My high school gave out a letter grade, a "Work Habits" grade and a "Cooperation" grade (the latter two being either Excellent, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory). I got a lot of AUU grades (and ASS grades, but I think that was more commentary by the teachers).

Hah, I'm no stranger to the AUU. I ignored homework and aced tests as well. In classes where tests didn't count for enough, I did very poorly indeed.

I kind of regret it. I'm sure I could have gotten scholarships if I'd applied myself (my family was not well off). When I went back to school as an adult I aced everything, graduating with honors. It was beyond easy. Made me wish I could tell my younger self to just do the damn homework, dummy.

However, if I'd gone to college, the chances of me meeting Greg would have been slim to none. All the money in the world couldn't influence me to mess with that timeline.

Fortunately that wasn't a problem. I pretty much had free run of the school by my senior year. I was technically taking two classes a day at the community college across the street, doing two independent studies periods. One I spent every day in the empty band room making out with my girlfriend and the other I ended up teaching the organic chemistry class when the school district decided there weren't enough students to justify a teacher.

Here's the way I look at it:

I quickly realized that 20% of the effort got 90% of the grade. So I did 20%. My high school girlfriend (later my one year of college wife) figured it was worth putting in 100% of the effort to get that last 10% of grade. Graduated valedictorian. Continued that in college where I spent two years on academic probation (before buckling down the last two years to do what was necessary to get in grad school) and she kept getting straight 4.0s and overachieving. We both went to grad school and got MLIS degrees (I assume she overachieved there too, but we were split by then).

And now I probably make twice as much money as her and am equally happy with my life (assuming she's happy with hers; she certainly wasn't happy while overachieving at school).

So I'm pretty pleased with the 20%/90% rule of schooling and preach it to children at every opportunity (the key being a recognition that schooling and education are not synonyms and need not overlap; I know many people who sucked at schooling but also didn't learn anything; that combination isn't a good one). I expect in a few years the GD/CP family will hire me to give a seminar in their home explaining the details of my system to their children.

I was like Alex - I just didn't see why you needed to put that much effort in for a grade point or so. My Senior English class I'd get up at 4:30 AM and type up first draft/last draft of my paper and turn it in. I'd get a B+. My friends would do numerous drafts, have conferences with the teacher etc and get an A-. Didn't see what was worth the hassle. Not to mention our english teacher was a huge self centered dick so if you didn't kiss his ass you didn't get an A anyway.

GPA's don't really matter much in the real world anyway - at least not mine.

Wait, were you looking at me when you wrote that?

I loved that "take college classes for high school and college credit" thing. Plus the state paid for it, so it was win all around. The high school never did figure out when I was supposed to be there, so if I were somebody else, I could have got in all kinds of trouble.

I agree with your 20/90 system; I also chose to put in the extra effort. I don't think it took 80% more effort to get that last 10%, but it was more than strictly necessary to get by. The math doesn't work out on that, though.

True. But it kept my folks off my back. I think I got less supervision than my brothers.

GPAs make a difference when you're trying to get investment banks to consider you for entry-level work. Even with a B+ average, you might find yourself pursuing alternate careers in... say... real estate.

Well... so far, so good.

This will take a while, and Markus is surprisingly receptive (even if a bit hissy and pissy for the time being). This also has shown me how confident Markus has become since his previous feline visitors. He's much more relaxed. Roxy is the one that will take a bit longer, I think.

Pictures forthcoming.

Roxy is a Tortie? Tortie's are usually not the most chill cats.

Give them a couple of days, a few hissing fits and growley moments and they will be OK with each other. They mostly have to get used to each other's smells. If you have a blanket in with Roxy, put it in the area where Markus is and vice versa. They can get good sniffs of each other that way.

I've only had one problem introducing a new cat and that was with my Calico Lyra. She was VERY difficult and completely stopped eating at one point. She never became friends with the others but she learned to tolerate being in the same house with them.

My mom is having surgery this morning. Please send healing vibes her way!