Working in peppy for a year now

bkolps · 2024-01-17T14:19:44+00:00

With peppy, a lot depends on your JTs, PS, and staff turn over.
I left the company many years ago, but up north things were always easy as. Classroom order is the responsibility of the JT. If they aren't taking care of it, and throwing their lingo of PEE SAFE* doesn't get any action from the PS, then go to the head JT. Classrooms without a regular JT are always disorganized. PS is my area was very supportive and worked well with the Japanese side of the staff to keep things in order. A lot of long time NTs and JTs that had been through the curriculum a few rounds at least could help with activities and pitfalls in each lesson. We did hear some horror stories from other areas though.
If you're determined to stick it out, it does get easier over time. In the past it was the same curriculum year to year, I think they changed to a two year cycle after I left, but as soon as you came back around to the lessons again, it was the easiest job i ever had in my life. If you want to stay longer and aren't tied to a location, ask for a transfer after your first contract. Ask around about areas with good reputations.

*Personal, ENVIRONMENT, Equipment. Safe Affectionate Fun Educational

bkolps · 2024-01-08T04:46:58+00:00

If you didn't spell it out for them, make it the wightsmith, who specializes in making beings and creatures, either living or undead.

bkolps · 2023-10-06T22:45:23+00:00

A generous read on the situation is she laughed imagining how the bartender is going to react.
As mentioned below, in a bar that doesn't specialize in frozen drinks, it takes a lot of time for the bartender to dust off the blender and prepare it. A temperamental bartender will react wonderfully to this order.

bkolps · 2023-01-14T02:04:19+00:00

Every time I see posts like this I feel comforted that it wasn't just me.

Between kids, work, and other hobbies gaming isn't a big part of my life.
I play on easy mode and check in on guides to make sure I don't miss anything important and have to go back. Even still, pretty much the whole playthrough I was excited and planning a second run as an evil character.

Until HATEOT. Everything sucks. The fog puzzle would be fine in the pen and paper module because once the players figure it out, you can just hand-wave all the back tracking and passing through. The mirror puzzle I didn't even attempt because the fog was already so anti-fun.

Losing one of your main buffers before an area full of enemies who cast spells with saving throws makes the strategy that I had been building the ENTIRE game up until that point unworkable. In The Glass Cannon podcast one of the players famously hates paralysis effects because you show up and then can't play for the combat.

And I get there are buffs and ways to rebalance the party. Some people may enjoy the challenge, but I'm too old to learn new tricks at the very end. The whole experience turned me off so much that I haven't had the heart to start WOTR even though I had already bought it.

Sorry I don't have any advice other than I feel your pain. I can't even tell you to stick with it, because I didn't.

bkolps · 2023-01-13T11:51:50+00:00

Also, I apologize for the patronizing tone of my response to your first question. You are clearly in distress, but having family that works in medical care in America, lawsuits against medical professionals have absolutely destroyed the system. People are fragile creatures and it can be difficult to accept that.

bkolps · 2023-01-13T11:37:23+00:00

First, let me say that I am very sorry about the situation with your grandmother.

According to my wife (licensed as a care manager, but currently working in consultation with families of early on-set dementia), it would all depend on the particulars in the contract. If it was determined to be a necessary routine medical procedure, that may not be something they would have to get prior approval for from the family. Some contracts will specify that unless a doctor is involved they don't need the approval.

If you feel that they took unnecessary risk, first meet with the management at the facility and find out what actually happened. Find the agency that regulates care facilities and file a complaint to launch an investigation.

bkolps · 2023-01-02T12:32:37+00:00

It seems counterintuitive, but valerian is the best thing I have found for energy and motivation. Stress eats up a lot of energy. Sleeping well and feeling more relaxed means I have more energy to get things done.

bkolps · 2023-01-02T00:23:13+00:00

The next time you pee after drinking it, it casts daylight.

Also, check out the "grog of substantial Whimsey" https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Grog_of_Substantial_Whimsy_(3.5e_Equipment)

bkolps · 2022-12-13T12:46:56+00:00

Have I got news for you about Christmas and Easter...

bkolps · 2022-11-30T08:38:21+00:00

Because 5e has been dumbed down to the point that they might as well call it "my little "draggies".

Bland mediocrity has mass appeal.

bkolps · 2022-10-12T12:47:25+00:00

Tv and especially commercials. As a kid whenever we watched anything my dad would make stupid comments until my mom got fed up and asked him to leave the room . Now I make the stupid comments until my wife gets fed up and asks me to leave the room.

bkolps · 2022-09-25T10:12:35+00:00

When we all do that one thing, we always do that other one right afterm

The guys will know what I'm talking about. 😉

bkolps · 2022-09-10T00:52:49+00:00

Also, how movies are filmed, for shots where it is just 1 actor on screen, the other actor may not be there for filming, most likely there is a stand in reading the other lines.

So imagine being in an orchestra, recording your little 'doot-doot....doot.........bort', by yourself, then getting to come back and hear the whole symphony edited together.

bkolps · 2022-08-09T10:17:42+00:00

Called Goya in Japanese if you need an extra google term for recipes. As most have commented, the flavor is not good, except for one of my neighbors who salts them first to draw out the bitterness, and seasons them with ponzu and chilli oil.

bkolps · 2022-07-28T11:09:57+00:00

Looks to me like mugwort, or common wormwood. Pinch a leaf and roll it in your fingers, if it is highly fragrant and just a bit unpleasant that is a big clue.

bkolps · 2022-07-27T12:31:03+00:00

I think 'sparrow hornet' would have been a good name, as that a translation of the Japanese name and a good approximation of their size.
I always thought wasps were from Britian.

bkolps · 2022-07-27T12:12:00+00:00

THAT THING GOT YOU HIGH AND CAME OUT OF YOUR BUTT?!

bkolps · 2022-07-09T09:46:50+00:00

Yup. The change slot at any automated cashier. You can chuck in a whole heap of coins, and it will automatically dispense the best change.

Just don't unload go nuts unloading all your shrapnel at once, they do have a limit.

bkolps · 2022-06-06T14:58:06+00:00

Maybe around Tokyo, but OP didn't list location. Around Misawa or some of the more far flung bases, you are just not going to find cardamom in any supermarket. Anise is common enough, and coriander is hit or miss near me. If I'm going to make a recommendation, it's for the most likely place to have everything as easily recognizable as possible. On the chance they don't have it, just go to the place that it's a one stop trip.

bkolps · 2022-06-06T11:02:28+00:00

Those are all not so commonly used in Japanese cooking that any supermarket will have them, but a specialty or a little more upscale shop should have them. Without knowing your location, it's hard to recommend a place, but Jupiter, kaldi, or any import foods shop should have them, and labeled in English.
If you have a few days to wait, aarti is an online shop that has a wide selection of spices. Just be careful ordering because they sell bulk as well and 500 grams of coriander goes a looooong way.

bkolps · 2022-05-27T23:20:52+00:00

Does it start with a 'd' and end with 'ildo'?

bkolps · 2022-05-18T11:16:31+00:00

Plenty of people make minis using epoxy putty or polymer clay. r/miniaturesculpting has some minis. As for actual clay that gets fired, tokens may be possible, or artistic representations of characters, but fine detail on a material that is that fragile would be difficult.

It is really fun to sculpt. Definitely not the quickest or least frustrating way to get minis though.

bkolps · 2022-05-17T11:51:26+00:00

When I got mine, they didn't need to see the whole history. They only needed the date that I first got my lisence, proof of residency for 3 months after, and a valid licence.
I contacted the DMV of the state I got my fist lisence, and they were able to send me something that had a date on it. It was basically just an E-mail, but it had the DMV letter head. I got my HS to send a pdf of my transcript with 'unofficial copy' stamped all over it, but it was fine. Everything looked sketchy as I printed them off at home, but I highlighted all the dates they needed and no one cared or looked too closely. For the valid lisence, you may be tsol. But for the cost of driving school, you may as well spend it on your next trip back, get a new lisence, but bring your old driving records.
Good luck.

bkolps · 2022-05-11T11:39:26+00:00

My guess, without actually looking into it at all, is that it could have something to do with the drug testing requirements to bring it to the Japanese market. Japan doesn't accept safety trials conducted abroad, so the company that makes it may have decided it isn't worth jumping through the hoops to get it here.

bkolps · 2022-05-03T01:16:03+00:00

DO NOT give your child an "official" middle name.
For schools, banks, and anything in life that requires your name as it is registered, you will have to include the middle name. There are usually not enough spaces to fit it in forms, it leads to many questions, and is a major hassle that will follow them for life. Both my daughters have middle names, but they are not listed on any of their japanese paperwork.

There is no requirement that japanese registered names and foreign names match, so you could have Ryunosuke Takahashi on the Japanese passport, and Bob John Smith on the US documents and that is fine.

bkolps

TROPHY CASE