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Samson's Wig

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Posts posted by Samson's Wig

  1. On 6/19/2020 at 12:23 PM, atomheartbevo said:

    Going hard on courting the Infowars crowd.    I don't know the makeup of District 10, but I figured the Infowars crowd, minus Alex Jones, would be in cheap apartments or out in the country.

     

    She wouldn't sniff the ballot in District 10.  Fortunately for her she's running in District 6, where there may be just enough Infowars types to get her elected (for now).

  2. 6 hours ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

    Where? I travel around Colorado a lot and outside of Breck I don’t experience this...seems to be a constant for you.

    maybe you’re the cunt?

    Always a possibility.  I was reacting more to comments in this thread, not personal experiences.  I've heard the grumblings about Texans like everyone else, but I've never felt unwelcome.  And I've lived in CO and NM both, so I've seen it from the other side.

  3. 8 minutes ago, troph said:

    Well when the “bankrollers” come in and as a rule not an exception act like dickfaces it’s no wonder the locals have a reaction. And the thing is Texans don’t think they are dickfaces, but a lot of us are. We have friends in CO who work tourism and they love Texans for their money, friendliness and complete blindness to their arrogance. There’s an entertainment comedic value to Texans for the ones we know. Especially the Texans who spend 3 months of the summer up there. Tourist workers don’t seem bemoan their presence but they have tons of stories of tone deaf, assholery behavior and our people have a reputation for a reason. Texans are an arrogant bunch.

    I know.  That was being purposefully obtuse.  Although there are self entitled assholes everywhere, including born and bred in Colorado.  Despite the insistence of our mountainous neighbors, Texans didn't invent arrogance and assholery.  One could argue that Coloradans in particular have their own special brand.  New Mexico gets a pass as their assholes tend to just be transplants to Santa Fe.   But tourists are always a cut above, probably has something to do with being on holiday.  For Colorado and New Mexico residents, those tourists just happen to be Texan.  I know that most recognize their peaceful mountain town wouldn't even exist without the tourists, but the level of bitching to the point of making people feel unwelcome is insane.  Don't live in a place that can't exist without tourism if you can't handle tourists.  Because tourists suck.

    • Like 1
  4. Thanks guys.  We've exhausted Dreambox, and Epic to a lesser extent.  We have one 8 yo that is dyslexic and and has numerous visual processing disorders, obviously on a 504 plan, and needs a lot help.  Epic hasn't registered for her at all.  But she is working with tutors (over zoom) in addition to her eye therapy each week.  Her twin brother just finished up To Kill a Mockingbird and is about wrap up Great Expectations. His advanced reading and comprehension skills are almost harder for us to navigate than his sister's limitations. Epic doesn't offer things that intrigue him, unfortunately.  He digs through my personal library (such as it is) for things to read.  It's been a tough nut to crack with each of them.   

    Honestly, if we're 100% online this fall, and I really think that might be the case at this point, I might just pull them and homeschool them until things open back up. At least it would save the insane frustration that was keeping up with the 30-40 different logins for various software and websites that each individual teacher chose because Blend and Canvas are terrible, and the near perpetual failure of said software and websites on a daily basis.  I greatly appreciated the effort that their teachers put in this spring, but I'm not sure there was much educational value at all.  If we see more of the same this fall it might be the smart move to just save the kids the headache of that nonsense and teach them directly utilizing Time4Learning or IXL.   https://www.ixl.com/

     

    • Like 1
  5. 56 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

    My son was failing in kindergarten. We pulled him in March and did time for learning for 3 months. He entered first grade at the same school ahead of his class in every respect. 

    Theres plenty of decent resources for home schooling elementary kids. This isn’t rocket science. 

    My son is very bright and extremely adhd so factor that in. 

    This Time for Learning?  https://www.time4learning.com/

  6. 2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
    14 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:
    In CO? My grandparents had property outside Buena Vista so I visited often. I’ve heard all the comments about Texans. It always seemed to come from a good place. 

    Having Texas plates means you aren't willing to commit to living here. CO plates cost a lot more. In ordinary times, it might be light hearted. In the middle of a pandemic, not so much.

    Coloradoans are great, much like New Mexicans.  Both economies, especially for the average citizen, are built on tourism and they still act like dickhead townies when the folks bankrolling the operation show up.  

    • Like 3
  7. 1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

    My step father was literally accosted in the fucking grocery store by a mouth breathing aggie about a month ago. He's 73 and grocery shopping in a mask and gloves and minding his own business, and a piece of shit hillbilly slathered head to toe in Maroon, in his 40's, comes up right next to him and says "Unmask, Longhorn." I wish I had been there. 

    Holy shit.  I don't think I would have been able to maintain my composure and not physically assault that asshole had I witnessed that.  WTF?

  8. I agree that will help, Larry.   It's desperately needed.  I don't think it's enough to prevent a huge percentage of kids from failing though, unless the grading system is incredibly lenient.  And I don't think any school district is going to fail a huge percentage of its students for any reason. We've been shuffling uneducated kids through the system for decades when they should have been held back.  They're not going to stop now, and certainly not with a huge chunk of kids involved.  So grading becomes meaningless, and smart kids will recognize this immediately - which opens up an entirely new group of kids to apathy and failure.

  9. 2 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

    Its not that simple.  My wife has been on the same district R2R committee from the get-go - there are multiple issues involved WRT/ space and educators willing to teach on-campus many dictated by the state and tea rather than local preference.  I have heard nearly every one of these calls and I can assure you the path that our district is taking is the best one.  Just make sure you fill out the survey ASAP on Monday morning and your kid will be fine.  

    Why does the timing of filling out the survey matter?   N/M I saw your follow up post.

  10. 4 hours ago, drt said:

    While I agree with you about the majority parents working and having those difficulties of balance, there are half a dozen women that would rather be sipping on something with the kids in school on our street alone.  And they're fucking vocal about it.  The rest of us are too fucking busy to have time to gripe.

    Kinda sounds like life as usual, sadly.

     

    3 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    I had my daughter home with me over the past year, and pre-covid, I spent a shitload of time at our neighborhood park.  During the time, I was also picking up our son, dropping him off, occasionally having lunch with him.   And I see it after school officially let out for the summer - there's plenty of parents hanging out at the park.   My wife's also in education, and as a result, most of her friends are teachers/staff, and they heard plenty of bitching from parents after things shutdown.  Parents that they know don't work.  

    And then there's Tarrytown, which is a whole other universe unto itself.

    Is it a majority?  No.  These people do exist though, and after covid kicked in, they bitched on FB groups we are on.

    Parents with an attitude of "it isn't my job to make sure my kid is doing X amount of work!"  They are going to be in for a wakeup call when their kid isn't counted for attendance or not doing their work or whatever.

    Of course anyone in that situation complaining like that needs fuck right off.  I've never doubted that such attitudes exist, I just don't think that's even a statistically large enough number of people that it matters even a little bit in the grand scheme.  And it sounds like drt should move to a new block.  

    My main concern with school starting back up, after the obvious top-priority concerns regarding health and safety, is how grading and accountability is going to work.  I don't see how you can come up with any remote learning system that wouldn't result in having to fail a third of elementary age students if you insist on grading.  It's at least that many that fall into the camp of poor access, working parents, or even just the shitty day-drinking moms and dads you guys hang out with.  Maybe this is just a slight adjustment to the supposed merit-based system that is already inherently unfair for certain kids for no fault of their own.  We're just expanding the group of kids who get fucked by the system.  

    I'm hoping that this turns into an opportunity to completely rethink the way we educate children in this country, and make adjustments that would never happen outside of a major disaster like this.  I doubt we'll be so lucky, but I can hope.

  11. Aren't they using ketamine for depression now as well?  This crap makes me nervous for those going through the therapy, as the side effects of MDMA and K aren't pretty, but if you're suffering enough perhaps swapping one set of symptoms for a different set is worth it.

  12. 11 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    I wish it was bullshit, but there have been a shit-ton of people complaining that they are having to watch their kids all day when they are home.

    Sorry atom, but while I agree with most of what you're saying in this thread, I just don't agree with your anecdotal notion that shit tons of people who otherwise have nothing to do are complaining about watching their kids. 

    Those who are complaining about the difficulties of the kids being at home are doing so because they're trying to hold down full time jobs while having to be a day long school teacher as well - which isn't possible long term.  There just isn't a large enough contingent of margarita sipping housewives in this town with kids in public school to even be statistically significant. 

    • Like 1
  13. Agreed, Larry T.   I've been hoping this is the straw that breaks the camel's back on the issue.  Or at the least, we have to go to some form of year round schedule and after the first year everyone realizes how great it is.  As it stands, the same parents who balk at the notion of their kids "losing their summer" are the same ones complaining about how hard it is to find and pay for activities for your kids all summer.  Travel and tourism can suck it.  They shouldn't be dictating what is best for kids' education.

    • Like 1
  14. Oh I know teachers don't like this any more than the parents.  I was speaking more to people who think there are parents complaining about this because it's spoiling their good time.  That's the shortsighted bullshit.

    As for people leaving the city, I was speaking more in general that AISD has been a major factor in driving families out of Austin for quite a while, although cost of living is clearly the more prominent factor.

    Not all surrounding school districts will be closing up shop 100% this fall.  My only point (and I told you not to read it as it was nothing more than a senseless rant) was that if AISD does close 100% it will be one more piece of kindling on the bonfire that is consuming AISD, not that it will singlehandedly drive people away.  Like most inner cities, eventually the only kids who will be left will be those who most desperately need access to a good education, and they won't get it.  

    • Like 1
  15. Don't bother reading this.  Seriously. It's not worth it.

    I'm kind of amazed at the blind spots some have on what a nightmare this is for most families.  Comments about Karens bitching about the teachers because they don't have time to drink margaritas are very shortsighted.  There are certainly a few AISD families with a stay at home mom or dad that can handle the homeschooling with relative ease, but they're in the minority.  We have lived in a dual income world for a long time, and most parents of kids in AISD, regardless of socioeconomic level, are both working full time.  

    In the spring, the assumption by the district and teachers that parents can just drop their jobs, especially during an economic meltdown, so they can babysit kids doing bullshit busy work is insanity.  Most junior high and high school kids can work largely unsupervised, but elementary kids (especially K-3 or so) absolutely need someone over their shoulder.  We have twins going into 3rd grade this fall.  One is GT and the other is on a 504 plan.   The both need constant supervision - one because he needs someone cracking a whip to get him to do the boring ass work, and the other because she sincerely needs assistance in order to get through it.  Bailing on work to get this done isn't an option for most families.  I was able to delegate enough of my tasks to get through the spring and teach the kids, but it wasn't pretty and I've been playing catchup for weeks. My wife was unable to take off work at all.

    Expecting younger kids to engage via Zoom is also the height of ignorance.  It just doesn't fucking work for 90% of them, even if they have access to Internet and a device.  This shit is broken.  Kids need to be classrooms with other kids.  Studies from other nations who opened schools showed very little impact on case numbers.  Precautions should be observed, including masks, distancing, limited numbers in classrooms, etc.  If a teacher is unwilling to work due to higher health risks,  find a different role for them such as coordinating curriculum or something, and keep the train moving.But get those kids in there or we're going to have a combined mental health and education crisis for a generation like nothing we've ever seen. Following up the economic collapse(s) and failure to teach basic history to millennials with a generation stunted by even worse education and mental health issues due to major interruptions to social development is going to make for one hell of a ride over the next half century.  

    The vast majority of homes in Austin do not have kids in them (as of the 2010 census it was around 25% and the number has been falling rapidly).   So education is just not a priority for most of the voting public here as now somewhere between 80-90% of voters in Austin don't have school age kids.  This also leaves a public gap in basic understanding of what is best for the kids, but no lack of strong opinions from this group.  Politicians have to pander to this type of voter, understandably, but the end result is failing schools and kids getting hosed.  Same story in every major city in this country.  It sucks.  And these same failing schools, and these same pandering morons calling the shots, are now tasked with making intelligent choices during a pandemic.  There's just no way this goes well.  The end result will just be an increase in the flight of families out of the city, which has already been kicked into high gear due to other insane behavior by the school board and administration over the years.  Those who can't afford to get out will be left with an even crappier school environment.

     

    • Like 2
  16. 6 hours ago, Js1 said:

    Hope Karen’s haircut and Chad’s night out with the bros is worth it when they’re stuck at home again 

     

    1 hour ago, Casual Encounter said:

    Wasn’t it you who immediately went out for a haircut?

     

    And aren't Chads the ones who are banging all the hot chicks, according to the internet nerds?  How'd they get lumped in with the Karens?

  17. 2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    What's wrong with it?  

    Eerily reminiscent of Windows 95.   I don't have an issue with the lack of support for 32bit applications, which has been a knock from many, as that didn't really impact me directly.  But - upgrading jacks up everything from iCloud, basic log ins, and the biggest nightmare was what it did to my kids' computers, both of which have parental controls.  They were left basically unable to login to any of their web based school work during the shutdown - which was awesome.  All parental controls for Chrome just disappeared and won't work anymore (probably purposeful, just like their issues with Adobe on this update).  The entire experience on their devices and my iMac is a nonstop parade of error messages.   No solutions from Apple still.    

    I still can't tell if it's a drop-off in talent that led to a less than slick rollout as many are claiming, or if the issues with Catalina are just another example of Apple forcing customers to adapt to how they think things should be done.  Either way it's a clumsy disaster that didn't consider the consumer even a little bit.

  18. 3 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

    Not trying to pick nits here but I'd bet money that the majority of Spring Break spread came from bars. Beach daytime, back to hotel, dinner, back to hotel for pre-gaming, bars until they close. I might be old now but I still (sorta) remember the drill.

    Not saying that it never happens. I'm sure it does and I'm sure there was a little bit of spread at the protests. But we haven't seen any real correlation between the protests and case increases. I think the "aha" moment for me was when nobody got sick from all of that stuff up in the Ozarks. I was shocked by that.

    Good points.  I hope you're right.  It will be easier (I think) to keep people out of bars than from mingling outside.  Maybe  there's a way to let bars with patios stay open if they have to shut down the others.

     

    • Like 1
  19. 5 minutes ago, justhookit said:

    What? Bars have basically only been open 2 full weekends now. The beach, like the actual people on the sand, has been crowded as fuck for almost 2 months. It’s the bars, and to a lesser extent restaurants and other public/retail places that have relaxed restrictions.

    Bars opened back in May.  I agree that folks have been hitting the beach/outdoor spots for longer, but not in the numbers we've seen the last three weeks.  The last time we saw these numbers outdoors was Spring break, and young folks had a big spike following that as well.

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