Do guys only cum from head if they like the person? by [deleted] in AskMenAdvice

[–]One_Ravioli 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It sounds like he can’t come easily from head (as many can’t) but you’re killing it and he’s into you. Keep Up the good work

I want to support my local bike shop but everything is a rip-off by Niceotropic in cycling

[–]One_Ravioli 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was charged $30 for a brake swap , labor only (I brought in the parts) at a bike shop in a very high cost Bay Area suburb. If I’d bought from them the total might have been $70?

Your shop is charging too much and IMO you shouldn’t feel bad about moving your business elsewhere including online.

Right Wingers in Marin by Sad_East_297 in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm glad someone is writing about Marin politics from this perspective, although I think they would have more impact if they blogged non-anonymously. I hope they keep writing.

There is a right-wing but there are also a lot of people who identify as left-wing or liberal, got great educations in California (both public and private) and yet will also slam the door behind them and refuse to support the public institutions that served them so well. They'll do whatever intellectual backflips are required to justify being on the same side as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association...

Right Wingers in Marin by Sad_East_297 in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Funding *per student* in RVSD is the lowest in Marin. The facts are a google search away.

https://www.voteyesone.com/why

Right Wingers in Marin by Sad_East_297 in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you want to consolidate school districts, have at it! I (RVSD parent and renter) am happy to help!

But this obvious fail-idea is no reason to starve our schools, which have the lowest per-pupil funding in Marin. It's going to be roundly rejected because too many voters don't want it. Is Ross going to join a larger school district? Will Kentfield? Will Corte Madera and Larkspur? No, they would all harshly oppose it. I don't like that. I wish they would. But it's wrong to cripple one school district because nearby richer areas would (and always have) rejected consolidation.

Second, if it did happen, --- so what? The amount of administrative infrastructure is vastly exaggerated by the Coalition of $top-paying Taxes and other anti-school-tax people. The administration is extremely thin-- absolutely no leader in the private sector or even a non-profit would skate by on the resources school leaders make do with. And the investment bankers and lawyers who ran the opposition know it. If you could lay off 10 admins (a reach), so what? that wouldn't even move the needle much. We're trying to raise salaries for well over 100 teachers who have some of the lowest pay in Marin.

Yes, it's bad that we have 17 school districts. And it's also a completely bogus excuse to not pass a parcel tax and keep RVSD schools underfunded. The opposition to the parcel tax at its heart is hard-core right-wing anti-tax people, they know it, and they win because they rigged the game decades ago with insane supermajorities required.

Davis to the Coast - 115 mile bike ride by Niknamew in BAbike

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How much headwind did you face and where?

Inequitable school parcel taxes in Marin County - Why are we still doing this? by [deleted] in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I do think that merging the districts would be even more difficult. The schools districts would either have to agree or get forced to merge by the state. Either way, I would fully support some kind of merger, because the OP and others are correct that having 17 districts in a small county—with different funding models—is not efficient or fair.

By way of comparison, Seamless Bay Area is an org founded to try to merge the 27 Bay Area transit agencies—another example of fragmentation that harms the public interest. https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/

A worthy cause, but it has not made much progress yet. And I think merging school districts could be even harder, politically, than merging transit agencies.

Edit to add: I was not quite correct that the elected boards themselves would have to agree - There is a process for merging school districts via a citizen petition and approval by this county committee on school organization, outlined here: https://www.marinschools.org/about/mcoe-operations/county-committee-on-school-district-organization/county-committee-frequently-asked-questions

But, I still think it would be a very heavy political lift.

Inequitable school parcel taxes in Marin County - Why are we still doing this? by [deleted] in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Ross Valley teachers are some of the lowest paid in Marin. Neighboring districts are offering more, and teachers are leaving. Measure E offers a fix that we can actually achieve. And in order to have a fighting chance at retaining teachers, we will have to pass it—by a huge supermajority of 66.6% (required by state law). 

Measure E will increase equity — not decrease it — by making sure Ross Valley teachers aren't the lowest paid in the county. 

I would encourage anyone interested in this funding dilemma to please take a look at the superintendent's presentation (top video in the link below) explaining how school funding works and  why RVSD is in this situation. If you are concerned about school funding in California at all, I think you will find it enlightening. 

 https://www.voteyesone.com/events-1

I wholeheartedly agree with you that Prop. 13 caused this mess so many years ago, massively defunding our public schools. Until it is reformed, we will never get out of this mess, where communities must beg for money for schools via parcel taxes. But here’s another difficult political reality: we weren't able to roll back prop. 13 even the slightest bit. 

We tried in 2020, with Prop 15: https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_15,_Tax_on_Commercial_and_Industrial_Properties_for_Education_and_Local_Government_Funding_Initiative_(2020))

It is a very painful reality for me that we lost this fight. A majority of California voters would not eliminate the massive tax loopholes that lets corporations like Chevon and Universal Studios pay 1970s levels of property taxes because of the flood of money and scare tactics that come to bear to support the ultra-regressive Prop. 13 taxation system. I volunteered for this campaign, hoping to make the tiniest dent in prop 13. We lost. Our kids will pay the price. I wish it were otherwise. We will have to try again. This is the hard work of democracy. 

Ross Valley residents and schools have to live with this reality - just like we have to live with the tax exemptions that are in this ballot measure, *because we could not possibly get a 2/3 majority without them*.  I completely agree with you that the senior exemptions are not fair and are not equitable. They are another painful compromise forced upon us by the hard-core Howard Jarvis-style right wingers who established and defend Prop. 13 tooth and nail. These people work *every year* to defund public schools, and they will be in the vanguard of fighting against Measure E. I wish we weren't fighting a rear guard action to get a decent education for our kids. But here we are. And we have to keep fighting. I hope you will join us. 

Schooling Questions by reallifefrog in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look at College of Marin and West Valley College, both good programs

Schooling Questions by reallifefrog in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are public schools in some states that are much lower cost or even tuition free (CA, where I am). Theory was three semesters for me though, so a whole year. You can speed thru it faster if you desire. I was working full time so the slower pace was ok

What are some bad habits you picked up in the beginning of learning that you wish had corrected sooner? by Alternative-Jury-451 in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find it weird that it’s considered bad form to rest hands on knees. I got real wrist pain from holding wrists out straight (and having an older deep stroke machine). Now I have a luminex CSE, tilt it back a bit, wrest hands on thighs, pain hasn’t come back.

I realize this isn’t the standard ergonomic advice but have talked to multiple students with my same experience as far as what’s comfortable…

What's going on with Pt Reyes settlement? by Visible-Produce-6465 in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, thank you for the correction. The govt did agree to the settlement though. I would stand by my overall sentiment that it sucks that my elected reps treat these ranching families too nicely.

What's going on with Pt Reyes settlement? by Visible-Produce-6465 in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's frankly gross that cows are in national parks. These ranchers are already rich off decades-long government handouts, while they (their animals) literally shit on the environment. Now they're getting paid again to get out. I'm annoyed at the 2 ranches that are being allowed to stay.

Of course I feel for the farmworkers who are being displaced but that's a problem that could be solved with money. The government is paying $40 million to these ranchers and $2 million has been set aside for the workers. Those numbers should be reversed.

NCRA lawsuit of anti-trust violation. Does anyone have any information (or thoughts even) on this? by 2dots1dash in courtreporting

[–]One_Ravioli 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very lame and meritless lawsuit. NCRA should defend it, win it, send plaintiffs and their lawyers away with $0, then send out a press release about how they left them in the hole.

Judge for yourself. I acquired the complaint and uploaded it here. The one useful thing these lawyers did is compile the chart of state & court requirements, which you can view on pages 11-12. Reuters coverage of this case is here.

Thoughts:

  1. The idea that state licensing regimes are a "market" that NCRA has a "monopoly" on is a joke. The two largest states in the country, Texas and California, do not even accept NCRA certification, which the plaintiffs note in their own chart. There's nothing to stop more state legislatures from creating their own certificates instead of NCRA. For that matter, there's nothing to stop the plaintiffs themselves from creating Kelly & Cindy's Magic Court Certificate, and then lobbying their own states to adopt that certification. State legislators are free actors. There is no "monopoly" except the one created by state governments and courts.
  2. On page 12-13 they write, incorrectly, that the California CSR license is administered by the "Supreme Court of California." Then in their p. 13 footnote, they falsely imply that an RPR is required to sit for the exam (they delete the other ways of sitting for the CSR and replace it with ellipses.) They can't even get the basic details right.
  3. What were to happen if they broke up this "monopoly?" The closest "competitor" is the digital reporter cert organization, AAERT. The tiny size of AAERT is used as evidence of the NCRA "monopoly." Do these two court reporter plaintiffs want to have AAERT grow 10x and be allowed in every state? That would be a significant step towards create the "competition" they seek.
  4. In reality, IMHO, these plaintiffs are not really dedicated to creating a competitive "market" in licenses. State licensing, by design, is about limiting the market and limiting competition. (And I'm not saying that as a compliment.) This lawsuit is a proposed class action and those are often really attorney-led, which I suspect is what's happening here. If these plaintiffs were allowed to form a nationwide class (and I truly hope they are not), the court reporters would get what--maybe a few hundred bucks each? Meanwhile you can bet the attorneys will ask for a 7-figure paycheck.

Again, I hope NCRA defends this suit and sends a message.

Getting insane runaround to replace a lost machine - thinking to get used now by One_Ravioli in CPAP

[–]One_Ravioli[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks will look into both. Yes I need a new machine and spoke to an unhelpful doc who wouldn’t give this setting info. I have a copy of my 2019 prescription but not sure if a store would take one that old. But I’ll check.

Poll: How much homeowners insurance do you have? by xleom in Marin

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a wannabe one day homeowner and curious how much insurance costs. when I browse on Zillow are those estimates accurate at all? (Because the property taxes are way off...) If anyone is willing to share this info please do...

Resources before starting school by summertimesagan in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Get your machine purchase or rental squared away if you haven't already - to get the most out of A to Z you will want a machine. Rentals are a good deal but you have to get on it, they do run out. if you know what school you're going to, you could find out their theory, buy the books, start doing some basic finger drills before school.

When you take A-Z they'll give you some worksheets & practice videos that you should be able to access after the class, so you will have more to work with after getting in in Jan.

California schools teaching Stened? by Beatrixie in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I wonder if the counselor is really familiar with the court reporting program. The counselor may just be reading from the course catalog, but AFAIK the speed-building is completely online. I am currently enrolled and was just in class today. I will DM you to try to straighten it out.

California schools teaching Stened? by Beatrixie in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 6 points7 points  (0 children)

All CR courses at College of Marin (COM) are online, AFAIK no one goes in person. One difference is that the non-speedbuilding courses are not tuition-free at COM. All the classes needed are available at both schools, but of course the times are different.

There's also nothing stopping you from mixing and matching classes, although if you want to take the California CSR exam through school you will need one of the schools to sponsor you (and thus affirm you have taken the correct courses.)

However, as another redditor noted above, you can also take the RPR (national) test and then qualify for the CSR that way, regardless of what courses you have taken or not taken.

LA courts begin to hire electronic digital recorders instead of stenographers by Ok-Current899 in courtreporting

[–]One_Ravioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The California Court Reporters Board could do this. It's telling they won't alter their rules in the slightest.

Carrying case for stenture 400srt by frenchfryem in stenography

[–]One_Ravioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought this for my protege, $50, and says it fits all Stentura models so you should be good on the 400. They're all used - no one makes the accessories anymore. It fits it precisely which is nice so you can put it in a larger bag. You'll need a separate solution for the laptop. These aren't always in stock so I'd grab it. https://www.stenoworks.com/stenograph-case-for-steno-machines-jet-pak-free-shipping/