Former Member

Doesn't anyone ever come check up on how Alex and his brother are doing in that dysfunctional household? Robbie could report Mr Symmonds’ threat as well as Don’s involvement to that agency. Why doesn’t Robbie stop acting like an abuse victim and ask for help? ;–) And the answer to my rhetorical question is that Robbie acts like an abuse victim because he is an emotional abuse victim!

I hope you didn’t infect Hobie’s computer when you did that! ;–) I had so much junk downloading on its own on my Android phone that I finally gave up and bought a refurb iPhone! ;–) Some platforms are less susceptible to viruses than others.

I suppose Mr Lube is better than The Lube Bros… ;–) I wonder if anyone in West Hollywood or Palm Springs, CA has thought to pair a (male) revealing-outfit carwash with a salaciously named quick lube business? ;–)

I hope the ‘punchline’ to this story is not that Uncle Donnie is really Uncle Daddy! I hope that Robbie and his mother didn’t move to England to escape nasty (but true) rumors of his incestuous parentage! That would be too disturbing on too many levels! I hope that wasn’t what that dream (nightmare?) really meant… And when I say punchline, it would be more a punch to the gut! I wrote this without having seen @Jeff1’s post. ;–)

Robbie needs to talk to Mr Andrews and the Retired Social Worker™! He needs a few adults on his side for a change. Sue the weathervane isn’t much of a balance against Don, the proverbial bull in a china shop! ;–)

Donnie is reading from the Fundamentalist playbook. He thinks he’s being clever and smart, but he’s just making things worse. He doesn’t seem to have much of a relations with any of his kids – with the possible exception of Nicola who has him wrapped around her finger. I’m sure he thinks he a candidate for Dad of the Year, but he wouldn’t win even if the contest were limited to his own house! ;–)

Unlike hospitals, public schools are generally funded by taxes. If all schools were private, they could raise tuition to pay teachers high enough to encourage new recruits. But then not all students would be able to attend school. This is the situation in some third world countries. This is an apples and oranges comparison.

Unlike the British ‘Royals’, she doesn’t even need to produce ‘an heir and a spare’! ;–)

I would only be looking forward to the end if I knew that W.A.R. 8 (and maybe 9) was following soon… ;–) …if only as a one-off holiday special with Billy, Brett, Dustin, Rev Nate, Sarah, and their families gathering to celebrate together. To reminisce over their inglorious pasts and amazing accomplishments. Telling their grandchildren stories of the mischief they got up to. Discussing the challenges they overcame to become the adults they grew up to be. How they worked with their friends to flush out the corruption in Denora town government, the police department, and especially the schools. ;–)

From the descriptions of the speed dating guys, Shaggy was the only one that seemed remotely appealing to me, other than Trout. Referring to him as a dork wasn’t particularly off-putting, but facial hair (including a goatee) or filler word vocabulary would be. ;–)

After having previously convinced us that Debi is a man’s name, I believe that you’ll pull this story off with your usual style and panache!

Trout needs to find a Yenta or someone else who arranges marriages. Or find a woman who needs a green card! There are all sorts of reasons why a woman might agree to a non-sexual marriage with a built-in time limit. It’s too bad he has such a short time period to get this done. ;–)

We have lived with Billy, Brett, and Dustin for so long, it’s difficult to imagine them ever not being here!

So many red herrings! ;–) I was afraid of what the red fluid was! But Our Sweet Little Dusty™ has found out he’s stronger than he ever imagined. Even if the ineffective and corrupt Denora police department legal system tried to charge Dustin, nothing he did cannot be defended as justified considering all the physical and emotional abuse he suffered from Frank throughout his life.

If there’s the funding to allow that to happen…

My comments were related to the low compensation teachers earn for their long hours. Theoretically, the Summer Vacation is partial compensation for the long hours they work. Teachers aren’t even remotely adequately compensated for either the long hours or the high education level they are required to achieve and maintain.

The paperwork aspect of the Affordable Care Act is related to the Health Insurance Industry. In Taiwan, everyone has a Healthcare Card. When the patient sees the doctor, the first thing they do is scan the card. This not only brings up the patient's records, but also begins the billing process. This simplifies the process for doctors immensely. No system is perfect, but we seem to have created its exact opposite. The most inefficient way to deliver mediocre service at the highest cost. Every other major industrialized country has managed to build a better system.

As I was reading this chapter, I started to wonder if Wylie was Gay for Pay or if someone planted evidence in his room. It’s very odd because he wasn’t supposed to have visitors yet there were two hair samples found there. I’m just spinning in circles, rocketing off on tangents with the slightest hint… ;–)

At least where I live, willows aren’t the culprits spreading their (male) DNA to aggravate my allergies! All the poor, frustrated male trees pumping out their DNA with few female trees around. It’s an arboreal One Child Policy that kept trees from dropping fruit on sidewalks, but has had disastrous unintended consequences for millions of sufferers! Big Pharma has cashed in an unexpected, multiple-decades-long windfall!

The situation with teachers is difficult. We say in the US that children are our most important priority, but we certainly don’t fund schools or other things related to children as if that were true. Politicians seemingly intentionally pit teacher pay against students against administrators – and we know who controls the budgets, it’s not the teachers or students! In California, the funding system is byzantine in its complexity. School districts who can afford to pay someone specifically to find funding sources within that system (or elsewhere) get richer and the poorer, more urban districts are left without critical resources. The system was created to supposedly distribute funding equitably across the state, but politicians have added hidden funds with special purposes over the years to benefit their own local districts. Now it’s so complex, no one knows how to dismantle the mess to fix the problem without causing even more problems. But the basic problem is that there just isn’t enough money to go around.

There are some vague limits to what you can say in Comments, but they aren’t quite as restrictive as in the Lounge and other non-Pit Forums. Political Comments that are seen as related to the story are acceptable. But it’s difficult to know ahead of time just where the line is.

Too proud to ask for help, Joy gets hurt. How will she react to Tony showing up with Geoff? She can’t even seem to grasp that Douglas is a jerk! ;–) Is Geoff going to have to care for his hateful mother when she gets out of the hospital? What a horrible possibility! I can just imagine how demanding she’d be! ;–)

Do they live anywhere near our other friends? Manchester is the first city name I can recall being mentioned. Or maybe that should be the first city name I recognized. ;–)

I have done my best to not be political in my statements.

I had been thinking Jack could have gotten an electronic piano. I know it’s not the same, but Yamaha has digitized individual notes instead of interpolating them for its higher-end models. Electronic pianos have the advantage of being much smaller than an analog piano and can be used with headphones to prevent disturbing neighbors. But moving is an even better solution! ;–) I’m sure that Jack and Mukisa’s lives together will not be entirely smooth. There will be further misunderstandings based on culture and social expectations. But they seem to have built up enough trust to be able to move past these sorts of conflicts relatively well. I can imagine a future where I become an unwanted burden for my nieces and nephews. :–(