Arktigers

I hate the premise of automatic tipping but this is how these folks make their living. If you aren’t going to tip at least the minimum on adequate service, go through a drive thru.

My oldest got 34 on ACT. Thought financial assistance would be better but they wanted to go out of state. Received academic scholarship from school of choice but still very short of covering full cost.

1. Spent a lot of time googling and working with high school to identify and apply for small scholarships. $1000 here and there.

2. Worked with school financial aid. Pretty helpful. We had to take out multiple loans due to caps. Varying interest rates and yes some are very high.

3. Budgeted to cover housing out of pocket. Paid what we could on loans during the year.

One thing to consider is monthly costs at home went down considerably. Still graduated with roughly $20k in debt. We paid half when they graduated and they assumed the other half.

We will help going forward but we decided not to sacrifice 401k contributions. I don’t want to be a financial burden on my children when we retire and if we have health issues.

CNN is quickly becoming national enquirer. Hint of truth buried deep in opinion, theatrics, editorializing. Not everything is “BREAKING NEWS”.

If they would just report news without bias or opinion, things would be much better.

College athletics have evolved well beyond the original intent. A few of the non-mainstream sports are a nice distraction while waiting for football or basketball season. NIL, travel footprint of SEC has made it nearly impossible for most sports outside the big two to survive.

“The original intent of college athletics was to promote physical fitness and moral education among students, fostering a sense of community and school spirit through organized sports. This focus on amateurism aimed to ensure that sports served educational purposes rather than commercial interests.”

The entire back and forth between the Pope and Trump is difficult for me.

As a catholic, I look to the pope for the church’s position. I don’t always agree with the church’s position but respect the pope and intent. Our current Pope is making that more difficult for myself. Reading some of his statements, it doesn’t seem like he is guiding the church but rather expressing his own opinion.

I support most of Trumps initiatives. He isn’t afraid to address the issues that the career politicians kept kicking down the road. I’m all for providing charity/assistance to those genuinely in need. But as the saying goes, charity starts at home. Shouldn’t our government prioritize helping our own citizens in need before extending aid to immigrants. Shouldn’t our government prioritize job creation for our citizens before immigrants. Shouldn’t our government ensure our citizens security before that of immigrants.

Trumps speaking style abrasive and I believe that’s why so many folks are immediately opposed. Trump is focusing on the things we should expect. National security, tax dollars benefitting our citizens not the rest of the world.

Man in a dress, woman in a suit. Flash cards so they know who’s who. Would love to see how Ward and June explain this to the Beaver.

Growing up, my mom was eligible at one time for “food stamps”. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept assistance. She found ways to make ends meet. Today it seems like some folks are proud of being on assistance and working the system.

If you are familiar with pew social data, interesting graph on R vs D views on economy. Quite different views immediately after Trump took office. Good illustration of how divided we are as a country.

Growing up, the differences between the parties seemed more subtle. One party might champion national defense, another social programs. They differed on priorities but the gaps weren’t what we see today. Obama did a huge disservice to this country. Politics today has nothing to do with what’s best for the entire country. It’s about championing their own fringe causes and vendettas. Wouldn’t it be great if they put all that energy into improving the life of the average citizen first? It will never happen because it’s boring and they don’t get as many clicks on social media.

There you go. If you have a uterus you are woman. Regardless how you want to identify or exterior alterations, you are born one or the other. It’s binary. How has this become so subjective?

Agreed. Love him or hate him he’s been a disruptor in Washington politics. That’s not a bad thing regardless of your politics. Throw a wrench into status quo and force folks to think, work for the people rather than showing up and collecting the perks.