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I've decided The Witcher show is not for me.
I found it a bit dry and cheesy.
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...
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"No! I'm an adult!! I don't have to think or do anything!!" - Micheal Scott, The Office.
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NobodysHome: Hey, Impus Major! Look at this! It's the first-ever picture of you! Your first ultrasound!
Impus Major: My, what an unflattering picture!Boy has a way with words, he does...
When Impus Major was still a Tadpole Major...
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Leftovers tacos:
Pierogi Ruskie tacos with smoked jalapeno sour cream and cilantro.
I have a very limited amount of tolerance for jalapeno...
Probably an abomination, but such a tasty abomination.
Coincidentally, I just exchanged a few post with Paris's wife on facebook about pierogi making.
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I've decided The Witcher show is not for me.
You should watch old Polish Witcher Hexer series from 2000s!
I found it a bit dry and cheesy.
Not enough nudity?!
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I think he was worried about something being dry and cheesy in relation to his nudity.
Also, just over 10 hours of silence on FAWTL is against the rules as I understood them. We have to do better folks. ;)
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The shop found more damage that the initial estimate didn't cover. We're up to $11,800, which about $3500 of that is labor. Insurance company is still willing to fix it.
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A very quiet Friday morning.
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I'm supposed to be cleaning the house. WW is taking his mom to the Apple store this morning to see if they can restore all her contacts that disappeared when her phone updated.
Then we're planning to surprise the kids with an outing to see Frozen 2.
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Aiymi just told me "Hey, there's a new series on Netflix that I think we should watch when we're done with Discovery. It's called The Witcher, I think."
1) She's talking about Star Trek Discovery, which I thought was pretty good as a tight-focus Star Trek story. I had some minor quibbles with it, but overall I liked it.
2) I never read the book(s). I've never played the game. I only know the show stars Henry Cavill, which...I haven't seen him in anything except as Superman, so I don't know if he's actually a good actor or not.
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I'm supposed to be cleaning the house. WW is taking his mom to the Apple store this morning to see if they can restore all her contacts that disappeared when her phone updated.
Then we're planning to surprise the kids with an outing to see Frozen 2.
I assume WW tried doing a restore from iCloud? I'm no Apple expert, but usually both iOS and Android are pretty good at backing that stuff up to their respective servers.
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So, there's no accounting for taste.
After CY's anti-recommendation yesterday, we had some free time in the evening so we decided to give it (The Witcher) a chance. ("The show is not for me" is a far cry from "the show is crappy".)
So, old white guy syndrome: I had no idea it was based on a video game until GothBard told me.
We thoroughly enjoyed it: The writing is significantly better than most such series, and there are some excellent actresses in the cast (uniformly the women are outshining the men by leaps and bounds in this category).
The third episode is hard to follow until one of the characters makes an offhand remark about "being here for 30 years" and you realize that you're watching events from the past. I really appreciated their base assumption that their audience would be intelligent enough to figure it out, but it took us 2/3 of an episode to do so, and until then we were thinking, "What the heck is going on? Who ARE these people?"
The nudity is utterly laughable. It really DOES feel as if the writers thought, "Well, Game of Thrones was an immense hit, and it was full of unnecessary, gratuitous sex and nudity, so we need to put it in."
Except they're good writers, so they kept forgetting to do it. Then suddenly they'd visit a wizard's keep and... it's full of naked women. Why? Because they were trying to catch up with their contract-required quota or something.
Seriously. Some of the nudity is extremely natural and flows well. ("This person just transformed from a hideous monster into a human, and is therefore naked." Nice logic, and I appreciate it.) Most of it really feels like, "The producer insisted on 5 naked women per episode, and we forgot for the last 2 episodes, so here's 15 naked women for no reason whatsoever."
Anyhoo, I can definitely see it not being to everyone's tastes, but GothBard and I really enjoyed it, and are hoping to get in another 3 episodes tonight. (Shiro's off with his relatives, so TV instead of gaming in the evenings for us.)
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You know what show ought to be on Netflix?
Because it was what Angel was before Angel, but was cheesier, more camp, and all-round just better?
Forever Knight.
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I assume WW tried doing a restore from iCloud? I'm no Apple expert, but usually both iOS and Android are pretty good at backing that stuff up to their respective servers.I'm supposed to be cleaning the house. WW is taking his mom to the Apple store this morning to see if they can restore all her contacts that disappeared when her phone updated.
Then we're planning to surprise the kids with an outing to see Frozen 2.
Probably? Since we both have Androids, he's not used to iGlitches.
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I assume WW tried doing a restore from iCloud? I'm no Apple expert, but usually both iOS and Android are pretty good at backing that stuff up to their respective servers.I'm supposed to be cleaning the house. WW is taking his mom to the Apple store this morning to see if they can restore all her contacts that disappeared when her phone updated.
Then we're planning to surprise the kids with an outing to see Frozen 2.
It depends on your attitude towards companies owning your information. On my iPhone I have iCloud sync turned off, and I never let Google save any contact information. I'm comfortable if Google or Apple want to monitor every little thing I do online, because I'm remarkably boring. But I'm not selling out my friends to them, so my contact information remains offline.
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I assume WW tried doing a restore from iCloud? I'm no Apple expert, but usually both iOS and Android are pretty good at backing that stuff up to their respective servers.I'm supposed to be cleaning the house. WW is taking his mom to the Apple store this morning to see if they can restore all her contacts that disappeared when her phone updated.
Then we're planning to surprise the kids with an outing to see Frozen 2.It depends on your attitude towards companies owning your information. On my iPhone I have iCloud sync turned off, and I never let Google save any contact information. I'm comfortable if Google or Apple want to monitor every little thing I do online, because I'm remarkably boring. But I'm not selling out my friends to them, so my contact information remains offline.
Yes, but that's not the default behavior of the phones or the vast majority of the population. I agree with you, but I'm assuming the general behavior.
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So, there's no accounting for taste.
After CY's anti-recommendation yesterday, we had some free time in the evening so we decided to give it (The Witcher) a chance. ("The show is not for me" is a far cry from "the show is crappy".)
So, old white guy syndrome: I had no idea it was based on a video game until GothBard told me.
We thoroughly enjoyed it: The writing is significantly better than most such series, and there are some excellent actresses in the cast (uniformly the women are outshining the men by leaps and bounds in this category).
The third episode is hard to follow until one of the characters makes an offhand remark about "being here for 30 years" and you realize that you're watching events from the past. I really appreciated their base assumption that their audience would be intelligent enough to figure it out, but it took us 2/3 of an episode to do so, and until then we were thinking, "What the heck is going on? Who ARE these people?"
The nudity is utterly laughable. It really DOES feel as if the writers thought, "Well, Game of Thrones was an immense hit, and it was full of unnecessary, gratuitous sex and nudity, so we need to put it in."
Except they're good writers, so they kept forgetting to do it. Then suddenly they'd visit a wizard's keep and... it's full of naked women. Why? Because they were trying to catch up with their contract-required quota or something.Seriously. Some of the nudity is extremely natural and flows well. ("This person just transformed from a hideous monster into a human, and is therefore naked." Nice logic, and I appreciate it.) Most of it really feels like, "The producer insisted on 5 naked women per episode, and we forgot for the last 2 episodes, so here's 15 naked women for no reason whatsoever."
Anyhoo, I can definitely see it not being to everyone's tastes, but GothBard and I really enjoyed it, and are hoping to get in another 3 episodes tonight. (Shiro's off with his relatives, so TV instead of gaming in...
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You know what show ought to be on Netflix?
Because it was what Angel was before Angel, but was cheesier, more camp, and all-round just better?
Forever Knight.
LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE LISAMARLENE
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So, it turns out that the hardest part of parenting doesn't happen for 18 years...
Impus Major is an adult. He can do whatever the heck he feels like with his life. He's chosen to stay with us, get a college education, and wait until he's already landed a job to move out. Wise choices, all, and I'm proud of him for them.
But then there's the day-to-day stuff. "Hey, Dad! Today a bunch of my friends are coming over from 1-5 (great! Safe at my house!), then I'm heading out to Concord with Insomnia Boy to hang out with some of my other friends."
Instant Dad Reaction: This means Impus Major will be driving home on Highway 4 (a notoriously dangerous highway at night) in the middle of the night.
So... do I ban him from going? Step all over his freedom?
Of course not. I just have to suck it up and worry about him 'til he gets home.
Because it's what parents are supposed to do.
But hoo boy does it suck to be a parent when your kids are starting to explore their freedom!
(I don't think it helps at all that in spite of my alcoholism I clearly remember all the stupid s*** I did when I was his age, and the marvel that I didn't up seriously injured or worse, and now having to give him his freedom, trust him in the wisdom of the choices that he makes, and just sit at home and stew...)
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So, it turns out that the hardest part of parenting doesn't happen for 18 years...
Impus Major is an adult. He can do whatever the heck he feels like with his life. He's chosen to stay with us, get a college education, and wait until he's already landed a job to move out. Wise choices, all, and I'm proud of him for them.
But then there's the day-to-day stuff. "Hey, Dad! Today a bunch of my friends are coming over from 1-5 (great! Safe at my house!), then I'm heading out to Concord with Insomnia Boy to hang out with some of my other friends."
Instant Dad Reaction: This means Impus Major will be driving home on Highway 4 (a notoriously dangerous highway at night) in the middle of the night.
So... do I ban him from going? Step all over his freedom?
Of course not. I just have to suck it up and worry about him 'til he gets home.
Because it's what parents are supposed to do.
But hoo boy does it suck to be a parent when your kids are starting to explore their freedom!
(I don't think it helps at all that in spite of my alcoholism I clearly remember all the stupid s*** I did when I was his age, and the marvel that I didn't up seriously injured or worse, and now having to give him his freedom, trust him in the wisdom of the choices that he makes, and just sit at home and stew...)
Yep. We went through that phase 9 years ago.
The one thing we did keep a heavy hand on back then was the car. The Adult Kid needed to use our car to get to her 3rd shift job, but Aiymi needed the car by 5am to get to her job 60 miles away (at the time). Public transportation did not run between 9pm and 6am. I was able to use public transit/bicycle for my job at the time, but there were more than a couple times we were having to call her at 4:55am to find out where she was with the car because Aiymi was ready to leave.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So, it turns out that the hardest part of parenting doesn't happen for 18 years...
Impus Major is an adult. He can do whatever the heck he feels like with his life. He's chosen to stay with us, get a college education, and wait until he's already landed a job to move out. Wise choices, all, and I'm proud of him for them.
But then there's the day-to-day stuff. "Hey, Dad! Today a bunch of my friends are coming over from 1-5 (great! Safe at my house!), then I'm heading out to Concord with Insomnia Boy to hang out with some of my other friends."
Instant Dad Reaction: This means Impus Major will be driving home on Highway 4 (a notoriously dangerous highway at night) in the middle of the night.
So... do I ban him from going? Step all over his freedom?
Of course not. I just have to suck it up and worry about him 'til he gets home.
Because it's what parents are supposed to do.
But hoo boy does it suck to be a parent when your kids are starting to explore their freedom!
(I don't think it helps at all that in spite of my alcoholism I clearly remember all the stupid s*** I did when I was his age, and the marvel that I didn't up seriously injured or worse, and now having to give him his freedom, trust him in the wisdom of the choices that he makes, and just sit at home and stew...)
Yep. We went through that phase 9 years ago.
The one thing we did keep a heavy hand on back then was the car. The Adult Kid needed to use our car to get to her 3rd shift job, but Aiymi needed the car by 5am to get to her job 60 miles away (at the time). Public transportation did not run between 9pm and 6am. I was able to use public transit/bicycle for my job at the time, but there were more than a couple times we were having to call her at 4:55am to find out where she was with the car because Aiymi was ready to leave.
Well, we have the fortune to have 2 cars and I don't particularly need one, but GothBard hates to drive the Celica in traffic, and Impus Major is still learning the stick (though he's learning faster than anyone I've ever seen), so we had our first, "Two people need the same car at the same time" event just last week. (GothBard relented and grudgingly took the Celica.)
Once Impus Major is confident enough in the Celica, he'll have a lot more freedom. But in spite of his amazing performance with the clutch, he still doesn't trust himself enough to even go on the freeway yet.
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Well, speaking of the Celica, Impus Major just did multi-lane and freeway driving today and passed muster with flying colors, so I've given him permission to drive the Celica solo. Car problem solved!
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9-10 years ago we had sold off Aiymi's Curb Art (her father's '96 Mustang that he gave to us for the price of going to Florida to take it from him) and we were relying solely on my 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT.
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I got the line from 3rd Rock From The Sun. "It's okay, Dick, I don't mind being the woman. I can handle the catcalls and punitive underwear, because when I think of the alternative, I just have to laugh!"....punitive undergarments?Christmas was a rousing success!
Crookshanks is now substantially richer in llamas, unicorns, and llama unicorns. Also I guess she joined Jughead's gang, which I didn't know he was in a gang, but apparently he's hardcore now, I blame rap music.
Tiny T-Rex is now able to reenact several key battles between Optimus Prime and Megatron with numerous fan fiction revisions ("I know every time they fight they're supposed to die, but that's not how I roll").
The General got the high end Victoria's Secret bathrobe she's wanted for years (and all I had to do was buy her a bunch of punitive undergarments, win-win!), Bohemian Rhapsody (the movie) and a couple of books she's had her eye on.
I got the Rise of the Runelords pawn set, so even if we don't play it I have more pawns of people in peacock regalia then I know what to do with.
An Excruciating Brassiere would make for a good cursed magical item.
Or perhaps not...
Step one. Go winter camping in your panel van with no generator when it's ten degrees F.
Step two. Decide to leave your underwire brassiere hanging from a clothes hook against the steel wall, instead of putting it down at the bottom of your sleeping bag as is sensible, because you don't want it to smell like Old Sleeping Bag.Step three. Put it on in the morning.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
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So, there's no accounting for taste.
After CY's anti-recommendation yesterday, we had some free time in the evening so we decided to give it (The Witcher) a chance. ("The show is not for me" is a far cry from "the show is crappy".)
So, old white guy syndrome: I had no idea it was based on a video game until GothBard told me.
Tell that to Andrzej Sapkowski, and you might get punched in the nose. Not that it might have a big effect on you (I think he is your sized or smaller, and probably nowhere near durable as you), but he still might try it.
Let's say, he got a lot of bad press ages ago complaining on games and gamers. He was quite bitter as he sold the rights to making games for pennies and he might have been envious of the games success. According to his own statements, he specifically asked for a fixed sum instead of accepting royalties because he did not believed the games to succeed. Recently he came to some sort of settlement with CDP about renegotiating the conditions because Polish copyright law allows authors to sue the publisher if the contract is unfavorable to them.
We thoroughly enjoyed it: The writing is significantly better than most such series, and there are some excellent actresses in the cast (uniformly the women are outshining the men by leaps and bounds in this category).
The third episode is hard to follow until one of the characters makes an offhand remark about "being here for 30 years" and you realize that you're watching events from the past. I really appreciated their base assumption that their audience would be intelligent enough to figure it out, but it took us 2/3 of an episode to do so, and until then we were thinking, "What the heck is going on? Who ARE these people?"
The series is based on mixture of novels and short stories and mixes timelines from both.
The nudity is utterly laughable. It really DOES feel as if the writers thought, "Well, Game of Thrones was an immense hit, and it was full of unnecessary, gratuitous sex and nudity, so we need to put it in."
Rome done it even earlier.
Except they're good writers, so they kept forgetting to do it. Then suddenly they'd visit a wizard's keep and... it's full of naked women. Why? Because they were trying to catch up with their contract-required quota or something.
Seriously. Some of the nudity is extremely natural and flows well. ("This person just transformed from a hideous monster into a human, and is therefore naked." Nice logic, and I appreciate it.) Most of it really feels like, "The producer insisted on 5 naked women per episode, and we forgot for the last 2 episodes, so here's 15 naked women for no reason whatsoever."
The books had some moments, though rarely explicitly described. The very first short story introducing Yennefer has her bathe in front of Geralt, after she cast invisibility, so he doesn't drool over her... Instead he drools inferring her curves from the way the water behaves.
And then (or before, I don't remember) she has him bathe in front of her stating that he has no reasons to be ashamed because she saw naked men before, and as her friend Triss says, once you saw one, you saw them all. (they are pressed for time, IIRC, so they discuss the situation at hand while bathing instead of bathing privately)
Sexuality of wizards and sorceress is discussed a few times in the books, without going into the realm of porn, though - taking into account effects of longevity, resistance to diseases, contraceptive magic, and the fact that thanks to their power, position, and wealth, sorceresses are strong independent women and main beacon of feminism* in the otherwise rather patriarchal North.
Which now made me wonder what would be GothBard thoughts about the novels if she had/would read them.
*
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That's really interesting stuff, because one of the things that really drew both of us to the series were the uniformly strong women played by uniformly strong actresses. Unfortunately, the weak point in the female cast so far is Yennefer, who seems to be building into a major character (especially from your description), and it would have been nice to have a more solid actress in that role. When a 16-year-old actress is putting you to shame on a regular basis, you might want to brush up on your skills a bit.
On the other hand, other than the guy who plays Geralt (solid acting of a character written to be laconic and almost impossible to read), even the actress who plays Yennifer is head and shoulders above any of the male actors.
Now that I'm saying it explicitly, I think it's likely that subconsciously both GothBard and I were probably drawn to the series just because the women were (almost) all actually people with actual goals, motivations, and whatnot, instead of nothing more than foils or fodder for the menfolk.
Anyway, as I said, we'll likely watch another 3-4 episodes tonight, and we'll see whether it manages to maintain its quality. Hoo, boy, we started watching some series that got hit by the writer's strike (I'm looking at YOU, Lost Girl) that went from really enjoyable to execrable within an episode or two... so we're always wary.
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Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines, tracking the locations of hundreds of thousands
What's funny is that when I was a college professor I never even bothered with attendance after the mandatory first 2 weeks.
I told the kids, "Either you or your parents are paying for you to be here. If you honestly think you can pass without coming to class, then more power to you; I'm not your baby-sitter. But if you don't come to class and you fail, don't come crying to me."
In 8 years I only ever had one student who failed because she didn't show up often enough and actually cared.
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On a final note, speaking of your kids growing up and granting them their independence, the alternative is truly horrifying. One member of Impus Major's peer group is 18 and:
- Is not allowed to drive
- Is not allowed to use public transportation
- Is not allowed to cook
- Just got in trouble for lighting a candle when no one else was in the house.
This person is not handicapped. It's just nightmarish parents who believe that they're protecting their child, when what they're really doing is preventing that child from ever becoming a functional adult.
Really, really scary s***.
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On a final note, speaking of your kids growing up and granting them their independence, the alternative is truly horrifying. One member of Impus Major's peer group is 18 and:
- Is not allowed to drive
- Is not allowed to use public transportation
- Is not allowed to cook
- Just got in trouble for lighting a candle when no one else was in the house.
Whaaaa?
o.o
-.-
O.O
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Brother did not bring his dog today, so unfortunately I did not get to run the 'Timmy Test'.
Slightly Less Tiny Nephew was well impressed with the praying mantis and manta ray figurines I bought him, though, which is pleasing.
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I've discovered the dog corollary to the horror that is the Cats film.
We took the kids to see Frozen 2 today, and they played a trailer for the new Scooby Doo movie.
Scooby's voice. So very wrong.
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That's really interesting stuff, because one of the things that really drew both of us to the series were the uniformly strong women played by uniformly strong actresses. Unfortunately, the weak point in the female cast so far is Yennefer, who seems to be building into a major character (especially from your description), and it would have been nice to have a more solid actress in that role. When a 16-year-old actress is putting you to shame on a regular basis, you might want to brush up on your skills a bit.
The reception is wildly different between viewers. Some of my friends who watched the show praised Yennefer role. Most of people I heard complained about Ciri.
Yen is an important character in some of the short stories (as a willful and occasionally annoying love interest for Geralt) and a major player in some of the novels, though what I heard the Netflix is turning her into something that she is not in the books.
On the other hand, other than the guy who plays Geralt (solid acting of a character written to be laconic and almost impossible to read),
I don't think the series reveal that, but witchers are supposed to be designed to be efficient killing machines without emotions. Wizards often bluntly call witchers "psychopaths" (in medical sense), as the process of training and augmentation is supposed to eradicate their emotions to make them more capable of dealing with monsters (and—my own guess—make them immune to PTSD and similar side-effects of being murder-machines). In reality, the training and augmentation merely stunted their emotional growth and prevented them from developing emotional maturity. Who would guess that being taken away from your family at a very young age, being subject to torturous (and often lethal) training, with little normal human contact, and then being subjected to mutagens that will mess your hormonal development would do that to human being.
even the actress who plays Yennifer is head and shoulders above any of the male actors.
I heard people praising Joey Batey in his role of Jaskier (= Buttercup flower, shame they didn't translate the name, though both in the books and the game his name was changed to Dandelion).
Now that I'm saying it explicitly, I think it's likely that subconsciously both GothBard and I were probably drawn to the series just because the women were (almost) all actually people with actual goals, motivations, and whatnot, instead of nothing more than foils or fodder for the menfolk.
True. Women play a big part in the books (less so short stories), though, because it is supposed to be a rather grim series, that can be summed up the best by notion that humans are the worst monsters there are, they are often up to no good at all. Sorceresses often are particularly ruthless and tend to be callous and scheming.
Anyway, as I said, we'll likely watch another 3-4 episodes tonight, and we'll see whether it manages to maintain its quality. Hoo, boy, we started watching some series that got hit by the writer's strike (I'm looking at YOU, Lost Girl) that went from really enjoyable to execrable within an episode or two... so we're always wary.
One of the big complaints about the series I heard is the use of the short stories material in subpar way. The witcher started with a number of short stories that were retelling of fairy tales in a grim and gritty setting (though grim in different way than Grimm's fairy tales).
Many other classic fairy tales are retold in the same way in the short stories, and accordingly to people who watched the series, a lot of it is lost or cut-out.
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Also I'm currently in the ER with chest pain. It's probably just muscle strain, but holy carp the pain without pain killers is unbelievable. Also, not being able to breathe properly is no fun.
So it turns out I have pneumonia and pericarditis. (Inflammation of the heart-sack. Didn't even know heart-sacks are a thing.)
So I'm back at the hospital proper, again, and taking sweet sweet painkillers. Sadly not enough to completely kill the pain or make me loopy, but I suppose my first adventure in addiction will have to wait.
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Also I'm currently in the ER with chest pain. It's probably just muscle strain, but holy carp the pain without pain killers is unbelievable. Also, not being able to breathe properly is no fun.So it turns out I have pneumonia and pericarditis. (Inflammation of the heart-sack. Didn't even know heart-sacks are a thing.)
So I'm back at the hospital proper, again, and taking sweet sweet painkillers. Sadly not enough to completely kill the pain or make me loopy, but I suppose my first adventure in addiction will have to wait.
:(
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Damn, TS. Hopefully you feel better soon.
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Also I'm currently in the ER with chest pain. It's probably just muscle strain, but holy carp the pain without pain killers is unbelievable. Also, not being able to breathe properly is no fun.So it turns out I have pneumonia and pericarditis. (Inflammation of the heart-sack. Didn't even know heart-sacks are a thing.)
So I'm back at the hospital proper, again, and taking sweet sweet painkillers. Sadly not enough to completely kill the pain or make me loopy, but I suppose my first adventure in addiction will have to wait.
TS, keep that sense of humor going. It will get you through this.
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I have no problem getting dates online. I also get cashews, almonds, and walnuts.
gran, you are nuts!
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Oh. I thought he was saying he had no problem holding nuts.
That's different.
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His jokes are just peachy.
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Recovereth thou fortwith, TS!
I hath somme spayre leeches, three bezoins and anne mandragora, shoulde they be needfulle.
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Back in the 1980s, we had the "War on Drugs", and after a series of utterly appalling court decisions, the police could confiscate your property if they found drugs there, even if you were unaware of it. So my friends did drugs, and I told them under no uncertain circumstances that they were never to enter my home with drugs on their persons because of the stupid laws.
So, what did they do? They did drugs elsewhere, then drove to my house. In short, they put themselves in much GREATER danger because of the laws than if they'd just been allowed to do the drugs in the safety of someone trustworthy's home.
Fast forward 35 years.
Yesterday, Impus Major had a bunch of friends over. One of them got massively stoned to the point that I intervened with some of the more responsible teens and asked, "What did he take? How much? How long ago? Who provided it? Who else partook from that particular batch?"
And they told me everything so I was well-armed to take him to the hospital if necessary.
And that's the thing. The age of consent in California is 21. While they did me the favor of hiding their activities from me quite well, I think that technically once I recognized that one of them was stoned I was supposed to call the police. And what the **** would THAT have accomplished? It would have taught them not to trust me, and to do their drugs in some isolated location so that when one of them did have a negative reaction(as seemed to be happening last night), they wouldn't have a responsible adult around to tell them what to do about it.
Instead, the whole peer group has a HUGE level of trust in me, and I can look out for them and keep them safe.
Which is better? A blue law that tries to prevent teens from doing what they're going to do anyway, and that they've done for millenia, or a responsible adult who'll make sure they all get through it all safe and sound and in a safe place where none of them have to walk or drive while impaired?
EDIT: And don't get me wrong: The adults who provide such things to the kids and actively encourage them to partake deserve punishment. I was an alcoholic for 10 years and have to deal with people trying to force alcohol on me on an almost-weekly basis. The pressure is enormous. Kids don't need adults telling them, "You should try this! It's awesome!"
But if they've obtained it on their own of their own free will and are planning to partake anyway, I'd much rather they be at someone's house than in a park in the boonies somewhere.
EDIT 2: And in a scary parallel, when I was a teen, I was the "sober one" and provided rides to all my drunk/stoned friends so they wouldn't drive or walk impaired. Last night Impus Major drove every last one of his friends home so they'd be safe, and even did a food run for them when they got the munchies. I'm so damned proud of that boy it's scary.
EDIT 3 (Mainly for Freehold): And yes, I know that the intent of blue laws is to make it legal for police to hold addicts against their wills and force them to get the treatment they desperately need, but until they actually DO that I'll be opposed to blue laws. Jailing prostitutes or drug addicts is nothing more than punishing the victim.
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And on a brief alternative tirade, it's surprising how frequently unthinking human psychology causes irritation.
Every year, the kids' grandmother sends them $100 cash each, plus a present.
This year, both kids asked for cash.
So she sent them $100 cash each.
And I'm 100% positive she wasn't thinking, "Hey, wait a minute! This is less than I give them every year!"
She was thinking, "They wanted cash, I gave them cash, so they'll be happy!"
It's just a funny little hiccup in our brains: If you give the kids cash and a present every year, then one year they ask for cash, and you give them just the cash, it's hard to realize you're actually giving them less than if they'd asked for something physical.
Psychology is always "interesting".
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On a final note, speaking of your kids growing up and granting them their independence, the alternative is truly horrifying. One member of Impus Major's peer group is 18 and:
- Is not allowed to drive
- Is not allowed to use public transportation
- Is not allowed to cook
- Just got in trouble for lighting a candle when no one else was in the house.This person is not handicapped. It's just nightmarish parents who believe that they're protecting their child, when what they're really doing is preventing that child from ever becoming a functional adult.
Really, really scary s***.
I live in a big collega/university city.
You see them every year. Finally from under their parents thumb. They try all the things, and it generally goes badly. Luckily most of them learn quick.|
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Also I'm currently in the ER with chest pain. It's probably just muscle strain, but holy carp the pain without pain killers is unbelievable. Also, not being able to breathe properly is no fun.So it turns out I have pneumonia and pericarditis. (Inflammation of the heart-sack. Didn't even know heart-sacks are a thing.)
So I'm back at the hospital proper, again, and taking sweet sweet painkillers. Sadly not enough to completely kill the pain or make me loopy, but I suppose my first adventure in addiction will have to wait.
Ow man that sucks.
I hope you feel better soon.Also, if you have questions about the heart-sack, I can answer a lot. (its a brilliant piece of your body)