adsii1970

"Why is there a Walmart over that hill?"

That's a start. That's better than what I did. Have you thought about going out for some of the services designed to help train the unemployed for the workforce? I do not know where you live or the particulars. Still, in our area of the U.S. (Kentucky/Indiana/Illinois), there are all kinds of state-specific programs to help people get training for various jobs; some are in the "work at home" category, too. The key is not to give up hope.

Yes, sadly, they do. Even athletes have a lot of "get out of assignments" cards they can pull from their deck of cards, even at a university when athletics and money come into the equation. However, as is the case with this student, she is no longer a cheerleader this semester nor a member of the dance team (her GPA disqualified her), so now she is a "typical" student while on academic probation. Losing the scholarship should have been a wake-up call, but it was not. I empathize with her because, as I shared, I once did something similar with rum, my once-chosen drink of stupidity. Life can be a cruel teacher when we insist on ignoring the warning signs that the highway of life shows us as we travel down its way.

I love getting "vintage" glasses from yard sales. A sink of hot water, a drop of dishwashing liquid, and a capful of bleach care for anything that needs to die within them. Usually, I pay about a quarter ($0.25) per glass.

Be safe, and my thoughts are with you and your family...

You just described my first attempt at college. I climbed into a bottle of rum when I began my first attempt in 1988; I had a full orchestra scholarship that would have paid for a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. in Music Composition and Theory. But instead, why do I need to go to English class when I already speak it... you get the idea. At the end of my first two semesters, I had a cumulative G.P.A. of 1.67; the only reason it was that high was all my music classes were As, and the rest were Ds and below. In fear of death caused by my parents, I did the only thing I thought I could do - I joined the military. It turned out to be a sagacious decision for me. It realigned my life's priorities and gave me a sense of determination, focus, and other tools to keep me from repeating stupidity. This student's problem is that she grew up during the COVID-era and in an extremely lax middle and high school where she, being a cheerleader and a member of the dance team, has been able to skip out on accountability because she is extremely popular. I guess I am too "old school" because I am about academic performance and could not care less about those things.

It all depends on the career path. Before I entered the world of academia, I worked in several not-for-profit organizations/non-government organizations, and yeah, deadlines were one of two things - very flexible to the point they really didn't matter or so rigid they were like brick walls. Ha, yeah, and in the case of teaching faculty, add the registrar, the students with disabilities coordinator, the student (I turned it in an hour ago; what do you mean it isn't graded yet!?), and the chair of any assigned committee you belong to. I deal with deadlines all the time. Because of my severe depression, the anxiety, and the friend they invited along for the ride, I do manage to meet all the demands (except for the one-hour photo demand by the student), but I put in sixty-hour to seventy-hour weeks to do so. It was one of two minor reasons I resigned from the university where I taught graduate courses, and my obligation to that institution will end on December 8th, when I post my final sets of grades. I will still have the responsibilities to the community college for a bit longer, but this is subject to change.TM I have heard of these people from one of my Japanese graduate students a few semesters back. She also said they are viewed as a disgrace by what she called "proper Japanese." But what you said here: This balance is vital to happiness. There's nothing wrong with a life of hard work and strict education, but there also has to be enjoyment. I know that at the community college, there is a tendency to pile work on the older and more experienced faculty because we have experience and time management skills and can get the work done within the specified time frame. The problem is that the workload becomes unequally distributed within the organization, and you get a handful of people doing most of the work. Most organizations will rationalize this because the younger employees lack either experience or fear they are expected to do too much, and if pressured, they will quit.

It's a product of the times; you're fine. Not a problem. That's what's friends are for. There's no such thing as normal. We are all abnormal in some way. I tell students at the beginning of each semester that they must become their biggest advocate. They cannot expect anyone else to do it for them. Many never get it.

Yep, we are aware of this. This is why we've been told not to cave to these folks claiming it as a stand-alone issue. And "time blindness," for those who have ADHD, severe depression with high functioning anxiety (as I do), and Autism/Asperger's, can and is often compensated for because to work within normal society, there are mechanisms that can be deployed that work. In my own experience, I have multiple alarms throughout the day to help keep me on-task, and I also have a color-coded Outlook-based calendar on my PC and phone to keep me "schedule-focused." Oh, we have had numerous faculty development meetings on this. Here's the thing. Legally, we are not required to give any accommodations to a student unless they have a documented disability by a board-certified specialist and they have used the university's students with disabilities services coordinator, who will contact us and notify us of what accommodations the laws require. Any accommodations I give above are between the student and me. Still, it is not a legal requirement for me to provide anything above what the student's medical/mental health care provider documents. It would amaze you what students try to claim are "disabilities." And the closer you get to the end of the semester and finals, the more strange things appear. Most students, about 95%, are not abusive towards the faculty. But there's the 5% who will hammer the crap out of us because they got away with it in high school because their teachers would not stand up to them.

Yeah, that sucks. Hehe, yeah, that might work. Also, if your friend has any kids or feels so otherwise inclined, they could always get law enforcement involved. Your friend could claim the neighbor is a "peeping Tom" or spying on the family. Most places frown upon people spying on neighbor kids or women with cameras. It ramps up the "creepy guy" factor. That could be in your friend's advantage.

No. I do not. And I hope not. Because even you state: and Here's why I said" No" and "I hope not." I know it sounds mean, but here it goes: I have taught at the university and community college level for twenty years. For some reason, the last two years have seen a rise in students who seem to have "time blindness" and a belief that either due dates do not matter or they alone should be exempt from rules that apply to everyone else. Time blindness, as it is now being called, is a belief that it is an actual disability that needs some adaptation or accommodation for a person incapable of managing their time. The claim is this is a disability, much like that of ADHD, depression, anxiety, or related mental disorders. Of course, there is no proof. It is certainly not listed in DSMV V as such. Still, it does not stop some people from using it as a mental disorder (falsely claimed because it uses buzzwords) and, this way, needing accommodation (extra time on an assignment simply because the due date has already passed). I only know this because I had to deal with this just a month ago. The student I was dealing with demanded I give her two weeks for the assignment she "forgot about because of her time blindness disability." When I asked her for documentation of her "disability," I was accused of all kinds of things (the typical run of things nowadays - anything that sticks to the wall to cause me to give in out of fear of being reported to the administration) and then told that I wanted her to fail. I explained to her it was a matter of ethics - how could I let her have two extra weeks on an assignment she forgot about when her peers did not receive two additional weeks? She answered: "Because I have time blindness, you're not taking me seriously. I lose track of time." The due date for the assignment was in the course syllabus, on the online course calendar, and by the course automated reminders two weeks, then a week before the assignment was due. She had the same reminders as the rest of the class. The student has the same issue in her other classes, too. She's already on academic probation from the Spring 2023 semester, and this semester, she did worse. She tried the same excuse with me, time blindness, with two other professors. One gave in to her demands only to have the student ask for another extension into finals week. The other professor took the same stand I did: no additional time. One of the things students are supposed to learn from both home and primary and secondary school is time management strategies. Both her parents and her earlier education have failed to achieve this goal. Procrastination is a real problem, and I understand it gets the better of everyone who has it as a problem. It's happened to me, too. But part of the learning process is getting smacked with the results of procrastination. Often, when we get the fruits of procrastination - and usually, it is terrible fruit - we learn not to allow it to happen again. If the university/community college goal is to prepare a student for life and career, then one of the things we must do as professors must now include time management. I'm sorry. And when you realize - and admit - it was not your best work, that's admitting something that even your professor will know. Your professors are more than just grade ATMs; we also try to guide you to where your best efforts become second nature.

Well deserved. Keep doing what you're doing.

Keep doing what you're doing. No one knows what the future holds.

The KSP forum moderator's team presents the Threads of the Month December 2023 Edition December is finally upon us, and it is the first Monday of the new month - which means it's time for the Threads of the Month! We had some outstanding nominations this time, and I am excited to see what will be nominated for January TOTM (2024) and the 2023 Thread of the Year (I plan to announce that winner on December 31st)! So, if you want to help out in the nomination process of either the TOTM or TOTY, follow the instructions on nominating a thread at the end of this OP. With December steadily marching on, it's not too late to start looking around the forum to nominate threads you feel are worthy of being contenders for December's threads of the month! Instructions on using the TOTM images: If your thread has been selected as a TOTM, you can copy the image's link above, go to the area of the forum where you want to place it, and then paste the link. Press the <CONTROL> button when the image appears and right-click on your mouse. A menu will drop down and allow you to edit the picture. You can resize it - the first number can be changed as large or small as you want. Eventually, I will add these images to the thread I've created as a repository. For those out there who like the nerdy parts of the TOTM: To continue what I started in May 2021, I have kept some forum statistics to respond to those claiming the forum was dying or that interest in the Kerbal Space Program was declining. There were 258 new forum accounts created in November (a decrease of 65, or down 20.12% from October). Out of the new forum members who joined last month, there were 15 who transitioned from new accounts to being active and participating in the forum. This conversion means 5.81% of the new users who registered their accounts last month are now contributing members of our community! (This is a decrease from October; 7.43% of the new members became active and contributing members). If you're interested in seeing the new members of our forum, click here! Now, without further delay, I present to you the threads of the month for December: Cinematic-based Fan-fiction, Mission Reports, and Kerbal Space Program-inspired Creative Works: This category features a video or other form of cinematic of a Kerbal mission report using in-game video recorded gameplay. Note: This has changed. Instead of awarding this to a thread, this is a *post of the month* since most new cinematic works are posted in a single thread. We have a lot of great content creators, but because they've been posting their mission reports as videos in a single thread, most of their work goes unnoticed by the general forum audience. Hopefully, this change in the category to a Post of the Month (POTM) will highlight the great work done by these deserving content creators. Other threads containing cinematic posts will also be featured in this category. Yes, folks, that's right. An overhauled image just for the cinematic posts! Many great content creators deserve this recognition since we were made aware of the thread by @Halban; Post Your Cinematics Here! (Cinematic Enthusiasts) that serves as a repository for cinematic threads. The thread has received the TOTM previously, but it was felt that it wasn't enough for those who have shared your fabulous creations featuring our favorite Kerbalnauts. Instead of being a TOTM, I've changed it into a CPOTM - a Cinematic Post of the Month. For this month's CPOTM, we'd like to recognize the work of @Pipcard in their cinematic, "Photonic Station: A RO Orbital Construction Cinematic," found here: Sometimes, the forum software will get glitchy, and an exact post may be a little hard to find, especially when it is buried in a long thread. In case this happens, here's @Pipcard's cinematic presentation: If you encounter other cinematics you feel are worthy of being recognized as this category's post of the month, please nominate them! You can use the exact instructions to nominate a post containing a video as you would use to nominate a thread. Fan-fiction, Mission Reports, and Kerbal Space Program-inspired Creative Works: This category features a thread (or threads) that, while not directly Kerbal Space Program related, may be creative, fan-fiction, or other presentation related to the game. There's no shortage of good fan fiction stories featuring our brave, green Kerbalnauts in all situations! This month, we have an outstanding nomination written by @Toaster355 featuring Kerbal Space Program 1 as the story's backdrop. In this thread, you will find a Kerbalized recreation of a historic plan drafted to be NASA's plan for a space station that would later be incorporated into the first truly international effort to build a semi-permanent space station. @Toaster355 introduces the mission report: Here's where you'll find this thread: So, if you're interested in seeing some great screenshots of what KSP1 looks like, a "what if" construction, some good storytelling, or how someone else imagines their Kerbiverse, why not try this mission report? Forum Member Created Challenges and Missions: This category contains missions and challenges created by you, the members of our gaming community. Many excellent missions and challenges threads are created that expand our fun with the game and press our skills, creativity, and sometimes, luck beyond what we get accustomed to. Let's face it: we all have our go-to design basics and our go-to vehicles we like to use. Sometimes, a good challenge can cause us to think of another way to achieve our goals. No thread was nominated for this category. Game Support/Game Mod of the Month: This category features either help with the game (stock or modded) or mods that add quality-of-life gameplay improvements to the Kerbal Space Program. One of the things most die-hard Kerbal Space Program players enjoy is the game's flexibility and ease of modding. With a single mod or a few more, you can create a new gaming experience and add as much customization, new challenges, and new features to this game as you want. This mod was nominated for a TOTM earlier this year but received an honorable mention. Its name has come up again because our forum community feels it deserves recognition for the amount of detail it brings to IVA flight. I agree; as many of you have, this mod by @MOARdV brings a level of immersion into the game I've enjoyed for quite some time. @MOARdV introduces the mod: You can find this mod here (Note: this mod is a dependency and will not add any new features to your IVA unless another mod requires it). General community threads of the month: This category features a thread that adds to the community and doesn't fit the game support/game mod categories. No thread was nominated for this category. General space flight and space science threads of the month: This category features a thread that adds to our forum community's STEM knowledge (science, space flight, and related fields) and doesn't fit the game support/game mod categories. This thread, started by @Nightside, Artemis, NASA's planned program to return to the Moon is discussed. It's long overdue for humankind to return to the Moon and do something more than missions to the International Space Station, especially now that its retirement is planned for the next few years. There is debate about whether returning to the Moon should be humankind's next goal, especially since Mars is the eventual goal by the end of the century. Personally, I have always hoped that in my lifetime, I would be able to see humans step foot on the Moon again and would eventually see the first Lunar colonies established. And I hope that Artemis achieves that and becomes an international effort to accomplish that goal. This must be a human endeavor and should not be left to any nation. If you are interested in reading the comments from your fellow forum members or wish to participate in the discussion, then please visit this thread. Honorable Mentions: Hello! Is there any release window/date for when we could see "on final approach" make its way to consoles? by @Turtlegirl1209 It's The Wrong Red Moon... Adventures of an Alternate History! by @Kimera Industries All nominations were used for this month. Sometimes, choosing which threads will be selected as the Thread of the Month for our five categories is challenging. We get many good nominations each month but limit it to one for each type. Threads nominated but not selected as a thread of the month become honorable mentions. The honorable mention for this month is: The honorable mention for this month may not have made the Thread of The Month, but if you think it might be worth another opportunity, please renominate it! Congratulations to all the winners of the Thread of the Month! We want to thank our forum members @Kerbalsaurus, @Nazalassa, @TwoCalories, the moderation team members, and the staff who nominated this month's contenders. Thank you so much for helping us identify noteworthy threads and bringing their awareness to our forum community. We'd appreciate your continued help in the future. Odds and ends: TO NOMINATE A THREAD FOR CONSIDERATION: If you find a thread you feel should be considered for next month's thread of the month, use the "Report a comment" feature (the three dots on the upper right corner of the comment box) to report the thread. Please put in the text field of the port post "Nomination for the thread of the month," and we will do the rest! You can always nominate more than one thread, too. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOES INTO THE DECISION WHEN CONSIDERING THE TOTM: Wonder no more! This helpful guide is to help you understand what we use to help determine what makes a thread a really good thread and one that becomes a thread of the month/cinematic post of the month. It's everything you did or didn't want to know and includes helpful tips. And the last word for this month's post: I'd like to thank a few people who trust me enough to continue supporting and allowing me to contribute to the forum. I want to thank the Lead Moderator, @Vanamonde, for bringing me on as a moderator, a decision I'm sure he has had moments where he often wonders why he did it. I'd also like to thank @PD_Dakota, our community manager, and @Nerdy_Mike, the KSP Franchise Community Lead, for tolerating me and allowing me to continue to serve our Kerbal Space Program forum community through the monthly Threads of the Month post. In case you missed last month's threads of the month, you can click here.

Hey, folks, the thoughts about life here being some sort of simulation have been moved to their own thread so the discussion can continue. Here's the link: I've tried to keep the comments here that were split between the two (general shower comments and simulation comments), but it may not have been effective. Anyway, this was an excellent suggestion by several of you. So, please, bring on more of your regular shower thoughts and more of your speculations about life on Earth as we know it as being a simulation on the new thread. And again, thanks for an excellent suggestion for those of you who suggested it! I have also added tags to both threads to make finding them easier through tag searches. I hope this helps.

Nah, Silent Hunter IV was out in the early 2000s and had really great graphics.

As I said, I am no mental health professional. I just happened to live the experience. But it gave me a new set of tools in my toolbox to help others. I take it day by day now, and this is my life's song: Not only am I a parrothead, but I am also from Louisiana. So, yeah...

That isn't good. Unfortunately, until she hits rock bottom and sees the need for help, there's not much those around her can do to help. But there's a little bit of hope. Let me explain: I have PTSD, depression, and high-performing anxiety, and because they are all friends and needed a new playmate, they brought in OCD for giggles and grins. It took me to the point where nothing made sense; I was mad at myself, in the middle of another "life crisis" (I went from one of these to the other), and there was always agitation under the surface. Your sister sounds like she's close to this stage now. I am no expert in psychology, but I can tell you what I went through. Maybe this will help you understand what your sister may be thinking and feeling: The outward anger and hostility were because I felt I should better control things in my life, but I wasn't. Many things I thought were wrong in my life weren't apparent to anyone else but me. And I could not understand how they could feel things were fine when they were not. So, whenever someone would ask me why I was mad, I'd lash out rather than explain what I was going through. Why should I? In my mind, if they could not see it for themselves, what good would it do for me to explain it to them? The outward anger was also driven by seeing other people "happy, happy!" and wondering why I could not be like that. Some folks seem to have the ability to get hit in the face with a shovel (metaphorically speaking), laugh it off, get up, and go about their day, never even bothered by it. Then there was me; I was depressed, and the lack of enjoyment or the joy of a typical day just ate at my very soul. It made me even angrier and more depressed and fed the ill feelings I already had. The outward anger is also driven by being misunderstood by others. A lot of people around me had no idea what I was going through and would often say stuff that I took (because of my depression) wrong. Sure, some of it was dumb statements, such as, "Snap out of it" or "You've got so much going for you." But when you are buried in depression, your perception of those around you and perceptions about yourself -- you do not see it. All you see are those kinds of comments being critical of you. So, you resent the helpful comments and gestures, even those made in good faith. One of the best things you can do is to let her know you're there, but don't push or back so far away you become unapproachable. Buy her favorite snack food, soda, or other trinkets/gifts as an "I care" gift. It will be met with distrust, skepticism, and questions (and probably anger). But keep doing it, make it unpredictable, and be polite. Eventually, she will let you in. It will not be an easy thing to do. Her self-isolation is a part of her pain from the depression. Her acting out towards the rest of the family resembles a hurt animal striking out against its rescuer. For about four years, I volunteered for both the university's and community college's mental first aid team - and I am the faculty member that as soon as there's a report of a student thinking of suicide, I come to talk to the student. So far, there's been three occasions in the last two years to use my training, unfortunately. I'm good at it because I sank to that point in my life in 2004; I was lucky enough that a good friend kept reaching out and didn't back off, regardless of how nasty and mean I got. I am no psychoanalyst, just a guy who has lived that life. Don't hesitate to involve a family therapist, even if she doesn't go. They will give you and your parents powerful tools to deal with the situation.

Who says we actually exist and are not some vast computer simulation called SimEarth? Oh, wait, maybe we are just a simulation... Oh, snap! That means life really is but a dream... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimEarth

Ha, now you have some data that proves your point. Good to know you're seeing it, too. I often advise my students that college may not be the best route for them, especially if they hated high school. There's nothing wrong with trade school. I have even sat down with a few of them to explore their interests and determine how to match them with vocations. Not every career needs a college degree (and student loan debt). When your car breaks down, you do not call someone with an M.A. in English to fix it; you call the A.S.E. certified mechanic to fix it. And you pay more per hour than that M.A. in English makes in an hour! (The same goes for your air conditioning or plumbing, too).

Folks, many mixed feelings accompany any update of KSP2, just as there was with any update to the original Kerbal Space Program. Regardless of anyone's personal feelings, making personal attacks is not tolerated on this forum. In fact, we have two forum guidelines this action may fall under: Forum guideline 2.2d: Insults and threats, stalking, bullying or any other behavior construed to be of a potentially rude, slanderous, accusatory, combative or otherwise harassing nature to/of another person; Forum guideline 2.2n: Flamebaiting, trolling or any other messages made for the purpose of stirring up and otherwise getting a rise from users; So, please discuss your feelings, whether of great joy or dread, but do not take it upon yourself to make personal attacks about anyone whose opinion you may disagree with. Further personal attacks on this thread may require more severe moderator action.

Wow, that's miserable. I'm sorry to hear that.

This is the story of my life...

Interesting thought. We often live as if we are promised tomorrow. We aren't promised the next ten minutes. -------- This morning, while grading final project papers for one of my first-year university classes, I realized how unprepared many American students are for university education. In this class of 27 students, I have four international students, five private school students, and two home-schooled students. The rest are all products of the American public education system. Here's something I've noticed: Number of students who did not submit a final project paper: 4 (15%) Number of international students who did not submit a project paper: 0 (0%) Number of private school students (American) who did not submit a paper: 0 (0%) Number of home-schooled students (American) who did not submit a paper: 0 (0%) Number of American public education students who did not submit a paper: 4 (100%) Number of students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 7 (26%). Number of international students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 0 (0%) Number of private school students (American) who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 1 (14%) Number of home-schooled students (American) who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 0 (0%) Number of American public education students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 6 (86%) Number of students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 13 (48%) Number of international students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 2 (15%) Number of private school students (American) who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 1 (8%) Number of home-schooled students (American) who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 1 (8% ) Number of American public education students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 9 (69%) Many would say, "But adsii1970, of course, you have more American public school students in your classes than the other categories; it's supposed to be that way!" However, the problem is that this class has 27 students, and 13 of these students are considered to have a nontraditional academic background (meaning they did not attend a public American school). The numbers are telling. If I take the same statistics above and break them down into the broader categories, American public school students versus non-public school students, this is what we get: Number of students who did not submit a final project paper: 4 (15%) Number of non-American public school students who did not submit a paper: 0 (0%) Number of American public education students who did not submit a paper: 4 (100%) This means out of the general education students, 29% (4 out of 14) decided not to do the final project. Number of students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 7 (26%). Number of non-American public school students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 1 (14%) This means that out of the non-American public education students, 8% (1 out of 13) attempted to use AI for part of their final project paper. Number of American public education students who have attempted to use AI to complete their research papers: 6 (86%) This means that of the American public education students, 43% (6 out of 14) attempted to use AI for part of their final project paper. Number of students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 13 (48%) Number of non-American public school students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 4 (31%) This means that out of the non-American public education students, 31% (4 out of 13) had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors. Number of American public education students who had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors: 9 (69%) This means that of the American public education students, 64% (9 out of 14) had four or more critical errors using standard English grammar, misspelled words, or citation errors. We are supposed to keep statistics over two years before we report trends, so this is the second semester I've kept these numbers, and the data is nearly identical. I talked to a fellow professor about this last semester; she has been tracking the same data for the past year. We have agreed to work together and submit a joint report to the administration. We have noticed that first-year American public school students struggle in many areas of university life - basic academics, time management, interpersonal skills, the ability to handle diverse opinions or views contrary to their own, or even facts that challenge their perceptions of the world around them. First-year international students (who come from outside the United States) perform better in all those areas than their American counterparts. Nontraditional students (those 24 and older) also perform significantly better but are filtered into the broad categories, even though we both admitted we should probably have excluded them from our data as their study habits and personalities are atypical of traditional first-year American public school students entering the university. As a teenager's parent, I've begun to tell her to press her teachers to teach "beyond the test." And I have challenged her to learn beyond the school. These statistics scare me as a parent, a grandparent, and a university educator.

(Electromagnet - to help get the metals out of the intestines )