transplantbillsfan

I got @leh-nerd skin-erd to say "hardness" twice in the same sentence. Mission complete

And this is ultimately the point, isn't it? Everyone is looking at every job from an outside perspective. You relate your view the teaching isn't hard, but working for UPS is. I'm curious: do you think you're actually qualified to judge whether either job is hard? If so, why? The truth is I really don't know much about what a UPS worker does. From a distance, that kinda job doesn't sound all that "hard" in the way I think the OP is asking the question. It actually sounds similar to the pizza delivery job I used to have. Get some good podcasts or music and listen to it while spending hours on the road with occasional customer service? That doesn't sound hard... it sounds boring to me. But boring would equal hard to me. And I'm really not trying to diminish what your family member does. You only gave me a rough outline and that's what I went with because I don't actually know what they do. But as for teachers... why is it that everyone thinks they know so much about the teaching profession? Is it because we were all once students and so we saw it firsthand? Or because we're seeing it now secondhand as parents and we don't see the Einstein we know our children really are being produced so we pin it on the teachers who must be lazy and terrible? I can't speak on being a UPS driver. But to be a good teacher you need to be good in front of a crowd, have incredible patience, be a great actor, document everything all the time, be a great faciliatator, have your subject matter down, be increasingly creative with curriculuum, etc. All those things and more always applied to teaching, but from my experience teaching is getting harder rather than easier because there are just increasing demands as far as administrations and standardized tests go and there are more and more helicopter parents who automatically believe every word their child tells them nowadays. I said this in another post... I friggin love my job, so I don't like the word "hard." But it's a helluva challenge to be a good teacher. So I will say this: I happened upon one of those random state by state rankings as far as teachers go in terms of compensation and NY was #1... so that made me at least start to understand why there are those like you who feel this way about teachers. With that said, I very strongly believe this: Generally, you get what you pay for. I graduated from a public High School in a suburb of Rochester. It was honestly a fantastic school and I got a fantastic education and had fantastic extracurricular experiences. I also know that there were teachers making over $100k at that school... obviously older and closer to retirement, but that's still a lot of money, especially for WNY. But ya know what? I got an education at one of the best public schools in NY.... so that compensation makes sense to me. So... was that school great because it attracted the best of the best with higher compensation or was there higher compensation because the school district at some point discovered they had great teachers? I tend to think the former is true. So cynical. Why do you automatically assume that "slush fund" wasn't going somewhere useful? One thing that my school was able to do a few years ago with a somewhat similar "slush fund" was get ACs in every single room at our school and get Solar panels on top of our library to power the school. This kinda thing was a fantastic investment. Hawai'i has the best weather on the planet, but August and September can be brutal (especially in certain schools in leeward locations on the island) and frankly that kinda heat that I taught in--I'm sweating... students are sweating and getting tired because of the weather--simply isn't conducive to student learning. That's not me. That's brain research. Maybe your district was going to use that money to fund a drug cartel... I have no clue. But as I just said, you pay for what you get... so why would bonuses for teachers even have been all that bad? Because you didn't have kids in school anymore at that point? The most common argument I see from people pissed about tax dollars going towards education is because they either don't have kids or are sending kids to private schools. Silly... stupid argument. It's the same silliness you hear from those who don't want to pay any taxes but still want all the benefits of our country. So "a relatively small percentage of the general population can be a successful teacher" doesn't make it hard... and you think that's true for most jobs? You're going to have to explain that. So a "relatively small percentage of the general population can be a successful" at almost anything, according to you? So no job is actually hard, according to you? Every single existing job you would just characterize as "not easy..." other than your family member's UPS job, of course. That's hard. Please explain your criteria because I'm sure I'm not the only one confused by some mixed messaging on your part.

What makes you think it's the low end teachers who are the ones getting in front of the camera? I'm not saying you're wrong because I assume you have your own reasons for saying this. I just have never actually known any of those teachers who've jumped in front of the camera. But that's not to say that friends I have who are teachers--and good ones--aren't in agreement with what those publicity hounds are saying.

20 years in making $78 k sounds reasonable especially for school districts across our country that give annual increments along with things like "PD credits" teachers can earn. I'm 17 years in and making just over $70 k. I'm one "PD classification" below the highest level so my peak after 17 years would be somewhere around $75 k so that's pretty similar if you're just looking at the numbers without considering location. Of course the suburbs of Buffalo vs. Oahu are very different in terms of how far that money takes you.

An athletic director is an adminstrative position similar to a Principal. They make the "big bucks" in schools. They aren't teachers.

Well we're 10 month employees... so that 10 weeks or so of summer isn't technically "time off." And if you're wondering how that makes sense teachers then get paid for all 12 months if they're only 10 month employees, it's because we get a percentage extracted from every paycheck during the school year that goes to our summer pay. That's how it works where I live. In some places I've heard teachers can choose to get all their pay in 10 months and not get paid for 2 months so that they get more in each paycheck during the school year. How many years of tenure did this teacher have? $86,000 for a 33 year old teacher who's been teaching 10 years is very different from $86,000 for a 63 year old teacher who's been teaching 40 years. Can't speak to this because this wasn't what happened for us. We were given 2 hours off from work to get a covid vaccination if we needed it. I scheduled mine for late afternoon on a Friday so I didn't have to take time off. One of my best friends is a "gym teacher," and he gets pissed any time you call him that. He's one of the best teachers I know and does some amazing things with his classes. Also... as I just asked the poster above... how many years of tenure did this teacher have? Just saying "my teacher made this much" leaves out important context. And finally, I think it's strange that your teachers are talking to you guys about how much money they make.

Fair enough. I'm no Saint in the way I act here, either. I apologize for all those moments I choose to resort to retailiatory mode. That said, as to your question I'll answer from the perspective of being a teacher... and it's more complicated than a simple "yes" or "no." First of all, I really think we would need to define what a "hard job" is. I worked in a pizza shop both in-shop and delivering pizzas starting my Junior year in High School and all throughout college. It wasn't "hard" in most respects, but it bored the hell out of me for the most part and made me miserable... especially on the longer shifts. I remember working a 12 hour shift once doing that and I was just bangin my head against the wall by the end. If I were still doing that as a career today, I would be miserable and would probably characterize it as "hard" for that reason. I think the trick for absolutely ANYONE (this is not a teacher-specific thing) is finding something you love to do and making that your career. Not everyone is fortunate enough to do that. In fact, a lot of people aren't. But if you can find something you love to do... it makes the job easier because even the challenging stuff is enjoyable. In fact, sometimes it's the challenging stuff that makes the job enjoyable. That's how I feel about teaching. I meant what I said about knowing I wanted to be a teacher in 9th grade and never changing my mind. I love my job more and more every year because every year I feel I get better and better even with new challenges mixed in. This year has been the most difficult year teaching probably since my first year, but even once we finally get back to completely normal, there are a ton of things I can pull from what we've done this year that I'll continue to use moving forward. Teaching is a unique profession. It just is. It takes a certain kind of person to be a good teacher. If you aren't that kind of person, you'll probably burn out of the profession in a few years. Yes, there are bad teachers out there. I'm not going to pretend that all teachers feel the same way I do about the profession. But from my experience most of them really care about their craft and really care about the students. There's a lot more I could put here about this... I thought about bringing in some specific challenges I've confronted throughout the years... but maybe another time for those who are interested. And I apologize for the semblance of attacking your kids. That was not my intention.

Weird. What does this have to do with the OP's original question? You just that desperate to stand on a soapbox?

I really got under your skin, didn't I?

Honestly I could see us doing this if we're targeting a CB in round 1... and right now it's pretty much guaranteed CB or DE in round 1, isn't it?

You're making this a false choice and you're being silly if you think Biden and the Democrats sole purpose with these $1400 checks was to stimulate the economy. You're smarter than that and honestly I think you're just building a fallacious argument on top of itself in the hopes that I'll bite. That's nice for him that he's financially comfortable enough to throw all of his $1400 away... most people who got those checks aren't. But again... you're still building... I'm able to meet my debt obligations. The issue is that debt obligations regarding college education has far outpaced wage increases. As for the "repatriating the debt obligation to others..." it just bores me when your side complains about taxes while enjoying the benefit those taxes bring. Burden? Look the college debt thing has reached a tipping point. I don't think ALL college debt should be expunged, but definitely a chunk of it. Love what states like Georgia and (apparently now) NY are doing with state schools as far as making in-state-tuition free for students. I wish that were in place when I was going to college as I also went to a state school for both my undergraduate and Master's degree. Beggars? I really don't know how old you are, but much of those "educated beggars" you refer to are dealing with the consequences of a world built by the people before them. That includes you. One of the consequences of that world is a society where it's SIGNIFICANTLY harder to get a job that pays well enough to own a house (the very definition of just being middle class) without a college degree. The college degree has become incredibly important to attaining the American Dream nowadays... which is simply to be a middle-class American. Oh. And then you ask kids just outta High School--which almost inarguably is rigorous and time-consuming for the vast majority of students especially when you put extra-curricular activities in play--and expect them to be culpable for the finances of college by working simultaneously and dealing with a more rigorous curriculum is just insane as an expectation of all High School students. I went to a state school and got my undergrad and graduate degrees in 5 years total. My wife took 10 years to get her bachelor's degree because she worked through college and also switched majors a couple times. Honestly. If I don't get student loan forgiveness, I'm good. I will manage. I feel worse and worse for my students ever. If you or any of your ilk don't want your taxes to go anywhere that doesn't benefit you (maybe you don't have kids or send your kids to a private school so you're pissed about public school funding? Or maybe you don't believe in science? Or maybe you don't ever leave your house so who gives a damn about your roads? Or you have your own car so who gives a damn about public transportation? etc) then I'm sure there are other countries you'd appreciate more. $373 billion of "burden." Considering the trillions of dollars Trump has made our Country spend first because of the tax break to his pals and then because of a COMPLETELY bungled Covid response endorsed apparently by you (?) and all 70 million of his followers... Just remember that I'm burdened with the debt induced by that tax plan that primarily benefits the extremely wealthy and I'm burdened with the $7.1 trillion debt your boy Donald Trump saddled me with... and that's still growing every year his tax plan is in place. I really like you, but you really do have tunnel vision sometimes... and I'm not saying I don't. I'm good. Next contract is a wait and see... but I'll be ecstatic if it remains the status quo of what we have. And on a side note: I appreciate these conversations as much as I may disagree with you in many respects--though not always. This, to me, is the way it's supposed to work. Talk, hear each other out. And even if you don't agree on anything in the end, each side is at least considering what the other side said. It's one of the great disappointments of the mass exodus that happened is that there weren't more like you.

Attacked? Boy you really are emotionally fragile. You brought your kids into the conversation. Don't bring them into the conversation if you don't want them to be part of the conversation. Or worse yet... don't use them as human shields for yourself in your own deflections. Attacked your children??? I can only assume you're referring to this: I have conferences with occasional idiot parents (sounds like you're one of those) who have a large number of assumptions because they're half paying attention to what their students are doing in schools while pretending they're fully paying attention. Standard Helicopter Parents. Meet with them. Talk to them. Discover they don't know their head from their a$$ because they didn't actually read the syllabus they signed permission for and are consistently being told something by their kids that just isn't true. You wanna help your kids? Put the onus of learning where it belongs first and foremost... on them. Next. Go to the Teacher. Somewhere in the middle there you might also want to examine yourself as a parent. You're clearly bitter... maybe you had a bad teacher and you're just projecting now. I think you should self-assess. If you read that as an attack on your children, you need to go back to school because you have reading comprehension problems. If you are so inclined to read it as an attack on anyone, it'd be an attack on you if you're one of those parents I referred to. Are you? Clearly I struck a nerve... you might want to bring this up with your therapist. And yep... you got me. I'm the crappiest teacher on Grand Island... but that's because I don't live or teach anywhere near Grand Island. No clue where you got that silly notion.

Whodathunk you were so emotionally fragile

Inflation is something to think about, but it's probably not as much of a concern as one might think. I saw my friend @Over 29 years of fanhood bring up Freakanomics. Lately I've been listening to a lot of podcasts including Freakanomics Radio. One of the most recent ones was on a trillion dollar platinum coin. Tons of really interesting stuff in there about commonly held myths involving inflation and printing new money. Some interesting perspectives quite relevant to today if you're interested.

I'm not bothering addressing your non sequiturs because you're clearly just buried in your own delusions. Keep basking in them. Clearly you guys are all just still so butt hurt your own realities were shattered when the American people ousted your boy from office after one term.

Way to completely avoid what I posted... didn't realize we were playing dodgeball. And no, I won't take it from you and I won't take it from that link to that trashy conservative website you just posted.

Stood still at best and probably stepped back???? Allen's a year older with a year's more experience. Allen and Diggs will have a full off-season to further build their chemistry. We didn't lose ANY starters really other than John Brown who many would say we upgraded from with Sanders. Mongo and Ford manning G in an OL now essentially together for 3 years... and continuity is a critical component to good OL play. Everyone is back on D. PLUS we get Star back who we clearly missed last year. Continuity of system and coaches. Plus Beane has proven to be a good drafter so we'll get 1 or 2 impact players in the draft. You're nuts if you think we stepped back.

So this is actually a fairly common misconception about the J&J vaccine Here's a good video on the vaccines: Basically, Pfizer and Moderna was tested earlier when there was less of a spike and was more restrictive geographically when it tested. Johnson and Johnson was tested during the Fall/Winter peak of the disease in multiple countries where variants were the most common disease. That's not me saying J&J is better (though I personally chose to get that one over the other 2)... it's me saying it's really not an apples to apples comparison because of the differences in the trials.

I wanted the J & J one as opposed to the Moderna or Pfizer. I wasn't absolutely opposed to getting either of those, but just preferred the J & J for 2 reasons really: 1) One n done shot. There have been some scheduling issues in terms of the 2nd shot. 2) The mRNA vaccines are brand new technology whereas the Adenovirus Vector Vaccines have been around since the 70's. Not saying anything nefarious is going on with the mRNA vaccines, but I just prefer going with something that's been used for half a century already.

Got the J & J one about 2 weeks ago. I just wanted the one n done shot. Thought I got away with no side effects but then woke up in the middle of the night with a headache and low grade fever, but it went away by the end of the next day. Got my good ole vaccination card! Is anyone clear on whether we should laminate those or not? I'm guessing they'll be used for different things moving forward, but the people who gave me the shot actually recommended against laminating it.

Hopefully Ford is an upgrade at Guard on the OL and we'll actually have Mongo for the whole year. Plus I think Hollister is a pretty sneaky under-the-radar signing that will have a pretty significant impact... especially given the chemistry he and Allen already have carrying over from Wyoming.

How much time has he missed for injury in the NFL?

I'm honestly SUPER stoked about this! I know he's our 5th WR... but he'll also almost certainly take Roberts's place as our punt and kick return guy. Hopefully over the years he's learned to secure the ball a little better... but other than that I think he won't be much worse than Roberts. Plus Daboll can use him as the motion/gadget guy in our offense.

Unemployment--people in need. Child Care--largely people in need especially considering there are fewer and fewer "stay at home Moms/Dads" nowadays with dual income needs. Pandemic money (vaccination distribution, testing, etc.)--benefits everyone... does it not? Money for State and Local Governments--considering the sheer number of municipal and state workers across our Country combined with a number of states that need the help... yeah I'd say this helps people in need... particularly the lower and middle class who tend to be workers employed by states and municipalities. Money for Schools--Uhh... yeah... we need it. I don't know if you know all the things schools are doing to bend over backwards trying to make them conducive for in-person learning, but there's a lot. Increases in subsidies for the Affordable Care Act--Yeah this obviously largely helps the people in need... especially in also helping people who've lost jobs to help keep their health insurance. I have a question... an honest one: Are you here to engage in conversation or to just try to feel good about yourself with derisive remarks that don't contribute in any way to actual dialogue?