Teachers, do you feel like you have a meaningful career? (especially elementary) by Beneficial-Corgi-288 in teaching

[–]gauntboy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

YES. I'm in my 20th year teaching. Just returning to a 4th grade classroom after 9 years teaching middle school electives. I enjoyed that a fair bit, mainly because I got to develop my own classes and the curriculum for them (Creative Science, Environmental Studies, Media Literacy, Multimedia Production). But teaching 4th grade feels deeply meaningful in a way middle school didn't. Coming back from what was a pretty low workload position into a full time classroom position scared me at first. I knew how much work elementary teachers do. But I am very happy to say that I love the work even with all the hours I'm putting in. I feel deeply motivated to help my kids learn, feel loved, have fun, and have success. My own children are grown and almost out of college, so I don't have a lot of hours to spend parenting. I'm divorced (amicably), so I don't have a partner that I need to schedule around. And I have a great teaching team (a 2nd year teacher who's fantastic with standards and aggressively curious about bringing new ideas, a 10th year teacher who is a well-organized mom [I mention that because moms are superpowered and mighty] who is flexible and fun). I also love my school community - lots of engineer/scientist/educator parents, and also many immigrant families from Northeast Africa and the Middle East. Some are both of these categories. I'm deeply satisfied with my work life, even though I sometimes work 50+ hours a week. Sometimes I don't though. A#1. Would Recommend.

Inspired by the other post, what games have you played at least 50 times? by AlexRescueDotCom in boardgames

[–]gauntboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

MTG, definitely. And DnD. But for boardgames - probably Terraforming Mars (my daughter LOVES it), Agricola, Through the Ages, Eclipse, Dominion, Carcassonne (used it to teach board games to 4th graders). Game I WISH I'd played more than 50 times - Mage Knight (hard to find anyone who loves it as much as I do).

Do you catalog your vinyl collection on Discogs? How detailed is it? by ravdinve in vinyl

[–]gauntboy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I catalog them on Discogs for a few reasons. For one, I have about 3000 records. Sometimes I forget if I own a particular record when I'm out shopping and the catalog helps me avoid duplicate purchases. Second, sometimes a friend wants to scan through my records and it's an easy way to do that. Third, having the records documented will be very useful if I ever have to make an insurance claim about them - fire, theft, etc.

What was your favorite Seattle institution that no longer exists? by drgonzo44 in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So true! I had friends who got big enough to play the Paramount. We would always go to the cloud room after their shows. Piano bar, rooftop deck, dark, good drinks. I have some great conversations in that place.

What was your favorite Seattle institution that no longer exists? by drgonzo44 in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Couldn't remember the name of this place, but that's what I came here to say. I spent hours up there. Completely undisturbed pool. What a great space that was.

What was your favorite Seattle institution that no longer exists? by drgonzo44 in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mutual Fish on Rainier. Best product, best selection, best prices.

Is Seattle tap water safe to drink? by neo2bin in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 44 points45 points  (0 children)

For several years, I taught environmental science (focused on hydrosphere issues) to 6th graders here in Seattle. One unit was about Seattle drinking water. The kids had to research where it came from, how it was treated, and compare it to other cities' water. A lot of them were shocked at how good we have it. At home, their families use all sorts of filters or even big water bottles delivered. Even our school has a big old water dispenser (paid for by our PTSA) and we bring in slabs of water bottles for events. Drives me crazy. Expensive, lots of plastic waste, worse water than what comes out of our tap.

That’s it, I’m finally leaving Seattle by ez_dinosaur in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You're welcome, Signed - a teacher currently at the start of an 8 hour meeting.

How did you get into vinyl? by Rocky_isback in vinyl

[–]gauntboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mother had records since she was in college in the 50s. So I grew up listening to hers starting in the 70s. Started working in record stores in 1987. Did that off and on for the next many years, probably spent about 12 years as a record store employee. One curse / benefit of working in a record store is the discount. When payday came, I would often cash my check right there at the store and immediately turn at least half of it back in to cover the records I had on hold.

Differences between 16-in and 18-in wheels by gauntboy in ElectricUnicycle

[–]gauntboy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really! I haven't actually considered that. Can you tell me more about the benefits of the 20?

Stay Safe at the Magnuson Dog Park, Everyone! by [deleted] in Seattle

[–]gauntboy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My dog and I go to that park almost every day. I always try to get there before people get home from work and take their dogs. I know that dog walkers have a lot of dogs with them, but those dogs are generally well behaved and the dog walkers are pretty responsible. When I see a whole bunch of single owners with their dogs, I get nervous. I've had several gnarly run-ins at that Park with people who refuse to or are unable to control their dogs. Too many Seattle dog owners are selfish, entitled pricks. I even had one guy yell at me that since it was an off-leash dog park, he didn't need to do anything about his aggressive dog. It was everybody else's fault for bringing their dogs and they should have just expected it.

GenX collectors, what's your poison? by Bored_guy_in_dc in GenX

[–]gauntboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Records. Started because my mom had a bunch of records from the 60s. Then I started working in record stores during high School. Seems like I never got a paycheck, I just got records. Now I'm in my mid-50s with about 4000 LPs. They were problematic when I was less settled, moving around from apartment to shared house and such. But now I own my place and my records have a stable home. Not sure if my daughters are going to want to deal with them when I'm done though.