The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[MinnieM123]

So glad I don't follow football and never liked it. Very hard to get any other local news stories on TV this morning, due to our area's team winning, which has happened for a few years now. Got nothing against sports fans, but when the local newscast is take up with 50% of the air time about football, I end up just shutting off the tv.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Well the game is turning out as I expected. The Vikes had a good run this season. I'm sure some of the fans that went to the game still think it was worth it. Although from reports I read and saw online the Philly fans stayed true to form with their "welcome" of visiting fans.

I was very bummed. Neither team I wanted to win did. Another snow day? I don’t want to see anymore snow. None is in the forecast for us, but of course you never know from one hour to the next.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Yeah, it's much simpler in the US, but I actually like the system here better. You know how you HATED group projects because not everyone is motivated, etc? Because schools are divided here, you are only in classes with YOUR level, so it's all like-minded kids at the same level. You aren't in a group with a kid who is content to get a D if you are a high achiever. And also, you won't be bored waiting for the other kids to catch up, or strugging to keep up with the kids who are faster...everyone is at the same level you are, so you fit in and the teacher can teach at your speed.
The one thing I DON'T like is that some of the smaller towns might not offer every level. DH had to go to Arnhem to do VWO....so he had to ride his bike from Huissen to Arnhem every day, and it's not like it's a huge distance...only a few miles, but still. We're lucky that our town has 2 schools for VMBO and 3 schools for MAVO (VMBO-T) through VWO. And the one DD is wanting to go to is only a 5 -10 minute walk from our house. She can get there by bike faster than she gets to her current elementary school. But, her best friend also has VWO advice and is having trouble deciding between Gymnasium (VWO plus latin and Greek) and dual language immersion. None of the schools offer BOTH. There's a school in Arnhem that has both, but she'd have to take a train to school and back every single day, by herself, at age 12....and it takes about an hour. That would terrify me...sending my 12 year old alone on a train to the city every day. DH says no way would we let DD do that. She's mature for her age, but yikes. So that's the only downside to it.

Growing up, and maybe because I was in a big city, our individual classes were broken up between those that were in an A stream/B stream, and those that weren’t expected to go to college. There were the so called specialized high schools you had to take a test to get into after junior high, but even if you went to a regular zoned high school you were placed in honors or regular classes. In elementary school our reading and math classes were broken into different levels as well. I wouldn’t send my 12 year old an hour away to school either, especially not with the current world environment. I think a 2 minute bike ride is much better. Good luck with the decision making.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

There had to be riot police brought to the tailgating areas and some Vikings fans had to have a police escort while leaving the game for their safety.

Very sad and not surprised.

 

[Songbird76]

Growing up, and maybe because I was in a big city, our individual classes were broken up between those that were in an A stream/B stream, and those that weren’t expected to go to college. There were the so called specialized high schools you had to take a test to get into after junior high, but even if you went to a regular zoned high school you were placed in honors or regular classes. In elementary school our reading and math classes were broken into different levels as well. I wouldn’t send my 12 year old an hour away to school either, especially not with the current world environment. I think a 2 minute bike ride is much better. Good luck with the decision making.

Oh wow....that would have been so nice. We only had one school in my home town and there were 32 kids in my graduating class, so the only divisions we had were for AP classes. We actually only had one AP class....math, and it wasn't even really divided as those of us in the AP program just took each class a year ahead. So I was in math class with the kids in my brother's year. Senior year, there were only 5 kids in my math class....the AP class was calculus and the rest of the kids took Math applications. (basic math like....story problems. A store is having a 15% off sale. If a fridge normally costs $700, how much does it cost on sale?) And then we had a choice senior year of Physics or Earth science, though anyone with a certain grade point average was expected to take physics. That was the extent of our "AP" offerings in my school, and everything else was just standard. Group projects sucked because inevitably, I was placed in a group with kids who didn't care and knew I did, so if I wanted a good grade I had to do the project myself and let them get the credit. I'm glad my kids probably won't have that experience!!

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Oh wow....that would have been so nice. We only had one school in my home town and there were 32 kids in my graduating class, so the only divisions we had were for AP classes. We actually only had one AP class....math, and it wasn't even really divided as those of us in the AP program just took each class a year ahead. So I was in math class with the kids in my brother's year. Senior year, there were only 5 kids in my math class....the AP class was calculus and the rest of the kids took Math applications. (basic math like....story problems. A store is having a 15% off sale. If a fridge normally costs $700, how much does it cost on sale?) And then we had a choice senior year of Physics or Earth science, though anyone with a certain grade point average was expected to take physics. That was the extent of our "AP" offerings in my school, and everything else was just standard. Group projects sucked because inevitably, I was placed in a group with kids who didn't care and knew I did, so if I wanted a good grade I had to do the project myself and let them get the credit. I'm glad my kids probably won't have that experience!!

600 kids in my graduating class, and I probably only knew about 100 of them.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sympathy like, I hope when you're done shoveling Basin takes you away! Sending some prayers and pixie dust for your dh's doctor's appointment

I was very bummed. Neither team I wanted to win did. Another snow day? I don’t want to see anymore snow. None is in the forecast for us, but of course you never know from one hour to the next.

Thanks, although there is no snow yet. occasionally I will see a flake or two. According to the weather guy it should really be starting around 10 or 11am. And thanks for the pixie dust for hub's dr. appointment. This time I really want him to be cleared to drive!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

There had to be riot police brought to the tailgating areas and some Vikings fans had to have a police escort while leaving the game for their safety.

I saw this type of stuff being reported too. It seems as is this kind of behavior is prided by the eagles fans, and I really don't understand that. Even if it wasn't directed at fan of the team I follow I still don't think people should be afraid or have to prepare for a riot to go watch a football (or any sporting) game. Yet this type of story seems to be perpetual for Philly teams. I think it is unacceptable. Some other cities have this reputation as well, when Hubs and I have gone to Wrigley to see the Cubs he has warned me not to wear any Twins stuff especially in the bleachers section.

I remember a couple years ago my husband (who is a Bears fan) went to Lambeau Field in Green Bay for a Packer/Bears game. He said that the guy next to him teased him a little in a good natured way about being a Bears fan in a sea of Packer fans, but it was as a joke and later the guy shared his BBQ pork nachos with hubs. Hubs has worn Cubs paraphernalia to MN Twins games and never had anything said or thrown at him.

It is sad when people can't treat visiting fans with respect. It is just a game. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised sometimes respect is lacking in other areas as well.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

In my high school, my graduating class was 144 and we knew everyone. There were different sections through elementary school based on ability, but it would fluctuate based on classes. Like I was always in the high reader group for Reading/English but in the low group for Math. In High School we only had AP History and English so I took those but we had been divided up in middle school for math. If as an 8th grader you took pre-Algebra then you were in the high level math classes in high school. I think my mom made the school put me in pre-Algebra in 8th grade, so I was in the higher level/college bound track through high school. My mom also only let me take classes in high school that would be good for college. I wanted to take Home Ec and she said it wasn't worth it, I already knew how to cook so I should take Economics. There wasn't really arguing with her so I did. I also wanted to take French and she said if I wanted an allowance I would take Spanish and that I would use Spanish more than French. Mom was right I have used Spanish, and now I'm teaching myself French on Duolingo. She did let me take choir my senior year, probably because I had fulfilled my math credits and she knew as well I did that Calculus was not for me.

 

[Cesar R M]

So glad I don't follow football and never liked it. Very hard to get any other local news stories on TV this morning, due to our area's team winning, which has happened for a few years now. Got nothing against sports fans, but when the local newscast is take up with 50% of the air time about football, I end up just shutting off the tv.

God bless for online streaming!

 

[LAKid53]

Got distracted and forgot to reply to this one last night...

On our cruise last month we were told you could take either your drivers license/state ID or your passport, or both, with you to get on and off the ship at our ports of call. We chose to leave our drivers licenses in the cabin safe and take our passports 'cause DWifey wanted us to get our passports stamped. Funny thing is, all they ever wanted to see was our room key/cards. They had a crew member before the checkpoint telling everyone to get their room keys out all 3 times off the ship and all 3 times back on.

Going through customs to get on the ship was considerably more time-consuming. There was a lot of keyboarding going on.
Going through customs to get back in the US was a bit different.
There were, IIRC, 6-8 lines. They split us up into groups of two and sent us to 3 different lines. Oldest DD and SonIL in one, DWifey and youngest DD in one, and myself and DS in the other.
Our line (DS and myself, of course) moved the slowest! We were still about 8 pairings/groups back when Oldest DD and SonIL and oldest DD got through, and DWifey and youngest DD were about 4 back. DS and I finally were next in line, and then the real fun happened...
The lady in the group right in front of us was being quietly scrutinized up one side and down the other.
This, for some reason, took no less than 10 minutes.
So I'm thinkin' "What might they put us through?!"
It was finally our turn...
We presented our passports and were told to have a nice day and sent on our way...like poop through a goose...!!!!!

Have no clue what the problem was with that one lady, but, it was obviously eventually resolved.
Interesting international travel experience, all the way around...!!!

To clarify that, you need your state ID & birth certificate, as you need to show citizenship.

Yes, you need your stateroom key to get on/off the ship. Remember that photo DCL took when you checked in? That's tied to your key card so they can verify that's actually you. You do need Photo ID to pass through Customs at foreign ports. Our drivers license was okay for Nassau.

Custom agents are pretty good at sizing up people. They may have been questioning her declaration form.

 

[LAKid53]

Good morning View attachment 257257

I love that bridge. Taken from the Headlands?

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

In my high school, my graduating class was 144 and we knew everyone. There were different sections through elementary school based on ability, but it would fluctuate based on classes. Like I was always in the high reader group for Reading/English but in the low group for Math. In High School we only had AP History and English so I took those but we had been divided up in middle school for math. If as an 8th grader you took pre-Algebra then you were in the high level math classes in high school. I think my mom made the school put me in pre-Algebra in 8th grade, so I was in the higher level/college bound track through high school. My mom also only let me take classes in high school that would be good for college. I wanted to take Home Ec and she said it wasn't worth it, I already knew how to cook so I should take Economics. There wasn't really arguing with her so I did. I also wanted to take French and she said if I wanted an allowance I would take Spanish and that I would use Spanish more than French. Mom was right I have used Spanish, and now I'm teaching myself French on Duolingo. She did let me take choir my senior year, probably because I had fulfilled my math credits and she knew as well I did that Calculus was not for me.

My kids use duolingo for their foreign language lessons.

 

[donaldtoo]

To clarify that, you need your state ID & birth certificate, as you need to show citizenship.

Yes, you need your stateroom key to get on/off the ship. Remember that photo DCL took when you checked in? That's tied to your key card so they can verify that's actually you. You do need Photo ID to pass through Customs at foreign ports. Our drivers license was okay for Nassau.

Custom agents are pretty good at sizing up people. They may have been questioning her declaration form.

We had to present our birth certificates to get our passports, but, did not have to take them on the cruise.
It was actually the Carnival Valor. And, yes, they also took our pics and verified that way too, each time on and off the ship.
Whatever the deal was it seems she got on the ship with no problems. I have no clue what the problem was when she was trying to get off the ship.

 

[LAKid53]

We had to present our birth certificates to get our passports, but, did not have to take them on the cruise.
It was actually the Carnival Valor. And, yes, they also took our pics and verified that way too, each time on and off the ship.
Whatever the deal was it seems she got on the ship with no problems. I have no clue what the problem was when she was trying to get off the ship.

Interesting. This is what Disney Cruise Line requires to board. Which I thought was ICE requirement, not the cruise line.


"All Guests claiming U.S. citizenship must present one of the following as proof of U.S. citizenship:

• A valid U.S. Passport
• A valid U.S. Passport Card
• A valid Trusted Traveler Card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
• Government-issued photo ID along with one of the following:
  • Original or copy of their state-issued birth certificate"

If you don't have a valid passport/card, you must have a state issued ID and birth certificate. My daughter somehow managed to mess up her passport application. She brought her Fla birth certificate and had to show that with her Fla driver's license when checking on on embarcation day. And when I checked us in online, I had to indicate what ID we were using. If passport/card, I had to enter that number.

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

View attachment 258574

The Patriots are not too well liked.

 

[LAKid53]

View attachment 258574

You are going to post that map everywhere, aren't you.

 

[LAKid53]

The Patriots are not too well liked.

The Yankees of the NFL....

 

[Cesar R M]

We had to present our birth certificates to get our passports, but, did not have to take them on the cruise.
It was actually the Carnival Valor. And, yes, they also took our pics and verified that way too, each time on and off the ship.
Whatever the deal was it seems she got on the ship with no problems. I have no clue what the problem was when she was trying to get off the ship.

That seems pretty standard.

With your Birth certificate, you get your passport. Which is technically the Worldwide standard of identification (other countries use IDs like voting cards, but passports are pretty much standard).

And depending on the line, you could use your Cruise line card for identification inside the ship and on areas managed by the cruise company (since they pretty much have all your info, including photo, on it).

The photo thing as well, since they need to account that everyone is onboard on depart.

As for problems going OUT of the ship could be an issue related to the country she was trying to get off. An outstanding warrant or criminal offense might have triggered the country's own immigration groups.

And they could have banned her from entering (or was simply incorrectly flagged).. or tried to get off with something that was illegal to said country but legal on ship.