Fall Banter and General Discussion

[rclab]

4 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I'm ruthless.  I toss out suspensions like Pez dispenser.

Thor's not around to save it.

May we always retain an S of H, stay well all. As always .....

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

10 minutes ago, NECT said:

It's surprising how many people who are not teachers nor directly involved in education know so much about how teachers feel about in-person vs. remote teaching. It's also interesting how much people who have never really been involved with teachers' unions know about their activities.

It’s not hard to know much about teachers unions. They have been plastered all over the news for months.

The president of the MTA has been a vocal opponent to any sort of in person learning. Hybrid, reduced class sizes, even teachers going into empty buildings to zoom from their classrooms. 
 

This is fact not opinion. Like I said, I don’t know the thoughts of the 100,000+ union members... but the leader, and most vocal member, has been vehemently opposed to any sort of return.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

Mass Hospitalizations have increased from 588 to 917 in last 10 days .

That data is pretty  much in line with daily case number rise from 17 days to 7 days ago (there is approx a week lag between the ave. person testing positive and those of them that require hospitalization) .

The 6 metrics just released this week (which are updated on Wednesday and Saturday) look like a very good comprehensive list of where the area stands with regard to the virus impacts , especially at hospitals. 

While Hospitalizations have ramped up in last 10 days ..the percent of available ICU beds seems to have not moved..Which i find  odd ...thou those probably have a general lag over hospitalizations...But it's odd  they haven't moved much in last  2 weeks.

If you take Walsh at his word, It's clear they don't want to Roll back much further.unless forced to.. perhaps due to the lasting economic damage that is cumulative and beginning to seriously strain revenue and create a ton of budget cut anxiety?

Will be interesting to follow the hospitalization data and how it correlates of not with daily rising cases.

https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/11/18/new-boston-coronavirus-metrics

[HoarfrostHubb]

1 hour ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

It’s not hard to know much about teachers unions. They have been plastered all over the news for months.

The president of the MTA has been a vocal opponent to any sort of in person learning. Hybrid, reduced class sizes, even teachers going into empty buildings to zoom from their classrooms. 
 

This is fact not opinion. Like I said, I don’t know the thoughts of the 100,000+ union members... but the leader, and most vocal member, has been vehemently opposed to any sort of return.

She is kinda a db imho...      

[ORH_wxman]

21 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

She is kinda a db imho...      

Did you go on the statewide meetings back in August? My wife was on a couple of them and it seemed like the elementary school teachers in particular were pushing back a lot on the "100% remote learning, no compromises" type solution she was hammering home. At the end of the day, the district union reps seem to do more of the negotiating anyways, but it seemed weird that she was out of touch with a lot of the union base on that.

Like, the teachers were absolutely concerned about safety, but so many were saying "we need to find a way to get into the classroom but safely"....esp the teachers of younger kids. For high schoolers, it felt a little less urgent.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

8 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Did you go on the statewide meetings back in August? My wife was on a couple of them and it seemed like the elementary school teachers in particular were pushing back a lot on the "100% remote learning, no compromises" type solution she was hammering home. At the end of the day, the district union reps seem to do more of the negotiating anyways, but it seemed weird that she was out of touch with a lot of the union base on that.

Like, the teachers were absolutely concerned about safety, but so many were saying "we need to find a way to get into the classroom but safely"....esp the teachers of younger kids. For high schoolers, it felt a little less urgent.

About 80% of my Gf's constituents were pushing back ..she teaches 3'rd grade. .there were  2 i know personally who have significant medical issues (personally and with a spouse) that caused them to balk at any kind of  in person learning. One is completely fine( made peace with it) .. she went back (she is Italian and  would let everyone know otherwise)  and one took the year off at her husbands urging.  There was another 2 who wanted remote but then when they had to either go back in and teach remotely or go back in for hybrid (or not get paid) they came around to hybrid.  They told my GF ( who worked with them initially in teaching groups that  when they went back and interacted with humans again... their anxiety went way down and are comfortable in the classroom now, but obviously they want the cleanest conditions possible 

[Damage In Tolland]

51 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Mass Hospitalizations have increased from 588 to 917 in last 10 days .

That data is pretty  much in line with daily case number rise from 17 days to 7 days ago (there is approx a week lag between the ave. person testing positive and those of them that require hospitalization) .

The 6 metrics just released this week (which are updated on Wednesday and Saturday) look like a very good comprehensive list of where the area stands with regard to the virus impacts , especially at hospitals. 

While Hospitalizations have ramped up in last 10 days ..the percent of available ICU beds seems to have not moved..Which i find  odd ...thou those probably have a general lag over hospitalizations...But it's odd  they haven't moved much in last  2 weeks.

If you take Walsh at his word, It's clear they don't want to Roll back much further.unless forced to.. perhaps due to the lasting economic damage that is cumulative and beginning to seriously strain revenue and create a ton of budget cut anxiety?

Will be interesting to follow the hospitalization data and how it correlates of not with daily rising cases.

https://www.boston.com/news/coronavirus/2020/11/18/new-boston-coronavirus-metrics

Pics?

[mreaves]

18 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

About 80% of my Gf's constituents were pushing back ..she teaches 3'rd grade. .there were  2 i know personally who have significant medical issues (personally and with a spouse) that caused them to balk at any kind of  in person learning. One is completely fine( made peace with it) .. she went back (she is Italian and  would let everyone know otherwise)  and one took the year off at her husbands urging.  There was another 2 who wanted remote but then when they had to either go back in and teach remotely or go back in for hybrid (or not get paid) they came around to hybrid.  They told my GF ( who worked with them initially in teaching groups that  when they went back and interacted with humans again... their anxiety went way down and are comfortable in the classroom now, but obviously they want the cleanest conditions possible 

I figured any GF you had would have been retired for many years by now. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

31 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Did you go on the statewide meetings back in August? My wife was on a couple of them and it seemed like the elementary school teachers in particular were pushing back a lot on the "100% remote learning, no compromises" type solution she was hammering home. At the end of the day, the district union reps seem to do more of the negotiating anyways, but it seemed weird that she was out of touch with a lot of the union base on that.

Like, the teachers were absolutely concerned about safety, but so many were saying "we need to find a way to get into the classroom but safely"....esp the teachers of younger kids. For high schoolers, it felt a little less urgent.

No... I knew what was going to happen regardless of what they said.     Our union has been working pretty well with admin for this.  We are basically ****ed due to staff cuts, and the switching back and forth of models due to rising Covid.     Just need to get through this year.             

[HoarfrostHubb]

26 minutes ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

About 80% of my Gf's constituents were pushing back ..she teaches 3'rd grade. .there were  2 i know personally who have significant medical issues (personally and with a spouse) that caused them to balk at any kind of  in person learning. One is completely fine( made peace with it) .. she went back (she is Italian and  would let everyone know otherwise)  and one took the year off at her husbands urging.  There was another 2 who wanted remote but then when they had to either go back in and teach remotely or go back in for hybrid (or not get paid) they came around to hybrid.  They told my GF ( who worked with them initially in teaching groups that  when they went back and interacted with humans again... their anxiety went way down and are comfortable in the classroom now, but obviously they want the cleanest conditions possible 

Our hybrid has been working well so far, but soooo many parents have been pulling their kids for remote, which now means the remote "classes" are getting huge, so other teachers are now being pulled from hybrid to teach remote.  I have been informed that in a couple of weeks I also will be teaching a section of social studies...lol   That should be fun.

After today, we are all remote for 2 weeks, and the hope is to come back for hybrid.  I doubt that happens before January    

 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

45 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Did you go on the statewide meetings back in August? My wife was on a couple of them and it seemed like the elementary school teachers in particular were pushing back a lot on the "100% remote learning, no compromises" type solution she was hammering home. At the end of the day, the district union reps seem to do more of the negotiating anyways, but it seemed weird that she was out of touch with a lot of the union base on that.

Like, the teachers were absolutely concerned about safety, but so many were saying "we need to find a way to get into the classroom but safely"....esp the teachers of younger kids. For high schoolers, it felt a little less urgent.

That’s the problem with the most public figure on the issue and really the only voice being heard being her. It came off as totally ridiculous and combative.

I mean, she was vehemently opposed to teachers going to empty classrooms to zoom from the same setup everyday. I mean at that point, to me, you’ve overplayed your hand.

[Cold Miser]

2 hours ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I'm ruthless.  I toss out suspensions like Pez dispenser.

Thor's not around to save it.

I miss the days of the bans. They were hot and heavy for a while back around 2011 and 2012 if I recall. Some good battles back then.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

I’m great full for a small parochial school. Ours haven’t missed a beat. Face to face so far. We picked up about 40 kids from surrounding towns because we were in school from the start. 
We don’t take special Ed so there’s that too that we don’t have to deal with it. 
I feel for you folks that have or teach special needs. 

[Baroclinic Zone]

35 minutes ago, Cold Miser said:

I miss the days of the bans. They were hot and heavy for a while back around 2011 and 2012 if I recall. Some good battles back then.

I'm too old now to GAF. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

45 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I’m great full for a small parochial school. Ours haven’t missed a beat. Face to face so far. We picked up about 40 kids from surrounding towns because we were in school from the start. 
We don’t take special Ed so there’s that too that we don’t have to deal with it. 
I feel for you folks that have or teach special needs. 

The church I belong to has a small school. Used to be much larger.   They reached their capacity this year with people wanting their kids to go.  It used to kinda suck.  But smaller class sizes, no MCAS. 

[HIPPYVALLEY]

Beautiful afternoon for a walk in the woods!

Is that a dingo?

 

[powderfreak]

Sister, brother in law and their two kids are positive with COVID 19.  The kids just have runny noses, my sister has a bad head cold and no sense of taste... coffee tastes like water.  That’s why they got tested.

Test results in New York took her 6 days to get a result, beating my 5 days in VT to get a result.  They’ve not left their house since last weekend and have another week to go at least.

Now both of my sisters have had it.  Both work in healthcare so not surprising.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

Just now, powderfreak said:

Sister, brother in law and their two kids are positive with COVID 19.  The kids just have runny noses, my sister has a bad head cold and no sense of taste... coffee tastes like water.  That’s why they got tested.

Test results in New York took her 6 days to get a result, beating my 5 days in VT to get a result.  They’ve not left their house since last weekend and have another week to go at least.

Any idea how and where they were exposed? 
 

[powderfreak]

6 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Any idea how and where they were exposed? 
 

No but she’s a nurse, they seem to assume it was from the hospital.  Who knows, could be the kids from preschool and childcare? 

[WhitinsvilleWX]

There’s enough Purell down here at Disney to float a ship. God knows how many stations thee are. They must have a tanker full somewhere. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

20 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

There’s enough Purell down here at Disney to float a ship. God knows how many stations thee are. They must have a tanker full somewhere. 

Is the clean crew still happening?  Or whatever it is called.  

[HIPPYVALLEY]

41 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

Sister, brother in law and their two kids are positive with COVID 19.  The kids just have runny noses, my sister has a bad head cold and no sense of taste... coffee tastes like water.  That’s why they got tested.

Test results in New York took her 6 days to get a result, beating my 5 days in VT to get a result.  They’ve not left their house since last weekend and have another week to go at least.

Now both of my sisters have had it.  Both work in healthcare so not surprising.

It’s everywhere. I’m wondering if the Franklin Co.  numbers are so low because we’re isolated or because last January and February half the county, including my family,  had the “weird cough”.  
Honestly , I’m going to see if I can go get an antibody test. 

[BrianW]

13 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

It’s everywhere. I’m wondering if the Franklin Co.  numbers are so low because we’re isolated or because last January and February half the county, including my family,  had the “weird cough”.  
Honestly , I’m going to see if I can go get an antibody test. 

Quest Diagnostics does them for I think 119$ with no doctor referral. They are everywhere and you can make the appointment online. Its definitely worth the piece of mind even if you have to pay out of pocket. I know a bunch of people that did it and were positive and had the same weird cough or symptoms earlier this year. 

[radarman]

56 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

It’s everywhere. I’m wondering if the Franklin Co.  numbers are so low because we’re isolated or because last January and February half the county, including my family,  had the “weird cough”.  
Honestly , I’m going to see if I can go get an antibody test. 

yep... almost everyone I know had it in that timeframe.  Not me, which I attributed at the time to a similar weird cough I had in the fall.  Coincidence I guess.

Regardless though, I would think antibodies might be gone by now, though there could be some residual T cell immunity.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

Just now, radarman said:

yep... almost everyone I know had it in that timeframe.  Not me, which I attributed at the time to a similar weird cough I had in the fall.  Coincidence I guess.

Same with my wife. All the symptoms. Me and the 2 kids got nothing. But we sanitized everything.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

Is there a work exemption for RI and now NH? I’m assuming there is. One of my guys lives in New Hampshire. 

[powderfreak]

Hey @Ginx snewx, hope all went well with the back surgery today dude.

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 hours ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Is there a work exemption for RI and now NH? I’m assuming there is. One of my guys lives in New Hampshire. 

• Persons Commuting for Work or School: People who regularly commute, at least weekly, outside of Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work or any person who regularly commutes, at least weekly into Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work; provided that in either case, this exception applies only to and from the person’s residence and place of work or school.  Workers or students who travel to any place that is not their home state for personal or leisure reasons cannot rely on this exemption

[WhitinsvilleWX]

8 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

• Persons Commuting for Work or School: People who regularly commute, at least weekly, outside of Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work or any person who regularly commutes, at least weekly into Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work; provided that in either case, this exception applies only to and from the person’s residence and place of work or school.  Workers or students who travel to any place that is not their home state for personal or leisure reasons cannot rely on this exemption

I thought that was the case, but you never know anymore.

These state by state quarantines are getting a little silly at this point. 

[Whineminster]

4 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I thought that was the case, but you never know anymore.

These state by state quarantines are getting a little silly at this point. 

We have a camp in NH....so I can't visit? Yeah.....ok.