The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[StarWarsGirl]

Driver's ed in Illinois is required, both to get your license (if you are under 18), and as a state mandated high school graduation requirement.

It's required here regardless if you're 18 or not to get your license. You could be 45; if you're getting your license, you go to driver's ed.

Not a high school requirement, though.

 

[21stamps]

We just got word the other day, prom is out right cancelled. Graduation will be virtual, with the hope that some way to do it safely will result in some type of in person ceremony in June or July. All summer sports camps are cancelled, so no preparation for a fall football season at the high school. With no football, there would be no marching band or poms for dd's senior year. She also pointed out that she will likely never experience Home coming as an upper class man. The past game was called due to weather, just after the band started to take the field for pregame. No last band camp. No senior night. It is just so heartbreaking. I totally understand why we are doing this, and fully support it, but we are asking so much from our kids. Not another word about laziness, incompetence, being spoiled. None.

As for drivers ed, classes are on Zoom. Behind the wheel ended with DD short one session. Normally, you have to complete the btw classes before 9 months from your first day of class. In my infinite wisdom that they should be spaced out, she is well over that, but the deadline has been extended. Normally, after the first class or 2, you go take a test for your permit, so you can start putting what you learn in class into practice, but DMV is closed, of course, so you can't. Who knows how long the current group of kids will be done with class lessons, before they can actually practice driving. The next batch of young drivers, through no fault of their own, will be interesting.

As for DS the college senior, last week the jazz band trip to Colombia was officially cancelled, as was June Jazz. He has played his last gig with them. Graduation at this point is on hold. Still no word on his senior recital, which was to be May 2. If they don't wave that requirement, he won't graduate.

The state has officially waived the last required hours for student teaching to graduate. Those kids won't have as much practical experience, when they get their first thing jobs. Hopefully, they will get a little more support when they start.

I feel for you son and daughter. This is so sad to read.


I wish during all of the updates and lists of “thank you” to various people, companies, and professions, that there would be direct messages to our youth. Some type of tv campaign or something. Show them that we realize what they’re going thru. They are losing so much.
I don’t know, I just think they deserve more acknowledgement than what they’re currently getting.

 

[Rista1313]

It's required here regardless if you're 18 or not to get your license. You could be 45; if you're getting your license, you go to driver's ed.

Not a high school requirement, though.

Here it's required before 18, but not required after 18.

 

[MouseDreaming]

I hear olive oil is good if you have dry skin

I have put a little on my hands, to help with winter dryness.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

A 4% to 17% unemployment in less than 2 months...Jesus

The only good thing I can say about this is that this wasn't caused by a natural downswing in the economy; it's driven by an event. If it were driven naturally, it would be harder to recover from, but given that this was basically an interruption in the economic cycle, I'd expect that the unemployment rate will decrease as dramatically as it increased. I don't expect it to go back to the 4% (I don't think that's even "normal" unemployment; I think normal is 6%; 4% shows a lack of skilled labor), but I would expect it to decrease dramatically in a few months.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Here it's required before 18, but not required after 18.

Well, given how many idiots we have on the roads, they have to require it....

 

[MouseDreaming]

We have been on quite a strict lockdown for about a month. No restaurants,bars etc. No takeaways. Only essential businesses open. 2 hours a day outside exercise. We are on the downside of the curve now so things are very slowly starting to relax. There is a lot of businesses ( mine included ) that remain closed to the public but are offering a delivery service ( phone and order/pay. Driver delivers to your house but with no actual contact).
As of this coming weekend some work will be allowed to resume trading as long as they satisfy strict protocols. So Gardeners and some tradespeople etc. Non essential retail etc to remain closed for at least another two weeks.
Any business that has had to close can apply to the government for wage assistance. The gov pays 80% of minimum wage as long as the employer agrees to pay the other 20% .
So i am on minimum wage atm . Mrs Ferret works in a supermarket so is still full time.
Thankfully the weather turned nice jist as the lockdown arrived , so it is a lot easier on everyone.
We have no passenger ferry service on or off island until at least sometime in May and limited flights off the island for at least that long. Those are mainly for emergency and essential things.
Overall it's not too bad here we have only had 10 deaths (most from care homes and all elderly). Still not nice for those involved.
Hope you and yours are safe and well and i will try and magic some snow your way

Good to hear, but keep your darn snow!

 

[MouseDreaming]

We are lucky in that we can limit what influence the outside world has on our island. I can imagine it's a lot harder over there. Even if your state/region is doing really well your neighbouring states may well not be and it isn't easy to keep people out.

Are there plans for testing all the good citizens of your lovely island? It would be interesting to see numbers, much like Iceland.

 

[MouseDreaming]

I'm taking today off! No cooking or cleaning because the house isn't bad and there's food the guys can nuke in the fridge. Today the sad hit.

I get it. I seem to have days that are ok, and others where I can't seem to get off the couch.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

Are there plans for testing all the good citizens of your lovely island? It would be interesting to see numbers, much like Iceland.

Problem with mass testing is that it is only applicable to that day

 

[21stamps]

The only good thing I can say about this is that this wasn't caused by a natural downswing in the economy; it's driven by an event. If it were driven naturally, it would be harder to recover from, but given that this was basically an interruption in the economic cycle, I'd expect that the unemployment rate will decrease as dramatically as it increased. I don't expect it to go back to the 4% (I don't think that's even "normal" unemployment; I think normal is 6%; 4% shows a lack of skilled labor), but I would expect it to decrease dramatically in a few months.

I do think the numbers will decrease, but I also think there will be a lot of numbers not reported.

Think about how many high and college kids have summer jobs at amusement parks, day camps, overnight camps, etc. Kings Island/Soak City employees thousands of that age group here.. I’d guesstimate more than half of that age, in my city, has summer jobs already lined up at the park.
The overnight summer camps will probably not open, who knows if day camps will open.. maybe something like art or some music camps would still be possible, but not sport or physical play- activity based, and probably not the zoo or museum camps.
Great Wolf Lodge is also looking more and more unlikely. Swim clubs also looking extremely unlikely.



Each one of those facilities employs HS/college kids who can’t claim unemployment (to my knowledge).

 

[21stamps]

I found this-

Kings Island hiring 5,000 for 2020 season

More than 5,000 jobs are up for grabs at Kings Island.

www.google.com

KI hires 5000 seasonal employees for the summer season. That’s just in southern Ohio.
Cedar Point also hires 5000 seasonal employees for the summer.

That’s 10,000 people just in Ohio who were hired by one company (Cedar Fair), but may never start their job.


Once you add up all of the other entertainment venues, swim clubs, camps... I wonder what the numbers will look like.

 

[MouseDreaming]

Problem with mass testing is that it is only applicable to that day

Right, but it may help to provide clues to how many actually have/had it, and of those how many were asymptomatic.

 

[MouseDreaming]

I do think the numbers will decrease, but I also think there will be a lot of numbers not reported.

Think about how many high and college kids have summer jobs at amusement parks, day camps, overnight camps, etc. Kings Island/Soak City employees thousands of that age group here.. I’d guesstimate more than half of that age, in my city, has summer jobs already lined up at the park.
The overnight summer camps will probably not open, who knows if day camps will open.. maybe something like art or some music camps would still be possible, but not sport or physical play- activity based, and probably not the zoo or museum camps.
Great Wolf Lodge is also looking more and more unlikely. Swim clubs also looking extremely unlikely.



Each one of those facilities employs HS/college kids who can’t claim unemployment (to my knowledge).

Actually, I am FB friends with someone who was shocked that her 19 yr old, suddenly unemployed movie theater kid, was eligible for unemployment. With the extra $600, I am guessing he is probably making more now.

 

[21stamps]

Actually, I am FB friends with someone who was shocked that her 19 yr old, suddenly unemployed movie theater kid, was eligible for unemployment. With the extra $600, I am guessing he is probably making more now.

Wow. Well hopefully if he’s living at home then he’s using some of that money to chip in!
I think that fed money is going to cause a problem in itself when people are making more by not working than when working.. but I‘ll spare you all my extended opinions on it, in this thread.

 

[Figgy1]

Yayyyy! Give her a treat from us and a big hug!

X2

 

[Figgy1]

It's not just TP. It's good, branded TP. Not the dollar store stuff she had to buy last time.

I still have a couple of months worth of the good stuff from Sam's purchased before the great TP panic of 2020 With free shipping it paid to order a couple of cases at a time

 

[21stamps]

@ajrwdwgirl - T was given this “optional” assignment.. he said “This sounds awesome. I’m definitely doing it.”


It might be something that you could do for your students.. I think you said you teach 9th grade? Won’t be as dramatically different, but might be fun nonetheless.

 

[Cesar R M]

You can also point out to him that part of what happened after the Great Depression was that the government put in safeguards to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. The banks are federally insured now so that they can't crash and everyone lose all their money. They have to keep a certain amount of cash on hand. Back then, it was laissez faire economics, which was the reason the economy expanded too quickly, and then exploded. They learned, and now that's prevented, which is why that's not happening this time, even though we currently have a high unemployment rate.

You can talk about that being why we study history, so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. For instance, after World War I, minimal assistance was provided to Germany, and then what happened? Hitler rose to power. They didn't make that mistake again. After defeating Japan and Germany, they helped them rebuild, and now they're our allies.

We've never experienced something like this, and when it's over, it will be history, so we'll look back at what we did right and what went wrong, and hopefully it won't happen again because we'll know how to handle it.

if I remember correctly, a lot of these protections were slowly removed by Jr. Hence why we had the banking crisis on the next president.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

@ajrwdwgirl - T was given this “optional” assignment.. he said “This sounds awesome. I’m definitely doing it.”


It might be something that you could do for your students.. I think you said you teach 9th grade? Won’t be as dramatically different, but might be fun nonetheless.


View attachment 465556

That is cool. I think our English teacher is having the kids do something like this.