You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha' Doing - 2020
Rusalka wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Rob and I just bought one off the great courses on aidible about the rise and fall of tthe British empire that we're going to listen to.".Oooh let us know if it's any good and what it is if so!"
I will do!
Sarah wrote: "Rob and I just bought one off the great courses on aidible about the rise and fall of tthe British empire that we're going to listen to. We know so little about our own history here. Kids are only taught about the two world wars in any depth and there is so much more..."I agree that kids in the uk get a very limited view of British history - just the world wars and English Kings and Queens.
Even the world war teaching is pretty biased. We'd just moved back to England from Austria when my two had to do it at school. They were both very German sounding still and it was quite traumatic for them, No-one was interested in anything but the local view of the war and the main message the class took away seemed to be an elitist 'how we beat the Germans'.
There seemed to be no concept about the dangers of nationalism as an ideology . No-one asked about how family in Austria had lived through / survived the wars. I thought it was an opportunity missed.
They were asking for artifacts and I wanted to send in an Austrian gasmask as a 'show and tell' object - it was made of jet black rubber and had a small swastika on the side. I thought it might provoke a response. But then I remembered I'd left it with some of our things in Vienna. I think our friend Gerhard inherited it - he's Jewish.
I didn't go into the school in the end, although I had a mind to. My daughters were mortified at the prospect.
Haha, yes I bett your kids were mortified by the prospect of you going into school and setring them straight.Yes history is taught in aa very one sided way for sure and nott in much depth. I just remember being bored out of my mind for most of it so when I got the chance to drop it, I did. If we'd had an engaging teacher, more varied topics, and looking aat history on both sides of the fence, it would have been more interesting .
Sarah wrote: "Haha, yes I bett your kids were mortified by the prospect of you going into school and setring them straight..."Yep. Lol.
Yes, kids are always mortified, no matter what you do, if you show up at school. In middle school, my youngest kept getting sent to "after school punishment" because she was not getting to her classes on time. She had a watch, but would not wear it. I showed up to sit with her in the after school class one day, but it did no good. It only "punished" me. My next plan was to go to school with her all day, and follow her around and nudge her to get to her next class. I made it until lunch and left. I do not know which one of us was more mortified. She never had to go to after-school class again for being late to class though. ;o)
I am at a zoo in Australia dressed as a koala trying to convince the zoo keeper that I need a photo holding a koala while in the koala suit. You guessed an American author ;)
Peggy wrote: "We have many protests here too, not only in support of the US but also to protest against racism here. It's not the same as in the US, but definitely exists. They have been peaceful, although in so..."Yes, I've watched Tom Waes :) I need to wathc the last episode, but there has also been a similiar docu on NPO, showing the more 'serious' side of Japan.
The exam has been difficult, because it was online and I find it hard to read from a screen. We needed to take pictures from our answers and send it with What's App. I know it's just a language course, but I hope I've made it.
Normally there was a protest yesterday in Bruges, but the mayor cancelled it due to the distanted socializing. I went to the city yesterday and the terraces were open. They were full with people! So, why cancel a peaceful protest, but letting everyone sit outside?
Grainne wrote: "I am at a zoo in Australia dressed as a koala trying to convince the zoo keeper that I need a photo holding a koala while in the koala suit. You guessed an American author ;)"o.O
Annerlee wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Haha, yes I bett your kids were mortified by the prospect of you going into school and setring them straight..."Yep. Lol."
Hahahaha
But good on you though. I had only ever thought through the German perspective of the war when I read The Book Thief. I just had never ever been encouraged to think about the civilian point of view until then. How wrong is that!? And i cannot express how much that book turbo boosting my empathy for "others" has changed how I think about some things.
Cherie wrote: "Yes, kids are always mortified, no matter what you do, if you show up at school. [...]
She never had to go to after-school class again for being late to class though. ;o) ..."
Hahaha. Like it.
Kids and parents - they're the same the world over... lol
Sarah wrote: "Haha, yes I bett your kids were mortified by the prospect of you going into school and setring them straight.Yes history is taught in aa very one sided way for sure and nott in much depth. I just..."
I had to choose in Year 8 (13-14yrs) between History and Geography. I chose geography, as who wants to know about dead people?
My parents paid a ridiculous amount for my private education and I think this was a complete failure. All my public school friends including Lexx had many more years of compulsory history, and it still has so many failings. And I opted out years earlier!
I too had to choose between history aand geography in year 9 when going into GCSEs. Not sure whether there was a difference between private schools and state schools.
I just found these lists of books and spent 2 hours checking the ones I have read... Sharing my new vice:https://www.listchallenges.com/lists/...
Sandra wrote: "I just found this lists of books and spent 2 hours checking the ones I have read... Sharing my new vice:https://www.listchallenges.com/lists/..."
Oh... that site is a rabbit hole. I'm not sure if I should really thank you for sharing. lol
Lol, Kristie. Just what we needed.
Sandra wrote: "Lol, Kristie. Just what we needed."It is tempting and dangerous - saved it for later...
I'm with you, Lilisa. Going to bookmark it and come back to it later when I have lots of time.
Not something to get into on toppler week, that's for sure.
While not checking book list after book list in this new
My grandson's last day of school was yesterday, Sandra. So glad he (we!) is on summer break.
Oh, yes! I'm glad this remote learning thing is over, at least for now. How did online school go for you two?
It wasn't bad, Sandra. His school was really organized with online work, even specials like art, music, and gym. The last week they had virtual field trips for the kids, which was nice. He actually did better on the days that he had more to do. On a few days they had 'makeup days' for kids that fell behind and there was very little assigned. I found that he ended up complaining about having to do schoolwork on those days because it felt like a day off, but he still had some work to do, just not enough to feel like a real school day. So now, he is done! How about you?
Good to know he did well. It is amazing how kids adapted to this new situation so quickly.We did also well. First week was crazy, after that we got used to the new schedule, settled, and everything went well. My autistic son did fantastic (he was my greatest concern), specially in everything writing/language arts related. He struggles to sit and write, but working on his own pace and having (my) extra support he manage to do great things. His last assignment was writing a chapter on animal communication and he did wonderful. I'm very proud.
Now we have all the opinions here. My first grader can't wait to come back to school while my third grader wants to have remote learning for ever. :)
I'm so glad that it worked out well, particularly with your son with autism. That is such a big concern changing his routine so suddenly. I'm so happy for you both. I found that having someone (me) available to give one on one help when needed and being able to take breaks worked out nicely for my grandson too. Funny how your little ones are so different in their opinions. Aren't personalities so funny like that? My girls were very different as well, but still similar in some ways.
Having breaks whenever they needed them and also being free to decide what to work on when was a very positive thing. (I haven't discover anything, families that homeschool know this). Still I can see how all of this was posible because I was totally dedicated to them. I really feel for the parent who has to work from home and in addition help their kids with school work. That is tough. My 8 kids are all very different, and what works with one is useless with the next one. :)
Yes, that's partly how I ended up doing the schooling with my grandson. My daughter is an essential worker and couldn't be home with him. I was thinking that it would have been so much more difficult if I was working from home or even had multiple children with different work to do. You are amazing getting through that with all the different ages, abilities, etc.
I'm glad your daughter has you, Kristie, to help her. I hope she has vacations this summer to rest and spend some time with her boy. It is also hard to have your child away, even if you know he is being well cared of and having fun.
Thanks, Sandra. They certainly miss each other. The vacation can't come soon enough!
Ugh, we seem to have a leak in the house somewhere. Or at least, we think so. There's this dripping sound coming from the wall of the downstairs toilet. It has been there a little for ages, but lately it's much faster and louder. We turned off the main water supply and the dripping stopped, so we're sure it's water. We don't know if something's happening within the pipes or whether we have a leak. There's no water damage anywhere that we can see. I called a leak detection company and they're willing to check it out, but they warned me: as there's no visible damage, it might not be a leak. For them to come do a leak detection costs €385. If there is a leak, the costs are covered by insurance. If there's no leak, it's not insured.
It's weird. We want to have it checked to prevent actual visual damage that would cost a lot more (also for the insurance company) to have to fix, but if you want to make sure you're covered you have to wait until you can see the water damage so you're 100% sure it's a leak..
It would be good to have it checked just to have some peace of mind, but €385 is a lot of money.
I did the conversion and that's a lot of money to do a diagnostic! Yikes.
Oh that sounds bad, Peggy. Did they suggest what the sound could be if not a leak? Do they think it might just be the water running through the pipes? It seems that you shouldn't hear it unless you're using water at the moment.
They didn't have any other suggestions except that it's like when you turn the heating on, sometimes you hear these ticking sounds in the pipes, and they said it might be that. But I don't believe it, I know those sounds and this is a constant dripping, day and night, no matter which other appliances we are using. I'm mostly worried it's something bad and that all of a sudden a pipe behind the wall will burst completely..
I don't know anyone personally who knows a lot about these kind of things or I would ask them to take a look. So we don't have many options except asking a specialized (expensive) company. I asked my dad and he also gave some suggestions but they were not it. He's offered to come by and have a look, but he can't see through walls either ;-)
That it's insane. A lot of money. Here you have to pay for diagnostics in general (appliances, plumber, electrician, etc.) if they end not doing any job, only the diagnostic, but it goes from $90 to $110 that is not little money but 385 euros sounds way over reasonable. Is that the only company?Have you noticed an increase in water consumption? Generally when you have a dripping it amounts a lot of water at the end of the month, and you can see it in your bill.
We got a letter a month ago from our water authority saying our consumption of water had gone to the sky and asking for checking if everything was ok here. We think it was the dishwasher. We weren't using it anymore because it was doing weird sounds and stuff was as dirty at the end as when we had put it inside. We were waiting until the end of the quarantine to have someone to fix it. It seems that it was also leaking, even when not being used. We bought a new one last week (no point in fixing the other one, too old, it seems) so we expect our water bill to go back to normal. We'll see.
Peggy wrote: "but he can't see through walls either ;-)"Lol, that is very inconvenient.
It seems the price is between 300 and 500 euros, at least with the reputable companies. But that also includes a full report with pictures etc so that you can also use your insurance for reparations. Still, ridiculously expensive.They did say that it would be 120 euros if they find the (non)-leak within an hour, but apparently normally it takes 2-3 hours and they use all kinds of fancy measures to avoid breaking open your walls. I guess that makes sense if you have no idea where to start looking.
No increase in water use as far as I can tell, which makes me wonder if it is a leak after all..
Yes, I have seen the equipment they use to find the leak. Very sophisticated.It's weird you didn't notice an increase in water use... I guess that unfortunately you don't have many options. :/
Peggy wrote: "They didn't have any other suggestions except that it's like when you turn the heating on, sometimes you hear these ticking sounds in the pipes, and they said it might be that. But I don't believe ..."Something like this happen to me a while back. But I was sure it was a leak and had a good idea where is was so I cut my wall open to confirm. As I had my share of water issues, I am a bit paranoid, so do let me scare you but if it is a leak that is louder and faster, I suppose it is getting worse. It could be the leak going bigger or that your water pressure has gone higher.
Shop around. Here we have CAA (AAA in the state), they are more than an "auto club". Their website have a list of services that have the CAA approval. When I look for a contractor nowadays, I start there. I figure these companies do not want to lose that badge and have more chance of being by the book. Note for canadian: if you are a member you can also call for a counsel. I did this when I had to redo my roof and i ended that call with a checklist and a questions to ask I might not have thought about. Save me a lot of time.
Maybe you have some organization that is similar?
Exactly, the louder and faster is worrying me too.How did you cut open your wall? Ours are concrete walls with tiles on them, so I don't think I have the right tools (and knowhow) to go about that myself, lol.
Maybe we should ask them to check it out and hope they finish in an hour.
Thanks for all your help and suggestions!
Hopefully, if you can tell them where the sound is coming from they can be done in an hour. Sounds like something isn't right there. I'd probably get it checked to set my mind at ease and avoid a potentially bigger problem later. Hope it works out for you, Peggy.
Peggy wrote: "Exactly, the louder and faster is worrying me too.How did you cut open your wall? Ours are concrete walls with tiles on them, so I don't think I have the right tools (and knowhow) to go about tha..."
ouch. You do not want to cut in there if you do not have to. Mine was plaster on one side. Really easy to cut through and easy to repair.
Caan you not just get a normal plumber to come in to check things out? They can listen to the sound and may be able to give you a better idea whether it's a leak or something else. Then you can decide whether you need to pay forr the leak finding service or not.
That's indeed a lot of money! Here is is the same according to the price. Maybe you can ask different plumbers what their price will be according to their skills? Here we deal with waiting lists, because this time plumbers don't come fast enough for 'little' tasks.
Sarah wrote: "Caan you not just get a normal plumber to come in to check things out? They can listen to the sound and may be able to give you a better idea whether it's a leak or something else. Then you can dec..."My thought too.
P.S. A leak detective service sounds very spy novel like. I approve.
I agree. I could see a whole mystery series following these burly men in tight jeans searching out all the wet spots. I think I am feeling a little naughty today. LOL
Lol oh my! I'll just be over here....
Kristie wrote: "Sandra wrote: "I just found this lists of books and spent 2 hours checking the ones I have read... Sharing my new vice:https://www.listchallenges.com/lists/..."
Oh... that site is a rabbit hole..."
Just spent some time down the rabbit hole. Found a 'novelogue' bucket list scratch poster. I am so tempted...
https://www.beentheredonethat.shop/pr...
Looks great, Annerlee! It's also a great idea for a gift.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lost Man (other topics)The Glass Woman (other topics)
The Survivors (other topics)
The Survivors (other topics)
The Glass Woman (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Roberto Bolaño (other topics)Dervla McTiernan (other topics)
Kevin Hearne (other topics)
Rachel Caine (other topics)
Tan France (other topics)
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Oooh let us know if it's any good and what it is if so!