The reason you don't light fireworks during a burn ban.

This is why they kicked you out for good in 1783...

Amen, brother!!

 

That's mainly because I choose to employ a marching band for that purpose.

 

I disagree.

A satisfying shit is its own reward.

 

Why is it a Canadian knows more about US history than most "americans" these days???

Never mind it was probably on the test

 

I know, right? With the high quality of American schooling it's shocking how most don't know this stuff.

 

Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. Canadians could take a lesson from George Washington.

Independence was declared in 1776, the Brits finally signed the treaty and skedaddled back to jolly ol' England in 1783.

Just a high school education and 3 years of trade school under my belt. I do love to read though, so that might give me a slight edge.

 

"History is written by the victors" - George Orwell.

Thus why I believe one should study history, not simply read and regurgitate it. Through study, one can find the biases, flaws, and hidden perspectives. A person can actually learn it and make decisions from that. Just reading it and taking it at face value does not help one suss out the nuances and actually understand the issues.

A prime example is news. How many people read a headline on Facebook and at most the first paragraph of a news story, then accept it as gospel? They should be finding multiple sources and actually reading the full articles, then forming their own opinions.

 

Too many words. You lost me at George Orwell. Isn't he the popcorn dude?

 

Orwell is the 2+2=5 guy. You're thinking of Orville Redenbacher.

 

Can we celebrate him with fireworks? The irony there is Orwell was British.

 

He was American and popcorn is pretty awesome, so you're damn rights you can.

 

Sorry to see this happen. We've all done stupid things as kids. Glad to see nobody was hurt or worse damage. Hopefully you son now knows that parents say things to them because we love them and are always looking out for their best interest.

 

So... Was all of that hassle worth it to have the kid do a crapload of chores?

 

He said in an earlier post the kid went and lit something called a zoomed without telling him

 

Absolutely not. LOL. I mean the chores are nice, and they'd have gotten done one way or the other. I'd say the big benefit here is

- NOW he's doing them w/o complaint LOL
- he understands much more now that there are actual reasons behind WHY we tell him what we do. He saw the immediate effects of his actions; what they COULD have caused; and how they got others involved despite their desire to be involved or not.

 

I've got a high school education and a dual bachelor's degree, but honestly, aside from some of the business classes (and maybe accounting), I've used OJT the absolute most. I also absolutely LOVE to read, and I go out of my way to read multiple sources, examine THEIR sources, etc.

Right, yeah, it definitely wasn't the snap pops. You'd have to set off a sh*tload of them to do that. I asked him to explain in detail what he did.

"Well, I knew the grass was dry, so I grabbed a Zoomer (throws sparks and balls of fire out, or something) because I thought the lights and stuff would go *UP* in the air instead of going *OUT*."



I said "First....you didn't listen to what we said. Second...what did Isaac Newton say about things going up??"

Son: "They must come down.....oh. Man I'm sorry Dad, I wasn't thinking. I'll never do THAT again."

I hope to God not. LOL

 

I'm surprised a history loving Canuck like yourself has forgotten about 1812, we definitely let the bankrupt US off lightly when that was all said and done.

 

I forget...didn't yall lose that one too?

 

The War of 1812 was more a series of minor skirmishes and dust ups and not much was accomplished.

The Brits blockaded the US maritime trade which hurt the US economy and naturally got the free people's riled up. The Americans sent some attacks into what was called "Upper Canada" back then and the Brits beat them up pretty well.

The Brits burned Washington, the Americans won battles in Baltimore and Plattsburgh which wrapped things up in the north. Down south, the US took Pensacola and the Brits attacked New Orleans, where they were promptly sent packing by Gen. Andrew Jackson.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed which basically put everything back to pre-war positions. The British economy wasn't doing so hot either at this time, so everyone was open to negotiations.

I think it was all basically kicked off because Brits were still butt hurt about 1783, but I don't believe a full consensus has been decided on as to what actually started the war. Some say it was American expansionist desires towards Canada (shame that never panned out), others say it was Brits were seizing cargoes and neutral ships on the high seas.

All things aside, the history led to an excellent song by Johnny Horton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50_iRIcxsz0

 

Little boys can be a unique and special animal.

Before i became a Dad I figured I'd be that laid back Dad who can get compliance and obedience with softly spoken words. But they can hit this hard headed stage where their brains just don't process things the way you think they should. They sometimes need some yelling and repetition to get the message home. Sometimes they need to mess up and see the consequences. Sometimes punishment is essential. Then you may have to fight the same battle a few more times later before they fully 'get it.'

Mine will go through times when the switch flips and you just can't cut through the chaos and make him hear you without getting in his face and getting loud.

It is an educational experience to say the least, watching him go through this stage and teaching myself how to cut through the noise and be heard.

 

Well, the fact that he has ADHD doesn't help. LOL (I have it too, but I *had* to learn early on how to cope with it, due to abuse and a few other things...so I've never needed medication to help focus.)

I've learned that I either have to do exactly that (get loud) OR I have to explicitly state what he can and cannot do, and ensure I DO NOT waver from that. Kids with ADHD are some of the best sea lawyers and loophole detectives I've ever seen.

 

I was joking. Nice summary...I would have cut it down to...England was butt hurt so they burned down our capital then scampered away.

 

He's a normal boy. No excuses needed. I almost burned down a lot of shit as a kid. It's how we learn.

 

Well, yeah. LOL! I mean, he does deal with ADHD and it affects how he learns @ school some, but other than that, when he's not busy Chernobyling the front yard, he's extremely well behaved and a normal boy.

 

I do have a tendency to get on a roll when discussing history.

 

I missed that - thanks for calling it out.

 

I guess you've never been to England. The food and beer there is damn good.

 

https://youtu.be/WVC677-YmfM

 

I have to admit...having just gotten back from the UK a month ago, the food was FANTASTIC.

At first I thought "Meh, it doesn't seem to be as flavorful." I then realized that's because they don't use all the preservatives and additives we do. After a day or two everything tasted fantastic. Sunday roast was the shiznit.

Something else that blew my mind - you can go to any corner store (there was a Tesco or a Sainsbury within about a mile of anywhere we were) and buy bread, cheese, fruit, etc. That doesn't sound bad, but....well, go to any Casey's or 7-11 in the US and buy a sandwich. Then do the same @ a Tesco or Sainsbury, and tell me which is better quality. Candy there is better IMHO, because they do not use all the dyes that we do in the States.

And the bread was cheap! The most expensive loaf of bread I saw was like £2, and that was the organic stuff. The same stuff in the US would have easily been like $6-7.

And I'm now a blackcurrant jam addict.

 

You missed out if you didn't try some of our best national dishes...from the local Indian restaurants