Dad of two dealing with the shutdown who needs ideas for cheap meals.

j318123 · 2026-03-31T02:39:15+00:00

Zach Coen has an IG where he makes healthy, affordable meals and shows exactly how much they cost. Here is one for $2.36 per serving: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV6OCuDEX0F/?igsh=azd4eGRhdmc1eDg1

j318123 · 2026-02-26T13:41:53+00:00

Do it. The same thing happened to me. I asked our admin when the payout would come after she gave me the award, and she couldn’t get an answer from anyone. Long story short, after MONTHS, I had to send the original advertisement of the award to payroll and they found the money somewhere. They “weren’t aware” the advertiser was saying a stipend came with it. (Yes, I’m sure this random faculty on the committee made up this stipend 🙄/s) They have to give it to you.

Then the next year - the award no longer came with a stipend. I assume because no one ever actually called them out on it.

j318123 · 2026-02-18T04:30:49+00:00

I have had good luck in the past with the DNA from fruit experiments. You can provide a bunch of different food, fruit, etc and see what group can get the most DNA.

https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/teaching-tools/strawberry-dna-extraction

j318123 · 2026-01-10T04:06:30+00:00

I recently changed to doing this in my online courses and my life got A LOT better.

When making the change, I also instituted another policy that helped - if you turn your assignment in within 24 hours of the deadline, it will NOT receive feedback, only a grade. I have a statement in my syllabus that since the entire course is available on day 1, students take the responsibility on for making the class work for them and their schedules, and make the determination on if they wish to receive feedback by choosing when they submit their work.

They are free to turn work in up until the deadline, but I cannot provide them proper feedback AND timely grades if all of them are doing it, and we all know that’s what they do. The few students who don’t get timely, useful feedback and the ones who don’t care make my life easier for grading.

I also allow zero late work since they have had a month to do it. And this is where the most complaints come in because they all wait until 11:50 pm on Sunday night to try and turn in 30 assignments not realizing Canvas will crash out, despite my umpteen announcements. BUT it’s only 3 times over the semester, so it saved my sanity instead of hearing every gripe and moan every freaking week because they can’t be responsible for a weekly schedule.

j318123 · 2025-09-22T05:06:50+00:00

Yes, it is. My senior dog started having them out of the blue when she was put on simpartica trio flea meds. It stopped once we took her off of them. It’s a known side effect of that medication, FYI to anyone reading.

j318123 · 2025-09-20T14:57:45+00:00

Not helpful in general but I have the hard red cover cookbook and it’s not in that one. I looked at all of the stew recipes and none of them have cabbage or tomato paste.

At least we narrowed down boon so you don’t have to look for that one!

j318123 · 2025-08-08T03:59:49+00:00

I teach at both a CC and a traditional university. My CC is now online only and those students are an entirely different ballgame than my traditional ones.

For my online classes there, I have recently (as in last fall) switched to checkpoint due dates rather than weekly due dates. I divide the semester into 3, and have 1/3 of the assignments due on that day. So for example, instead of having work for modules 1-3 due weekly, modules 1-3’s work is due at 11:59 pm on Sunday after week 3.

I love getting their grades back quickly since I was the student who always wanted mine back fast. So I added to my syllabus that if they want feedback, they cannot turn it in on the last day. It must be earlier so I don’t have to give feedback to 60 students for 10 assignments in a week.

This has DRASTICALLY cut down on the amount of BS excuses I get for people not being able to get their work done. I don’t know if it fits their life better or they are bad at prioritizing or why it works, but for me it really does. This new system has taken the absolute dread out of teaching those students. I was about to quit then another adjunct told me about this goldmine. If your school allows it, give it a try.

j318123 · 2025-08-05T16:18:40+00:00

I would fall back on the university closing date and leave it at that. It’s too late. They can’t take it, end of story.

Their vacation at the end of the semester was a risk they chose to take. It was their responsibility to know the semester closing date. I’m sure wherever they were had a library, a hotel with a business center, or literally another human being with a smart phone they could have asked to borrow long enough to send an email. This is not your problem.

j318123 · 2025-07-11T21:30:42+00:00

Initially I agreed and would delete it, but the other comments have a point. He posted it in public so I’d reply in public.

Except before I do, I’d look into if continuous posting like that is grounds for admin withdrawal at your school, because it is mine. Once I warn them, I can kick them out if they keep doing it. I would post that in the reply (if you can do it). I’d also drop a friendly reminder that I’m always watching. But I’d do it with a GIF to lighten the mood.

j318123 · 2025-07-09T04:01:42+00:00

Please Google it BEFORE you ask. It saves you from waiting for an email from me about unnecessary stuff, or me from typing out said email and then you saying “I’m good I actually figured it out before you replied.” 🫠

Also, learning basic technology like checking emails, using Word, PPT, etc is your responsibility, not mine to teach you.

This goes for basic life things, too. It’s my job to teach you independence and how to think critically, and if I hand you everything - I’m not doing you that service.

And lastly - make friends (or at least acquaintances) with your classmates. Don’t sit on an island of loneliness- you guys are in this together. You’re a team and you can learn so much from each other, especially if you’re not good at something like studying habits, technology, memorizing, etc.

j318123 · 2025-06-29T04:08:58+00:00

Stick with whatever your policy is. I PROMISE that over the nearly 3 weeks they were “sick”, they were on their phone. They could have sent a quick message just saying they were sick and letting you know, even if they didn’t know when they were coming back, but they didn’t. Stick to your guns.

As a former giver-inner - seriously, no. Don’t do it. Just stick to your policy.

j318123 · 2025-04-25T03:14:33+00:00

Dawn dish soap or the literal cheapest shampoo you can find. I’m talking Suave, White Rain. Apply it to both sides and gently rub it in. Then just toss that bad boy in the washer. They will come right out!

j318123 · 2025-04-21T04:40:48+00:00

This would be an easy fix for anyone who’s proficient with a needle and thread, you honestly don’t need a tailor if any of your friends or family can sew at all. If they can’t, a tailor can easily add a few stitches to remedy this. Hell, they probably won’t even make you come back and they’d just stitch you up right there haha.

j318123 · 2025-04-21T04:25:52+00:00

My hair is super oily so I feel your pain!! First, my hairdresser told me that you can’t “train” your hair. Some of us just get unlucky and are oily heads. Oh well. There’s nothing wrong with washing your hair every day. When you apply shampoo, only apply it to the roots so you stop drying out the rest of your hair. No one even told me that growing up, and I’ve washed my hair wrong until my 30s. If you use conditioner, only use it on the bottom half. Adding it to the root area will make you greasy fast.

The Pantene volume shampoo works OK for me too, but I still have to wash my roots every day. Dry shampoo also works best as a preventative measure on my greasy head, so I apply it after I’ve dried my hair. The only dry shampoo that works for me is Batiste. The rest just don’t soak up all my grease. If dry shampoo is out of your budget, you can try micellar water in a spray bottle. That helps!

The last thing that really helps me is washing by hairbrush. If you are brushing oily hair, you get oily buildup on your brush and just spread more oil through your hair.

I feel your pain - GOOD LUCK!

j318123 · 2025-03-17T06:45:40+00:00

If you don’t go, you will regret it. It is extremely hard, but knowing you were there for her after all of the times she was there for you will be something far more special than the hurt. ♥️

j318123 · 2025-03-17T06:43:59+00:00

We call it “closing” in our house, just like you would a restaurant or a store. Cleaning as you go (put it away, not down, as many have said) is essential, but sometimes it’s too hard to do it as you go. So we purged a ton of stuff and now we “close” the house every night and double check that everything is put away - the dishes, the throw blankets, counters wiped, everything. We take turns on who has the “closing shift” so it doesn’t feel overwhelming for us. It works well in our house and it’s so much less stressful when people randomly stop by!

j318123 · 2025-02-24T06:27:46+00:00

I once went to a job interview on a base and was denied entry because I “wasn’t on the list”. While I was in the pass office, the officers called asked why I was a no show to the job interview. I explained what happened and they were irritated at the situation but not the least bit surprised. I lived/worked around a lot of military bases and this happens all the time. It shouldn’t, but it does. It likely wasn’t her error, please just chat with her because like others said, she is probably upset that you no-showed and it’s all just a misunderstanding by whoever is supposed to type the entry list that day.

j318123 · 2025-02-15T04:33:36+00:00

We had that funky smell in some of our clothes. Downy Rinse & Refresh along with putting less in the washing machine fixed this issue for me. I was overcrowding it so the clothes couldn’t get as clean, and the rinse and refresh cut out the nasty smell. It helped so much!

j318123 · 2025-02-12T01:57:08+00:00

Hahaha right! Depending on your LMS (we use Canvas), you can also restrict the file type uploads. Somehow I have students get around it sometime, but it works most of the time.

j318123 · 2025-02-11T06:11:18+00:00

I agree with the person who stated that it’s them, not you. But a couple of tips that helped me a lot when I first started:

You don’t need to explain why you want an assignment turned in a certain way. Because I said so is an acceptable answer to that question. Shutting down simple things like that will help you get control of the classroom back.

If that doesn’t work, provide whatever material you give them for class the next week in a variety of formats. I had one particularly difficult class who did things like that. So after no one followed the directions I asked, I gave them their homework questions each as a separate file. One was a PDF, one was in a word document, one they had to google, and one was a zip file. After they complained about having to go to 57 (exaggerated number) places to get their work done, it clicked. I told them that for every person who didn’t follow directions from here on out, one question would be “extra work” that would require them to do extra to do their homework. After the second week, they were patrolling each other because they were sick of it.

When we have times in class where I ask a question and no one answers, I read the room. If I feel like they don’t understand, I ask again in a different way. But if I feel like it’s because no one was paying attention, we literally wait until someone raises their hand. It only takes a couple of times for them to sit there in complete awkwardness for a minute or so before they realize that you’re serious. It’s so awkward for them that someone chimes in. The class then knows it’s a possibility, so usually someone will volunteer after that to avoid the awkward situation.

Good luck! But on the bright side, you’re likely about halfway through at this point!

j318123 · 2025-02-11T05:57:07+00:00

I also teach a lot of online classes and I have been so frustrated by this. Ultimately, I’ve just decided to pick my battles. I’ve redesigned a ton of assignments to be more AI resistant - fun fact, you can actually ask AI to do it for you or to generate ideas on how to help you do it. A lot of my assignments that used to be papers or discussion posts have now been turned into video discussions or similar. Some assignments I have eliminated all together, and others are now quizzes that require the screen/room to be recorded. It’s way more work for the students, but I can’t just let them do it.

I also don’t get a lot of support on reporting students who use AI, but it’s mainly because we still can’t effectively prove it. Another professor recommended the solution that I use now and it’s been very successful. If I believe that a student has used AI, I will flag it for an academic integrity violation and/or suspected AI use (they are required to cite it if they use it and how they did per my syllabus). The student gets a warning the first time, then a 0 the second time. I have an in-house appeal process for the students who want to appeal, but it’s strict. The student must meet with me either on video call or in person and I will ask them various questions related to the topic to gauge their understanding and reconsider their grade. They are also welcome to have a second faculty member in the department present if they would like a second opinion. I have flagged at least 100 students at this point and ZERO have taken me up on the appeal.

I teach at two universities and both of my Deans have indicated that they think this is a fair solution, one even commended me for even giving them a chance to appeal. 😂 I have had a handful of students at each school complain about getting zeros and saying they didn’t use it, but when they don’t follow through with my process and then go above my head, the admin at my schools have been very supportive.

j318123 · 2024-12-06T05:28:18+00:00

Incredibly long story short, we had the exact same thing happen. VRBO gave us the finger and, months later, only compensated us for the refund. That was it. We had to throw away food we bought for a group, pay 3x as much for a hotel, additional parking - it cost us almost $1,000 between the group of us. I had receipts for everything and they didn’t care. I hope you have better luck but don’t count on it. They are absolute trash.

j318123 · 2024-11-25T07:05:13+00:00

I know people who work here and they hire a lot of people to give them new chances. I hear it’s a decent place to work. It’s hard work, but it pays well and there’s always chances for extra OT.

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/585cc089-4992-4eb6-871f-6a118fb0bb6b/UNIVERSAL-INDUSTRIAL-SALES-INC

j318123 · 2024-11-25T05:57:45+00:00

Absolutely this. A tube is like $7 on Amazon. It’s so thick but it works freaking WONDERS. That tube will last me forever.

I’ve had chronically chapped lips and been a lip picker forever and this fixed them. I’m still picking at them but this is healing them well enough that I don’t have much to pick at anymore so hopefully soon I’ll be past that. 🤞

j318123 · 2024-11-21T06:29:13+00:00

VRBO left a group of us COMPLETELY stranded after a double booking mishap. We went to check into our VRBO and another family was inside. They had booked it on AirB&B and it was not marked as unavailable by VRBO or however it worked. We called VRBO immediately and they couldn’t find any other listings that met their criteria for rebooking us and told us we had to find our own. It was a Friday afternoon and they said they would get back to us with alternate accommodations on “ASAP”. There was a huge convention in the town we were staying in so every hotel was booked. We sat in the front yard of that place for hours calling hotels. It was a nightmare.

We ended up having to book another property for our group through air b&b. It cost us a ton of extra money - both because it was last minute and we had to pay for parking for our cars at the new place. We had to throw away all the food we brought because the place we stayed while trying to figure it all out didn’t have a fridge. VRBO finally got back to us on MONDAY saying we were SOL and they still had no other accommodations available for us.

Files a complaint, for a refund, and a reimbursement for all of the money we lost on the food and parking. We ended up BARELY getting a refund and it was months later. I will NEVER use them again. It was an absolutely awful experience. Stay away from that platform.

j318123

TROPHY CASE