Samual's comments

Raising Kids Ain't Cheap - Blog Entry

14 Aug 2009 01:24 PM

Obviously in the UK medical bills don't exist, university is £3,145 a year here as well, but as far as I understand it can be extremely expensive in the US.

Money was an issue for us as we needed to afford a bigger house and live on one income. Baby stuff for Mikey that lasted until he was two cost us £500ish, then we used it on Jamie and Pippa she looks pretty cool dressed as a boy!

We have never bothered with kiddie furniture, it wont last very long and most of it is badly made. We aren't tight, if we need something we'll get the best, but there are somethings I think are really pointless like mechanical bouncing chairs so you don't even have to bounce your own baby!

Simplify Your Life to Go Green - Blog Entry

13 Aug 2009 01:29 PM

Buy second hand books from charity shops/second hand book shops as well, that way they are cheaper, it reduces the amount of books being printed and you can take them back when you have read them for the next person. You could do the same with renting dvds instead of buying them.

Allowing Teens to Drink? - Blog Entry

11 Aug 2009 03:00 PM

You have to be 4 to drink alcohol in the GB.

College Cafeterias Go Trayless - Blog Entry

11 Aug 2009 06:16 AM

I don't think we've ever had trays here, we just use plates.

Summer Vacation from Hell - Blog Entry

10 Aug 2009 02:29 PM

In the UK where ever you are, you can call 999 from a mobile even if it says no signal.

Is Gym Class Too Dangerous? - Blog Entry

07 Aug 2009 03:55 AM

We called it Physical Education, when I was at school I preferred the name physical torture. Mike's has hurt himself in P.E, just falling over and scrapping himself outside, normal kid injury.

In the UK to teach P.E in primary schools 4-11 you have to be trained in P.E to be teach as in primary schools teachers are general teachers, in secondary school 11-16 a P.E teacher must have a degree in an area such as sport science and then a teaching degree in P.E. Here 20 is considered a large P.E class.

I went to a grammar school so it was all boys, the sports that you think injury such as rugby, hockey and football had very few injuries, most of ours were in gymnastics, yes, we were made to do gymnastics! I still think our teachers made us do it just for a laugh.

Why Toddlers and Jeeps Don't Mix - Blog Entry

06 Aug 2009 09:06 AM

Who cares if the car doesn't have a roof, if a parent can't be bothered with their kid they aren't going to fix their car seat, roof or no roof.

Is Nuclear Power Green Energy? - Blog Entry

06 Aug 2009 06:44 AM

If you take all forms of energy synthesis for electricity, nuclear as far as staff/public injury/death is concerned is the safest way to go.

Wind power is rubbish, a turbine's life span is from 10-15 years, it will take 20 years for a wind turbine to counteract the amount of Co2 used in the making and installation of the turbine.

Solar, once again, mainly not good, I have an interesting article here,

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/03/the-ugly-side-o.html

If you live in an area where geothermal energy is an option, then it is quite a reliable source, easy to set up and easy to run, obviously very few places have this option.

Hydroelectric in the right areas can be useful for synthesising electricity, however it can greatly damage the environment. There are talks to use the Severn in the UK, but it would mean that silt would no longer be able to move into the area, so great flooding would occur in areas that are fairly built up.

Not so long ago the British government used fake statistics to scare people to make people believe that coal is the way to go and nuclear is dangerous. Sadly, some people are stupid and believed this. So instead of our nuclear power stations being refurbished, they are left derelict while out coal powered power stations are aging and our national grid no longer has an energy reserve. Some areas of the UK have in the last five years been given 24 hour electricity where as before they had it 8am-8pm, those people are now discovering they may lose this due to short comings in power.

Culture and Family - Blog Entry

04 Aug 2009 12:35 PM

'American Irish' people are a bit of a joke in the UK, especially as Irish is a nationality, the only Irish people are those who grow up in Ireland. It is also one of the biggest reasons that they Irish dislike American's, they make the Irish look like a laughing stock.

New Products That Help You Keep Track of Your Toddler - Blog Entry

03 Aug 2009 02:12 PM

Holding hands, free and reliable.