Patrick

Welcome.

What are your favorite sports teams? Mine are the New York Yankees (MLB) and Miami Dolphins (NFL).

Just a general note: it's important that this thread focus on health insurance, how to get it, how it factored into your decision to get into MA, etc. There should not be any talk of the general political circumstances that affect these matters. Anyway, like others have said, it's just a good thing to have. You won't need it ... until you need it and then you'll be kicking yourself. It may cost you, but you just don't want to be caught without it, if at all possible. In my case, I was taken off of my Dad's insurance because he moved to a new company and I didn't qualify for their policy because of my age, income, etc. That was 3 years ago. I went for a while without it and then I checked out the largest health insurance quote websites. I typed my info into 2 or 3 of them and got a couple calls. I went with the one I liked best. There was like a yearly fee of $100 and a monthly fee of $225, just for myself. Health, no dental, etc. I think that's probably expensive, but I have heard that insurance in MA was expensive. I did that for about a year and a half or so. At which point, we moved from MA (4 or 5 months ago - Dad got another job) and so I cancelled that insurance and I am back on my Dad's insurance with the new company because I qualify on the their plan, however that works. I'll stay on that as long as I can or until I move out (which will happen in the next year and a half), whatever is longer.

hehe. Yeah, the main thing for me is maximizing my money. It's easy to keep all of my money in the high interest account and keep only the money needed to pay a bill in the checking account. You don't need to use online banking to do that, but it is so much easier. And it amounts to more money. Laurie, have you taken a look at Amazon.com Grocery? http://www.amazon.com/grocery-breakfast-foods-snacks-organic/b/ref=gw_br_gro/104-7123092-2443105?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=16310101 I haven't done sat down and done the research, but Amazon.com's prices are generally very good on most everything (either the cheapest or very competitive), so I don't see why they wouldn't be on groceries. Granted, there are some items you can't buy and some items you must buy in bulk from them, but it may be worth a look. Free shipping if you spend over $25 (or if you have Amazon Prime, which costs $79 a year, it's free 2 day shipping no matter how much you spend). Might be worth a look if you're serious.

It also has it's own pickle jar (if you watched In Living Color).

When you listen to music on your computer, what softwar do you use? I use Winamp.

I'm gonna be like that. Or I should say... I'm like that now. It's a good thing.

Don't really have anything I want.

If your bank offers online functionality, do you use it? How much? I mainly use my bank's site to move money from my money market to my checking account, so that I can pay bills, etc. That's pretty much it.

Good luck.

Congrats.

No, I didn't buy my Wii for $500 ($440.01 for the Wii, a GameCube, 2 GameCube controllers and 6 GameCube games), but it was around $500 and I've bought a couple of other things in that neighborhood. The most expensive thing was like $585 with shipping, though, I believe.

Cardboard box interior, saran wrap seating, AM radio, compass (navigation system)...

Sorry to hear that.

Hello, As you have already started a topic for this subject, I am going to close this one and redirect you over there. Thanks. http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=29553

What sort of deals have you picked up this holiday season? I have fun finding deals and what not, so I thought I'd start a thread. I've spent more money this holiday season than I ever have before. ... That might just be a result of me getting older, getting credit cards and making more money, but anyway, here are some of the things I've picked up (prices include tax, shipping and any rebates): - Slingbox AV, $105.40 - Kensington SX 2000 Speakers for iPod, $13.81 - Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Call of Duty 3 (backordered) and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for Nintendo Wii with $0.79 donation to Toys for Tots, $93.36. - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Nintendo Wii (backordered) for $41.94. - Axion AXN6070A 7" Portable DVD Player, $25.00. - DVDs: In Living Color Season 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (all seasons - 5 different box sets) and Malcolm in the Middle, Season 1, $73.19. - A pair of Columbia Sportswear sunglasses and Oakley sunglasses, $69.92. - 3 Sean John Million Dollar Dreams t-shirts (each a different color), $57.27. - Sean John "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" grey t-shirt, Sean John "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" orange t-shirt, Sean John eagle t-shirt, Sean John Royal Dynasty t-shirt (didn't buy it at that site) and Yankees button down dress shirt, $116.88. Google Checkout is/has been running a great promotion where you get $10 off of $30 and $20 off of $50 spent through them. I've used it a few times at least. So, anyone else out there picking up any deals this year?

I don't really know... I probably need to work on that. But, I like to keep it generally short and clean cut.

Does anyone do any online gaming? What games?

This isn't political correctness, this is what needs to happen. You have to consider it carefully. As bearich highlighted, all 3 of the things can be true. It is far too easy to read a few keywords and react harshly because someone is limiting you. i.e. you may see "shouting" and "verbal abuse" and leap to "I can't yell at anyone!" "No one's gonna stop me from teaching my students how I want!" It's a natural reaction, but, it's an extreme and there is always plenty of room between extremes. It's also not reasonable. We're talking about children. Children are different from adults. One way is that they are more likely to do what adults say - even if it's not the best thing - especially if they are placed in that adult's care, which is what happens when a child attends an MA school. Even though you didn't force them to come in, that gives you no right to abuse them. You do not have the right to push them physically to the point where you damage their bodies. Nor do you have the right, in my opinion, to scream at them, berating them personally or cursing at them unless their parents are somehow OK with it (in which case it's still questionable, but I can see a viable case or two) and it is an acknowledged part of your program. The fact is, we need things like this in place because children are not generally able to simply defend themselves, especially when they are dropped off in someone elses care like this They are generally going to listen to their teachers, even if they personally question it and if it is not something that is clearly wrong (i.e. sexual abuse) they are more than likely to go along with it. I would also say that they are generally less aware of their limits than an adult would be, especially if we are talking about kids under 13. The adult is the one that has to be accountable and responsible. And written policies help to ensure that they do. I mean this with the utmost respect, but I realized you said "in affect" - is it possible that you are not quoting the policy word for word and it could be a slight exaggeration? Even if you are, I don't really see a problem with it, though. Edit: Also, as responsible people, I know that we might say "well, I would never do that, I don't need any rules." But, policies aren't crafted for responsible people. They are crafted so that those irresponsible people who make it in the field will be less likely to hurt someone and that if they do, they will be more likely to be punished.

Well, I've been wearing a Sean John for at least a few years now. I'm a huge Diddy fan, so that started it, but I just like their stuff.

Cool.

22.

What sort of thoughts are you looking for? Kind of vague. Thanks.