Nightingale

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Everything posted by Nightingale

  1. What we need to do is remove bankruptcy protections on private student loans. The private student loan interest is insane. And, these loans enjoy the same bankruptcy protections that federal loans do, without any of the benefits, which allows private lenders to give student loans to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay, and make them into what amounts to extortionists a few years down the road. Example: Student: "Hi, feds! I lost my job. Can I have a forebearance on my loans? I'm on unemployment and can't make payments right now. I'm barely making my mortgage." Feds: "Sure! Or you can take classes part time and qualify for a deferment, and we'll start covering the interest on your subsidized loans again!" Student: "Great! Thank you" (sigh of relief) Student: "Hi, private loan lender! I lost my job. Can I have a forebearance on my loans? I'm on unemployment and can't make payments right now. I'm barely making my mortgage." Private Lender: "No! You have to pay us! You get a maximum of three months of forebearance, which you used five years ago when you had a baby! If you don't pay, we'll get your cosigner involved, send it to collections, sue you, ruin your credit, and garnish your wages." Student: "But I don't have any wages!" Private Lender: "That's not our problem." What's happening is that Congress has given PRIVATE, unsecured debt the same status as FEDERAL secured student loans. This is a major problem because the banks have absolutely no incentive to evaluate the creditworthiness of the borrower or their future earning potential, knowing that even if the borrower declares bankruptcy, under most circumstances, they can't get rid of this and it'll follow them forever! This is encouraging rising costs of education and leaving students buried in debt upon graduation, particularly those who started school prior to the economic crash and were told by their schools "Don't worry about the payments, you can consolidate!" and upon their graduation, virtually no banks are doing consolidation loans and for the few that are, qualifying for them is almost impossible, particularly as a new graduate, who are the ones who need them the most.
  2. Some of drivers had made comments concerning the high speeds being reached with regards to the track conditions (closeness of cars, amount of passing required, like mentioned above). My guess would be that given these concerns and given the emotional condition of the drivers, it was decided to stop the race. _____________________________________________ Drivers had been concerned about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 360 kilometres per hour during practice. "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers, and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because that's what we do," driver Oriol Servia said. "We knew if could happen, but it's just really sad." Cunningham echoed those remarks. ________________________________________________ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/16/sports/main20121120.shtml
  3. With a story like that, tell them to try Best Friends. Their sanctuary is huge, maybe they have some room, especially if their owner can make a donation to help offset the cost of their care. Their network is massive, they've got people all across the country that drive animals in need, too. I just spent five days volunteering at the sanctuary, and it's a really wonderful place. www.bestfriends.org Best Friends Animal Society 5001 Angel Canyon Road Kanab, Utah 84741-5000 Main phone: (435) 644-2001
  4. Hug your kid and be glad everyone's okay. She wasn't bad, she was curious and impulsive, and she's probably scared herself beyond anything you could do to punish her, and is trying to be strong about it because the second she admits she was scared it's going to be a tear-fest. Have a talk with her and find out what her perspective is. Let her know that actions have consequences, make sure she understands that these could have been a lot worse, and make her help work to repay the cost of fixing the damage. And hopefully her curiosity will be confined to internet searches in the future, as someone else has probably done it and filmed it and put it on youtube, particularly if it involves flame or explosions. I'm very glad everyone's okay.
  5. Just deselect the auto-sync option on both of them and manage the libraries manually.
  6. Or in other words: "Be excellent to each other." - Ted "Theodore" Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esq.
  7. There's a guy who hangs out around our reenactment group who claims to be a civilian who used to go on classified missions with the Seals. Hearing that from anyone, I'd doubt it, mainly if it was classified, you wouldn't be talking about it! Hearing it from this guy (40 year old, lives with his mother. works for minimum wage a couple hours a week), I'd never believe it for a second. Ever. Oh, and the same guy was telling me about his "Hundred Thousand foot HALO jump." /facepalm. I said he was looking great for his age and asked when he changed his last name from Kittinger, and he didn't get it.
  8. The aloe/lidocaine gel is a lifesaver. Ditto what Shah said on the olive oil for your skin, but veto what he said about keeping it out of your hair. It's wonderful for your hair in controlled doses (dime sized amount on your palm, rub your hands together and then run your hands through the ends of your hair is great for keeping split ends in check, depending on your hair type). Also, when you're not burned, a mix of olive oil and sugar is a great skin scrub. EDIT: And to second what Fast said, don't be afraid to go see your doc. Sunburns can be very severe.
  9. I'm so sorry for your loss.
  10. So yeah, he won't listen to me.
  11. Best: Imelda May (or Jeff Beck's Rock and Roll Party with Imelda May... It's a tie). Worst: Peter Paul and Mary (I went with my mother, and the sound guy was having major issues with working with a trio... he couldn't get the levels right, and it totally ruined the harmonies).
  12. I am ashamed to say that I haven't been paying attention , Nightingale!! Have you been aware of this for some time? Could you provide us with links to the posts where you warned your compatriots about the government corruption? Thanks, Peace, Jim B Last I checked, it's not my responsibility to watch out for you. That's your job. James Madison warned you...in 1829. "The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."--James Madison, speech in the Virginia constitutional convention, December 2, 1829 Gerald Ford warned you... in 1974 "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." -Gerald Ford, presidential address to a joint session of Congress, 12 August 1974 Thomas Jefferson warned you...in 1800. "I do verily believe that..a single, consolidated government would become the most corrupt government on the earth." ----- Thomas Jefferson to Gideon Granger, 1800. Thomas Jefferson warned you again... in 1816 If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be." - Thomas Jefferson, letter to Colonel Charles Yancey (6 January 1816) Martin Luther King warned you... in 1967 Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today—my own government." - Martin Luther King, Jr., Speech at Riverside Church in New York City (1967-04-04) Ronald Reagan warned you... in 1981. "Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural address (1981) And, of course, the immortal words of P.J O'Rourke in 1991 - "Giving money and power to Government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." P. J. O'Rourke, Parliament of Whores (1991) If you didn't listen to them, why the hell would you listen to me?
  13. Are you talking about Reagan? It was all about busting unions and encouraging businesses to do likewise. If you're talking about the current issue with controllers falling asleep in towers, there is not a direct political reason for that to happen, but it is traceable back to Reagan's busting of the union and decades of pushing controllers to work longer hours and with fewer controllers. Putting a SINGLE controller on an over night shift in the ridiculously named "Reagan National" tower and then having people bitch about that controller falling asleep is what we'd call irony. I'm probably stating the obvious here, but from what the news said, it seems that the current system of "revolving shifts" may be a large part of the problem. If you only stick someone on an overnight shift once in a while, rather than sticking them with it all the time and letting them adjust to a new sleep schedule, they're going to be sleepy. If they're used to sleeping at night, they're going to want to sleep at night. Sure, nobody wants to get stuck with the night shift. So... pay them more, pay daytime less, make night desirable for the ones who need money, and let their bodies adjust to a night shift. If you only pull a night shift once every so often and work days the rest of the time, your sleep cycle is going to be screwy!
  14. If you're just now figuring out that the government is corrupt, you haven't been paying attention.
  15. That could also be a valid argument FOR the name change. Sure. If you consider being someone's spouse more important than being yourself. I consider my being someone's spouse is more important than considering myself as someone's child, which in my mind is the reason to change the last name when getting married. It signifies a fundamental relationship change. If a person gets married, I should hope that the spouse is more important than the parent(s). Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but then again I've been married more than half my life, and my husband is twice the man my father was. lisa I think you're absolutely right that marriage is a fundamental relationship change, and your name should reflect that. If I get married, I'd probably add on my husband's name, rather than totally drop my last name, simply because I've got a couple of graduate degrees with my current name on them, so continuing to use my current name professionally seems to make the most sense. I wouldn't hyphenate because I think that's just silly. I'd just use one name professionally for practical reasons and the other one personally.
  16. Didn't you forget "Doesn't want or have kids?" That's a pretty decent list. I'm just curious about the education thing. Does a BA count, or just a BS specifically (just wondering how picky you are there), and while your reasoning makes sense as I'm not sure I'd want to put someone through school like that either, and I think overall it makes more sense to make decisions like getting married after you're settled in your career and have a good idea of who you are, I have a question: What if you meet someone who meets everything on your list, adores cats, your mom, is active, stable, intelligent, funny, and has a great personality...but she doesn't have a BS. However, she is totally self-sufficient, could pay for a four-year degree solely from what's in her own bank accounts if she wanted to, and just never got the degree because she didn't see the point, as it isn't necessary for what she wants to do with her life, which she's quite busy, well paid, and happy, doing? Like, for example, a web designer, a novelist, a software developer, or a symphony violinist. There are a lot of super-intelligent folks who can have awesome careers and great lives that don't require college degrees, and they might be active, funny, and beautiful too (and maybe like cats and your mom and not want kids). So, just wondering. Not criticizing your list (like I said, I think it's actually pretty decent), I'm just curious about that one.
  17. So ya kill your own bugs? Usually the cats or dog get there before I ever see insects.
  18. Here's my list of mandatory requirements. Sure there are a lot of "hey, it might be nice if he were..." but these are the absolute must haves: Education isn't a requirement... I don't care if someone has a college degree or how many letters they can put after their name. Now, intelligence and curiosity about the world we live in is mandatory. If I can't have a decent conversation with a guy, he could look like Nathan Fillion and I wouldn't be interested. Intelligent conversation and a good sense of humor is probably the most attractive feature a man can have. Active isn't a requirement - I've dated all kinds of people, from marathon runners to people who are more sedentary. All that's important is that they're supportive of me when I want to be active. If they don't want to rock climb with me, that's fine, but maybe learning how to belay would be nice, or at least not complaining and being understanding that I do lead an active lifestyle when my health allows it (this includes tolerating my firearm collection and trips to the shooting range. They don't have to go or shoot, but whining at me when I go is not cool. Ditto for renaissance faires/dropzone/etc...). I don't care if someone's got some extra pounds as long as they take reasonable care of their health. Liking to travel is a must, as is the ability to be flexible and travel on a tight budget (I'd rather go somewhere cheaply than not go). Must want children Must like (or at least tolerate) pets, as my cat and dog were here first and they're not going anywhere, and accept that I will ALWAYS have some type of fur-kid if possible. And this should be a given, but I'll say it anyway: Treat me with respect. So: 1. Tolerate critters 2. Tolerate me being active and having a life, and understand that they are welcome in any part of it, but if they choose not to join me, whining isn't cool. 3. Like to travel and be flexible about it. 4. Have at least half a brain and the willingness to use it. 5. Want kids (6. respect me) While the occasional lifting of heavy objects and opening of jars is nice, it's not required.
  19. Not wanting kids is a flat out 100% dealbreaker for me. I will not date men who do not want children, for a couple of reasons that varied at different points in my life, but basically came down to the following: 1. I do want to be a parent at some point. Whether I'm looking seriously or not at this point in time for a life partner, you never know what something will turn into. You could be looking for someone to hang out with and end up falling madly in love and want to be together forever, and if you disagree on something as fundamental as children, you're in for a lot of heartache. 2. I don't believe in abortion in my personal life (as I've said in speaker's corner, I do believe it should be legal, I just wouldn't choose it for myself). Therefore, while I am fanatical in my birth control regimen, 99% effective still means one woman in 100 or so gets pregnant, and I wouldn't have an abortion, and as I am in a situation where good family support would enable me to raise a child, I wouldn't give it up for adoption either. Therefore, if someone would rather kick toothpicks under their toenails than help raise a child they had a part in creating, they're not someone I want to be sleeping with. I had someone tell me a convenient lie like what you've been telling the girls you've been dating, because he knew of my feelings on not dating men who wanted children, and he really wanted me to date him, but knew I wouldn't if he was honest about his feelings. Neither of us wanted something particularly serious at the time, so he didn't think it would be a big deal. He finally told me... two years into a very serious relationship. You can imagine how well that conversation went. I didn't break things off right then, but I probably should have, as it'd saved us both a lot of heartache over the following few years. When you disagree on something so basic, you simply don't belong together.
  20. Info here for the fund for Pat's family: http://skydiveperris.com/pmg_fund/ The Patrick McGowan Family Fund Mods, I hope this is okay to post since it's been requested?
  21. Word. I've got close to six hours in the tunnel now. That little bit of it that was coached time with Pat was probably THE best.
  22. Meso gave me permission to post this info for anyone who wants to help out: An emergency fund has been set up at City National Bank in Corsicana to help the family with expenses. Amber's dad, Tim, is in a trauma hospital that is several hours from their home, and she and her family are staying in a hotel there to be near him, which, while modest, adds up and is getting very expensive, but the cost of gas and the time to drive makes that impractical as well. While most of the medical costs are taken care of by insurance, there are a lot of expenses involved in having a close family member who is seriously injured and hospitalized so far from home (not to mention the loss of income involved from both Amber's dad, and her mom, who's had do take time off to deal with everything). If you would like to donate to this fund, make a check out to "Gail Barlow" (Amber's Mom) and note that it is for the "Tim Barlow Fund" and send it to the attention of "Ruthie" (Ruthie is the bookkeeper) at: City National Bank of Corsicana, 1465 W. 2nd Avenue, Corsicana, Texas 75110. Attn: Ruthie, Bookkeeping If you want to send money via wire transfer, call Ruthie at the bank at 903-872-8336 for the routing info. Any help anyone may provide will be truly appreciated. If you want to send a card to the family, he's at: East Texas Medical Center 1000 S. Beckham Tyler, TX, 7570 Attn: Tim Barlow, patient I know a lot of you are on Amber's Facebook, but for the rest, here are some updates from Amber on how her dad is doing, and how they're getting by, in chronological order: Dad still basically the same today. they put in the trach this morning. theyre going to put in a chest tube to remove fluid from his chest cavity today or tomorrow and prob put in the feeding tube either over the weekend or early next week. Dad update: he was pretty sedated today after his 2 procedures (trach and chest tube). Thankfully these make him more comfortable, reduce complications and will help transition him off ventilator and breath independently in the future. Hes still on ventilator but he is breathing on his own. the vent is just providing slight pressure so he can fill his lungs fully (like a cpap machine does for sleep apenea) so thats good. hes moving his right side a good bit but its still reflexive. we're trying to stay positive. feeling real tired and just emotionally drained. for the past week our lives have been put on hold and now everything revolves around visitation hours, doctor consultations and medical tests/stats. he is completely off ventilator and breathing independently. hes off insulin drip. the chest tube is really helping. hes scheduled for his feeding tube tuesday and most importantly he IS DEFINITELY responding cognitively to multiple commands from nurses and us!! its slightly delayed but he IS doing it. Dad update: he was pretty tired today and didnt respond much. doc said feeding tube scheduled for tomorrow and chest tube might come out in a few days. Stressed. moms out of PTO.
  23. Anyone who is in that kind of situation, particularly when dealing with pain, please make sure you check out what hospice can do. They were wonderful with helping with my grandfather's pain management, and their nurses were just a phone call away if we had questions, and ten minutes any time we felt we needed them, even if it was just that we were stressed and upset and needed support. I don't know how my dad and my aunt would've managed without the awesome support of the hospice nurses.
  24. This is so true. My grandfather's home hospice nurse was very good at making sure that it was as positive an experience as it could be for all of us, including grandpa. My grandfather's comment about it was "this is all part of life. Just not a good part." I really do have some good memories of my grandpa during that time, and I learned the most awesome stories about him and my grandmother from the folks who came by to visit.
  25. In that case, hospice care would have been very valuable! They really helped out with my grandfather, and the wonderful thing with hospice in California is that the police don't have to get involved in a home death. It was just a quiet phone call to the coroner with no fuss and no investigation, and hospice took care of everything.