August 2021 Banter

[wxdude64]

18 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

It was everything you can imagine. Like an idiot I left a whopper plopper rigged in the back of the truck. Later, I was moving camping gear, didn’t notice the rod bending and enough slack that the lure came off the rod eye, then, snap! Whatever was bending the rod gave way and the rod straightened. The hook set so fast that I didn’t stand a chance. Worst of all was that my finger kept the rod from completely going slack so the hook had a lot of tension. My gf and buddy saw it happen and of the three of us, I’m not sure who had the worst expression. My gf got the pliers for me, I cut the line, and thought I’d have to push the hook through. But it was so far under my nail that all I could do was grab the hook and twist it out.

Surprisingly, as much at it hurt initially, it’s not bad at all now. Thank goodness my gf knows I’m an idiot and had packed neosporin!

Dang, well, least you managed to NOT make a trip to urgent care or ER......

[mattie g]

12 hours ago, nj2va said:

Yeah, earliest I can remember around here. Friends of ours that live there are celebrating tonight…they’re ready for the kids to get outta the house everyday. 

That is insanely early. Lots of kids down south have been back for a week. Just crazy.

[Stormfly]

57 minutes ago, mattie g said:

That is insanely early. Lots of kids down south have been back for a week. Just crazy.

Don't they all follow a 180 school day calendar though?

They just get out in May instead of June.

I remember always starting school after Labor Day.  And if we had a bad winter sometimes going well into the second week of June.  Which made little sense because those "make up days" were spent scrubbing desks with Spic 'N Span or Comet and/or watching movies.  I remember that well, I was the "nerdy" guy running the 16mm Eiki.

[mattie g]

1 minute ago, Stormfly said:

Don't they all follow a 180 school day calendar though?

They just get out in May instead of June.

I remember always starting school after Labor Day.  And if we had a bad winter sometimes going well into the second week of June.  Which made little sense because those "make up days" were spent scrubbing desks with Spic 'N Span or Comet and/or watching movies.  I remember that well, I was the "nerdy" guy running the 16mm Eiki.

I assume they do follow the same rules about the number of days in school, but that's still so early. It's odd to me that kids even go back before the end of the summer vacation season (Labor Day), but to go back a full month before that? It just boggles the mind.

[NorthArlington101]

2 hours ago, mattie g said:

I assume they do follow the same rules about the number of days in school, but that's still so early. It's odd to me that kids even go back before the end of the summer vacation season (Labor Day), but to go back a full month before that? It just boggles the mind.

Going to school throughout August seems super weird, but it actually makes a ton of sense for standardized testing, which  happens in May. Most kids around here have a fairly rushed AP/IB curriculum as some schools get a whole extra month to spread it out. Not sure it really hurts scores, but I've always been surprised that some of the really Type A parents don't complain more, especially after the Kings Dominion law got repealed. 

[nj2va]

3 hours ago, mattie g said:

That is insanely early. Lots of kids down south have been back for a week. Just crazy.

I kinda like how schools down here start in mid/late August but 8/9 seems crazy early.  My nieces/nephews who all live in NJ still start after Labor Day (that was always the first day of school growing up there for me) - which unfortunately means our vacation in the OBX in two weeks will be filled with folks from NY and NJ.  

[mappy]

29 minutes ago, nj2va said:

I kinda like how schools down here start in mid/late August but 8/9 seems crazy early.  My nieces/nephews who all live in NJ still start after Labor Day (that was always the first day of school growing up there for me) - which unfortunately means our vacation in the OBX in two weeks will be filled with folks from NY and NJ.  

and that is why we don't go to the beach (Myrtle) until after Labor Day. Sure the kid misses a week of school, but our vacation is so much more enjoyable when its been after Labor Day.

[mattie g]

55 minutes ago, nj2va said:

I kinda like how schools down here start in mid/late August but 8/9 seems crazy early.  My nieces/nephews who all live in NJ still start after Labor Day (that was always the first day of school growing up there for me) - which unfortunately means our vacation in the OBX in two weeks will be filled with folks from NY and NJ.  

We started after Labor Day in South Jersey, with much of that due to the extension of the summer vacation season for the Shore. I guess I don't mind so much that schools go back a week or so before Labor Day as long as there's a long weekend to close out the summer, but man...early August?

Are there lots of folks from NY and NJ that go to the Outer Banks? Seems like such a long trip when you have plenty of really nice places along the Shore to choose from.

[mattie g]

30 minutes ago, mappy said:

and that is why we don't go to the beach (Myrtle) until after Labor Day. Sure the kid misses a week of school, but our vacation is so much more enjoyable when its been after Labor Day.

That's a great idea. It was nice to be able to do that before B started school, and we've actually decided to forego our end-of-summer trip to HHI in favor of taking the girls out of (pre)school and flying down for 5-6 days over Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day.

[H2O]

Growing up it was always school started right after Labor Day. Then VA did away with the Kings Dominion rule and that opened things up to stuff starting before Labor Day. 
 

two weeks before is a bit much but too many parents were complaining about school not ending until mid-late June. So here we are. 

[nj2va]

1 hour ago, mattie g said:

We started after Labor Day in South Jersey, with much of that due to the extension of the summer vacation season for the Shore. I guess I don't mind so much that schools go back a week or so before Labor Day as long as there's a long weekend to close out the summer, but man...early August?

Are there lots of folks from NY and NJ that go to the Outer Banks? Seems like such a long trip when you have plenty of really nice places along the Shore to choose from.

Yes, you notice a lot of NY/NJ plates especially in the northern towns of Corolla/Duck - I think they started coming down in droves after Sandy and it hasn't slowed down.  

[mappy]

1 hour ago, mattie g said:

That's a great idea. It was nice to be able to do that before B started school, and we've actually decided to forego our end-of-summer trip to HHI in favor of taking the girls out of (pre)school and flying down for 5-6 days over Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day.

When we went in 2019 K's teacher gave us work to take with us, so she did that over the course of the week. I am going to be asking her teacher the same for this year's trip. Plus, a lot of her schoolwork will be on a computer, despite them being in classrooms, so we will be fine making sure she doesn't get too off track so early in the year. But, its third grade, and 3 weeks into school... its not that bad. 

[mattie g]

25 minutes ago, mappy said:

When we went in 2019 K's teacher gave us work to take with us, so she did that over the course of the week. I am going to be asking her teacher the same for this year's trip. Plus, a lot of her schoolwork will be on a computer, despite them being in classrooms, so we will be fine making sure she doesn't get too off track so early in the year. But, its third grade, and 3 weeks into school... its not that bad. 

I might steal that idea about asking the teacher for some schoolwork! I think they're using tablets for a bit of their work this year, so we could get B to bang out a couple assignments before enjoying the rest of the day.

[mappy]

4 minutes ago, mattie g said:

I might steal that idea about asking the teacher for some schoolwork! I think they're using tablets for a bit of their work this year, so we could get B to bang out a couple assignments before enjoying the rest of the day.

Exactly what we did!

[mappy]

Hey @wxtrix have you heard any updates on that weird bird death thing that was a minor story a while back? Curious if that’s still something to look out for, the youngest was munching on another bird. Unsure if he found it dead, leftovers from a bird kill, or did it himself…

edit: youngest dog, not kid lol

[toolsheds]

I  saw a post about it possibly being related to insecticides used to keep the cicadas away.  I'm not saying that is confirmed or 100% accurate, I do recall seeing that last week. 

[Rvarookie]

For those going to obx, make sure to stock up on liquor before you go. Major liquor shortages still going on down there and shelves basically empty

[H2O]

As long as they have beer I’m good

[vastateofmind]

18 hours ago, mappy said:

and that is why we don't go to the beach (Myrtle) until after Labor Day. Sure the kid misses a week of school, but our vacation is so much more enjoyable when its been after Labor Day.

This x 1000. OBX on down to MB is best in mid-September, my .02 cents. TOTALLY worth taking the kids out of school for a week for this. Most of the crowds have left (at least until the late Nov/Dec ones start arriving), most eateries and shopping are still available, and the weather/ocean water temps are close to perfection. Assuming you're not navigating around hurricanes.   

[Rvarookie]

30 minutes ago, H2O said:

As long as they have beer I’m good

Plenty of beer

[SnowenOutThere]

Oh Fairfax County schools can just go jump, why do we start school before labor day and get out June 13th or something? Then THEN they cancelled online schooling for everyone. WHY some people could of used that if they don't feel comfortable going back into school or if they work better at home. AT the very least offer hybrid and that's ignoring the spike in cases right now! WHY CANT THE BE LIKE LOUDON COUNTY SCHOOLS! Sorry talk of schools touched a nerve.

[SnowenOutThere]

Though something I find terrible but also funny they made us start earlier years ago and got rid of half day Mondays (might of just been for grades 1-6) but still. The funny part is, that they gave us 20 extra snow days! When will we ever use those, I mean pretty lame excuse for making the school year longer. I give it a D-

[nj2va]

12 hours ago, Rvarookie said:

For those going to obx, make sure to stock up on liquor before you go. Major liquor shortages still going on down there and shelves basically empty

Thanks for the tip!  We'll make sure to bring plenty.

[GramaxRefugee]

2 hours ago, SnowenOutThere said:

...they gave us 20 extra snow days! When will we ever use those,...

When it's 34f and raining. If track record is any indication.

 

[mattie g]

20 hours ago, toolsheds said:

I  saw a post about it possibly being related to insecticides used to keep the cicadas away.  I'm not saying that is confirmed or 100% accurate, I do recall seeing that last week. 

Seriously? Anyone who used insecticides for cicadas is a f'ing moron.

[WinterWxLuvr]

4 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Seriously? Anyone who used insecticides for cicadas is a f'ing moron.

We have plenty of those …. morons, I mean.

[mattie g]

4 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

We have plenty of those …. morons, I mean.

Too true.

[Maestrobjwa]

I just don't understand...26 dang years of existence...and we draw bad card at 1st round WR every. Dang. Time. It's like we spin the wheel and always land on bankrupt, smh And why just that position??? Every other position is great! It's like some force said "the Ravens are not supposed to get a 1st rd WR ever"

And it's a shame because skill-wise, Bateman may be the best one we drafted. And get this: He didn't have injury issues in college. Just when WE pick him  

Now I thought Hollywood may have finally broken the streak. Because he hasn't been a "bust"...at least not by comparison to others. But he started off hurt too, smh. I just don't understand...smh

Maybe we see Bateman sometime this season, but you know even if we do he might be hampered. Looks like a groin injury so who knows? I'm just tired of this mess...we deserve to have a WR1 drafted. But something keeps getting in the way and crap like this happens! Gah!!!!

Rant over (I think, lol)

[mappy]

12 hours ago, wxtrix said:

 

i read that scientists now think it was either the cicada fungus or the pesticides, but it is dissipating and bird populations have remained stable.

thanks dear

[kgottwald]

There are always alarmist stories but never any closure.

 

I remember back in 1982 reading in the Fairfax Journal (remember that paper?) about a rabies epidemic with sick raccoons being found every day. There were occasional mentions of more rabid raccoons off and on for a while, then it vanished from the news. For all I know that epidemic is still going on!