What is your opinion on the United Kingdom?

[disneydreamer1980]

France

 

[nene0182]

I live in ND. My family is in WA,FL, NM and PA. All which seems really far away most days.

 

[nene0182]

My husband tells me lots of gossip from his job about people I don’t know. I guess he just needs to tell someone and most of its confidential management stuff and since I don’t know anyone he thinks it’s safe to tell me. Last was that a guy got fired because he was “in love” with the HR person and started acting really weird about it.

 

[ThisIsJason]

Well, at right now we (myself, wife, DD) are staying with my dad because our house is under construction still. He lives next to a graveyard...so no.

If I was at my place, they are retired. So I would do it in a second.

 

[NotUrsula]

That harbor piloting is one the best-paid professions in the world -- of course, that one is actually MEANT to be a secret.

(It is run by guilds, and they are very selective about letting in new members. Piloting is one of those jobs that normally run in families, though you do have to pass the exams as well.)

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My DD’s old dance studio is hemmoraging students.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Next door neighbour has home daycare. They are a blended family with 3 adult kids plus a younger one. I know at least 2 adult kids were doing college remotely. Teen age kid's school has been remote since early May.
It's not a huge house (1600 sq ft) with a great room plan so not sure how they manage with so many people at home all day plus 4-5 infants/toddlers.
It must be noisy, messy and chaotic. Oh and they have a dog.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

In some ways having family far away is a good thing. Having family in France is awesome because we have an excuse to visit frequently and a place to stay when we do. Can’t wait to go back!

 

[GAN]

Lugano, Switzerland ....waiting anxiously to get back there!

 

[kdonnel]

If I switched with one side, I am suddenly newly divorced.

If I switched with the other side, I am married still but I despise my spouse.

I don't want either of their lives.

 

[aprilgail]

I never knew teachers were paid so well for just 180 days of work.

 

[MrsPete]

I never knew teachers were paid so well for just 180 days of work.

We have students 180 days, but we report to school 200 days. We work in the summer without pay, though it's not full time. I was at school yesterday for a solid four hours -- not a choice, but without pay. Saturday I will attend graduation /have a specific job to do -- again, not a choice, and without pay. I have two additional half-day obligations at my own school over the summer, and I'm attending a week-long conference the second week of July -- again, not a choice, and without pay. Since I'm teaching a new class next year, I have to work on lesson plans over the summer (or I'll be in trouble in the fall). This is all about being a salaried employee; before he retired, my husband did lots of after-hours work.

I didn't realize people in the trades (beyond entry level) were so well paid. My brother, who is a master electrician, makes well over twice what I do as a teacher. Tradesmen who own their own small businesses make even more.

 

[sjberg79]

I never knew teachers were paid so well for just 180 days of work.

This is loaded. Because it's subjective to where they teach. Some states pay better than others. And even where in the state where they teach can change the pay rate. And no teacher ever works just 180 days. Or just shows up and leaves when the kids do and doesn't work additional hours. They have so much prep work.

I homeschooled my son this year for 1st grade because of covid concerns and it was very rewarding and I taught him SO MUCH MORE than he ever would have learned in public school because it was 1 on 1 (he can do long division now and multiply fractions and he's reading at a 7th grade level. I'm not even kidding. I had him tested.) but I have more respect for what teachers do. The prep work was crazy. He's going back to public school because he needs to social time and I know his education will suffer because no teacher can do what I just did with that 1 on 1. But it doesn't matter. Those teachers are still miracle workers because they have to herd 20 feral cats to learn the same lesson plan at the same time. I couldn't do that. Teachers really work for their pay. Especially art teachers. I used to think they had easy jobs until I had to paint with my kid once a week. So messy! Pay the art teachers all the money!

 

[Keli]

It's funny, most folks don't appear to want to switch lives with their neighbors and I wouldn't want to switch with mine either.
Young families with young kids and I'm way too old for that. Plus I don't think any of them have jobs I would want. All seem to be nice people though.

 

[dez1978]

Government jobs DON’T pay well. There are some great benefits but the pay is not great and pretty lousy in some instances.

On the other hand court reporters are paid pretty well.

YES!!!! Before I worked for the state I thought they got paid well. There is a prison and a psych hospital where I live and close to the capital so tons of state employees. I remember back then thinking that was a great paying job. 21 years later, I absolutely know better. My insurance is pretty cheap compared to private, I get 13 paid holidays and now 14 hrs/month of vacation time. But after 21 years I still make less than $14/hr. But COL is low here so that helps.

 

[dez1978]

I never knew teachers were paid so well for just 180 days of work.

After 3 months of "homeschooling" for the end of the 2020 school year, all I can say is there is not a teacher on earth who gets paid enough money or has enough alcohol. That aside, considering all the hours they put in outside the classroom, they probably work close to what year round 40 hr week ppl do. And they don't get vacation days during the 180 days they are in class. So I'd say the time put in equals out.

Adding: a 40 hr/week job = 2080 hrs a year. Then you get 2 weeks paid vacation, so 2000. then say you get even just 6 paid holidays, thats 1952.

There are 180 classroom days in a year @ 8 hr/day=1440. They don't get 2 weeks paid vacation during that time, so add that to the 1440= 1520. Then estimate the avg teacher spends ONLY 5 hrs a week of their own time on classroom things, thats another 180 hrs (and I'd guess most put in way above that) so thats 1700 hrs. Our school has the teachers in a full week before classes begin, so theres an extra 40 hrs=1740. Plus 1 teacher development/training/planning day a month in our district so 72 more. =1812 hours per year. So really they only work maybe 3 weeks less worth of hours than the typical 40hr/week employee.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

If that's all ya got, I'll buy you a toque and a snow shovel and you can pack your stuff and head on up to the safety and serenity of the dog-rat free Rocky Mountains.
View attachment 581373

Snow won’t keep you safe from them.

 

[ronandannette]

Snow won’t keep you safe from them.
View attachment 581406

Wow, y'alls dog-rats sure are ugly. Beavers, on the other hand, are adorable and good natured and make great companions. They'll assign you one when you cross the border.

 

[ronandannette]

I saw an episode of bizarre foods where they cooked up nutria. Andrew said they weren’t that bad.

The fainting emoji does not make near a strong enough statement for what I'm feeling right now.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Wow, y'alls dog-rats sure are ugly. Beavers, on the other hand, are adorable and good natured and make great companions. They'll assign you one when you cross the border.
View attachment 581408

Well, that’s all you had to say! I’ll be on the next flight!