boo to you.

Good morning all.

I just picked up my suit from the dry cleaners. All that us left to do for the Las Vegas trip is to buy a lightweight jacket for in case iI need to walk the strip at night, us iI think iI need a bigger suitcasI'm Im flying Southwest so iI can check a bag nocharge. The extra day means an email transmission set of clothes. ..

This weekend iI will fill a prescription, buy the travel toothpaste and stuff. I'm really excited about having the time away from the cell phone mines.

Does anybody want a small souvenir?

Patch wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

Exactly.  The professors get a kickback or are paid "content providers"  to the paywall.  They can claim that it's the policy or whatever,  but we all know they don't have to play it that way.

Everyone gets a kick back. My son's housing just screwed him to the point he has to change schools next semester. I had to pay $500 to get them to agree to sublease his room next semester to get him out. He will still owe them 3000 in January.

When they laid it out they assured him everything would be covered. Then they hit him with a 3400 payment and 600 for a parking pass and the same again in March. Given the time he actually would live there during the year, his room would run over 1600 per month and he shares the space with 3 other kids. What a racket. I told my wife we should go buy a place there and pack it with kids. 6400 per month, throw them out in December and go on vacation. Kick em out again at summer and hit the beach.

A student activist organization out here worked with legislators to pass a law mandating that text book publishers are legally required to inform teachers of the prices of the books. The fact that a law was need for this is fucking outrageous. A few years back, I took a course on philosophy, and the "textbook" was something the teacher "wrote" himself, and printed very cheaply (like, cafe press level of cheap). The book contained public domain excerpts from classic works like Socrates or Bentham, with a few paragraphs of introduction, summation and some questions for students to answer. The amount of "new" material he added could have been written in less than a day and he had the gaul to charge 20 or 30 bucks for it.

I had a couple of Best buy cards that I've had since Christmas so after the game I stopped and got the new apple tv. I wasn't sure what I would think about it but decided to take a chance since it was cheap, once I cashed in my cards. I like it. I have quite a bit a music and movies on my itunes and it's great to be able to stream them easily. Before I was having to move them to the Ipad then connect them to the TV. It also has these cool ariel screen savers. The one flying over the GG bridge is pretty cool. I got to go to San Fran once and it was easily one of the best work trips I've ever gone on. Beautiful city.

Now I'm off to the store to get a soldering iron. I cooked a circuit on my back up drive that has 12000 songs backed up on it. I'm hoping I can repair the break and get access back. I have one of those personal cloud back ups now, but after having two fail now I don't trust them. I'll be going old school and burning to disk just in case

James.k.Polk wrote:

Exactly.  The professors get a kickback or are paid "content providers"  to the paywall.  They can claim that it's the policy or whatever,  but we all know they don't have to play it that way.

Everyone gets a kick back. My son's housing just screwed him to the point he has to change schools next semester. I had to pay $500 to get them to agree to sublease his room next semester to get him out. He will still owe them 3000 in January.

When they laid it out they assured him everything would be covered. Then they hit him with a 3400 payment and 600 for a parking pass and the same again in March. Given the time he actually would live there during the year, his room would run over 1600 per month and he shares the space with 3 other kids. What a racket. I told my wife we should go buy a place there and pack it with kids. 6400 per month, throw them out in December and go on vacation. Kick em out again at summer and hit the beach.

rkwsuperstar wrote:

NebulaJack wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

Also, most of the books so far has been campus bookstore only, because there is some code you get for an external site to run the homework, etc.  So you have no choice.  Unless you want to buy the code on top of the pdf version of the book.  If you even can do that.

It's bullshit like this which is why I always check torrenting sites for my books first. The online listing said I needed the So & So 5th Edition, Lance Community College Custom Edition. I found a torrent for the Standard 5th edition, checked with my teacher and save about a hundred bucks.

I think part of my issue is that it's an online class.  So the professors aren't issuing homework from the book, so they don't have to grade it.  You go to an external site, either it chooses the homework or maybe the professor does, and you take it online.  The site grades it immediately and sends the score to the professor.

Exactly. The professors get a kickback or are paid "content providers" to the paywall. They can claim that it's the policy or whatever, but we all know they don't have to play it that way.

Well football is over. They got whipped last night. 40-0. They were up against it. The Aledo 7th grade QB was 6 ft. Their A team QB is 6'3"
It wasn't much competition. He would throw a couple of incomplete passes then just scramble for a 60yrd TD. My son is one of the tallest kids on his team at 5'4" so most of them just got shoved aside when he came through.

Still my son played well. Got a fumble, had a few catches, got two stops on 2-point conversions. He was more upset about a crappy face mask call against him. The ball was picked and the kid went to the ground. My son touched him while he was down which should have ended the play. The kid got up and turned into my sons hand then they blew it dead and hit him with a 15 yd penalty.

NebulaJack wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

Also, most of the books so far has been campus bookstore only, because there is some code you get for an external site to run the homework, etc.  So you have no choice.  Unless you want to buy the code on top of the pdf version of the book.  If you even can do that.

It's bullshit like this which is why I always check torrenting sites for my books first. The online listing said I needed the So & So 5th Edition, Lance Community College Custom Edition. I found a torrent for the Standard 5th edition, checked with my teacher and save about a hundred bucks.

I think part of my issue is that it's an online class. So the professors aren't issuing homework from the book, so they don't have to grade it. You go to an external site, either it chooses the homework or maybe the professor does, and you take it online. The site grades it immediately and sends the score to the professor.

NebulaJack wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:Learned something.  The angry,  screaming at the ex wife dream is a product of having had coffee too late in the afternoon.

I was out shopping on my day off.  Got home,  tired at 4:00. Made a cup of Java to keep from napping.  Now-- regret.

At least you know what to avoid in the future.

The alternative isn't often any better. Lie down for a nap a four and I'm tired the rest of the day, but don't sleep well. Sit listless until my energy level increases on its own... Or coffee and take may chances with sleep later.

James.k.Polk wrote:Learned something.  The angry,  screaming at the ex wife dream is a product of having had coffee too late in the afternoon.

I was out shopping on my day off.  Got home,  tired at 4:00. Made a cup of Java to keep from napping.  Now-- regret.

At least you know what to avoid in the future.

Learned something. The angry, screaming at the ex wife dream is a product of having had coffee too late in the afternoon.

I was out shopping on my day off. Got home, tired at 4:00. Made a cup of Java to keep from napping. Now-- regret.

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

Also, most of the books so far has been campus bookstore only, because there is some code you get for an external site to run the homework, etc.  So you have no choice.  Unless you want to buy the code on top of the pdf version of the book.  If you even can do that.

It's bullshit like this which is why I always check torrenting sites for my books first. The online listing said I needed the So & So 5th Edition, Lance Community College Custom Edition. I found a torrent for the Standard 5th edition, checked with my teacher and save about a hundred bucks.

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

Also, most of the books so far has been campus bookstore only, because there is some code you get for an external site to run the homework, etc. So you have no choice. Unless you want to buy the code on top of the pdf version of the book. If you even can do that.

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

Oh, I'm all for free/cheap college.

rkwsuperstar wrote:

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc.  But books should not be this outrageously priced.  They don't even offer ebooks.  Well, I take that back.  With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook.  And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered.  60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled.  What the hell?  

Have you looked into any of those sites that offer PDF versions of pricey text books?

I'm a conservative guy, but I think instead of offering money to students in the forms of grants and debilitating loans, the gubmint should just use that money to fund colleges with a mandate to accept qualified students regardless of ability to pay.

James.k.Polk wrote:

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem.  I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I can sort of get why tuition is high-you have to pay for salaries, upkeep of buildings, electricity, etc. But books should not be this outrageously priced. They don't even offer ebooks. Well, I take that back. With the cheaper book, I could buy the ebook for an additional $100, but I couldn't buy just the ebook. And, you don't get to keep the ebooks when offered. 60 days after the course completes, the ebook is disabled. What the hell?

rkwsuperstar wrote:I just bought my books for winter semester.  One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352.  Good gravy.

This is a real problem. I *think* it happens because universities know that most students receive grants and/or loans to help with the expense and the university and it's affiliated industries do their best to soak up as much of this money as possible.

I'd be in favor of a "school affordability act" that would limit the amount of money schools can ask for required materials or at least reward schools that use less ridiculously priced books in their curricula.

I just bought my books for winter semester. One (new only) was $157, and the other (new only) is $352. Good gravy.

James.k.Polk wrote:Today I need to take my dress slacks and blazer to the dry cleaners.  They need cleaning and pressing before the big trip next week.  I already bought a couple of long sleeve shirts (very nice and not cheap) but I feel that a light jacket or a sweater would be in order in case I walk the Vegas strip at night in 40 degree weather. (which I probably will)

So today I am back off to the mall and the big and fat guys shop.  Jackets for fat guys cost an insane amount of money and I hate owning one because being cold-resistant is one of the only perks of being an overweight person.

Later I am going to Genghis Grill for lunch and I will be direct messaging Arkay pictures of the meal because I know how much she enjoys these things.

What's everyone else up to today?

Got a math exam that I haven't studied for that I'll be taking in about an hour and a half. I'm about to head out the door to school now. I've been doing well enough that i'm not worried, but I still should have done some studying on Sunday. Other than that, I think I'll try to resume work on the novel I've been writing on Twitter when I get home tonight.

Also, new poll is up.

James.k.Polk wrote:

What's everyone else up to today?

I'm going to head out at lunch and fuel up the truck. The last football game of the season is today in Aledo, so we are heading out at 4 to go watch him play. I think some of the family is going to watch as well. It should be a good game. Aledo is rumored to hold kids back in the 6th grade to make them bigger for football when they start 7th.

Bigger doesn't always mean better. Here is my son going up against last weeks team. They put it on him in the 1st quarter for a couple of big gains to his side. Then he made some adjustments and they only gained about 10 to his side the rest of the game, and he had 2 sacks, and 3 backfield tackles, one on 4th down. (had to go back and edit this. He also forced a fumble) It's been a fun season. He has learned a lot and his coaches have been noticing. He is the only receiver they target in the games and the only one they will let do a spin move on the defensive line, because he's quick enough to get back in the gap on the other side if he needs to.

Today I need to take my dress slacks and blazer to the dry cleaners. They need cleaning and pressing before the big trip next week. I already bought a couple of long sleeve shirts (very nice and not cheap) but I feel that a light jacket or a sweater would be in order in case I walk the Vegas strip at night in 40 degree weather. (which I probably will)

So today I am back off to the mall and the big and fat guys shop. Jackets for fat guys cost an insane amount of money and I hate owning one because being cold-resistant is one of the only perks of being an overweight person.

Later I am going to Genghis Grill for lunch and I will be direct messaging Arkay pictures of the meal because I know how much she enjoys these things.

What's everyone else up to today?

James.k.Polk wrote:

Patch wrote:

Grrrr.  I'm on mobile and it says it doesn't support the content you're linking to.

two things. I was quite pleased that none of my children called me at 10:30 on Sunday in a panic because no one else had shown up for work. Last year I answered a frantic call from a girl and told her "I'm getting gas in my car then I'll be on my way. By the way you do know it's only 10:35, right?

Second. I am blaming Daylight (or standard time-- which ever this is) for my pissed off grouch-face mood yesterday. I thought it was going to be a good day. Then I went to Chick Fila and asked for the exact same thing I always order. Girl behind the counter asked which kind of cheese I wanted on my regular (cheeseless) chicken biscuit. I look at the menu again... I just want the number one and a coffee...

You want iced coffee, right? Who said anything about ice?

I watch her go get a coffee cup (which is on a different counter than the coffee dispenser. I notice she doesn't get the sleeve or the lid while she is there. She overfills the cup-- so much I am sure she (or I ) will spill it. sets the cup down and goes back to get the coffee sleeve. Puts the sleeve on the coffee... The goes back to get the lid... Then stands in front of me waiting for someone else to put the biscuit and hash browns that are already staged and waiting on a tray for me.

I was then irritated and a grouch all damn day.

If there was an appropriate time for you and Arkay to suggest I should get laid, yesterday was it.

NebulaJack wrote: Also, a couple years ago back in 2012 I made my first Thanksgiving Turkey. The skin dried out, but otherwise it was pretty good.

If you try it again here is the trick I use. I saw it on a cooking show and it works great.

Rub the bird down with canola oil and stick it in a 500 degree oven for a half hour. This will give the skin a nice browning. Then take it out cover with foil and but it back in at 350 and let it cook. That keeps the skin from getting tough but still gives you that golden brown color. I do a 24 hours brine, prior and use a digital thermometer to make sure it doesn't overcook. It's the brine that really sets it off. Our operations manager calls me every year for the brine recipe.

James.k.Polk wrote:

Grrrr.  I'm on mobile and it says it doesn't support the content you're linking to.

I thought it was funny. If you get a chance, check it out later.

I had a deer try and take out my truck this morning. I was taking my son to football practice and I catch something moving out of the corner of my eye. I look over and this huge buck is running next to us. Then it turns and starts coming across. I hit the brakes and it flies in front of us. It missed us by inches. My son said he thought for sure it grazed the bumper.

Patch wrote:

Grrrr. I'm on mobile and it says it doesn't support the content you're linking to.