Posts made by silverfox

@RightMeow

LOL

I generally like Gray Harbor's feelings. "We just don't deal with the present geopolitical stuff and RL outside events" so I can play like it's now with what I'm most familiar with, but I DON'T have to deal with all the nonsense that is ACTUALLY happening.

I have no idea what that is but I just watched it several times.

@Ganymede

When something off the wall funny happens out of the blue.

Like, I love the deep personal character moments, but if someone can make me laugh?

I like the idea of having a hub and then places that people could go and sandbox in. I'm starting to narrow down some of my dysfunction on other games being that I have to like, get things approved, and then STAY within the confines of that approval (to be clear, I'm pretty sure I have more freedom than my mind will let me believe I have, but I haven't figured out how to get my brain to shut the fuck up and let me be free). When I don't have to get approval I would GM things WAY often and intend to do so cuz running things for other people to have fun at is MY type of fun.

100% modern times.

@GreenFlashlight

That is really sad.

I hadn't thought things were so fraught still. We were crossing our fingers because I've got a grandfather and grandmother who both need to be in memory care units and we can't get them moved (for my grandfather) or in at all (for my grandmother, she is still living with an abusive aunt while my father fights for control of decisions over her. Legal documents aside, the person who lives there vs the person a state away has more authority.)

Our district's high school is closed because they had so many cases across the building that they no longer had enough staff to keep the building running.

My building has one class out.

That one class had a single student test positive, but none of the rest of her family (3 siblings in my building included) tested positive. I'm just waiting for the rest of the Dominos to fall now.

Anyone who doesn't pounce @L-B-Heuschkel when there's a chance to scene with them are crazy as futz.

Every time this conversation comes up the same people come out to say that "this system just doesn't work for me!!"

A few times, maybe, I would think that it's honestly a preference they're touting. After as many as I've seen though, it seems like there is more than a personal preference at play. I don't know what it is, though I have some guesses.

PERSONALLY:

I've yet to play on an Ares game where when I threw up a general scene set and waited, people didn't show up. Yes, I did make sure there were people "active" on the game within it. I don't... THINK (correct me if I'm wrong) that Ares announces every time a scene opens? So people must have been looking, and I was just the first one who thew down a set and waited for people to come.

I don't do it ~often~ because there's that anxiety of "what if people don't show up" - but I felt that scene sitting too. At least this way I'm being proactive and people know what I want to RP?

There are going to be a lot of positions as teachers open at the end of this. We have assembled a REALLY good staff over the last two years. We only had a single new hire which is almost unheard of in urban districts.

I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of us left though

One of my teacher friends was told by her admin that if she couldn't handle this year they would just find someone who would. Makes you realize your worth.

I really love when IT picks up, fixes my problem, and I'm able to get back to my work.

I really really really love it.

@SilentHills

That sucks. I'm so sorry.

My principal found my crying place today, so I can't use it any more.

So I have pretty good insurance through my employer, and access to an employee assistance program.

However, in these times the wait times for counselors is WEEKS if not MONTHS. I can't actually schedule anything with the woman I was seeing before because she is booked past the point they allow appointments to be made.

With everything though I knew I couldn't wait that long for counseling. So I had been hearing about Betterhelp from my podcasts and I decided to just try it. It is 4x as expensive as using my insurance but I can get in //now// and //often// and honestly it has helped so much. Just getting to talk to someone else NOT in my situation or feeling obligated to take my side is so nice.

I'm sure that phone or video conference counseling doesn't work for everyone, but in a crisis sometimes something is better than nothing.

So in short, a plug for therapy here.

Book covers at the middle level have gone out of vogue. In fact, our middle schoolers have fewer texts than my elementary kids because so many of theirs have moved digital.

It is not right for a kid to HAVE to carry a backpack that heavy at such a young age.

Just because it DID happen, doesn't mean it's okay.

Just because it DOES happen, doesn't mean it's okay.

@Ganymede

Nope. In a normal year they have their lunch box and maybe a single reading book.

My babies backpacks are easily 1/3 of their total weight.

I swear to god I will not be surprised if teachers just throw their hands up in the air and straight up quit. We're being asked to do a million things badly and nothing WELL.

A parent reached out concerned because her SECOND GRADER is carrying multiple text books home every day (100% agree, this is stupid as fuck. If we go remote they should be able to come and get them vs carrying them home EVERY DAY) and all I could do is say that I'm so sorry it's happening but that I don't know what to do, maybe if she calls the office they might be able to brainstorm something?

My only bright spot is that my kids in front of me seem to trust me and are willing to try. But there's a point where that validation just isn't enough any more and the DAMAGE that's being done to kids is more heavily weighted.