Hood Council Note: Networking

I've been networking with residents of the hood, basically having espresso, chatting with them in the park or in stores. Anything to see how the pulse of the hood is going. Making sure that all concerns are being voiced and met. We have re-established the online forum for hood council meetings. It was a good place to sort out ideas and residents could submit thier concerns without fear. My goals are going along nicely, we have a nice surplus in the budget which means we can afford to be aggressive with our plans.

Hood Council Note: Mortgages

A Mortgage system has been approved. After investigating the options and noting current technology Apple Valley will use the following system for mortgages.


Residents will use the Monique Payer/Payee Bills/Book for mortgages. Mortgages will have a daily payment and must be paid within 21 simdays. Families must have a minimum of 10% downpayment for thier home.


The total amount of the mortgage will be calculated as: ( Amount of house - downpayment ) * (1 + interest rate). The daily payment is calculated as: mortgage amount/# simdays. The mortgage amount, interest rate and number of days remaining for the mortgage will be noted in each household's "bio" screen and maintained by the Financial Director.


Families are encouraged to meet with the Financial Director at the bank in order to discuss affordability based on daily salary and current debts. Interest rates are based on your financial history and ability to pay.

Medical Centre Note-List of Services

Decided to make a list of the services available from the Medical Centre in addition to primary care and diagnosis:

Inpatient Care
Plastic Surgery: includes pre-surgery consultation to determine what the patient desires and how to accomplish this, the surgery and one day of inpatient admittance to monitor the patient's health.
Childbirth: includes pre-natal visits and check-ups, deliver either in hospital or at home, and first healthy baby check-up.

Out-Patient Care
Setting of Broken Limbs
Weight Loss Assistance: consultation with doctor to determine a healthy plan to lose weight with regular check-ups to monitor progress.
Physical Rehabilitation: consultation with doctor to determine a healthy plan to gain use of limbs again with regular check-ups to monitor progress.

Pastoral Notes: A Season for Planting

and a season for harvest. Not only in the natural world are there seasons for harvesting crops and planting crops, but spiritually as well. I am continually reminded about my flock, the residents of the hood and how like the plants in my garden I am to nuture them, prune them at times, toss fertilizer on them and water them. God will cause the growth and then they will be ripe and ready for harvest. I have been praying about the spiritual state of the hood, residents seems to coast through life as if there is no God, that life is simply a state of wake up-work-eat-sleep. As if they are robots. I hope to get through to them that they are more than that-life can have purpose and meaning, but...well I struggle with how. Thank God for my lovely wife, Nicole. She thinks of the best ideas to spread the message around the hood, be it lectures, opening our home for dinners or what have you. She is truly my helpmate, I don't know what I would do without her in my life.

Hood Council Note: Population

The population is decreasing. It's nothing to be concerned over especially since Apple Valley totes a philosphy of quality over quanity. SimMonday started with 81 sims, we end this term (simSaturday) with 66 sims. The decrease of growth has come mostly from death: many sims were elders on thier last leg (accounting for 33% of the loss), there was a tragic accident (20%), and a suspicious death; then there were several families/sims that emmigrated to other hoods including Simmington Hills, Harper's Cove and Riverdale. Couple that with the low birth rate. Though I do think Apple Valley will approach another plateau soon.

Medical Centre Note-Pharmacy

Too many sims are trying to buy prescription drugs in bulk. This means that we keep large amounts of drugs in inventory, which isn't good. From now on, I will have to personally give each sim the appropiate prescription and only sell over the counter drugs at the pharmacy.


Right now there are three prescription drugs with regionally imposed expiration dates-so they must be taken within two simdays of purchase, so it's not good to save for future usage. :

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that cures the common cold, flu or pnemionia pretty quickly. I will now only prescribe the drug in cases of pneumonia, flus and colds that have been longer than two simdays and virus. The sufferers from the common cold can buy OTC drugs, drink lots of orange juice and rest.

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that aids in weight loss. Will only be prescribed in extreme cases after a battery of tests measuring fat percentage, family history, and pysche evaluation. Otherwise, sims can consult with me and we'll create a fitness and health plan that includes dieting and exercise to lose weight.

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that aids in insomnia.

Archives/Technology Notes

Apparently I must submit regular reports to the hood council on my tasks and progress.

Assist in the management of family tree information: the family tree will be updated in August. Goal is to update the family tree document monthly.

Collect community & residents registry: going well, the file is rather large, perhaps we can offer the template to other hoods to manage thier resident data.

Test and implement 3rd party technology: Going well, technology is held in testing folder and changes are noted due to the usage. Currently investigating recent apprearences of menu-options on fridges for "management/make single plates/bank controllor" or "management/make single plates/colonial window"

Perform back-ups of resident information: Going well, perform back-up of data each simday

Serve as local reporter: going well, online paper is to be published each simday, new section of paper to be added with reviews of local establishments.

Manage the local library: not so well, Community Director wants a children's reading hour established, need to encourage more residents to utilize the library.

Hood Council Note: Bank

Finally, the bank is complete...well, at least the construction is. There's the main lobby, ATM, and a small cubicle/office to meetings regarding financial discussions (college funding, mortgages, etc). In the lobby residents can also pick up bill payment invoices and books to keep track of regular payments, such as taxes, tithes, etc. Checkbooks and investment silver and gold will also be sold.

The bank offers these services:

Savings/Checking Accounts

Checkbooks (available for small fee, can send a check to sims in the neighborhood)

Mortgages***

Loans***

Credit Cards***

ATMs and Online Banking

Automatic Payments

***more information later***

We will open the doors soon, but we need to find a banker to manage it. I suppose I could do it, but...I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave my job yet.

Hood Council Note: Phase One School Curriculm Proposal

Curriculm
Classes will be held simMonday-simFriday, 9am-3pm.
Teens: Level 3, simyears 14-18 (pupil count 4)
Teens: Level 4, simyears 18-22 (pupil count 0)
*Teens: Level 5, simyears 23-28 (pupil count 0)
9am-11pm: Morning Period
11am-1pm: Lunch/Break
1pm-3pm: Afternoon Period


Level 3 Class Schedule (AM/PM)
simMonday:Golf Clinic III/Science III
simTuesday: Art III/Shop Class III
simWednesday: Science III/Physical Education III
simThursday: Golf Clinic III /Shop Class III
simFriday: Art III/Physical Education III


Level 4 Class Schedule (AM/PM)
simMonday: Science VI/History IV
simTuesday: Physical Education VI /English VI
simWednesday: Home Ecomonics VI/Science VI
simThursday: English VI/Physical Education VI
simFriday: History IV/Home Ecomonics VI

*Level 4 Class Schedule
Optional for teens opting not to attend university.
Encourage teens will join a trainee program with a local business.
Teens can also take classes of thier choice.

Class Descriptions
-Science III (cleaning): students will learn how to find lurking bacteria
-Shop Class III (mechanical): students will learn how to craft small electronics
-Physical Education III (body): students will learn healthy habits through kick boxing
-Art III (creativity): students will learn the basics of cubism
-Golf Clinic III (charisma): students will learn how to play the game of golf
-Science VI (logic): students will study microbiology
-Home Ecomonics VI (cooking): students will study spaghetti techniques
-Physical Education VI (body): students will learn healthy habits through yoga
-English VI (charisma): students will learn how to effectively give speeches
-History IV (creativity): students will learn how to write historical research papers'

Extracurriculars (TBD): chess club, debate team, sports team, theater, yearbook, etc