Big Changes Are Afoot

The end of 2021 was quite busy for me, and so my blog went silent for a while. I traveled from Florida to Ohio for Thanksgiving, then from Florida to California for Christmas. I was in the final interviewing and negotiating phase of changing employment (the new job is the reason for the blog change from "A Random Stranger" to BTMinster). And the changes are nowhere near over, but at least they are far enough along that I can say some definitive things about them.

To begin with, I have accepted new employment in Columbus, OH. I will be moving from Jacksonville, FL, the first weekend in March. The logistics of this are still very undecided, but it appears that my family will stay in Florida for a few weeks after I leave. Some of that is because my wife, Nancy (previously known as "Persephone," "Super Hot 111," and "My Wife" on ARS), will be finishing up her Florida job and won't be ready to go when I have to report for work in Ohio. Some of it is because our daughter, Ella (previously known as "Crazy Jane" on ARS), has received a call to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and begins her service with home-based online training in mid-March and then reports for in-person training at the beginning of April, so it will be a lot easier for everyone if they just stay put in Florida until Ella leaves home. Some of it is because our son, Will (previously known as "Articulate Joe" on ARS), is working on finishing the Eagle Scout rank for Scouts BSA and his 18th birthday is at the end of April, so it will be easier for him to finish things in Florida than to try to figure out how to start them in Ohio. And some of it is because it will be easier to find a good housing solution for our family if I'm there in Columbus to scout and finalize the search. When we were moving to Jacksonville in 2016 many landlords refused to rent to us without us being in town to see the house in person. Should I admire their self-awareness that their properties are disappointing in person, or should I be frustrated with the inconvenience it caused us trying to line things up online from California and Ohio? A little of both.

Like I said, big changes are still coming. I am teaching an online class right now, and in February I will add to that two in-person classes. The weekend after the in-person classes end is when I move to Ohio to begin work on the following Monday. So I'm going to be very busy for the first few months of 2022.

The Dangers of Homeschooling

Our youngest kid, Screamapilar, spends days at a time in his pajamas. Often he will get dressed twice in a week: Mondays at 3:15 for his online science group sponsored by our library, and Wednesdays at 3:15 for the library's online art group. Some Wednesdays he can't immediately change back into pajamas because he has a Zoom call Primary Activity at 6:30. Those days are trying for him.

One of the unfortunate side effects of allowing him to dress every day like it's Saturday is that he's come to believe it actually IS Saturday on days when it is not. Or whatever day of the week he wants. A few weeks ago he woke up on a Thursday and declared it was Friday. We could not convince him otherwise. Since it was "Friday," he refused to do his Thursday school courses. I told him, "Mom finishes work at 1 on Thursdays and at 2 on Fridays, so when Mom walks in at 1:30, you'll know it's Thursday." But then my wife made some stops on her way home and didn't get here until after 2, which he declared proof that he was right all along. He said, "I know it's Friday because when I woke up I said to myself, 'Tomorrow is Saturday.'"

Today there was a minor disturbance in the dining room. Crazy Jane kicked open my door, carrying a hysterical Screamapilar. She dumped him on my bed and said, "He won't do school because he thinks it's Saturday." Now, just yesterday I had read a Twitter thread from a guy who advocated betting against his children. (I'd link to that but searching Twitter is a fool's errand. If you didn't note the tweet's URL at the moment you saw it, you'll never find it again.) Anyway, the guy's point was that he was using wagering to teach his daughter about knowledge and certainty. So I said to Screamapilar, "I will bet you that it's Thursday, and if I win you owe me a dollar, but--"

"I don't have a dollar!" he said.

"How much do you have?"

"Fourteen cents."

"Fine. If I win you owe me 14 cents, and if you win, I owe you $1,000."

"No, because then I won't have any money."

"So you acknowledge that you will lose this bet?"

"No."

"If you are correct and I am wrong, you should turn your specialized knowledge into money. You will be performing a service by educating me of the error of my ways."

"I don't even know if you have a thousand dollars."

"What, I've got to login to my banking app and show you the balance? Fine." I got my phone and showed him my current bank account balance. "So now you'll take the bet?"

"No."

"Listen, [Screamapilar], you need to do one of two things right now: either take my bet, or stop saying it's Saturday."

He burried his head in some pillows and made angry noises for a while. But when he came out from under the pillows, he stopped saying it was Saturday, and now he's doing school.