Ooooh! Leave them treats and see if they start leaving you gifts.
fangoriagurkel - H has been working really hard to make the neighborhood crows his friend. He mostly gives them peanuts (in the shell). They follow him on walks around the neighborhood and he tosses the peanuts out. he also leaves them on our mailbox. They've only ever left one thing (we think) which was one of those weird wasp things that looks like a berry? Anyway.
Several years ago I tried to befriend the neighborhood murder. All I got for my trouble was dead snakes in the bird bath. I really wanted crow trinkets!
We occasionally have parents park in the neighborhood to pick up their middle school kids, which is virtually across the street. Since it's happening at a time when most of the resident cars are out of the neighborhood it's not inconvenient at all. They're there for about 10 min or so and then jet out.
There’s a tree just at edge of my patio that has unofficially become a huge crow hangout. Some of them are huge! I know they’re extremely intelligent, remember faces, etc… so I’m always super nice when I see them gathering. I’ll be reading a magazine and when I look up I’ll greet them in a singsongy voice I usually reserve for dogs, cats, and babies ( “Hi guys!”, “Hope you’re having a good day”, etc…).
I want them to remember my face and associate me with positively. I’ve seen Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, I’m no fool!
Ooooh! Leave them treats and see if they start leaving you gifts.
I'd say Kevin, but in reality I'd pay insurance just so that Kevin has no say once he signs the car over. /petty
ETA: You don't need insurance on a vehicle that isn't being driven. If the car is in parts there's no need. If it's a hobby car that will be driven once in a while then that also lowers insurance prices. I think what I would do is talk with your son about insurance prices/difference between rates and have HIM pay the difference if he wants to make it his daily driver. Turn it into a lesson about insurance, obligation, etc.
This reminds me of the podcast about the NY school that (white) people advocated be placed in a certain area to decrease segregation, but ended up screwing the very students they wanted to uplift.
Why is the district paying for kids who choose to attend schools out of district? (Excluding the special education costs, because from the news article it's clear the district hasn't been able to attract the personnel needed.)
ETA: HOLY SHIT! Paying for kids to go out of district for school is 25% of your budget? $122 MILLION? That's fucking insanity. I'd be marching to shut that shit down. www.hartfordschools.org/article/1486498
LOLOLOL! I bet he takes several old man naps a day, but it's always in secret. Since he can't get out of being in the courtroom now it's on full display.
Ok, I know the salaries are a sticking point, but did they explain why? Was it retention? Were they bringing the positions up to market? Because the amount the salaries were raised wouldn't make up the shortfall that the amount of teachers they are laying off would cover. It's low hanging fruit, and makes a great soundbite, but it might not be the "why".
Here the same thing is happening where the administration is getting a raise and they're closing schools. The two are getting conflated but they're two separate issues. Declining enrollment is clearly why the schools are closing.
FWIW, I wouldn't trust what the boss said either. They could have been held up, he could have scheduled them wrong and didn't want to own up to it, etc. Regardless I wouldn't have tipped.
Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...
But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...
You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?
I am never leaving Brooklyn.
This isn't really a *thing* at my school, but those that do, do it because they have a quick turnaround to get to an after school activity and need to GTFO of the parking lot as quickly as possibly.
Elementary school ends at 3:55 here. An astounding number of activities start at 4:15.
Again, how do families where both parents work do it? The entire system is set up that we (general) need two income households just to survive, and yet all the kid stuff is geared specifically towards one working parent households.
I'm starting to see that things geared towards boys, with male coaches, tend to be later in the evening, and I wonder if that holds true as we age through activities.
I feel bad for their second kid and wonder to myself when that resentment will start on the kid’s part. All the second kid gets to do is be a cheering and adoring fan. “Oh but they LOVE cheering on their sibling”. Oookaaay.
This makes me sad. That kid already hates her sibling. Also, if the parents crave the notoriety so bad, shouldn't they be hedging their bets that the younger kid could also be a sportsball genius? They should be pushing for a Mama Kelce situation.
DS is 6 - $135 for baseball registration (through a non-profit club). He's going to wear his uniform/cap from last year but originally that was $20 for the jersey and $24 for the hat. I don't remember what pants, socks, belts (red/blue) cost, but he's wearing those from last year. He needs new cleats so another $30. For summer ball there was no real expectation to practice except to show up early for games. Fall ball they practiced a couple of times outside of game time. Unsure what practice will look like this summer, but if it's more than once a week, forget it.
We also have a good amount of baseball/softball practice "stuff" (like a tee, net, home pitch machine) because my H is on rec softball and likes to practice at home or bring it to his team to use. Some of that was $$$ but I figure it's keeping 2/3rds of the house entertained.
Again, forgive the non-breeder asking dumb questions...
But...if you get on line at 2:30 for 3:30 dismissal, because otherwise the line is really long...
You are still waiting an hour. How long can it possibly take to distribute children? It can't take more than an hour? So aren't you just waiting even MORE time? In a car? When you could be at home where there is a couch and snacks?
I am never leaving Brooklyn.
Usually schools can clear within 10-15 min. The people that are lining up early are stupid. They all have *reasons* but reality doesn't match those reasons.
Ideas on departments to contact for local gov: Engineering Planning Transportation planning/future planning Street Maintenance Public Works And if all else fails, your local representative on the government.
OMG. I hate every single person in that article. The mom suing because she was publicly embarrassed for being a dumbass? Perfection.
Also, Windsor, CO isn't very big. Why the fuck were they waiting 45 min for pick up, and why did they pay that much money? Also, I'm going there, those eyebrows went out of fashion a while ago. Were they drawn on by marker?
I wasn't planning to read the article until you mentioned the eyebrows. LOL.
I've only had to drop off the kids a couple of times. They usually take the bus. This article reaffirms that decision. Can you imagine bringing a gun to the school drop off line?!?! I walked to school when I was a kid, and my kids' schools up to 6th grade are within walkable distance. The problem for me is lack of sidewalks. I'm not having them walk on the 6" wide shoulder of a 50mph road.
This is where Wawa and I go ham on wanting people to advocate to their cities/local governments about improvements they see could happen. There's government money out there to fix these deficiencies.
I don't know why we need all the reports about the jurors. It seems like an unethical journalistic move. Our local morning news had the occupations, etc. of the selected jurors and read them all out. Why? Why is it pertinent?
Also, Trump is allegedly repeatedly violating the gag order about disparaging the jury. The DA is asking the judge to rule on it, but the judge keeps delaying until next Tuesday to rule on it. Why would the judge delay? To intentionally let Trump violate it so blatantly that his ruling is more clear?
My uneducated guess is yes. Trump is probably going to campaign this weekend and he won't be able to help himself.
To address the heavy backpacks and bikes - you can put racks and panniers on the bike so you're not wearing a backpack. Some of the kids here that I see in the morning have little bike trailers that they put their big instruments on.
I didn't even think about backpacks.
Most kids don't bike to school in our town because the school doesn't have bike racks to secure the bikes during the day.
That seems like an easy fix that the PTA could fundraise for. Bike racks aren't too expensive. Installation is easy, too.
ETA: Things like this are wild to me because they're SO EASY to fix. A quick search brought up 10 spot bike racks for around $300. All it takes is one interested party, and BAM bike racks for everyone! Start slow, show that there is a need. Apply for a grant from Safe Routes to School, or even your local bike clubs, and you're in business.
To address the heavy backpacks and bikes - you can put racks and panniers on the bike so you're not wearing a backpack. Some of the kids here that I see in the morning have little bike trailers that they put their big instruments on.
sigh... Cars making people feel unsafe so they drive cars.
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? I get what you’re saying but there are sidewalks for kids if needed.
Again, this is a very small residential area. I’ve seen maybe 1-2 times a child on a bike going to school in 8 the years I’ve been here and they were on the sidewalk
It's fucking shitty that people are parking in the bikes lanes near a school. Stupidity and selfishness at it's finest.
The parents line up in the bike lane to avoid blocking the actual traffic lane, which I’m ok with (sorry bikers, you have the actual lane this time..).
"It's too unsafe to bike to the school."
sigh... Cars making people feel unsafe so they drive cars.
But both my parents worked growing up, pretty much everyone I know now with school aged kids are working, no stay-at-home parents. How do people even have the ability to pick their kids up from school?
Because so many people work from home now.
This has been going on for a long time, even before work from home took off. We saw major issues in my community decades ago when they started letting parents choice into schools.