Scintillae's page

And obligatory Grumpy Old Man complaint of the morning: Non-receipts.

Ever since I moved out of my parents' house in 1991, I've carefully tracked expenses, including categorizing them so I know where I can cut and where I can't. This requires itemized receipts for all purchases. GothBard is fundamentally terrible at remembering to get receipts for her purchases, and it's been an eternal source of (mild) friction between us.

Along comes Square. GothBard pays with her phone, the app shoots me a receipt, and everything's golden, right?

Um, no. Their "receipts" are simply, "You spent $29.12 at Rando Shop today. Thank you." No breakdown of what was bought, taxes, tips, nothing. And y'know, since this app goes through credit cards, I already see that total on my credit card's site. It is fundamentally useless if you're not paying with cash, and if you are paying with cash it doesn't work because the cash isn't linked to an email address.

So, useless and frustrating, and now GothBard gets to say, "But I did get you a receipt! See?"

*SIGH*

My new approach to receipts:

sees detailed breakdown in pinyin
Shit, I can't read.

Random school spam. If anyone is able to participate, we'd appreciate it.

** spoiler omitted **

Not opposed, but I imagine the time difference will be a bear to negotiate.

I'm so tired.

Yeah, got nothin' then. I just know my marshmallow physique would struggle.

Being well over 50, I feel justified in this tirade. The kids' friends range in age from 20 to 25. None of them are disabled. None of them are obese. Some of them even participate in competitive sports.

And yet over half of them cannot manage to step over our 24" kitten barrier. (OK, they sell it as a small dog enclosure, but I'm sure it was intended for kittens.)

Admittedly, I keep myself in shape. But I've never had an issue. GothBard had a shoelace catch *once*. Impus Major moves past it as if it doesn't exist. Impus Minor finds it annoying, but has no trouble.

How can so many 20-25-year-olds be so incapable of getting past a simple 24" barrier that they constantly knock is over, get tangled up in it, or otherwise can't manage a remarkably simple physical agility test?

As a person under 5', 24" is a considerable portion of my leg - we're well into the thigh -, which makes leveraging that step very difficult. I don't know what their height situation is, but that's my excuse.

gran rey de los mono wrote:

NobodysHome wrote:

I swear.

He was reunited with the girls. And in his pride and happiness he brought forth his mightiest trophy: His collar. After we spent $30 on a new one...

Apparently I'm confused as to what an e-collar is. I assumed it was some form of tracking device, so was wondering why you couldn't find it.

Now I must assume it's the type of collar worn by a certain subgroup of girls on the internet. I.e. the e-girls. And e-boys, I suppose.

I think it says a *lot* about fashion that the horrific collars we put on pets to keep them from licking their wounds are called "Elizabethan collars" after the fashion of the day:

Pet Elizabethan (e-) collar.
Human Elizabethan collar.

I've heard some people mention baby shirts as an alternative.

Mephisto Z. Meatball is a confirmed barbarian.

It's almost like the gig economy is a slapdash bandaid over a broken system leaving desperate people behind in a world where the people in power don't benefit from fixing it.

Our plane tickets have been bought. Official departure date is set.

** spoiler omitted **

I would like to say that whoever decided that our passwords at work have to be at least 12 characters long can drown in a burning sewer. Do they not realize how often we have to type this f&%%ers in? Like, on an average night, I have to type it in at least 12 to 15 times. I would hate to be 2nd shift, because every check-in you gotta type your password. Plus, about half the paperwork we print out, you gotta type your password. It doesn't even have the little stars or whatever to show how many characters you've typed, so if the computer is being stupid slow (fairly common) you don't know that it didn't register all the keystrokes.

In short, it f&*!ing sucks.

F*ckP4$$w0rdz! would qualify under most metrics.

Sophie is at her new home.

Orthos and I are not doing well.

Orthos wrote:

NobodysHome wrote:

Scintillae wrote:

And it's over. I've turned in my keys, cleaned my classroom, took down everything. It hurt more than I expected.

I am truly terrified of everything I'm going to have to say goodbye to when we leave the country. But at the rate health care costs are rising, we see no alternative other than to emigrate as soon as we retire.

If you could reasonably do so sooner I'd encourage it, but I completely understand the issues of work being a hangup until then.

As I think I've mentioned, it's the "don't let the wealthy emigrate" tax:

(1) The U.S. is one of two countries in the world where if you don't relinquish your citizenship you owe U.S. income tax on all income earned worldwide. So technically, if Scint doesn't abandon her U.S. citizenship, she's still subject to U.S. income tax. The deduction is pretty high, however, so I suspect she'll be fine. We wouldn't be.

(2) So we'd have to give up our U.S. citizenships to not get taxed on our income. But we'd lose nearly $100k/year in Social Security plus we're subject to the exit tax, which would be back-breaking with our IRA and 401(k) balances.

So, in order to not lose our retirement, we need to stay U.S. citizens. And since our income is high enough to be subject to U.S. income tax even when working in other countries, ironically enough we're rich enough that we can't afford to emigrate until we no longer have an income; i.e. after we retire.

Yeah, I've already looked into the tax brackets, and if I've done my math right, we're still coming out ahead. My retirement was never going to be secure, even starting on my investing as early as I did. I really hate that my generation was raised with hope only to have it ripped away right as our careers were beginning.

I'm also just...glad to get rid of the house. Repair after repair without ever being taught to do any of it... It's too stressful and too expensive with contractors being unreliable at best.

And it's over. I've turned in my keys, cleaned my classroom, took down everything. It hurt more than I expected.

Playing Scattergories:
Me: Terms of endearment, letter G.
Student A: Grandma!
everyone stares
Student A: What's a term of endearment?

Student A:What's her name again? The one Nick's in love with.
don't say Gatsby don't say Gatsby
Me: ...you mean Jordan?
Student A: Yeah!

D&D kiddos gave me a little bear one of them had sewn. "Take Sir Bearington with you to protect you on your travels."

So I'm sitting here sobbing while they play...

Orthos and I are planning a room party when we visit Chicago.

...okay, it's more accurate to say "I'm not letting going out of town stop us from gaming, fire up the ol' Discord." But a D&D party is a party, and it is gonna be in the room...

Quizlet review
Student A:WOOOOOOOOO! Tigers win!
Student B:Yeah if this was a boxing match, the T-Rexes woulda killed ya.
Me: That...seems like a boxing match gone wrong.
Student B: No, cause we're the T-Rexes!
Me: How is a T-Rex with its tiny arms winning a boxing match?
[beat]
Student B: Headbutts.

It's the same energy as "I didn't plagiarize." "Then why does the document history show the paper went from blank to 3 pages in 2 seconds, and why does the text match the Wikipedia article word-for-word?"

Yep, that tracks.

Scintillae wrote:

I'm dreading school being out partly as the end of an era and partly because I'm going to lack distractions from getting wrapped up in my own head and the catastrophizing that always happens when I am left to my own devices. Especially because this is a huge life change coming up - there's a whole lot of worst case to scenario.

The false vacuum could spontaneously collapse into a lower energy state, unmaking the universe as we know it...

Uh...

I am not helping, am I?

That would literally solve every problem I have.

I'm dreading school being out partly as the end of an era and partly because I'm going to lack distractions from getting wrapped up in my own head and the catastrophizing that always happens when I am left to my own devices. Especially because this is a huge life change coming up - there's a whole lot of worst case to scenario.

Also all the capitalization quirks are giving me some Homestuck flashbacks, and I'm not sure I'm ready for the PTSD.

Capitalization has been my bane lately solely because I'm having a rough adjustment to APA for my communications degree. Using sentence case rather than title case for a title is just...

my gamer in Christ, the word title is in "title case" for a smurfing reason.

I was going to post a bunch of stuff about the problems caused by youth teams this weekend, but, frankly, it's so much that I feel like y'all might not believe me. Suffice to say, it really sucked and I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with it.

I work with high schoolers and didn't take my team to State this year because the only kid who qualified has the impulse control of a hummingbird, and I did not have the energy to explain to him that you have to behave like a human even at the theatre kid convention. I would believe you.

gran rey de los mono wrote:

Scintillae wrote:

Seniors' last day. One of my TAs gave me a note saying how much she'll miss me and looks up to me.

So I'm sitting here trying not to bawl while the kiddos take their Gatsby tests...

Please tell me that at least one of them wrote "Actually, he was only the 'Pretty Good' Gatsby."

I think it should be multiple choice:

"How was Gatsby?"
(a) Great
(b) Pretty good
(c) Nothing to write home about
(d) Poor
(e) A legend in his own mind

They should be grateful. I was too overwhelmed with the job hunt this year to drop the toilet paper factoid I usually ruin the romance with.

Student A: I think letter 1 is number A.
Student B: Oh, don't start that again!

In better news, the stars finally aligned so we could actually play our frickin pnp game. I'm really enjoying my airheaded tarot reader oracle.

Seniors' last day. One of my TAs gave me a note saying how much she'll miss me and looks up to me.

So I'm sitting here trying not to bawl while the kiddos take their Gatsby tests...

NobodysHome wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

See? At least trying to keep the griping behind spoilers.

So, how many fake diseases are going to have the kids come up with they absolutely should get their cat tested for?

"I was told my kittens might be low on blinker fluid? It's apparently related to a condition where cats just stare at you out of the darkness."

The proper response is "New phone, who dis?"

And lying. "Inconclusive. You need to take them in."

I'm just waiting to hear the Cardinals hit a home run.

Student A: Okay, senior prank. We steal all the ceiling tiles.
Student B: How?
Student A: There's access from the ag shop. We go there, and-
Me: ...and the Mission: Impossible theme plays on a kazoo.

It's impossible. She's outright illegal in the city we're moving to, even if the plane itself wouldn't kill her.

I'm sorry. I'm trying not to turn this thread into my dumping ground. I just don't know what else to do. I have next-to-no support system to rely on for any of this relocation nonsense...Sophie, selling the house, getting the visa paperwork, everything. I feel like I'm flailing through it all.

And I feel so guilty about Sophie. If I hadn't accepted this offer, she wouldn't be in this position, but I feel like refusing it would have been far, far worse for so many reasons Paizo doesn't let us discuss.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Innocents caught in the crossfire as always.

I just want life to stop hurting.

Dammit. The lead we had for finding Sophie a home fell through.

Wishing everyone a happy N*Sync day: it's gonna be May.

half a page of poorly-formatted rambly writing that ends with "thank u for reading have a nice day :)"

...I can't give you more points for politeness, but I appreciate it?

In the continuing adventures of "Gen Alpha is bad at figurative language..."

Worksheet: Describe Elizabeth Lavenza's character.
Student response: Purest pure purity

Which, to be fair, is what I said as a sort of joke...but you'd think they'd know to reword.

Trouble is we're not completely sure. We don't go out much, so she's not had a lot of opportunity around them, and we never had the money to get a second dog.

She can be territorial, but I don't know if it's something she'd struggle to adapt to or not.

Scintillae wrote:

Not doing well. Writing up Sophie's profile for adoption hurt. Seeing her happy face demanding pets after posting it twisted the knife.

I feel like a monster, and it's going to hurt just as much when we finally give her away, either to a family or back to the shelter.

I hate this so much.

I am so, so sorry.

Where are you guys again? I may know someone in the area who might have room.

Topeka-Manhattan area. Orthos has the link a few posts up.

Not doing well. Writing up Sophie's profile for adoption hurt. Seeing her happy face demanding pets after posting it twisted the knife.

I feel like a monster, and it's going to hurt just as much when we finally give her away, either to a family or back to the shelter.

I hate this so much.

Student A: "Okay. Letter 1 is Number B."
Student B: "What?"
Student A: "Letter 1 is Number B."
Student C: "Got it. I'm on Letter 3."
Student B: "....guys."
Student A: "Letter 2 is Number D."
Student B: "Ms. Scint, are you hearing this?"
Me: "Mhm."
Student B: "That's bad grammar."
Me: "No, the grammar is fine. 'Letter' and 'is' perfectly agree."
Student A: "Ha!"
Me: "Now, the vocab on the other hand..."
Student C: "Do you think it's number C?"
Student B: "I hate this."

NobodysHome wrote:

I am... bemused.

I'm old enough and cynical enough to laugh at/scorn Tik Tok "life hacks" as only a Gen Xer can. "Really? You call that a 'hack'? Did you parents give you a trophy when you learned to tie your own shoes? Or can you do that yet?"

In seriousness: No, their parents didn't, because their parents probably never taught them that. They're young adults and late teens learning all this stuff on their own from the collective work of their peers and/or from doing research on the internet, and sharing what they discover back into that collective work.

We shouldn't be mocking and jeering them. We should be pointing at them and saying "They're doing what their parents should have done years ago - educating and improving themselves and learning new things - and choosing to share it with others rather than keep it to themselves."

GenX, and some of the older Millennials, are the ones failing to teach them these things in the first place - the TikTok self-educated "hack" trends are happening because someone in those older brackets failed to pass that education along somewhere earlier in their lives, and they had to learn it for themselves somehow.

The number of times my dad has made fun of me for not knowing how to do something he never taught me...

The fun thing about the cat being out of the bag is getting kids to admit that they're gonna miss the puns.

I am also not an artist, so most of the questions had no meaning to me. But I tried it anyways,

Quote:

Spite

You create from spite. There is a deep resentment burning inside you that demands to be let out. You have been wronged and you can't bring yourself to forgive or forget. Your work is an act of defiance, a striving to prove others wrong and leave your mark on this world. You will declare loud and clear the injustices you've been dealt will not silently disappear, that they will demand an audience over and over again. You create to force people to acknowledge the unpleasant truths they try to ignore. Your art is fueled by a need to expose the insidious evils and hypocrisies that you've been subject to. It is a means of becoming more than just a victim, a way of reclaiming your life as your own.

Personally, I don't think it's very accurate.

See, that sounds more like me.

Love

You create from love. It is an overflowing love that seeps out of your heart and into all you create. You couldn't possibly contain it inside yourself, and so you dedicate yourself to depicting it through everything you make. Your art is a celebration of what you cherish most, a loving tribute to everything that captivates you. There are things too wonderful to be appreciated in silence, and so you sing of your love time and time again. You are determined not to let your vast love go unnoticed or forgotten. That's why your work is a declaration of affection, an expression of fondness for everything that makes your life worth living.

I'm...not sure if I agree or not. Discontent also sounds a lot like me.

Ahh, explaining minor word differences to children.

"Google was founded in the 90s" vs. "Google was found in the 90s." Apparently, we just picked up a rock or something.

Congratulations!

I think I'd love to visit China at some point, but I have no idea when I'll make the time to even think about learning a relevant language, and I'm far too much of a weird barbarian to ever think of settling there.

I suspect they would take one look at me and conclude, "OK, so she's not a Mongol, but (her people are) from the far western steppes on the other side - but still. Steppe nomads. Didn't we build a wall about these people?" XD

It's at an international school, so all classes are required to be full-immersion English. The staff I spoke to all emphasized that they have gotten by for years without learning much if any Chinese, so I'm not terribly worried about that, but I'm trying to pick up a few terms so I'm not completely lost at sea.

I'm really excited about it, but the stress of getting visas taken care of, house sold, and finding a new home for Sophie on top of finishing out the year as normal are getting to me. Especially Sophie. But there's no other choice there.