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Not even the parents knew the location? Sounds dangerous to me. I hope it wasn't mixed-sex camping. Props to them though for not wanting drinking and driving.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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That's the graduation that we had this past Friday. As I said, prom and graduation are completely separate events, though the kids do dress up for both.
ChemGal
One with keen eye
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I'm confused, what's the big fancy dance called? Is that officially connected with the school? They aren't wearing formal clothes for both prom and grad, are they. ie. tuxes and while I think the long ballgowns are less in style than when I graduated, something generally fancier than what one would wear for a night out.
Mendalla
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Prom is the fancy dance.
Graduation is the ceremony.
They dress up for both, though guys tend to suits rather than tuxes for the latter.
Seeler
Well-Known Member
At my children's (and granddaughter's) school it went something like this.
Graduation ceremony at the sports arena. Grads wore cap and gown. Long, rather boring ceremony with speeches from principal, guest speaker, valevictorian, others; band, school song, announcements of scholarships and awards, then the walk across the stage as names were called and (fake) certificates handed out. (They picked up the real ones during the following week.) Then the parents met at the school gym for a meet and greet and the grads boarded buses for their safe-grad party.
The safe-grad party was held at a summer camp on a lake 60 klms away and down a gravel road. Absolutely no drinking or drugs (considered uncool to even try to sneak any in). All night bar-b-q, beach volleyball, campfire, music, swimming, running around. I knew one boy who took along his fishing rod, walked along the water's edge away from the noise to sit on a rock and fish.
Supervision by volunteers - teachers and parents.
The buses returned in the wee hours to get the kids back home, exhausted.
The prom was on a different night. Grads and dates gathering at the upper parking lot of the university to assemble for the prom parade. Well wishers gathered on either side of the road. First came the walkers - girls in formal dresses, guys in suits or tuxes, then bicycles, rickshaws, sometimes a horse-drawn buggy, motorcycles, trucks, cars, limos. The dance seemed anti-climatic after the parade. Then kids went to private parties - or out to dinner in a fancy restaurant with their parents, or just went home.
Both our kids and granddaughter went to the Grad. Seelerboy skipped the parties and prom - but he did escort his sister's friend to her prom the next year.
Graduation ceremony at the sports arena. Grads wore cap and gown. Long, rather boring ceremony with speeches from principal, guest speaker, valevictorian, others; band, school song, announcements of scholarships and awards, then the walk across the stage as names were called and (fake) certificates handed out. (They picked up the real ones during the following week.) Then the parents met at the school gym for a meet and greet and the grads boarded buses for their safe-grad party.
The safe-grad party was held at a summer camp on a lake 60 klms away and down a gravel road. Absolutely no drinking or drugs (considered uncool to even try to sneak any in). All night bar-b-q, beach volleyball, campfire, music, swimming, running around. I knew one boy who took along his fishing rod, walked along the water's edge away from the noise to sit on a rock and fish.
Supervision by volunteers - teachers and parents.
The buses returned in the wee hours to get the kids back home, exhausted.
The prom was on a different night. Grads and dates gathering at the upper parking lot of the university to assemble for the prom parade. Well wishers gathered on either side of the road. First came the walkers - girls in formal dresses, guys in suits or tuxes, then bicycles, rickshaws, sometimes a horse-drawn buggy, motorcycles, trucks, cars, limos. The dance seemed anti-climatic after the parade. Then kids went to private parties - or out to dinner in a fancy restaurant with their parents, or just went home.
Both our kids and granddaughter went to the Grad. Seelerboy skipped the parties and prom - but he did escort his sister's friend to her prom the next year.
ChemGal
One with keen eye
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Due to the number of schools, draws were done. So grad ceremony and dinner & dance weren't always on the same day, it just depended on dates given.
Our ceremony was at the jubilee. During the day and due to numbers each student only got 2 tickets for people to be in the audience, even with the very large venue. For those who wanted more there was a draw for leftover tickets, and some just arranged to get them from people whose parents weren't taking time off work. It was pretty bare bones, a few speeches, I don't remember any special guest, just the principal, I think one teacher was selected to give a speech and the valedictorian. The band played as well. Watching people cross the stage was interesting as there were so many people who were totally unrecognizable. Not just can't put name-to-face, but like I don't ever recall seeing that person in the hallway or anything.
Awards were not given, an awards night was totally separate, done at the school and involved all 3 grades. Only those who received awards attended along with parents.
I find the lack of the school involvement for dinner and dance to be odd due to the nature of ours. It was a big event. Held at a large building on the stampede grounds, set up banquet style. Guys rented tuxes, girls in ballgowns. Parents a bit less dressed up, but still suits and dresses. There was no parade. Most would go do some pictures outside and limos were common. I knew a much higher percentage of students there, as it was moreso those who were involved in school-life, especially with the ticket cost. I think it was about $35/person. (looking for some schools now shows it's $75-$100/person) The school tried to keep costs down, but a banquet dinner at a large venue isn't cheap. Most teachers attended. There were some speeches and the class historians put on a big presentation - almost all prerecorded, but it was a pretty big thing. I have my copy at my parents still I think. Survivor theme for some of it, jokes about events during school, including how meningitis got spread during an outbreak (mostly those who shared cigarettes), some clips from a few school events, some comments from local celebrities. We had the parent/student dance and then some parents hung around for a short period of time to take a few more pictures before letting us have fun at the dance. We did our best to encourage people to stay at the dance for a while and not taking off after just a few songs to head out to the after grad parties at the nightclubs.
Our ceremony was at the jubilee. During the day and due to numbers each student only got 2 tickets for people to be in the audience, even with the very large venue. For those who wanted more there was a draw for leftover tickets, and some just arranged to get them from people whose parents weren't taking time off work. It was pretty bare bones, a few speeches, I don't remember any special guest, just the principal, I think one teacher was selected to give a speech and the valedictorian. The band played as well. Watching people cross the stage was interesting as there were so many people who were totally unrecognizable. Not just can't put name-to-face, but like I don't ever recall seeing that person in the hallway or anything.
Awards were not given, an awards night was totally separate, done at the school and involved all 3 grades. Only those who received awards attended along with parents.
I find the lack of the school involvement for dinner and dance to be odd due to the nature of ours. It was a big event. Held at a large building on the stampede grounds, set up banquet style. Guys rented tuxes, girls in ballgowns. Parents a bit less dressed up, but still suits and dresses. There was no parade. Most would go do some pictures outside and limos were common. I knew a much higher percentage of students there, as it was moreso those who were involved in school-life, especially with the ticket cost. I think it was about $35/person. (looking for some schools now shows it's $75-$100/person) The school tried to keep costs down, but a banquet dinner at a large venue isn't cheap. Most teachers attended. There were some speeches and the class historians put on a big presentation - almost all prerecorded, but it was a pretty big thing. I have my copy at my parents still I think. Survivor theme for some of it, jokes about events during school, including how meningitis got spread during an outbreak (mostly those who shared cigarettes), some clips from a few school events, some comments from local celebrities. We had the parent/student dance and then some parents hung around for a short period of time to take a few more pictures before letting us have fun at the dance. We did our best to encourage people to stay at the dance for a while and not taking off after just a few songs to head out to the after grad parties at the nightclubs.
Greywolf336
Well-Known Member
My high school graduation sounds more like little M's.
We had parent grad which everyone dressed up for, girls bought the prom dresses and guys wore suits. Parents and graduates had dinner some speeches and a dance after. Ours was held in a banquet hall. The parents stayed for the first part of the dance but then left, it was chaperoned by teachers. I don't remember there being any after parties and not everyone attended.
We then had Prom. Also wore our fancy dresses and suits. But, prom was not sanctioned by the school and we were technically not supposed to buy or sell tickets for it on school property. It was held in a club in Kitchener. I'm sure there must have been some supervision but I couldn't say from who, parents were not invited/involved.After prom there were a lot of different after parties organized by different cliques. Lots of those got busted for drinking. My group of friends went hot tubbing and we all crashed on couches in the basement at a freind's parent's place.
Graduation was in the fall. That's when we actually walked across the stage, gave out awards and heard speaches.
My school was small so we did hear a sentence or two about what everyone was up to and it just took place in the gym. I honestly don't remeber much about it. There was a very small reception in the cafeteria after I think. I wore a dress under my gown but it wasn't the prom dress I had bought for the other events.
We had parent grad which everyone dressed up for, girls bought the prom dresses and guys wore suits. Parents and graduates had dinner some speeches and a dance after. Ours was held in a banquet hall. The parents stayed for the first part of the dance but then left, it was chaperoned by teachers. I don't remember there being any after parties and not everyone attended.
We then had Prom. Also wore our fancy dresses and suits. But, prom was not sanctioned by the school and we were technically not supposed to buy or sell tickets for it on school property. It was held in a club in Kitchener. I'm sure there must have been some supervision but I couldn't say from who, parents were not invited/involved.After prom there were a lot of different after parties organized by different cliques. Lots of those got busted for drinking. My group of friends went hot tubbing and we all crashed on couches in the basement at a freind's parent's place.
Graduation was in the fall. That's when we actually walked across the stage, gave out awards and heard speaches.
My school was small so we did hear a sentence or two about what everyone was up to and it just took place in the gym. I honestly don't remeber much about it. There was a very small reception in the cafeteria after I think. I wore a dress under my gown but it wasn't the prom dress I had bought for the other events.
Seeler
Well-Known Member
Yesterday again my neighbour came over and together we found 38 pieces. Just over 300 to go. It looks like we may defeat it yet. But there is still a long way to go.
Hot and humid here for the third day in a row - nice to see the sun, but too hot for comfort.
I saw a little feel-good story on facebook recently. A homeless person comes into a restaurant seeking shelter from the 35 degree weather. No wonder he's looking for shelter, I think. Then the kind owner/manager offers him a free meal and gives him his own gloves. What, I wonder, would anybody do with gloves in 35 degree weather. Then I realize that the story takes place in the south western states.
Hot and humid here for the third day in a row - nice to see the sun, but too hot for comfort.
I saw a little feel-good story on facebook recently. A homeless person comes into a restaurant seeking shelter from the 35 degree weather. No wonder he's looking for shelter, I think. Then the kind owner/manager offers him a free meal and gives him his own gloves. What, I wonder, would anybody do with gloves in 35 degree weather. Then I realize that the story takes place in the south western states.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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Heh heh. A lot of the weather sites my son follows are US sites so he keeps confusing the heck out of me by flipping back and forth between C and F.
KayTheCurler
Well-Known Member
Having attended school in a different country I still find myself puzzled by the over the top activities in Canada around completing a level of basic education. I went to school, took exams, found employment (some went for further education) and became a 'grown up'.
I have no idea why so much money is spent on this Grad stuff!
My kids (and us parents) endured a long lead-in to Grad, much boasting about the cost of clothing, a long ceremony, a catered dinner with endless speeches (that all sounded much the same), a March of the kids (to, of all things, Anchors Aweigh played from a scratchy sounding recording), there was a dance with parents - that my lot weren't interested in - and a selection of parties from Dry to Drug free, from Chaperoned to Lets Get Hammered. It continues much the same and my Grandude who endured this event a couple of years ago was equally uninterested and only did it for his mum.
Have another version coming up in a different province this year. Another Grandude. He has refused a suit - I've got adequate dress pants and a shirt - good enough. Everything except the dinner is to be held outside. Grandude didn't want to go to the dinner so it will be a fairly cheap event! He already has his diploma - it arrived in the mail after he had accumulated the required number of credits.
I have no idea why so much money is spent on this Grad stuff!
My kids (and us parents) endured a long lead-in to Grad, much boasting about the cost of clothing, a long ceremony, a catered dinner with endless speeches (that all sounded much the same), a March of the kids (to, of all things, Anchors Aweigh played from a scratchy sounding recording), there was a dance with parents - that my lot weren't interested in - and a selection of parties from Dry to Drug free, from Chaperoned to Lets Get Hammered. It continues much the same and my Grandude who endured this event a couple of years ago was equally uninterested and only did it for his mum.
Have another version coming up in a different province this year. Another Grandude. He has refused a suit - I've got adequate dress pants and a shirt - good enough. Everything except the dinner is to be held outside. Grandude didn't want to go to the dinner so it will be a fairly cheap event! He already has his diploma - it arrived in the mail after he had accumulated the required number of credits.
ChemGal
One with keen eye
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Got a call from the drug company today. They are concerned, as while firazyr has been approved by my insurance company, the number of doses they will cover each year is limited. The have talked with my hematologist and have a backup plan in place if I am comfortable paying for another plan.
Yes, they make money when I get more doses of the medication. The same is true for many other goods and services though. I wish all customer service would be as great as the drug company.
Yes, they make money when I get more doses of the medication. The same is true for many other goods and services though. I wish all customer service would be as great as the drug company.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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I find that health-related services and companies are generally getting better at customer service. Of the three health benefits providers my employer has used since I joined the plan, only one has been a problem and they got dumped as soon as their first contract was up. Current provider is very, very good so far, often paying as soon as I put the claim in. Haven't had to deal directly with drug companies much myself, but I know the companies we deal with for end-user equipment like CPAPs are supposed to be pretty good.
ChemGal
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The insurance company has not been helpful, it's difficult to draw information out of them. Approval from drug took quite some time. Drug company is amazing and takes lots of initiative. I wish I could get my dentist's office to work with my hematologist as well as the drug company. It's hard to arrange appointments when the people doing the hospital appointments and the dental appointments aren't taking to each other.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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Don't get me started on dentists. We've been through two. One is very well run. modern, and efficient but upsells like crazy. The other is very old school and it shows. Nice guy who knows his stuff but slow, inefficient, and not always very on-the-ball with billing-related stuff. Even his office feels like something out of the eighties. It's becoming a toss-up which one we want to stick with.
ChemGal
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I do like my dentist for the most part. We did have some issues recently with insurance switching over and not being informed Chemguy's treatment was 2 parts which we didn't know and both needed to get done to charge any of it on the old plan. Receptionist's fault as Chemguy explained the need to be in by a certain date. I had a fun argument with her over the phone as he was too angry to deal with it.
That time though, the dentist pulled strings to get the 2nd part done on the last day of the old plan.Arranging things with different clinics just isn't something that people seem to offer. The drug company really does an amazing job that way. I didn't even have to touch a form regarding my insurance coverage, they just needed the specific numbers. Really grateful they deal with that stuff as faxing things to my hematologist's office never goes smoothly.
They also inform me of things that others forget. I am supposed to log all my attacks & treatment. I figured as much even though I was just informed of that for the blood products. I used to just note in my logs. They called me up to inform me that I needed to do things like include the lot numbers as well. They also arrange getting the prescription from my hematologist and then contacting the pharmacy when I need more.
If I had a patient care specialist for dealing with ordering blood products & supplies and dealing with booking tranexamic acid IV appointments at the hospital they way this program does life would be way simpler!
Funny thing, I just got an email for a survey about their program. $25 Visa Card for me verifying they are doing a good job. When it came to what they could improve on for the services they do have my only complaint was they were out of stock of their travel cases so that took a long time to get. I was lugging my kit with IV stuff and this for quite a while because of it as the way the stuff is loaded I didn't feel comfortable having it tossed in my purse in a box. Now, for regular errands and times I'm out of the house the hard case I got fits into a mid-sized purse.
chansen
Had a point all along
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The online pharmacy I ordered Carter's experimental meds from called again.
Some may recall that we tried a diabetes drug on Carter which had a potential side effect of promoting stem cell regeneration in the brain. As some kids get this drug, it was thought by the doctors we talked to as a rather low downside, possible high upside risk. So we tried to take it. But no Ontario doctors would prescribe it for us. So I improvised. I researched online pharmacies, and with the help of online forums dedicated to them and the people who like industrial strength painkillers for recreation, I figured out which ones were real. Most are fake. Among the real ones, not many carried it, because you can't get high off it. Having ordered it, we waited a couple of weeks and got a stern letter in the mail from Canada Customs essentially saying, "Don't do that again."
So I ordered it again, this time to a drop ship company in Niagara Falls, NY. I drove across, got it, and came back with the feeble excuse of going shopping and not finding anything and drugs in the glove compartment. Yeah, I suck as a mule, but it worked.
Never really seemed to do much for Carter.
Not long after Carter died, I started getting calls for refills. I explained that I don't need refills and to please stop calling. The calls came more frequently. Eventually, I lost it on them and told the salesman that the person the drugs were for had died, and to please stop calling. They said they would. They called a couple weeks later.
The last one before today was last winter. They called my cell while I was riding a chairlift with my daughter. Stupidly, they have both my home and cell numbers. I told them again.
Today I got a call at home. I told them I don't know who they are, and that I've never ordered drugs over the phone or online, and never would. Let's try that.
Some may recall that we tried a diabetes drug on Carter which had a potential side effect of promoting stem cell regeneration in the brain. As some kids get this drug, it was thought by the doctors we talked to as a rather low downside, possible high upside risk. So we tried to take it. But no Ontario doctors would prescribe it for us. So I improvised. I researched online pharmacies, and with the help of online forums dedicated to them and the people who like industrial strength painkillers for recreation, I figured out which ones were real. Most are fake. Among the real ones, not many carried it, because you can't get high off it. Having ordered it, we waited a couple of weeks and got a stern letter in the mail from Canada Customs essentially saying, "Don't do that again."
So I ordered it again, this time to a drop ship company in Niagara Falls, NY. I drove across, got it, and came back with the feeble excuse of going shopping and not finding anything and drugs in the glove compartment. Yeah, I suck as a mule, but it worked.
Never really seemed to do much for Carter.
Not long after Carter died, I started getting calls for refills. I explained that I don't need refills and to please stop calling. The calls came more frequently. Eventually, I lost it on them and told the salesman that the person the drugs were for had died, and to please stop calling. They said they would. They called a couple weeks later.
The last one before today was last winter. They called my cell while I was riding a chairlift with my daughter. Stupidly, they have both my home and cell numbers. I told them again.
Today I got a call at home. I told them I don't know who they are, and that I've never ordered drugs over the phone or online, and never would. Let's try that.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
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Talk about your past coming back to haunt you.
Speaking of diabetes, but in a very different context, did my quarterly bloods the other day. A1C down .5 from 6.7 to 6.2. I've been a bit worried about some of the number on my glucometer, but since A1C shows the overall trend and it's good, worrying stopped. It seems I remain on the right track for now.
Also, an article of interest for those of us with type 2:
Why the common finger-prick test isn't always needed for those with Type 2 diabetes
Speaking of diabetes, but in a very different context, did my quarterly bloods the other day. A1C down .5 from 6.7 to 6.2. I've been a bit worried about some of the number on my glucometer, but since A1C shows the overall trend and it's good, worrying stopped. It seems I remain on the right track for now.
Also, an article of interest for those of us with type 2:
Why the common finger-prick test isn't always needed for those with Type 2 diabetes