Anyone up for a chat thread?

[Paidiske]

Young folk taxing your sanity, graceandpeace?

 

[Shane R]

I've had a rough couple of weeks. We moved from Texas to Virginia, got a new residence on the 1st of July expecting belongings to arrive on the 5th or 6th and were repeatedly told "another two days" every time the deadline was missed. Finally, we got a shipment yesterday but the movers had packed four large crates in TX and only delivered three. They have lost a room and a half of our belongings, including our entire kitchen collection. Haven't heard word yet on whether they have tracked down the crate.

 

[BelleC]

I've had a rough couple of weeks. We moved from Texas to Virginia, got a new residence on the 1st of July expecting belongings to arrive on the 5th or 6th and were repeatedly told "another two days" every time the deadline was missed. Finally, we got a shipment yesterday but the movers had packed four large crates in TX and only delivered three. They have lost a room and a half of our belongings, including our entire kitchen collection. Haven't heard word yet on whether they have tracked down the crate.

That sounds terrible! I pray that all your belongings are returned to you soon!

 

[Paidiske]

Oh ouch. Moving is stressful enough at the best of times, but that would be incredibly difficult. Praying things resolve quickly, shane.

Why Virginia? Do I remember rightly that you were expecting to be ordained soon? So, is this your first ministry posting?

 

[Shane R]

Oh ouch. Moving is stressful enough at the best of times, but that would be incredibly difficult. Praying things resolve quickly, shane.

Why Virginia? Do I remember rightly that you were expecting to be ordained soon? So, is this your first ministry posting?

When my wife and I married we were both in the US Navy, which has its largest concentration in the Virginia area (~30%). In the region known as Hampton Roads, there are four major bases including the homeport of the Atlantic Fleet, the largest amphibious assault base, a master jet base, and a nuclear armory. I discharged in 2014, but my wife still has time. It worked well for us that her last tour can be in Virginia, and I can serve in the diaconate under a canon of the diocese at the same time.

 

[BelleC]

My husband and I lived for a time in Northern Virginia. Very pretty area with Lots of military around there too. We are New Englanders at heart though so we jumped at the chance to come back!

 

[Shane R]

My husband and I lived for a time in Northern Virginia. Very pretty area with Lots of military around there too. We are New Englanders at heart though so we jumped at the chance to come back!

My wife is originally from Puerto Rico but when she moved stateside the Boston metro area ultimately became home. We tend to visit at Christmas. I am originally from Ohio, right on the shore of Lake Erie. We both like Virginia. It's a bit of a central location as well, we can both reach multiple elements of our spread out family within a day's drive (OH, MA, KY, NC, PA, DE etc.).

 

[graceandpeace]

Young folk taxing your sanity, graceandpeace?

Just a little.

Seriously, it would make so much more sense to split the nearly 3 month long break & add the time throughout the year. Like, 1 month off in summer, 1 month off in winter, & 1 month off in spring. It would be better for the kids & parents I think.

 

[Paidiske]

Is that why summer camps seem to be such a big thing over there? (Not really a thing here).

 

[Albion]

Is that why summer camps seem to be such a big thing over there? (Not really a thing here).

Absolutely! For working parents, ten to twelve weeks straight of their kids being out of school is a real challenge. On second thought, scratch that part about "working" and make it "all."

 

[Paidiske]

Covering holidays is a challenge for working parents here too - we have twelve weeks of school holiday time over the year (just broken up), but most people only get four weeks a year of annual leave. School holiday programmes are a big deal; but not really camps, for some reason.

 

[Albion]

School holiday programmes are a big deal; but not really camps, for some reason.

That's probably a wise policy. Here, the schools are tombs during most of the summer.

 

[Shane R]

Long ago, summer break was important because it allowed for child labor on farms. In the 1990's, local farmers in Ohio began to hire high school kids to pick produce since, by that time, labor laws actually covered the Mexican migrants and if they were going to have to pay someone minimum wage or better to harvest the fields they preferred to pay a local. I never did it but I had a number of classmates who did at various times.

 

[Paidiske]

My mother-in-law remembers going hops-picking in school holidays, but it would be pretty rare for most kids here. Mind you, I'm a city lass and would really have no idea how much work school kids raised on farms actually do around the farm.

 

[Padres1969]

That's probably a wise policy. Here, the schools are tombs during most of the summer.

Yeah Summer School around here is always seen as a bad thing. But you know what, I did go to it one year, and I found I learned better during those 2 accelerated courses during the 6 or 8 weeks (can't remember which it was) in the summer than I did during the regular school year.

 

[Paidiske]

Oh, no, it's not a learning programme. Or at least, not like regular school. If it's held at the school it's usually a programme of fun activities and stuff.

Or you might find a programme which suits your child's particular interests - say a drama programme or a sport programme or an art programme or whatever. But it's not intended to be like normal school.

 

[Shane R]

In the states, summer school is typically a time to make up course work that one failed during the regular school year. Thus, it is often viewed with a negative stigma.

 

[Shane R]

The exception to that is when one advances to college. Then, summer school becomes an important, usually condensed, term to get ahead in one's degree program. Summer school allowed me to complete my first degree a full half year early.

 

[Paidiske]

Here's a cheerful thing to wake up to on a Monday morning.

Arson against places of worship in my city has become so bad that the police have sent round information on how to lower our risk and things to think about, security-wise.

I know of several fires that have caused a media splash here, but I don't hear much from overseas. Is this a problem in your areas, too?

 

[Arcangl86]

Here's a cheerful thing to wake up to on a Monday morning.

Arson against places of worship in my city has become so bad that the police have sent round information on how to lower our risk and things to think about, security-wise.

I know of several fires that have caused a media splash here, but I don't hear much from overseas. Is this a problem in your areas, too?

Not right now, though I do remember last summer there was a rash of Black churches in the south being burned down.