working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

When I was in college the RA in my dorm got free housing. Is that an option for her to pursue?

Possibly. We talked about that the other day, and I know that was also the case for my college as well. It will also depend on age her selected school allows for this role. I think SU required that RAs were at least juniors.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

When is her deadline to make a selection?

Most of them seem to be May 1st, but there are some school based scholarships she could qualify for if she makes a decision soon. She's got it down to two, but one is something she hasn't seen in person. I just threw together a last-minute trip in a couple of weeks to help her arrive at a final decision.

 

[Sans Souci]

Must be a brother thing. My brother won't make any effort, either. It has to come from me or it won't happen.

I don't think I've ever been to Tampa, but isn't there a museum, or something there? Or do you like to read? Could you just go and get your sunshine and read and relax?

Isn't it frustrating? I keep falling for it, too. I have not seen my brother since 2015. He always says he is going to come up to see us, but it never happens and he has never invited us to come down. Just before we moved to London, we were supposed to meet for lunch, but he never showed, then the night before we left, we had my family come by for pizza. He never showed up for that. I'm just letting it go. I know who loves me and wants to spend time with me and I will focus on those people and not the ones who play games.

I am thinking of staying here. I wish he was going to DC, because there is a ton of (free) stuff to there, it's very walkable
and it has lots of fantastic restaurants, too.

 

[Sans Souci]

Most of them seem to be May 1st, but there are some school based scholarships she could qualify for if she makes a decision soon. She's got it down to two, but one is something she hasn't seen in person. I just threw together a last-minute trip in a couple of weeks to help her arrive at a final decision.

It's such an exciting time, not just looking at schools and the acceptances; but also picking out dorm room stuff and meeting new people.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello.

This morning I did a back and tricep workout, followed by 20 min of rebounding. It's warming up here today and it's very sunny, so I am going to walk later on.

Just having a chill weekend over here--it's a lasagna weekend for me. Hopefully I can get out this weekend and clean up my yard a bit in the warmer weather.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It's such an exciting time, not just looking at schools and the acceptances; but also picking out dorm room stuff and meeting new people.

Yes! It's like you were spying on my little spreadsheet and reading my mind! I was just thinking about our best approach to dorm room stuff if she picks school A vs school B, since one is an easy road trip while the other is a plane ride. Earlier, I had been putting together regional comparisons and the different kinds of people she's more likely to meet at one vs. the other.

 

[Lilofan]

Yes! It's like you were spying on my little spreadsheet and reading my mind! I was just thinking about our best approach to dorm room stuff if she picks school A vs school B, since one is an easy road trip while the other is a plane ride. Earlier, I had been putting together regional comparisons and the different kinds of people she's more likely to meet at one vs. the other.

I remember my college days. The kids who flew to airport then ride to campus and the kids who drove to school prior to first day. The ones who drove had their dorm rooms very well furnished . The kids who flew and settled in their dooms had very sparse looking rooms.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I remember my college days. The kids who flew to airport then ride to campus and the kids who drove to school prior to first day. The ones who drove had their dorm rooms very well furnished . The kids who flew and settled in their dooms had very sparse looking rooms.

That was my experience as well. I did eventually get enough personal touches to make it look less sterile and institutional, but my side of my freshman year dorm room was pretty sad looking at the start. My roommate, who was a reasonable driving distance, had everything put together on day 1.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yes! It's like you were spying on my little spreadsheet and reading my mind! I was just thinking about our best approach to dorm room stuff if she picks school A vs school B, since one is an easy road trip while the other is a plane ride. Earlier, I had been putting together regional comparisons and the different kinds of people she's more likely to meet at one vs. the other.

I'm sure you can ship stuff ahead of move in day if she selects a school that requires a flight. I did this when I went away to school and that was a loooooong time ago. Dorm room decorating is such a money maker these days. Their rooms look like little apartments. I had sheets, clothes/shoes and my stereo system with CDs. I rented a small fridge. Some people on my floor shoe-horned in couches, which looked like a fire hazard. lol

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello.

Checking in with a glute/leg workout lasagna was so boring, it was torturous. I am glad it's over and done.

I am making an delivering a lasagna tomorrow and I asked what time the recipient would like it delivered. She said she wasn't going to be home all day, but to leave it on her porch. It's going to be in the 50s tomorrow and I am uncomfortable with leaving a lasagna outdoors for an unspecified amount of time. I am concerned with the lasagna's temperature hanging out in the "danger zone" for a long time and I don't want people getting food poisoning. I told her this and she acted like I was being unreasonable (She responded with "OK. ".). I am going to text her one more time for her to give me a time, even if means going early in the AM. I am not trying to be a jerk. I am trying to keep her and her family from getting sick. I am also trying to cover my backside, because I really do not want to be sued.

 

[MinnieM123]

Hello.

Checking in with a glute/leg workout lasagna was so boring, it was torturous. I am glad it's over and done.

I am making an delivering a lasagna tomorrow and I asked what time the recipient would like it delivered. She said she wasn't going to be home all day, but to leave it on her porch. It's going to be in the 50s tomorrow and I am uncomfortable with leaving a lasagna outdoors for an unspecified amount of time. I am concerned with the lasagna's temperature hanging out in the "danger zone" for a long time and I don't want people getting food poisoning. I told her this and she acted like I was being unreasonable (She responded with "OK. ".). I am going to text her one more time for her to give me a time, even if means going early in the AM. I am not trying to be a jerk. I am trying to keep her and her family from getting sick. I am also trying to cover my backside, because I really do not want to be sued.

For the good amount of effort that you put into this charitable endeavor, I think she should respond a bit more graciously.

 

[Figgy1]

For the good amount of effort that you put into this charitable endeavor, I think she should respond a bit more graciously.

 

[Songbird76]

Isn't it frustrating? I keep falling for it, too. I have not seen my brother since 2015. He always says he is going to come up to see us, but it never happens and he has never invited us to come down. Just before we moved to London, we were supposed to meet for lunch, but he never showed, then the night before we left, we had my family come by for pizza. He never showed up for that. I'm just letting it go. I know who loves me and wants to spend time with me and I will focus on those people and not the ones who play games.

I am thinking of staying here. I wish he was going to DC, because there is a ton of (free) stuff to there, it's very walkable
and it has lots of fantastic restaurants, too.

It's really frustrating. I'm the one who makes it happen, and then he takes credit. When my mom died, she had expressed her wish that we would be together for the first Christmas after her death...she didn't want us to be alone. Of course, I had just gotten married the year before, and once mom died, there was no reason for us to stay in the states where my husband couldn't find a job in his field. He had a masters degree in engineering and we were working at Wal-mart stocking shelves. So since it was MY fault we wouldn't be there for Christmas, I decided I should be responsible for carrying out mom's last wish. And since it was cheaper to pay for only ONE plane ticket, and my brother had always wanted to go to Europe, I bought his plane ticket to come here, and he could stay with my in-laws so he didn't have to pay for a hotel. The only thing he had to pay for was food when we went out, and admission to museums and such. But since he was the one traveling, he told everyone that HE was the one who made sure mom's final wish was carried out. Everyone kept saying what a great brother I had to travel all the way to make sure we followed her wishes. I was like....there's no way he would have done it if he had to pay for it. He gets a free trip to Europe on my dime...-I- made it happen, not him. And just before I moved, I ran into one of his friends who said he had heard I was moving to Europe, was I nervous, bla bla bla. And then he said, "Yeah, I said to him that it must be hard for him and he was going to miss you a lot, and he told me it would actually be nice to have some distance." OUCH.
And his family went to Disney with us in 2019....because I planned it and made all the payments. He authorized all of it, but never paid me back a penny. Not that I really expected him to. He can't be trusted with money. But I never would have done it if we didn't have the inheritance from dad, which was all in my account, but was supposed to be for both of us. But then he opened up a new account of his own to put the money from the sale of the cattle, the house, etc in...and I didn't have access to that account, and THAT was supposed to be for both of us. So basically, he just kept all that, and I kept everything from the mineral rights, knowing I'd never see any of the money from the cattle. So I guess it all kind of evens out, but I ended up paying for Disney.

He even got a free trip to Germany to speak at some conference one year, and when I said we should get together, he told me he "wasn't allowed to leave the conference premesis" so he couldn't meet me halfway. We'd have to make the trip, with 2 small children, so he didn't have to take a train for 2 hours. There is NO way he wasn't allowed to leave the conference premesis. He just didn't want to pay for a train ticket and it wasn't important enough to spend time with us.

I don't give him a choice when we go there...I just tell him we're coming, and I book a hotel, and whenever we get to see them, we get to see them. And I talk to his husband instead, because his husband is awesome and much more accommodating. He's a real family guy and considers that important, so HE will make time for us even if my brother doesn't.

 

[Songbird76]

Yes! It's like you were spying on my little spreadsheet and reading my mind! I was just thinking about our best approach to dorm room stuff if she picks school A vs school B, since one is an easy road trip while the other is a plane ride. Earlier, I had been putting together regional comparisons and the different kinds of people she's more likely to meet at one vs. the other.

Will she not take a vehicle wherever she goes? I know some schools don't allow freshmen to have cars, which I kind of think is bull. They are legal adults...they should be able to have cars if they want to. It seems like a violation of their rights to be denied property, but I guess that's what you sign up for when you choose a school with that rule. How long is the plane ride?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm sure you can ship stuff ahead of move in day if she selects a school that requires a flight. I did this when I went away to school and that was a loooooong time ago. Dorm room decorating is such a money maker these days. Their rooms look like little apartments. I had sheets, clothes/shoes and my stereo system with CDs. I rented a small fridge. Some people on my floor shoe-horned in couches, which looked like a fire hazard. lol

There are definitely options to get stuff there and they're far more convenient than my college days. I don't think she wants to go as far as some of the Mississippi college girls with those over-the-top dorms, but I think she'd like more than I was able to fit in my luggage. Our rooms were too small for couches, but we toured a few options on choice 1 that would have lots of furniture and decorating possibilities. One was a 4-bedroom suite where it came with a nice kitchen, living room space, individual rooms, and a decent sized bathroom. Another was a quad connected by a bathroom without the kitchen and living room space. We'll see. At the end of the day, I think we're all just nervous about making the best choice.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Will she not take a vehicle wherever she goes? I know some schools don't allow freshmen to have cars, which I kind of think is bull. They are legal adults...they should be able to have cars if they want to. It seems like a violation of their rights to be denied property, but I guess that's what you sign up for when you choose a school with that rule. How long is the plane ride?

We really don't want her to have a vehicle on campus...at least not for the first year or two. Parking is usually awful at most schools and rarely gets you closer to your classes. Option 1 is a college town where most of the things to do are easily accessible on foot or by bike/scooter. I think they even have campus electric scooter rentals. Option 2 is part of a major metro area where the campus is so densely packed with buildings that it's primarily walking. All of the things to do in the area off of campus of option 2 appear to be easily accessed by light rail or bus... including the airport. At my school, we weren't allowed to have one on campus unless you were given special allowances for extreme circumstances, but we were a walking campus and outside of the dorm areas and a few small faculty lots, there was absolutely no parking for students near any of the academic areas. I didn't get a car up there until senior year since I was living off campus and had an off-campus internship that required driving. I took several classes at University of Florida over the summer as well. I needed a parking pass there as I was too far to walk or bike to the campus, but the walk from the parking lot to classes was a solid 30 minutes. The plane ride to school 2 for K is a little over 3 hours and in a different time zone.

 

[Lilofan]

I'm sure you can ship stuff ahead of move in day if she selects a school that requires a flight. I did this when I went away to school and that was a loooooong time ago. Dorm room decorating is such a money maker these days. Their rooms look like little apartments. I had sheets, clothes/shoes and my stereo system with CDs. I rented a small fridge. Some people on my floor shoe-horned in couches, which looked like a fire hazard. lol

Back in my day when I went to college , the girls dorm rooms was well planned and laid out with their special touches and so fresh smelling . It was so homey. In our guy dorms then later in the fraternity house , we lived basic nothing fancy and bare bones furniture and such. One thing we could always count on is the girls we knew always had food in their rooms . They welcomed us all hours of the night to stop by to chat and they always asked us if we were hungry. We always said yes , they fed us and we really were hungry.

 

[Songbird76]

There are definitely options to get stuff there and they're far more convenient than my college days. I don't think she wants to go as far as some of the Mississippi college girls with those over-the-top dorms, but I think she'd like more than I was able to fit in my luggage. Our rooms were too small for couches, but we toured a few options on choice 1 that would have lots of furniture and decorating possibilities. One was a 4-bedroom suite where it came with a nice kitchen, living room space, individual rooms, and a decent sized bathroom. Another was a quad connected by a bathroom without the kitchen and living room space. We'll see. At the end of the day, I think we're all just nervous about making the best choice.

E's history teacher in junior high always told the kids that the first thing they should get in college was a toaster, because bread is cheap, but once it got stale, you could still make toast. The student living here isn't very nice from my understanding. And you can be on the waiting list for years, apparently. It's not like in the US where it's easy to get housing. E is looking at possibly living at home for at least the first year and commuting by train. Her best friend is going to the same school, and she will live at home and commute too. She lives a block away, so they could conceiveably travel together, which would be nice.

When I was in school, the dorms I lived in during the fall had everything fixed in place in the room except the beds. You couldn't move anything around. But in the Summer, they used the dorms for conferences and summer camps, so the only ones open for students were the ones that were generally for non-traditional students (over 21) and they had a kitchen on each floor in each wing, and the rooms had desks and beds that could move. I had a room to myself, so I pushed the two desks together and covered them with a nice tablecloth, got a nice throw rug, and I put the beds perpendicular and got a bunch of throw pillows, so it was more like a sectional couch. It looked really nice. I wish I could have done something with the regualr dorm I was in for the rest of the year!!

 

[Songbird76]

We really don't want her to have a vehicle on campus...at least not for the first year or two. Parking is usually awful at most schools and rarely gets you closer to your classes. Option 1 is a college town where most of the things to do are easily accessible on foot or by bike/scooter. I think they even have campus electric scooter rentals. Option 2 is part of a major metro area where the campus is so densely packed with buildings that it's primarily walking. All of the things to do in the area off of campus of option 2 appear to be easily accessed by light rail or bus... including the airport. At my school, we weren't allowed to have one on campus unless you were given special allowances for extreme circumstances, but we were a walking campus and outside of the dorm areas and a few small faculty lots, there was absolutely no parking for students near any of the academic areas. I didn't get a car up there until senior year since I was living off campus and had an off-campus internship that required driving. I took several classes at University of Florida over the summer as well. I needed a parking pass there as I was too far to walk or bike to the campus, but the walk from the parking lot to classes was a solid 30 minutes. The plane ride to school 2 for K is a little over 3 hours and in a different time zone.

Is there good public transportation? That's something that I really wish we had had in college. There was no bus system, no taxi companies...you HAD to have a car to get anywhere. Classes were easy to walk to from the dorms, but if you wanted to go to Walmart to buy shampoo, or go grab some McDonalds because the cafeteria food that day was awful, you needed a car. And a lot of the stuff to do was things like rock climbing, or stuff that was out of town, so you couldn't get there if you didn't have a car. I was never a partier, but a lot of kids had a hard time with getting home after partying, because there were no taxi companies or buses to drive you home. I gave 2 random guys a ride home once when I got off work in the afternoon because they were stranded. I also drove a guy to the emergency room in the middle of the night because I happened to be in the lobby of the dorms and he was trying to call his friend to take him to the ER. He had crashed his bike and had a headwound and was really weak, but he couldn't afford an ambulance, it was too far to walk, and he had no way to get there. I knew his friend, and he wasn't answering the phone, so I just piled the guy in my car and drove him to the ER. Wyoming was pretty safe as far as that goes....I never had a problem with giving people rides. I would so not do that today!! But there were no other options there. There was one bar across the street from the dorms, and they obviously did a booming business...it was called The Library, and they had t-shirts that said "Don't lie to your mom. Tell her you're at the library." But pretty much everything else was not walking distance, so if you couldn't drive, you had to hope you had friends who could.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

E's history teacher in junior high always told the kids that the first thing they should get in college was a toaster, because bread is cheap, but once it got stale, you could still make toast. The student living here isn't very nice from my understanding. And you can be on the waiting list for years, apparently. It's not like in the US where it's easy to get housing. E is looking at possibly living at home for at least the first year and commuting by train. Her best friend is going to the same school, and she will live at home and commute too. She lives a block away, so they could conceiveably travel together, which would be nice.

When I was in school, the dorms I lived in during the fall had everything fixed in place in the room except the beds. You couldn't move anything around. But in the Summer, they used the dorms for conferences and summer camps, so the only ones open for students were the ones that were generally for non-traditional students (over 21) and they had a kitchen on each floor in each wing, and the rooms had desks and beds that could move. I had a room to myself, so I pushed the two desks together and covered them with a nice tablecloth, got a nice throw rug, and I put the beds perpendicular and got a bunch of throw pillows, so it was more like a sectional couch. It looked really nice. I wish I could have done something with the regualr dorm I was in for the rest of the year!!

Both schools she's looking at would mean dorm living with a meal plan, at least for freshman year. I know most US dorms prohibit things like toasters and hot plates, but i get the logic. Microwaves are at least usually permitted. I know K wants the traditional college dorm experience and I can't blame her, but it would be a significant savings for her to go to school here and live at home.

My 2 years in the dorms involved fixed closets and desk/dresser set ups. The bed was really the only thing you could shift. Still people would add in cute rugs, tables, window treatments, and lighting...among other things. Now, so many kids are trying to keep up with these kids and their expertly designed rooms. I know K isn't planning on this much, but I think she'd like it more dressy than what was the norm back in my day.

Is there good public transportation? That's something that I really wish we had had in college. There was no bus system, no taxi companies...you HAD to have a car to get anywhere. Classes were easy to walk to from the dorms, but if you wanted to go to Walmart to buy shampoo, or go grab some McDonalds because the cafeteria food that day was awful, you needed a car. And a lot of the stuff to do was things like rock climbing, or stuff that was out of town, so you couldn't get there if you didn't have a car. I was never a partier, but a lot of kids had a hard time with getting home after partying, because there were no taxi companies or buses to drive you home. I gave 2 random guys a ride home once when I got off work in the afternoon because they were stranded. I also drove a guy to the emergency room in the middle of the night because I happened to be in the lobby of the dorms and he was trying to call his friend to take him to the ER. He had crashed his bike and had a headwound and was really weak, but he couldn't afford an ambulance, it was too far to walk, and he had no way to get there. I knew his friend, and he wasn't answering the phone, so I just piled the guy in my car and drove him to the ER. Wyoming was pretty safe as far as that goes....I never had a problem with giving people rides. I would so not do that today!! But there were no other options there. There was one bar across the street from the dorms, and they obviously did a booming business...it was called The Library, and they had t-shirts that said "Don't lie to your mom. Tell her you're at the library." But pretty much everything else was not walking distance, so if you couldn't drive, you had to hope you had friends who could.

Option 2 has excellent city transportation. In fact, some of the light rail routes run right along parts of campus. Option 1 is about 30 minutes from the closest city and is the more traditional college town set up. There is town bus service for option 1 and there is direct bus service into the city. These days, with Uber and Lyft, there are additional options. I'm also hoping delivery services are reliable to campus addresses. As we're finding with a lot of schools, some of the best eating options frequented by the students are just across the street from campus and are usually designed more for foot traffic than people with cars. I know my school was like this too. Of course, we're going back 30 years, but we had late night options in all of our dining halls and food courts, each dorm had at least one food truck that would camp outside overnight, and there were several blocks of bars, restaurants and shops just across the street from the edge of campus. I think I was a junior when our second food court opened and being able to get Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Chinese food, and Dunkin at all hours in a 5-10 minute walk was life changing. I'm seeing similar configurations at most schools. In fact, K's rejected several schools because they didn't have that sort of a set up. Yeah...I don't think I'd be giving anyone a ride back then or today unless I knew them.