Hobbes

Why not the electric Wrangler (4xe)?

I think I told about the two kids that came to us last year. They came to stay at a foster family whose kids all go to our school because mom beat another foster kid (6 years old) so bad he had to be life-flighted to Denver. Kid is still in the hospital with a brain injury so bad he can barely speak. It is scary how common abuse is. And this is just the stuff I know about.

We are looking at buying an RV trailer. We just rented one this weekend and went to Moab/ Arches National Park this weekend. We loved it! I have been doing a lot of research on RV's lately and the consensus is that most of them you see (JayCo, Starcraft, River Forest) are pretty much mass produced junk--pretty much anything you buy at Camping World or whatever. We rented a Starcraft from Outdoorsy and the owner said he bought it in the spring for $40k and it was falling apart (two of the exterior storage doors didn't properly shut, the fridge wouldn't run with electric, you couldn't open the door more than halfway with the retractable awning out or it would scratch the door, and one of the stabilizers had to be strapped to the RV or would fall down while driving). A friend of a friend here bought a 150K Airstream and paid it off in 2 years by renting it out on Outdoorsy. I don't know if I want to spend that kind of money, but with Outdoorsy it is tempting. We are looking at brands like Happier Camper, Scramp, and Escape. Are you thinking about a trailer or one you drive?

Holy hell...my blood is boiling just reading that.

What is your credit rating---like 7? My new truck is fully loaded at the top trim line and was 70k MSRP--60K with comps and 50K after trade in.

Gag warning... Have a 1st grader that has significant behavior problems...probably will be staffed out of the school at a likely manifestation meeting. His sister (2nd grade) pooped her pants twice at school last week. Mom--who always reeks of marijuana and alcohol and she said she has been doing that a lot so they just keep their kids in pullups bc she can't afford to do laundry (wtf???) and she thinks it's easier because the cats just eat the poop and they can reuse the pullups. Mom doesn't want to try medication on the 1st grader who is OUT OF CONTROL--he is suspended for hurting multiple students--but mom has no issues hot boxing for the hour drive to school. Anyways, at the suspension reentry meeting of mom smells like marijuana/ alcohol--I am calling the police and going to have her pulled over when she leaves the meeting.

....and the kid was dropped off without shoes this morning...

Based on the scenery, you must have been way out there if you were near Alamosa! If you were where I think you are--that part is scary to me...hardly any cars, no towns, no cell service. I had to drive through that area in a blizzard at night and it was probably the most scared I had ever been...if I had an accident I probably would died in one fashion or another. Were you near the sand dunes? Wow....god speed with the camping. What is your plan to prepare them to eat? I had my oldest 7-year-old birthday party this weekend. We had it at a family friendly pizza place that is also a bar. It has lots of outdoor space, pinball machines, etc. I feel awkward at these things. One parent of a kid who is a pretty significant behavior problem just told me (not asked) she is leaving and will be back when the party is over. I was pissed as a parent, but I was all, "sure no problem". Fortunately, she was back just in time to remove him from the party when he lost it (kid is pretty explosive both physically and emotionally). She pulls similar shit at school, but this time it just hit differently. Just because I mange your kids behavior at school doesn't mean I want to do the same at my kid's birthday party. I wanted to say something to her as a parent, but she is a pain in my ass already so I just let it go.

He is the older, wizard guide archetype in the Lord of the Rings books/ movies. Here is some more information.

Best zinger in nightly history.

woah woah woah...stop everything.....your mortgage payment is like $750????? That is incredible!!! Where are you? Aren't you in Alabama or something?

Yeah, but the problem is that is a pretty niche audience. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gladiator is cancelled in the next 5 years.

They knocked about 6k off the amount we agreed to pay in April--which I have never heard of. I ended up about 12k off msrp after that...but I also got it fully loaded and the highest trim level so there was probably a lot of fat. If you get a sport or a Willy's there's probably less wiggle room. I would say the Overland trim line is the biggest bang for the buck. I can see how Gladiator's wouldn't be popular in non-outdoorsy areas. They are essentially impractical in the city--so I can see how some dealerships would just have them sitting on their lots. Also, there is very little difference between a 23 and a 24. Actually, all Gladiator's are basically the same year-to-year, so I would look for one with lower miles but a few years older. Gladiator's are a total niche/ lifestyle purchase. Because of the shorter bed and lower towing power (mine is 7700lbs which isn't terrible and is enough to tow a medium sized camper through the mountains), compared to other midsize trucks, they aren't particularly great at truck-type-things. But if you want a super fun truck for your bike or outdoor gear (we bought the truck bc my wife complained about my ski gear stinking up the Rav4), you can't go wrong.

The pills tasting bad is real-we tried adderal but it was near impossible to take because of the taste. We were essentially mixing it with a few spoonfuls of ice cream and that still wasn't enough. I am a big fan of restorative practices. But there are some behaviors or circumstances that they do not work. I am not saying it can't work for bullying, but it usually doesn't--especially once students get older. Usually the victim doesn't want to confront the bully or talk it out or want the harm repaired...they just want to be left the fuck alone. RP in this scenario is only making it worse because the bully says the right things in the circle but then breaks the agreement and the victim is continually victimized without consequence. It should be up to the victim to agree to RP. Using RP for negative behaviors rarely work unless you use also use progressive discipline. So, true story about moms. I had two moms complain about that the girls were bullying each other and their daughter was the victim. I met with the moms and both turned over pages of texts of the other girl calling their daughter names. BUT BOTH MOMS deleted their daughter's texts to the other girl. I called out both moms and they BOTH said they didn't think their daughter's text was relevant. LOL---sorry I didnt mean to sound like a smart ass. I do know of some schools that have a psychiatrist on staff and sees students. I am always interested how different schools do things. Were working memory or processing speed index lower in Luke's as well? Those are the two that are typically abnormally low in 2E kids. It looks like he will be taking the CogAt later in the year- the WISC IV is much more accurate so the CogAT won't tell them anything they don't already know so there's no harm in opting him out. Your last paragraph broke my heart. For what its worth, those are all just a few numbers that measure one small part of who your son is. Just by your description, I am guessing your son has an exceptionally high EQ. School may not be as easy for him as big brother, but once he gets his diploma, people with high EQs have a lot more opportunities available to him. I have been doing this long enough I have had plenty of kids in special education that went on to do great things. In fact, I had one former student with similar scores to your son and he graduated from DePaul with a masters in school psychology and he is now a VERY successful school psychologist. I could go on naming more successful students with scores similar to Luke, but I just always think of him because we still talk--I was in his wedding. Labels are for jars of pickles...not kids. You never did say where you were in CO? I know you usually go to Summit County, but that doesn't look like Summit County to me.

What are your thoughts on the autism diagnosis--I am interested in your feelings? Just curious, when you say diagnose, do you mean the psychologist qualified Luke for an IEP under autism? That is awesome both boys are finding success at school--aren't they in a charter? I never heard the term ARD before--I had to look it up Where in Colorado were you? Nice pictures, but all the trees here being killed by the pine bark beetle are depressing. Fucking global warming.... Sorry about E. Our oldest has ODD and anger issues and the doctor wanted to test him for autism...which was a wait and cost a couple grand. Interestingly, how they would treat him for autism is the same for ODD. He was on Guanfacine to help with his ADHD and that seemed to help some last year, but he started having more issues and he was put on Risperdal (which was originality used to treat severe issues such as schizophrenia and more severe forms of autism) and that has been a COMPLETE game changer. Incoming rant....Yeah, mean girls is BY FAR my least favorite behavior to deal with--because usually there is some learned behavior from the parent--the queen bee girl's mom is 99% of the time also a queen bee and always believes her child 100%. Also, usually the friends groups intermix so the girl has to hang around the queen bee to hang around her friends. The other issue is the bullying is so on the down low it is really tough to manage--I can't make someone miss recess for mean mugging in class or mean texts out of school. Finally, restorative practices/ circles absolutely do not work for this behavior--you can't talk about how the behavior impacted/ hurt the other person when that was the objective of the behavior.

This is the same mom that told her kindergartner to beat up any kid that pushes him. I was like, "kindergartners are pretty clumsy and run into each other a lot so its not on purpose". Mom didn't care.

Have a Kindergartner who said that their mom's pet pitbull attacked his older sister (a 4th grader at my school) and watched as mom's boyfriend beat the dog to death in front of the kids killing the dog. The mom then dumped the boyfriend for killing her dog. Meanwhile the 4th grader is hospitalized and required over 100 stitches.

https://www.allmoparparts.com/sku/82216370aa.html I am in the same boat—bought this and problem solved.

I would love a SW movie that has nothing to do with anything or anyone we know.

I just go with the basic model on rentals too. But at nearly $200 yearly for each kid (w/o helmet), I think I can pick up a decent set up for the boys at the local ski swap. With mad dash that is Snow Burners (kids ski lessons) opening Tuesday and the mountains getting their first dusting this week, it is about that time. Are you looking to upgrade any gear this season?

That's the best!

Thanks. I guess as well as you can (she has had IBS for decades causing her intestines to flair up and slowly shift around. After decades, the intestines got tangled up). This weekend is Oktoberfest at the local ski resort and a huge autumn art festival in downtown...she thought she would be able to attend those, but now she doesn't know what she is thinking--she will be in the hospital for a bit more. I think they are taking the epidural out today which she is not excited about. How long was your recovery? Thanks! I have been by myself with the boys for the last week. It is crazy how quickly the three of us can degenerate into eating nothing but cereal and fast food when left alone. We still have a few more days to go.

Lol—this Jeep (and soon camper) is called “two kids leaving preschool”. But this is my daily driver. have you seen the new retro styled Broncos? They are pretty sweet. Yeah—it’s both good and bad that everyone notices them when they see them. Pretty much every other truck kinda looks the same more or less. Nice! What kind of top is it? Do you take it off much?

I never watched Clone Wars or Rebels. I know of Ahsoka. I read Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. I have no clue who Sabine Wren or Ezra is, and I haven't been given a reason to give a shit. Honestly, if I hadn't read the Thrawn trilogy I wouldn't really give a shit about him being in this (or actually NOT being in this) and why he is such a big deal. I am a few episodes in and I am struggling. I would probably give it up but I saw Anakin is in it soon. The highlight is Ray Stevenson's character, but he isn't in it much--maybe that is a good thing. I like Rosario Dawson, but Ahsoka is just kind of a boring character from what I have seen so far.

I love it so much. Don't you have a Wrangler? I want to say a Sahara or Mojave trim?