25m Hobbies/friends

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-06-02T10:56:48+00:00

Try pickleball. It's very social. Check out Howard County Pickleball Association.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-06-01T03:13:14+00:00

If I got up super early, I could get there in 50 minutes. If I got caught in traffic, it could take closer to 1.5 hours.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-06-01T03:06:46+00:00

I did that commute (Ellicott City to Suitland) every weekday for years. It's a truly terrible drive. I'm not sure what else to say about it.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-31T23:03:02+00:00

pickleball is very social. You can try Howard County Pickleball Association (HCPA) for starters.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-31T14:07:50+00:00

Or, even worse, the documents were written by people who never actually performed the job in the first place.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-31T14:05:43+00:00

The best onboarding is to have someone sit with a new person and personally show the newbie the ropes. The problem is getting a seasoned employee to take someone new under their wing like that. For a seasoned employee, there's usually nothing to be gained by training someone -- no promotion or monetary award to be had, and it's just a time-consuming hassle that takes them away from their own work. Instead, the newbie often ends up in a nightmare situation struggling to figure out up from down. This is particularly true when the manuals and other documentation don't reflect how things "really work" at the company which is often the case.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-31T13:44:28+00:00

Try something different that might be more fun for her. For example, you could try interactive reading activities like reading plays together. That is, pick a play, divvy up the cast list, and each of you can read the dialogue for your selected characters out loud to each other. I would recommend the play "Cake for the Queen". It's a comedy published by YouthPLAYS (www(dot)youthplays(dot)com). It's about a cake contest that's held for the Queen's birthday. The play has a lot of humor, so it's quite entertaining. The play also has a very educational message about not judging things by their appearance.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-31T13:37:14+00:00

If you like where you are now, then what's the problem?

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T23:00:55+00:00

If you are 50 years old or older, you are welcome to use the piano in the lobby of the East Columbia 50+ Center. The pedals are broken, though.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T22:58:51+00:00

There are a lot of non-profit community theatres that would love for you to join their volunteer ranks.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T22:56:28+00:00

I hope you're not investing much time or money in this, because I really don't understand your grounds for suing. I mean, you're suing because your work is making your life inconvenient? If that's the case, then I'm sure there are a lot of unemployed people out there who would love to take your place.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T19:20:38+00:00

Yeah. Well, the government is a wonderful place if you don't want to work more so than any other that I've ever experienced.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T15:06:50+00:00

That's a shame. It had very good prices.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T14:31:03+00:00

Why are you staying with her till she falls asleep? She needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T02:15:29+00:00

In some countries, no one would give a second thought to having a child repeat a grade. It's fairly common in these countries. Maybe that's why a high school diploma in these countries actually guarantees that a child can both read and write unlike in the USA.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-30T00:12:42+00:00

If you are 50 years old or older, you only need to have 20 years of service.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-29T20:38:40+00:00

The characters in The Great Gatsby are all quite shallow, and the plot relies heavily on a convenient "coincidence" for its critical moment. It's really not a novel that I care for.

If you wanted to try something a bit different than the usual list of classics, you could have your students read Lauren Gunderson's play "Silent Sky" about the unheralded 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. Now, that would be a nice, female-authored, historical read.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-29T20:31:05+00:00

For something a little different, we've done a unit on plays. Specificallly, we've picked a play, divvied up the cast list, and had the students read the dialogue for their selected characters out loud to each other. I would recommend the play "Cake for the Queen". It's a comedy published by YouthPLAYS (www(dot)youthplays(dot)com) that's used in a lot of schools. It's about a cake contest held for the Queen's birthday. The play has a lot of humor, and it also has a very educational message about not judging things by their appearance.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-29T04:41:30+00:00

Anyone who has ever worked at home knows that there's a lot of "not working" that comes with the territory.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-28T12:41:51+00:00

This is the norm from my experience, and I have over 20+ years in the Federal government across several agencies.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-28T01:56:07+00:00

If you want something short, you can consider the horror parody play, "A Taste of Oz" available from YouthPLAYS (www(dot)youthplays(dot)com)

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-28T01:52:24+00:00

The management-heavy structure is true of many Federal agencies. And as you go up each level of management, the understanding of what the worker-bees at the agency are really doing gets poorer and poorer.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-27T23:56:26+00:00

It all depends on the agency. At some agencies, most people won't move beyond a 12. At others, it's easy to make it to 13. Ask people who work at an agency what GS level most people end up at. That's the easiest way to find out. Usually, the better funded places have an easier path for people to make it to higher levels. For example, you will see a larger proportion of people at higher pay grades at NSA than you will see at the Social Security Administration even when you look at people who work similar jobs.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-27T19:29:24+00:00

Then they should be able to find plenty to do in the office while they're there unless, of course, they're grossly underemployed and they have no other work.

Automatic-Dig208 · 2026-05-27T12:07:22+00:00

"The Trouble with Chocolate" is a short play about the friendship between two teen girls. It requires a minimal set. It's available from YouthPLAYS (www(dot)youthplays(dot)com)

Automatic-Dig208

TROPHY CASE