|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 7, 2024 0:25:16 GMT
Not really. I will usually buy a case of water at the beginning of hurricane season, but that's it.
We do order our meat and seafood from humanely raised/sustainable sources about every other month, so I guess technically that's stocking up. And I tend to buy wine a case at a time.
That said, we could definitely live out of our pantry/freezer for a while if we had to - not because I've stocked up, but because at least once a week a meal I've planned doesn't get prepared and eaten because something comes up. Or because we never use whole bag of rice or pasta in one meal. I do make a point of trying to cook out of what is already there every once in a while.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 7, 2024 0:19:22 GMT
Generally, yes. He will sometimes ask about a piece of equipment that isn't used very often.
And ladies, I will say that the reverse of expecting him to know where stuff is in the kitchen is that we should know where basic tools, DIY supplies, and lawn equipment is kept.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 7, 2024 0:17:59 GMT
In Houston, tree waste is recycled into wood chips, mulch, or wood pulp products. We have tree waste pickup every other month, but after a hurricane or tropical storm, they go into turbo mode with picking up and processing the fallen trees.
I imagine other areas are the same.
Treated lumber can't be recycled in the same way as clean tree waste. Not sure what happens with that.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 7, 2024 0:13:10 GMT
They already have. There was already a ruling regarding a football coach and school prayer. We’re already at the deconstruction of previously held rights. This won’t end even if Trump falls over dead tomorrow They also ruled to allow taxpayer money to go to parochial schools in Maine. Some towns are too small to have their own high school and pay tuition to other schools. Of course, a parent sued to have their tuition at a religious school paid. And the current Supreme Court allowed it. Yeah, but the case is very specific - it's only allowed in an area where there are no public schools. So it's not really a good precedent for the widespread use of public funds for religious schools right now. If, in the future, Republicans succeed in their quest to destroy public schools in some areas, that could be revisited. Also of interest, again in Oklahoma, the state supreme court ruled that public funds could not be used to establish a religious charter school in the state. No telling what SCOTUS will do. Either way, I imagine it will be a better precedent for the general case of public funding for private religious schools in the future. I'm scratching my head about how Ryan Waters got elected in the first place when it seems that most of the other GOP electeds in the state seem to think he's a nutcase. Hopefully the people of Oklahoma will make a different choice next time. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 6, 2024 18:33:08 GMT
Every accusation is a confession.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 6, 2024 14:46:26 GMT
Be safe, all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 6, 2024 14:38:34 GMT
I don't listen to Pod Casts but I think you can find pretty much whatever you are looking for! LOL , I'm really wondering if Podcasters do that, calling people bitches and trying to relate to the show. I know I don't call my friends bitches.. do you My kids’ generation does. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 6, 2024 14:14:28 GMT
Hugs. It is hard. It’s a shame how hard it is to find mental health services for kids and teens.
I assume you’ve exhausted all resources in looking for a counselor? Online counseling might be an option if you don’t have anyone local. Most of the online groups take insurance too.
We also found, long after the time that it would have been useful for us, that there is a mental health triage clinic affiliated with a large local hospital group in a strip mall five minutes from our house. We had no idea it was there. They apparently meet immediate needs and refer out for counseling, psychiatry, and other services as needed. Might be worth a google for triage clinics.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 5, 2024 16:43:28 GMT
Isn’t it a public school district in OK that’s planning to spend millions on the Trump Bible? How is that possibly even legal? I thought we were no longer pushing Christianity in our public schools? If it gets taken to court, will this Supreme Court end up throwing out the 60+yo school prayer rulings? Ryan Waters is the state superintendent who wants to make bibles mandatory in ALL Oklahoma public schools. Several of the more urban districts have told him to go pound sand, and he’s made various threats in response. And now he wants to send millions of dollars in taxpayer money to the Trump campaign to get very specific bibles. I wouldn’t trust this SC to uphold previous judgements re: separation of church and state. What does seem positive is that OK’s governor and AG don’t seem on board with Waters’ lunacy, and likely wouldn’t defend the order in court when it is challenged. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 5, 2024 15:09:02 GMT
Seems the situation is still pretty fluid. theeyewall.com/Hoping you all just get a rainstorm out of it and nothing too serious. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 5, 2024 14:24:59 GMT
One of the primary jokes was the guy they were looking for had certainly long since crossed the border into Oklahoma. Those folks should have gotten the wake-up call instead!
I have those notifications turned off, but my husband and kids - who both happened to sleep at our house that night - did not. So yesterday I went on and turned them off on all their phones.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 4, 2024 16:50:55 GMT
Yes. I know a lot of people who think Trump getting back in would be no big deal because there are supposedly curbs and checks and balances on the power of the presidency. If we’ve learned anything from the SC ruling on immunity and the willingness of Trump to fire everyone who doesn’t do exactly what he wants, it’s that curbs and checks and balances don’t exist for Trump. The corruption will know no bounds. I know people like that too who think that all of the legal cases are made up Democrat witch hunts and that there isn’t any real substance to any of them. Makes you want to shake them by the throat and say, “How could ALL of that be made up, with different grand juries in different states coming to the conclusion that they’re looking at a chargeable offense? That would have to be one hell of a witch hunt.” I say it’s a good thing Halloween is coming because of all the witches they keep finding! 🧙 They’re the same folks who think Democrats can control the weather and whip up hurricanes. Delusional. On the topic of corruption, people need to remember that there are plenty of red state officials happy to help with the grift:  |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 4, 2024 16:11:26 GMT
Butter emails. There is some level on which I think that the depth of the corruption hasn't sunk in for a lot of people because it is so unbelievably bad that it is, well, unbelievable. Yes. I know a lot of people who think Trump getting back in would be no big deal because there are supposedly curbs and checks and balances on the power of the presidency. If we’ve learned anything from the SC ruling on immunity and the willingness of Trump to fire everyone who doesn’t do exactly what he wants, it’s that curbs and checks and balances don’t exist for Trump. The corruption will know no bounds. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 4, 2024 16:00:52 GMT
You can do anything for a year. Would you regret more staying and doing the extra year or retiring and thinking "oh, what I could've done with that extra 35K!" I don't think I would regret retiring. If I really need the money, I can do something else. You will not regret retiring. I walked away with 7 years left until elegible for full retirement. I would not have survived those 7 years mentally. To your point, you can do something else (as I am) and sock that money away for retirement instead. Talk with your financial planner and make a plan to make that work for you. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 4, 2024 14:09:49 GMT
Wait, was this nationwide? I thought it was just Texas that got woken up at 4:53.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 14:49:43 GMT
Specific, innocent people like the poll workers in Georgia and others. And the worst part is that he gets away with it over and over and over again. By the time anyone ever calls him on it the damage has already been done. Legal Haitian immigrants Hispanic US citizens killed in an El Paso Walmart by a gunman who specifically cited rhetoric about an immigrant "invasion." |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 13:35:23 GMT
I do feel compelled to point out that Republicans axed the individual mandate in 2017, which is why your brother hasn't been penalized and in large part why prices have gone up (and providers become fewer) for the rest of us. I also think the quality of lies told between the two parties is vastly different. "I was in China at this time" when it was really some other time strikes me as far less consequential than "The election was stolen" and "I never told anyone to riot about it." The only thing axed about it was the tax penalty. The mandate still stands. And of course, some states DO have mandates. Mine is one of them. The point isn't that my brother got away without having to pay into the pot. The point is that it was sold as a way for everybody to have (implied "affordable") healthcare. And that's not what it was, at all. It did not result in everybody having healthcare. I don't understand why people hear these cockamamie pie in the sky promises and act as if that is what is going to happen. Then count the votes and start making the excuses about why the other guys didn't let you do the thing you promised you would do, knowing you couldn't unilaterally do it, but hey, gullible people who actually have hope will trust you. Lies are lies. How hard is it to be honest? Why does integrity matter so little to so many people? This guy has a serious history of lying. Why can't it just be said? Just because it is a little lie to you, and inconsequential to you, doesn't make it inconsequential. If something was so moving- so damn meaningful, why lie? All thinking people know, the data shows, and the fact Joe Biden is president are meaningful proof that Trump lost in 2020. Why is Trump's lie worse than a guy that says he was at a horrific historical event, and he was not? Because one is an ugly orange guy? The misspeaks, exuberances, embellishments (btw.. the word we are looking for here is lies...) keep coming. This guy is seriously lacking integrity. Blatant lies about where you were at a very specific time that you say was incredibly meaningful, that's ok because the other guy lies, just call it a misspeak. Lying is not ok. No matter what color your tie is on debate night. Yall also don't care about drunk driving in this thread I guess... Hell.. to know whether it is wrong or not, one Pea wants data about the prevalence of law enforcement letting people go or drunk driving in general? Does that matter? WRONG is wrong. No matter what night of the week. But every other thread on this board where it is brought up= torches and pitchforks. But because he's a Democrat against the ugly orange man, it's ok. It actually makes me feel alot better reading this thread. You all aren't so different after all. A "mandate" without any means for enforcement isn't really a mandate, but I think you know that. Doesn't change the fact that reducing the risk pool drives up costs for everyone. I'm sure you can also understand that a mandate would have forced more young, healthy people into the risk pool to reduce costs over time for everyone - but again, Republicans wouldn't allow that to stand. I can't control what individual states do, and frankly, neither can Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. I know that red states like mine, with no mandate, no Medicaid expansion, and the highest percentage of uninsured in the country, also have some of the highest healthcare costs and number of people burdened with substantial medical debt. That doesn't seem like a good thing for the state or the country to me. Something to understand about promises that politicians make is that they have to assume that even their opponents will act in good faith. Since the election of Barack Obama, Republicans have failed to act in good faith - to actually govern through compromise - every step of the way. Mitch McConnell made their intentions in that regard quite clear. It was never about concerns about healthcare for them. It was entirely about making sure Obama never had a legislative win. So I'm not really sure why you're angry at the Democrats, who made a good faith effort to deliver on their campaign promises, when it was the other party that stymied them. We will have to agree to disagree about the weight and cost of some lies vs. others. From what I've seen of Tim Walz so far, his intent is not to defraud the American people. Whereas JD Vance has made it quite clear that is exactly what he intends to do, and he's proud of it. And yesterday we got the full history of the lies Trump has told on just one subject and the fact that he knew they were lies and has kept on telling them, leading to several deaths and the complete fracturing of the American people. It's incomprehensible to me that you can't see the difference. And to say that we're "not so different after all" on this issue? Please. That's just lazy thinking. FWIW, very few people are more against drunk driving than I am, as I've suffered a very personal loss from that crime. But our system of justice says that someone who has paid their penalty is a free citizen like any of the rest of us. And further, my personal sense of morality says that someone who owns up to a failing, pays the penalty, learns from it, and makes sure it doesn't happen again is to be respected. We have a lot of evidence from Walz's life so far that he is basically a decent person who has done a lot of good for people. We have no such evidence about Vance. I am sorry that you are so angry about having to vote for someone you hate. I do think, however, that your anger is misplaced. Save it for the party that allowed itself to be taken over by Trump and dominated by a constant stream of lies and disinformation. One of our two parties being nonviable hurts everyone, Democrats included. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 13:07:50 GMT
They also let social media fear mongering get them. My FYP on TT all of a sudden was filled with peppers and non peppers loading up on top, paper towels, water, rice, canned food, eggs. This. The local mom's group on FB immediately had women freaking out and asking where everyone was getting their TP and how much they were buying. Similar questions about milk, bread, and other things that most definitely are made in the USA. It's not hurricane anxiety here. The Texas hurricane season is pretty much over. Just people who enjoy drama and enjoy hyping it up in others. ETA: for those who may be concerned about hurricanes, The Eyewall is an excellent source of no-hype information about tropical systems. It's run by two independent meteorologists here in Houston but they cover any and all tropical developments that may affect the US. It appears Florida may get hit again next week but with a much weaker storm, and it's forecasted to cross the peninsula and go out to sea rather than up into the Appalachian states. Other storms currently in the Atlantic are no threat to land. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 12:27:01 GMT
Why are people panic buying loo roll again? All the US east coast and gulf coast ports are closed due to a worker strike. Some shortages are feared, but most retailers saw this coming and pre-ordered a larger supply in anticipation. TP (loo roll) that we purchase here is mostly produced in the US and will not be affected, but I guess people remember the shortages during Covid and freak out before doing any reading/research. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 2:15:41 GMT
The US produces plenty of its own alcohol. European wines, and alcohol from South America and the Caribbean Rum and what are mentioned. Yes. DH and I prefer wines from outside the US so we would potentially suffer, but the much larger selection of domestic beer, wine, and liquor at the store tells me that most of the US will be just fine. Tequila, Mezcal, and Mexican beers can just come overland as they usually do.  |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 1:53:23 GMT
OMG. Not again! I haven’t been to the store this week, so I don’t know. The things I read that are most affected by the strike are bananas, cherries, chocolate, and alcohol. The US produces plenty of its own alcohol. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 1:23:41 GMT
Trump and Vance literally have zero plans to address the cost of childcare or housing. Biden and Harris' plans are not perfect, but they are trying. Harris and Walz will expand the child tax credit. As governor, Walz expanded state child tax credits and built a family leave program. Harris does have plans to build houses. She's calling for a $40 billion innovation fund for affordable housing. She plans to create incentives for builders to build starter homes. A huge part of the problem is that developers can make more money by building McMansions. Both child care and housing are complicated and the result of years of capitalism and other things. There is no quick fix to either situation. The only long term solution for both is government investment - in affordable housing, assisting parents with paying for child care and increasing wages and training for child care workers. www.cnbc.com/2024/08/18/with-harris-economic-plan-us-family-child-care-crisis-is-in-election.htmlwww.pbs.org/newshour/economy/harris-has-proposed-a-slew-of-economic-policies-heres-a-look-at-whats-in-themYes. Very complex. Offering grandiose unachievable, downright false, and detrimental solutions is no better than sticking his tongue out and saying neener neener. Government investment means “taxpayer” money to subsidize. I will happily (giddy over the moon happy- we are all in this together!) walk back this statement if Harris is elected and they actually implement some serious equitable tax on the Uber wealthy that makes those subsidies not just be yanked from my paycheck and given to someone else. But, reality and history tell me that’s exactly the same as making Mexico pay for building a stupid wall. Only stupid people believe that’s gonna happen. Even stupider people believe it did happen. When Obama was elected, my mother sat there in tears. She was so happy that my brother was finally going to be able to get the mental health care that she believes he need it. Spoiler alert 15 years later most healthcare systems have had a consolidate me to get Obamacare mandates. Healthcare has become way more expensive and unaccessible. My brother never did buy into the marketplace. Nor has he ever been penalized like was supposed to happen to force “young healthy” people to buy coverage they don’t want and/or can’t afford. Of course those of us that do follow our federal and often state healthcare insurance mandates simply pay a lot more. Mom is the most ridiculous Trumper you’ll ever meet. Lofty promises and lies. These people, both parties, no very well with the executive branch can, and cannot accomplish unilaterally. But yet, they keep telling you what you want to hear. And I go back to probably my very first post in this thread, Walz yet again, demonstrated that he has no problem lying to the faces of the American people. He’ll fit in very well in Washington. I do feel compelled to point out that Republicans axed the individual mandate in 2017, which is why your brother hasn't been penalized and in large part why prices have gone up (and providers become fewer) for the rest of us. I also think the quality of lies told between the two parties is vastly different. "I was in China at this time" when it was really some other time strikes me as far less consequential than "The election was stolen" and "I never told anyone to riot about it." |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 1:16:49 GMT
Yes, I've seen many posts on FB with photos of Costco, Sam's, BJ's etc with empty shelves and long lines. 🙄 Um...tp is brough not brought to us by boat! It's made in the US or Canada. The pulp we use to make it is from Mexico and Canada. Then it's manufactured here in the US. Not sure where in Mexico but if by boat it could possibly go to Texas port? Or LA port? Even depending on where in Canada, it could go to a port up east? I also saw that cotton is shipped to East coast as well so that could cause some delays maybe? I grabbed my normal 30pk of Red Charmin and didn't see anyone with more than 1. I wonder if the west isn't as nervous? Stuff from Mexico comes right across the bridges between Mexico and Texas. One of the reasons we can't just "close the border." Abbott tried it for just a couple of weeks and it cost the economy billions. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 3, 2024 1:15:36 GMT
Yeah, they're doing it here, too. Hoarders drive me nuts. Buy what you need and leave something for others. So stupid and selfish.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 23:35:33 GMT
 The blue wall is the accent wall in my grey kitchen. It was a tough decision for this decorating challenged person but I love it! That's a really pretty blue! TFS! |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 23:35:00 GMT
Just last year we converted our dining room into a reading room. One wall became an accent wall, but we used wallpaper instead. There are some awesome wallpapers out there now. We really like how it turned out. A whole room of it would have been overwhelming in our smaller house I think.  Question - are your walls textured and, if so, did you have to have that sanded down before you applied the wallpaper? I love the look of an accent wall with wallpaper but the texture has always been a concern for me. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 23:17:59 GMT
I really hope this opens some eyes that he knew he lost that there wasn’t significant voter fraud. What I have seen so has been worse than I expected to see. I’m glad this has been released It won't matter. The people who are going to vote for him don't care about any of it. They're as sleazy as he is at this point. Rough way to view a significant number of your fellow Americans, but here we all are. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 21:08:10 GMT
The "party of law and order" will happily vote for the convicted felon and obvious traitor.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 20:26:01 GMT
What is the process in your district for referral to special ed? I'd share what you've shared here with your admin and the special ed person in your school and ask to have the evaluation process started. [ETA: didn't see the sped people have been in your room. Are they qualified to evaluate? Or is it just the aide? Even a teacher is not a diagnostician. I would still take your concerns to admin and especially the parents.]
Before you do that, though, I'd have an in-person conference with parents to share your observations in a very neutral way, and ask what they notice at home. If parents are on board the eval. process can generally happen much more quickly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 2, 2024 20:20:11 GMT
My understanding is that, at least in my state, no background check is required for private sales. So there's nothing forcing them to do a background check when this happens in Texas (and it does). Same with gun shows and people selling weapons by word of mouth.
|
|
