Backroads

It's kind of been a fun disaster to follow
Very geographically large school district doesn't have enough bus drivers. Hires a company who uses AI to create routes. Disaster ensues. School indefinitely cancelled.
My take: I get the desire to create efficiency on fewer bus drivers, but sometimes what you best need is pure manpower (bus power?)

Consider the chuckles endless, from just about everybody, on that one.
Wendover is on the Nevada border, half the town exists in Utah, half in Nevada.   If you live in SLC (no matter how you define it), and you want to legally gamble, Wendover is your shortest drive to casinos and sin.  
My father was a massive gambler, and "family vacations" to Wendover happened at least 3-4 times a year as I grew up.   This was his escape from being surrounded by mormons, a critical and regular need for him.

 
This was pretty much a holy pilgrimage when I was a kid.  Across the Utah Salt Flats, home of the land-speed world record.  As they improved I-80 to 2 lanes in both directions, I learned to drive at 14 on the old abandoned I-80 road, now a frontage road, sometimes 2 inches underwater, depending on what the Great Salt Lake was doing. 
President Carter's 55MPH national speed limit was a frequent source of swearing.  Then the evil republicans and Newt Gengrich made it 65, and life was better.  I think the record was 98 minutes, on the tour busses.  To get from SLC to wendover on a tour bus for free, you just had to show up, and prove you had $200 in cash on you.  They gave you round trip travel, and several coupon books for free drinks and cheap food and whatnot.  They initially let minors like me ride with an adult, until someone got mad and they passed a law.
My dad would drop $20 in quarters on me, and I'd go spend the day at the arcade.  In the '70's, casinos had not discovered children yet, so I'd be on the Utah side at Ivan's Fun Palace: Pinball and pool until they invented Space Invaders and Donkey Kong.  I'd walk from the Utah side of Wendover, across to the NV side.  It really was like the air and sun felt different.   Immigrants and poverty and the abandoned air force base on one side, then you take one step west, and it's all glitter and lights and raucous loud laughter and alcohol.  Then in the early '80's, the US discovered how much $$ kids are worth, and all the casinos finally developed "family centers", and I had an arcade in every casino.
I spent hours sitting on bar stools at the entrance to the casinos, watching my dad play craps.   I got good at looking sad, and cocktail waitresses would take pity on me and bring me a Coke.  It didn't dawn on me until my mid-'20's why that worked, but the story has been getting consistently funnier ever since. 
Yeah, Wendover and SLC have much to do with each other, but I doubt you could find a single human who thinks Wendover is a part of SLC, "Combined Statistical Area" notwithstanding.

I just love when the computer tells them something and they ask it to verify / re-check what it just said, without any further input - as if a computer could come up with a different answer without further input.
Meanwhile, as to the school buses...  I agree, this seems like an "easy button" problem.  As a former driver and dispatcher, it's not that hard to plan routes, assuming you have all the data you need and know the city.  I wonder why it's so hard for them to hire enough bus drivers.  Perhaps the feds are paying too many people not to work.  I would consider being a bus driver (I did that in Moscow, Russia, after all), but only if there were another adult on the bus whose job it was to watch after the children - you can't do that and drive - and I'll bet they can't afford that, either.

I think this fiasco can be laid at the doorstep of the willingness of decision-makers to hit the Easy Button by putting the onus on a magical computer algorithm that they manifestly do not understand. This is Star Trek thinking. "Well, the computer was supposed to blah blah blah! Why didn't it work?!"
The threat is not that computers will do our thinking for us. The real threat is that, so often, we WANT the computers to do our thinking for us.
The irony about ChatGPT is that it's a computer, yet is really very bad at math. Very bad. Like, couldn't pass a basic math class past, say, arithmetic. (And maybe not that, if you're adding five-digit numbers.) ChatGPT is a language model, and responds to questions by trying to match linguistic patterns. Not really what you want with math or science.

It's kind of been a fun disaster to follow
Very geographically large school district doesn't have enough bus drivers. Hires a company who uses AI to create routes. Disaster ensues. School indefinitely cancelled.
My take: I get the desire to create efficiency on fewer bus drivers, but sometimes what you best need is pure manpower (bus power?)

It's kind of been a fun disaster to follow
Very geographically large school district doesn't have enough bus drivers. Hires a company who uses AI to create routes. Disaster ensues. School indefinitely cancelled.
My take: I get the desire to create efficiency on fewer bus drivers, but sometimes what you best need is pure manpower (bus power?)

I finally signed up for it yesterday. I used it to write some back-to-school documents. And a full-on Dungeons & Dragons campaign. You have inspired me to reach for the stars.

@mikbone got up this morning and said to himself, "Self, what off-the-wall topic can I post on TH that will be sure to bring a reaction from Vort?" He quickly settled on circumcision.
Well, I'm not playing your game. So there. Nyah nyah nyah. This post doesn't count, since it's just a recognition that I refuse to recognize this topic. But I fully recognize your nefarious intent behind it. You Can't Fool Me.
(And since this post doesn't count, I will divulge that I lied to myself and was swayed by familial peer pressure, self-deception, foolishness, and idiocy into allowing my oldest son to be circumcised, a decision that I would literally give all my money away for if I could go back in time and disallow that. Only my first, though. My other sons were left intact.)

Today...right now...I am reminded of how grateful I should be to be the father of daughters. 😉

I've been coming up with wilder and wilder suggestions for ChatGPT exercises, and have been constantly amazed: LIke
Please write a story which is a combination of Pride and Prejudice and War of the Worlds
Thanks! Now write me a version in which Mr. Darcy is a part-lizard alien from the planet Zog, and Elizabeth is a cave-woman brought from the distant past by a time machine invented by Mr. Bennet.
OK, now please write a story combining Pride and Prejudice, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (a version in which Augustus Gloop is the hero) and Treasure Island, which features the Brady Bunch, Noddy and Ego the Living Planet.
Is there nothing beyond the power of this algorithm? (Admittedly it took progressively longer to write each story.)

Educator here from Colorado, and we just finished our annual Mandatory Reporter training. According to that, at least within Colorado, we are mandatory reporters at all time, and under an obligation to report suspected abuse even for things outside of work. In fact, we could technically receive a misdemeanor charge if it was discovered that we had reasonable cause to suspect abuse and fail to report it no matter where or when we witness it.

Indeed.

Non Floridians don’t grasp just how big Florida is either. Pensacola to Miami is a ten hour drive. 

The etymology of the term grooming initially had to do with preparations of the appearances of animals.  This was altered to humans as someone that took care of their appearance.  Eventually this also come to mean the preparing of individuals for positions.  As with grooming someone for political or military office.  Checking the internet there has been developed; a specific reference of grooming children as a reference for preparing a child for sexual abuse.   I regret that grooming has come to such a negative connotation.
There is a great need in human society for the mentoring of children.  I see mentoring and grooming as synonyms.  The single most common denominator of the world’s high achievers (genius) is that they were mentored starting at a young age.  We find this in sports, music, science (math), art, politics as well as a broad range of disciplines.   Studies, indicate that the attitudes of parents towards even their infant children have far reaching effects on individuals that are taught and conditioned for accomplishments or the opposit.   There is also a link between adults that are abusive to a childhood of receiving similar abuse.
There are lots of scientific studies concerning how humans acquire cognitive behaviors (cognitive meaning behaviors to which an individual must be aware in order to respond).   We can reference Pavlov, Skinner and even the notorious Joseph Goebbels.  Cognitive behaviors are learned or acquired – this is the very foundation of brain washing.
 
There is another problem that I believe is taking place.  I am not an expert, but I think there is something much more concerning than what is currently defined as sexual child grooming – which appears to me as something an adult individual is doing to target children for sexual abuse.  I believe something far more insidious is going on.  I have a granddaughter that is considered as someone transitioning to be identified as a male.  Because I have a close relationship with young girl (15) I sat down with her and had a deep and pointed discussion.   What I believe I discovered gives me great concern.
As many adolescents this young girl was experiencing difficult and awkward challenges.  She felt rejected by teachers and other students at school because of academic problems.  She felt isolated, even bullied.   She was advised by a number of her peers that if she claimed to transition things would be a lot easier.  This she did and found immediately that bulling stopped, and teachers took extra care to help and not offend her – especially when she requested help with a subject.   In essence she was groomed – not by and individual but by a system.  It is unfortunate that she does not have more support.  Her parents and siblings have quit going to church because they feel the church mistreats LGBTQ+ individuals (mostly same sex attraction individuals).  There a more to this story but I will stop here with the understanding that children that are not guided and mentored (groomed) to live chaste lives and to live the Word of Wisdom (without drugs) – have little chance of reaching adulthood in our current society without serious spiritual and even physical handicaps – rendering them unable to behave without profound social behavior issute (failures?).
 
The Traveler

*Starts scribbling new horror movie script*

*Starts scribbling new horror movie script*

*Starts scribbling new horror movie script*

Perhaps this should be two topics, but I have put them together.  To begin with I have always had a problem with my in-laws.  It began at the wedding reception for my wife and I.   I realize that when it comes to weddings no one in this world cares about the groom’s ideas.  Because of circumstance, I paid for some things that are traditionally paid for by the bride and family.  I paid for the photographer.  At one point during the reception the in-laws asked for a family picture.  I was a little surprised that I (the husband of their daughter) was not considered to be part of their family.   I was charged extra for their family picture.  After 50 years, I and all other in-laws are still not considered family.
On occasions my wife and I will eat out.  My wife especially likes eating out.  I grew up with the attitude that you eat what is served and you do not complain.  Often, I bring my own water, so I do not have to wait to be served.  When eating out the portions are too much for one person, so my wife and I always share a meal.  It is not uncommon for us to share a hamburger.   I always allow my wife to pick from the menu because I really do not care what we are served – I will eat it (perhaps with a few exceptions that my wife will not eat either).
Often, we go out to eat with members of my wife’s family (my in-laws).  For me it is a little annoying because there is always something someone complains about.  Most of the complaining is to our server.  Recently, we went to a Mexican restaurant, which always have extra large portions.  My wife and I ordered a dinner for one for us to split.  The rest ordered dinners for themselves.  The wife and I had enough leftovers for more than another meal, so we got a to-go-box.  None of the other had much of any leftovers.  For obvious reasons my wife and I are the smallest of the group.
Beyond the regular complaining it was decided that I (who had the least to eat) should eat more.  Sometimes I am of the mind that if someone opens a door I ought to be able to walk through it.  So, I responded with, “I would rather not be required to weigh myself on a Richter scale.”
The good thing is, that for the immediate future, it looks like I will be eating out less with my in-laws.
 
The Traveler

A common refrain is to be in the world but not of the world.
I suspect that as the division between right and wrong widens, there may be more of an emphasis in seeking shelter within the walls of the church. However, interestingly, at this time, the emphasis seems to be shifting more towards substituting our homes for church, and strenghtening the walls of our homes against outside influences, with an decreased emphasis on church attendance and involvement.  
Amongst the Saints there is a much greater focus on ministering to each other than on ministering to the rest of the world. Both are encouraged and practiced, but my observation is that the greater emphasis is on ministering to each other. 

Certainly perplexed, but also rather fascinated by how it all works.

I doubt that China is that intentional about morally corrupting us. They probably fund divisive politics and media, but material mean to corrupt our morals--I doubt that the Communists are that spiritually savvy. On the other hand, the father of lies might have inspired some less intentional moves that are anti-gospel. 
Perhaps I am cynical, but I question all theories that ascribe spiritual astuteness to governments (including our own).

Do you still wear thongs? You can tell me..... I won't tell I promise....

I have seen some amazing talons in my career.  

Perplexed no.

I've reached the halfway point in my 3-week training and look forward to opening up the chapel for programs. One of the most active and well received volunteer groups is the LDS one. I'm eager to meet and work with the volunteers. The fellow that used to come to SeaTac proved very dedicated and pleasant.
Has anyone here done prison ministry for the church? I'd love to hear/read some testimonies. -- PC