what he was going to do ahead of time.

Good luck with your biking today.

[Annoying Twit]

I may have mistood 'blowing off class'. I assumed that it wasn't for good reasons. Clearly classes are cancelled for reasons such as funerals, illness, attending academic conferences etc. In cases such as this we here will reschedule classes, and adjust the dates of assements. I can think of a case where the marking for a module was adjusted to exclude a test that couldn't happen.

It's none of my business of course, but I do find it a little bit worrying about the amount of power your professors have. While I haven't seen this sort of thing myself, there are certainly stories of university professionals not being very ... professional. In terms of playing favourites, penalising someone they don't like, or pressuring students for favours. In my experience, the vast majority of teaching professionals are dedicated, honest, and fair. But, oversight of some sort helps protect against the minority that might not be.

BtW: My ride went smoothly. It just took a very long time. I was out for a bit over 14 hours and was riding for the considerable majority of that.

[Glennsallnighter]

Bearing in mind that it was 25-30 years ago when I was in college we had a totally different system. You would opt for 12 modules in your chosen subjects (8 in your major (pharmacology) and 4 in your minor (Chemistry). You went to lectures all year and had exams in each module (serious ones - 2 Hrs of writing per module) the following May/June. That counted for about 70 % of your assessment the remaining 30% came from your practical reports. You would not get individual marks for each module, just an overall grade. I think its become more flexible now wrt being able to mix modules, but other than that still very intense.

[travlnman2]

My New guitar is here:partytime:

[LuvTim]

My New guitar is here:partytime:

:guitar:

[Delilah]

Yea, Travlman, enjoy your new guitar!:rockon:

[AlreadyGone95]

Counting down the number of weeks left in this semester, only 3 and 1/2 weeks to go!!
I'm still suffering from an infection I can't get rid of. I haven't been able to go back to the doctor yet because of school. I'll probably have to skip a class next week and go.

One of my friends from school has got mono, and she's suffering badly, so if ya'll would, please keep her in your thoughts or prayers.

[Annoying Twit]

Bearing in mind that it was 25-30 years ago when I was in college we had a totally different system. You would opt for 12 modules in your chosen subjects (8 in your major (pharmacology) and 4 in your minor (Chemistry). You went to lectures all year and had exams in each module (serious ones - 2 Hrs of writing per module) the following May/June. That counted for about 70 % of your assessment the remaining 30% came from your practical reports. You would not get individual marks for each module, just an overall grade. I think its become more flexible now wrt being able to mix modules, but other than that still very intense.

This sounds very much like the system I went through for my BSc. The degree itself was a 'BSc' and you could combing the topics you wanted to, apart from prerequisites. If you wanted to do an MSc (which I did), then you had to do a certain amount of third year BSc work in the topic you wanted to specialise in. Otherwise it was a bit of a free for all. Which I think has benefits. E.g. people could do double majors in unexpected subjects. (Which I did.)

[NightMistBlue]

My New guitar is here:partytime:

Hey Travlnman, let us know how the new 12-string is workin' out. I was stunned when I saw the price for a 12-string Epiphone (around $212?! A steal). The reviews are good.

As I mentioned, I bought a 6-string Epiphone about 2 months ago. I was looking for a smaller guitar with a light wood finish. Instead, I bought the Jumbo-sized Epi with a dark wood finish. It sounded so great and was the easiest-playing instrument - I was testing it against Martins and Taylors, so that's saying something.

[travlnman2]

Hey Travlnman, let us know how the new 12-string is workin' out. I was stunned when I saw the price for a 12-string Epiphone (around $212?! A steal). The reviews are good.

As I mentioned, I bought a 6-string Epiphone about 2 months ago. I was looking for a smaller guitar with a light wood finish. Instead, I bought the Jumbo-sized Epi with a dark wood finish. It sounded so great and was the easiest-playing instrument - I was testing it against Martins and Taylors, so that's saying something.

It sounds amazing. I am recording it today.

My LP headstock is broken but just the wood holding it down. It it is not a complete break and just needs glue

[NightMistBlue]

Sorry, what does LP stand for?

How is the 12-string to play?

[RudieCantFail]

NMB, I'm going to guess that LP stands for Les Paul.

I didn't have a good day today. I had an appointment for a counselor to look over my UC essays. She said that she didn't want to look at them because she was directing me towards a UC Essay workshop. I already went to that last week, so her attempt at trying to brush me off didn't work. I saw her schedule on the computer screen, and it was empty. I should have taken that as a bad sign immediately. I only had her read one of them, since I felt like that she didn't want to help me.

She did give some feedback to my "selection of major question" in trying to show why I want to do accounting, like explaining my interest, not just my skills. However, I got more useful feedback from my friend, since I respond to things better when people aren't rude to me. I think she was just used to people who were barely making out of community college that she treated me like I was barely making it despite my 4.0 GPA. I don't think she even looked at my transcript, although she pulled it up.

Overall, I want to file a formal anonymous complaint just saying that her conduct towards students could be better. If I have to see her again to follow up on this complaint, I won't like it and she'll probably change her personality and make me look like the fool. She made me feel like I wasn't worth her time. In fact, I called my mother and asked her if I was a terrible person. I guess you can say that I was being sensitive, but out of all people, I don't expect a counselor to be rude. I expect it sometimes from a teacher unfortunately, but not someone whose job is to help people move along with their life. I was taken aback by this.

However, the anger from this appointment allowed me to run better today. I haven't been running as much as I used to, so that's a little victory. When Thanksgiving weekend comes, I'll be absolved of all this college application mumbo jumbo.

ETA: I've had much better experiences with 5 other counselors, so I'll probably see them and not care about what time I could see them next time.

ETA #2: I'm not going to file a complaint because I'm supposed to confront the counselor. I understand that it's protocol, and I get that they don't want complaints to go on about willy nilly. I wonder if there's just a way, like a comment card, to just say that she could be nicer and less dismissive. Oh well, I guess I'll just warn my friends and others to avoid her.

[NightMistBlue]

I'm sorry that happened to you, Rudie. As the bumper sticker says, "Mean people suck." I think you should complain about the counselor. It's her job to help people, not make them feel like dirt.

That's just me though. I don't think I ever met a school counselor who was helpful. Like you, I had a 4.0 GPA in community college. I had my heart set on doing my next two years (to earn a bachelor's degree) at a certain school in Florida that offered me a partial scholarship. I'd never be able to afford this school if they didn't pay half the $50K tuition. This dumb-arsed counselor actually discouraged me from accepting the scholarship, saying he'd seen so many kids who couldn't "handle" going to an out-of-state university, so far from their families. I actually smiled at him - the advice was so pathetic.

[RudieCantFail]

Sorry for the late reply, NMB, but thank you for your support. I ended up getting good feedback for my essay from a friend, a teacher, and my cousin who provided a lengthy but very helpful e-mail.

I'm just glad that I submitted all the pertinent applications by today. I might apply to 1 or 2 more schools that have submit dates from January to March. Ha, I didn't deal with a crashing or slow server! It will be a bit stressful tomorrow for the rest of the applicants.

I also want to congratulate tm2 for getting accepted to the school of his choice last week! Good luck and I hope you get some scholarship money and don't let the senioritis hit you too hard next semester.

[Annoying Twit]

NMB, I'm going to guess that LP stands for Les Paul.

I didn't have a good day today. I had an appointment for a counselor to look over my UC essays. She said that she didn't want to look at them because she was directing me towards a UC Essay workshop. I already went to that last week, so her attempt at trying to brush me off didn't work. I saw her schedule on the computer screen, and it was empty. I should have taken that as a bad sign immediately. I only had her read one of them, since I felt like that she didn't want to help me.

She did give some feedback to my "selection of major question" in trying to show why I want to do accounting, like explaining my interest, not just my skills. However, I got more useful feedback from my friend, since I respond to things better when people aren't rude to me. I think she was just used to people who were barely making out of community college that she treated me like I was barely making it despite my 4.0 GPA. I don't think she even looked at my transcript, although she pulled it up.

Overall, I want to file a formal anonymous complaint just saying that her conduct towards students could be better. If I have to see her again to follow up on this complaint, I won't like it and she'll probably change her personality and make me look like the fool. She made me feel like I wasn't worth her time. In fact, I called my mother and asked her if I was a terrible person. I guess you can say that I was being sensitive, but out of all people, I don't expect a counselor to be rude. I expect it sometimes from a teacher unfortunately, but not someone whose job is to help people move along with their life. I was taken aback by this.

However, the anger from this appointment allowed me to run better today. I haven't been running as much as I used to, so that's a little victory. When Thanksgiving weekend comes, I'll be absolved of all this college application mumbo jumbo.

ETA: I've had much better experiences with 5 other counselors, so I'll probably see them and not care about what time I could see them next time.

ETA #2: I'm not going to file a complaint because I'm supposed to confront the counselor. I understand that it's protocol, and I get that they don't want complaints to go on about willy nilly. I wonder if there's just a way, like a comment card, to just say that she could be nicer and less dismissive. Oh well, I guess I'll just warn my friends and others to avoid her.

I would suggest that you make a request for further feedback to another member of staff saying that (counsellor) hadn't really helped you. This isn't a complaint as such, but a request for information. If they ask why, then this gives you an opportunity to explain. If they don't give you the help you need, then this gives you more grounds for a solid complaint as you have gone to some efforts to obtain feedback, and it's not a matter of just one person not helping you.

Note: I work in the UK and things work differently here.

[RudieCantFail]

Thanks, AT. I'm just checking to be sure that this is what you're saying. You're suggesting to ask other staff members for more info on her due to not being that helpful, and if given the chance to explain why, do so? If they don't do anything after doing that, then it could be a basis for a complaint?

I talked with a different counselor last week, BTW, and she was very helpful in checking over my college applications to make sure that there were no mistakes in recording the academic history on the apps.

[Annoying Twit]

Thanks, AT. I'm just checking to be sure that this is what you're saying. You're suggesting to ask other staff members for more info on her due to not being that helpful, and if given the chance to explain why, do so? If they don't do anything after doing that, then it could be a basis for a complaint?

I talked with a different counselor last week, BTW, and she was very helpful in checking over my college applications to make sure that there were no mistakes in recording the academic history on the apps.

Yes. You've received poor service from one person. Before you complain, I'd advise you to approach another person in a calm polite way. That in itself may resolve the problem, and also give 'the system' feedback that things aren't working properly. If you still don't get the help you need, you then have a much stronger basis for a complaint, and have shown that you yourself have been prepared to try and solve the problem before complaining.

That's my suggestion. You've already got the basis for a complaint now. But, if you try approaching someone else pre-complaint, then there's less chance that those dealing with your complaint will consider it one person versus another. But showing that you are prepared to be more than reasonable, your complaint will be taken more seriously when/if you make it.

I would go back to the same person you spoke to last time, and ask for help. Then you can ask him/her about how to address the problem in general.

[NightMistBlue]

AT, how are things going in your swimming and biking endurance efforts - is that on hold for the winter?

[Annoying Twit]

AT, how are things going in your swimming and biking endurance efforts - is that on hold for the winter?

Last Saturday I did what I thought would be an easy 100km ride including a 1km swim. Should have been easy, but it was difficult. I was late for the swim (I was meeting others) and then tired when I got back. I don't know when I'll go out for a proper ride next, though I should be swimming on Friday.

My plans to do 300km cycling in one day are hence on hold a bit.

[AlreadyGone95]

I've been so busy with college that I haven't had much free time over these past few weeks.

Monday is my last day of regular classes, and then, Tuesday- Thursday are the finals period. All of my grades are much set in stone, so I haven't go alot of pressure on me. I've enjoyed this semester a whole lot. I've made some close friends, but I am looking forward to my month longChristmas break.

In other news, I finally got my learner's permit this past Friday. While it's not complete independence of driving, it is a huge step in the right direction. I hope to have my regular license by February or March.

[Delilah]

Good luck on your finals, AG95!

[travlnman2]

Been doing ALOT of recording lately I can't wait to share it with you guys.

[Annoying Twit]

Damn cold is slowly going. Just the occasional bit of coughing now.

In terms of cycle rides, I was hoping that I would be able to cycle around every volcano within the city limits of Auckland when I'm down there. But, even if I take 12 hours, that's still only 13 a bit minutes per volcano, and I don't think I can do it.

[NightMistBlue]

Oh AT, what an adventurous life you lead! I'm an absolute slug by comparison.

I really would love to see NZ some day. I bet the people are very nice.

[Annoying Twit]

New Zealand people are of course very nice. You can let us have your credit card and pin number with perfect safety. I promise! Give it a go and see!

Seriously though, if I was travelling just for adventure I would go somewhere more adventurous. I'm going to NZ to visit family, and some friends, and will try just a few interesting excursions while I'm there.

If I was going for adventure, I know where I'd go. I would like to go visit Iran. I've read/viewed a lot, and it looks like an absolutely fascinating country to visit which at present isn't overrun with tourists, which changes places and people.

It may look adventurous to go and live in rural Japan, not knowing the language, and it was. But, that ws decades ago. I want some more proper adventure.

[NightMistBlue]

AT, are you a native Kiwi then? I thought you were an Englishman. Not to get too personal or anything.

Hey! You just reminded me that I saw something that might be useful to post in the Songwriting thread.

[Annoying Twit]

AT, are you a native Kiwi then? I thought you were an Englishman. Not to get too personal or anything.

Hey! You just reminded me that I saw something that might be useful to post in the Songwriting thread.

I was born and grew up in NZ. My father was English, so I'm a dual citizen. Which is useful, though less so if the UK leaves the EU.

[NightMistBlue]

Oh dear - they wouldn't honor a dual citizenship? That seems harsh.

So you sound like this I suppose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7t2f-L6Z04

It all makes sense now though: the cycling, the running, battling the elements. Kiwis are rugged outdoorspeople, it is said.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Just wanted to say I plan on taking a break from The Border (and other online message boards) for a bit. This thread seems about as good a place as any to say this. I have been quite busy lately and not had much time to post on here, and with Christmas and January exams coming up this situation unfortunately won't improve for a while yet. To be completely honest, I have felt at times that the atmosphere in some (although it should be emphasised, not at all) sections of the board has been a little off colour recently, although the lack of time is a much bigger issue than this. Everything is fine, I just haven't had enough time to think about posting much, let alone get around to typing anything up!

I am aware that we are just a few days off the 40th anniversary of the release of Hotel California. I have no intention on missing out on this historic occasion, and will post in the Celebration thread at the appropriate time. I'll probably take my leave for the time being after this weekend. I don't want to give a definitive return date as such, but I've earmarked late January (when things should start to get less busy) unless something big comes up.

[travlnman2]

Good luck Johnny

Boy you wouldnt belive what happend to me today. I learned that to my generation facts dont matter at all.



So you know my name is Stephen. At school my friends sometimes call me Professer Stephen. Its because I have a huge knowledge of History/Politics and have a reputation of sometimes knowing more then my History Teachers. Its one of the only subjects I am better then most of my friends or classmates and have gotten straight As in CI without studying. I can send you a screenshot of my Grades if you want proff.

So for some reason in Algebra which is my worst subject I got frustrated and said I hate the Greeks because of the reputation of famous scientists . My teacher said it was the Mesopotamians and pointed to a poster of great moments throughout Math history. So I made a joke saying well. The. Mesopotamian's were responsible for many things in this world. Namely Math, Civilization, The Wheal and Instability in the Middle East. So this Girl is always trying to start a fight. She told me I was wrong that the Middle East was stable until America put dictators in during the Cold War. I respectfully said "Nope your wrong. The Middle East has always been an area of instability being the cradle of the world. She started calling me racist ignorant. I just kept on stating facts. The Middle East has gone through the Asyrrian Empire, Persian Empire, Egyptian Empire, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, The Ottoman Empire, Crusades, World War 1.

The whole time she was calling me Racially Insensitive wanting to report me and that I was wrong. I littleraly had absolutely ZERO INTENTIONS of being racist. She was blabing about me being racist and I am like the other areas are The Congo with the Civil War, South Africa with Aparthtied, and the whole Ebola crises and Somaili Pirates. She is like I am from Nigera and you are wrong because I went there and saw none of that.

I had no intention of being racist I said. I am not wrong ask the CDC and the WHO and Uninted Nations. She continued this is exactly why my parents dont want me in public shools because of Crazy White people like you. I am like those are facts not being racist at all. She went down to the office to file a report against me for being racist which I was not.

I was sitting there domfounded lile how the fuck was I being Racist when I had zero intentions of acting it. If I was trying to be racist you would know it.



I got really pissed off and went down to talk to one of the Administrators who happens to be a History teacher. I told him what happened and he told me I was correct and she had no case.

So tomorrow I am going to the Office to file a counter report. How are facts racist? I would not be racist in public or private.

My friends never debate history with me for that exact reason.



Boy I hate my generation. First time in 4 years I was not the cause of trouble involving me.

So yeah it was a quite interesting Algebra Class :D

[Annoying Twit]

Oh dear - they wouldn't honor a dual citizenship? That seems harsh.

So you sound like this I suppose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7t2f-L6Z04

It all makes sense now though: the cycling, the running, battling the elements. Kiwis are rugged outdoorspeople, it is said.

It's not that they won't honour dual citizenship. It's just that if the UK does actually leave the EU, then I may lose my freedom of movement. At the moment I can go and live and work in Spain or France or any one of a large number of European countries. I may lose this ability.

Though, the biggest problem if the EU is weakened in my eyes, was that it was created to lessen the chance of war. People seem to be forgetting not one but two world wars.

Kiwis also have the reputation of being able to fix anything in the world with a pair of pliers and a piece of number 8 fencing wire.

[NightMistBlue]

Though, the biggest problem if the EU is weakened in my eyes, was that it was created to lessen the chance of war.

I didn't know that. I thought it was created for economic benefit. Nigel Farage - your buddy - was on CNN this past weekend suggesting that the U.S. and the U.K. could form a free trade agreement. That sounds exciting to me, but I don't claim any expertise on that subject.

Jonny, I will miss your contributions to these forums if you take leave of us. I hope you'll come back when you have more time.

[UndertheWire]

Johnny, you have my respect for taking time out for the more important things in life - like getting through those exams. I look forward to your return.

I agree that the board has seemed a bit "off" recently but I guess that's partly the transition from supporting a current band to a former one.

[Brooke]

JCL, enjoy your break and hope to see you around here again.

And Merry Christmas to you!

[buffyfan145]

Enjoy your break and best of luck on the exams JCL!!! :D

Sorry about what happened in your class tm2. That does seem to happen more and more with our generation and how some don't really look into history or understand being sarcastic. I still feel weird being in the Millennial generation as it really is large when it contains those born between 1982 and 2004. Then again I always felt I was born in the wrong generation so there's that too. LOL

Not too much has been going on with me besides getting ready for Christmas. I think I'm already done shopping which is super early for me. It doesn't still doesn't feel like Christmas and this year went by so fast.

[Annoying Twit]

I didn't know that. I thought it was created for economic benefit. Nigel Farage - your buddy - was on CNN this past weekend suggesting that the U.S. and the U.K. could form a free trade agreement. That sounds exciting to me, but I don't claim any expertise on that subject.


There's more on the EU here. https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/history_en

People complain that the EU is 'facist'. It was set up to prevent facism. We've just had new laws brought in, in the UK, which are a snoopers charter. Things aren't, in my opinion, heading in the right direction.

I'm internationalist in my views. When I was a foreign student in Japan, I had friends from countries that are now pretty much destroyed. I wonder what happened to them and their families. The EU was intended to reduce the likelihood of this happening.



Jonny, I will miss your contributions to these forums if you take leave of us. I hope you'll come back when you have more time.

@Jonny - ditto from me.