Our local public school district recently built a vocational high school. It offers training for students for various vocations and trades such as auto repair and maintenance, culinary arts, health services and more, and is open to the public to perform services for a low fee. They have an auto shop, bank branch (for my local credit union, no less!), salon, market, and print shop - staffed by students! They can graduate with a license or certification in their area.

This is the first of its kind that I have seen, and it is very difficult for students to get enrolled (it's a pretty large school district and there is only ONE of these schools).

Too bad there aren't more around the country...it's such a good idea.

Wills:

It's not the idea that men have used the toilets, it's that toilet germs and urine are present on the seats. Of course, I use a paper cover and my knees can't handle squatting.

IMO, women who bitch about pee puddles on the floor need to "man it up", grow a pair, and clean their damned bathroom floors once in a while.

I'm a member of PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals. :D

Charlotte (#5): that comment was priceless!

Oh my goodness, that is about the cutest thing I've seen in a while (excepting my own kid of course ^_^)! My cousin has fraternal twins (boy and girl) who refused for the longest time to talk to anyone besides each other. However, they'll have full conversations with each other in baby babble/twinspeak that no one else can understand, and my aunt thinks they need speech therapy. They're not even 3 yet. Oy.

From personal experience, I prefer top-loaders unless the front-loader is extremely high-end (which I can't afford anyway). I own a top and have never had a problem with how it washes. My MIL had a front-loader, and during the time I lived with them there was a constant mildew smell (no matter how many times we ran it with bleach) emanating from the machine when the door was opened, and was sometimes visible when it got really bad.

As for lightbulbs, I'm one of those people who get terrible migraines around fluorescent lights, give me a good strong incandescent any day!

Sry, make that 2xl and in Ash Grey

My 3 year old is still adjusting to having Daddy working from home (started his new job 6 weeks ago). A couple of weeks ago hubby told him "I love you, Georgie."

George's response: "I no love you, Daddy. I too busy, I go work now."

O.o and the strange part is that hubby is spending MORE time with George than he was able to before this job.

There's a medium that can be reached, though. On the other side of the coin are the parents who are not involved in their kids life at all.

Parents should make sure their kids are safe ("don't play in the street", "call me when you get to so-and-so's house", "don't smoke", etc.) while allowing them freedom to be kids.

For example, my oldest is 3. In the house, we childproof the obvious dangers like covers on the plugs, put doorknob locks on the rooms we don't want him in without supervision (like the bathroom), and a gate at the top of the stairs. Otherwise, he has free reign and I keep him within audible range when he's playing by himself.

When he's older, I expect to know who his friends are, meet their parents, and have him always have a way to reach me. It's called being responsible. But for now I let him deal with the occasional skinned knee and various bruises he gets from regular play. And I don't let him play with the kitchen knives, :D

(ps sorry if this double posts, the site is being weird atm...)

There's a medium that can be reached, though. On the other side of the coin are the parents who are not involved in their kids life at all.

Parents should make sure their kids are safe ("don't play in the street", "call me when you get to so-and-so's house", "don't smoke", etc.) while allowing them freedom to be kids.

For example, my oldest is 3. In the house, we childproof the obvious dangers like covers on the plugs, put doorknob locks on the rooms we don't want him in without supervision (like the bathroom), and a gate at the top of the stairs. Otherwise, he has free reign and I keep him within audible range when he's playing by himself.

When he's older, I expect to know who his friends are, meet their parents, and have him always have a way to reach me. It's called being responsible. But for now I let him deal with the occasional skinned knee and various bruises he gets from regular play. And I don't let him play with the kitchen knives, :D

D&D (especially the older versions) is also very useful for teaching children math and problem-solving skills as well as encouraging reading and imaginative play, the latter of which is very important for social and emotional development. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to play (my oldest is 3), but for now they have giant fuzzy dice to throw around.

I call BS on this one. If I placed my concept of happiness on money and partying, then I probably would be worse off with kids. However, I realize the important things in life aren't easy and I take joy in the challenge of motherhood. So what if my family is broke? As long as there's food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our head, then I know we're good. While I like to sneak in the occasional "pamper Mommy" day, I have discovered that I usually have more fun playing with my toddler than activities that childless people consider "fun" (not that there's anything wrong with being childless).

And I have struggled with anger and bi-polar problems my entire life that have greatly lessened since having children. Of course, that could possibly be attributed to being on medication since the birth of my son....lol.

I saw one of these in a restroom at a BBQ restaurant. Hopefully they'll become more common place.

In places where they use those unsanitary air blowers, I end up using my sleeve to open the door.

Speaking of the air blowers, in Dallas County (TX) health codes require employees to use a paper towel to turn off the tap after washing and drying their hands. And I find these notices in places where there are no paper towels available. wtf?

Either that or the peanut butter patties.

My mother had a solution for her roommates' food thievery in college (eons ago). She baked Ex-Lax brownies, put them in a container clearly labeled "[mom's name]'s brownies, for medical use only".

It was the last thing her roommates ever stole.

My husband faced this challenge in his last job, the IT dept went from small cubicles (just enough room for a chair, computer, and small bookshelf/file cabinet) to a rickety kiosk that barely had room for two of the three LCD monitors necessary for his job. No room for any of his programming books, no room for a single personal item, and absolutely no privacy.

Now he works from home and has more room than he knows what to do with. ;)

I agree. Dave Ramsey calls the lotto the "poor man's tax". I figure if you can't manage your money well enough to pay for a roof over your head, you sure as well shouldn't be wasting it on something where the odds of a return on your investment are astronomical. Of course if your lack of money management techniques allows you to lose your home due to non-payment, then you probably think buying a lotto ticket is a good idea...it isn't.

When I have some disposable income (ie: when the debts are paid off and investments for retirement/kid's college, etc. have been started) I might buy a ticket or two once in a while just for the fun of it. But that's it.