February Banter 2021

[LP08]

Finally got my MIL an appointment too here in Arlington!  See the link below for Safeway’s up here if your in VA and over 65 or know someone who is!

 

https://mhealthcheckin.com/covidappt

[mappy]

9 minutes ago, LP08 said:

Finally got my MIL an appointment too here in Arlington!  See the link below for Safeway’s up here if your in VA and over 65 or know someone who is!

 

https://mhealthcheckin.com/covidappt

wonderful!

[Scraff]

10 hours ago, nj2va said:

I gotta get one of these reverse retro screaming eagle jerseys.  They look sick.

They are sweet looking on ice!  Hope these become more of a permanent fixture one day. I actually got one ordered in early December from a company in China. It took the slow boat to get here, but it was worth it. It’s definitely an Adidas replica, but $40 for a Backstrom jersey, I’m not complaining! If you need info on the company, let me know. 
 

PS - wish we had got the W though. I’m about done with Kuzy and his lazy ass. 

[WxUSAF]

17 minutes ago, mappy said:

you're a saint for helping to get your friends/family their appointments. 

It’s the kind of philanthropy I’m built for: sitting on my ass in front of a computer in sweats.

[nj2va]

28 minutes ago, Scraff said:

They are sweet looking on ice!  Hope these become more of a permanent fixture one day. I actually got one ordered in early December from a company in China. It took the slow boat to get here, but it was worth it. It’s definitely an Adidas replica, but $40 for a Backstrom jersey, I’m not complaining! If you need info on the company, let me know. 
 

PS - wish we had got the W though. I’m about done with Kuzy and his lazy ass. 

I'll PM you!  

Yeah, I'll take the point considering how bad we played for whole stretches but I want to kick about 10 players in the azz to get their sht together.  It's a short season so they don't have the luxury to just keep giving up points.

[LP08]

I thought this was an awesome graphic by NWS Boulder.  It can’t really be done here but still one of the better ones they have developed recently.

[wxdude64]

3 minutes ago, LP08 said:

I thought this was an awesome graphic by NWS Boulder.  It can’t really be done here but still one of the better ones they have developed recently.

LOL, yep, seen that happen a few times over the years...

[WinterWxLuvr]

1 hour ago, LP08 said:

I thought this was an awesome graphic by NWS Boulder.  It can’t really be done here but still one of the better ones they have developed recently.

They could do that here. Just would t have as big of an elevation range.

[Winter Wizard]

3 hours ago, mappy said:

yay! got my mom an appointment!!!

Yay! Thanks to this post I just checked and got my grandparents an appointment this weekend at CVS, over 2 months before their originally scheduled date! 

[mappy]

Just now, Winter Wizard said:

Yay! Thanks to this post I just checked and got my grandparents an appointment this weekend at CVS, over 2 months before their originally scheduled date! 

awesome!!!

[nw baltimore wx]

It's so good to hear so many people are able to get the vaccine.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a faster rollout.

[mappy]

6 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

It's so good to hear so many people are able to get the vaccine.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a faster rollout.

My mom has been feeling pretty down and out the last few weeks trying to get herself one. just always so "I hate everything" when we talk. Her mood did a complete 180 this morning when I called her with the news. Such a huge relief for her knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

[nw baltimore wx]

1 minute ago, mappy said:

My mom has been feeling pretty down and out the last few weeks trying to get herself one. just always so "I hate everything" when we talk. Her mood did a complete 180 this morning when I called her with the news. Such a huge relief for her knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Today is my first day back to my job site and though I never got too down during the past year (I think I'm made for outdoor drinking), I had a sense of optimism on the way in this morning that we've turned a corner.  I won't have many students returning next week, but I'm looking forward to seeing and interacting with the ones that do.

Hopefully, the dosages continue to ramp up and we can move on past 1C soon.

[mappy]

7 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Today is my first day back to my job site and though I never got too down during the past year (I think I'm made for outdoor drinking), I had a sense of optimism on the way in this morning that we've turned a corner.  I won't have many students returning next week, but I'm looking forward to seeing and interacting with the ones that do.

Hopefully, the dosages continue to ramp up and we can move on past 1C soon.

hope your first week goes great and there isn't too many issues. We are keeping the kiddo home for the time being, but I know her teacher was happy to be back in the classroom.

My mom just felt very alone. She's a widow, I'm an hour away, my youngest sister is almost 3hrs away. The middle one sees her weekly, where they get together for a social distance dinner on mom's back porch. That has helped a lot. But this will give her more peace of mind and just a little more freedom without being worried.

[fourseasons]

I'll just post the link instead of cribbing one part of it and posting it, but this fire in DC made it on the radar:

https://www.popville.com/2021/02/photos-of-huge-house-fire-in-woodland-normanstone/

[toolsheds]

My daughter has a softball tournament in southern Virginia in July.  When we booked the hotel, i didn't pay much attention to where is actually was being that we are still 5 months away.  We just received conformation from the hotel we have booked - "Residence Inn Short Pump at the Notch" 

I'll let you all know what Short Pump is all about when we get back. 

[wxdude64]

6 minutes ago, toolsheds said:

My daughter has a softball tournament in southern Virginia in July.  When we booked the hotel, i didn't pay much attention to where is actually was being that we are still 5 months away.  We just received conformation from the hotel we have booked - "Residence Inn Short Pump at the Notch" 

I'll let you all know what Short Pump is all about when we get back. 

They moved Short Pump to southern VA????

[toolsheds]

Just now, wxdude64 said:

They moved Short Pump to southern VA????

Being from the northern part of Maryland, anything past Fredericksburg is southern Virginia to me :-)

[Thanatos_I_Am]

Don't cook much, but I figured today is the day I start. Y'all inspired me! Cooking a spicy chicken pasta dish. Just picked up all the stuff. Excited!

[vastateofmind]

2 hours ago, Thanatos_I_Am said:

Don't cook much, but I figured today is the day I start. Y'all inspired me! Cooking a spicy chicken pasta dish. Just picked up all the stuff. Excited!

That sounds great -- post a pic later if you can. I'm trying a new marinade for pork loin on the grill tonight -- we were going to have pasta, and then I thought, WTH, I'm not going to waste great late-winter grilling weather this afternoon/evening. 

[Mrs.J]

It is soooooooooooooo nice out! Kid is riding in short sleeves. I had to take off my hoodie when grooming the pony. 

[CAPE]

53 minutes ago, losetoa6 said:

A friend sent me this . Maryland is dead last in the country in In person learning.  Only 8.4 % Just horrific.  Thank goodness my 2 girls are in Carroll county and have been back hybrid for a while along with sports . Rest of Md needs to get there stuff together to say it politely.  It's a darn shame. The rest of the world and majority of the country has found a way to adapt to covid but not Maryland.  

Lil blurred but u get the idea . Dead freakin last 

 

 

I am teaching "conventional" in person classes here in MD, where students travel from all over the country to come here, and we follow the accepted and proven protocols- including testing, social distancing, and masking up in the classroom, and have had no issues. Granted we have smaller classes, so it is more conducive to keeping students 6+ feet apart, etc, but there is also potentially more risk by bringing students here from all parts of the US. We are a year into this thing now, so it is not like we don't have a clue how to deal with it at this point. The difference is I teach professionals in the maritime industry, and not a bunch of kids. That being said, it clearly can work with minimal risk by implementing effective control measures.

 

[mdhokie]

1 hour ago, losetoa6 said:

A friend sent me this . Maryland is dead last in the country in In person learning.  Only 8.4 % Just horrific.  Thank goodness my 2 girls are in Carroll county and have been back hybrid for a while along with sports . Rest of Md needs to get there stuff together to say it politely.  It's a darn shame. The rest of the world and majority of the country has found a way to adapt to covid but not Maryland.  

Lil blurred but u get the idea . Dead freakin last 

 

this convo is probably gonna be hidden but we chose to stay virtual in howard county and hope the transition back doesnt mess up the routine we've gotten into. The district is pretty much 50/50 on remain virtual or go in 2 days a week.

[WVclimo]

My 6th grader returned to school yesterday with the plan to begin going 5 days a week for the first time this year.  Today we got a message from the principal that he was potentially exposed to a COVID case at his school.

[snowfan]

My girl goes back on Monday. Hybrid approach where she’ll be there mon/tue and virtual the rest of the week. 

[psuhoffman]

3 hours ago, losetoa6 said:

A friend sent me this . Maryland is dead last in the country in In person learning.  Only 8.4 % Just horrific.  Thank goodness my 2 girls are in Carroll county and have been back hybrid for a while along with sports . Rest of Md needs to get there stuff together to say it politely.  It's a darn shame. The rest of the world and majority of the country has found a way to adapt to covid but not Maryland.  

Lil blurred but u get the idea . Dead freakin last 

 

I wonder how much of that is due to the fact one of our largest districts has financial issues AND structural problems that make returning harder. We keep having to push back the restart dates partially due to delays in making our facilities compliant with state CDC guidelines.  There are some things other districts had already done anyways like air filters that we can’t even do now because most of our buildings lack a functioning central air system. That makes it more complicated. In many cases we don’t have the spaces to accommodate the class restrictions.  Our “mess” of a situation was ill equipped to handle this situation. Many of our facilities are barely functional under normal circumstances. 
ETA: another part is lack of demand. My students were polled on returning and only a handful intended to return to the building. Then right after that survey suddenly the district delayed again. Likely didn’t feel the need to rush and spend crazy $ we don’t have if only like 5% even wanted to come back. 

[winterymix]

3 hours ago, losetoa6 said:

A friend sent me this . Maryland is dead last in the country in In person learning.  Only 8.4 % Just horrific.  Thank goodness my 2 girls are in Carroll county and have been back hybrid for a while along with sports . Rest of Md needs to get there stuff together to say it politely.  It's a darn shame. The rest of the world and majority of the country has found a way to adapt to covid but not Maryland.  

Lil blurred but u get the idea . Dead freakin last 

 

 

   Staying away from anyone with COVID  is JOB ONE.   Maryland is smart for the most part.

[WinterWxLuvr]

We have been in school all year with no issues. 20,000 students in the system, who knows how many teachers and staff. We are going back full in about a month. Enough already. Let’s get on with it.

[WinterWxLuvr]

If you were a kid and had the option of not going, how would you respond? Pretty sure I don’t think it’s a good idea to have students make policy. I tend to lean toward adults making decisions.

[psuhoffman]

38 minutes ago, losetoa6 said:

These are weak arguments anymore.  There's nothing in the science anymore that says there's any elevated risk in schools.  The can can't be kicked anymore.  It's broken in 100 pieces too small to kick lol.

Schools in every state and every country have all these  issues and with bigger populations in many cases. They found a way to make it work since August and some cases since mid summer . BUT MARYLAND OR BALTIMORE IS DIFFERENT?My brothers kids in York  have been in school since August 5 days a week . My relatives in Somerset ,Pa similar . Nobody has died . It's safe. 

Your kids ?    Your 1- 2 classes of 30  ?  5% ? This has to be an extreme anomaly I'm sorry I'm not buying this for vast majority. 

There have been poles for months showing 50% to 75% of parents and teachers wanted at least some in person.  

I'm sure the mods will delete my opinion. 

 

34 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

If you were a kid and had the option of not going, how would you respond? Pretty sure I don’t think it’s a good idea to have students make policy. I tend to lean toward adults making decisions.

I wasn’t advocating a policy position I was opining about the effects on the State numbers. I was ready to go back. Twice. Made no stink at all. Then they delayed. Nothing to do with me. I’m simply stating the reasons. Whether you agree or disagree. Wrt the survey parents had input. They had to let us know who would be coming back. And in my one class of 32 it was 4 students.  I’m not claiming that is normal across the state. This is specific to my district!  
 

I will push back on the assertion the guidelines aren’t important.  This is personal but let me say I don’t take offense at what anyone says. I totally understand the hardship schools being closed has caused. I do!   Also I’m one of the lucky ones that got a vaccination early in the process (luck of the draw) so this isn’t about me.  I feel 100% comfortable going back.  But it will be another 1-2 months before all the staff get vaccinated. Covid isn’t “highly” dangerous to the students but it is to the staff!  
 

There most definitely HAVE been numerous cases of educators contracting and dying of covid from exposure at schools. 3 teachers just died last month in Cobb County and there might be a lawsuit due to accusations the district didn’t follow guidelines and didn’t take immediate measures to stop the outbreak that exposed them to covid and cost them their lives.  I admit I had a falling out with my Union over this. They continued to try to spin their campaign around student safety. I found that insulting. It wasn’t entirely true but it also devalued my life. I’m not going to lie about it. The evidence suggests this wasn’t that dangerous to the students. But it was to me!  
 

I have crohns, asthma and early stages of diabetes.  My doctor was VERY adamant I not allow myself to be exposed.  I tend not to argue with my doctor since I can assume they know WAY more about what’s best for my health then I do.  And it was a risk for many of my colleagues.  That should be a good enough reason. I shouldn’t have to lie and say it’s about the kids. My life matters to me and my children. If my school wasn’t able to do what the CDC says was necessary to protect me from being exposed why should I risk my life for a job that I’ve dedicated almost 2 decades too selflessly for way less pay then I could make in the private sector!  I often give up evenings and weekends. I teach out of love and passion. But I also love my family and I have a responsibility to them. I have 2 young children. I can’t afford to take chances with my life!  
 

All that said I’m ready to go back. I feel safe now.  I will be back in my administrative capacity either way.  But still there are some basic safety guidelines they are still struggling to meet and not all teachers are vaccinated yet and many have health conditions.  I won’t begrudge them for requiring the district protect them by following the state guidelines for safely opening.