Posts by GrreatTeacher

50

Woke Oscars cringe

by LoveUniHateExams in

actors' acceptance speeches have often been a little dodgy - viewers don't care what political or social views actors may have, we typically appreciate actors acting well.. this year's oscars awards ceremony seems to be going above and beyond, however.. here's frances mcdormand's acceptance speech, in which she dedicates her victory to 'our wolf' and then howls like a bitch, lol.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_be0awgwk.

GrreatTeacher

Seems so. To me, there has to be a good story first of all, plot, theme, characters, all of it. That's why I'm a book reader.

Movies can tell great stories, too. The characters, actors, setting, storyline can all come alive with good filmmaking.

An example of the same story told in two different films about 30 years apart:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Firstly, this was a book, so the great story was there.

The 1970s version was great. The characters came alive. Gene Wilder played and understated but brilliant Willy Wonka. There were memorable songs, memorable lines.

Do you know how many times I've said, "I want a golden goose, Daddy. And I want it now!" to whiney, entitled children? No? Me, either, but it's a lot.

The Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from the aughts was terrible. All the characterization focused on him and left all the others flat. And, his acting was pretty terrible, though the costuming was good. It just wasn't a good film, and it was the same story!

I really appreciate a good film, but it's all got to come together and that just doesn't happen very much for me. So. I don't waste my time much on movies because the ratio of good films to bad is so low.

But I'll watch documentaries all day. I never find them boring.

16

3 Types of People?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a rule, there are 3 types.

one is the dramatic over the top person where a hangnail means you might have to get your finger cut off.. the second type is —who me, worry?

i’m not going to let too much of anything bother me unless it really is armageddon.. the third type is the person in between.

GrreatTeacher

There are 3 phases in a guy's life:

First you believe in Santa Claus.

Then you don't believe in Santa Claus.

Finally you look like Santa Claus.

Hmm...the JW version may vary.🤔😀

42

What’s Your View On Self Defense?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if someone comes to you with a knife or a gun, would you defend yourself if you could?

if someone tried to beat you up , would you physically engage, run away or just try to talk the person out of beating you up or robbing you?

if you did have a gun to defend yourself would you shoot to kill or would you simply aim for the ankle to incapacitate the person?

GrreatTeacher

Public Service Announcement: You DO NOT have to take your shirt off to fight!

When my husband was young, there was a running dispute with the guys one neighborhood over.

They ran around wearing white "wife beaters" threatening, " Don't MAKE ME take my shirt off!"

Of course that was too good to pass up, so, he ran his mouth until the other guy went ahead and pulled his shirt over his head, and Bam! one kick to the groin and one punch to the jaw and the guy was down.

Hubby got away with one parting shot, "Silly rabbit, you don't have to take your shirt off to fight!"

So, what is up with that? Do people the world over take their shirts off to fight or was that just a local peculiarity ?

I mean, it's pretty stupid. You leave yourself blind there when your shirt's over your head. . .

8

Netherlands: victims of abuse in Jehovah's Witnesses fear ‘witch hunt’

by yalbmert99 in

netherlands: victims of abuse in jehovah's witnesses fear ‘witch hunt’.

https://www.msn.com/nl-nl/nieuws/binnenland/misbruikslachtoffers-jehova-s-getuigen-vrezen-heksenjacht/ar-bb1g3h9g.

GrreatTeacher

I would too. You participate in a survey about JW sexual abuse and then the JWs want the info?

That should not be the way it works.

15

Proud Parent - My son just got accepted to the University of Maryland!

by GrreatTeacher in

i'm so proud of my son.

he has persevered through 2 years of community college.

three of those semesters were at home because covid19 shut in person classes.

GrreatTeacher

WTF, mick, do you try to piss me off?

Because, yeah, the U of MD really graduates engineers whose bridges fall down, planes don't fly and rockets don't launch.

Go whine about history and English graduates somewhere else.

The Clark School of Engineering is very reputable and turns out graduates who are snapped up by Department of Defense, NASA and others.

This kid could drive a steam tractor as an early teen, can drive a steam engine (and diesel engine) now and is FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) qualified as as a Fireman, after first earning Brakeman certification several years ago. He needs more experience to earn Engineer certification at the railroad where he volunteers. He should qualify in a couple more years.

He has loved machines since he was little, and we have found that the winning combination is to let kids get involved in what interests them and it will naturally push them toward a career that they love.

15

The GREATEST—EMERGENCY RESPONDER-----JEHOVAH GOD!

by pistolpete in

this is not mine, and i check and didn't see me posting it in the past, but it’s appropriate with what covid did to the door to door preaching work.. considering we are living in the last days, and everlasting life is at stake……….

and the only means of salvation ------is the preaching work……... why would jehovah allow door to door preaching to stop for a whole year-----maybe longer?????.

all jehovah’s witnesses never noticed how dumb the door to door preaching work actually is.. jehovah is the greatest emergency responder.

GrreatTeacher

Interesting metaphor, truth be known.

I've never heard that one before, but it works. For me, at least.

15

Proud Parent - My son just got accepted to the University of Maryland!

by GrreatTeacher in

i'm so proud of my son.

he has persevered through 2 years of community college.

three of those semesters were at home because covid19 shut in person classes.

GrreatTeacher

Thanks, Biahi. It means a lot.

Actually, thanks for sharing the numbers. That is a biggie and makes people, eg exJWs think that college isn't affordable.

The fact is that you just have to learn to navigate the system.

My sister got kicked out when she was DFd and came to live with me. Financial Aid requires that parents submit their income to determine financial aid amounts and this applies at least to the age of 24, I think. My father refused to cooperate, so my sister went to the school's financial aid department and interviewed about being declared an independent student. She told her story and ultimately succeeded. She got student loans and maybe some grants that allowed her to finish all 4 years.

If you're very poor, you will get grants that don't need to be repayed, but coming up with that last couple thousand dollars scares some people away. And if you're very poor, it might indeed be difficult to come up with an extra grand or so.

Middle income families likely won't get grants, but should have most of it covered by student loans.

Above maybe $60,000, and parents are suddenly expected to contribute a lot more out of pocket. Then, after a certain threshold, the student might get some small loans.

Where you can really get ahead is with scholarships. This can be a large unknown for people. My advice is to go to the college financial aid office where you wish to enroll and ask about scholarships that might be available!

My son entered a freshman program at community college for at risk (for dropping out) students. He qualified because of his ADHD diagnosis. It was a forced interaction with Guidance and Financial Aid. He learned about so many scholarships that I never had a clue about. He would often get calls about scholarships they thought he should apply to, and, though often only a few hundred dollars, it really helped.

This information is available to anyone, but you have to ask! Go make yourself known at Financial Aid. They're there to help!

50

Woke Oscars cringe

by LoveUniHateExams in

actors' acceptance speeches have often been a little dodgy - viewers don't care what political or social views actors may have, we typically appreciate actors acting well.. this year's oscars awards ceremony seems to be going above and beyond, however.. here's frances mcdormand's acceptance speech, in which she dedicates her victory to 'our wolf' and then howls like a bitch, lol.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_be0awgwk.

GrreatTeacher

I wasn't aware Shawshank Redemption failed at the box office.

My neighbor got a disc in the mail from Netflix back in the 1990s and that thing got passed around the entire neighborhood.

Great movie. Everybody loved it.

15

Proud Parent - My son just got accepted to the University of Maryland!

by GrreatTeacher in

i'm so proud of my son.

he has persevered through 2 years of community college.

three of those semesters were at home because covid19 shut in person classes.

GrreatTeacher

Thanks, all!

iXav, those are not student loan amounts. He so far has qualified for only $2,000 in student loans.

We have to come up with the rest of the money ourselves!

We will probably apply for PLUS loans ( Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students ) but my credit is not good because of my own student loans.

Then, the next option is a home equity loan or home equity line of credit which is not optimal because it puts your house on the line.

My husband is not working since he had shoulder surgery and is on temporary disability, so that will affect our ability to borrow most likely.

I do not believe that laws allow us to use retirement accounts for education expenses. Also, in general, you never want to touch your retirement. That should take precedence above anything else.

We do have a little money saved in a savings account, and my son will work this summer to try to save up some money.

It will be a challenge, not the least because he will not be finished in 2 years. Maybe 3 years, but if things go very well, 2 and a half years.

15

Proud Parent - My son just got accepted to the University of Maryland!

by GrreatTeacher in

i'm so proud of my son.

he has persevered through 2 years of community college.

three of those semesters were at home because covid19 shut in person classes.

GrreatTeacher

I'm so proud of my son. He has persevered through 2 years of community college. Three of those semesters were at home because Covid19 shut in person classes. This was a difficult transition, but I was home to help and he succeeded after much hard work! Community college is a great transition to university and living away from home.

I'm extra proud that the University of Maryland has accepted him because it has become a selective university within the last decade. The average grade point average of a high school senior is a 4.1! He did well in high school, with a B average, but not well enough for the flagship state university.

However, his community college work has earned him a 3.5 and has proven that he can excel in college level coursework and he got in through the back door! The transfer student door. Plus, community college was much less expensive, only about $5000 a year.

UMD costs about $11,000 a year which isn't terrible, but room and board is more than tuition at $13,000! So about $24,000 for an in state school. It's no different at less selective state universities either because he was accepted to another and it was about the same.

He was also accepted to Penn State, but out of state tuition is really unaffordable. We got an acceptance offer at $39,000.

He has a few small scholarships that will roll over for four years and has applied and was interviewed for a big boy worth about $9,000, but it is competitive. He is applying for anything he can get his hands on.

This is even more poignant for me because he was a firecracker as a kid and school was not easy. I regularly got calls from teachers in elementary school. He finally got diagnosed with ADHD (no surprise - his father and I both probably had it, we had similar school behavior, but there was no diagnosis back then). And also anxiety disorder, but with appropriate treatment and help from the schools, with a 504 plan, he has succeeded! He works extra hard for it, but he has done it!

This means I have scaffolded things for him and have been handing over responsibility to him steadily. He now keeps up with school deadlines, plans out his assignments, works part time and volunteers on weekends. He gets himself up and fed every morning. He is responsible about going to sleep at a decent time. He has maintained personal hygiene without prompting, but has given up doing his laundry. He will have to figure that out when living on campus!

So proud of him and so glad he is getting his degree directly after high school.