Coronavirus

[SciFiFisher]

Miller, Trumps favorite white supremacist, has tested positive. Moscow Mitch is refusing to go to the White House. The carousel is spinning faster and faster, and it is on fire. I just can't look away.

[pumpkinpi]

We are 7 weeks into the school year, and it's definitely been a challenge. But this week I tried something new that seems to be helping. I usually have meetings for a majority of the day, but every day is different so it's hard to get into a groove. Usually Rooster does her work on her own, but lessons have been getting a little more challenging. The time I might be able to squeeze in to help her might be after she's struggled for an hour getting started on something. So what I decided to do is to set aside about an hour and a half around lunch time to check out of my work and be there to help her. It's gone great so far. For some assignments that she thinks are so hard, she just needs someone by her side to give her a little encouragement. I'm happy that I've been able to do that for her this week. And carrying over from last spring, I'm really enjoying observing how she learns what what her challenges are.

Up until now she's had 4 days a week with live lessons between 8:30 and 1, and the 5th day is lessons on her own. Monday she starts going in two days a week, and then the other 3 days are lessons on her own. So it's another adjustment, about the 4th different type of schedule we've had. The biggest adjustment will be getting her on the bus at 7:01 am. That's when she gets up now! But it's not like we've never done this before. This is actually the latest their bus has come since Buster started school in 2015.

Speaking of Buster, school is going well for him. He has live lessons 8-10 and then 12-1, but he usually only takes a lunch break and then still works until about 2 or 3. It seems like a lot of work for a 5th grader, and I'm glad he can do it mostly without our help. I'm sure its a challenge in other 5th grade families.

He'll go in two days a week starting 2 weeks after Rooster does. But we'll see how long that lasts. Like everywhere cases are going up in Minnesota. I feel like schools have shown that they can open their doors safely, so hopefully they can get a few good weeks of live instruction in!

[SciFiFisher]

Here in California we are still all online school. I am starting a 100% remote position on Monday that I am hoping will give me more time with my kiddo to help him stay focused. It's not much fun right now because he was starting to not like school before Coronavirus. It did not get better.

[Rommie]

I've noticed the elementary school near my work has some form of in person education, but not sure what it is. It's definitely not as busy as it was pre-pandemic.

I confess this all does make me wonder a bit how I'd fare if I was a kid now (like I guess is inevitable). On the one hand, I suspect I would have liked the not going to school part because I was a lonely kid who spent all her spare time reading and could finish the assigned lessons faster. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I would've been sick to death of my mom who'd probably nag me a ton about doing the schoolwork.

[pumpkinpi]

We got another "it's not good news we have to share with the district families so we'll send it at the end of the day Friday" email from the superintendent this week. (Both the schools and my University president tend to have that timing.)

"We are looking forward to welcoming back 2nd-3rd graders for blended learning next week, but we are aware that cases are on the rise. We reevaluate the situation at our school board meeting each month and the next one is Tuesday. It is entirely possible that the plan to transition to blended learning will be impacted by changing health conditions in our community." My prediction: Rooster will get two days in school then will be back home.

[lady_*nix]

Oh wow. Best of luck, pumpkinpi.

[pumpkinpi]

So, late the night before school starts, I find out that after just 2 weeks of in person school (grades K-1 only) there has already been a confirmed case. The message didn't go out to everyone for privacy reasons, I found out from a parent who has a child in those grades.

I know 1 case is not an outbreak, I know that we wouldn't have gotten through the whole year without any cases. But geez.

[Rommie]

Ugh, that's annoying. There's been a lot of talk lately about whether our case rise in MA is due to the reopening of schools, but Boston has now gone back to remote learning completely so I guess (hopefully?) we will see.

My parents, after visiting their grandkids, arrived back in Florida on Saturday. Got a text from my mom on the family chat that of course things won't shut down again, because the virus is over- she just went to the store, and no one was wearing masks, except for a few old people!

We were entertaining going down to them this winter for a few weeks now that a DOD study showed flying is a minimal risk if everyone wears a mask, and we can def socially distance at their place and still do stuff like enjoy the beach (and then quarantine 2 weeks when we get back, of course), but now we're definitely not so sure.

[pumpkinpi]

Ugh, that's annoying. There's been a lot of talk lately about whether our case rise in MA is due to the reopening of schools, but Boston has now gone back to remote learning completely so I guess (hopefully?) we will see.

My parents, after visiting their grandkids, arrived back in Florida on Saturday. Got a text from my mom on the family chat that of course things won't shut down again, because the virus is over- she just went to the store, and no one was wearing masks, except for a few old people!

We were entertaining going down to them this winter for a few weeks now that a DOD study showed flying is a minimal risk if everyone wears a mask, and we can def socially distance at their place and still do stuff like enjoy the beach (and then quarantine 2 weeks when we get back, of course), but now we're definitely not so sure.

Yeah, that all depends on people wearing masks AND always wearing them correctly. I ventured into a mall over the weekend, buying some last minute accessories and decorations at our local Halloween store. It seemed completely "normal" except for marks on the floors/stanchions promoting distancing, and people having masks on. It really didn't feel like it was any less busy than when I had gone before the pandemic. And then you see people pulling their masks down to talk on the phone, and so many people with it down below their noses......no matter what the DOD says about risks, if people don't wear masks it's a moot point. We've started to take more risks lately, mostly in a variety of retail stores. But I think I'm at the point where I'm going to pull back on that, and only go where and when it's absolutely necessary.

[Rommie]

Ugh, that's annoying. There's been a lot of talk lately about whether our case rise in MA is due to the reopening of schools, but Boston has now gone back to remote learning completely so I guess (hopefully?) we will see.

My parents, after visiting their grandkids, arrived back in Florida on Saturday. Got a text from my mom on the family chat that of course things won't shut down again, because the virus is over- she just went to the store, and no one was wearing masks, except for a few old people!

We were entertaining going down to them this winter for a few weeks now that a DOD study showed flying is a minimal risk if everyone wears a mask, and we can def socially distance at their place and still do stuff like enjoy the beach (and then quarantine 2 weeks when we get back, of course), but now we're definitely not so sure.

Yeah, that all depends on people wearing masks AND always wearing them correctly. I ventured into a mall over the weekend, buying some last minute accessories and decorations at our local Halloween store. It seemed completely "normal" except for marks on the floors/stanchions promoting distancing, and people having masks on. It really didn't feel like it was any less busy than when I had gone before the pandemic. And then you see people pulling their masks down to talk on the phone, and so many people with it down below their noses......no matter what the DOD says about risks, if people don't wear masks it's a moot point. We've started to take more risks lately, mostly in a variety of retail stores. But I think I'm at the point where I'm going to pull back on that, and only go where and when it's absolutely necessary.

Yes, we were shopping this weekend (furniture plus I really needed a new pair of jeans, and will never just order those online), and almost turned around when we got there because the parking lot was COMPLETELY FULL! I didn't realize they could do that outside of Black Friday! Inside all the smaller stores were fine with capacity carefully kept track of, but I realized quickly the mall is popular now because it's one of the few "normal" things you can do- there were also a ton of teenagers just hanging out with friends. (Which I know teens used to do, but it definitely was less popular more recently, and I think we've come full circle.) People not wearing them properly was the exception over the rule around here, at least.

I think it's unfortunately inevitable that people would start to get fatigued by keeping their guard up all the time. I think it's far worse though that there's no planning behind tackling that. Like, I will bet really good money if someone normal was in office right now you'd have a million "public message campaign" type ads about wearing masks right now, which epidemiologists agree is really important to get people to change behaviors in a public health crisis... but meanwhile the only ads I've heard relating to that are from the state of Massachusetts, and Trump actively stopped the post office from sending everyone masks for example.

[Rommie]

So in the coronavirus briefing today, the governor said one big spreader in our uptick lately in MA is... youth hockey. About 30 outbreaks from youth hockey in 60+ communities, because people go to the rink all day with their kids, chat, etc, all indoors. The kicker? Apparently part of the problem is several teams actively refuse to provide rosters to contact tracers, which of course aids the spread.

Oh man I saw red when I read that. FFS, it's youth hockey! How hard can it be to just ban a team for a season if you refuse to comply with contact tracing?!

[SciFiFisher]

@Rommie your parents probably believe coronavirus is over because that is what Trump and Co. keep saying.

[Rommie]

Well also because they are fairly sheltered from it, TBH. They live in not very densely populated areas in NH and Florida, and that part of NH it honestly never got serious, and in Florida they're in one of those gated communities where last I heard there was one case in March. So in their experience it is indeed overblown, they don't know anyone who's gotten it. (Yes, I'm aware how privileged that is.) Or they insist that young people don't die from it so they should just live their lives- I'm sure you're right and that's a Fox News talking point though.

[pumpkinpi]

Oh, I'm about to hit a breaking point. At work we foolishly have a planned some extra programming in October-December; on the one side it's necessary to get more people buying tickets; on the other hand it's way beyond our capacity because we are also running a virtual museum and half of us are also part or full time work at home parenting. So I've got all kinds of weird working hours in the next few weeks, lining up just when my kids each have a different schedule to get used to each week and MrPi having a crazy work schedule too. And just today we had another wrench in the plan. There was yet another case of covid reported at the school, back on Rooster's first day, which fortunately doesn't necessitate Rooster to quarantine, but it did result in their after school care closing. So I had to go pick Rooster up at 2 instead of the planned 5:30. That might not sound like a big deal; today I made it work but many days both MrPi and I are in the middle of meetings at that time. For now, it will be ok--in theory the after school care will open again next Tuesday so we only have to accommodate this next Monday. (Tomorrow no school for election day, and they are already home Wednesday-Friday)

But still. It's something new literally multiple times per week. I did not sleep well last night, I'm seriously considering taking some kind of sabbatical off of work. I just can't manage kids, work, and my sanity all right now.

But then I feel guilty--so many of these teachers have kids in school too. They can't take time off, they have to power through.

God, this sucks!

[pumpkinpi]

And just a half hour later the email came, "pausing blended learning." Buster will not start in person school next week; Rooster will go in Monday and Tuesday, and then be back home after that.

I guess I'm feeling a tiny bit better, at least there is a bit of certainty now. And it's exactly what I predicted, that Buster would never get a chance to go to school. But, this really sucks for the kids. I feel bad for them.

[Rommie]

Yes. That must be disappointing for Buster, even if he understands why.

Good news, my summer course was approved! "The Life and Death of Stars"

Bad news, the email already says it will "almost certainly be online"! So, now gonna have to weigh if it's worth it for me to do it online. Probably don't have to decide just now, as they don't even list summer courses until January, but a ton of work for an online class when it's not actually my job to run one is a tad less appealing and I'll have to think about it.

[pumpkinpi]

My sister's kids' school district, Baltimore County, is rumored to be talking about returning in person in January 2022. Yes, 22, not a typo.

[SciFiFisher]

Yes. That must be disappointing for Buster, even if he understands why.

Good news, my summer course was approved! "The Life and Death of Stars"

Bad news, the email already says it will "almost certainly be online"! So, now gonna have to weigh if it's worth it for me to do it online. Probably don't have to decide just now, as they don't even list summer courses until January, but a ton of work for an online class when it's not actually my job to run one is a tad less appealing and I'll have to think about it.

Can anyone take the class and audit it? I think that is the term used for taking a class for no credit.

[Rommie]

You can indeed for the summer ones if you pay the tuition!

I kind of wish I got paid more for the number of people I signed up, that would make online worth it most likely.

[lady_*nix]

Well this is hopeful at least: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ntists-say

[Rommie]

Yes, and unsurprising if you look into how antibodies work is my understanding. A ton of the "you can get COVID twice!" stuff was more relevant in terms of if people need booster shots of an eventual vaccine over a question of long-term immunity, but because scientists can't guarantee this coronavirus will behave like all the other coronaviruses of the past people got really fear-mongering-y about it.

In other news, we had a socially distanced gathering yesterday of some postdocs and it turns out one in our midst had actually traveled to Copenhagen a few weeks ago, thanks to a faculty offer. ("I got five covid tests in my two week period, all negative, so don't worry.") You have never heard a bunch of people as excited about a trip to Denmark as we, as it's such a unique thing to hear of someone doing international travel right now! And she said it was weird how there everyone was just acting like normal- no masks in the grocery store, everyone in the office, they took her and her husband out to eat in a restaurant with a hundred people inside a big hall.

I checked and Denmark did in fact lock down in spring, and are facing an exponential rise. I'm starting to think it's no wonder Europe has the trouble they do now keeping it in check if they really were just doing everything normally like that.

[pumpkinpi]

Between this and the election, I am so disheartened by half of our country. I just can't believe there are so many people who think, "I'm not sick so I don't have to wear a mask or avoid gatherings. The people who are at risk should stay home." That carries no kindness, no thought for anyone but themselves. The thought should be "I'll stay home and wear a mask when I have to go out to protect people at risk."

They have learned so much from our president.....that the most important person to think about is themselves. They may be good people in the context of their friends and families, they may donate money or volunteer for local organizations, and think that makes them good people. But they are failing at systemic kindness.

[code monkey]

Between this and the election, I am so disheartened by half of our country. I just can't believe there are so many people who think, "I'm not sick so I don't have to wear a mask or avoid gatherings. The people who are at risk should stay home." That carries no kindness, no thought for anyone but themselves. The thought should be "I'll stay home and wear a mask when I have to go out to protect people at risk."

They have learned so much from our president.....that the most important person to think about is themselves. They may be good people in the context of their friends and families, they may donate money or volunteer for local organizations, and think that makes them good people. But they are failing at systemic kindness.

how about 'i'm not sick so it's all a hoax'?

and his has just occurred to me - trump had it but is claiming -now - that it's a hoax!

[Rommie]

Anyone else get a little spring in their step with the vaccine announcement yesterday? 90% effective is amazing, considering a 50-60% effective one would have also gotten the nod!

Obviously, long winter coming up yadda yadda (some are being pragmatic, but it's also kind of depressing how many people want to shit on any little shred of hope others have), but as I said before I think I can face it better if we have an end game in sight. Something like knowing the first medical staff may be getting vaccinated before the end of the year would be more than I would have dreamed to hope for.

[pumpkinpi]

Anyone else get a little spring in their step with the vaccine announcement yesterday? 90% effective is amazing, considering a 50-60% effective one would have also gotten the nod!

The stock market sure does!

Obviously, long winter coming up yadda yadda (some are being pragmatic, but it's also kind of depressing how many people want to shit on any little shred of hope others have), but as I said before I think I can face it better if we have an end game in sight. Something like knowing the first medical staff may be getting vaccinated before the end of the year would be more than I would have dreamed to hope for.

I'll believe it when I see it working. What's most important to me is having this enough under control that the kids can go to school fully in person next fall. Distance and hybrid learning sucks.

What's also important to me is for my mom to have the ability to "get busy livin'." She is doing well, but she and my dad have been stuck inside since March. She is losing out on so many opportunities to visit places and friends while she still feels good. I fear that she won't live long enough for things to be safe enough that she can go out again.