Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

Sorry you have to deal with that, soda. You too, LL. Over the decades, well, in recent years, I have developed some ability to talk about any similar issues I may deal with but don't feel the borad is the right place for me to do so, but don't mind if others do.

same here. my Mom has been pretty good but my stepdad isn't, he's going all over the place, seeing his family who I know (via FB) are still seeing friends, going to parks, etc....I mean I get that everyone has their own level of comfort with this, but it sucks because we're not cool with her seeing the kids unless its outside with a mask on and she's starting to get real antsy about it. and nobody in the neighborhood does that either

the mask thing is so frustrating right now, I think a lot of people would wear them but they don't wanna get dirty looks because they stand out, because nobody else is wearing them...its all so dumb

Signed up for a vaccine study that starts in a couple weeks (I think it's the Moderna one), they called and did the initial screening this morning. Not sure I'm an ideal candidate since I'm not working in a job with high exposure to COVID-19.

They go to the post office every day to check the mail,

What is this even

_They go to the post office every day to check the mail,_


What is this even

I've had a PO box for probably a dozen years, maybe more, but I only check it once or twice a week now, because the volume of mail I receive has decreased radically and because, for quarantine reasons, I've started having stuff I order sent to my apartment rather than the post office. I can't imagine two old folks needing to check their mail more often than me.

PO Box because it gives them something to do, and because somebody whomped their nice mailbox with a baseball bat in ‘86 and they are still sad about it

My bro and his girlfriend went out for outside ice cream last night and wore masks while waiting and a kid asked his mom, "Why are those people wearing masks?" and the dipshit mom said, "I don't know honey, it's not Halloween yet" and now I wish I had been there.

My mom has a PO box because PO boxes are the only way to get mail in her town, so that's a thing.

Teach
your parents well
Their children's hell will slowly go by

Yeah, it's definitely a thing. The town my mom lives in doesn't have door to door mail delivery, everyone in town has a PO Box and they go in every couple of days and pick up their mail.

We are supposed to meet my parents at their place outside this evening, and my dad mentioned that if it rains, we could meet inside...and I was like, 'we are not doing that, it's either outside or reschedule.' luckily, he didn't object.

My parents would be in their 90s now, and I'm glad they didn't become extreme elders, only to deal with / be vulnerable to this.

PO Box because it gives them something to do, and because somebody whomped their nice mailbox with a baseball bat in ‘86 and they are still sad about it

Sorry, soda, that you have to deal with these issues with your parents, but the above is cracking me up.

My wife and I are planning on visiting my parents in PA this weekend and are actually staying over. My wife and I have been extremely careful and my parents are nearly hermits, only going out for groceries every week or two and wearing masks when they do. I figure it is pretty safe. Am I being naive?

They also live in the middle of nowhere.

A lot of new suburbs here have cluster mailboxes somewhere in the subdivision and no delivery to houses except for signature required stuff.

Obviously minor irritants but I'm finding so many people in busy parts of town more than ever making no effort to cooperatively keep physical distance, either through gormlessness or aggressive deliberate ignorance. I guess this is the usual state of affairs but more inconvenient when you'd appreciate a tiny bit of mutual consideration. Can end up feeling very much surrounded by the stupid and selfish after a while nearly every time out and about. It passes but it's wearying. AITA for not playing along with pretending it's all back to normal?

I do think (not from you, by any means) there's a little bit of an over-corrective shaming going on with people doing minor, lower risk activities safely and distanced/masked (my friend who actually HAD COVID got rudely lectured by some asshole because she took a self photo without a mask on so he assumed she wasn't wearing it)....

but no, you ANTA for not playing along. we're not back to normal, and I'm wasting tons of money on SHIPT because I don't like the anxiety I get at the grocery store. No, I'm not likely to catch it while shopping, probably, but I don't want to be put in the position. and I get mad when I see no mask.

my most recent COVID test came back negative and I have no antibodies, so guess i've dodged it ok thus far. but yesterday was sad to me as I realized I hadn't even set foot outside, even to get the mail, and realized this wasn't the first day I could say that this week.

https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/07/woman-coughs-singer-clayton-gardner/

About fifteen minutes into the show, this random lady walked around all of my gear to sneak up behind me. She made a request for an artist and I asked her to please get away from me several times. She then proceeded to grab me by my bandana and cough on me.

— Clayton Gardner (@ClaytonGardner) July 19, 2020

video in link if yer curious. people are horrible.

What mainly prompted today's misanthropic episode is that I had almost the same thing happen again leaving the same shop I mentioned a few days ago. They have a strict customer limit, one way system and insist on hand sanitizer. They are making quite a song and dance about it all so I assume that means they want customers to be considerate. Which is good! But then the person on the door is again standing in the way of the exit while telling people wanting to get in that they have to wait until... someone leaves.

So I'm hovering while other people brush past and a woman absent mindedly backs a pram into me. When the person on the door finally turns and I get her attention she seems to act impatient and annoyed with me. I'm making an effort here lady, in large part out of consideration for your safety.

It blows my mind that sf is still allowing sidewalk dining on pedestrian-heavy streets and that people are participating. Praying for that Oxford vaccine because otherwise we're all catching this thing soon enough.

Thanks for the P.O.Boxplaining! Hadn't realised they were so widely used.

We are supposed to meet my parents at their place outside this evening, and my dad mentioned that if it rains, we could meet inside...and I was like, 'we are not doing that, it's either outside or reschedule.' luckily, he didn't object.

Yeah this is what I thought I had agreed with my parents 3 weeks ago but I guess they forgot when they just... came inside all the time.

Numbers are low over here, although could be lower. Ventured into the city to get my hair cut and it seemed pretty 'normal', big groups of people sitting at outside cafe tables, shopping with and without masks, but lots of shops/cafes closed as well.

It blows my mind that sf is still allowing sidewalk dining on pedestrian-heavy streets and that people are participating. Praying for that Oxford vaccine because otherwise we're all catching this thing soon enough.

Depends on the crowds. I've slowed down on outdoor dining since Florida went kablooey, but I've the advantage of outdoor dining in Florida in mid July: no one wants to sit outside, so I'd often have the terrace to myself.

Biked around this evening and found a pub under a railway arch with outside tables, and it was the chillest, best time. Tucked away in an extremely residential neighbourhood near Wansted Flats. The landlord took our details for track and trace, wiped our table and gave us a menu. A host of caterpillars on a nearby tree provoked an all-table discussion that led to lots of good-natured arguing, Googling and invective against the government. A+ would recommend.

ah sounds lovely! Pub over the road has added to the kids' outside play area and I'm tempted to take them over there...

xxxpost, i'm not opposed to outdoor dining in principle but the way these places are set up forces you to walk a gauntlet barely wide enough for two people to pass comfortably between two rows of tables (not spaced 6' apart) full of unmasked diners.

it's like that on Columbus Ave in SF for sure but if I'm just walking by I'm not too worried about that kind of momentary outdoor proximity. happy that these restaurants can find a way to stay open

So, in this thread's spirit of venting irrationally:

IMO, we should be under full shelter in place for the next month (and not that namby pamby shit we were under in the spring) but since the federal gov't hates its citizens the local gov't has no choice but to let businesses go on as (sort of) usual and any consumer who's deciding to dine at a sidewalk table on Valencia or Columbus is no better than those fucks marching around the Indiana State House protesting the mask mandate.

IMO, we should be under full shelter in place for the next month year (and not that namby pamby shit we were under in the sprin

Our K-8 school board suddenly shifted mid meeting tonight from hybrid learning to remote, joining our high school and, seemingly, most of the other public schools in the area. I'm honestly relieved. It's a burden for many, if not most, but I'd gladly take 6 more months of this over serious illness or worse. I'm hoping whatever resources (which must be significant) saved will go to helping those for whom school-at-home is most untenable.

Desantis is doubling down and insisting teachers want to return to work, despite a recent survey that suggests the opposite.

most parents want distance learning too.

Yeah, as I understand it it was the teachers here that swayed the board from hybrid to remote.

The parents in my town are mobilizing for us to teach “synchronously” online and remote, which means that we should teach into a camera and also a classroom of kids simultaneously.

The pedagogy is awful, the workflow is awful, the materials management is awful, the student experience is passive, and .... parents can achieve the goal of parking their kid in front of the computer and letting us essentially babysit.

A not insignificant concern is that students with disabilities will be forced to attend school to revive IEP services and out themselves before other parents or students who are attending from home and will DEFINITELY be talking about what they see in the classroom.

I am straight up terrified of my school reopening in the fall. We're still waiting on Cuomo to give the final say but every option is bad, whether it's the distance learning, partial roster rotations or complete reopening.

partner just informed that all music classes will be distance learning, even when student are on premises

Discovered last night that students received an email telling them they would have a choice of being in class, watching remotely synchronously or watching a video. (Same as soda describes above)
Not only did faculty not receive this email, afaict we are being given no choice but to teach in a mask to a camera with no real idea who is paying attention ever. How to teach language or writing this way?? Nightmare!! Also admin decided NOW the best time to switch to 8 week semesters (it’s summer all year round!) and that’s going to create even worse logistical issues. The shit show must go on!

is this a pre-recorded video, I assume? if so, good lord - hope nobody has any questions!

jeez LL that sounds like about the worst teaching environment possible

God doesn’t it?? My students thought it sounded awful too. If/when we are officially informed, I’m going to advocate for 100% online for myself/my courses with the important parts recorded, as I’ve been doing all summer.

Ostensibly the videos will be recorded while we are teaching in our masks to a room with masked students. So if you want to learn about how to improve your writing, watch this video of a woman in a mask trying to communicate to invisible people!

Oh yeah and the video is 3 hours long

2x a week

i should stop talking about this here
sorry

nah, get it out!

That sounds legitimately terrible, LL.

While I am an adjunct and only teach 2 courses max per semester at any given school, I'm glad the institution where I currently work has not pressured profs for synchronous courses, or in-person courses, or long, pre-recorded lectures. In fact, in the case of online classes, we've been told that the *max* amount of time our pre-recorded videos should take is ~10 minutes. Anything more and absorption goes down dramatically, according to studies.

I held open Zoom office hours as well as sign-up Zoom office hours this spring, and while it sucked, students who had questions were more likely to show up to them than to my office hours when I was holding them in person. Weird, I know, but working on the 9th floor of a confusing building on a large urban campus dissuades many from seeking out the guy who rambles at them about Foucault three days a week.