Hurlshort

I don't really understand the tone of that article. I don't know any history teachers that teach about historical figures as some sort angelic icons. They are interesting because they kept fantastic notes and maps on their epic journey, and that makes it easy for us to study and look back on. Their character isn't the reason we study them. I mean, it makes for a good critical thinking question to compare their character to others of their time. But, just like Columbus, the idea that we 'cancel' bad characters in history is silly. History is simple cause and effect. Morality arguments are a different subject.

I am binge watching Reacher with my wife. It is pretty great. It fits the books much better than the Tom Cruise movies. I enjoyed the movies as well, but this new guy has the physicality aspect. They follow the first book closely.

Public school teacher salaries are a matter of public record, so they are pretty easy to pull up. I attached a salary schedule for San Jose Unified. It looks pretty good when you get to year 30, I suppose, but the starting salary of 60k is not going to get you very far in the Bay Area. When I started close to 20 years ago, I believe it was around 45k. I decided to look up the Chicago teacher's salary, and they've got some pretty decent increases in there, so maybe that is why @Gfted1 is so salty towards fatcat teachers. It was like a 10-page spreadsheet though, but the 30-year teachers were making a pretty penny. @BruceVC Yes, my wife and I applied for our home together. Individually we were not going to qualify for a $350,000 loan on a $45k teacher's salary. I'm not sure we really should have even qualified when we combined, but we were young and dumb and did what everyone told us to do, which was to get in on property. Honestly it sounds pretty old fashioned to assume just the husband is signing on the loan and providing pay stubs, financials, etc. The majority of people in the US are dual income households. 2021.08.01 Teacher Salary Schedule.pdf

Um. Do you really think teachers make 6-figures? I don't know where you got that. Combined, sure, we clear low six figures. Whoopie. That would be cool if we lived somewhere else. Of course, somewhere else pays thier teacher less. Yada yada, you have heard this before.

Strangely enough, we have a fairly large Romanian community in the Bay Area. None of them were forced to live on plantations and pick cotton for a few generations though, so I do think they have a bit more privilege. But YMMV while trying to oddly cherry pick specific scenarios that may or may not disprove white privilege is a thing.

Why do you keep doing that? Ill gotten gains? Rebate? I paid the bank $120,000 in interest on my home loan before I sold it. The justice department decided I deserved about $3k of that back. That's hardly me pulling off a great bank heist. Why are you trying so hard to mischaracterize this?

What a weirdly specific example.

In other racist banking news: https://www.yahoo.com/news/houston-doctor-says-chase-bank-172504120.html

It doesn't really matter what I thought it was based on. The US Justice Department decided it was based on race. Honestly I would have no idea. I'm not a mortgage broker or a banker. Like most potential homebuyers, I relied on the experts to get through the process. Live and learn, I suppose. We short-sold the condo during the recession.

I always think, "That person must have a lot of disposable income."

My wife is Mexican. I'm not sure why you would call it a rebate. They charged us a higher rate on our loan because my wife ticked a certain box on our loan paperwork. That is pretty messed up. Their algorithm literally charged minorities more money for the same service. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-settlement-wells-fargo-resulting-more-175-million-relief

I am terrible at making a decent fruit smoothie. It always comes out as too bitter, or too seedy. I have managed to master the protein shake. 1 1/2 cups of oat milk, 2 scoops or organic powder, and 1 frozen banana. That's a pretty decent start to my day. The oat milk is probably too much sugar, but whatever. I gave up my orange juice habit at least.

Wells Fargo had to cut me a decent check after it was shown they gave worse rates to minorities during the last housing boom. Shocking that such an upstanding institution would do such a thing.

At least when I sub french, I can just speak in an outrageous accent. In music I just walk around hitting cymbals.

Was it though? I've subbed for band a few times. I am self-aware enough to know that I am not actually teaching those kids anything about music. I'm just filling in until the real teacher can return.

In Oklahoma, 10k is probably half thier salary for the year. Such a strange strategy in the middle of a massive national teacher shortage.

We teach metric and imperial, but since everything in the US still uses imperial, that's what tends to stick for people. Personally I measure my fuel in kilograms, so I've gone metric. Hydrogen is the future!

I'm back at Conan Exiles. I decided to strip out all my mods and start a new game fresh. Funcom has done a good job of implementing a lot of quality of life stuff since I last played it plain. Just having fun in single player mode and starting my new empire from the ground up. I have more hours in this game than anything else I have ever played.

Started my taxes.

It does seem to introduce a new Mad Max style faction, so that's something. Not that the game lacks factions, mind you, but I guess this could replace the rather lackluster raiders that you encounter in a few places. But honestly I'd rather them give some depth to the Pandorans. At this point you will spend more time dealing with human factions than combatting the global threat.

Phoenix Point is good, and some of the DLC has really improved the game experience. I'm not a fan of vehicles, so this one doesn't strike my fancy. But the game is definitely worth a spin, particularly if you like the Xcom style of games. It has more of a slow strategy game approach than the fast progression of the newer Xcom games, but I'd say try it out if you own it.

Paramount+ is 99 cents through Amazon Prime. Not to tempt you, but I did just finish up the Real World Season 1 reunion on the service. I cut the cable cord years ago though, so I have a decent budget for streaming services.

This is always a matter of historical khan-text. I'll show myself out.

I have students debating whether the Mongols were civilized or barbaric in class, and they are using posters to illustrate their arguments. My favorite so far starts with "The Mongols: It's All About the Khan-text".

I'm not entirely sure if it is a lack of quality content. I'd actually say that, as we age, it gets harder to find exciting content that fits our preference because WE have changed as we have gotten older. I've already seen a lot, so it gets harder and harder to find something new and exciting. I mean, there certainly is a lot more content out than there was when I was growing up. Granted quantity doesn't equal quality, but pretty much every genre of game is getting solid releases every year, even if some rely on smaller indie studios. Anyways, nothing wrong with becoming more discerning and cautious of your time as you age, but I hesitate to blame the industries completely. They brought back the Dark Crystal, for heaven's sake. Sure, Netflix cancelled it after a season, but there is clearly a lot of work out there to try and tap into new niches.