Parents of the HS Class of 2009

[college_query]

Sorry, missypie. Maybe you should hop onto one of those mattress topper threads?

S received his housing assignment yesterday - both the dorm and the roommate. He's in the newest dorm on campus (2007) which is a LEED green building. Looks like RM is an ice hockey player.

Also received his first choice orientation trip. The list of necessary equipment is somewhat intimidating (to me). But it's good to know if we don't have a favorite wetsuit, they will provide one.

On today's agenda: a trip to the post office with S. Evidently my superior honors grad doesn't know how to send mail. I told him he could tell his grandchildren about going to the post office - will probably seem like the Pony Express!

[kmcmom13]

LOL^ you are not alone on the mail; I recall someone else discovering their kid, once gone, did not know how to mail things

Missy, I hope you find a new mattress you like! I've always wondered about those tempurpedic ones, but I keep imagining that I would leave a perma-dent!

I was on a new-mattress campaign for a while until we moved. Then I discovered that my problem (rolling backward to center, thus straining back) was actually connected to the frame somehow, because we got a new platform frame and I've since slept like a baby -- heat waves excepted.

We still haven't worked out what to do about the hothouse bedroom yet - distracted by my girls vacation. I actually have an opportunity to buy a second hand mini split system for a great price, but h maintains we'd hate having the compressor on our deck. Our studio has a heat pump and after the first few years we now hate it due to both the terrible racket it makes and it's continual need for service -- and that's exactly what a mini split is -- a mini heat pump. I think I'm back leaning toward the giant slider windows and house fan extension.

Don't know if I mentioned that mch lost all his saltwater fish, anenome, coral etc. During the power outage last week. He normally runs the tank with a big chiller. During the heat wave/power outage, it only took 4hours to make the water too hot for oxygen. Had we realized (it was 3 am when it happened and we were disoriented/trying to sleep outside) and been on our game we would have emptied the freezer ice into the tank. It's so sad to walk by and see the dead tank. His collection was probably worth more than the mini split, so it will take a while to restock

[woody]

Oh my, kmc...just awful!

[TheAnalyst]

DTE, congrats on the good work review. Well deserved, I’m sure. kmc, that’s awful about the aquarium. I know several people with huge saltwater aquariums and know how expensive they are to stock and maintain.

CQ—love the comment on the post office. Yes, sending letters is pretty foreign to this generation. We had to talk our S through the process the first few times he had to mail his rent check.

Shaw, thanks for your response. Very interesting.

The person S2 worked with on Friday said he had requested to work with S2, so that is nice feedback. He also saw a wild coyote, which he thought was very neat. He has five more weeks, so is more than half way done out of the 12 weeks total. I think he is going to be antsy his last year of college, wanting to get back out on a job site. S1 felt the same but spent the fall of his senior year abroad so his discontent was limited to the spring semester. The good news is that S2 is living in a studio next year, so no roommates, which I think will be a huge mood booster for him.

[missypie]

kmc, how sad about the fish.

On today's agenda: a trip to the post office with S. Evidently my superior honors grad doesn't know how to send mail.

I remember having a "business letters" unit some time in elem or jr. high....we wrote off to companies that would send us brochures and other free stuff. What an educational system we have....HS freshmen taking AP classes, but our kids don't know how to send mail.

[arabrab]

TA -- I'm already hearing the "antsy to be DONE with school" thing from D. But, I about got my head snapped off when I suggested that it might be possible to finish "real" classes in December and only take the thesis in spring semester (and possibly finish that well before the semester is due to end, since the thesis starts in the fall.) Oh well...

And too funny about S seeing a "wild coyote." I see them trotting along pretty regularly when I drive on the turnpike. Not everyday, but often. (A little like going to the Sydney zoo and seeing...deer and squirrels! Which, to be completely fair, are exotic animals in Sydney, but not quite what we expected.)

KMC -- The aquarium melt-down sounds awful. So sad.

I'd ask an installer about the condenser location. Earlier this week I had lunch at a friend's house where the condenser was about five feet from the screened porch, and every time it went on it made a racket.

Tonight's the Moonlight (Bike) Ride around Denver, and the weather looks very good for it. D missed it the last two years because she was away. Nice to do it again.

She got some very positive feedback at her internship -- she did a very nice competitive analysis of a new competing product on the market. The sales guy even mentioned that he'd used some of it in a sales presentation. And, related to the phone issue, she told me that between the internship and the other job this summer, she's gotten over the phone phobia of talking to adults she doesn't know. Yeah! (I find this incredibly common in this generation. My parents continually hollered for us to get OFF the phone, and up until this summer I've had to push hard to GET her to phone places when she has a question/problem/concern rather than dropping an email into the void.)

[shawbridge]

We have a great mailman (he's the second since we lived here and the other guy was great too). He'll say, the neighbor (an older man) next door hasn't picked up his mail. Has anyone checked on him?

Our mail slot is inside an entryway and we can leave mail for him as well. If we put a stamp on an envelope and leave it for him, he'll pick it up. So, I think our kids at least have the concept of mailing letters, though most often it is left to me. I bring stuff in to the office and things are taken care of.

On the Mitzvah list, I got an email from my last assistant, whom I loved and who had just become great before having to move to DC for her husband's job. My cousin in DC had just switched jobs. I was visiting for his daughter's Bat Mitzvah (my cousin started studying to be a cantor and has a beautiful voice and his wife was a professional Jewish song leader and cantorial sort of person with a very nice voice -- the daughter has the voice of an angel, attends Hebrew Day School and has leads in musical theater since she was 7 and it was probably the most beautiful Bar/Bat Mitzvah I've ever attended from the ritual side as one of her peers side, "I actually enjoyed it"). Anyway, he told me that he was about to interview executive assistants. So, I sent along my glowing recommendation, his HR person and then he interviewed her, and on Monday she starts working for him. I think I did a favor for two people simultaneously.

ShawSon and GF are coming back to get out of the heat. He's working this weekend (he can do it from home) and she's feeling under the weather. Nothing like a little AC to lure the kids back. ShawD is working this weekend, going to a bartending class, I think. She figures that she's very social and cute and will get lots of tips. We'll see.

[kmcmom13]

Shaw, how awesome. Its nice when you can do a double deed
And thanks everyone for the fish condolences. To us, they were pets, personalities and all, though I realize many folks don't really see fish that way. The picasso tang was my fav, a d they're a little tough to find and then acclimatize - you have to let the other fish establish their territories first or else the Tangshan will dominate and worry the littler ones. And we'd finally found the right combo of anenome and clownfish to live symbiotically (they won't bond if they're not from the same oceans).

At any rate, arabrab, mch and I discussed the split again this a.m. And have concluded we just will not ave one on this deck. Our yard is so lovely, quiet and peaceful -- even the pool pump is inside the poolhouse for quiet operation. We use the deck, pool, and terrace like a room, and we just do not want the clatter.
We're pretty certain we're going to replace the window instead and put a second house fan in the ceiling. I think we'll ultimately get more enjoyment and better air movement out of that! But thanks for the input, because it kind of confirmed my suspicion.

Too hot to type, time to swim! Have a great day?

[downtoearth]

I was floored last year as it was clear how ill I was and a couple people had decided that I should not try to return because it bothered them that was working "just" 8 hours. My manager was fine at my review. As my H says "people suck" but now I just am pretty matter of fact hard to explain the culture but nurses are not always as nice as Woody and I. I am going to give my D and ShawD lessons in how to navigate. Im proud of how I have done, I was horribly sick even,months later. I think I do important and good work

Speaking of pets DTE dog in the animal hospital, picked him up from the kennel and he was sick. vomiting, didnt want to drink, We thought he had ingested something again, it could be his flu shot coupled with stress, or the skin problems he has. H is mad, thinks they just want the money. I am not thrilled, but it was not his usual behavior, and we dont know how to assess a sick animal, people I am good with.
Sorry about the fish. It is such hard work to establish and then all gone, ugh....

[shawbridge]

arabrab, congrats on the good review. ShawD had the same problem of calling people she didn't know -- but no problem with endless conversation with people she did know. ShawSon is fearless. If it is in line with a goal, "Call X. OK. Done." If it is not in line with one of the top 2 or 3 priorities, it isn't going to happen.

ShawD had her review for her food truck job -- so this isn't consequential or a stepping point along the way. It started with lots of throat clearing about why we do reviews, how we do them, ... . Then, "You are clean. We love you. The customers love you. You start tomorrow at $9.50 per hour. That's it." She had been told that the next step from her introductory $8 per hour salary was to $9 so she jumped a level. This is her first real job and I'm glad (but not surprised) that she is a hard worker, careful and charming.

Sorry to hear about the fish and the dog. I embark upon a month with lots of travel. London twice, Houston, NJ twice.

[shawbridge]

GRE prep books have arrived.

I'm also setting up a few conversations for ShawSon with friends who can give him a little guidance about different kinds of jobs. One thing I see for those applying for jobs. Fall semester should have an easier course load as the interview process is time consuming. Ideally, one should leave Friday free to interview without missing classes. Both semesters of junior year, ShawSon's semester was incredibly time-consuming. First semester, he had a wild man econometrics prof who appears to have done a two semester graduate course in a one semester undergrad course plus game theory, probability and psych, I think. Second semester, advanced algebra, discrete math (which ShawSon thought was easy), advanced game theory, and psych. There was not a lot of time for a visit to anyone's office. I think he'll need to adjust the fall term schedule to be lighter.

[TessaR]

Haven't posted in a very long time. D1 decided to stay at her college for the summer. She has been working with her Genetics Professor doing research for him and her thesis. She also has a part-time job and seems to be enjoying the job. She just took the GRE the last weekend in June. She did well and is glad to have it behind her. She is already thinking about the application process for Grad Schools.
D2 just returned from a 6 week internship in Uganda. She really loved the experience and thought is valuable. Happy to be back stateside. She will visit college friends for a few days and then return home.

[downtoearth]

I had two glasses of wine (don usually drink) to steel me for the vet bill, going to pick up the dog/
We have a temperpedic, no divots, quite comfortable

[TheAnalyst]

Tessa, it sounds like good news and good news. The internship in Uganda sounds really interesting. What year is your D2? DTE, I hope your dog is better and the vet bill turns out to be better than expected. I have also had two glasses of wine tonight. I normally only indulge on Friday nights but we had a frustrating week-end working on replacing broken sprinkler heads (which will take us months to complete at the rate we are proceeding) and booby-trapping the beds with fishing line to sabotage the pestilent deer. I feel like the kid in Home Alone, but am seriously ready to buy a BB gun and become a hunter. My neighbors keep sending me snapshots of the herd in our front beds in the middle of day, drinking from the bird bath and chomping on all my supposedly deer resistant perennials.

Shaw, congrats to your D on her good evaluation on her first job. She sounds like she is doing great. S2 will have his heaviest semester yet this fall, which I know will be a pain with fall recruiting as well. Although the 17 CR is not unusual, this is the first semester where every class is in his major, so no core requirements to lighten the load. But with 131 CR required for the major and no AP credits, he has no choice. He should get some relief by not working his restaurant job. That was really hard on him last year, but I think having that job helped him get his internship so it paid off. I am hoping he has an offer by November, but if not he will have spring recruitment and then it’s down to the want ads. In such a specialized niche, a lot depends on the price of oil and a big dose of luck. He is a good candidate, in my view, but that seems to barely enter into the equation on who draws the lucky straw when it comes to employment. Shaw, your S should have excellent PhD options if he doesn’t like the jobs that come his way, so I know I would find that comforting.

[TessaR]

TA....my D2 is a rising Sophomore in college...Class of 2015. She thought she might want to work in Global Health and this was a great opportunity for her. It was a fantastic experience and she says life changing!