Posts Tagged "college"

The London Beer Flood (Really)

Dear Kid,

IF you had been alive and aware on Oct 17, 1814, and IF you happened to have found yourself in England, and IF by chance you were wandering around London (more specifically the parish of St. Giles), you might have witnessed the London Beer Flood. I kid you not.

You can never buy beer, you just rent it. -- Archie Bunker, DearKidLoveMom.comOn October 17, 1814, an enormous (and by enormous I mean 610,000 liters) vat full of beer broke. This in and of itself would have been sad and tragic. However, in the tradition of beer-related chain reaction events, other vats collapsed under the onslaught of beer and breakage, and almost a million and a half liters (1,470,000 liters to be more specific) burst their containers and erupted into the surrounding area.

The alcoholic tsunami wiped away two homes, washed out the wall of the Tavistock Arms Pub, swamped several streets, filled several basements and first floor rooms, interrupted a wake, and then set up a fuss because the international media didn’t interrupt coverage of the events of the day to set up 24 hour reports.

Rock and Roll artists didn’t even hold a fundraiser for the beer-diseased and displaced. All in all, the tsunami thought it was severely underrepresented.

Eight people died in the flood (none of them were college students who would have known how to drink their way out of beer-flooded environments).

A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure.-- Czech Proverb, DearKidLoveMom.comThe brewery was sued over the accident, but the judge and jury (who were plied heavily with the product in question) remained sober just long enough to rule the disaster an Act of God. God never weighed in on the decision, but hinted strongly in tabloids that there was human corruption and neglect involved. Since it was 1814, and since this was a really poor part of town, no one looked into the incident to carefully until recently when the beer tsunami memoires surfaced and we learned just how upset a tsunami can be.

Love, Mom

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And Reality Begins to Set In

Dear Kid,

countdown to college move in 3“Who wants to help me make cookies and then go for a long walk?” your sister asked.

Not a completely unreasonable suggestion (for it was more suggestion than question). Except that it was already 9:15pm when she asked.

In between watching the Olympic races (mostly swimming at that hour), Dad and Pi baked 4,892 chocolate chip cookies. Dad announced every few seconds that this was the first time he’d ever made cookies from scratch. It was kind of a sport in and of itself: mix cookie dough, race back into the family room to catch up on the Olympics, race back to the kitchen before the dough is overmixed, yell to find out who the announcers are talking about, scoot the cookies in the oven, pray that the next race will end prior to the timer going off. You get the picture.

By the time Pi and I set off for a walk it was next Tuesday. Who goes for a walk at 11pm? Your sister that’s who. Who thinks it’s a good idea to go for a walk at 11pm when it’s raining and the humidity is about a zillion percent? Your sister that’s who. And who accompanies her? You got it on the first guess.

We had took the Puppy with us on the first lap, but then he was smart enough to want to go inside where it was dry, there was a comfy pillow to sleep on, and someone might be talked into giving him a treat.

Pi and I and our umbrellas continued to walk. Our Fitbits appreciated it. We also got a bit of time to catch up which is always nice and frequently entertaining.

Today’s plan (if she ever decides to wake up) is a mad dash to get her ready for college.

Yikes! My baby goes to college this week.

I’d best go lie down for a bit.

Love, Mom

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National Sleeping Day | Really. And I’m Going to Take a Nap Now

Dear Kid,

It’s National Napping Day!

Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

OK, it’s not. It’s Fatigue Syndrome Day.

Not Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which is a real and significant disorder and should be treated by medical professionals.

Just Fatigue.

As in, eyelids shut. As in, head nodding during class. As in, I’ve been staring at the screen long enough and it is time for some zzzzz.

Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep. ~Fran Lebowitz

That about sums it up, doesn't it? What I learned about Bulletproof coffee. DearKidLoveMom.It’s not easy getting enough sleep when you’re in college.

Heck, it’s not easy getting enough sleep when you’re not in college. (My wonderful purple Fitbit is kind enough to remind me daily.)

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one. ~Leo J. Burke

According to My Friend the Internet, there is a good bit of evidence showing that we don’t know how to sleep correctly. Which is weird since it’s one of those things we’ve been doing since birth.

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps. ~Author unknown

Turns out that we were better at sleeping before electricity interrupted things.

B.E. (before electricity), people would go to sleep shortly after sundown for their first sleep. They’d get up for a while in the middle of the night (probably to check the chickens) and then settle down for their second sleep.

Unless they lived some place hot, in which case they only tossed and turned in the heat and then took a long siesta to make up for the lack of sleep.

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation. ~Author Unknown

For those of us that are required to jump leap slither out of bed each morning in order to go to work, caffeine is a friend. An important friend. An enabler.

Happy Good Morning.

The best cure for insomnia is a Monday morning. ~Author Unknown

I don’t know what that makes Thursday morning. We can talk about it after my nap.

Love, Mom

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Tips for Successfully Managing Student Loans | Guest Contributor Zyana Morris

Dear Kid,

Paying for college is even more painful when you, the lucky student, have the great joy of footing some or all of the bill.  DearKidLoveMom.comAs you may be aware, college is expensive. Not expensive like “Oh, look! The price of gas at this station is 5 cents more than across the street!” No, expensive as in “WHAT!!!??!!” Turns out, it’s even more expensive when you, the lucky student, have the great joy of footing some or all of the bill. Scholarships are dandy things, but they are often insufficient (if they even bother to show up).

Which means finding money.

Earning it is generally the best option, but as the average annual college cost is “WHAT??!!” and the average earning ability of students is generally about enough to buy lunch one day a week, student loans often become an important way to cover the cost of an education.

Today’s guest blogger, Zyana Morris, shares some great advice for dealing with student debt….

Tips for Successfully Managing Student Loans | Guest Contributor Zyana Morris

The best approach to oversee debt is well, to be free of any type of debt, but we all know how that is easier said than done since the economic situation is a wee bit unfriendly. In any case, paying for your university education, or getting money or student loans to take care of the cost of education, is something unavoidable for many.

In order to pay back your student loan successfully, there are several things you ought to do. If you want to be away from the recovery demons, you should plan a payback route even before you sign the principal promissory note. While we are all aware that such should be the case, most students don’t worry about paying back student loans until after they have graduated.

Here are some tips to help you make arrangements to manage your student loans successfully to guarantee repayment success.

You Do the Leg Work
All loans are not equal. A few loans offer payback incentives while you are at school; this reward can often be extended to even after you have graduated. Some loans do not provide any such benefits and repayments are expected soon after you have graduated school. For instance, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loan charges a 3% advance start expense, adding pressure to the already overburdened student. The student thus has to save more to bear the burden of not only interest but also the necessities such as books, school supplies, and everyday costs.

Read Your Mail
Ordinarily, student borrowers get a considerable amount of information regarding their student loans. You’ll probably get mail at the beginning, throughout the loan term, and after graduation from school. While it may seem like junk to you, it is very important that you sift through each piece as it could contain crucial information regarding your student loan. In the event that you do not understand something within the documents, you can call up your lender and have the issue resolved in a timely manner. It is important that you do not disregard the mail or you may pass up a major opportunity for a basic due date or essential data you have to follow up on concerning the loans. Lenders often mail regarding incentives, benefits, offers, and repayment plans.

Organize that Mountain of Paperwork

Save the greater part of your student loan research material and correspondences. That way, you are going to know exactly what you consented to, what is expected from you at the time of repayment, and how much debt you have acquired. It is intriguing how marking the promissory note for your loan is so motivating while repaying the same loan is the exact opposite. Four years of school go by faster than you think, and before you know it you are graduating and the student debt repayment is glaring you in the face.

Being able to put your fingertips on all your printed loan material will help a lot in the student loan frenzy. To make things simple for you, start by setting up a decent, simple to use, record-keeping framework in which you can keep your student loan research material and correspondence. The book shops and libraries have books and programming items on personal finance and budgeting that will offer you some assistance. Regardless of what filing system you pick, whether archive organizers, fasteners, portfolios, or envelopes, make one document for every loan or record you have, and keep your things organized properly. Also, while sorting out your record keeping framework, ensure that it is protected. The record-keeping framework ought to be kept protected from burglars and fires. Various experts likewise prescribe that you have to keep your student debt records and correspondences until they are all completely paid off.

Here is a list of things that you should keep with you until you’ve paid off all your student loans.

  • Essential research material like your student loan applications, promissory notes, dispensing and exposure articulations, and advance exchange takes note.
  • Copies of all correspondences concerning your understudy advance organization and/or adjusting organization, for example, your school’s money related guide office.
  • Contact and telephone number of the credit supplier.

Zyana Morris is a passionate blogger who loves to write on trending Life Style topics. She is a featured author at various authoritative blogs. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for the great advice, Zyana.

Love, Mom

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Too Much Crazy in the World (The Bad Kind of Crazy)

Dear Kid,

There are some things in life I understand.

I understand that when you spill coffee on your favorite shirt it is likely to cause a permanent stain. I understand that weekends are often too short and that the Bengals are unlikely to make it to the Super Bowl. I understand that elves are not going to show up to clean our kitchen.

Doesn’t mean I have to like those things, but I understand them.

Stop the Crazy! DearKidLoveMom.comAnd then there are things in the world that I simply do not understand.

I don’t understand people who abuse children. I don’t understand people who chop off journalists heads. I don’t understand people who take hostages in the Lindt Chocolat Cafe. I don’t understand people who kill other people because of the color of their skin. I don’t understand people who do crazy violent things in the name of religion (any religion).

On some level I know I’m not supposed to understand these people because they are psychopaths or psycho-bigots or psycho-somethings. Intellectually, I know they’ve been taught to hate and they’ve been taught that Violence Solves All.

Intellectually knowing doesn’t make it easier to understand. And there have been far, far too many scary-violent-unbalanced-disturbed-crazy things happening in our world.

Do I have a solution? Well, no. Perhaps just that we should all try a little harder.

And keep the crazy fighting where it belongs—in congress.

Love, Mom

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