@ DanaC:

I value education very highly. And commitment to it.
But I'm not fussed about vocational qualification for the sake of it.

The TA I work with is now in her 2nd year of earning a HLTA (Higher Level Teaching Assistant) qualification. She teaches our class alone every Wednesday. She is kind, capable, organised and extremely competent at teaching. She earns a fair amount more than me, but she has been in the job for a long time. Remember I wandered in off the street two years ago and only worked two days a week. I officially started work last February but only part time.
The only raise she will get by going through this long drawn-out admin exercise is that she will qualify for a higher level of pay - HLTA - when she is in sole control of a class.

Same with the HLTA next door.
She has run packs of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts for years. She has sons in the Forces and daughters outside. She's unflappable and can manage any young person of any age. She qualified last year.

You know me, little ambition, high self doubt.
I'd rather have a secure job I loved and take on an OU course in literature. It would have the same earning capacity (ie none) but at least I'd enjoy the work.

Nahh. I'm talking about the lower level quals. Level 2 or 3. basically like doing an a-level across a year one evening a week.

Not sure if that's how it works at your end of the sector. But that's what I was doing in the adult ed when i taught literacy.

I was doing NVQ Level 2 when I got this job.
It bored me.
It was like a time and motion study: observe, record. Monkey do, monkey write.
Don't get me wrong, I have to record much of what I do in school in one way or another. But I can see the relevance.

I'd have carried on and got my qualification if I hadn't got the job.
And the school would have worked around the course if Tiger's scheduled Speech Therapist appointment hadn't been on the day I needed off.

The combination of the three was the clincher.

Or maybe I am bone idle.
Not fishing here, it is something I should consider.

Good: minor damage to the roof - no one injured
Bad: Another tree fell on our house.
Scary: Our daughter was sleeping right beside the window

Philosophy: One of the things to expect when you live in the woods.

Glad to hear no one was hurt.

You might consider doing some preemptive thinning.

Especially the dead trees.

How did you get that picture? From a cherry picker?

Douglas Fir are shallow-rooted, so a combination of soil-soaking
rains followed by gusting winds can bring them down.
Actually, foresters argue for maintaining the "grove" because
the more isolated firs are, the more vulnerable they become.

We have done a little bit of thinning. But honestly, we do enjoy living among the trees.
Plus our City Fathers actively discourage removing live trees,
so homeowners are sort of caught betwix and between.

Attachment 36904

Our house is at the base of a hill and I was standing near the base
of the fallen tree; and yes, we do take down the dead trees.

This one and the one that hit our house in 2009 were both live trees.
This one was about 100 ft. It first hit the upper story roof and
broke off the (living) top before landing on the lower roof.
.

Dads had a live (German) bomb land in his cot.
He wasn't in it at the time and the bomb didn't explode.

Nanny Robinson couldn't bear to let him be evacuated.
You takes your chances.

Glad your girl was okay.

Close one sir! I love what we've seen of your place, I can see why you wouldn't want to change it much.

good news -- I found a 5 gallon glass carboy at goodwill the other day for ten bucks

bad news -- it was kinda dirty so I had to wash it

good news -- it came clean, shiny squeaky clean

bad news -- I dropped it in the kitchen sink as I was rinsing it

good news -- it didn't break

bad news -- it broke the tile sink surround

f*ck.

OMG - you didn't need to post that - that's not just bad, it's terrible :facepalm:

What's a carboy?

I think he found a valet?

A dirty valet.

A dirty valet made from glass.

A heavy dirty valet made from glass.

A heavy dirty valet that was made clean yet could not be made not heavy because it was made of glass.

And I don't know about the five gallons.