Couch 204: The Refactorable Couch

Shenanigans!

Join us Una...no shot required. If you can think of something nice to say about info without it.

Her sense of style is absolutely unforgettable.

This online writing course I am doing is proving to be very therapeutic. It's not about form or correctness or critique or anything of that sort. It's about finding our voice, it's about finding and writing our way through those things that block us from writing what we want to write. I saw it advertised on Facebook off and on and kept thinking this sounds interesting but never did anything about it until last month. I finally signed up and I'm so glad I did! I can't believe we're already in week 4 there's only 2 more weeks to go. I'm going to work through it a 2nd time maybe a 3rd because there are enough prompts each week to do that, since I'm not writing to every prompt this first time through.


Interesting tidbit from Geology class: you can do lots of cool stuff in google earth!

I think all my anxiety is coming from my fear of being a bad mother but i am getting my daughter the help she needs and i am doing the best in the face of my depression.
I have gone from moping on my bed to the new couch. I have put a blanket over it so my dog can sit on it, but he doesnt seem to want to now. Contrary.

Our weather is stupid near arctic temps at night with summer temps during the day. I wish it would make up its mind

Artie, I hate watching videos online period, whether it's for a class or not. I don't really understand your objection to not having to pay for an expensive textbook, though. I have one class where the textbook is one that is free this semester, and I love that. I love when professors are mindful of textbook expenses when they make decisions about their course texts. Sometimes even if you are able to rent some or most of your books, you still have to spend a couple hundred dollars on course materials per semester if you're going full time. I think minimizing textbook expenses is probably one of the easiest ways to have an immediate impact on lowering the astronomical cost of higher education in this country - and I don't personally feel that a free online textbook means it is of lower quality. Have you had a chance to look at it yet? Sometimes earlier editions of textbooks are available for free, and I wonder if that's what this is. Doesn't seem like there'd be much point in using the most recent geology textbook anyway.

When tuition is thousands of dollars a semester minimum and into the tens of thousands per year, hundreds of dollars a semester on textbooks isn’t the problem sparking the rising cost of higher education. Textbooks are just the most immediate out of pocket observable cost for most students.

It’s salaries, administrative and faculty, because you have a highly educated workforce and highly educated workforces cost more, and it’s changing standards of “educational care,” sometimes mandated by law, sometimes by trying to stay competitive with one’s peer colleges. Public funding of higher education is declining, too.

That said, I am all for free textbooks or at least letting students use older cheaper editions.

I researched L some more I now know her middle name and her age.

I am often surprised when I hear parents talk about not letting their kid stay in certain dorms that haven't been upgraded or their kid doesn't want to share a bathroom or a room or whatever. Housing is one area where parents (and maybe their kids) really seem to want fancy high tech dorms. My university has spent a lot of money upgrading housing - not because the old wasn't adequate but because it was older and without a lot of amenities that parents demand their kids get to have. As much as I am against the military, I would be in favor of some sort of national service requirement to get a lot of these people away from their over protective parents.

Maybe colleges could spend money instead on sanitizing the campus. (I have my first cold of the semester.)

I have contracted a respiratory gooey illness as well. I am sitting here, drinking tea, and having goo come out of my head.
I want a bubble suit

Having a truly awful day. I was the victim of a telephone scam and feel so angry with myself. I'm normally so on the ball too.

Aw its sweet that you and @@ are joining me in my sick bed! I am restricted to liquids and soft foods until next thursday, and am holding a heating pad up to my face right now.

I think this operation is gonna clear my perpetually runny nose. No longer a mouth breather - that would be a miracle.

I need a new hairdo - i looked like carp in the dentist mirrors yesterday.

Eta - sd, i would think a flying squirrel suit would be enough to keep cootie carriers away

Oh no I also came down with the creeping crud this week!

Una, this is gonna be your Halloween decoration, isn’t it?

Talking Poop o’Lantern

If not una's I'll put it out.

Hello, couch. I hope all is well. I'm exhausted and am ready for summer and I've only been with students for 4 days.

It's even freudian - "i'd blame the MUMMY!"

I never said textbooks were the problem, I said minimizing textbook expenses is probably one of the easiest ways to reduce expenses. I don't see anyone volunteering to take a pay cut to lower educational expenses, nor should they. Yes, textbooks are the most immediately observable out of pocket cost for most students, which is exactly my point - and there doesn't need to be some huge bureaucratic process to affect costs.

Sure, making a little change doesn't solve the big problem, but it makes a difference for me and for other students and is worth doing.

I woke up this morning thinking: I am never going to actually BE divorced. I will just be stuck forever in this purgatory that is "getting a divorce."

There's not even a good blinky to add to go along with that.

It does feel that way. I seriously recommend a self-party when it does happen.

I think I'm going to have to give the cat a bath. I have been brushing it and used waterless shampoo, but I think given its previous living arrangements and flea infestation, this will be insufficient.

I also have a few more questions for cat people. Is it necessary to trim cats' nails? What is the best way you've found to minimize litter going everywhere? I only have one bathroom, so I can't even put the box somewhere out of the way. Do cats have particularly smelly poop? The cat's excrement is the foulest smelling stuff I have ever come across - and I have had the displeasure of picking up the fresh poop of about 50 dogs. I haven't ever been exposed to fresh cat poop, but when I have scooped cat litter boxes, I never noticed anything remarkable that I remember, though I supposed this could be due to the litter. Anyway, the smell is so noxious that I'm actually wondering if it indicates a medical issue. I intend to make the cat an appointment with the vet anyway to get it checked out and so I can finally have someone competent tell me if it's a boy or girl.

I wonder if I could take it somewhere where they could just tell me for free. The thing is, if I need to get it fixed, I would want to do that at this local nonprofit place that does neuter/spay procedures as well as shots and is really low cost. But if it is a neutered male, I would probably just take it to my vet for its checkup and get the shots there. Idk. Maybe I'll just go to the vet, get the shots, and find out how much it will cost there if needed.

Nails, yes. Good for the furniture, good for your skin, good for the cat. Back nails seem to need it less than front nails.

Litterbox, I have new cat’s inside a cardboard box so only one side is open and that side has a sisal mat in front of it to help catch litter. It cuts down on litter being tracked all over, but some will always stick to the cat’s paws.

The only cat poop I’ve encountered that smells was senior cat, who occasionally had diarrhea.

My grandma had a cat when she was a little girl who went on the toilet and flushed when it was done. I wonder how they got it to do that.

i didn't say anything about wanting people to pay for expensive textbooks. my point was that the textbook is linked to from our course, free, online, and people still didn't want to read it. that was my point. that the prof gave it to us free online. and people still didn't want to read it.

i thought i deleted that post anyway i apologize that you saw it before i deleted it. maybe i deleted it wrong.