"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:13:51 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:


"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 06:47:36 -0400, DSK wrote:

Go sit in a high school B-C Calculus class and remember that the
kids there are a product of public schools.
What percentage of high school students take a real course in
Calculus,
other than maybe a half year introduction? I don't know, but I
suspect
the
percentage is very small.


Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
Less than 2% locally.

Must be something in the water.

Around here about 15% of the kids are in honors math. I used
to to tutor some of them. They easily test out of freshman
calculus when they get to college.

Pardon me for allowing facts to interrupt a partisan screed.

I noticed that in the national stats - kind of interesting.

Do you have a higher population of Asian kids than we do around here?

Well....you ARE in Connecticut, after all.

Hey!! I'll have you know we have one minority in town.

That should be sufficient. :)

Really, it's a serious question.

One minority? Person who can identify its father? :-)

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...

I was amused by one direction that this thread had taken... Think
about it: If we are going to send all of those mundane low paying jobs
overseas and keep those high paying computer jobs here..... you know,
do what we do best..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

That's a depressing thought. I'm already in a quandary about what to do when
my mechanic and his partner retire. Probably switch to a horse. It took 15
years of aggravation before I found these guys. I really don't want to
repeat the process.

..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

Doug Kanter wrote:
That's a depressing thought. I'm already in a quandary about what to do when
my mechanic and his partner retire. Probably switch to a horse. It took 15
years of aggravation before I found these guys. I really don't want to
repeat the process.


Don't worry about it, there will always be mechanics. And of
those mechanics, half will be below average and 10% (or so)
will be excellent. Of course, they'll charge $150 bucks an
hour, but then, that's what you gotta pay somebody to do
actual work instead of sit in an air conditioned cubicle and
play video games all day.


DSK

"DSK" wrote in message
...
..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

Doug Kanter wrote:
That's a depressing thought. I'm already in a quandary about what to do
when my mechanic and his partner retire. Probably switch to a horse. It
took 15 years of aggravation before I found these guys. I really don't
want to repeat the process.

Don't worry about it, there will always be mechanics. And of those
mechanics, half will be below average and 10% (or so) will be excellent.
Of course, they'll charge $150 bucks an hour, but then, that's what you
gotta pay somebody to do actual work instead of sit in an air conditioned
cubicle and play video games all day.


DSK


I hope you're right. I just had some recall work done on the truck. Against
my better judgement, I let the dealership's idiots do an oil change, too.
Went to pick up the truck and found oil dripping underneath. You're supposed
to remove the skid plate, which is a major undertaking involving 4 small
bolts. The plate gets full of oil when the drain cap's removed. The service
writer's comment: "It don't drip for very long". I put my credit card back
in my wallet and had them finish the job. I got the feeling they wouldn't
want to stop by and clean my driveway.

Don't worry about it, there will always be mechanics. And of those
mechanics, half will be below average and 10% (or so) will be excellent.


Doug Kanter wrote:
I hope you're right. I just had some recall work done on the truck. Against
my better judgement, I let the dealership's idiots do an oil change, too.
Went to pick up the truck and found oil dripping underneath. You're supposed
to remove the skid plate, which is a major undertaking involving 4 small
bolts. The plate gets full of oil when the drain cap's removed. The service
writer's comment: "It don't drip for very long".

You're right, he's a moron. Guys like that should have no
connection whatever with any technical service.


.... I put my credit card back
in my wallet and had them finish the job. I got the feeling they wouldn't
want to stop by and clean my driveway.


If you ask around discretely, you can find out which auto
shops (dealers & otherwise) pay the service writers a
commission on each job. Avoid those places like the plague.
Believe it or not, our local Toyota dealer doesn't do this
(it's depressingly common practice). Which is good, because
my wife has really tried to kill this car... the fact that
it's still driving pretty well (95k miles) is a testament to
it's original quality.

Regards
Doug King

"DSK" wrote in message
...
Don't worry about it, there will always be mechanics. And of those
mechanics, half will be below average and 10% (or so) will be excellent.


Doug Kanter wrote:
I hope you're right. I just had some recall work done on the truck.
Against my better judgement, I let the dealership's idiots do an oil
change, too. Went to pick up the truck and found oil dripping underneath.
You're supposed to remove the skid plate, which is a major undertaking
involving 4 small bolts. The plate gets full of oil when the drain cap's
removed. The service writer's comment: "It don't drip for very long".

You're right, he's a moron. Guys like that should have no connection
whatever with any technical service.


.... I put my credit card back in my wallet and had them finish the job.
I got the feeling they wouldn't want to stop by and clean my driveway.

If you ask around discretely, you can find out which auto shops (dealers &
otherwise) pay the service writers a commission on each job. Avoid those
places like the plague. Believe it or not, our local Toyota dealer doesn't
do this (it's depressingly common practice). Which is good, because my
wife has really tried to kill this car... the fact that it's still driving
pretty well (95k miles) is a testament to it's original quality.

Regards
Doug King


Last Saturday, on the PBS Car Talk show, a doctor called to say that his
wife wanted him to get rid of his Camry, with 95K miles, because she didn't
think it was proper for a doctor to drive a car that old. The caller was
looking for ammo for his ongoing debate with the mrs. The car guys made it
simple: They said that in Los Angeles, where the caller lived (no road salt,
in other words), a Camry with such low mileage wasn't even broken in yet.

(Toyota Camry) really tried to kill this car... that it's still driving
pretty well (95k miles) is a testament to it's original quality.



Doug Kanter wrote:
Last Saturday, on the PBS Car Talk show, a doctor called to say that his
wife wanted him to get rid of his Camry, with 95K miles, because she didn't
think it was proper for a doctor to drive a car that old.

Ha!

.... The caller was
looking for ammo for his ongoing debate with the mrs. The car guys made it
simple: They said that in Los Angeles, where the caller lived (no road salt,
in other words), a Camry with such low mileage wasn't even broken in yet.


And this is a problem for car mfrs. How do you sell new cars
when everybody already has one that will last for years? At
least the good ones don't put themselves out of business any
more, like Stutz & Studebaker.

Many people still have the 'buy a new Cadillac every year'
mentality but there are lots more things to spend your
conspicuous consumption dollars on nowadays. And the
industry is inevitably shrinking. Same problem affects other
industries too.

But of course, that's dangerous libby-rull traitor stuff.
Shuck just admitting that you listen to PBS will get your
family sent to the re-education camps.

DSK

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 09:34:16 -0400 in rec.boats, JohnH penned the
following thoughts:

Bill, those classes still exist. But, the government mandates what the
educational requirements are, and we still don't have a 'vocational' track
in the system. The public high school just down the road from me has a
great set of vocational classes. Although called an 'academy', it's just
part of the high school.

http://www.fcps.edu/EdisonAcademy/courses.htm

In most parts of the country this just is no longer true. The
machinery has been sold off, the labs/shops converted to classrooms,
and if *anything* of vocational nature remains, it would be one of
those silly, pointless, babysitting "career exploration" classes.


One reason for this is that the loss of behavior control at the
teacher's level made for a more dangerous experience. Wimpy
administrators, unwilling to do the right thing with respect to
behavior, found it much easier to close those rooms and turn them into
"college bound" classrooms... lowered the insurance bills and kept the
more affluent parents happier, anyway.....

I was amused by one direction that this thread had taken... Think
about it: If we are going to send all of those mundane low paying jobs
overseas and keep those high paying computer jobs here..... you know,
do what we do best..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.


Very good column on Voc Ed in to days loacl newspaper.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/tribune/ci_3697382

And to see why we can not boat the rivers at the present time,
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_3697320

No boats except for emergency workers. Stops the wake from causing more
danger.

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
nk.net...

And to see why we can not boat the rivers at the present time,
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_3697320

"VERNALIS - They already were sand-bagging Monday afternoon at Manteca
Sportsman's Club."

Manteca = fat, lard or butter in Spanish. What the hell kind of sportsmen
frequent that club?

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:19:23 GMT, "Calif Bill"
wrote:


"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 09:34:16 -0400 in rec.boats, JohnH penned the
following thoughts:

Bill, those classes still exist. But, the government mandates what the
educational requirements are, and we still don't have a 'vocational' track
in the system. The public high school just down the road from me has a
great set of vocational classes. Although called an 'academy', it's just
part of the high school.

http://www.fcps.edu/EdisonAcademy/courses.htm

In most parts of the country this just is no longer true. The
machinery has been sold off, the labs/shops converted to classrooms,
and if *anything* of vocational nature remains, it would be one of
those silly, pointless, babysitting "career exploration" classes.


One reason for this is that the loss of behavior control at the
teacher's level made for a more dangerous experience. Wimpy
administrators, unwilling to do the right thing with respect to
behavior, found it much easier to close those rooms and turn them into
"college bound" classrooms... lowered the insurance bills and kept the
more affluent parents happier, anyway.....

I was amused by one direction that this thread had taken... Think
about it: If we are going to send all of those mundane low paying jobs
overseas and keep those high paying computer jobs here..... you know,
do what we do best..... why shouldn't we do away with technical
programs?...do we really need anything but college prep classrooms?

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.


Very good column on Voc Ed in to days loacl newspaper.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/tribune/ci_3697382

And to see why we can not boat the rivers at the present time,
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_3697320

No boats except for emergency workers. Stops the wake from causing more
danger.


Good for Arnold. He may talk funny, but he seems to have a good head on his
shoulders.
--
'Til next time,

John H

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