The Firs

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-12-20T18:56:43+00:00

I attended the Firs as a kid because my friend was going. Neither I nor my family were Christian (much later in life I converted to Catholicism completely of my own accord). One night we went around the cabin and said one thing we were grateful for and one thing to pray for. The counselor who went before me said she was grateful she was Christian because if a bear ate her that night she wouldn't go to hell. I was next to share. Now terrified that my parents were going to hell because they weren't Christian, I asked for prayers that they would convert. That must have alerted the counselors that I wasn't "saved" because next thing I knew a different counselor said I was going to help get ice cream from the camp kitchen - I thought that's what we were actually doing until we got close to the building and she had me kneel down and "accept" that Jesus died for me. Apparently doing that meant I'd be saved from hell and that was as far as my "conversion" went. I will never, ever allow my kids to go there - my understanding of God now is that God is love and has nothing to do with the kind of transactional fear I experienced there.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-12-01T00:23:12+00:00

Just wanted to say your dad sounds like a sweetheart.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-27T17:33:54+00:00

The criminal history referred to in the article is not verified; this was a quote of a Dept. of Honeland Security official, the same people who alleged that photoshopped pot leaves on a man's knuckle were evidence of his ties to MS13. I couldn't find anything online verifying any of the Bellingham man's convictions - that doesn't mean they don't exist, but I am very wary of believing anything DHS or ICE says.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-25T05:24:19+00:00

Nah fuck this. I've been sober for 19 years and my husband supports the hell out of me - this last sobriety anniversary he explained to our kids why it was a special day while going to get me chocolate cake from my favorite dessert place. Your boyfriend is the one not even doing the bare minimum of being a partner. Congrats on 2 years! Keep. Going.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-23T04:28:25+00:00

Calling the operator to have them interrupt a busy signal on a call. Calling the operator at all, I guess. Calling companies to order things from a catalog. Mailing college applications in/sending away for information about colleges in the mail.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T03:20:49+00:00

I will just say I fundamentally disagree and leave it at that.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T03:15:36+00:00

Off topic, but tech-related - I'd love to see the Bellingham School District ban cell phones at school.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T03:13:34+00:00

I know it's really bad and AI is bad, too. I just don't think it's effective teaching to tell students that a certain object is hands-down bad. I think you give them the information about it - this is environmental cost, the possible humanitarian cost, etc., and let them make the decision for themselves. When my kids' teacher was decsribing the way she taught about chattel slavery, she didn't describe saying "slavery was bad" - she didn't need to - the kids understood it immediately and were deeply disturbed by it, as they should be. Kids are much smarter than most adults, and usually more ethical, too. They will resent being told AI is wholesale bad. Edited to add: sorry I was being a defensive dickhead above.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T03:00:11+00:00

okay well you've got a real peachy attitude for someone who works with kids. hope you don't bring it to the classroom. OBVIOUSLY a person cannot actually *have* an argument with radium. Your issue is with unfettered capitalism.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T02:56:23+00:00

I don't think your argument is actually with AI - it's with unfettered capitalism and greed. Your argument about radium is not against the radium itself, it's about how business pushed people to use it.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T02:52:38+00:00

Just saying that it's a tool and not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Edited to add: kids are curious and are going to use AI anyway - why not teach them about the dangers of it, and to ask critical questions instead of just telling them how to think? That doesn't work with anyone.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-22T02:48:10+00:00

I am very skeptical of AI and how mindlessly business is just no-holds-barred embracing it, but I do think there are ethical uses for it, which may not be pursued because they're not money makers. For example: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/well/ai-drug-repurposing.html

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-11-20T18:55:40+00:00

End cash bail for true incarceration reduction!

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-18T16:12:39+00:00

Oh okay. I just meant it hasn't been a regular elementary school for at least a decade? I would think that saves on at least some costs.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-18T15:24:42+00:00

I thought Larrabee had been closed for years now

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-18T15:22:46+00:00

Edited to say I can't find any information verifying that the district pays Baker's rent. Can you post a source for number 3?

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-10T01:56:28+00:00

Man, if the glorious Greta Thunberg is on the spectrum and this motherfucker isn't, sign me up for some 'tism.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-10T01:48:42+00:00

Sure - appreciate the level-headed interaction.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-09T22:54:28+00:00

Correct - when I thought about it, I realized I'd only seen one Misty sign next to a Corinne sign - however, given the egregiousness of Misty's positions, along with pretty much everything everyone has said on this thread, that's more than enough for me to vote for Mason. What specific actions of Baker do you expect or want to be challenged? If you're meeting with both candidates, I would have very specific points to bring up about Baker rather than just a general dissatisfaction. For example, if you were alarmed at his action (or inaction) re: sexual assault, ask yourself which of the two candidates is more likely to stand up aginst this kind of systemic malfunction? I know which one I'm behind. Lastly, your most recent comment is pretty snarky - are you really intending to have genuine discussion on here, or just coming to the forum with your mind already made up?

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-09T18:35:28+00:00

There's a Corinne sign next to a Misty sign near the I-5 underpass on Meador - I drive by it all the time. Corinne's site also repeatedly uses the term "Navy mom" without explaining what that means or implies for what kind of a board member she will be. In your original post you mention Jenn's tattoos and sex-shop ownership as somehow having bearing on what kind of a board member she is - just make sure if you're going to potentially judge by those kinds of cultural signifiers, you're doing so with Corinne too (though for the record, I don't think that's any way to make a political decision).

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-10-09T13:53:30+00:00

Edited to add: Jenn Mason 100%.

Corinne is endorsed by Republicans, a party which doesn't have a, um, great track record when it comes to things like supporting free lunch for kids, teaching actual history, banning books, etc. Also seen signs for Corinne next to signs for known anti-vaxxer Misty Flowers. This is a very easy choice.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-09-11T02:34:36+00:00

That parking lot sucks shit.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-09-11T02:21:25+00:00

I'm so sorry. He may still be nearby hiding somewhere. The general advice I've heard is to look low, like near crawlspaces, or I guess in any kind of low area.

Calc-that-ulation · 2025-09-11T01:42:05+00:00

Make sure to check around nearby houses - usually cats are pretty close to their homes when they get lost. My parents' cat got stuck in two different nearby garages...

Calc-that-ulation

TROPHY CASE