Things I learned today...

[JonSetanta]

I am more self-conscious online than I am in real life.

I am a raging alpha-nerd in MMOs once I get a scrap of power over anyone.

... but I'm usually fair and just as well.

[Maj]

The super-awesome woman who works there gave Giovanni a pair of "training" chopsticks, and I learned how kids learn how to use chopsticks. They're connected at the top with loops for your fingers (something like this {OK, amazon, stupid rabbit}). They're pretty cool. My son likes to use them at home to eat blueberries.

Giovanni has taken whole-heartedly to the chopsticks and prefers to use them over a fork.

Using chopsticks is apparently one way to teach your child how to use scissors. My son got a hold of an index card yesterday and cut it to shreds. It was actually pretty cool until he decided to cut my hair (I cut everyone's hair in the family, so I understand where his impulse came from). Fortunately it doesn't show.

[Maj]

Today I learned about a transgendered (?) spy who worked under King Louis XV, Chevalier d'Eon.

I think that's pretty damned cool.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I found out that I can punch myself in the throat hard enough to cause bruising and not be incapacitated. (Was choking, and panicked when I couldn't breath). But my throat still really fricking hurts even though it was three days ago.

[Datawolf]

Today I learned that someone who I thought was an unmitigated piece of shit may have actually been right about a lot of things, and a lot cooler than I realised.

[Doom]

Today I learned that many of my students have over 90 hours in my 2nd year statistics course (one had 135 hours).

Considering 66 hours is the most one needs to get a 2 year degree, that's an eye-opener to how many are exploiting the easy student loan system.

[Blasted]

Today I learned that many of my students have over 90 hours in my 2nd year statistics course (one had 135 hours).

Considering 66 hours is the most one needs to get a 2 year degree, that's an eye-opener to how many are exploiting the easy student loan system.

How does that work?

[Koumei]

I found out that I can punch myself in the throat hard enough to cause bruising and not be incapacitated. (Was choking, and panicked when I couldn't breath). But my throat still really fricking hurts even though it was three days ago.

In high school I had... some virus that lasted 3+ months and permanently weakened my immune system. Heck, I still get the tingly "you should cough!" feeling in my throat every time I eat ice cream.

Anyway, a common occurrence back then was coughing fits and choking, until one of the three happened:
[*]I managed to cough the phlegm up
[*]It got caught in that special trigger location and induced vomiting (thus clearing the airway)
[*]I applied an air-choke to more or less force the body to stop.

The trick is to... hmm. Okay, left arm bent in front of you, thumb facing out, fingers hooked in. Bend your right arm in, thumb inward, fingers hooked in, and link the hands via those hooked fingers. Pull back against the windpipe and not the blood vessels. Do not pass out.

It worked for me, at any rate. A good chokehold tends to fix any problem.

[Maj]

And here I just drink lemon and honey to get rid of that coughing feeling. Who knew I could put myself in a choke hold instead?

[violence in the media]

And here I just drink lemon and honey to get rid of that coughing feeling. Who knew I could put myself in a choke hold instead?

There you go again, not thinking with the hardcore side of your brain.

[Doom]

How does that work?

Apparently, you click a box saying "I am a degree seeking student", and that's all it takes to qualify for loans.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

How does that work?

Apparently, you click a box saying "I am a degree seeking student", and that's all it takes to qualify for loans.

Of course. Not only do the students pay back the loans with interest, they are now eligible for higher pay jobs which means more income in taxes.

Government spending on education is pretty much an excuse to print money. I don't know why anyone would cut it.

[Blasted]

How does that work?

Apparently, you click a box saying "I am a degree seeking student", and that's all it takes to qualify for loans.

Are the loans of an especially low or no interest rate? Can the money be spent on anything besides education?
My mind just boggles at the thought of a student doing the same course for 3 years. The universities around here have limits on redoing courses.

[Koumei]

And here I just drink lemon and honey to get rid of that coughing feeling. Who knew I could put myself in a choke hold instead?

You can drink things when in a coughing fit? That's pretty awesome.

[Doom]

Well, they don't have to redo courses, they can just shuffle around forever on 'elective courses'. For example, they can take Gender Studies, then Gender Studies for Minorities, then Gender Studies in Children, then Gender Studies in Minority Children...dozens of variations. Then comes Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, then Child Psychology, etc. Check your catalogue, a large university has jillions of courses you can take, if you're not actually trying for a degree.

Basically, they sign up, qualify for loans. Loans go through the Admin office, they take out the money for tuition, student gets the rest; other loans go directly to the student. $5000 a semester is trivially easy to get, more depends on effort to fill out forms and such.

This one student I have this semester in my sub-remedial math class pretty much sums up the ridiculousness of it. She's been here for two years now, every semester sending a note to her teachers about why she's missed a few months of class. They're funny notes due to marginal literacy, and we share them (small college). This is the first time I've had her in my class (I normally don't teach sub-remedial, but we've had insane growth the last few years, doubling student base, tripling administrators, increasing faculty by 20%).

She wanted to, and I'm quoting, "CUM TA YA OFISE" to discuss her grade, made the appointment, never showed up. She failed the course (got a D, actually, so I guess that's something).

Two years and $20,000 in loans later, and she's now, assuming she takes her full time courses optimally and fails never again, she's now 2 years away from getting her 2 year degree. Insane, and while her writing is exceptional, her situation isn't by any means.

Count, the idea that these loans necessarily pay off by qualifying for higher income jobs is most questionable, as quite a number of recent articles have discussed. The GI Bill worked in the late '40s and '50s, but the world has changed quite a bit since then.

The loans are low interest, massively deferred; unfortunately, you can't get rid of the loan via bankruptcy or anything, you're stuck with them forever (or until you pay them off, which is unlikely for quite a number of students).

[Maj]

You can drink things when in a coughing fit? That's pretty awesome.

Yes. There's generally some point at which I breathe in so I can cough more. That's when I sneak in a small sip, which usually calms things enough to drink more.

Throwing up is not my idea of a fun time. I will find a way to take a sip if it means I'm not violently ill.

Are the loans of an especially low or no interest rate? Can the money be spent on anything besides education?

The thing about student loans is that you don't need established credit to get them, the interest rates are generally under 10%, you can defer payment until you graduate (longer given certain circumstances), and they money can be sometimes used on things tangential to education: room, board, books, other living expenses. When Ess got his student loans, they covered classes, books, and cost of living $2000 beyond the cost of school per quarter. I don't know if things are still that way, though.

[Prak]

I realized tonight that it's pretty much dead easy to come up with believable California city names, just take the spanish form of a saint's name.

Santa Lela
Santa Rita/Margarita
etc.

[Cynic]

Today I learned about a transgendered (?) spy who worked under King Louis XV, Chevalier d'Eon.

I think that's pretty damned cool.

THere's a kinda okay anime about the knight. I watched like two episodes and I wasn't very impressed.

[Maj]

I actually learned about le Chevalier because I was reading about the anime. But the anime doesn't sound nearly as cool as the real story.

[Koumei]

Today I learned I am still not allergic to bees (and therefore ants*, wasps and hornets). Might have even done something for the irrational fear, too.

And I picked the best place to step on one: right outside the pharmacy I had just bought medication from. So I could just stagger back in and ask to have the stinger plucked.

*Who are just wasps that are too stupid to fly.

[Cynic]

I learnt the terms bagpiping, and Rusty truck pump. I don't think I'll ever be the same again. If you are looking this up, then NSFW.

[JonSetanta]

I actually learned about le Chevalier because I was reading about the anime. But the anime doesn't sound nearly as cool as the real story.

Anime is usually disappointing but if you read a synopsis on, say, Wikipedia it does seem more interesting.

[Maj]

I learned today that I'm great at expectantly waiting. Apparently. With two year olds.

[CatharzGodfoot]

I was talking with my grandmother over Christmas, and I learned a few interesting things about my family history. Apparently she comes from a very long line of east-coast natives. Specifically, a branch of the Marsh family. The kicker is that she has a small hole in front of each ear which she claims is a vestigial gill.



I was left wondering if she's read H. P. Lovecraft and was just messing with me (which would be completely uncharacteristic, but who knows...).

[name_here]

I'd say she almost certainly has.