What's on your mind today?

[Tank]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

"I like the elephant god" is a better reason than many!

[xSilverPhinx]

the human cat hybrid (I really can't be bothered to look up the name...)

Bast (my personal favorite).

Yes, that's the one.  Probably the most elegant.

I always liked Anubis the jackal-head the best.

[Claireliontamer]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

LOL That's adorable. Have you introduced her to ancient Egyptian gods yet? There's Horus, Anubis, the human cat hybrid (I really can't be bothered to look up the name...)

We haven't yet, should do though as she loves all this sort of stuff.  I want to introduce her to the Greek gods with the Percy Jackson books but think they're probably a little old for her just yet.  Her favourite subjects at school are science and RE (religious ed), she is fascinated by the 'mythology'!

[Icarus]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

Precious.

I have every confidence that Scamps Mum will see that she does not become too much enthralled with any of the  mythological characters such as JC or Mo.

[xSilverPhinx]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

LOL That's adorable. Have you introduced her to ancient Egyptian gods yet? There's Horus, Anubis, the human cat hybrid (I really can't be bothered to look up the name...)

We haven't yet, should do though as she loves all this sort of stuff.  I want to introduce her to the Greek gods with the Percy Jackson books but think they're probably a little old for her just yet.  Her favourite subjects at school are science and RE (religious ed), she is fascinated by the 'mythology'!

RE/mythology is all about stories and I guess most kids love stories.

What is RE like in England? An excuse to indoctrinate or something more along the lines of "personal development class"?

[Bad Penny II]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

LOL That's adorable. Have you introduced her to ancient Egyptian gods yet? There's Horus, Anubis, the human cat hybrid (I really can't be bothered to look up the name...)

Yes so adorable, a culture that designates a portion of itself untouchable, you have to respect their difference.
I do especially like that elephant god though.

[Claireliontamer]

So, today randomly Scamp declared she wants to be a Hindu. She's seven and they've been learning about it at school so we got some books from the library.  I'm not overly worried though as the way she described it was "I know it's really nonsense but I like the elephant god, you know like I like unicorns and other mythical creatures".

LOL That's adorable. Have you introduced her to ancient Egyptian gods yet? There's Horus, Anubis, the human cat hybrid (I really can't be bothered to look up the name...)

We haven't yet, should do though as she loves all this sort of stuff.  I want to introduce her to the Greek gods with the Percy Jackson books but think they're probably a little old for her just yet.  Her favourite subjects at school are science and RE (religious ed), she is fascinated by the 'mythology'!

RE/mythology is all about stories and I guess most kids love stories.

What is RE like in England? An excuse to indoctrinate or something more along the lines of "personal development class"?

Even though she goes to a Church of England primary school (it's just the local school, a lot of primary schools are CoE) there isn't really any indoctrination.  It's just really education about all the major world religions.  They then incorporate SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development) into other lessons too which is the wishy washy stuff about being nice to one another, don't bully etc. 

[Essie Mae]

Itaught in a CofE Junior school and most teachers in my experience were not religious and in any case, often had to teach RE when was it not their speciality so it was mostly teaching about religion, rather than proselytising.

[xSilverPhinx]

Doesn't seem too bad then...

I went to a Catholic high school and because the student body was religiously diverse they couldn't focus on one religion. For some reason they didn't teach about major world religions either, which would have been interesting. It was wishy-washy stuff.   

[Buddy]

Here's a question for the car owners of HAF: Do you guys change your own oil? I do and I thought that was the norm but after making an offhand comment in class about needing to change the oil in my car today I was met with shock that I actually did it myself. Apparently most of the people didn't even know how.

[Pasta Chick]

Oh yeah. I find I generally know more about cars than average, and I know very little. "Just enough to be dangerous" as BF puts it.

I always did change my own oil, but since I no longer have a garage, oil storage and disposal is a pain in the ass, and it's actually cheaper to have someone else do it, I quit. But I'm glad I can, if I need to.

[Buddy]

If I could afford to have somebody else do it I would love to not have to do it myself. I knew that my car would be more expensive to maintain but when I asked for an estimate on an all over tuneup at the closest Mini dealership it was going to be about 1500 dollars. 80 of that was just for an oil change.

I just thought changing the oil was something that everyone learned how to do when they first got a car. Maybe because it was pounded into my head that it was important for me to know.

[Pasta Chick]

I guess I don't know the rates for Minis specifically... For me oil alone is $25-35 depending on the market and sales, decent filter is at least $10, again depending on sales, and I need special gaskets which are only like $1 each but it's still a trip to the dealer. Plus whatever disposal is now. Or $50 at the dealer, as low as $35 in a local shop.

[Guardian85]

Here's a question for the car owners of HAF: Do you guys change your own oil? I do and I thought that was the norm but after making an offhand comment in class about needing to change the oil in my car today I was met with shock that I actually did it myself. Apparently most of the people didn't even know how.

I can, and often have, done it myself. But lately every time I go to a service place to buy oil the change is included in the price of the oil.

[jumbojak]

I do nearly all the work on my vehicles. Oil, brakes, plugs, and gaskets. None of it is particularly difficult and I have most of the tools on hand to perform basic tasks. If something more involved comes up I have places I can go to use other people's tools. For electrical problems... I generally shell out the cash and have someone else fix it.

Just this week I replaced a stuck caliper - someone had changed the rear pads and used a clamp to depress the piston when the rear ones screw in for the parking brake - and this weekend I plan on replacing a leaking valve cover gasket.  At some point in the near future I'll be replacing the water pump and timing belt.

That's more than the vast majority of people would be willing to do and it's not work I'd trust many mechanics to perform, but I'll save nearly $1,500 just on those repairs. I might even rebuild the motor from my dead Buick and try to either resell the car or keep it as a backup. It needs a bit of body work since the deer and a new or rebuilt motor, but it was a very comfortable car to drive. Not especially reliable though...