Spring Banter

[OceanStWx]

10 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Did you think there would be school systems that would still be closed a year later and showing zero inclination to reopen? 

 

1 minute ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

I never thought it would be a two week situation.  Didn't think a year either, but here we are.  Almost everyone wants to return to normal. Some are definately profiting off of this, but it sure as hell isn't me. 

We are almost there, despite many obstacles that have been placed in our way (both natural and man made).  If people had ignored this whole thing the cost in lives would have been greater that the 570,000 Americans we have already lost.

If you can argue against that I don't know what to say.

I'm not sure the extension of masking and school systems in remote status is anything particularly nefarious though. The outlook for the pandemic changed from the implementation of initial measures to where we are now. I expect things to change as the outlook does.

It's no different than a weather forecast. You don't ride your messaging into the ground just because that's what you initially went with on day 7. You adjust as more information becomes available. 

[PhineasC]

3 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

I never thought it would be a two week situation.  Didn't think a year either, but here we are.  Almost everyone wants to return to normal. Some are definately profiting off of this, but it sure as hell isn't me. 

We are almost there, despite many obstacles that have been placed in our way (both natural and man made).  If people had ignored this whole thing the cost in lives would have been greater that the 570,000 Americans we have already lost.

If you can argue against that I don't know what to say.

The thing is, half of America is already "there." We have been going to restaurants, flying on planes, delivering packages/food, staffing warehouses and stores, etc. since last March. It's kind of silly to pretend that was all just invisible background noise and now as the vaccinated people emerge it means something glorious and new. It just means you are rejoining society. Congrats.

[HoarfrostHubb]

13 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

Did you think there would be school systems that would still be closed a year later and showing zero inclination to reopen? 

Sorry... my internet just burped.

I really expected (as of March/April last year) that schools would more or less be open as usual in the fall of 2020...  I'm glad we got some of our students back in late fall, and then again later this winter. My wife's school has kids back in erson for the most part since early October.  The has a couple of weeks of full remote during the January peak, but mostly all of her kids are there.   

[PhineasC]

Just now, OceanStWx said:

 

I'm not sure the extension of masking and school systems in remote status is anything particularly nefarious though. The outlook for the pandemic changed from the implementation of initial measures to where we are now. I expect things to change as the outlook does.

It's no different than a weather forecast. You don't ride your messaging into the ground just because that's what you initially went with on day 7. You adjust as more information becomes available. 

What's happening in the schools is a travesty and many kids are falling incredibly far behind. There is no way to sugarcoat that. The "science" has said for some time the schools need to be open. Many districts have been open for a year now with no notable outbreaks. What has happened in the schools is LITERALLY the unions and school boards driving the forecast into the ground.

[HoarfrostHubb]

 

2 minutes ago, PhineasC said:

The thing is, half of America is already "there." We have been going to restaurants, flying on planes, delivering packages/food, staffing warehouses and stores, etc. since last March. It's kind of silly to pretend that was all just invisible background noise and now as the vaccinated people emerge it means something glorious and new. It just means you are rejoining society. Congrats.

The only thing I have not really been doing differenly is dining indoors in restaurants.  Not that I did much before anyway. I rarely fly. Wasn't planning to for last year or this year regardless of Covid. I wasn't too worried about air travel once I read up about it more.  I skied, went to the beach, hiked, etc. as usual.  Rented our local mom and pop theater out a few times.

[HoarfrostHubb]

Anyway, just saw a brilliant sunset.  Back to work

[OceanStWx]

Just now, PhineasC said:

What's happening in the schools is a travesty and many kids are falling incredibly far behind. There is no way to sugarcoat that. The "science" has said for some time the schools need to be open. Many districts have been open for a year now with no notable outbreaks. What has happened in the schools is LITERALLY the unions and school boards driving the forecast into the ground.

No doubt kids are falling behind because of this, but I'm also not sure how we classify notable outbreaks. Plenty of districts in Maine had to go remote because of transmission in school that included cases going from school to home and infecting other family members. My larger point though is that you sound like you are suggesting this was all intentional (forgive me if I'm reading it wrong). So I'm just wondering what the endgame is if there were some higher "they" that wanted to keep kids remote this year.

[PhineasC]

1 minute ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

 

The only thing I have not really been doing differenly is dining indoors in restaurants.  Not that I did much before anyway. I rarely fly. Wasn't planning to for last year or this year regardless of Covid. I wasn't too worried about air travel once I read up about it more.  I skied, went to the beach, hiked, etc. as usual.  Rented our local mom and pop theater out a few times.

There is basically nothing I want to do that I can't do now, so I agree with you. That's why I am puzzled that anyone would want vaccine passports. That is literally more restrictive than what we have now. It's going backwards for very little or no gain in "safety." If you are vaccinated, you have nothing to worry about from an unvaccinated person.

Texas and Florida have been open long enough now to see that there will not be an explosion in deaths and hospitalizations if mask mandates and other restrictions are lifted at the state-level. Time to pack it in for that narrative.

I find the continued talk of "double mutant variants" and "just wait two weeks for the bodies to stack up" from the media and even the CDC to be deeply unhelpful and irresponsible.

[PhineasC]

Just now, OceanStWx said:

No doubt kids are falling behind because of this, but I'm also not sure how we classify notable outbreaks. Plenty of districts in Maine had to go remote because of transmission in school that included cases going from school to home and infecting other family members. My larger point though is that you sound like you are suggesting this was all intentional (forgive me if I'm reading it wrong). So I'm just wondering what the endgame is if there were some higher "they" that wanted to keep kids remote this year.

I do think the drive to keep kids remote had a deeper motivation in some cases.

The idea of having kids at home glued to a screen all receiving the same exact curriculum beamed directly into their foreheads is basically a fantasy for academics and school administrators, as well as budget hawks. It means fewer teachers (eventually), fewer buildings, fewer negative incidents with students (fights, drug use, school shootings, etc.), more costs being borne by the parents (Internet, electricity, equipment, physical space), and a centralized curriculum that is totally neutral towards race, gender, ethnicity, ability, etc. Sounds great to a person with a Masters in Early Childhood Education who has zero experience with actual children or an accountant in the state government.

In many districts, even when the kids go back to "in person," it just means they sit at a desk for 8 hours glued to a laptop and monitored by an IT proctor while the teachers are still at home running the Zoom. This is how "in person" is working in districts in MD.

Looking ahead, I believe there will always be some cohort that will refuse to return in person. It could be they refuse to be vaccinated, or they feel it is still too unsafe. Either way, there will not be two teachers to accommodate the split class due to budget constraints, so the current status quo will simply continue, which is what some people want anyway (for the reasons I stated above).

I could be a crackpot on all of this, but it's a big part of why my wife and I decided to homeschool. The other big issue was the decline in academic standards, but that predates COVID and is a separate issue.

[powderfreak]

46 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Anyway, just saw a brilliant sunset.  Back to work

No sunset here but a great afternoon at the snow beach. Mild, full sun, soft snow and a fun posse.  It was a good day.

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

Colleges starting to come out saying students will need to be vaccinated to return in the fall.

[DavisStraight]

Have my appt May 6th for first dose.

[Typhoon Tip]

Biden’s trying to mandate all states open to vaxing all ages by Apr 16?

[weatherwiz]

6 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

Biden’s trying to mandate all states open to vaxing all ages by Apr 16?

16+

[Dan]

Got my first dose today.  Second on Apr 28th.

[Brian5671]

2 hours ago, PhineasC said:

LOL

People are literally already getting on planes and going into shops now without a vaccine, and have been doing so for over a year.

I flew out to CO to ski in Jan (no vaxx then) it was fine-I wore a mask and took whatever precautions I needed but felt like I had to get back to living at some point....

[Bostonseminole]

Getting my vax Friday!! Not sure which one.. one step closer from being able to emerge from my cocoon


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[PhineasC]

Just now, Bostonseminole said:

Getting my vax Friday!! Not sure which one.. one step closer from being able to emerge from my cocoon


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We are all waiting for you out here. You can do it!! We all believe in you.

[Typhoon Tip]

Can you choose the 1 or 2 

[Brian5671]

2 hours ago, DotRat_Wx said:

I can only imagine how many more would have died with everything 100% open. Simple science tells you more socializing = more ppl I'll. "did nothing but ruin lives" like what?? I was told by so many Republicans people are killing themselves over covid and mental health is worse than ever.... Suicide #'s for 2020 came out and they were lower than 2019 and 2018 by a substantial margin. People are speaking out of their azzes with zero scientific logic or knowledge. 

not necessarily-closures/lockdowns just encourage people to congregrate in private homes and spread it....CA had the strictest wintertime lockdowns yet had the highest rates in the country...go figure....

[Bostonseminole]

Can you choose the 1 or 2 

I heard you get what they have available that day. I want the 1 dose


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[Bostonseminole]

We are all waiting for you out here. You can do it!! We all believe in you.

Wifey is out spending money, she’s fully recovered and I guess immune now lol


.

[Typhoon Tip]

2 minutes ago, Bostonseminole said:

I heard you get what they have available that day. I want the 1 dose


.

Lol I know

its like sign me up to be poked as many times possible for one vaccine yayyy

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

55 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

Can you choose the 1 or 2 

When I booked for my wife and I at CVS... it told me during booking that we would be receiving the Moderna shot, so there were no surprises.

I guess if you can find somewhere that tells up front what will be given, then you could theoretically choose.

Mass is supposed to be getting 100k single dose Johnson and Johnson shots this week, so my guess is that one will start to become more available in the coming days.

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

58 minutes ago, Brian5671 said:

not necessarily-closures/lockdowns just encourage people to congregrate in private homes and spread it....CA had the strictest wintertime lockdowns yet had the highest rates in the country...go figure....

Yeah... I think an unfortunate outcome from what has transpired over the last 14 months is the hardest lockdowns and most strict guidelines didn’t have a tremendous positive affect at the end of the day.

I mean, mass has been 10x more strict than a place like Florida, and it’s not like we’ve been doing worlds better.

[Juliancolton]

1 minute ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

When I booked for my wife and I at CVS... it told me during booking that we would be receiving the Moderna shot, so there were no surprises.

I guess if you can find somewhere that tells up front what will be given, then you could theoretically choose.

Mass is supposed to be getting 100k single dose Johnson and Johnson shots this week, so my guess is that one will start to become more available in the coming days.

Yeah, scouting out clinics with your shot of choice seems to be the move, at least here where it seems we have a glut of all options. The county-run centers have been doing exclusively Pfizer and Moderna. Just as I was about to get on the list today (the first day I've been eligible), I got an email that town hall was hosting a pop-up J&J clinic for town residents in a couple weeks. That's my slight preference, so I opted for that route... one shot/appointment is definitely more convenient than two, and the viral vector vax is a little more comforting than the mRNA for my lizard brain instincts. They're all good though, probably no good overthinking it too much.

[CT Rain]

3 minutes ago, Juliancolton said:

Yeah, scouting out clinics with your shot of choice seems to be the move, at least here where it seems we have a glut of all options. The county-run centers have been doing exclusively Pfizer and Moderna. Just as I was about to get on the list today (the first day I've been eligible), I got an email that town hall was hosting a pop-up J&J clinic for town residents in a couple weeks. That's my slight preference, so I opted for that route... one shot/appointment is definitely more convenient than two, and the viral vector vax is a little more comforting than the mRNA for my lizard brain instincts. They're all good though, probably no good overthinking it too much.

A lot of those J&J clinics in the next couple weeks are going to be cancelled. Looks like the nation's supply of J&J is going to slow to a crawl after the debacle at Emergent in Baltimore. May be worth going for the mRNA one if you want to get it over with in a reasonable amount of time.

[Juliancolton]

1 minute ago, CT Rain said:

A lot of those J&J clinics in the next couple weeks are going to be cancelled. Looks like the nation's supply of J&J is going to slow to a crawl after the debacle at Emergent in Baltimore. May be worth going for the mRNA one if you want to get it over with in a reasonable amount of time.

Huh. For some reason I was under the impression that wasn't going to impact the short-term supply much. Definitely would just like to get it over with if it's going to be a drawn-out thing.

[CT Rain]

Just now, Juliancolton said:

Huh. For some reason I was under the impression that wasn't going to impact the short-term supply much. Definitely would just like to get it over with if it's going to be a drawn-out thing.

It didn't impact what is arriving today/this week... but the state of CT (for instance) is going from about 60k J&J doses this week to only 6k next week. So it is going to be a pretty sharp drop off for a couple weeks.

[fujiwara79]

i think the pandemic will eventually result in the education system improving and better serving a larger segment of their students.  do you guys think throwing 30 kids into a classroom and lecturing them all day was always the best way for kids to learn?  for some kids, sure.  but for many kids - absolutely not.  does anyone question why kids hate school?  too many people assume that's the best way to teach kids because "that's how we've always done it".  we've had the technology to adopt a more flexible model for teaching kids based upon the diverse needs of students, and yet it took a pandemic to force people to reimagine the old one-size-fits-all model.

but the boomers, doomers and gloomers will continue to lament that we're headed for societal ruin.