Nicole Alderman wrote:As for knowing who did the moderating, I don't think it should matter.
It only should matter if it's the same person moderating a poster over and over again. It does feel that some of my posts that are innocent (seriously, the two lines that rhyme? How was that not nice? Or, posting that people shouldn't be fired over what they write online?) are much more heavily moderated than others in the same threads, but that do not take a different view than the mod. I get that it's subjective. However, when the subjective is noticeably biased, it's not right; it's just not. Thanks for replying, Nicole and Raven. I appreciate it.
Also, I had a Purple Moosage disappear. I thought those were messages to specific people that didn't belong in the general topic areas.
It's frustrating to post, checking to make sure that it's "nice," only to have an anonymous staff person remove it. I understand they're volunteers and they have a lot on their plates, but it seems that it would be "nice" to know (a) who removed it -- even if it's "Staff 09", and (b) why it was removed.
I started with an 8qt stockpot and drained it into a 6qt one when finished (put the last of it into two 24 oz jars so it wouldn't overflow.) Smells heavily of onions (a good thing!) and I'll probably use much of it as a base for onion soup.
I'm slowly disentangling from Google. Going through ten years' worth of emails to see what I need to download and keep (not fun). One thing that I've been doing for awhile is to login to YT when I'm busy with something else, and let it run on a playlist for something I have no interest in (Justin Bieber? Self-Nature Meditation? Al-Jazeera live?) At least the data they DO have is worthless. In the same way, I hit the ads that are totally irrelevant or disagreeable.
I don't have a "shop" other than my garage -- which I am sharing with other people. Most of the mess comes from one particular person who has hoarding tendencies (not me and dh.) This is actually several hours of cleaning, even though it might not look like that. A trip to the recycling center and thrift shop. Dump is next on the list for things that are beyond use. I picked up a Wall Control (https://www.wallcontrol.com/) system at the thrift shop cheaply because it was a wee bit dinged. Love it! Additional pieces are on my Christmas list.
Well put, Trace. Discriminating against people who show up in filthy cars packed to the hilt, smelling of weed, with bass-heavy music that you can hear from a block away is a good move. It depends on where you live, but being a landlord here is no longer profitable. My neighbors took an older person who was going to be homeless into their home at no charge. When the person starting violating their simple rules (don't smoke weed on my property, don't steal my food, don't be a hoarder), it took them six months to get her out. And this is in their own home, where they were living. Ended up having to evict her (with the all the costs that entailed.) She left the night before the sheriff was due, and caused a lot of "screw you" damage.
I do know one person who's making money here. He's basically a slumlord. Says that he only rents to Section 8 with the knowledge that he's going to have to repair everything when they move out, and priced accordingly. He does the bare minimum. I wouldn't want to live in one of his properties. Sucks for everyone, but that's what the rental laws here have done.
William Bronson wrote:Of course being a landlord is a job in and of itself. A tenant that won't wreck your place, isn't needy or demanding, and pays well and on time will probably want a very nice house in a nice part of town.
^^This^^
In our area of the country, laws greatly favor the tenant. Many know this and take advantage of it, using the law to screw the landlord. We'll still considering it for the future, though. If you're going to do it, spend a hundred hours perusing the forums at http://www.biggerpockets.com/. These are landlords from all over, renting to all different types of people, in different situations. They'll help you get started -- without those $999 classes.
John C Daley wrote:Having the place trashed is not nice, and it seems to be representative of particular people.
John, in the States, you don't get to choose not to rent to those people (insert whatever characteristic you want there -- who have you had bad experiences with?). In our area, a landlord must rent to the first qualified applicant, regardless of whether a better applicant applies afterward. They actually have people who run stings on this, fining the landlords heavily if they don't rent to the first person.
Roomba. Yes, I could vacuum myself, and no, it doesn't work well on floors. BUT, push one button and it vacuums all the rooms on that floor. The time it saves is wonderful because it requires little of me other than emptying the trash container. Works great on cat hair, too.
More about farmers than permaculturists, but the sentiment is the same.
Rough English translation:
Set your hand to the plow
In the sun you will toil
Because the farmer and his rudder blade
Never get tired
Chorus:
Because the farmer and his blade never get tired of plowing
When he stands, he stands stronger than a rock
When you put chains around his language
The devil come and get you
Leave his land alone
You're playing with a bomb's fuse
Keep plowing on young farmer
Nobody will come and take your land
Because the farmer and his blade never tire
Plant your corn, breed your cattle
You need not fear evil men
Because the farmer and his blade will never tire
With one eye on the weather
And his hand on his gun
The Boer will never tire
"Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others;
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected;
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it;
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences;
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind;
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do."
~Marcus Tullius Cicero
We've homeschooled ours the whole way through, and everyone of them is a successful adult. Here are my thoughts.
1. Any home schoolers out there recommend any certain curriculum?
She doesn't need a curriculum at this age. Mostly, she needs TIME with you and your wife. Just like you taught her to walk, talk, potty train, tie her shoes, etc, you'll be doing the same with schooling. Talk a LOT about the things you're doing and why. If you're planting seeds, teach her some fundamentals of science. When she sees lettering, teach her the sound each letter makes. When you're giving her something with many pieces, count out the pieces, etc. It's natural. Here is a good article on what they should be learning before age 10: https://www.triviumpursuit.com/articles/ten_to_do_before_ten.php
2. How do home schooled kids stay plugged into kids activities (especially in small town areas).
Many areas have homeschool co-ops, or your wife could offer a class (on Permaculture :-)) that others will get into. There are community sports, or leagues that are open to all ages. Sometimes, informal is enough.
3. Is it recommended to start early?
You're already teaching her, but if you mean formal schooling, take her lead. Maybe she wants to do math worksheets or read far beyond her grade level. I found that at that age, 15 minutes at a time was about the maximum productive time for anything formal. I don't think we started formal schooling until about 8.
4. One of the things we have been reading is that home schooling requires much less time commitment than traditional school. Can anyone confirm this?
I disagree here. Sort of. Homeschooling requires less time in formal study -- because it's one on one (or one on a few). There's no waiting for the less gifted to catch up, no busy work, no taking attendance, etc. One teacher might have to attend to the needs of twenty students; that takes time that a homeschooler doesn't need to do. However, homeschooling means that most kids never quit asking questions. Some of them every waking moment ;-). It requires a lot of patience on the part of the parents, and a willingness to fully answer (or help the child find the answer). So it's different. There are few "breaks." For us, we had a designated quiet hour where there was no noise allowed.
We moved around a lot when the kids were young. Homeschooling meant there was no new adjustment to schools. It worked out great for us.
Burra Maluca wrote:I think we're raised to think that people can read our minds a bit, or at least *should* be able to do so.
Bravo! Even though it seems it *should* be obvious that the carpet needs vacuuming, it's not really to everyone, especially those on the spectrum. Each couple has to find what works for them. For us, I've always done the overwhelming majority of cooking and cleaning. He takes care of working and the finances. He's probably spoiled compared to many, but he spoils me in different ways in return. I also needed to understand what his capabilities are (we all have different physical and mental struggles.) I'll echo that it does get easier when the kids are old enough that they're not following you around messing up the room they've just left clean. We both like a clean house, but realized that when there are children under 5, our standards would need to be quite a bit lower -- sometimes embarrassingly so. As Nicole said, when we're actually doing our best, that has to be enough.
Elle, we also had a cleaning schedule. With many children in the house, it was a necessity. Saturday was heavy cleaning day, and we all knew that there would be a chore list for after breakfast. It worked well. As far as messy rooms, I'd tell my children that I was going to clean [x] room in 10 minutes, and to feel free to leave out anything they wanted me to take to the Goodwill. This was said in a positive manner. In 10 minutes, I cleaned -- and bagged up what was left out. Unless it was something super special, it went to Goodwill (the really important stuff had to be earned back by a special chore.) It took 2 or 3 times before they realized that I did mean it. Worked for us.
Cam Lee wrote:It's possible that both sides can concede that they aren't perfect. I don't believe one should need to achieve perfection before asking for improvement from another, though.
Exactly. I think Paul's original post was about a division of labor that was unfair to one party. It was about promises made and not kept. Whether this was from a failure to have a meeting of the minds, or poor character from one of the actors, it kills relationships along with the agreement. One way to help with this is for as much as possible to be in writing. It seems overkill at first to write out things that should be "understood," but it helps to be able to point to an infraction of the agreement rather than have the offending party feel attacked and get defensive. I write this as one who wishes she would have been more specific with those moving into her household .
My snakes chose their space a long time ago. I beefed it up with layers of driftwood and some rearranging to tuck things back further into the brush. The driftwood is over a foot long, and built intentionally so that there are open spaces and a sort of lean-to underneath for shelter. One good thing about this area is that none of the snakes are poisonous, and the overwhelming majority are garter snakes. Lately the ones I've seen have this beautiful orange stripe down their backs.
Just remember not to judge a Japanese school by American standards. The culture is not comparable.
Also, regarding the jammies. Japanese culture is again, very different. When we used to go to the huge park with the fountain, mine were the only ones running through the water with shorts and shirts on. The rest, some as old as 6 or 7, were absolutely naked.
Is pre-school now compulsory? Or is there another reason to separate so early?
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