KokomoWX

Same for Kokomo.

I got some additional details on my friend who was 35 and passed away from Covid. I thought she had went to the hospital and was admitted. Instead since she was healthy and young, then sent her home. She was taking prescription meds they gave her but she passed away in her sleep from a pulmonary embolism. She lived alone and her family found her the next day.

I attended the Indy 500 yesterday. My friend and I described it as almost surreal after 14 months of canceled events and lockdowns. It around my 20th time attending as a fan or a credentialed photographer. It felt good to be back. Masks are still required in Indianapolis/Marion County. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway limited capacity to 140,000 attendees with no general admission or infield parking. They hired 600 mask ambassadors to remind us to "mask up" but I only saw one covering two sections. He would walk to a spot, stand for a few minutes with his paddle board sign with the "mask up" reminder but he never talked or confronted anyone. He seemed to be gone in the hour before the race. As I navigated the grounds, I never saw any others but did see one leaving the event when it was over. (He had a "mask ambassador" t-shirt.). As for masks, they were pretty much never worn. Even event staff and race teams were not wearing them properly or not at all. I watched an on air talent put it on for live shots and then back off when not on air. No doubt the crowd were patriots that stood and clapped or cheered for the 50+ trucks of military soldiers being honored, and all of the other positive messages and traditions honoring the USA, Indiana, and Memorial Day. While I knew many things were not the same, it was great to be out and about with others again. I do have tickets for both indoor and outdoor concerts this summer and am looking for a mostly normal fall event schedule marching band. https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/sports/motor/indy-500/2021/05/30/indianapolis-500-race-indy-fan-photos-ims-indycar-schedule-2021/5250455001

Yep, we did five days a week in-person. We did start the year with about 15% opting for eLearning from home which was about half by mid September. They continued coming back and we were down to less than 5% after Christmas break. Kids were required to wear masks at extracurricular activities including while on the bench/sideline for sports but not when playing. Band and choir demasked during performances and kids did for plays while on stage. We only tested when it was suspected someone was sick. We did have a lot of quarantines early on when we took extra precautions. We did receive a small supply of rapid tests from the state a few months ago. I don't have any data how much they were used.

It's done! My school (work) had in person school all year and we finished today as planned. We had not just school but sports, music (band/choir), plays, and lots of other activities. With 1850 students, we had 111 test positive for Covid and 31 staff. None were severe cases there were no outbreaks, just a few cases each week.

I've often worn an N95 mask when weed trimming for years and sometimes when mowing.

I've been on the road since Easter in a variety of states photographing dance competitions and college commencements. There are so many various mask and dining mandates and the reactions to masks or no masks are also equally all over the road. I walked into a Starbucks last Sunday without a mask when in Rockford, IL. There were five baristas working and they had plexiglass all around the work area. Three dead stopped and yelled about no mask and being unsafe. On Friday I was in Missouri at a commencement doing green screen images. The President was very pro-mask and nobody was allowed to unmask even when speaking. Most of the commencement team were vaccinated and didn't wear their mask unless in the President's sight. They had a code word on the radio to alert everyone of his presence. I've been struggling with so much no indoor dining. I'm sick of eating in my car or hotel room.

I don't know those finer details.

I never received any guidance or restrictions on activities or exercise after getting my (Pfizer) shots.

Last week I had a female friend who was healthy and just 35 years old pass away from Covid after a short one week battle. She wore a mask, did the right things, kept a balance between being locked down and living life. It really hits home. While I find so much non-science driving lockdown and restrictions, I just don't get not wanting a vaccine.

Biden and the CDC has really missed the mark on vaccines. I'm pretty sure they would send the wrong message about Evian bottled water to people dying of thirst in the dessert.

II (59) was scheduled normally but also was on a wait list for left over doses. I got called early and since I was already in the system, they could easily adjust my appointment. I hear others doing walk-in appointments ahead of their schedule appointments and they can adjust on the fly. I had only a very slight reaction (tired, felt feverish) to the first Pfizer shot and none to the second. Of the two dozen folks I work or talk with daily, only two had strong reaction. Both were around 40ish and felt like a bad case of flu but they both recovered in 24 hours. Neither had have COVID. Besides working daily in K-12 with in person learning since August, I've been photographing indoor percussion, indoor marching, and dance competitions in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. I see mostly masking but also laugh at some of the restrictions. This past weekend in Cleveland, chairs were spaced 6 feet apart. All spectators were to wear a mask and sit six feet apart. This included families living in the same house and that traveled in the same car to the event. Needless to say, a lot of chairs were moved. The venue also require mandatory temperature checks for anyone coming into the convention center. Well anyone when that person was on duty. If you were in the first block before their shift, you were allowed to enter without any a temperature check. Chairs also had to be realigned to the six feet spacing requirement and sprayed with a disinfectant between blocks unless we were running behind and there wasn't time. My hotel had disabled by in room refrigerator and removed the microwave for my COVID protection. The hotel had no bellman or bellman carts for my COVID safety. Someone could valet park my car but not go get the car. Talk about unscientific and arbitrary rules.

This article was posted in a local Facebook community forum and people are freaking out. All I can say is good grief.

I just don't get why everyone wants to target the low hanging fruit of schools and in person learning. I work at a school, with 1850 students K-12 plus staff who have been in school since early August. We have closed twice for a couple of days each when we lost a small but critical departments (food service/custodial) to quarantines. We played sports, had plays and band concerts and exhibitions, and a variety of activities. Our Covid positives stand at 131 for the entire year for students and staff. We have had no outbreaks and our positivity rate was always much less than local and state rates. Schools can safely open and should be open. Period. We did allow for students to chose in remain home and do distance learning but the number was small to start and dwindled quickly. We have zero plans to offer this as an option next school year.

I spend all day yesterday at Ben Davis HS photographing Indiana Percussion State Finals. I was pretty oblivious to weather let along severe weather possibilities. Headed home and could see a pretty impressive lightning storm ahead as I made my was up 421 back to Kokomo. Crossed 32 and the rain kicked in. A couple of miles later I ran into the hail core. Oh my. Nickle sized hail, zero visibility, no shelter (for the car), it was deafening inside the car. (I was just in a gym with percussion for 10 hours so I know loud!) It lasted for 5 minutes or so. I made it to Kirklin and pulled under an abandon gas station canopy. No damage to the car. Whew. Double checked today and still good.

I got my first (Pfizer) shot today. While I had self scheduled appointment a few weeks out, I also managed to get on a waitlist before I was scheduled. The person running the clinic said I was the last person they would be calling when they had extra shots available. She said they already have partnered with local EMS to use extra daily doses to go to homebound starting on Monday. Just 5.5 weeks to full immunity. Yay!

This winter was like winning the Indy 500 with a slow car and being out of sequence with your pit stops that put you in the momentary lead near the end and then having the race finish under yellow.

Indiana is open to 55 and up now. I managed to get on the schedule. YAY!

Paul Pastelok from AccuWeather is doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit for those interested in his spring severe forecast.

Ages 60-64 became eligible today in Indiana.

Let’s hope he is correct. https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/johns-hopkins-expert-says-covid-19-pandemic-could-end-by-april/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app .

One thing I wonder is where do we go when we have vaccines for everyone but not everyone choses to get the vaccine. I think we will end up with 20% not taking it for whatever reason (valid or not). I really am hoping to not start the fall school year with mandatory masks.

School has been cancelled for the third day in a row. Tomorrow also seems unlikely. Heck, maybe even Friday. With folks socked in due to the weather, we should be knocking this way down locally.