A germy child that sneezes on its face. Teaching is a constant state of protecting yourself from biological warfare.

Yeah, it’s amazing how few people remember just how terrible its performance tanked. The memory leaks were truly unbearable.

Honestly, it may be mine, too. I teach history and love having that on my desk. It’s a shame how few teachers got it. But I love the light bulb moment when my students identify who it is when we go through Roman history.

My favourite moment was a visiting kindie kid playing with the pens, really in awe at the whole idea of it being printed. They took a pen out and put it back in, and I made a squishing sound, and they looked at me and said, “That’s pretty serious.”

Fun fact! Because Hangul was created and didn’t naturally evolve out of Hanja, it’s one of the easiest and most logical alphabets to learn. I could teach you the whole alphabet in 20 minutes and have you sounding out whole sentences in an hour or two.

I taught myself how to read and write in a university lecture but, obviously, didn’t know the vocabulary to actually understand it.

One of my biggest changes i made was if I’m not working or on call but spending time with another person, I’ll fully turn off my phone. I realize in an emergency I need it, so I still bring it with me. But when I sit down with someone, my phone is off. And it will remain off.

It’s helped me realize so quickly how often we reach for our phones to demonstrate something rather than describe it. Saw a funny video? Describe it. Can’t describe it? Send a link later. It doesn’t have to interrupt the flow of the conversation.

I was always someone who had a batch of online stuff to show when things got quiet. Now I let the quietness stand. It’s much more enjoyable getting to see friends now.

I don’t think there’s a benevolent all-powerful being, so I’m not even sure I believe that there’s a good vs. bad place.

If there were a benevolent all-powerful being, the amount of injustice and brutality in the world that the truly innocent suffer would be spared from it.

If there is an afterlife, suffering continues there. But not all face suffering. And in that same plane, peace continues there, but not all face peace.

So, if heaven and hell exist, they’re the same place.

Agreed on the UK shows. The IT Crowd, Black Books, etc

Solid clarification and expansion there.

For the sake of expanding on cultural/social differences in other places, here in South Korea, most folks i see on dating apps in their 30s are without kids.

It’s in the 30s that most relationships turn serious and get married.

I know two people here who got married in their 20s and had kids. Even the one who got married in their early 20s is open about how she maybe rushed into it.

My time in Canada supports everything you’ve said, mind you. If I hadn’t experienced life here in Korea for so many years, I’d probably wholeheartedly agree without realizing that without knowing where OP lives, it’s hard to describe what their potential dating windows are.

I was fortunate to have a wonderful father. It wasn’t until it was almost too late that I realized and thanked him.

Be firm, but reasonable. Be kind and sensitive. Tease because it gently builds tolerances. Lift up and build up, don’t break down.

Encourage communication and support with understanding. Don’t punish honesty. Encourage it and meet it with respect. Even when honesty reveals a wrongdoing, communicate the next steps to right the wrong. Help them walk those steps. But sometimes, let them take some of the steps alone to build independence.

Be there to catch them when they fall. Be there.

I finally got back to my Taboo generator spreadsheet to quickly create a set of words with related banned words for my classes to use when we do vocabulary reviews. Not only did I get the related words scraping off a database and filtering correctly, I also have it so I can select vocabulary by week, up to that week, and also display it in a printable page with cards for physical play.

Up next, I’m hoping to also tag on a word search generator for vocabulary words.

Spreadsheeting is fun!

This is entirely dependent on where you’re living. If you live in a large city, slim isn’t the word I’d use.

Also, not weird or abnormal in a lot of the world. Lots of areas in Asia value education before relationships and encourage someone to be self-sufficient before marrying.

Two, I’m fine. But I’m a giant. Four, especially if they’re beers, and my sleep quality tanks. Either unable to fall asleep altogether or terrible quality sleep. So I usually stay below that amount.

Disclaimer: Not a doctor, just guessing from life experience here.

Knee sideways/unsupported + gravity = achy knee. I’m absurdly tall, so my knees are never supported by chairs. After an hour or so of that, I’m in dire need of a proper stretch.

I have a distinct memory of walking out into the forest as a kid with my father, sibling, and dogs. I knew those woods like the back of my hand. I still know them well and could go back in and find distinct trees and paths.

But this memory had us crawl under a dense thicket of branches and we found ourselves face to face with a pack of wolves. Five of them. They all came out from over this mound ahead of us, one stood on top. The others moved around to the sides kind of or in-between us and the one on the mound.

I distinctly remember not being afraid. My dogs were calm. My family was calm. The wolves were at ease. I looked the one in front of us in the eyes and felt warmth. And then, one by one, they turned and left.

Ive tried to go back to the exact spot several times, but it’s not there. I’ve checked satellite imagery. I’ve gone through the other woods that my family frequented for hiking. Nothing.

So i dismissed it for many years (~20ish). It came back as a distant memory a few years ago and I asked my brother and sister if they’d remembered it. They didn’t. And I don’t remember which one was with me. So I went to ask my dad. As I started asking about it, he explained the rest of the memory. He, too, remembers it. But he also couldn’t find his way back there. It was my brother who was with us.

Neither of us can explain the situation.

There are several other things, but that’s one of my greatest life mysteries, for sure.

I have a few, but each in their own categories.

• Reality - Departures - A show where three fellows in Canada give up everything to travel the world together for a year, documenting their journey. One year becomes three. It released me of all my anxieties about leaving the comfort of my home and is now a gem of a series I keep close by. Shout out to Andres Dupuis, Justin Lukach, and Scott Wilson for being such a huge inspiration.

• Live Action Drama/Comedy - Scrubs - The best medical drama out there. It is so well written, so impactful, and so enjoyable to go through. It helped me come to terms with my dad’s passing.

• Live Action Sitcom - Friends - 10 seasons of ups and downs, laughter, and tears. The show definitely told us life was gonna be this way. Can’t go wrong with this classic.

• Animated - Futurama - Another contender for one of the best written TV shows out there. It’s so perfectly complete.

• Anime - Log Horizon - I’m a long-time fan of both .hack// and Log Horizon. Both are incredible series. But Log Horizon is maybe a bit more compact and easy to follow for outsiders and is generally a more casual watch experience while still having solid continuity across the series.