u/monkeychemist25

After students and families spoke up about how much the orchestra program means to them, our School Board did nothing, thought nothing, and delivered nothing. In sharp contrast, Asheville Middle School Principal Blair Johnston listened—and, most importantly, looked for a creative path forward.

Rather than simply allowing the program to disappear, he has created an opportunity to rebuild it. An after-school strings club will begin in September, and if we can generate enough student interest this fall, orchestra may return as an elective in the spring semester.

This is exactly what thoughtful leadership looks like! Mr. Johnston gave our children something important: hope and a genuine chance. He listened to students and parents, worked collaboratively with families, and found a way for us to demonstrate that this program can grow and thrive.

Now it is our turn to make that opportunity count.

If you have an Asheville Middle School student who currently plays a string instrument—or might be interested in learning—please check the information posted today on ParentSquare about the strings club. Please also share this post with other AMS families. You never know which child may be waiting to discover the instrument, teacher, friends, or community that makes school feel like a place where they truly belong. As a club, it's stress free, grade free: an opportunity to practice a strings instrument with others.

Here is Principal Johnston’s announcement, shared with the identifying information of the parent volunteer removed:

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Orchestra Families,

I’m reaching out to share some positive news related to orchestra at Asheville Middle School. I have been able to collaborate with an AMS parent, who is acting as a liaison with other families, to advocate for the return of the orchestra program.

The good news is that there’s a real chance that orchestra will return as a class during the second semester of this school year. The first step is to start an after-school strings club in September, and if enough interest is built this fall, we’ll be able to schedule orchestra again in the second semester. More details to come.

Students are the best recruiters.

In Community,
Blair Johnston
Principal
Asheville Middle School

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Approximately 25–30 students have already found music, friendship, confidence, and belonging through this program. Let’s help the next group of students find it—and show that strings have a future at Asheville Middle School.

Please share widely with AMS families. Let’s make this work. 🎻

I've had to deal with many awful companies working from home for the past 10 years. Most don't value loyalty, most never reach the speeds you pay for, most make it impossible to speak to a human. F'in AI goes in a loop or wait times over 3 hours. Comcast, ATT, and Verizon, I'm talking about you... especially Comcast, the bane of my existence.

Spectrum probably has it's share of hate, but for one, I see a sharp contrast. I've had no speed problems, but recently had an issue about something else. I called and spoke to someone in less than 2 minutes. He couldn't help me ultimately, sent me to someone higher. About 8 minute wait, and my problem got resolved with very kind, english-native customer support (both agents). WOW, what a breath of fresh air, I want to say thank you! I've been a customer for 3 years, and I don't see ever switching at this point. I'm sure that's not everyone's experience, but I want to give credit where it's due, Spectrum is not like the others for me.

I ordered an outdoor couch set from Sam's Club and unfortunately FedEx was the shipper. Had I known, I would have never ordered or paid more for a different company. It was large and heavy so they delivered it on a fork lift with a pallet. 2 out of 3 boxes were damaged so we sent it back.

The employee never stated that but did state it took them 15 minutes to deliver. Then fedex sent me a bill for nearly $200 for taking 15 minutes to deliver. They refuse to take this charge off. I've been on the phone 4 times now with each a useless employee that refuses to remove this charge.

FU FEDEX - YOU'RE A SCAMMER AND A SHIT COMPANY - I HOPE YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS!

Edit: Jesus Christ - chill out about the flair. I didn't know that was more important than fedex scamming me with a bigus $170 fee

https://www.parents.com/parents-divided-over-birthday-party-tipping-12026240

Hello everyone,

I played Civ4 or 5 a long time ago. Recently I got a free Apple Arcade trial so I played 7. I played it through and through to get a victory on all levels and about half of those victories were on deity. I feel like I had a good grasp and enjoyed most of it. I really disliked some of the leaders and really had to force myself to finish most modern eras because of the way the game is set. The game has flaws but I’m not going to rehash because there are so many posts about civ 7 being a lesser game than 6. So now I’m intrigued and would like to give 6 a shot.

My question is, is that a reasonable idea? I usually have a hard time downgrading to an older game unless I played that older game and have some nostalgia. I’ve never played or even really seen 6. Thoughts?

I’ve been a field employee for 10 years now and constantly used uber since their inception. I never bothered with Lyft because I was happy with Uber. Then most recently I got stood up for an airport ride in the early morning. Literally last minute too. Sorry no one is picking you up. Then I arrived in Philadelphia. The drivers always took forever to arrive, or the app kept changing drivers when they showed so many cars were around my area. I also always pick the priority of comfort for the extra price for the quickest pickup time. Then my colleague was waiting for one and the driver literally marked it as picked up and drove to her hotel. We were watching the car on her phone. The driver arrived and marked the trip as complete. Then there is the incessant tipping that comes up. Not just a couple bucks like before but now with insane 18-25% choices. So this trip I switched to Lyft. Prices were way cheaper, there is not tipping harassment, and the choices they give is like 2, 3, or 5, which is all reasonable for the service. I was a long time loyal customer and you fucked me enough that I will always use Lyft from now on.

Today, I had to run a bunch of errands and I was short on time. One of my errands was to get some harissa and zaatar because I love cooking Mediterranean food and was out. I went to Gypsy Queen to pick up those ingredients, I think it's the only way other than Amazon and I'm trying to cut back on Amazon to focus more on local businesses.

While I was there, the food on the tables looked good. I asked if I could get a to-go salad quickly because I could not stay long, and they brought it to me in 5 minutes. I got back to my office in time for my next meeting.

It's easy to write some comments about a place you don't like or had a bad experience, and often I forget to highlight the good ones. Not only did this place have ingredients that are hard to find, but also their service was quick for when I needed it, and it was super delicious! Tabouleh was herb forward as it should be, and it was a fantastic midday all around for me. I thought I would share if you have not tried it, you should!

Hello everyone,

I’ve been here for 3 years but life is really busy. My wife and I have a few kids and thus I haven’t really gotten to check out life at night other than dinner date night.

I’m in my 40s, happily married and not looking for romance or anything like that.

That being said my wife and the kids are out this weekend and I’ve just been doing some neglected house things, but it would be fun to go out and maybe have some friendly conversation since I’m by myself.

I’m in West Asheville and really love where I live. Not looking to go downtown. Any recommendations for fun, friendship, booze or not I can go both ways 😜

Hello everyone,

Several months back I asked our community for help finding a deck builder. Thank you for the incredible support and answers. We had way more than expected and it allowed us to get multiple quotes and settle in a builder that did a fantastic job! We went with Clear Choice Construction if you are interested.

Now that we have our dream deck, I am looking for some furniture to put on it. I have found a nice dining set that is solid quality but I am having a hard time finding a quality "chill" station. Meaning a couple of couches, a coffee table (or better yet a slightly higher table that can also be used for dining), and a little bench to make a sort of U shape. What I see at the usual stores like Sam's, Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart - is a bunch of plastic wicker crap. It's flimsy, I know in about 9 months the wicker will start to break from the sun and fray everywhere, and frankly after building a few of these, the weight support isn't great. My kids are teenagers and generally "jump" into a couch rather than sit carefully. We are of course working on that but given it will happen here and there or when we're not looking, I want stronger stuff.

Would you have recommendations for a store I can go to, feel it, and even better if it local. I am not opposed to online ordering as long as I can see it's not that aluminum/wicker crap I'm used to seeing everywhere.

Thank you in advance!

Before I start, I just want to say we are not tackling whether you should, who you should, or why you should tip. That is off the table. Let's assume for the sake of argument that we do have to tip some professions and we all magically agreed upon the percentage that makes everyone happy.

Can we debate and discuss the "when" instead? This I've seen a lot of sophomoric comments in other threads like "b***h, cheap a**, a**h**e, etc... Those are not constructive, nor productive. Let's discuss as adults please.

My thoughts: Tipping was originally created as an incentive for great work. The price was the price, and if the person did well or above and beyond, the customer would recognize that effort and reward it with an appropriate tip. It was originally meant for that incentive -but it unfortunately became a way for restaurants to subsidize labor while maintaining artificially lower prices on their menu. Again, we're not arguing the why, this was just for context!

Assuming we go to the original intent -that would mean you add the tip AFTER the service and that way you can recognize good work with a good tip, or even exceptional tip for above and beyond work. Currently the culture has moved into BEFORE the service. When this happened the person doing the service basically stopped caring because they knew they would get a tip. Or in food delivery, the tipping customers are basically buying a priority in line. It's not really a "tip" anymore is it?

Question for debate: would customers be ok with tip being mandatory (percent is your choice) after you got the service? Conversely, would the employees doing the service be ok with the tip being given after your work was completed? You know you will get tipped, but you can earn the extra if you give the extra vs colleagues who get the minimum tip for minimum effort?

Love to hear your thoughts and if there are things I didn't think about love to hear that too. I am cognizant that I have blind spots in this argument.

My god, rocket mortgage bought out my former company and they have been so agressive to get me to refinance! I’m talking about multiple calls every day. I entertained it a few times to see what they would do. It’s all lies and bullshit. They promise a good rate but they get you with ridiculous charges. I’m talking more than 6% of the loan for a meager 0.5 to 0.75 % reduction in the rate. They charge you a ridiculous fee for it. I don’t understand the point system, but I understand that more than 9% of your loan is just down right ridiculous. So F U rocket mortgage I’m not falling for your crap, and I hope this helps the community stay away from this predatory lender