Precisely. Parents used to take a much larger role before the electronic babysitter era. It does no good to try to offload full responsibility to any one group or another--all sources are involved and important. Schools are but one piece used to teach and augment the entire spectrum of learning human beings need. They are not the only source of 'wisdom'.

My wife is a very effective educator, and she has worked very diligently to become one--middle school special education (need I say more?). The pay sucks, and the hours are very, very long.

In the past many years, teachers have become overwhelmed with various government mandates that require higher and higher paperwork loads. Have you ever known a teacher with a caseload over 40 in Sp.Ed. students, with respective IEP imperatives, and teaching math to-boot?

I have. It's absolutely grueling. Her prep periods rarely happen, as she is called into meeting after meeting, and required to sub for other teachers weekly. No raises at all in over 7 years. The pay? How about a gross salary of $34K, which is reduced dramatically by other mandatory deductions, especially huge healthcare costs.

My wife is constantly exhausted, but she never gives up. She works weekends all the time, and I give her financial assistance for classroom supplies and hardware. Budgets are reduced every year, but we always have enough to pay for sports stadiums and undeclared wars. Get the federal government out of education, and elect better administrators that promote real teaching, as opposed to the latest weird thing.

They have to push back constantly to remain effective and relevant. She and I are paying off her huge student loans, and basically all her pay goes into that plus gas for her 20-year-old car. She's not in if for the money folks. She makes positive differences in people's lives, and the notes she gets from student and parents alike show her dedication and effectiveness. I am exceptionally proud of her.

Most of our teacher are dedicated professionals in an era when they are not treated or paid as such. I worked for General Dynamics engineering (30+ years, now retired), and she works harder than I ever did. BTW, did you know teachers cry a lot?

For me, it will forever be, the Minolta XD-11. I had 2, one chrome and one black. Did many a wedding with this pair of the world's 1st multi-mode 35mm camera. I'd smile when the other pro's (my contemporaries) said it was too small a negative (or chrome) to provide acceptable shots. They were wrong. Many of them switched also to 35mm later on.

YOU KNOW WHAT’S NOT DANGEROUS?
Letting your kid walk to the park, stand on the street, or go to the store alone in a normal, reasonably safe American neighborhood. Stranger abductions account for fewer than 150 incidents per year. When spread across all the children in the United States, this means that my son, statistically speaking, would have to stand on the street corner alone for upwards of 600,000 years in order to be abducted.
(Source: Lenore’s book: Free-Range Kids!)

YOU KNOW WHAT’S DANGEROUS?
.
Putting your kid in the car and driving somewhere. This is the leading cause of death among children in the United States.
(Source: The CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/…/child_passenger_saf…/cps-factsheet.html)
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You know what else is dangerous?
Swimming pools. In states where swimming pools are common (Florida, for instance), this cause of childhood death surpasses automobile accidents.
(Source: The CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/…/Water-Saf…/waterinjuries-factsheet.html
.
You know what else is dangerous?
Depression. In children ages 10-14, suicide is the third leading cause of death, following accidents (auto accidents and drowning are lumped together in this list) and cancer.
(Source: The CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/…/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2…)
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You know what else is dangerous?
Sending your kid to Grandma’s house. 200,000 children per year in the U.S. are abducted, and 199,885 of them are taken by family members, including grandparents, non-custodial parents (who often take them from a grandparent’s house), and close family friends.
(Source: MissingKids.com. http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts)
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You know what else is dangerous?
Letting your kids meet anyone at all. 90% of sexual offenders are close family members, camp counselors, and other people known well by the family and the child.
(Source: Child Safe. http://www.childsafeeducation.com/statistics.html)
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You know what else is dangerous?
Lack of exercise. Believe it or not, heart disease is the 5th leading cause of death among children, following behind homicide. (Source: The CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/…/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2…).
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Speaking of homicide, you know what else is dangerous?
Letting Dad watch the kids. Or Mom. Or, anyone actually. Roughly 63% of child homicides are perpetrated at the hands of a parent, and another 27% by friends.

Absolutely correct. The XD11 was the 1st selectable multimode SLR, I believe. Anyway, I loved how small it was and how well it worked. I bought the XE-7 afterwards, because I had GAS and wanted it too--see, I'm easily confused. It did come out 2 or 3 years earlier I think. My very 1st SLR was the SRT-101.

Hey, I'm old!!!!

It's an easy camera to use. It came out after the XD-11 (my favorite camera of all time, of which I still have three). The XE-7 upped the ante in capabilities, and is a wonderful camera. It's automatic (aperture priority when you pick auto speed, speed priority otherwise), when you want it to be, but you will need to focus. Also, you need to set the ASA (ISO) of your film--later cameras read it from the film cassette. I have included a PDF file on this camera for you. The MD lens is top notch. Here's some nostalgia for you ...

Minolta XE-7, The Crown Jewel of the SR Line.
Ralf J. , Mar 24, 2009; 01:44 a.m.

The Minolta XE-7 is a truly remarkable camera. It is my favorite camera in my entire collection edging the Voigtlander Bessamatic by a couple of points. The XE-7 is the fruit of the collaboration between two of the camera industry power houses, Leitz and Minolta. It has a birth year of about 1975.
All the XE-7 bodies I have seen, have been black finish, although I have heard that chrome versions do exist. The camera is build like a tank commanding quite a bit of heft, which inspires confidence and reliability in my opinion. It has one of the smoothest film advance mechanisms I have ever handled and it is a pure joy using it.
90% of the camera controls are incorporated on the top housing. These controls include the on/off switch, exposure counter, advance lever, shutter speed dial and shutter release, rewind knob, and a smart disk at the bottom of the rewind knob which controls the ASA settings and exposure compensation(from -2 to +2 stops)
The front of the body includes the self timer lever, the DOF button, lens release, X-sync terminal and flash synchronization selector, while the back contains the very useful film pocket reminder with a table for ASA/DIN conversions.

The Minolta XE-7 can be used in the very useful Aperture Priority mode for those "decisive moment" shots or in full manual mode. The exposure compensation option mentioned above, makes the adjustment to the changing of lighting conditions, a snap. The viewfinder is very bright with a split image micro-prism for those difficult focusing conditions. With the aperture and shutter information clearly visible in the viewfinder, one can continue to take pictures and make the adjustments on the fly without taking the camera away from the eye.

Common maladies of the XE-7 system can include an unstable meter needle or a dead meter system altogether; I have been lucky in that respect and intend to stay that way if I can help it :-). The less privileged sister of the XE-7, my XE-5, is already starting to exhibit the jumping needle condition in the metering system, so service time may be approaching for it.

The Minolta XE-7, with hundreds of rokkors available for it, is not just a remarkable camera, but a remarkable system; I may be nuts about Minoltas in general, but so are so many who favorably review and describe them on their blogs and web sites.

User's Guide to the Minolta XE-7 film camera
Attached file:
(Download)

I was the designated mix-in-the-dye kid in my family. Now we know that margarine was one of the worst foods ever put on the market.

I have several up and running at all times. Only reboot after new SW installs that require it. When on vacation, I turn most of them off, but leave my email machine and printer server running.

It's a personal preference, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but I've never had any issues in over 30 years. I've been using a UPS/Surge protector as soon as they became available to protect against voltage spikes. None of them has ever tripped because of one, however.

You can save on the reboot time if you use sleep or hibernate mode, and that will also save you on power usage.

It's not always that black & white. I always question authority, especially when I and others think it's misguided. Such as engaging in 'police actions' in other countries that don't request our invasions.

On the other hand, I agree that it's wise in most instances simply to obey laws that protect the majority.

Me too! :thumbup:

You have to shoot first, then you won't have these questions later! :-)

I have both the X100 & X100s, and they are terrific too! (they'll do weddings handily also...FYI) Just a tad too big for carrying comfortably on my hip all day--I usually take that as my second camera when I hike in the desert because the images are tack sharp for landscapes.

All three--but I carry the RX100III with me now. I use it instead of my Canon 1DsII and other DSLRs as my daily "take absolutely everywhere" camera. I also use the Olympus EM1. But, the Sony is always with me and the results are quite remarkable. Even shot a wedding with it and had no complaints. Sony's larger mirrorless cameras are superb also, and especially if you need to be able to use other lenses (of course). But I find the diminutive RX100III suits my needs quite well as I go about my day.

If I go on a shoot overseas, I'll take it and one of my other digitals for the lens capabilities. However, I still travel quite light, and don't carry lenses that will receive minimal usage for what I plan to shoot. I especially hate carrying a heavy lens (or any lens for that matter) that comes home unused. I could have gotten a few more granola bars into the space it occupied, and have been less encumbered. Since most of my material is wide angle to slight telephoto, the little Mark 3 is fine for most things.

I really don't find differences in image quality to be an issue among the cameras, and concentrate more on convenience and usability and bulk. I simply take what I need, but my hip-mounted camera gets used the most, and I rely upon it. It's always ready when I need it.

I have the Sony, and I'm impressed. It's always with me on my hip, and certainly convenience and portability were big considerations. Either one will serve you well.

Thank you. A resolution to live by. :D