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[lepetitfromage]

Also, yay I am finally getting the hang of tapatalk!

[Pilchard123]

Now with questionable smears!

[GarandMarine]

My handwriting is so bad that people ask me if I'm in Aimless's profession.

[nekowafer]

Now with questionable smears!

Teeheehee

[Carl-E]

Interesting - variable slant! 

[Lines]

Certain pens make it better than others.

RSVP pens always give some of the best handwriting. I don't know if it's the weight of the pen or what, but I love them.

[Barmymoo]

I got sick of my tutoring students having way better handwriting than me (apparently Korean schools teach the Latin alphabet in the most beautiful cursive script) so spent a couple of months teaching myself to write in cursive. I now get compliments on my handwriting quite frequently, weeeee

[BeoPuppy]

I could be a doctor. That bad.

[lepetitfromage]

Linds, they absolutely do! I also really enjoy writing with the Uniball Onyx pens. They're fabulous.

[Patrick]

I'm at mcdonalds don't judge me


Sent from my Spacephone using Tapatalk

[cesium133]

I didn't realize until I read the part about McDonald's that those weren't the same smears that Pilchard photoshopped onto neko's handwriting...

[pwhodges]

My son Nicolas has played in the BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Sydney Opera House, Suntory Hall, etc - but there is still a special feeling about his first solo recital in the Wigmore Hall.  I shall be there - Sunday 14 Sept.  The program includes a world premier (though that's nothing unusual for him).

Press Announcement
Ultra-cheap for under-30s (scroll to bottom)
Biography
It will be broadcast live on the BBC (Radio 3 schedules aren't published more than a week in advance, so I can't link that yet)

[Barmymoo]

Ooooh I would very much like to come - London is a bit of a trek though, since I would struggle to get home again. Has he got any Midlands dates upcoming?

[cesium133]

Panic/Stress/Anxiety: getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow
Happy/Joy: Talking to one of our collaborators, it looks like I might be able to get a postdoc in their lab, we'll see, I guess.
Panic/Stress/Anxiety: If I do get the postdoc, it's in Germany.

[Grognard]

Happy/Joy: you get to attend Octoberfest in person ???

[cesium133]

Eh, maybe. That's in Bavaria and I'd be in Baden-Wurttemburg, so I guess it's not that far.

[Grognard]

if I weren't anchored fore/aft with house,kids, etc...

I'd jump on a foreign contract in a hot second.

[GarandMarine]

Holy titty fuck shits! Did you people know Patrick Stuart played Macbeth in a modern update of the play? (comparable to the Ralph Fiennes update of Coriolanus)

Coriolanus:

One of my favorite lines in all the world:
Make you a sword of me!

[ankhtahr]

At least I'm not surprised. He is member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, which also resulted in the Hamlet interpretation with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius.

[GarandMarine]

I'm not surprised either. I knew he was a Shakespearean actor first and foremost. It's just awesome.

[Loki]

Panic/Stress/Anxiety: If I do get the postdoc, it's in Germany.

That's an interesting prospect. Good luck!

[Patrick]

I don't know how I did this, but apparently conversations about Laika the space dog can get you a girl's number and a hot date


Sent from my Spacephone using Tapatalk

[Patrick]

Oh yeah, and Matt hit me in the face with a pie last night because it was his bday party.


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[Detachable Felix]

Are we talking the stereotypical 'shaving cream pie in face' gag here? I wasn't aware people actually did that anymore

[Metope]

I ordered a pair of jeans online the other week, and they arrived yesterday. They didn't fit and I'm sending them back, but while trying them on I found two dollars and a used hair tie in the pockets... what?

[cesium133]

Panic/Stress/Anxiety: getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow

This may just be the painkillers and the sleeping all afternoon talking, but I feel great right now.

[Grognard]

I ordered a pair of jeans online the other week, and they arrived yesterday. They didn't fit and I'm sending them back, but while trying them on I found two dollars and a used hair tie in the pockets... what?

  Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants ~ For Real ??? 

[Aimless]

I was having difficulties sleeping (okay I was surfing Kickstarter) when I heard what sounded like a man and a woman screaming and shouting, interspersed with the occasional thumping sound. It was 3AM on a very boring night so I went to check it out and, though it was difficult, managed to find the apartment from which it seemed to be coming. New neighbours. I rang the doorbell and suddenly it was quiet, but no-one opened either.

Now, neighbours having rows in the middle of the night isn't a new experience (although it's the first time I've heard anything in this house), but those thumping sounds and the way she was screaming were unsettling, so I called the cops who were there within 5 minutes they had been fighting about something, but no-one seemed to have been hurt, and they got worried when I rang the doorbell. It's a very young couple so I hope that'll be the end of it and that I haven't just ensured that they do it quietly from now on. They know who sicked the cops on 'em though so that'll be awkward I guess.

I'm glad. I've had to call the cops on crazy couples a few times, and they've always checked it out promptly. Unfortunately, they can't always do much more than to show themselves and make a general assessment, ask if anyone wants help, and then scamper off again. That's why you need nosy persistent friends and neighbours I guess. If nothing else you can always give someone who might need it a nearby place to hide out right when they need it. So... if you hear people going bump in the night, consider being a busybody

[Grognard]

My sentry ghost has been very active as of late.

[The Seldom Killer]

Aimless, a lot more tends to go on in the back office for this sort of thing.

For my area the following will happen. The incident report will be returned to the Central Referral Unit for assessment.

If the risk is assessed as medium or standard then there will just be a record kept on file with no further action. However, if there are any children then a the report will be forwarded on to Social Care and other intermediate support agencies who will see if there is a risk of physical or emotional harm from the children witnessing domestic violence. These reports will be considered in conjunction with other information known about the children, particularly from the educational sector. If the risk is sufficient then a worker gets allocated to engage the family etc.

If the risk is assessed as high then the case gets allocated a Domestic Violence Officer and a Independant Domestic Violence Advocate (some victims have trust issues when it comes to the police) who will attempt to engage with the victim and work on safety planning and preventative measures. If there are multiple standard/medium risk events then the overall risk may get elevated to high as a pre-emptive act against escalation that could put a victim at risk of harm.

[Aimless]

I'm not being critical of the police in this case, and I didn't mean to downplay what they do even though that's how it came out. I just wanted to make a case for not underestimating the value of our own involvement compared to that of the police

That being said, the police in Sweden has come under a lot criticism for being extremely bad as an organisation at implementing validated risk-assessment tools in a reliable and rational manner in this particular context. In recent years, Swedish social services have also come under intense criticism for similar reasons. Underfunding and understaffing are important components, but an even greater problem seems to be culture, lack of the appropriate training and the lack of a systematic approach.

[The Seldom Killer]

Oh yeah, didn't think you were being critical. Just exploiting an opportunity to flesh out a bit more about how the public sector function works. I think it's handy for people to understand how governments, public services and local authorities work in reaction to real world situations like this.

[Aimless]

I started making chili but got distracted. Though much is burnt, much abides, and though it is not now that yum which in old days made me go mmm, what it is, it is

[GarandMarine]

Off to the con and my first model painting competition. I'll keep you all advised of my impending glorious victory! Or massive, utter failure!

[cesium133]

Panic/Stress/Anxiety: getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow
Happy/Joy: Talking to one of our collaborators, it looks like I might be able to get a postdoc in their lab, we'll see, I guess.
Panic/Stress/Anxiety: If I do get the postdoc, it's in Germany.

Pessimism: Turns out the postdoc position is already filled, so I'm not going to Germany.

[Loki]

[ankhtahr]

Cesium:

It's been my birthday for about one hour and forty minutes. Even though I spent about half an hour of that watching construction workers welding rails using thermite I already got quite a few birthday wishes at my hackerspace. People seem to care about me at least enough to remember my birthday.

[cesium133]

It'll be all right, probably. I've emailed several other professors and hopefully they won't all ignore me. At this point, I'm hoping for the one in England.

Happy birthday, ankhtahr!

[jwhouk]

Happy birthday, ankhtahr!

[Carl-E]

Started at Macy's Friday, unloaded a truck.  It went pretty well.  Trucks Wednesday and Friday this week, both 7 AM - noon.  On Wed I also tutor two students in the afternoon, and then work the beer barn 4 - 9 PM. 

I anticipate sleeping well.  Be nice if it was real money, though. 

It was cold enough last night to remind me that I need to bypass the leaking cast-iron coal burner in my heating system.  Soon. 

Gonna need some parts and a really big wrench...

[Loki]

Kugai prolly has some spares...

[Carl-E]

Ummm... pipewrench, not lugwrench.  I got some 3 1/2" pipe fittings to disconnect and re-route...

[jwhouk]

In the meantime, space heaters?

[Barmymoo]

Just had an excellent tutoring session with my South Korean 12 year old student, discussing the possibility of Scottish independence. We considered some of the things that would be affected, thought about why some people might say yes and others no (in particular we were both cynical about the UK government's concern about losing Scotland, given the quantity of oil off Scottish coastines) and compared the situation to that of South Sudan, Quebec, Hong Kong and Tibet. It's lessons like this one that make my job worthwhile! He very often doesn't seem to be particularly engaged or interested; I think we need to do more critical thinking and political discussion. He initially was enjoying learning about geography and culture of places in the UK but I think his interest has wandered. It's also really cool to see how he's growing up and becoming more mature. He messes around less now, and makes some really good points. I started teaching him when he was nine and could barely speak English, and now we're debating constitutional reform.

[Carl-E]

A tutor's job is to bring the student along enough so that they no longer need the tutor. 

It sounds like you've done well. 

[Barmymoo]

I can't take a lot of credit, he's a bright person and his English improved very fast because he lived in England for two years, but when he went back to South Korea his teachers were impressed at his grasp of grammar (apparently a lot of children who live abroad and learn English from native-speaking children come back with dreadful grammar, because English schools don't teach it and they just pick up local dialects) which is down to me as we focused a lot of grammar. Now we're learning alongside each other, I rarely know much about the lesson's topic before I start preparing it!

[Loki]

It is an open secret at my university that tutoring jobs are not only for providing knowledge to lower courses, but also to deepen a tutor's understanding on the topic, particularly if they want to specify in that field (eg write their thesis).

[Akima]

apparently a lot of children who live abroad and learn English from native-speaking children come back with dreadful grammar, because English schools don't teach it and they just pick up local dialects

Very much so. Total immersion is great, but it will not in itself deliver mastery of a language. You have to work on grammar, syntax, and yes, pronunciation too, if you aspire to be an educated user of a language. There is a general problem in Australian schools with regard to children from non-English-speaking backgrounds in this regard. The basic approach is that we will just "pick up" English. We do, but what kind of English? Fortunately, my parents did not let me get away with that...

Of course this actually applies to children of native-language backgrounds too. The fact that schools no longer make much effort to teach grammar etc. is one of many ways in which they reinforce social stratification, in a manner that is hostile to social equality (while often pretending to promote it).

[Carl-E]

My younger daughter, as soon as she started speaking, started correcting her older sister's grammar. 

At the ages of 18 months and 5, respectively. 

Of course, her first words were a complete sentence, and she never crawled, either - just pulled herself up one day and started running. 


She still doesn't like to do something until she can do it right...

[ankhtahr]

Funny. That's exactly what my mother told me about myself. I skipped crawling and babbling.

There are these regular checkups for children here, where they check how well the child is developing. My mother was a little bit scared before the one where they also test if one is able to speak (three-word sentences). I didn't really speak before that. But during the test I even used articles, which baffled her and the doctor.

I'm still a perfectionist. It can be a bit annoying.