| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Occasionally -- very occasionally -- it's the only way I know I'm doing something right. Exception proving the rule, as it were.
He knows what I'm talking about . . . . Don'tcha, Tac?
EDIT: But it has nothing to do with my nakedness -- that's just a bonus. For everybody.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
NobodysHome’s Life of a Chaperone, Part IV: Getting to the Hotel
It is utterly amazing how quickly you can build relationships with teenagers, and equally amazing how ephemeral those relationships are. Once I'd finished my duties driving "ma girlz" around, only Joey and Pearl were even willing to acknowlege my presence, and only Joey was openly friendly. (And honestly, I think Joey would be OK with me calling him one of "ma girlz" because it's more phoenetically pleasing than "ma girlz and Joey" or some other attempt to separate him. Heck, I'd do it to him if he were a biological male, so why not a fluid transgender?)
Thursday, April 6, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm:
Our first visit was to East Bakersfield High School in (surprise surprise) Bakersfield. Thanks to Google Maps, I took a wrong turn and ended up behind the school. Being of the opinion that it's faster to walk than search for parking, I pulled over and the girls and I (and Joey) headed in. The group was amazed at the vast expanses of real grass around the school; my father ran for city council way back in the 1990s on the platform that Albany had the least amount of park space per capita of any city over 10,000 people in California, and it's only gotten worse. Open space is not a thing you find in Albany. I found out that the buses weren't going to arrive for another 20 minutes, and the girls asked whether they could explore. I told them that once we knew where to wait, they could look around a bit. We checked at the first door we came to, and they sent us around front.
That was one of the really interesting things I found about the trip: In Albany, the schools are pertty much open; you can just walk in and out of any entrance, and nobody bats an eye. At 2 of the 3 schools we visited, every door was monitored by either an adult or a student monitor, and comings and goings were strictly regulated. The girls, being far more charming than I, finally met some other students and got us directions to the front office. Once there, I determined where the buses were supposed to park, texted/called the information to Ms. S, and gave my group 10 minutes' leave to wander around and explore until the buses arrived, as long as they stayed in groups of 2.
Needless to say, they were late (they were sure I'd said "15 minutes", and I can at least understand that, as I told them, "The buses will be here in 15 minutes, so I want you back in 10."). I set off a bit of a panic because I didn't have any of their cell phone numbers, so I texted Ms. S to text them, which led to the inevitable, "Why aren't they with you!?!?!?", but they were all back almost exactly at the 15-minute mark, so it was all good. After that came the inevitable confusion as the buses pulled up, 100 more students piled out, the chaperones tried to organize the unruly mob (who had been stuck in bus seats for the last 5+ hours), do bathroom breaks, etc. While we were all there, one of the doors to the school opened up, and an adult booted a small dog out of the school.
So, it's pretty much impossible to go into enough detail on the effect this dog had on the group. He was petted, cooed over, sat in Joey's lap, adored, recognized as a stray, recognized to have ticks all over (causing those who had touched him much distress), picked up, worried about, carried about by D (Z's mother) for the entire visit, and finally taken to a local shelter by D (afer some discussion with Z as to whether they were going to adopt him, and more than one statement of, "Now I want a dog" from other students). More than the performances or the exchange, that little dog was the focus of the visit. We learned later that the school was a kind of magnet for stray dogs, as the soft-hearted teens inevitably fed them and "adopted" them, without thinking about all the repercussions (vet bills, spaying/neutering, the inevitable biological bombs left behind by such animals), and the staff, having to deal with said repercussions, were less than sympathetic. I wasn't there for the final conversation, but it was something along the lines of, "Oh, they bring in strays all the time. It's hard keeping up with the kids to get rid of 'em."
It's nice coming on the trip multiple years in a row, because not only do you get to see the evolution of the kids in your group, but you get to see the evolution of the kids at the other schools. The previous year, the East Bakersfield High students were obviously nervous, didn't particularly want to be there, weren't particularly interested in meeting us, and it was overall a kind of surreal experience: The choir teacher was enthusiastic and welcoming; the kids were basically, "Do we HAVE to be here? Do we HAVE to talk to them?"
This year the kids were much more enthusiastic and welcoming, and there was a lot more socializing and good cheer. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to be there from someting like 8:20 - 9:50 am, but we didn't all get into the room until around 9:00 am, so it was cut quite a bit short. On the bright side, I missed quite a bit of the performances because of the number of wandering students who stopped by, heard the singing, and then crowded around the door to listen. They weren't disruptive nor disrespectful; they were honestly interested in hearing the music, and many danced, snapped their fingers, or otherwise showed obvious enjoyment. It's always nice to see that kind of behavior, because it's nothing whatsoever like it was when I was in high school, when any student outside of class would have cheerfully tried to disrupt the proceedings just to be a jerk. Of course, my class of '85 had the highest felony rate of any class in my high school's history, so maybe it was just my class that was the problem.
I was also busy dealing with text messages. I do not exaggerate when I say I received over 900 messages over the course of the 4-day trip. Considering I have a flip phone and have to spend a few seconds on every single message, this was... not fun. On my arrival in Bakersfield there were 86 messages and 2 missed calls waiting for me. Of the messages, 84 were trivial: Either bus chaperones discussing what students were doing, when to pass out food, etc., or one of my groups (each group had its own text message channel) discussing what would happen to each student on the trip. (My unfortunate Lou was going to get thrown under the bus, get sick and die, or be killed in some other awful way.) Ms. S had called me twice to find out where I was. There is a strong push to have me use a "reasonable" phone on the next trip, but considering every other chaperone has to lug around multiple battery packs to keep their phone charged, I'd rather work on updating my phone so that I can keep using it. (I learned late in the trip that not only could the rental van connect to my phone, but it could read text messages to me while I was driving. Unfortunately, even with the volume cranked to full I couldn't actually hear the calls, so it was a... less-than-useful feature. Strangely enough, it read the text messages loud and clear.)
Our next stop was Centennial High School, also in Bakersfield. Due to the long walk back to the van, I was significantly behind the buses. This turned out to be a good thing, as I pulled into the parking lot, checked my texts, and there were already instructions as to where to go. I quickly found the buses, dropped off ma girlz, got instructions on where to park, dropped off the van, and headed into the (very nice) auditorium where the choirs would be performing. And that was about as far as I got.
Keep in mind that we had all been up since 2:00 am, and most of the other chaperones hadn't been able to access coffee. I was immediately conscripted to do a coffee run with J for the group. Now, don't get me wrong; I appreciated being appreciated and they were VERY thankful to me for doing it, so I really didn't mind. But it did mean I missed the entire performance, so I have no idea what Centennial High's choir is like. I was out the door and down the road to the local Starbucks, J picked up all the drink orders for the chaperones, and back we came... just in time for it to be time for me and CT to head down to Anaheim to pick up our second load of victuals for the students. Just as her Costco running had been uber-efficient, CT navigated me to Costco with no issues at all, and we got there around 2:30 pm. our pizzas weren't scheduled to be ready until 4:00 pm, so we set about shopping. After about half an hour, I went to the pizza stand and notified them I was an hour early.
And there, I met Hugo (his real name), a brawny, bearded, good-natured, Middle-Eastern looking guy, who just said, "Yeah, they're already made for you; we can start cycling them through right now. Give us around 20 minutes."
Watching him work was truly awe-inspiring: A non-stop whirlwind of folding boxes, pulling pizzas from the oven, throwing pizzas into the oven, cutting pizzas, looking at the line, determine who had waited long enough that I'd have to wait while he served someone else, then moving back to us. I am writing a(n in)famous "NobodysHome Letter" on behalf of Hugo to Costco. The man was that good.
So we finished our shopping, picked up 25 pizzas, wheeled a full platten of stuff to the exit, and... were hopelessly delayed by yet another schmuck who had to block up the exit by socializing with the door checker for 3 minutes solid. I swear, if there is only one exit to a building, DO NOT BLOCK IT!!
Another half-hour drive to our destination hotel, arriving just as the buses did, so my next order of business was organizing a group of junior and senior boys to help me cart all the stuff to Ms. S's room and get set up for dinner.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The first thing I do with a new smartphone is disable autocorrect. AC makes the wrong messages humorous, and has no sense of humor about the right messages.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
NobodysHome’s Life of a Chaperone, Part IV: Getting to the Hotel
It is utterly amazing how quickly you can build relationships with teenagers, and equally amazing how ephemeral those relationships are. Once I'd finished my duties driving "ma girlz" around, only Joey and Pearl were even willing to acknowlege my presence, and only Joey was openly friendly. (And honestly, I think Joey would be OK with me calling him one of "ma girlz" because it's more phoenetically pleasing than "ma girlz and Joey" or some other attempt to separate him. Heck, I'd do it to him if he were a biological male, so why not a fluid transgender?)
** spoiler omitted **...
this...is nothing I want pics of. This actually sounds incredibly mundane, truth be told. I think I'd have to actually interact with the kids in order to find some entertainment, the dog will have to be adored by others as I am a cat person and hate ticks(childhood memories). And pizza from someplace that isnt brooklyn or the ONE place in connecticut that isnt awful? Disappointing. Bad nobody! You got me excited over absolutely nothing! Booooooo!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
this...is nothing I want pics of. This actually sounds incredibly mundane, truth be told. I think I'd have to actually interact with the kids in order to find some entertainment, the dog will have to be adored by others as I am a cat person and hate ticks(childhood memories). And pizza from someplace that isnt brooklyn or the ONE place in connecticut that isnt awful? Disappointing. Bad nobody! You got me excited over absolutely nothing! Booooooo!NobodysHome’s Life of a Chaperone, Part IV: Getting to the Hotel
It is utterly amazing how quickly you can build relationships with teenagers, and equally amazing how ephemeral those relationships are. Once I'd finished my duties driving "ma girlz" around, only Joey and Pearl were even willing to acknowlege my presence, and only Joey was openly friendly. (And honestly, I think Joey would be OK with me calling him one of "ma girlz" because it's more phoenetically pleasing than "ma girlz and Joey" or some other attempt to separate him. Heck, I'd do it to him if he were a biological male, so why not a fluid transgender?)
** spoiler omitted **...
Ah. Then you're waiting for tomorrow's installment.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Surprised the General with spaghetti and meatballs and a salad for dinner when she got home. Complete with sauce swimming in garlic.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Occasionally, you think to yourself that if you didn't have so many aliases then maybe people wouldn't come up with such ridiculous user names.
But then you spend time out in the world, and you realize having so many aliases probably wouldn't change anything. People will still come up with ridiculous user names.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ah. Then you're waiting for tomorrow's installment.this...is nothing I want pics of. This actually sounds incredibly mundane, truth be told. I think I'd have to actually interact with the kids in order to find some entertainment, the dog will have to be adored by others as I am a cat person and hate ticks(childhood memories). And pizza from someplace that isnt brooklyn or the ONE place in connecticut that isnt awful? Disappointing. Bad nobody! You got me excited over absolutely nothing! Booooooo!NobodysHome’s Life of a Chaperone, Part IV: Getting to the Hotel
It is utterly amazing how quickly you can build relationships with teenagers, and equally amazing how ephemeral those relationships are. Once I'd finished my duties driving "ma girlz" around, only Joey and Pearl were even willing to acknowlege my presence, and only Joey was openly friendly. (And honestly, I think Joey would be OK with me calling him one of "ma girlz" because it's more phoenetically pleasing than "ma girlz and Joey" or some other attempt to separate him. Heck, I'd do it to him if he were a biological male, so why not a fluid transgender?)
** spoiler omitted **...
Does a group of rowdy teenagers Facetime with Joss Whedon.
I am now even more excited!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, Tiny T-Rex wants to make a Dwarven Ranger rocking a Crossbow. So, do I go for Point blank shot and go with a light crossbow to start or Rapid Reload and go with a heavy crossbow and damn the accuracy for an extra point of damage.
Pea Bear is also making a bow focused Hunter (with a bear).
I guess I'm thinking Point Blank Shot first or possibly weapon focus... two archers, not much a chance to get in close...
DWARVES ON A CROSSBOW~! (Or really short metal bows!)
:D
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Occasionally, you think to yourself that if you didn't have so many aliases then maybe people wouldn't come up with such ridiculous user names.
But then you spend time out in the world, and you realize having so many aliases probably wouldn't change anything. People will still come up with ridiculous user names.
At least by having so many aliases I keep people for coming up with MY ridiculous user names.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Today my imagination is doing weird things.
Now I pictured a blue dragon with a huge ass.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Today my imagination is doing weird things.
Now I pictured a blue dragon with a huge ass.
Big dragons need big donkeys to carry their loot.
And freaky babies! (It needs to be awakened, though, so it can talk! And sing...)
"I like big-" you all know how it goes.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I like bigfoot and I cannot lie, you other brothers can't deny...
Man, I have a surreal day today.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Does a group of rowdy teenagers Facetime with Joss Whedon.Ah. Then you're waiting for tomorrow's installment.this...is nothing I want pics of. This actually sounds incredibly mundane, truth be told. I think I'd have to actually interact with the kids in order to find some entertainment, the dog will have to be adored by others as I am a cat person and hate ticks(childhood memories). And pizza from someplace that isnt brooklyn or the ONE place in connecticut that isnt awful? Disappointing. Bad nobody! You got me excited over absolutely nothing! Booooooo!NobodysHome’s Life of a Chaperone, Part IV: Getting to the Hotel
It is utterly amazing how quickly you can build relationships with teenagers, and equally amazing how ephemeral those relationships are. Once I'd finished my duties driving "ma girlz" around, only Joey and Pearl were even willing to acknowlege my presence, and only Joey was openly friendly. (And honestly, I think Joey would be OK with me calling him one of "ma girlz" because it's more phoenetically pleasing than "ma girlz and Joey" or some other attempt to separate him. Heck, I'd do it to him if he were a biological male, so why not a fluid transgender?)
** spoiler omitted **...
it better be moon time, not face time.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Today my imagination is doing weird things.
Now I pictured a blue dragon with a huge ass.
didn't know you were into that kinda thing...
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I hereby declare war on Australia.
Agh! Agh! Agh!
This cannot stand. My Droopy Dragoons are at your service for as long as it takes to vanquish this Menace to Civilisation.
Now all we need to do is to teach the horses to swim...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Today my imagination is doing weird things.
Now I pictured a blue dragon with a huge ass.
Who knew scales, wings and the ability to breathe lightning could make such a difference, eh?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Big dragons need big donkeys to carry their loot.
For the record, this is my kind of wordplay. I had intended to indicate how happy it made me, but forgot to.
So instead I built off of it to make a Shrek reference. You are all now welcome.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey, I'm totally into dragons. Specially the ones with change shape.
Dragons are... dragons.
Actually I have an obsession -not of the sexual type, fortunately- with dragons since I was a child. I'm a bit embarrased of it because it is too mainstream for a person who loves RPGs but I cannot help it.
I have a small collection of dragon things, and it's only small because I don't have a lot of money.
I don't use a lot of dragons on my stories because I think that including a dragon should be meaningful and special and I hate ruining their mystic. But I even created a NPC who has a bigger dragon fetish than I have xD
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I don't have a dragon fetish!
I AM A DRAGON.
That's just that all the silly people seems to think I am just a weird (and awesome) woman with scales. I pity them.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
See? What I said.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have frog trinkets and decorations. Not exclusively or anything but they're definitely the majority.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I have... A cool Dragon Age Morrigan T-shirt. Totally unrelated but I had totally forgotten about it because of winter and today I found it in my closet. I was as happy as if I got it new xD
And it fits me better this year because I'm not as skinny as I was last year.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ugh. It turns out that fond memories isn't the only thing the kids gifted me with on the trip. I figured that the sinus headache, stuffy nose, and so forth were just my allergies coming back with a vengeance. Unfortunately, the added cough, blinding headache, and mild fever say otherwise. I barely made it through the 2.5-hour Serpent's Skull session last night, and that session had a LOT of downtime.
So I'm *supposed* to run Crimson Throne on Saturday, for the first session since February and the last one through mid-May. Just gotta cross my fingers, drink lots of fluids, and hope.
But this morning, I tell you what: Ow!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I entirely do not understand people suffering from allergies and/or sickness (especially both at the same time) and find your lack of immediately gratifying my desire for updates to be entitled unacceptable.
I.e. sick sucks, so do allergies, I hope you feel better soon, and empathize! You are in prayer! Also: tell Impus Minor that he's cool and it was awesome to see him post!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I entirely do not understand people suffering from allergies and/or sickness (especially both at the same time) and find your lack of immediately gratifying my desire for updates to be entitled unacceptable.
I.e. sick sucks, so do allergies, I hope you feel better soon, and empathize! You are in prayer! Also: tell Impus Minor that he's cool and it was awesome to see him post!
Don't worry -- I have 4-6 pm blocked off today for "write".
The kids' session was rather short, but chasing 100+ teenagers around trying to get them to put their clothes back on was... interesting...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Daggummit, dude, you'd best not actually drive yourself to being more sick by forcing yourself to write for us! I would be actually grumpy about that and so, I would imagine, would everyone in your head circle and your other group be!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey, I'm totally into dragons. Specially the ones with change shape.
Dragons are... dragons.Actually I have an obsession -not of the sexual type, fortunately- with dragons since I was a child. I'm a bit embarrased of it because it is too mainstream for a person who loves RPGs but I cannot help it.
I have a small collection of dragon things, and it's only small because I don't have a lot of money.
I don't use a lot of dragons on my stories because I think that including a dragon should be meaningful and special and I hate ruining their mystic. But I even created a NPC who has a bigger dragon fetish than I have xD
Gem dragons is where it is at.
I did, however, have one character whose orientation was "dragon" (well, also women, but "dragon" was of much higher priority).
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Daggummit, dude, you'd best not actually drive yourself to being more sick by forcing yourself to write for us! I would be actually grumpy about that and so, I would imagine, would everyone in your head circle and your other group be!
Or, counterpoint; Do as I would do, deny (especially to yourself) that you feel crappy while driving yourself to exhaustion making sure everything is done or in order, just in case.
Also eat plenty of yogurt.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey, I'm totally into dragons. Specially the ones with change shape.
Dragons are... dragons.Actually I have an obsession -not of the sexual type, fortunately- with dragons since I was a child. I'm a bit embarrased of it because it is too mainstream for a person who loves RPGs but I cannot help it.
I have a small collection of dragon things, and it's only small because I don't have a lot of money.
I don't use a lot of dragons on my stories because I think that including a dragon should be meaningful and special and I hate ruining their mystic. But I even created a NPC who has a bigger dragon fetish than I have xD
Gem dragons is where it is at.
I did, however, have one character whose orientation was "dragon" (well, also women, but "dragon" was of much higher priority).
Outer Dragons are where it's at. :-)
Meh.
They're awesome for Pathfinder, sure, it's just that they're not... psionic enough...
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Occasionally, you think to yourself that if you didn't have so many aliases then maybe people wouldn't come up with such ridiculous user names.
But then you spend time out in the world, and you realize having so many aliases probably wouldn't change anything. People will still come up with ridiculous user names.
Like, for example, the literal Ridiculous User Name...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Outer Dragons are where it's at. :-)Hey, I'm totally into dragons. Specially the ones with change shape.
Dragons are... dragons.Actually I have an obsession -not of the sexual type, fortunately- with dragons since I was a child. I'm a bit embarrased of it because it is too mainstream for a person who loves RPGs but I cannot help it.
I have a small collection of dragon things, and it's only small because I don't have a lot of money.
I don't use a lot of dragons on my stories because I think that including a dragon should be meaningful and special and I hate ruining their mystic. But I even created a NPC who has a bigger dragon fetish than I have xD
Gem dragons is where it is at.
I did, however, have one character whose orientation was "dragon" (well, also women, but "dragon" was of much higher priority).
I have an innie dragon.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey, I'm totally into dragons. Specially the ones with change shape.
Dragons are... dragons.Actually I have an obsession -not of the sexual type, fortunately- with dragons since I was a child. I'm a bit embarrased of it because it is too mainstream for a person who loves RPGs but I cannot help it.
I have a small collection of dragon things, and it's only small because I don't have a lot of money.
I don't use a lot of dragons on my stories because I think that including a dragon should be meaningful and special and I hate ruining their mystic. But I even created a NPC who has a bigger dragon fetish than I have xD
they are one of the major villains of my homebrew campaign setting. Heres hoping they seem more sympathetic than monstrous.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dragons are a varied lot.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, I can get a job making twice what I am now per hour, but would require Pea Bear to give up five or six hours a day of her summer (her first as a teenager even) watching Tiny T-Rex.
That seems harsh.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, I can get a job making twice what I am now per hour, but would require Pea Bear to give up five or six hours a day of her summer (her first as a teenager even) watching Tiny T-Rex.
That seems harsh.
Save some of the extra money you'll make for her therapy sessions?
I wish you luck making the decision. It's a tough thing to balance financial security and family happiness.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Occasionally, you think to yourself that if you didn't have so many aliases then maybe people wouldn't come up with such ridiculous user names.
But then you spend time out in the world, and you realize having so many aliases probably wouldn't change anything. People will still come up with ridiculous user names.
Like, for example, the literal Ridiculous User Name...
Look, if anyone asks about the Campaign stuff, I was tending my sick child.
(Got called in at 11:15 on the day we were going to head out of town to see family that he had an over-100-degree-fever...)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Not quite sure when I can get to it, but I do plan to finish those Carrion Crown recaps. I did recall we deviated from the book quite a bit due to the players getting fatigued with the wild goose chases.