deathmtn

Junior calisthenics (10 fingertip push-ups!), 12 pull-ups.

Just what everyone wants to hear: Raining Blood, but out of tune.

Hey, you can get a 18.75” x 3” x 1.8” piece of stainless steel for $31.34! Not bad.

I’d have to cut it down with that it tapered from 2.25” wide to 1.75”, though. Unsure how I’d do that. Lasers?

Still, would be kind of cool to just have some steel, even if I didn’t make anything with it.

Glass guitar necks: even more expensive.

Aluminum guitar necks: very pricey.

“The War of Northern Aggression” still sounds to me like a term that a comedy writer would come up with.

There was some kind of event happening in the building that math circle is held in in which there were tons of dressed-up Harvard students. So, all the usual lounging spots for me were taken.

I sat by some parents, and one of them started talking to me. They were different from the other math circle parents I talked to before, who were more interested in math. It wasn’t exactly my crowd (but then no parent crowd is), but I tried to be game.

Parent A: I tried to contact my principal about our MCAS scores dropping, but he ignored me.

Thing I did not say: Eh, MCAS is bullshit anyway.

Me: Unfortunate! I think they should respond even if they can’t help you.

Parent A: I tried to set up a meeting between math circle and our school’s math coach so we can get our MCAS scores up.

Things I did not say: I thought you said your kid had a math score in the 95th percentile anyway? Also, math circle wouldn’t help with MCAS. They do wacky stuff that’s interesting to kids that already like math.

Me: How did it go?

Parent B: Can I say something? My kids go to this charter school, and it does great at MCAS and also some other test you have heard of.

Parent A: My younger kid hates going to kindergarten. It’s going to be rough when he starts having to do homework.

Parent B: At ___ charter school, the teachers make sure the kids like school. Also, they give them a ton of homework, which is great because it keeps the kids away from the screens.

Thing I did not say: You know, there are things kids can do that are not homework and also do not involve screens.

Me: Wow.

Parent A: Oof. It would hard to get my kids through that much homework.

Parent B: At ____ charter school, the teachers get the kids the skills to do tons of homework! You should get your kids to this school.

Parent A: Oh, maybe. (Meaning: No)

Parent B: But you know, every kid is different.

Parent A: Yeah.

Me: It‘s so true.

Parent B: Anyway, give me your contact information so you can get your kids into ___ charter school.

Weirdly, later on Parent A told me she checked out some MCAS questions and thought they weren’t good for assessment. So maybe she also knows MCAS is bullshit, but thinks it offers some kind of legitimacy when talking to school staff?

Anyway, this has been another chapter of Jim Being Accommodating So As Not to Be Alienating.

Test.

Navalny just died in a Siberian gulag. He was poisoned a few years ago by the Russian state. Quite a few of Putin’s opponents have been killed.

This, in addition to blatantly trying to take over another country, is an example of Putin getting away with things that are commonly considered stark wrongdoing. Will he continue to get away with it? It looks like he will!

Junior calisthenics, breakfalls, 12 pull-ups.

Self-congratulation time: Actually went out and put air in the tires before one of them was obviously deflated.