I taught in Portsmouth NH when the superintendent floated the idea of swapping start times elementary (k-5) early and 6-12 to start late. Many teacher friends who lived in town were excited as it meant their child could be dropped off at their elementary school and ride the bus to our middle school.

When the "shift" actually happened it turned out that due to bus costs ALL kids went later so that benefit was gone. The only one other nearby school that also made the shift Oyster River HS (in Durham NH). This meant for nearly every sport event requiring travel or not student athletes were dismissed early and missed their last class of the day (at least).

The so-called benefit of having sleep schedules match up with school times never happened as parents of lids those ages didn’t step up (shocker!) and attempt to get their kids asleep at the same times as prior.
If a kid normally stayed up until midnight now they stayed up until 1am for example, often much later. That and the fact that the overwhelming majority of kids that age had access to the internet 24/7 and had that access in their rooms meant that unless the parent physically removed the phone, computer, iWatch, etc from their "child" and shut down their home router their kid was awake late into the night. Even when the kid went to sleep "on time" it often did t matter when a less monitored/ dutiful child texted them at 2am and got them up for gaming!

I can attest that the number of kids who formerly showed up sleep deprived never changed that status. I’m convinced the whole shift only happened as a result of the superintendent's PhD thesis needed some data (I hope I’m wrong).

Bottom line, if parents aren’t willing to help their tween/teen make responsible decisions regarding rest and sleep needs, any shift in school start times is a joke.

Red States are run by the Devil?

He has so many to choose from!

I’d suggest a folding pocket magnifying glass and a field microscope. Perhaps a decent set of binoculars too? Field guides?

(S)He was looking for her/his little boy?

Please pardon my ignorance of CA geography but wasn’t it Lake Mead that was so low they were finding old corpses in it? Has that water level risen significantly or is it in an area that hasn’t seen the newsworthy impact? TIA

Personally I’d have no objection because if you know what it means to fap, you’re old enough to deal with seeing this plate. If your kid asks you tell them it’s a grown up joke or something naughty. Too many people not just chillin’

Awesome info

I tried boarding only once at age 44 despite growing up in NH. My eldest son took advantage of lessons at school and we decided to join him fora family day.

My wife knew how to ski and my daughter joined her. That left me with my 7 year old son who wanted to be like his brother. Not wanting him to be alone I decided to try boarding too.

We started out together on the “bunny slope” but the kids were promptly moved along in their own group leaving a few adults to struggle on our own. I was wearing jeans and slammed onto the snow so many times I was wet and achy in no time. My knees and butt were soaked and sore so much that I couldn’t even make it to the chair lift.

Knee pads and snow pants are my strong recommendations!

Sadly it fucks over those of us who live near and use the side roads. Rte. 4 and 236 are insane on weekends in the tourist months. When the industry lets out from Sanford and North Berwick it’s bad enough but the Navy Yard traffic added to northbound vacation traffic adds a whole new level of nuts to the mix.

South Berwick insists on pretending it’s still the 1800s and so refuses to add a traffic light at the 4/236 junction. They could have a cop there to direct traffic during peak hours but refuse to try.

If I lived on that strip or any of the side roads I’d be pissed and scared to death should there be a medical emergency! There should be a way to fix this mess but I don’t see any politicians dealing with something that doesn’t line their pockets.

The only possible response to that rude and idiotic question would be: What’s in your HEAD?

Yes, there are male and female cones. That yellow pollen that covers everything will turn into sperm

It’s weird that Maine is the only state who’s “flower” is NOT a flower. (It’s a gymnosperm for you science geeks)

As someone who has spent time nearly every weekend for a year walking the outer grounds at my local high school he could start by picking up trash outside and in the parking lot. Custodians don’t have time for that shit. (I do it to get a walk in and help get plastic etc into the trash)

Hey! That stranger just drove into my dooryard! They have some nerve, riling the critters up like that!

Oh, it’s the food I ordered? Well… you’re still an asshole!

/jk

Only the dumbest criminals are caught?

He looks more like Shifty (f)or D-Money

The reason Oregon could do it is they basically confiscated the entire land, nearly at once from indigenous peoples who lived there. Then 90%+ of the natives died from disease, poverty etc.

When Maine land was “settled” by westerners (Europeans) it was more piecemeal grabs, and the “state” was across a large distance somewhat indifferent to what happened in the Colonies. By the time it was much of an idea the English Common Law was the norm and the Native peoples were dead from disease, poverty and wars.

Exactly what happened to me. Early winter evening, dark but lots of traffic. The car ahead surged ahead and as I looked left it seemed I had time to merge too. I hit the gas and never saw the woman ahead had changed her mind and didn’t go! I hit her rear bumper but as she didn’t move far I didn’t do much damage.

To make matters worse she hopped out of her car as the traffic behind us tried to get by us to the right! I tried to explain that we needed to pull over to the edge of the circle to let traffic flow but she thought I was going to bolt. English was not her first language and perhaps in China where she was from that’s a common tactic? (She was a UNH grad student?)

I was worried about my son in the back seat getting slammed into so I went around her and pulled out of the way. The cops came, essentially no damage and I never heard any more about it.

Like you said. Watch for your opening and be decisive. Too many shit drivers but it helps traffic flow … IF the drivers aren’t idiots.

Wow

Sadly most masons don’t physically last that long. For every one that makes it to 65 my guess is there’s a few hundred that were out well before that.

I was a bit older than most apprentices and had a degree so I appreciated working with the older more interesting guys. My favorite was a man in his early 60’s that I teamed up with on a job. We were laying nearly solid blocks in a prison so it was 2 men on a block. He told hilarious jokes and stories all day so I didn’t mind picking up the slack.

Sadly he also had a serious drinking problem that seemed to be an common occupational hazard, perhaps self medication for dealing with chronic pain? Between the drink and sleep apnea he was picked up at the same stoplight near his home 2 weekends in a row asleep at the wheel and over the limit. He had to rely on pals to “car pool” to jobs. Rough life!

What “day” are you talking about?

In the early 80’s I started as a union apprentice brickmason. I worked at it for 7 years and left when the jobs dried up. I worked about 10 years for a non-profit and when their main source of funds stopped switched to teaching.

I made MORE as an apprentice mason than I did nearly 14 years later as a rookie teacher. Physically the toll on my body was not as bad as masonry, mentally of course teaching was MUCH harder and I worked way more hours past 40 essentially unpaid. As a mason I had a foreman and the owner of the company to keep happy. As a teacher EVERYONE seemed to be my boss: the superintendent, the school admin, parents, taxpayers and the school board and even 12-13 year olds at times! It was aggravating, exhausting, and frustrating but mentally stimulating!

Good luck in the shift to working with your hands in a trade. At the end of a job you can point to something tangible and with pride (hopefully) say “I did that”, a type of gratification that one RARELY gets as an educator. I hope the new career is satisfying!