Trigger warnings, safe spaces, and fascism on college campuses

[LVAllen]

The first house I can remember living in was 1,344 sq ft. There were 6 kids in that house. When we hit 7, it was time for Mom and Dad to move.

[Jeff Lebowski]

We need help people accept and be okay with high density housing. If you really want a starter home these days, you really are looking at a townhome or condo. It is just reality.

Yes.

When I was a kid, homes were tiny and lots were large. Maybe you had a one-car garage, maybe not.

Our daughter and SIL bought a townhome in AF for their first home. No yard, but the home is very nice. 2-car garage.

[Clark Addison]

I bought my first house when I was 31. I think it was 1300 square feet? Before that, we lived in California, so tough for a first-time home buyer. In CA, we rented a 900 square foot house on a tiny corner lot on a hill in Diamond Bar. The house was tiny (we had two kids at the time) but still one of my favorite places we lived.

We didn't have a coffee maker OR drink energy drinks

[The_Tick]

The first house my parents bought when I was 5 years old had no AC or heat. It did have a wood burning stove. It was around 900 sq. ft. It was right next to a train track in Mona, Utah. There were 5 of us total. I think it was 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. This was 1979.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The first house my parents bought when I was 5 years old had no AC or heat. It did have a wood burning stove. It was around 900 sq. ft. It was right next to a train track in Mona, Utah. There were 5 of us total. I think it was 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. This was 1979.

I didn't know anybody with A/C. Maybe a swamp cooler if you were lucky.

I lived just up the road! (Santaquin)

[BigFatMeanie]

First house: 1800sf split level in Taylorsville but the half-basement wasn’t finished so we only had something like 1000sf of livable space. Had 3 kids at the time. 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Paid $154k for it in 2000 when I was 30 years old.

Moved out 6 years later with 5 kids; sold it for $249K and put every single penny of equity into our new 4400sf home. Now we’re empty nesters in the 4400sf home with way more space than we need and the home would be much better for a younger larger family but it makes zero sense to move right now.

[Jeff Lebowski]

We have only owned one home (purchased when I was 32 years old). We still live there and will probably die there. 4300 sf rambler. 1/4 acre.

[Pelado]

We have only owned one home (purchased when I was 32 years old). We still live there and will probably die there. 4300 sf rambler. 1/4 acre.

Didn't know they built rambler mansions in Alpine.

[Pelado]

The first house my parents bought when I was 5 years old had no AC or heat. It did have a wood burning stove. It was around 900 sq. ft. It was right next to a train track in Mona, Utah. There were 5 of us total. I think it was 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. This was 1979.

My dad built the house I grew up in and they moved in just before I was born. It had AC but I remember several years of not using the AC either because it was broken or because he deemed it too expensive (or perhaps both). It was a pretty big house with a full basement - basically a mirrored floor plan on both levels. The basement was mostly unfinished for at least the first decade or so. The house had 8 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms (two with double sinks), and was nearly 4800 square feet.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Didn't know they built rambler mansions in Alpine.

The mansion in Alpine is my second home.

[Northwestcoug]

The first home I remember is when my parents bought a new build in Green River, WY. Unfinished basement and a paved driveway, but apparently my Dad's mining salary couldn't cover a garage. That made those SW Wyoming winters oh so cheery. The last year we were there, I remember the head of the moose my dad had shot froze to the concrete and stayed there for awhile. I think he had plans for taxidermy but they never materialized. I'm sure the neighbors loved that. It did have 3/4 an acre and I routinely found fossilized shells in the backyard, so back then I lived like a king.

The first house we bought was a 1940's colonial that was about 1400 sq ft. Unfinished basement, no garage, no fence, and right on a secondary highway. For the first 3 years 4 kids slept in a large room together, and only when we converted an office space into our bedroom did the older girls get their own room. It needed a ton of work, which was the only reason we could afford a house in Massachusetts, even 30 miles away from my hospital. Anytime it rained more than an inch in a 24 hour period the basement flooded, and that was with 2 sump pumps working overtime. The amount of time we spent renovating it made me swear in my wrath that I would never paint a house again. The kids got addicted to the noise machine that blocked the traffic noise, and it took them awhile to wean off it even when me moved to quieter Bend. We thanked our lucky stars that we were able to sell it to a similarly desperate couple trying break into the housing market right before the 2008 crash, and that we made a little money off of it.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Yes.

When I was a kid, homes were tiny and lots were large. Maybe you had a one-car garage, maybe not.

Our daughter and SIL bought a townhome in AF for their first home. No yard, but the home is very nice. 2-car garage.

And here is the thing, that nice starter home is also a great investment property. The thing that I learned is as your needs grow, the option to keep that home and buy something else is more attainable than most think.

You won’t make much in the actual rental, but you have someone funding your retirement by paying the mortgage and building your equity in it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

And here is the thing, that nice starter home is also a great investment property. The thing that I learned is as your needs grow, the option to keep that home and buy something else is more attainable than most think.

You won’t make much in the actual rental, but you have someone funding your retirement by paying the mortgage and building your equity in it.

Yeah, they have talked about doing that on their next move.

[tooblue]

Interesting first week of class—it will be a challenging first year cohort. These kids were in middle school during COVID and it shows. I teach a large lecture course to sixty-five in a large lecture theatre and haven’t received this many accommodation forms ever. Also, I have never seen so many COVID era masks in class—in fact very few students on campus wear masks. I counted twelve.

Plus, two parents showed up to the first week of class despite the fact they have hired a personal education assistant to attend class with their child. Many parents come to orientation, but never to class.

I lowered the boom—I do not interact with parents, only the students or their education assistant. It’s a matter of the age of the student, college policy and rights—my rights as faculty guaranteed by our collective bargaining agreement. One of the parents was visibly displeased.

The overall make-up of students is interesting. The majority are what could be called mainstream students, with a few mature students. There is great effort to integrate students with exceptionalities. I have three in my class. They are enrolled in a program that is designed for students with intellectual disabilities or significant learning challenges. The program allows them to pick and choose classes across a variety of programs.

My class is a favourite—the lectures are fun, we examine some strange art, discuss philosophy and politics, I am good at pushing buttons and provoking, and the project work is very conceptual. I am very easy to work with and the education specialist who attends class with the three students can easily adapt my project briefs and outlines to suit the needs of the learners she is looking after.

The other students, who have parents (the two who showed up) who choose to mainstream their child with exceptionalities on their own are always a challenge. That one parent will email me. I won’t respond, but forward it to the Associate Dean who can deal with it.

In addition to the other benefits these students enjoy that I mentioned in a previous post, every one of them has a phone, a laptop (MacBook), high end blue tooth earbuds and head phones, and it’s rare I see any of them wear the same outfit twice—a beloved hoodie and the goth garb being the exceptions.

It is a curious generation entering college. It’s only week one, but last year was exceptionally challenging, and this group is leaving me even more agitated already. Maybe it’s just a generational thing—they are getting younger and I am getting older. The divide is wide.

[BigPiney]

Interesting.

Also I try not to judge, but I will. People still wearing COVID masks are weirdos.