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Larry T. Spider

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Everything posted by Larry T. Spider

  1. It’s funny that you accidentally quoted me because I’m a huge cubs fan and just got done watching the game decked out in cubbies gear.
  2. I think Congress voted to give him the authority.
  3. This thread has officially been surlied. Go to hell fats, poors, and ketchup guzzlers!
  4. But they can never admit it. Just like their orange god, there's no place in their worlds to admit they were wrong, made a mistake, were duped, etc. “Biden and the libruls pushed us to this point.” ”It’s the Dems fault for running Harris. Nobody was going to vote for her.”
  5. Very similar to some of the southwestern Native American tribes. In Arizona the obesity rate is 81%. Would be interesting to study their metabolism after generations of surviving on minimal calories.
  6. That’s Anthony Mays. He came with Elizalde and was her right hand man. He was actually competent and personable, but ultimately too associated with the Elizalde brand to get the job permanently.
  7. It’s easy to convince my parents that republicans aren’t great for them. The hard part is undoing what right wing media has brainwashed into them about democrats. They believe the most outlandish things.
  8. If you combined the worst qualities of Charlie’s coaching with Herman’s personality.
  9. It was more of a comment about the boat.
  10. They got served a big fat meal with a poison pill in it.
  11. Wanted to give a some insight about how we ended up with the current superintendent. It’s way too long so TLDR: Elizalde caused this mess. First we need to go back to Paul Cruz, who was a really nice guy and generally good to work for. He did a lot to train and promote from within so we were producing a lot of good campus administrators. I went through the AP prep program and principal prep program through the district. His downside was that he wasn’t strong with systems. Things became increasingly disorganized at a district level and there were redundancies in the admin office. Special ed was a particular weakness and we went through multiple (weak) directors. When he moved on to UT, the school board wanted somebody to clean up the mess, cut unnecessary spending, and get things organized. My input was that they need a leader that understands east AND West Austin to effectively implement changes. Most districts don’t have both demographics in the same place. Then the district did the worst thing possible. The hired Elizalde to be the hammer. She came in at a time when employees were leaving public education in droves due to Covid and she never read the room. She blamed teachers and administrators for all the problems, cut crucial support staff, and ran off the rest. This eventuality led to massive staff shortages and TEA taking over the special education department because they couldn’t provide timely evaluations. Almost 20 evaluators quit under her watch because they were treated like shit. When I left, 17 other elementary principals left the same year. Because we were treated like shit. Teacher turnover was over 50% per year at many campuses. It was the most toxic culture I’ve ever personally witnessed. Additionally, she pissed off west Austin parents by getting rid of PTA funded positions, which left schools scrambling. The district had no plan to replace those services. Poorer schools made it work with title 1 funds but schools that didn’t qualify were screwed. The system needed to change but her communication was a giant middle finger to families willing to donate money to hire extra teachers - even teachers for schools their kids didn’t attend. Enrollment declines continue, which kicks the recapture formula into high gear, which turbo fucks the budget even further. After using AISD as a stepping stone and creating irreparable damage in a short amount of time, she bounces. Now the school board has to put the pieces back together. Special education is falling apart, there are massive teacher shortages, the AP/principal prep programs were cut so no pipeline there, and parents feel burned. They decide they need somebody that understands East AND West Austin and can put a friendly face on the district. Somebody that gets AISD and will put people first. They don’t have many insiders to choose from because Elizalde ran them off, replaced them with her own people, then took her people to Dallas. So they go with Segura, who was a former AISD student, but not even certified to be a superintendent at the time. It’s probably too hard of an undertaking for somebody’s first superintendent job but I understand why they went there. The summer after I left, I had a principal acquaintance call and ask me for a job. She had 20 unfilled positions and it was July. Dozens of schools were looking at starting the year with substitute teachers in 10-20 positions. Segura may have dropped the ball on some of this stuff with middle schools, but it’s important to understand the shit show he inherited from Elizalde. It’s also why he talks about not hurting staff with these changes, although we should always be talking about students first.
  12. West Austin problems.
  13. I can’t find it now but I recently read an article about picky eaters and how it’s seen as a sign of low socio economic status in the business world. Definitely tracks with what Brisket posted. I don’t think you have to be that adventurous but you shouldn’t be the one constantly vetoing restaurants. You should be able to find at least a few things you like at just about any restaurant - and not on the kids menu. I recently took a person that works in the same field to happy hour/early dinner to discuss some business opportunities. She couldn’t find anything she liked and at bread and butter. Also, quite overweight. Second invite got lost in the mail.
  14. Spending is up to deal with state mandates that cause administrative bloat. The money isn’t making it to the classroom.
  15. Certainly anecdotal but one thing I’ve noticed is that unhealthy eaters are very picky and unwilling to eat foods they aren’t used to. It can be counterintuitive because they eat a lot. Let’s take my FIL with food addiction for example. He would eat maybe 2 or 3 meals on that list and wouldn’t be happy about those. Cooking time or money is not an obstacle for him. The problem is that he likes maybe 15 different foods and they are all unhealthy. I think about my biggest friend from HS who I am still good friends with 20 years later. Same issue. He’s a very picky eater, which is strange for a guy that’s 350 pounds. But his diet is almost all wings, burgers, bbq, Tex-Mex. The AI menu would work for him but only because it would be a starvation diet.
  16. I try to not shame the fats and poors too much because I know we aren’t that far away from people looking at drinkers in the same way as smokers and buffet busters.
  17. I like to do a 500 deficit then add 300-500 additional calories burned from movement. Not to lose weight faster, just to account for how bad most people are at counting calories accurately. Also helps me keep a positive mindset when I get off track because of a holiday or vacation or whatever.
  18. Building in a cushion of 300-500 calories a day through movement helps a lot. A lot of the weight in trying to lose was from when I went from being a school administrator walking all over the building to a desk job. Didnt change my diet at all during that switch but it probably added a pound every few weeks.
  19. I live in Texas but my work territory is the Deep South. It’s a spectacle.
  20. There’s a chicken and egg debate regarding poors and delayed gratification. Some argue they’re poor because they make decisions that are fun in the short term but detrimental in the long run. Other people believe it is the circumstances of being poor that lead to short term decision making. Food is intertwined in this debate. I worked in schools in East Austin and west Austin. The mindset regarding food and exercise could not be more different. Derka hit on this earlier in the thread and I largely agree. The situation is crisis level bad in our low income communities. I don’t really have an answer for it but I have tried some school programs to promote healthy eating and at least being exposed to new foods at a young age. Chicken nuggets won that battle.
  21. I made a post up thread about having disposable income and wanting to figure out the best way to invest it. 401k contributions have continued as normal but I’ve only put a little in the brokerage account. Saved myself about 15% on the recent slide but now wondering how long to hold out. Probably going to start dollar cost averaging 2-3k at a time. I can’t see this market going anywhere soon but fomo is setting in.
  22. I don’t have the studies handy but everything I’ve read supports this summary. However, they suggest a moderate deficit in order to retain muscle mass. Your body will want to burn fat before muscle but an extreme deficit will burn both. High protein also helps preserve muscle during weight loss.
  23. Obviously a lot of health considerations beyond weight loss, but it might be encouraging for those with a sweet tooth. A K-State nutrition professor did an experiment where he only ate twinkies, Doritos and little Debbie snacks for 2 months while capping his calories at 1,800 per day. Why? To show that a calorie deficit works no matter what you are eating. He lost 27 pounds. He increased his good cholesterol while reducing his bad cholesterol by 20% and reduced his BMI into the normal range.
  24. It’s still calories in vs calories out. The hormonal changes may cause a slowdown in metabolism, making fewer calories naturally go out, thus making weight loss harder. But a calorie deficit still works. It’s been replicated a bunch of times, but they have done studies with people that really struggle to lose weight. They claim they have tried everything and are eating in a calorie deficit. Then they put them in a controlled setting with only access to a set amount of calories per day. 100% success rate in losing weight. If you think you are in a calorie deficit and not losing weight, you aren’t in a calorie deficit. Your calculations could be off on what you are consuming (usually) or on what you are burning. Studies have shown that people vastly underestimate how many calories they are consuming. Everything from portion sizes to cooking oils and sprays. Trust me, I am not coming from a holier than thou place. I need to lose 30 pounds. I’m just realistic about why I’m fat.
  25. Not sure what percent of the population has a food addiction, but I definitely think it is real. My FIL, the one that had the quadruple bypass, is a prime example. Really nice guy but his life is dictated by food. It’s all he thinks about. If we have a healthy meal, he will become visibly depressed like it ruined his day. He has a sentimental attachment to food and associates it with family members that have passed away. It’s almost like he feels like he would be abandoning his culture (white, southern) to eat a different way even some of the time. I first realized it was a problem when we were going on a camping/hunting trip with some of the guys in his extended family. We went to the grocery store and bought somewhere in the neighborhood of 10x what we actually needed. It’s almost like he’s blind to what an appropriate amount of food is. He almost lost his life because of it and was very lucky to recover but it has done nothing to change his diet. Last night we had breaded and fried pork cops covered in gravy. He also sneaks out of the house to get fast food. All of this screams addiction to me but his wife has the most control of the situation and she’s an enabler. White southern men his age don’t exactly go to therapy, but he needed professional help 10-20 years ago. Would be interested to see if anybody connects with this on a personal level or has some insight.
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