I have a very alternative view to public VS. private school. I am currently 18 and have attended both forms of schooling, and am currently in Home/Online Schooling. For me, Public School was not an option. I found that bullies were slapped on the wrist and pushed back out on the playing field where they could do it again and again, and the cycle was never broken...many a times there were "anti-bully" movements at our school, but very few were actually effective in treating the issue...if they stopped in school, it'd pick back up out of school... Many children in class were unwilling to pay attention and participate, and a long time was spent listening to them get lectured, instead of focusing on the curriculum. Not a lot was accomplished in class so we were expected to use a great amount of out-of-school time to focus on school projects and get them completed... I just wasn't happy. I also started hanging out with "the wrong crowd" and doing drugs and drinking under age, etc. Not every kid will do this, and if you stay on top of things and maintain good lines of communication and a FRIENDSHIP as well as a parent-child relationship with your children, you probably won't have an issue with this. My mom refused to see on an eye-to-eye level with me, and we had a very poor time getting along at home...my dad was always away at work so our relationship didn't account for much during my high school years. The upside, however, was that I was able to socialize and engage in extracurricular activities such as volley ball and track and field. Since joining online school, I have noticed that my grades are much higher...they make the courses so that anyone and everyone can understand them (so that they don't get a flood of questions every 10 minutes about different topics that are difficult to comprehend.) They provide online real-time tutoring, free of charge. There are still field trips for many of the distance education schools that help everyone get together and develop/enhance their social skills. You work at your own pace (I finished a single grade in half the time it takes public school to finish...this is excellent since I am a 2x drop out it means I have the ability to catch up with my peers more quickly.) you set your own schedule...as long as you are doing 4hrs of work per day you will be on par with the public system. I do 6+ hours which means I am surpassing them...since I should've graduated last year I will not graduate before my peers at this point, but I will definitely not be too far behind...a year at most. It really depends on the situation. I would say online schooling takes a lot of dedication, and if you are unable to supervise and ensure that work is getting done, public school would probably be a better bet. It is super easy for a student to say they are completing the work, when they in fact aren't. (Hence my second "drop out"....got kicked out of online school for not completing work in a timely manner...did nothing to re-enroll until recently.) I think if you are home daily and have enough time to contribute and make sure that the work is being completed and they are grasping concepts, online/home schooling is excellent. I like that I can decide who I interact with and who I don't, I have time to manage a work life as well as my school life...I get the social skills I need out of my work life, as many of us know we often interact with people we both like and dislike throughout our work days. Sorry this is so all over the place LOL, I'd edit through it but I am off to apply for a new job and need to get going . . . Hopefully I got my point across about the pros & cons of both! Both are extremely beneficial It just hugely depends on your situation at hand. OH another key point - if the kids are younger I think public school is definitely a good idea - it gives them a chance to establish a circle of friends and to learn how to interact in various positive and negative social situations, if they are too young to extract those experiences from a work life. :)

Russ, I think men can write "girl books." Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar is very much a girl book, I think. While I know they are not great literature, a number of Gothic suspense novels have been written by male writers under feminine pseudonyms -- I guess the thinking of the publishers was women prefer to read Gothics by what they think are women writers, which I think in the case of most female readers is bosh. A number of female writers have written quite effectively in the traditionally male bastion of war stories. Olivia Manning's recounting of the Battle of El Alamein in The Levant Trilogy is every bit as good as any male writer's, and Pat Barker's The Regeneration Trilogy is much lauded by both male and female readers. However, whatever the inroads female writers have made, I'm afraid that there's a certain segment of male readers who will pass over their books simply because they are females. An androgynous name, such as Barker's, has probably pulled in some unsuspecting male readers. As for the classics you mentioned, Russ: Tolstoy's and Flaubert's books -- even when their protagonists are women -- are more likely to be read by men than Jane Austen's novels are. Anyanka has already talked above about this disinclination of boys and men. I know present male company is excepted, but it's hard to say it's untrue of male readers in general.

O.P. here. Wow. So many comments on this thread, even a year later! For the record, we still are really pleased with our Kraus sink and think it provided great bang for the buck. I'm also really glad we went with the single, large basin. The grid on the bottom has also been super functional and useful. Zookeeper - that faucet is the Moen Solidad single-handle high-arc pull-out faucet in stainless. Unfortunately, it is not made anymore; it actually is a faucet we purchased several years ago. I considered buying a new one when we replaced the counters and sink, but couldn't find a well-reviewed faucet that I liked as much, never mind the cost. We did end up getting a part replacement from Moen because the pullout head was a bit loose, but they were great about it and stood behind their product. I'm glad we kept the faucet. You might try to browse eBay. We have had good luck with Moen faucets throughout our house. Like many companies, they might be suffering slightly from the "not as good as the old product" affliction, but overall they are still great, and their faucets don't cost a small fortune. Kohler faucets on the other hand - never again. We purchased a kitchen faucet from them (the predecessor to this Moen) that had a chemical reaction with our well water and leached foam into our drinking water! It was a known issue with that faucet, and the company replaced it, assuring me it wouldn't happen again. Well it did. They sent me the same junk. I was furious and they ended up issuing me a refund.

We hired a general contractor to do structural work putting in a couple of windows in a block wall, installing cabinet, tearing out fireplace and moving a.c.. Designer who works on the job with the GC suggested we could save money if we use Arbonne electrician when I had mentioned to them that I had a good backup electrician if they needed one. I found it odd that she offered hand told her what if he messes up. She said there's no need for him to mess up because he had a drawing to follow. I just figured I would save a few thousand and had already used him and being licensed, with everything he told me there should be no problems. Both the GC and electrician told me that electric did not need to be permitted. From my recollections recollection and I have it written down electrician said I only need to permit if we are adding 20 amps. Structure work was permitted. If electric is needed to be permitted whose responsibility was told the permit? Electrician or me acting as the DC in regards to Electric? If it needs to be permitted to my understanding we can permit still at anytime.