Landing a public rfp is more like eating soylent green. You're not supposed to know that it's cannibalism! local, state, and federal projects are different beasts - you need experience to get get one, but how can you get experience without experience?
*m - Recently started a government contract. Obviously can't disclose too much information. The cool thing is that the government knows what they want. They have their own architects and project managers that have been through this before (another reason why Owner representatives could be architects too, and we should offer services as such). The downside is it is a bit restrictive in the documentation format. And there are security clearance issues (gotta get mine...) and levels of beauraucracy. The client is not just "the government"; it is multiple levels of multiple agencies, all with their own specialties, limitations, etc. Involves a lot of project meetings and communication - which are not necessarily bad things. Its not strictly profit-driven, so there are also shifts in the priorities as well, which are always interesting to work with architecturally.
I always feel left out when TCers talk about their kids. Adorable kids and all... Did I mention I'm the ONLY one in my entire office without kids? A close friend called me the other day and put on the phone her 4 year old daughter. The girl asked me "why aren't you here yet?" in tears. Apparently she missed me. Makes me want to have my own.
In other news, I was able to input the correct credit card information on the Amtrak website to buy train tickets while being semi-asleep (without looking at the card). Strangely, I couldn't tell you right now what my credit card # is. Power of unconsciousness I guess.
And I am officially a poker fanatic. I was one 6 (any suit) from taking home at least 5 figures. Damn...
And to bring TC back to its original purpose... What the hell, I got no responses on my thread about being able to get IDP for volunteer work. Is this old news or is no one interested in the fact that its possible? Only willing to work for free for big names eh?
Slart, I didn't see your thread. I don't have much time, so I just come straight here to TC. It's the only place I want to be, really. But now you've gotten me curious. I'll check it out soon.
Hi Sarah, if you didn't noticed that other folks missed you please check beyond 5 pages. You really were missed.
I'm in a strange place for the last 24 hours I've been working on a technical proposal and swear my brain has turned to mush. I had to stop writing around 3 to run some errands and won't have a chance to return to it meaningfully until weekend (a long public holiday weekend at that). The added responsibilities full time is taking away my efforts in my part-time job to get registered locally. Sigh.
Now I have to do a lecture for my 4th year students, more on that later
of course its what you signed up for archi ;-) unless this is the bit of work you have to do cuz your colleague stepped out?
my brother and i had rifles before we were 10. we didn't shoot anyone. did have a shotgun pointed at me once. happily, the guy didn't pull trigger. i dunno, don't see why anything but hunting rifles should be legal for anyone not a soldier...but whatever.
Going to a resturaunt tonight where I can get a free stein(sp?) if I order a liter of beer. And it's a real glass stien, not a cheesy plastic one. I am so ordering that liter, even if I have to take it to go. Great Austrian food and cool swag. My kind of place.
Techno, if you'd like, I can help you with your essays. I need some short reading. I won't even charge you or the students. Same goes for you, Liberty Bell. Send me some of your stuff. You're liscensed and I need some IDP hours.
<personal-parenting-rant, feel free to skip I just need to get it off my chest>
I was at my kid's school yesterday from 3-9pm decorating and organizing the bedtime stories event, in which the kids come to school in the evening in their pajamas and the teachers read stories with flashlights then a professional storyteller performs for the whole group. So the gym is strung with white holiday sparkly lights and the overhead lights are off, the snack table is lit up, it all looked very magical. Then the professional story teller starts up and the whole thing veers to chaos: kids are running around, in and out of the bathroom, parents are all clustered in the back of the room yammering to each other and ignoring their children and the storyteller (who we paid to come to the event, BTW), the few kids up front who are intently listening (mine included, I have to brag) are having a hard time hearing because the background noise and motion is so bad, and even when one teacher asks everyone to sit down things just don't get in control. It was, honestly, embarrassing for me to have put so much effort into this event that I'm sure most parents left thinking "Well that was a waste" because they never thought to teach their own damn kids to be respectful to someone who is giving them a presentation!
When we got home I got my wonderful child into bed than slammed a glass of bourbon (hadn't had dinner because I didn't have a break from doing all the damn decorating) while husband and I bitched and vented about wishing we had grabbed the microphone and told off the whole room. Ugh! I love my kid's school but the whole nervousness/PC fear these days of getting into a lawsuit for telling someone else's kid to hush is just ridiculous.
slartibart, I appreciate how you feel like you want kids, they truly are a huge joy, more so than one can imagine, but parenting is just a major minefield and emotional roller coaster.
The optimistic point is: the organizing teacher and I spoke and feel like we've learned some major lessons about how to handle it next year. Also, I'm terrible at delegating (this is why I'll never be a good boss) and next year I'm just going to call people up and say "You need to arrive at this time, with these supplies, and do this task, then take it back down at the end". I had five WONDERFUL volunteers who worked so hard with me to get it all together, but I need to organize them better. Then I need to start next year's event with the magical words that worked on a group of teenagers awhile back: I'm not telling you to be quiet, I'm telling you to be silent (said while glowering and towering threateningly above them).
I just feel bad for the kids and parents who wanted to enjoy an evening of stories and instead found themselves in the midst of the Running of the Bulls. Ugh
<end rant>
Got a deadline today, so I'm out. Thanks for letting me vent, TC, even if you skip it it feels good to spew frustration here. Hope everyone else is having a good day! It's Friday!!!
ha ha...children out of control! exactly why i want to see more people die. the world needs more pain & suffering to tramp down the abundance of energy in youthful spirits. mor broken people, not less.
point is that there's lots of guns in switzerland. for whatever reason the swiss don't see the need to shot each other so i guess there just better people than americans. in the us, i suspect we'll find ways to kill each other whether we have guns laws or not. in the meantime, i'd rather arm myself against the crazies.
That is something my dad bitches about at church with regards to the larger community events and that i was struck by the year i taught.
Namely that kids these days don't seem to be learning basic manners of behaving in public. With regards to noise, please and thank you, and general ruckus...
the secret to making these kinds of events successful is to make sure the parents are also engaged and involved in what is going on. it's less about managing the kids at these things, and more about managing the parents.
I know this sounds backwards, but if the kids see their parents off yammering in a corner someplace, they're going to think it's ok to also ignore what is going on. If the story-teller brought in the parents from the back of the room, got them doing something as part of the story - - the kids are going to pay attention.
No, I think parents should control their kids. Abram hit a little girl at music class yesterday, and though she didn't cry and the others moms said nothing , I immedeatly told him no and put him into the corner. It's called parenting, and more parents should do it.
*m - I may have misunderstood your post. I guess you're talking about getting the government contract in the first place. One thing I could say is that they are very much into quantifying your level of relevant experience with the project and value you could add for the project.
SH - No need to bump the thread, but basically it was based on my recent revelation that its possible to get IDP credit for volunteer services. 10 credits maximum for now, but its possible for more I believe.
LB - Yeah, I do have an unrealistic view of kids. When I spend time with my "nieces" (not blood-related or by law, but close friend), we just have fun. I didn't have to change their diapers or deal with any tantrums, being woken up at all hours, etc. We just go to the "please touch me museum", movies, etc etc. Even when they do gross things or do repetitive things or even lie, I just think thats cute, while their parents roll their eyes. I hope I'm not like this with my kids, because they'll be spoiled...
Aaagh all I want to do today is go see Where the Wild Things Are but I have a spec to write! Damn specifications!! Damn them to hell!!!!
Obvs I could have finished this last weekend so I could be in a theater right now, but in going with the theme of "irresponsible parents" I'm going to lay the blame squarely off myself. ;-)
Sarah, good for you teaching Abram appropriate behavior. And slart, you *must* just enjoy the time with your friends' kids and spoil them a little, while not letting them run wild and ruin other people's trip to Please Touch, of course. (Also, Please Touch ME? LOL!) Your job is to be an adult friend, their parents' job is to be their parents.
toaster, that's part of our plan for next year: tell the parents what we expect them to expect of their kids.
Sorry for all the kid talk, non-parents. I'll beg, please, no WWTWA spoilers if you see the movie before I do, but I DO want to hear if you see it!
HAHAHA, I totally thought it was Please Touch Me museum all this time. And I didn't think anything of it. Now I know and won't make a fool of myself...any more...
I've been involved in countless parent/kid events over the years (as practically everyone in my family is involved in primary education in some form). you simply can't expect all parents to discipline their kids.
if I'm reading LB's situation correctly, the ruckus was most likely caused by disengaged parents - the two best possible strategies are to either completely remove them from the space, or bring them into the activity. Even the best behaved kids can act up if they see that the grown-ups don't care about what is going on.
just returned from leasing a new car!!!! got a honda insight. so while I can feel guilty about still burning crude oil, I'm getting 50mph or better and know that it got five-star crash ratings. Did a lease cause I hope to go all electric in a few years.
to match LB's wild kid story, at the dealer there were four kids running wildly around. I was getting ready to grab them by the scruff of their necks if they ran into Steven or seemed poised to hurt him. Still don't know where their parents were...
i've "accidentally" tripped the feral kids scampering about public places who gotten too close to me. screaming/crying kids are hardly any more pleasant...but at least i feel better about myself for being evil
ex-se-leeeent , mr. puddles (said with mr. burnes voice from the simpsons)....
kids are like that here too, LB. most parents are more engaged though, at least where i am. being responsible is more common here than in north america i would say, blatant generalisation and all. its a culture thing. kids grow up to be incredibly well-adjusted and confident. also a bit naive, because they never have to deal with hard things on their own. i worry about that sometimes. my kids are growing up in an emotional paradise, but what are they going to do if we move to the west? i am teaching them kung-fu to deal with the assholes who think being happy means you are weak...;-)
anyway, that wildness does have an upside. in the long run. its the madness that makes it possible for a kid to leave home at 17 and do well. kids here stay home til they can afford a house !
my mom was a first grade teacher in Wyoming where she had a classroom filled with twenty some young cowboys and three cowgirls. I had to stop by her classroom one day for some unkown or forgotten reason. I looked thru the glass in the classroom door and I saw every kid standing at the window and I was puzzled, so I knocked on the door and my mom came to the door. I ask her what is going on and she explained a tractor trailer truck had just flipped on its side and the were cattle running everywhere so no one could stay in their set because it was better than going to the zoo! I learned something that day. Kids will be kids....sometimes you just have to go with the flow. She always had this good Carma about her and years later would receive invitations to High School Graduations from her former students.
I'm so glad the roller shoe thing isn't as popular as it once was. Can't tell you how many times I've almost been run over by kids in the stores who aren't paying attention and the parents being nowhere to be found. A few times I've been on the verge of wringing a few necks but instead I stopped, took a deep breath, and gave them the evil instead.
I'm sorry to start up all the kid-bashing today. Not that any of it isn't well-deserved, it is! But that my rant took over thread central today. I just really, really needed to get it out.
I watched the original Star Wars (Ep. 4) again tonight, with Angus, and realized that C-3PO reminds me of you, puddles! Or you remind me of him. What a great movie.
i got rollerblades, which are awesome for short-distance commuting - but no one uses them here except the kids. i am totally waiting for japan to go european like the new government is talking about...then i get to be quirky and no one will say a thing.
mildly related to your rant LB, the kids here clean their own schools. there is a maintenance person for fixing machines but no janitor. that is the job of the children. and they do pretty good. teaches them to respect their own place since they gots to clean up after themselves. pretty cool in my opinion. i think it makes them better behaved in the ways that matter...
make the kids clean their schools in the u.s. and i bet you'd watch the lawsuits pile up. [sigh.]
i have to admit that i only pull the wheelies out every now and then because i'm mildly scared of them. they're amazingly hard to control, even if you are a decent skater. sometimes if i feel like i need to break out of feeling 'old', i'll lace 'em on.
...which is kind of where i am today. last night i chose not to go see a concert by one of my favorite singers because i just couldn't take myself back out of the house after 9pm. i decided to use the money to buy his new album instead. old old old.
Steven, do some yoga regularly- after awhile you'll feel like you have better control of your body.
The Montessori schools here include cleaning the classroom as curriculum. It really makes sense for the young kids, as it's stuff they see their parents doing and want to mimic anyway.
Beautiful crisp fall day here. I'm headed to the farmer's market for eggs and apples.
i've been compared to mr. burns several times...if he wasn't a cartoon, i'd probably consider it a compliment
cleaning, chores, any kind of work; it's all good for children. they really do need their enthusiasm beat out of them (not always literally beat). the sooner that people accept the brutalities of the world, the sooner they become good citizens and cogs in the machine...and less likely to make posts on archinect whining about how they "hate their job" or think that "architects should make more money"
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_chinese_drywall]chinese drywall?[/url] why are people still buying anything from china? of course, because it's cheap. oh brother.
i definitely drank too much last night. i'm hangover this morning. i need more sleep before the football game in south bend. go irish!!!
I'm headed to the farmer's market for pork, apples, and to pick up my farm share of veggies (half bushel). Can't wait to see what we got this week!
I love my life. I was ruminating the other day on how I don't want it to ever, ever change... well except that I want to travel more, and build myself my own house, and have kids some day... but APART from all that, no change!
I went to the gym early this morning and have returned feeling very very old. Mind you I'm only 32, but intend that by my 33rd I'll look closer to 28... well that's the plan at least.
I'm having a good morning, I've been trying to get a head start on all the crap I have to do with school. Sarah I would love to send you a few papers to read, but that would be just cruel (if not completely against the school policies). Presently I'm going through our online lectures to make sure I know what the students were learning. Here's something I learnt;
DOMESTIC REVIVAL
:
A revival in the use of rustic materials through the influence of the ARTS and CRAFTS MOVEMENT , combined with the foliate shapes of the ART NOUVEAU derived from textile , and book design to create the so – called DOMESTIC REVIVAL starting in the UK in the mid 19th Century. TRADITIONALISM , as a reaction to FUTURISM , and the other innovative styles of this period is the idiom of the international expression of what began as the British DOMESTIC REVIVAL.
hey mantaray, i'll let you know our chicago plan via email soon and we can make a plan for ... whatever. i'm going to make our hotel reservation today.
I wasn't going to head to this wedding at all but found a great last-minute ticket. It's one of my oldest friends so I'm pretty psyched I can go, but bummed I will miss you.
there are issues with japanese schools but they sure got that learning to respect the world and people around you thing figured out. my iranian friend says the math level is too low compared to what he learned though, and he says the students aren't disciplined (academically) enough. too much having fun. which is frankly scary. wonder what he'd think of canadian school. my daughter is already a year ahead of her cousins back home.
know exactly how you feel steven. mind you, for me the last train home is at 12.00midnight so if i go out too late i have to stay up all night. i am however physically in much better shape than i have been for years. i can run up the 5 story walk-up we live in no problemo. wasn't easy just to walk up the bloody thing first time we came here...
gotta love this ad. i responded that my expenses would be $5000.00. they wanted to know how that could be, i said at 750 sf, with a budget in the area of 20-40k, my hourly rate is $125 for 40 hours.
b3ta you really should stop under-charging yourself.
So I just came in from a reunion of sorts 20+ of us from the class of 93 - the oldest Catholic boys school on the island. We are an odd bunch but a happy bunch. A few single malts later....
abhor wheelysneaks. Neat idea, terrible social impact. The kids who already like to be obnoxious get a toy that makes them 10x as obnoxious... great.
I found out from my mom today that one of my cousins is having to carry a dead fetus around inside of her. She found out that it died but they don't know why, and because she lives in the middle of nowhere, she has some podunk doctor that won't perform an abortion because he has no experience with late-term ones, flat out says he doesn't know how. I feel like that should not be optional training, because a hormonal woman whose hopes for a child have just been crushed should not be made to carry the carcass inside of her because her doctor is incompetent and there's not another one around for a hundred miles or so.
rationalist... does the fetus still have a heartbeat?
Because if it doesn't, your cousin should become rich by suing the doctor for gross negligence.
A completely dead fetus can calcify (it basically turns into a giant rock hard kidney stone that will be completely unable to pass naturally and even by cesserian).
A completely dead fetus can also "deglove" meaning the fetus will putrefy inside of the mother and slip out of its skin. A fetus can fully putrefy within a month-- this is a serious condition that can lead to sepsis or septicaemia, coagulation issues leading to stroke or anuerism, necrosis and serious infection.
Like literally, your cousin could rot from the inside out. I've never heard of a successful lower body amputation.
Not to mention the terror of having to go through the process of seeing yourself giving birth to a skinless, rotting monster child. And then having to birth its skin.
If it has not started to expel the fetus automatically and this has gone on for a while, your cousin will more than likely be dead in 2 to 4 weeks.
Now it could be ancephaly (absence of a brain) and if that is the case, then the baby should be aborted.
Even if it has a brain stem, the "baby" and its reactions are not real. I'm sure having an abortion is less painful that giving birth to some soulless homunculus that will die in a few days.
OMG rationalist... that is absolutely horrible. I can't even imagine what she and your family must be going through right now. And based on everything Orochi has said I really really hope she is able to get help soon. Sending good thoughts your way.
no, I know. That's what makes me so damned mad. I understand that a doctor in those parts won't do that for a live baby, for religious reasons. I don't have to like it, but I get it. But they should still know how, for cases like this! They are actively searching for the nearest doctor that can help.
Thread Central
Landing a public rfp is more like eating soylent green. You're not supposed to know that it's cannibalism! local, state, and federal projects are different beasts - you need experience to get get one, but how can you get experience without experience?
So I'm not crazy, it IS the Catch-22 it appears to be.
I'm trying to stay positive but all the sudden I have this overall feeling of doom in my future. I FUCKING HATE CATCH-22's!!!!
Please excuse the outburst. I'll try not to let it happen again.
*m - Recently started a government contract. Obviously can't disclose too much information. The cool thing is that the government knows what they want. They have their own architects and project managers that have been through this before (another reason why Owner representatives could be architects too, and we should offer services as such). The downside is it is a bit restrictive in the documentation format. And there are security clearance issues (gotta get mine...) and levels of beauraucracy. The client is not just "the government"; it is multiple levels of multiple agencies, all with their own specialties, limitations, etc. Involves a lot of project meetings and communication - which are not necessarily bad things. Its not strictly profit-driven, so there are also shifts in the priorities as well, which are always interesting to work with architecturally.
I always feel left out when TCers talk about their kids. Adorable kids and all... Did I mention I'm the ONLY one in my entire office without kids? A close friend called me the other day and put on the phone her 4 year old daughter. The girl asked me "why aren't you here yet?" in tears. Apparently she missed me. Makes me want to have my own.
In other news, I was able to input the correct credit card information on the Amtrak website to buy train tickets while being semi-asleep (without looking at the card). Strangely, I couldn't tell you right now what my credit card # is. Power of unconsciousness I guess.
And I am officially a poker fanatic. I was one 6 (any suit) from taking home at least 5 figures. Damn...
And to bring TC back to its original purpose... What the hell, I got no responses on my thread about being able to get IDP for volunteer work. Is this old news or is no one interested in the fact that its possible? Only willing to work for free for big names eh?
Slart, I didn't see your thread. I don't have much time, so I just come straight here to TC. It's the only place I want to be, really. But now you've gotten me curious. I'll check it out soon.
Hi Sarah, if you didn't noticed that other folks missed you please check beyond 5 pages. You really were missed.
I'm in a strange place for the last 24 hours I've been working on a technical proposal and swear my brain has turned to mush. I had to stop writing around 3 to run some errands and won't have a chance to return to it meaningfully until weekend (a long public holiday weekend at that). The added responsibilities full time is taking away my efforts in my part-time job to get registered locally. Sigh.
Now I have to do a lecture for my 4th year students, more on that later
Hey all.
I had my second CRA advisory board meeting tonight. I had fun. We actually voted on a few things.
I just marked 5 essays to hand back to the students to revise. Only 78 more essays to go before next month. Ack! This wasn't what I signed up for
of course its what you signed up for archi ;-) unless this is the bit of work you have to do cuz your colleague stepped out?
my brother and i had rifles before we were 10. we didn't shoot anyone. did have a shotgun pointed at me once. happily, the guy didn't pull trigger. i dunno, don't see why anything but hunting rifles should be legal for anyone not a soldier...but whatever.
Going to a resturaunt tonight where I can get a free stein(sp?) if I order a liter of beer. And it's a real glass stien, not a cheesy plastic one. I am so ordering that liter, even if I have to take it to go. Great Austrian food and cool swag. My kind of place.
Techno, if you'd like, I can help you with your essays. I need some short reading. I won't even charge you or the students. Same goes for you, Liberty Bell. Send me some of your stuff. You're liscensed and I need some IDP hours.
<personal-parenting-rant, feel free to skip I just need to get it off my chest>
I was at my kid's school yesterday from 3-9pm decorating and organizing the bedtime stories event, in which the kids come to school in the evening in their pajamas and the teachers read stories with flashlights then a professional storyteller performs for the whole group. So the gym is strung with white holiday sparkly lights and the overhead lights are off, the snack table is lit up, it all looked very magical. Then the professional story teller starts up and the whole thing veers to chaos: kids are running around, in and out of the bathroom, parents are all clustered in the back of the room yammering to each other and ignoring their children and the storyteller (who we paid to come to the event, BTW), the few kids up front who are intently listening (mine included, I have to brag) are having a hard time hearing because the background noise and motion is so bad, and even when one teacher asks everyone to sit down things just don't get in control. It was, honestly, embarrassing for me to have put so much effort into this event that I'm sure most parents left thinking "Well that was a waste" because they never thought to teach their own damn kids to be respectful to someone who is giving them a presentation!
When we got home I got my wonderful child into bed than slammed a glass of bourbon (hadn't had dinner because I didn't have a break from doing all the damn decorating) while husband and I bitched and vented about wishing we had grabbed the microphone and told off the whole room. Ugh! I love my kid's school but the whole nervousness/PC fear these days of getting into a lawsuit for telling someone else's kid to hush is just ridiculous.
slartibart, I appreciate how you feel like you want kids, they truly are a huge joy, more so than one can imagine, but parenting is just a major minefield and emotional roller coaster.
The optimistic point is: the organizing teacher and I spoke and feel like we've learned some major lessons about how to handle it next year. Also, I'm terrible at delegating (this is why I'll never be a good boss) and next year I'm just going to call people up and say "You need to arrive at this time, with these supplies, and do this task, then take it back down at the end". I had five WONDERFUL volunteers who worked so hard with me to get it all together, but I need to organize them better. Then I need to start next year's event with the magical words that worked on a group of teenagers awhile back: I'm not telling you to be quiet, I'm telling you to be silent (said while glowering and towering threateningly above them).
I just feel bad for the kids and parents who wanted to enjoy an evening of stories and instead found themselves in the midst of the Running of the Bulls. Ugh
<end rant>
Got a deadline today, so I'm out. Thanks for letting me vent, TC, even if you skip it it feels good to spew frustration here. Hope everyone else is having a good day! It's Friday!!!
ha ha...children out of control! exactly why i want to see more people die. the world needs more pain & suffering to tramp down the abundance of energy in youthful spirits. mor broken people, not less.
point is that there's lots of guns in switzerland. for whatever reason the swiss don't see the need to shot each other so i guess there just better people than americans. in the us, i suspect we'll find ways to kill each other whether we have guns laws or not. in the meantime, i'd rather arm myself against the crazies.
Hey lb,,
That is something my dad bitches about at church with regards to the larger community events and that i was struck by the year i taught.
Namely that kids these days don't seem to be learning basic manners of behaving in public. With regards to noise, please and thank you, and general ruckus...
LB -
the secret to making these kinds of events successful is to make sure the parents are also engaged and involved in what is going on. it's less about managing the kids at these things, and more about managing the parents.
I know this sounds backwards, but if the kids see their parents off yammering in a corner someplace, they're going to think it's ok to also ignore what is going on. If the story-teller brought in the parents from the back of the room, got them doing something as part of the story - - the kids are going to pay attention.
No, I think parents should control their kids. Abram hit a little girl at music class yesterday, and though she didn't cry and the others moms said nothing , I immedeatly told him no and put him into the corner. It's called parenting, and more parents should do it.
*m - I may have misunderstood your post. I guess you're talking about getting the government contract in the first place. One thing I could say is that they are very much into quantifying your level of relevant experience with the project and value you could add for the project.
SH - No need to bump the thread, but basically it was based on my recent revelation that its possible to get IDP credit for volunteer services. 10 credits maximum for now, but its possible for more I believe.
LB - Yeah, I do have an unrealistic view of kids. When I spend time with my "nieces" (not blood-related or by law, but close friend), we just have fun. I didn't have to change their diapers or deal with any tantrums, being woken up at all hours, etc. We just go to the "please touch me museum", movies, etc etc. Even when they do gross things or do repetitive things or even lie, I just think thats cute, while their parents roll their eyes. I hope I'm not like this with my kids, because they'll be spoiled...
Aaagh all I want to do today is go see Where the Wild Things Are but I have a spec to write! Damn specifications!! Damn them to hell!!!!
Obvs I could have finished this last weekend so I could be in a theater right now, but in going with the theme of "irresponsible parents" I'm going to lay the blame squarely off myself. ;-)
Sarah, good for you teaching Abram appropriate behavior. And slart, you *must* just enjoy the time with your friends' kids and spoil them a little, while not letting them run wild and ruin other people's trip to Please Touch, of course. (Also, Please Touch ME? LOL!) Your job is to be an adult friend, their parents' job is to be their parents.
toaster, that's part of our plan for next year: tell the parents what we expect them to expect of their kids.
Sorry for all the kid talk, non-parents. I'll beg, please, no WWTWA spoilers if you see the movie before I do, but I DO want to hear if you see it!
HAHAHA, I totally thought it was Please Touch Me museum all this time. And I didn't think anything of it. Now I know and won't make a fool of myself...any more...
LB,
I think me and the lady will be going to see Where the Wild Things are this weekend. Probably tonight.
I've been involved in countless parent/kid events over the years (as practically everyone in my family is involved in primary education in some form). you simply can't expect all parents to discipline their kids.
if I'm reading LB's situation correctly, the ruckus was most likely caused by disengaged parents - the two best possible strategies are to either completely remove them from the space, or bring them into the activity. Even the best behaved kids can act up if they see that the grown-ups don't care about what is going on.
be very careful about lecturing them, though...
just returned from leasing a new car!!!! got a honda insight. so while I can feel guilty about still burning crude oil, I'm getting 50mph or better and know that it got five-star crash ratings. Did a lease cause I hope to go all electric in a few years.
to match LB's wild kid story, at the dealer there were four kids running wildly around. I was getting ready to grab them by the scruff of their necks if they ran into Steven or seemed poised to hurt him. Still don't know where their parents were...
i've "accidentally" tripped the feral kids scampering about public places who gotten too close to me. screaming/crying kids are hardly any more pleasant...but at least i feel better about myself for being evil
ex-se-leeeent , mr. puddles (said with mr. burnes voice from the simpsons)....
kids are like that here too, LB. most parents are more engaged though, at least where i am. being responsible is more common here than in north america i would say, blatant generalisation and all. its a culture thing. kids grow up to be incredibly well-adjusted and confident. also a bit naive, because they never have to deal with hard things on their own. i worry about that sometimes. my kids are growing up in an emotional paradise, but what are they going to do if we move to the west? i am teaching them kung-fu to deal with the assholes who think being happy means you are weak...;-)
anyway, that wildness does have an upside. in the long run. its the madness that makes it possible for a kid to leave home at 17 and do well. kids here stay home til they can afford a house !
my mom was a first grade teacher in Wyoming where she had a classroom filled with twenty some young cowboys and three cowgirls. I had to stop by her classroom one day for some unkown or forgotten reason. I looked thru the glass in the classroom door and I saw every kid standing at the window and I was puzzled, so I knocked on the door and my mom came to the door. I ask her what is going on and she explained a tractor trailer truck had just flipped on its side and the were cattle running everywhere so no one could stay in their set because it was better than going to the zoo! I learned something that day. Kids will be kids....sometimes you just have to go with the flow. She always had this good Carma about her and years later would receive invitations to High School Graduations from her former students.
I'm so glad the roller shoe thing isn't as popular as it once was. Can't tell you how many times I've almost been run over by kids in the stores who aren't paying attention and the parents being nowhere to be found. A few times I've been on the verge of wringing a few necks but instead I stopped, took a deep breath, and gave them the evil instead.
i got roller shoes (wheelies!) for my 40th birthday. so watch out, ****melt.
I'm sorry to start up all the kid-bashing today. Not that any of it isn't well-deserved, it is! But that my rant took over thread central today. I just really, really needed to get it out.
I watched the original Star Wars (Ep. 4) again tonight, with Angus, and realized that C-3PO reminds me of you, puddles! Or you remind me of him. What a great movie.
SW - That's awesome. Do you wear them frequently in busy stores? I'd love to own a pair myself, but would probably end up killing myself.
It's all good LB. I'm so excited. Made plans to see Where the Wild Things Are tomorrow. Can't wait.
ain't tried the wheelshoes. how are they, steven?
i got rollerblades, which are awesome for short-distance commuting - but no one uses them here except the kids. i am totally waiting for japan to go european like the new government is talking about...then i get to be quirky and no one will say a thing.
mildly related to your rant LB, the kids here clean their own schools. there is a maintenance person for fixing machines but no janitor. that is the job of the children. and they do pretty good. teaches them to respect their own place since they gots to clean up after themselves. pretty cool in my opinion. i think it makes them better behaved in the ways that matter...
make the kids clean their schools in the u.s. and i bet you'd watch the lawsuits pile up. [sigh.]
i have to admit that i only pull the wheelies out every now and then because i'm mildly scared of them. they're amazingly hard to control, even if you are a decent skater. sometimes if i feel like i need to break out of feeling 'old', i'll lace 'em on.
...which is kind of where i am today. last night i chose not to go see a concert by one of my favorite singers because i just couldn't take myself back out of the house after 9pm. i decided to use the money to buy his new album instead. old old old.
Steven, do some yoga regularly- after awhile you'll feel like you have better control of your body.
The Montessori schools here include cleaning the classroom as curriculum. It really makes sense for the young kids, as it's stuff they see their parents doing and want to mimic anyway.
Beautiful crisp fall day here. I'm headed to the farmer's market for eggs and apples.
just got back from farmer's market: honey and apples!
i've been compared to mr. burns several times...if he wasn't a cartoon, i'd probably consider it a compliment
cleaning, chores, any kind of work; it's all good for children. they really do need their enthusiasm beat out of them (not always literally beat). the sooner that people accept the brutalities of the world, the sooner they become good citizens and cogs in the machine...and less likely to make posts on archinect whining about how they "hate their job" or think that "architects should make more money"
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_chinese_drywall]chinese drywall?[/url] why are people still buying anything from china? of course, because it's cheap. oh brother.
i definitely drank too much last night. i'm hangover this morning. i need more sleep before the football game in south bend. go irish!!!
shit...told ya im hungover...chinese drywall
I'm headed to the farmer's market for pork, apples, and to pick up my farm share of veggies (half bushel). Can't wait to see what we got this week!
I love my life. I was ruminating the other day on how I don't want it to ever, ever change... well except that I want to travel more, and build myself my own house, and have kids some day... but APART from all that, no change!
I went to the gym early this morning and have returned feeling very very old. Mind you I'm only 32, but intend that by my 33rd I'll look closer to 28... well that's the plan at least.
I'm having a good morning, I've been trying to get a head start on all the crap I have to do with school. Sarah I would love to send you a few papers to read, but that would be just cruel (if not completely against the school policies). Presently I'm going through our online lectures to make sure I know what the students were learning. Here's something I learnt;
DOMESTIC REVIVAL
:
A revival in the use of rustic materials through the influence of the ARTS and CRAFTS MOVEMENT , combined with the foliate shapes of the ART NOUVEAU derived from textile , and book design to create the so – called DOMESTIC REVIVAL starting in the UK in the mid 19th Century. TRADITIONALISM , as a reaction to FUTURISM , and the other innovative styles of this period is the idiom of the international expression of what began as the British DOMESTIC REVIVAL.
hey mantaray, i'll let you know our chicago plan via email soon and we can make a plan for ... whatever. i'm going to make our hotel reservation today.
anyone else in chicago next weekend?!
Steven are you going for ACADIA? I had planned to, but can't afford it, and now we're going up to Traverse City next weekend anyway, family stuff.
nope. going to steer well clear of it. (these computers gadgets are a fad anyway.)
we're just up there for fun.
oh, steven, so bummed.
I wasn't going to head to this wedding at all but found a great last-minute ticket. It's one of my oldest friends so I'm pretty psyched I can go, but bummed I will miss you.
cool about the montesorri schools LB.
there are issues with japanese schools but they sure got that learning to respect the world and people around you thing figured out. my iranian friend says the math level is too low compared to what he learned though, and he says the students aren't disciplined (academically) enough. too much having fun. which is frankly scary. wonder what he'd think of canadian school. my daughter is already a year ahead of her cousins back home.
know exactly how you feel steven. mind you, for me the last train home is at 12.00midnight so if i go out too late i have to stay up all night. i am however physically in much better shape than i have been for years. i can run up the 5 story walk-up we live in no problemo. wasn't easy just to walk up the bloody thing first time we came here...
gotta love this ad. i responded that my expenses would be $5000.00. they wanted to know how that could be, i said at 750 sf, with a budget in the area of 20-40k, my hourly rate is $125 for 40 hours.
b3ta you really should stop under-charging yourself.
So I just came in from a reunion of sorts 20+ of us from the class of 93 - the oldest Catholic boys school on the island. We are an odd bunch but a happy bunch. A few single malts later....
Going to have a quiet night
enjoy your weekend
Wow, that guy is a real dick. Gotta love people that want something for nothing.
Went to see Where the Wild Things Are with a friend. Great flick, excellent soundtrack. I may have to purchase it.
Anyhoo- off to bed. Despite the three and a half hour nap I took this afternoon I'm quite knackered. Nite all.
abhor wheelysneaks. Neat idea, terrible social impact. The kids who already like to be obnoxious get a toy that makes them 10x as obnoxious... great.
I found out from my mom today that one of my cousins is having to carry a dead fetus around inside of her. She found out that it died but they don't know why, and because she lives in the middle of nowhere, she has some podunk doctor that won't perform an abortion because he has no experience with late-term ones, flat out says he doesn't know how. I feel like that should not be optional training, because a hormonal woman whose hopes for a child have just been crushed should not be made to carry the carcass inside of her because her doctor is incompetent and there's not another one around for a hundred miles or so.
rationalist that's horrible and seems like the kind of thing that could have last emotional damage to the mother.
on a note, I thought those wheeled shoes were called "heelies" since the wheel was in the heel?
rationalist... does the fetus still have a heartbeat?
Because if it doesn't, your cousin should become rich by suing the doctor for gross negligence.
A completely dead fetus can calcify (it basically turns into a giant rock hard kidney stone that will be completely unable to pass naturally and even by cesserian).
A completely dead fetus can also "deglove" meaning the fetus will putrefy inside of the mother and slip out of its skin. A fetus can fully putrefy within a month-- this is a serious condition that can lead to sepsis or septicaemia, coagulation issues leading to stroke or anuerism, necrosis and serious infection.
Like literally, your cousin could rot from the inside out. I've never heard of a successful lower body amputation.
Not to mention the terror of having to go through the process of seeing yourself giving birth to a skinless, rotting monster child. And then having to birth its skin.
If it has not started to expel the fetus automatically and this has gone on for a while, your cousin will more than likely be dead in 2 to 4 weeks.
Now it could be ancephaly (absence of a brain) and if that is the case, then the baby should be aborted.
Even if it has a brain stem, the "baby" and its reactions are not real. I'm sure having an abortion is less painful that giving birth to some soulless homunculus that will die in a few days.
OMG rationalist... that is absolutely horrible. I can't even imagine what she and your family must be going through right now. And based on everything Orochi has said I really really hope she is able to get help soon. Sending good thoughts your way.
I was about to say something similar to above --
Rationalist, that causes sepsis -- cousin needs to get child out IMMEDIATELY!
no, I know. That's what makes me so damned mad. I understand that a doctor in those parts won't do that for a live baby, for religious reasons. I don't have to like it, but I get it. But they should still know how, for cases like this! They are actively searching for the nearest doctor that can help.
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