Who does the chores at your house? This week the chore discussion didn’t focus on an equitable split between spouses but what kinds of chores we had to do as kids, and if we have kids now, what kinds of chores they have to do. At what age did we start making them do chores? How does that change as they get older? Is the goal for Mom and Dad to no longer have to do any work around the house? Or, for some people who did not give their kids chores at all, why did they make that decision?
Archive for August, 2012
Current Politics
30
Aug
This is the place where I get to be political. And given my self imposed word limit, it keeps me from rambling. The other day, a friend asked “How can you still believe in Obama?” Has he lived up to all of our collective hopes and dreams? No, no one could have. That’s political reality, especially in this very divisive political climate.
For me, the questions are “Do I think we’d be better off with McCain?” and “Do I think Romney can do better”. The answer is no. Mostly, I think we need to focus on changing Congress right now.
College Tuition
29
Aug
“Student subsidies of classmates’ tuition add to anger over rising college costs”. The first personal story they give is of an out-of-state student. Guess what? Out-of-state students have ALWAYS paid higher tuition, and that “extra” money has ALWAYS gone into the university coffers to be used as the university deems fit- including to fund grants and aid to lower income in-state students.
Please don’t try to make me feel sorry for someone who chose UC Berkeley as an out-of-state underclassman. (Berkeleyfamously dislikes freshmen and sophomores and only takes as many as they have to to maintain 4 year status.)
Caught in Amber
28
Aug
Paging Jurassic Park, paging Jurassic Park. Who needs a mosquito preserved in amber when instead you can have a mite- and not just any mite, but one that is 230 MILLION years old. That puts us firmly in the Mesozoic Era, but is actually in the Triassic period (which is one step older than the Jurassic period). This was the time of the first dinosaurs, and when the supercontinent that was the only landmass on earth began to break up, eventually to form the continents of today.
If only the mite could talk, can you imagine what we could learn.
BBCA’s Copper
27
Aug
I’ve been enjoying the new BBCA show Copper, about an Irish cop in the Five Corners area ofNew York, just as the Civil War is winding down. There are some characters that aren’t fully fleshed out yet- the black doctor’s wife, who seems to exist solely to pull guns on the Irish cops needing her husband’s help, the second of the main character’s two closest friends, and the super rich father of the rich officer our main character (and the black doctor) saved the life of while they were all serving in the war. But I’ll give it time.
Blog Feature: Newlyweds on a Budget
25
Aug
Today has been a space cadet day. It may be late, but you are still getting a Blog Feature. I knew on Friday I wanted to feature Newlyweds on a Budget, but then forgot to actually right the post. This is a great blog for talking about finances in a relationship, even if they aren’t quite so newlywed anymore.
I loved this post on what she misses about being single. While C isn’t quite this bad, on Thursday, I was craving having my last piece of pizza for a snack when I got home- C had eaten it for lunch.
Your Money Friday- I got nothing
24
Aug
Friday is normally a link to a thread over on the Your Money message boards, but this week, there was not anything useful. Basically it was insider conversations, with everyone talking about what they know about other posters and analyzing their lives (whether that is what the poster was going for or not). Other threads were just judgmental- only stupid people could have $200k in student loans for that degree, a semester studying abroad is just a vacation, etc. Or complaints that having over $500k in assets made them “upper class”. Sometimes I’m not really sure what I’m doing there.
School Rules
22
Aug
I remember that my schools had dress codes and rules we had to follow, but lately it seems like things have gotten out of hand. In just the last few days, I have read articles about kindergartners not being allowed to wear t-shirts for out of state colleges (apparently, gang members never attend in state colleges), a high school valedictorian not receiving her diploma because she said “hell” in her speech at graduation, and a girl almost being kicked out of her gifted and talented program from having pictures on her notebook.
Do schools really need to go that far?
Speeding Around the Forest Moon
21
Aug
I am having a geekgasm. Even though I will likely never ride one of these- I may never even see one in person –just knowing that there is a hover bike, much like the speeders from Star Wars, in existence makes me ridiculously happy.
It’s not only real, it is being flight tested in the desert (at 15ft, 30mph) and not crashing. They have been successfully tested in trees and under bridges. The only sad thing is that manned versions are not in the immediate future. Aerofex (the company making geek dreams come true) is currently focusing on unmanned uses.