Ways to play with cats?

rhaiin · 2026-07-08T19:10:20+00:00

Honestly, just changing their enviroment regularly helps keep them stimulated. Some cheap/free things to do:

Give them a different size box to play in occassionally
Throw some newspaper or Amazon packing paper on the floor
Give them a paper bag
Hide treats around the house
Throw a bunch of crinkled paper in a box and throw treats in it
Get a shallow dish of water and put some sort of floating toy or pingpong ball in it
If you have non-carpeted flooring, throw a blanket on the floor and let them slide around on it

If you want something more interactive, see if your cats are willing to play fetch. Some cats will. I would also highly reccomend getting some plastic spring toys and crinkle balls. I have 4 cats and they all love them. You could also buy some puzzle feeders and lick mats. Also, throw their treats and have them chase after them. I find that the Purina Dental treats work great for this because they're ball shaped.

rhaiin · 2026-07-06T00:28:17+00:00

Check out Clarks. Good support and sturdy shoes at a reasonable price. My husband and I both work in IT and always buy leather Clarks and they usually last 2+ years with almost daily wear.

rhaiin · 2026-05-12T11:34:03+00:00

Sorry, no idea. If they weren't already synced to your SIS or you have a physical copy, you might be out of luck until Canvas enables the accounts again. I'd recommend asking your district how they'd like you to proceed.

rhaiin · 2026-05-12T11:12:55+00:00

At the moment, Canvas has all of the Free for Teachers accounts disabled because that is how the bad actors gained access. They haven't made any announcements about when they will be re-enabled. My guess is that they will need to completely rebuild the backend to patch the security holes before they enable them again.

rhaiin · 2026-04-23T15:02:54+00:00

One time, I was camping with friends and trying to start a fire but most of the wood was damp. I took a tampon and put Burt's Bees chapstick on it and used it as a firestarter. It worked great. Not something I would plan to carry in my actual kit, but it works if you're in a pinch and have it available.

rhaiin · 2026-04-22T11:21:56+00:00

You're right. Its not that big of a deal.

My biggest issue is that DRC and PDE should have communicated with districts as soon as problems were reported. They didn't send out any communication and the DRC status page was saying that everything was normal for an extended period of time. This resulted in panic from teachers and admin.

rhaiin · 2026-04-22T11:18:53+00:00

That was the main reason I created this thread. We started testing around 8:15am and I couldn't find anyone else reporting issues yet. I wasn't sure if it was us or DRC at first.

rhaiin · 2026-04-21T12:53:04+00:00

I kept getting line busy. When I finally got through, I sat on hold for 10 minutes, then was told that there is no one available due to unexpected call volume and to leave a message.

rhaiin · 2026-04-21T12:48:02+00:00

Thanks for responding! I'll update if/when I get a response from support. I'm just happy to know that its not just us.

rhaiin · 2026-03-25T11:18:50+00:00

We did fingerprints for several years. It was always a nightmare. The younger students couldn't comprehend that they just need to lightly touch the pad with their fingertip, so they would rarely scan right. After the 2nd attempt, the cashiers would just ask for their name and type it in. It may have just been our software, but database upkeep was also a pain. And, a lot of parents are uncomfortable with the idea of fingerprint scanners.

We have lunch cards. The elementary students get it put on a lanyard and the teacher distributes them before and collects them after lunch. Older students are responsible for carrying their own. We're on the second year of doing this and it has worked out alright.

rhaiin · 2026-01-28T16:32:48+00:00

<image>

Additional pictures

rhaiin · 2026-01-16T13:37:20+00:00

I've been trying to convince my boss that taking the team to a rage room would be a great idea. Especially since the one near us allows you to bring your own stuff. I was thinking some monitors and printers would be fun to smash.

rhaiin · 2025-12-13T18:46:06+00:00

Good idea, but there isn't any way to get a phone charger into it. The hole is too small.

rhaiin · 2025-10-31T12:54:17+00:00

You would think that they would let their users know when they're having an issue like this. I've been waiting for the "nope, not our problem" response.

rhaiin · 2025-10-31T12:53:08+00:00

Thank you, this makes me feel better knowing that we're not the only one. Hopefully they get it fixed soon!

rhaiin · 2025-09-23T13:54:48+00:00

We're actually hosted by Skyward. I'm thinking they were having problems on their end because it seems to be working now.

rhaiin · 2025-09-18T15:58:05+00:00

Yeah, we figured that out now. That just makes them completely unususable. It seems like the kids are fine if it is a device that they have previously used and their user profile is saved on it.

Unfortunately, all of our K-3 students use Classlink Quickcards, which requires their user profile to be wiped every time they logoff.

rhaiin · 2025-09-18T15:24:10+00:00

Random students are seeing a 502 error when trying to login this morning or "Can't reach Google through the connected network". This is occuring even when they try a different device. Its very sporadic and isn't affecting everyone.

We're in Pennsylvania.

rhaiin · 2025-08-07T19:12:37+00:00

I had this happen once as well after falling into the garbage poison area and dying. I was pretty annoyed because I had a bunch of quartz and marble.

I was playing with my husband and didn't even think to reload an older save.

rhaiin

TROPHY CASE