<p>Regarding study abroad/travel blogs: I have a google alert for my last name. It is rare enough that there is a decent chance that if the name comes up, it’s someone related to H. Anyway, through that I found the blog of a young medical student who was spending a semester in China. She wasn’t related to H, but I followed her blog anyway. Fascinating. Ladies, if you find your annual visit to your gyno full of indignities, think about doing it in a large room full of other women with no gowns, etc.</p>
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<p>Welcome back, woody. It sounds like your Ss job has worked out wonderfully. I still remember when he was a senior and not sure what he would be doing. Does he have a timeframe for coming back stateside? S1 called yesterday to get my feedback on his contract for Australia and I asked him if he was still thinking fall 2014 for grad school in the U.S. He continues to be lukewarm on that, with lots of ideas that excite him more than going back to school at the moment. I would love it if he would blog, but he spends no time on social media. I can only follow his activities because his friends post stuff on Facebook where he gets tagged in the pictures or videos. NM, good luck to your D1 on her promotion opportunity. </p>
<p>sabaray, we have S2 for another full week since his classes dont start until the 14th. His last day of work was yesterday, so he will have some downtime. He knows a lot of students at VCU as well as friends who are working locally and taking a break from college, so he wont be bored. Of his six closest high school friends, only two will be graduating in May. Its hard to believe he only has four more months of college and then he will be done. </p>
<p>kmc, that is neat about your Ss talents. shaw, best of luck with the heat repair.</p>
<p>Oh Z, or perhaps with The Pallisers in mind I may call you Zzzz? You made it through the whole series, though! My H gladly watched Upstairs, Downstairs, but he could not get immersed in The Pallisers’ adventures the way I did. And I thought it was well done 
CountingD, we own the original Upstairs, Downstairs on DVD although I watched the new episodes. There were so few of them, as I remember. Even having Rose in the newer series, it wasn’t as much fun to watch without the original Bellamy family. I preferred the Downton season 1.
ShawB, I wish you a speedy return to proper heating. c_q, the bound blog is a wonderful idea! And RM, oh to be able to knit a sweater. A friend helped me relearn basic knitting, but when it came to making a vest, I could never figure out how to undo the messes of knots I’d get into. Alas, one piece of the vest still sits in a bag, unfinished, after ten years.</p>
<p>D won’t start class until the 14th either, but sorority recruitment begins the weekend prior. She has a fairly large role with the overall process for all chapters so during break she’s been putting out fires. I don’t know what she’ll do for activities in the spring and I am a little worried about that; she is so used to structured, planned “busyness” and I wonder how she will fill that void. Her personal experience with her chapter has been disappointing, and I’m sure there’s no love lost on their side either, but belonging has given her opportunities to step up so that’s a plus; she’s met a lot of great women and had some great opportunities as a result. </p>
<p>PlantMom, I have needlepoint that’s been unfinished for more than 10 years! Lots of little places requiring lots of thread switching and tiny details but for the most part finished. I need to challenge myself to get it done in 2013. </p>
<p>Well, best get to work. Cold here this am; thankful for sabadog to force some morning exercise!</p>
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<p>It would be terrible to not have heat, but Shaw, I’m so glad that you are educated, articulate, not easily intimidated, etc. I’m sure there are some who are having a very hard time with the insurance folks because they don’t have your abilities.</p>
<p>I made a sweater for D1 a year or more ago; and all I have to do is sew the sleeves in. Actually, I should have sewed the sleeves in before I sewed the seams together, and now it’s complicated, and that’s why I’m not finishing it. Instead, I have knitted scads of earwarmers, legwarmers, berets, and the like. Fast, sweet, done. Better get back to the sweater.</p>
<p>PlantMom – H would have gladly quit the Pallisers earlier. There are some plot lines that are, frankly, ridiculous, and go on waaaaaaaaay too long. in fact, in some ways, the whole series was ridiculous and way too long …</p>
<p>H and I love to watch old TV series on DVDs, Hulu or Netflix. We watched the first two seasons of Downton Abbey and Friday Night Lights on Hulu, 24 and House on DVD and now we will be starting the first season of Homeland as H gave it to me for Christmas. D1 got in to the DVDs of Nip/Tuck and Sex in the City while in college and D2 is going back and watching all of the past seasons of Gossip Girl on Netflix. We really have eclectic tastes. ;)</p>
<p>Ah well, the insurer will pay for a smallish part but not all of the heating. Probably fair, but if the HVAC guy had answered the questions a little differently, they might have paid for all. We may give the business to someone else. I could push, but I’m not sure we have strong enough grounds here. </p>
<p>ShawWife was reflecting on how someone close to the edge could really have problems – no place to go, not enough money to pay for a new heating system. We have already paid out $30K to the contractor and are still waiting for the bank to release from escrow money from the insurance company. What would someone who can’t write a $30K check, even knowing that they would be reimbursed, do in these circumstances?</p>
<p>CF – My niece pulled one better. Showed up on the bus from the airport in the middle of a snowstorm with about 9" already on the ground – wearing flip flops. With no jacket. SIL luckily called and asked if we could pick her up. She was planning on walking six blocks to her sorority house. </p>
<p>Shawbridge – We are hearing a lot of that from those who lost homes in the fires last summer. You’ve got to put a lot of money out and then get reimbursed after the fact. Worse, some of the replacement items can’t really be purchased until you’re back in your house, like washer and dryer – but apparently some of policies only provide replacement coverage if you buy the replacement item with 12 months of the loss, and many, perhaps most of these folks won’t be rebuilt in that time. The legislature is taking up some bills on insurance this session as a consequence of all that; I’m waiting to see what they find. </p>
<p>On the good news front (and further confirmation that we are past our sell-by dates) – we’ve passed the 10 year milestone on our long term care policies, which means that if either of us die, the other has lifetime coverage with no additional premium. Not that I’m looking forward to collecting on that deal.</p>
<p>Zetesis, I do not disagree on some of the ridiculous plot lines for The Pallisers. I felt the same way when I read Trollope, especially in the long, drawn-out hunting scenes. But maybe it was because of the general improbability and silliness that I liked it so much, overall. I have sitting in front of me, as it has been for at least a year, Trollope’s “The Way We Live Now.” It is supposed to be a “serious” work. So far it has not beckoned the way the Pallisers did, in book form or on DVD.</p>
<p>Many here are still trying to pick up the pieces from our year of hurricanes (2004). What to say, except that They, the hurricanes, and even milder tropical storms, are just horrendous, life-altering events for too many. And battling with insurance companies just makes the emotional damage that much worse. </p>
<p>On the subject of footwear, when D spent her first college autumn/winter north, she called home and told H that her feet were very cold. H told her to layer her socks. She replied, “Daaaad, you can’t wear socks with flipflops!” That’s our brilliant D. Fortunately, or unfortunately, her common sense and taste for fashion has evolved. She now “loooves” beautiful boots :-/</p>
<p>shawbridge,We ran into that issue when we were flooded in August. Had about $15,000 in damages and of course the contractors wanted their money upfront. The adjuster offered to advance us $5,000 but what good does that really do when the damage is so much more? I wondered the same thing-what do people do that truly cannot come up with the funds? Good luck with your heat. I had a plumber that just left. Old pipe under the kitchen sink broke but it’s fixed now. No hot water for awhile was the main inconvenience.</p>
<p>I love so many of the British shows-Keeping Up Appearances, As Time Goes By, Waiting for God, Downton Abbey, Doc Martin,etc.</p>
<p>Shaw, I’m glad you have the resources to write $30K checks, but we definitely should not have a system that only works for people who can write checks like that! So unfair to the large majority who don’t have your resources.</p>
<p>I didn’t post in that food allergies thread, but I was fuming. Some people don’t think it’s a disability unless the person is blind, deaf or in a wheelchair. Can’t eat in the dining hall without dying? Not a problem.</p>
<p>Still worried about Fang Jr. He eventually gave a laconic “Yup” to my Google chat about whether he made it to Denver. But I don’t know whether he managed to get a new key for the apartment, or ??? He promised to call. Hahahahaha. Oh well. </p>
<p>For the last few weeks, we’ve had the annual, sad, “My kid crashed and burned first semester” posts. And, similarly with the allergies thread, we’ve had smug idiots giving preposterous advice. No, if your child has executive function disorder, merely buying them post-its, a wall planner and a calendar is not going to solve the problem. Post-its sitting on someone’s desk unused do not solve any problem other than lack of brightness in the decor.</p>
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Amen. I got a lot of this when I posted about D’s late-diagnosis of ADHD. Really? </p>
<p>I don’t venture out of this thread much. After you’ve been on CC for a few years the issues, advice, and criticism all start to sound as if they are on repeat.</p>
<p>Do we have a term for reverse evidence of dawning maturity (REDM)? D1 is usually pretty competent when it comes to travel, but she arrived at the airport without her ID a few days ago. (I know, who takes their DL out of their wallet and sticks it in a jacket pocket? A girl who wants to travel light to meet her friends at the local bar, that’s who.) DH, bless his heart, will do pretty much anything for these girls. He made the 50 minute round trip home and back to the airport to deliver said ID. Not sure I would have done the same - lessons learned and all that.</p>
<p>shaw - so sorry to hear about the furnace problems, but glad you have the wherewithal to pay for repairs, negotiate with insurance company and find a warm place to stay.</p>
<p>CF - you’ll let all of us know the answer to those questions about FangJr, right?</p>
<p>Another Up Stairs/Down fan the first time around - in HS then? Can’t wait for DA. Sunday is my birthday so I’m considering it PBS’s gift to me ;)</p>
<p>I have such fond memories of watching Upstairs/Downstairs with mom, dad and my younger sister. In fact, we were pretty much glued to the TV all Sunday afternoon evening between football, 60 Minutes, then Nature and US/DS on PBS…followed by a dash of Monty Python!</p>
<p>After some Google chat pleading from me, Fang Jr called. He’s fine. He had arranged to meet an online friend at the airport, so they met and now the online friend is staying with him. They’ll both play a Magic tournament this weekend. So all is well… except that it seems he may not have registered for the right classes. But I guess he can sort that out. (Why do I say that? He won’t sort it out. It will be sorted out for him.)</p>
<p>CF, good that he’s OK. Is he yet in his apartment/with coat and boots?</p>
<p>REDM. Love it. So far, the ShawKids are progressing forward, though we can see that ShawD is not doing much to the condo unless ShawWife is there. New shower curtain purchased by both of them from Target; still in wrapping. She told us the other bedroom was warm but hers was cold. Well, you do have to open up the radiator. Nonetheless, it is a nice place – nicer than my grad school apartments, actually. </p>
<p>Our problem is with the air handler. The 15 yo boiler is inefficient, but fine. We could repair the air handler or replace it. We could keep the boiler as is or replace. We could keep the compressor (which will probably die in a year or two) or replace. ShawWife is for replacing. All parts would be more efficient and we’d get a subsidy for the boiler.</p>
<p>The insurance company would pay for us to stay in a hotel for a few days. I may do that this weekend – if ShawD hadn’t agreed to have dinner, I would have suggested staying in a hotel in NY for the weekend. I think we are a few days to two weeks to having heat. I’m waiting for a second bid. Then they’ll have to order equipment. Too bad my first business trip of the month – to Mexico City – doesn’t come earlier in the month.</p>
<p>Oops. ShawWife and not ShawD scheduled for us to go over to someone’s for dinner – actually they were coming to our house but lack of heat put the kibosh on that. We offered to take them out, but they are great cooks, so we will have a feast over there.</p>
<p>Shawbridge – if you aren’t going to have heat for days to weeks, might want to make sure that you’re not going to have frozen pipe issues on top of everything else.</p>
<p>Finally managed to get D to go out to buy work/interview clothes, and it went a whole lot better than either of us were expecting. I think we’re done. </p>
<p>We have a ****** Nordstrom’s, but they did end up having a suit jacket in petite and skirt in regular from the same collection that looked fabulous on her, and their nice alterations lady came over and figured out the hem issue – and they’ll mail it to her at school when it is done. (Our Nordstrom suffers from the enduring problem of rarely having any clothes – really, just masses and masses of poorly used space. This time we lucked out.)</p>
<p>Also found three suitable dresses and a jacket that will work nicely with some dress slacks for dressy business casual. Which is different than business casual. Which is way different than what passes for business casual around here.</p>
<p>arabrab…the business casual dilemma was very tricky for D2 this past summer when she was attending accounting firm meet and greets and socials. A principal of one of the firms plays Bunco with me and she said many of the students were way too casual. Some even wore shorts and tank tops on an evening cruise down the river! D2 said you can never go wrong with a dress and jacket. I have found some great deals on designer blazers at TJ Maxx for her. They are usually in the $39.99 range and are brands usually found at Bloomies or Nordies. I love to find bargains to dress my girls! ;)</p>