<p>OK, all I can say is “WOW!” I was away all last week with no computer, and have been a little crazed since returning. I finally read/skimmed through all the accumulated posts. Where do I start?</p>
<p>S, who has had no luck finding a job here at the beach (not a true beach resort, just a town located at the shore) now has a job until he leaves for school, working on the kitchen crew at family camp in NH – which is where we were last week. We’ve been going since he was 1, so he knows the place like the back of his hand. He saw they were somewhat short staffed, so asked the Director if they needed help. And voila! – a job. Not a ton of $$$, but it’s something, and he gets room & board. I’m driving him up tomorrow. S will have no computer access, so I’ve told him I need his school email password. etc. </p>
<p>Re: school stuff: We sorted out his medical form with the school – there was this ridiculous TB screening form that asked if he’d EVER been to any of a long list of countries. He had, for 10 days back in 2004, but the form had no space to indicate this. His doc said he didn’t need a TB test; admin person in student health said he did. I finally spoke with the medical director, who, after hearing the circumstances of S’s travels, agreed he didn’t. She said the screening form was from the CDC, but was a “really bad form,” and they’d been getting lots of questions/phone calls. (No explanation as to why the school couldn’t add on clarifying info.) </p>
<p>I think his housing info is caught up in USPS mail forwarding limbo from our home Post Office – maybe today?</p>
<p>About 3 weeks ago S & I were in BB&B for something else, and they were just beginning to stock college stuff. He saw a comforter he liked, and I had coupons, so I bought it. (A lesson learned from dorm shopping w/ D.) He couldn’t care less about towels or anything else, so I’ll just do it all. A note about BB&B – I was there looking for an item that turned out to not be in stock in the store. Because I ordered it in person at the store, I was able to use a coupon, and have it shipped directly to me. </p>
<p>Another lesson from doing all this w/ D – don’t go overboard! Honestly, they don’t need all the stuff you/they may think they do. IMO, it’s better to start off w/ less, and see what else may be needed. The over-the-door racks sound great, but may not fit many dorm doors – as w/ D. (So, if you buy stuff like that, save the receipt/don’t take off the packaging so you can return it.) Not all school dorms have “trunk rooms” so you can’t necessarily count on that for packing container storage. There were mountains of flattened cardboard boxes outside D’s dorm on move-in day, so don’t worry about the Joad look. Also, dorm rooms vary tremendously in size. The rooms are very small at D’s school,(chintzy take note!) requiring lots of creative use of the available space. S will most likely have more space, but will go with even less stuff than D.</p>
<p>H, meanwhile, is off on a 5 day, guys only, sailing trip from CT to ME.</p>