Chit Chat in VOLTVILLE Thread #2 :)

[tmcase]

Good morning, Voltpeeps!

Labor Day weekend is coming up and I am looking forwards to the annual rib cook off in Sparks.

The TV guy hooked up my Genie DVR and it seems nice. He also hooked up Directv on Demand which I thought would have cool free stuff but so far it doesn't look like it has much for free.

I looked on the internet and people were saying that if you pay for HBO and/or other special movie channels like Starz then you have more "free" movies to choose from but you have to pay for those channels and I absolutely refuse to pay for movies when I am already paying to watch TV. Ridiculous!

DirectTV on Demand also hooks up to your wireless and some people have been charged lots of money by their internet service according to the installation guy. So, he had me call the internet service and they told me I have a100 gigabytes a month and I am using 25 gigabytes per month. The installation guy thought I would be fine.

The internet people are very sweet and she said that, unlike some companies, they monitor your account and if it starts going high they will call me to find out what is up with that. It won't be like "Surprise, here is your giant internet bill." I love my internet service.

I'm going to take a closer look at what is available on Demand TV but if it looks like we aren't going to use it, I'm turning it off so I don't end up using lots of my internet gigabytes on something I am not even using.

So far, Amazon Prime has lots more movies and TV shows that I might watch than DOD. I have never seen the Sopranos or Glee [I caught a couple of episodes of glee]. We don't watch many movies so I might watch Erased or a bunch of others than are on Prime.

We shall see.

I have to work today and then run some errands

What does everyone have planned for the big weekend?

100gigs?????? [emoji22] That's not fair. I pay through the nose for my meager 10gigs. Who is your provider?


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[tmcase]

It's smoking hot & muggy here. Has been all week and will be through the weekend. [emoji37] [emoji25][emoji29][emoji30] I can't wait for fall.


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[Renolizzie]

We have High Desert Internet.

I hear there is a push on getting more better internet to rural areas. Maybe talk to your town council?

I love my internet and it is super fast like 100mbs. Hope I got that abbreviation right. Anyway, it is fast.

 

[tmcase]

We have High Desert Internet.

I here there is a push on getting more better internet to rural areas. Maybe talk to your town council?

I love my internet and it is super fast like 100mbs. Hope I got that abbreviation right. Anyway, it is fast.

100 mbs???? I think I'm going to be sick. [emoji23] I get 10 with wifi and less than dialup on my phone. (Insert very bad word here) [emoji31]


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[Tritium]

She has wi-fi with 100mpbs ethernet connection on her PC. Actual connection might be 54mbps (limitation of the wifi equipment) and the actual data is lower for sure. Fast enough though.

 

[tmcase]

She has wi-fi with 100mpbs ethernet connection on her PC. Actual connection might be 54mbps (limitation of the wifi equipment) and the actual data is lower for sure. Fast enough though.

I'd kill for 54 Mbps. [emoji12]


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[Tritium]

It's actually 54mega BITS not BYTES (hence the mbps) so 54mbps/8= 6.75 megabytes per second. Assuming they can provide it.

 

[cindycated]

Speakeasy is telling me I'm getting 68.39Mbps D/L and 6.15 U/L (Comcast/Xfinity). I'm afraid of what that speed drops down to when I'm back home and using my 3G phone.

 

[Renolizzie]

My internet is microwave and my WiFi find is plugged into the computer, I think.

 

[Renolizzie]

Or maybe the WiFi is plugged into the modem thingy.

 

[SandySu]

I tutored today. With the additional child making 4, it's a long day, but not, actually, any longer than a schoolteacher does every day. No lunch break, though. I went to the first kids at 11 am and got out from the last, the new girl, at about 4 pm. Next week, since school will be starting soon, my hours will change to late afternoons/evenings.

The girl was first, and she neglected to do a whole sheet of homework. I had promised her a trip up to Seneca Falls, where the St. Anthony Festival on Sat. will have fireworks, plus, she could go on some rides. But the condition was that she apply herself to her studies for some indefinite time. That includes homework, and she didn't even try to do one page. When I asked about it, she said she hadn't noticed it. I give them 3 pages, maybe, paper-clipped together. If she was paying attention, she couldn't have missed it. And she hadn't answered 2 questions on the reading comprehension. Yes, it was hard going, but she didn't even try. I told her (again) that if, while doing her homework, she has a problem, to email me and ask for an explanation. So, tomorrow, I won't have to drive an hour to Seneca Falls and back, not to mention the half hour from my place to hers each way. I'm relieved, but I could tell she was upset and it colored the whole lesson. I'm sorry about that, but I have to stick to my guns.

So she did some worksheets, went over what she got wrong on her homework (and got the neglected sheet added to the homework I had assigned, which I always do), and then she read a little of The Jungle Books. We are beginning Chapt. 3. She didn't get too far when I realized I had to end her lesson and move on. One word we came cross that I didn't know was "fubsy." (Fubsy | Definition of fubsy by Merriam-Webster

Her older brother had an exhausted, bored attitude, too, even though I had him read a story of William Tell, which I thought he'd like, and which wasn't very long. What can I do to get these kids enthusiastic?

The young boy was, as usual, lively and trying hard.

Then I went to the new girl's house. She said her mom made her rewrite the reading assignment she had for homework. Luckily, it was short, so it wasn't too much drudgery. But she hadn't studied her spelling words, which would have been much better. Still, she is cooperative and trying hard. We are working on learning what verbs are. I have worksheets where there are sentences and she has to find the verb/s and circle it/them. I gave her the verb to be, past, present, and future, to learn. I explained what past, present, and future meant. Our reading was the reading she would have for homework. She didn't know all of the words used, so I described them. She will have to answer questions about that reading. It's about rhyming, and there's a poem that has rhyming words at the ends of lines. I described what a rhyme is and pointed out the rhyming words.

Next week, we start a new schedule, where I teach some days after school, first the original kids, then the new girl. I explained how sometimes I'd be late, and sometimes early, depending on how efficient the other kids are. My strategy is to amass some work for them that I think will take the time needed. If they fool around and procrastinate, the lesson just takes longer. They don't have less work to do. If they stick to it and do it well, then they could get off early and have more time to play. I tell them this, and still, sometimes, like today, they take longer than necessary. So I sit there and get them to finish it, no matter how long it takes. Every once in a while, I see that someone has been working really hard, and I just overestimated how much work to give them, so I sometimes let them off of reading the whole thing I prepared. But that isn't usual.

 

[awsum140]

moanin', Votlies.

Sandy, I don't know how you can get them interested, but "positive re-enforcement" might be the only method that works. Not getting to the fireworks may help but could certainly hinder. The trick will be a reward, even a small one, the next time she does do all her assignments.

It's bee hot and humid here for the last month. We've haven't had much rain, either, so everything that isn't getting irrigated is turning brown. A front came down from Canada overnight, without producing any rain, and it's supposed to be a spectacular weekend. It's about 80 outside and the humidity has dropped dramatically. Next week it's supposed to be another heatwave, though.

There's already signs of the changing seasons. There's a lot of brown leaves already laying on the backyard. The cucumbers and watermelons have withered leaves (and they're getting watered daily) and it's getting dark a lot earlier and light a lot later already. Where did the summer go, besides into the electric bill to run the AC?

Tritium, how are you doing and how is your area being impacted by the refugees from the Middle East? We see a lot of problems in Hungary on TV but little mention of Greece other than refugees being rescued by Greek Naval vessels.

 

[3mg Meniere]

Sandy, I don't know how you can get them interested, but "positive re-enforcement" might be the only method that works. Not getting to the fireworks may help but could certainly hinder. The trick will be a reward, even a small one, the next time she does do all her assignments.


Tritium, how are you doing and how is your area being impacted by the refugees from the Middle East? We see a lot of problems in Hungary on TV but little mention of Greece other than refugees being rescued by Greek Naval vessels.

Agreed. Immediate small rewards are more effective than large delayed rewards. Even a point system towards a large reward can become a reward in itself, especially if you pair that with praise.

Trit, question repeated for emphasis.

 

[Renolizzie]

I've been wondering about the impact of refugees on Tritium's area as well.

Our area is definitely feeling like fall and it seems a bit early to me this year. Temp down to 44 last night. Acorn squash is harvested and curing in the shade cover shed. Butternuts are being picked. Melons are done with just a few left on the counter to freeze up.

The new Genie box isn't working right. Once you turn the TV off then you can't get the TV picture to come back on until you unplug and plug in the HDMI cable. Weird. The TV acts like it is coming on and eventually gives you a "No signal" message. I would get ahold of DirecTV but it is a holiday weekend and at least it is functioning albeit it is inconvenient to turn the box and TV on and then unplug the HDMI cable and replug. At least it is functioning.

 

[awsum140]

Lizzie, our TV lets us select which input we want as the default power on input. Well, it's actually just an input selection that stays "locked" unless changed manually. Yours might have a similar setting.

 

[SandySu]

Agreed. Immediate small rewards are more effective than large delayed rewards. Even a point system towards a large reward can become a reward in itself, especially if you pair that with praise.

Trit, question repeated for emphasis.

They get those bright stones in their jar we discussed some time ago. That's the immediate reward, though they seem less enthusiastic about it lately. I decided they each need to have their own jar for the stones, and when I reward them with an outing --which the girl specifically asked for, rather than gifts -- it won't necessarily include them all, since getting them all to decide what they want to do has become very difficult.

Remember? I was giving them candy, but their mom wouldn't let them eat it, which is how the stones came to be.

 

[cindycated]

They get those bright stones in their jar we discussed some time ago. That's the immediate reward, though they seem less enthusiastic about it lately. I decided they each need to have their own jar for the stones, and when I reward them with an outing --which the girl specifically asked for, rather than gifts -- it won't necessarily include them all, since getting them all to decide what they want to do has become very difficult.

Remember? I was giving them candy, but their mom wouldn't let them eat it, which is how the stones came to be.

Maybe your community jar was too big and hard to fill? Maybe you just need a smaller jar that would pay off a little sooner. If they have to wait too long for the reward, sometimes it can feel unattainable, then what's the point? As far as getting them all to decide, they can just take turns choosing.
Giving them their own jar to fill, to me, is kind of a scary thing, as it would promote feelings and behaviors that they may not yet be old enough to handle (rivalry, jealousy, competition, the despair of being the loser, etc...) - feelings that may have long-lasting effects. In a larger classroom setting, maybe that's not such a big deal (they'd likely have friends to take their side), but in such a small group, I dunno... As their tutor for academics, are you sure that's a road you wanna travel? Just something to think about...

 

[Tritium]

Hey!
Wi-fi is microwaves too, 2,4GHz and 5GHz.

Now you can call me racist or whatever.
Probably it isn't only refugees but "others" too, like ISIS members, or maybe pakistani's, Afghan's and other countries. Noboby likes them. Nobody.

Those are people who CAN'T adapt to the western society, they could go to Saudi Arabia and other muslim dominated countries but you know right? Rich ones do not want them there. They even refused food because it had the symbol of the red cross on it.
They cause panic and havoc on the reception areas (mostly islands), just like they are used to do on their own countries. Their religion destroyed the whole area, their religion caused all of this and they STILL hang to it.
Up until yesterday our Noble European leaders like Merkel didn't give a cent about the refugees and now that they are slowly going north they started feeling the joy, i like it. I say let's send them north asap.

Which brings back another memory.

LOL remember?



Sorry i replied late but i was too stressed with stupid things at work and trying to set up a new phone, my brother's old one which was broken i repaired it and kept it for me and was switching phones.

 

[awsum140]

We have similar problems on the Southern border. It's more of an invasion than anything else and now you folks on the other side of the pond are getting the same thing. I understand why, in both cases, the invasion is happening it's just not going to have a good ending though.

I hit an impasse with the trackbar on the Jeep. The end I thought would be the big headache came apart fairly easily. I'm stuck on the other end though. Its a 15mm bolt through heavy steel, then the rubber bushing of the trackbar end, then another piece of heavy steel and finally the nut. I got the nut off, using a 24" lever on a ratchet, but the bolt seems stuck inside the center, metal, sleeve of the rubber bushing. It turns, with a lot of resistance, but won't come out. There's no way to lever or hammer on the nut end, that's inside a frame piece, and the bolt end is tight to the frame on that end. I've been soaking it with a heavy penetrating oil and hope it'll loosen up by tomorrow.

 

[Tritium]

Well, you don't have muslims, believe me it's worse.

How's the weather there? We have 37C till tomorrow hopefully Monday it will drop a bit.

Maybe heat the bolt a bit? Or simply heat the metal around it.