11-24-2020, 11:09 PM | #252 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Seven miles up
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It's so nice to see some old names drop by again.
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11-25-2020, 01:41 AM | #253 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Not hard in Class A/Private this year. The classification was cut to like 39 teams in the latest reclassification, then they moved the playoffs back UP to 32 teams, (4 from each of 8 regions), and THEN they removed the previous rule that required power rated wildcard qualifications for the #4 seed in any region that contained only 4 teams. Those regions by membership? 6, 3(one opted out), 4, 4,5,5,5, and 5. Class A/Private playoff teams include an 0-10, 1-6, and a 1-9. Only one team staying home managed to finish 4-6, most were also winless/1-win. The other one, Banks County? Final representative from a 4-team region (the 5th, Riverside Military, opted out of the season back in March 2020). Their only lifetime playoff victory in 63 seasons of football? Ironically enough it was via the only previous forfeit in state playoff history, back in 2017 when KIPP Charter barred themselves for disciplinary reasons.
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"I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis |
11-25-2020, 10:52 AM | #254 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Sep 2004
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School board confirm voted this week to go back to cohorts on the 30th. I'd love to remove every single person who did.
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12-03-2020, 11:09 PM | #255 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
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HEY! Schools need to open to keep the economy going.
Who should get vaccines first? Not teachers.
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Excuses are for wusses- Spencer Lee Punting is Winning- Tory Taylor The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! For Iowa FOFC 30 Dollar Challenge Champion-OOTP '15 |
12-04-2020, 09:20 AM | #256 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2005
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12-04-2020, 12:52 PM | #257 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Jul 2001
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I'm 100% in on teachers being high up on the list for the vaccine.
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12-04-2020, 07:42 PM | #258 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
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We lost 43 kids today. One girl tested positive and the dominoes fell. I lost 16 out of one class. But I was not exposed (wink, wink)
I guess being an essential worker gives me some grace.
__________________
Excuses are for wusses- Spencer Lee Punting is Winning- Tory Taylor The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! For Iowa FOFC 30 Dollar Challenge Champion-OOTP '15 |
12-04-2020, 08:01 PM | #259 |
College Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Out of Grad School Hell :)
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When we stopped in person school I had 133 kids in quarantine and 14 teachers.
This was about out of 900 in person kids and 73 certified staff. We went two days a week for about a month, then the super moved us to four days a week with all kids who chose in person. That lasted 3 days. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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12-08-2020, 06:27 PM | #260 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
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Well we have had 85 or so kids quarantined out of our 6th grade. 3 positive tests did the damage. We have about 200 6th graders.
Thanksgiving was a bad thing this year.
__________________
Excuses are for wusses- Spencer Lee Punting is Winning- Tory Taylor The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! For Iowa FOFC 30 Dollar Challenge Champion-OOTP '15 |
12-15-2020, 04:26 PM | #261 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Stray anecdote, one I'll have to paraphrase cause that's the best I can do
Will got an email from the university, basically stated that not a single confirmed case in the university had been connected to in-class contact. Every case for a student or faculty member they could trace came from an off-campus source. I don't assign any meaning to that, I just thought it was an interesting thing.
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12-15-2020, 05:00 PM | #262 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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I'm a bit skeptical of it but, I mean, I guess it's possible. I also think the university has a vested interest in finding anywhere else students could have possibly caught COVID, just as airlines would want to be able to blame somewhere else, just as restaurants would want to be able to find somewhere else, etc. Unless they're doing virus DNA "fingerprinting" (which they're not), there's no way to say that conclusively.
SI
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02-26-2021, 09:54 AM | #263 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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I don't know if this is sexist, mysoginistic, patriarchal or a combination of all three. After about a year of listening in on my son's classes, I am beginning to understand more and more why most teacher are women. Oh and we don't pay teachers nearly enough.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
02-26-2021, 11:39 AM | #264 |
College Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The Dirty
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Dekalb county finally announced they would phase back students starting March 9 for 2 days/week. Pretty solid with about 10-11 weeks left and Spring Break.
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02-26-2021, 06:44 PM | #265 |
College Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Out of Grad School Hell :)
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We are starting back 4 days a week on Monday. All of my staff had the chance to be vaccinated. I am totally onboard, glad it’s go time. I miss my students. Started planning an outdoor prom as well. I’ve got to give my senior class at least that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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“I don’t like the Cubs,” Joey Votto said. “And I’m not going to pat anybody with a Cubs uniform on the back." |
02-26-2021, 10:15 PM | #266 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
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Shoot, I have been in school the entire year. I have not missed a day. I should have been quarantined a couple times,, but our district is playing fast and loose.
We are seeing the positive rate go way down as it is in the country and state and county. This will be the first year in my career I have had perfect attendance if I make it the next 11 weeks. And to be honest, I have not even had a cold. The masks are amazing.
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Excuses are for wusses- Spencer Lee Punting is Winning- Tory Taylor The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! For Iowa FOFC 30 Dollar Challenge Champion-OOTP '15 |
03-03-2021, 09:26 AM | #267 | ||
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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Quote:
Quote:
The good news is that they're all back up and at 'em, so far no indication of lingering impacts. (The news story broke on their first day back, actually.)
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03-03-2021, 09:38 AM | #268 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA
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Quote:
Because rational media coverage doesn't generate ratings / clicks.
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03-03-2021, 09:40 AM | #269 |
Favored Bitch #1
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: homeless in NJ
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Common sense has left the building with so much of this stuff
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03-03-2021, 10:06 AM | #270 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Georgia
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I think one thing that people are missing with this rush to in person learning is that it does not solve all issues with education during the pandemic. I've been teaching a hybrid model in Fulton where I have some students in person and some at home. Because of COVID protocols, I can't do group classes, station rotations, close one on one support, and many other things that truly make in person learning better than virtual learning. Kids are essentially doing virtual learning from their desks instead of from home. Now it is slightly better, because I can at least see them and call them out for not paying attention, but I am still severely limited in what I can do within the classroom.
There's no doubt that children are struggling academically this year and that effect will be seen for a long, long time. But just throwing kids back in to the classroom without considering other factors that are hurting them is a shortsighted way to fix these issues. We need to move as quickly as we can to get all teachers and all students vaccinated. Only then will education truly return to normal.
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03-10-2021, 10:58 AM | #271 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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How is it possible that schools are giving out worse sex education than they did when I was a child?
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
05-26-2021, 09:28 AM | #272 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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Listening in on a year and a quarter of middle school classrooms has been on one of the most educational experiences I have ever been a part of. Previously, I got to listen to different perspectives of the classroom experience individually outside of a classroom. To hear how students and teachers interacted with one another has been fascinating. This is especially the case this last semester as the majority of the students were in the classroom. On one hand I wish all of you could experience it but on the other hand, I never want anyone to be put in the position where it is required.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
05-26-2021, 09:50 AM | #273 |
This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: In Absentia
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We've been in at least hybrid, and the past 3 months every day, for most of the school year. Early on last fall we did all online, but we quickly moved to hybrid until Thanksgiving and then it was just easier with the spike in cases and weather to go virtual until January. Since then we did about a month of hybrid before transitioning at the end of January to everyday in-person class.
Anyway, despite being back in class for most or all of the spring, my 11th grader never has homework, tests, or finals. She says they are basically self-taught during classes with help from the teachers. She's got all A's, so this is not a kid who's telling us one thing but her grades prove another. She's also played both basketball and softball non-stop for the past 6 months, so if she had stuff to do outside of class, we'd know it because she has had very little down time. I don't know how this is possible or what these kids are learning. It seems as though, at least here, the teachers got comfortable with virtual teaching and are basically doing a "best of both worlds" approach to not doing much of anything now that they are back in the classroom.
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M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete." |
05-26-2021, 10:45 AM | #274 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Georgia
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I don't know how they can have no tests, finals, or homework. If so, where are the A's coming from?
We were hybrid here, which I think was the worst of all systems. Because I had to give the same lessons to both online and in person students (not to mention COVID protocols), it really limited what we can do as teachers. No group assessments. No walking the aisles to watch the students work. No station activities where kids move about the room. The kids in person were basically doing virtual school from their computers. The amount of work I did was indistinguishable from when we were virtual. I still had the same number of lessons to create, the same number of tests and assignments to grade, etc. The one thing our county did was not allow us to give kids a 0 for missing assignments. And no kid was given a failing grade. If they had lower than a 70 or didn't complete 80% of summative assessments, they were given an incomplete instead, with the option of summer school or some online system to recover the grade. I can't speak for teachers elsewhere, but I can tell you that this was not a "comfortable" year by any means. Not for me or the more veteran teachers.
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05-26-2021, 10:56 AM | #275 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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My son has had tests in all of his subjects throughout the year. I don't know about in Kentucky but in Florida, the Education Commissioner said that finals would not be required. Locally that meant that semester exams were only taken if students needed it to pass the semester i.e. the student failed either the third or fourth nine weeks. The standardized state assessment was also optional and not something that was required. We decided he would take the assessment though. My son has general test anxiety so it was a good opportunity to have him go through the experience without as much of the stress that usually surrounds it. Because so many students/parents decided not to do it and because we had a massive COVID outbreak when they were supposed to do the testing, he was actually able to do the testing for all his subjects in a one on one environment over one week.
I can only speak on our situation but I have zero complaints with how my son's teachers have handled the year. He does not have homework per se because schools have generally move away from assigning homework in general for what I have seen. He may have classwork that he needs to finish if he did not do it in class or weekly work that he is allowed time to do in class but also need to work on at home as well. Rarely does he get homework in the way my oldest used to. That being said, he has had to do research projects, book reports, and other things that I would associate with a seventh grade school year. I think the key has been that the students have been in an "online" environment whether they have been in the classroom or at home. I say all of this knowing that I am privileged enough to be on my son's neck if he is not keeping up with the class.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
05-26-2021, 11:02 AM | #276 |
This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: In Absentia
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I believe they are doing all homework and testing in the classroom. Some, open book. It's like they're still virtual but not.
My daughter has had a weird high school experience as far as finals go. She'll be a senior next year and has only had finals in 1 semester. Twice she had a concussion and was not required to take finals, then Covid year.
__________________
M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete." |
05-26-2021, 12:45 PM | #277 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Georgia
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We didn't have finals for my 9th grade Gov kids, but that had nothing to do with COVID. For World History, we had a regular unit test on the final exam day.
As for homework in the classroom, that's what I try to do and again it has little to do with COVID. I usually lectured or taught for half the period, then gave them something to work on the other half. They only had homework if they didn't finish it in class.
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05-26-2021, 01:16 PM | #278 |
This guy has posted so much, his fingers are about to fall off.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: In Absentia
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My older daughter graduated from the same high school in 2017 and she had homework nearly every night. I just find it odd.
__________________
M's pitcher Miguel Batista: "Now, I feel like I've had everything. I've talked pitching with Sandy Koufax, had Kenny G play for me. Maybe if I could have an interview with God, then I'd be served. I'd be complete." |
05-26-2021, 03:14 PM | #279 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Pacific
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We made it. A full year of in-person. Had our bumps in the road, but nothing too bad.
Our district is now at green status, which means no masks indoors if 6 feet apart and no masks outside. It was a rough year but the kids were amazing.
__________________
Excuses are for wusses- Spencer Lee Punting is Winning- Tory Taylor The word is Fight! Fight! Fight! For Iowa FOFC 30 Dollar Challenge Champion-OOTP '15 |
07-31-2021, 11:35 PM | #280 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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So... how's everyone feeling about the upcoming year?
We're talking through some really tough decisions this past week. The delta variant has caused some of the math to change for us and Texas is basically preventing mask mandates and virtual school while the vaccine won't be ready until late September, at the earliest. SI
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08-03-2021, 04:55 AM | #281 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Land O Lakes FL
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Quote:
My son will be going back to brick and mortar. He has been fully vaccinated and has been wearing a mask for the last month or so while he was playing baseball so wearing on in the air conditioned classroom should be a breeze.
__________________
"The blind soldier fought for me in this war. The least I can do now is fight for him. I have eyes. He hasn’t. I have a voice on the radio, he hasn’t. I was born a white man. And until a colored man is a full citizen, like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it. Until somebody beats me and blinds me, I am in his debt."- Orson Welles August 11, 1946 |
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08-03-2021, 12:17 PM | #282 | |
Pro Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: heaven
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Quote:
I think Breeze will be the judge of that.
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08-03-2021, 01:43 PM | #283 |
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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My daughters' school sent out a communication earlier in the summer, shortly after NC dropped nearly all restrictions, that essentially said that the plan "for now" is that masks will be optional, but it was loaded with disclaimers about possible changes due to the policy due to conditions, surges, variants, etc. We don't start until August 25th, so I'm curious to see what may transpire by then. My guess is that unless the state changes its guidance significantly, the earlier missive will guide how the school year begins.
My wife and I noted that the letter didn't specify exactly what "optional" meant--parents' or students' option. I tend to doubt that they're planning to try to enforce the wishes of each individual parent for their child. So, yeah, unless I'm missing something, probably few/no masks unless things get a good bit worse statewide or we have an in-school outbreak.
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The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'! |
08-03-2021, 02:01 PM | #284 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Newburgh, NY
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My college decided today that we'll have a vaccine mandate for students. I'm not at all sure why it doesn't extend to faculty and staff.
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To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.. - Mr. Rogers |
08-03-2021, 02:02 PM | #285 |
College Starter
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Roseville, CA
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We decided to do homeschooling another year. The kids did well with it last year and with the public schools appearing to be headed towards another year of uncertainty, being remote is the best option for us.
I listened in to one of the school board meetings about mask mandates and it's as crazy as ever. Schools are in a tough spot. Do you not follow the county/state/federal guidelines and risk losing funding? Do you follow the guidelines and piss off parents? If kids get gravely ill from COVID and it can be tracked to the school, are the schools liable ? I don't envy having to make those decisions. |
08-03-2021, 02:03 PM | #286 |
Resident Alien
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Huh. It does extend to all faculty, staff, and students at the university where I work.
Last edited by Kodos : 08-03-2021 at 02:04 PM. |
08-04-2021, 12:47 PM | #287 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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Quote:
Just a month ago, we were all getting our son ready for school with the plan of sending him masked and basically holding our breath until he could get his shots, which will probably be in late September and late October. My wife and I had a long, hard conversation this weekend. Our rates are going through the roof here. Five weeks ago, we were averaging 133 new cases per day in Houston. Last week, we averaged 2200(!). Weekly test positivity rate has gone from 2.4% to 11.5%(!!) in those same few weeks. We're back to early February numbers and racing to winter peak numbers. ICUs have had to open up expanded capacity in the med center - we still have room, but it feels like we're just now starting this wave. And pediatric hospitals are getting crushed right now with COVID and also RSV. Abbott seems hellbent on his stupid death race with DeSantis. His current executive order explicitly forbade mask mandates for school districts so even if our district wanted a mask mandate for kids, it couldn't. Austin might try to challenge it in court. But I haven't heard any noise about Houston or any of the surrounding districts doing it. Also, they played some political chicken to make sure no funding was approved for virtual schooling so unless you had it prior to 2020, you can't do it. Instead, we're probably going to be stuck homeschooling again. We'd much rather he be in school. But we just can't, in good conscience, put him there in this state under these conditions. I'm sure we'll all get COVID this winter at some point but I want it to be after he's had his vaccine and after this current wave has had a chance to burn out a bit. But, for now, assuming things keep going at the current rate and the politics remain as they are, I think we're going to keep him at home another 3 months until he can be vaccinated. SI
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Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 08-04-2021 at 12:49 PM. |
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08-05-2021, 08:08 AM | #288 | |
College Starter
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The Dirty
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Quote:
Well, the explanation we got was that students co-habitate and tend to aggregate in larger groups much more than faculty/staff. That being said, mine just mandated vaccines for all staff/faculty (I think we were close to 90% of faculty..staff, not so much).
__________________
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08-05-2021, 08:29 AM | #289 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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Our local board voted 9-0 to mandate masks.
It still seems kind of crazy that we are sending <12 out into the world. But, with a sane governor and sane school board and sane principal at the school, I am reluctantly taking our chances. |
08-05-2021, 08:30 AM | #290 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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dola:
Their leisurely approach to approving for < 12 made a lot more sense pre-Delta and when we thought eligible adults were going to get vaccinated. Now that Delta is here and people aren't budging on getting shots I wish they'd speed up the < 12 approval. The facts have changed, and I don't see why that didn't change the risk/reward calculus. |
08-05-2021, 08:41 AM | #291 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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Quote:
What I wouldn't give to live in that sort of world right now. But, lolTexas SI
__________________
Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" |
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08-05-2021, 08:47 AM | #292 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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08-05-2021, 09:11 AM | #293 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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There's a lot of things I like about Houston - in no particular order: low(-ish) housing costs, the diversity and all the great stuff that comes with it (good people and food and culture), the complete lack of winter (freakish ice storms aside), my parents living here (for visits and for childcare), and a good job However, we have given a lot of thought to moving as our state leaders have been actively trying to kill us this past year between profiting off the power grid during an ice storm that killed 200(!!)* people to basically allowing open carry everywhere to the masking fuckery because they need to score political points. At some point, you kindof take it personal and just go "I'm living in a horrible place" and look at moving. So we've started looking around, even with the job upheaval it would mean. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of places that don't have some level of insane leadership - that said, there are a lot of places less crazy than here (sorry, Florida folks - you're one of the few places demonstrably worse). *I mean, Christ - I've lived in places that get much worse winter storms. I've lived through ice storms in KC and Indy both that dropped a couple of inches of ice on the city over 48 hours. The most that typically die in these bad storms is about 10 people. And this isn't an infrastructure thing, really. It's not like 190 of those people died from some freakish icy road accident because our city was rightly built for flooding and not ice. Sure, the storm was nature but the disaster was manmade. When you're in those nasty winter storms, you're playing transformer roulette, hoping yours isn't the one that gets taken out. But if that happens, it's just your small area that's down. This was not that. This was widespread blackouts across an entire city where people just froze because of abject stupidity and greed. The physical infra was fine but there was no power because of the goddamned stupid idea of having an "independent" power grid and because it's not weatherized to even minimal standard. And that's because it's totally market-based and not regulated in the least - and that's the way they want it. Make money for the investors, screw the people, and kill them in the process. The next time we have some abnormal heat, it will be the same way. Hell, they had rolling blackouts in the state when it was 80 this spring. 80-fucking-degrees. What the hell?!? How do you not have excess capacity for that, even when they were doing some spring repairs?
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Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 08-05-2021 at 10:50 AM. |
08-05-2021, 09:19 AM | #294 | |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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Quote:
I am sure that the folks who actually live there would have some better insight, but Virginia and Maryland strike me as places with sane government (that is not likely to change), decent weather, and good economies. You aren't going to get the diversity you get in Houston. But there's a lot of other good trade offs. I love it in NC, but our legislature is gerrymandered permanent GOP, so we are always one governor away from joining the Florida/Texas race to the crazy bottom. (We really lucked out this year. I think that the GOP assumed that the state was going blue, so they didn't bother recruiting a decent gubernatorial candidate to run against the Dem. Turns out that we went for Trump and re-elected our GOP senator. Had the GOP bothered to recruit a good candidate, he probably would have won.) Last edited by albionmoonlight : 08-05-2021 at 09:22 AM. |
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08-05-2021, 10:49 AM | #295 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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We lived in Richmond for a couple of years and there was a lot to like. Near perfect weather with four actual seasons (who knew spring and fall could actually be something other than diet summer/winter?). There was a ton to do with lots of local history and DC is an amazing city to visit and only 2 hours up the road. Housing was a little higher than we were used to, coming from the Midwest, but not insane (tho haven't looked lately). There really was a ton to like.
The people were a bit more difficult for us - it's perfunctorily nice with elaborate customs to fit in but underneath, people seemed very suspicious and guarded - it was like this mix of the bad parts of the south and northeast rolled into one. Like, you don't need to shield your kid from me and avert your eyes when I ask if that bread you're grabbing is any good - I was literally just asking about the bread and not threatening your family. Or am I a threat because I did not doff my hat in the prescribed manner going back to my forefathers and give the proper greeting when I entered the aisle so I am clearly an outsider? Yes, it's a little bit of an exaggeration but not much - I do regularly remember having those sort of exchanges that are so commonplace in the Midwest (plains and rust belt), Texas (which is kindof like the Midwest meets South culturally), and Mountain West - and they were clearly against the local culture to a point where it was difficult to meet people. That said, actively not trying to kill us is a big plus so if we got a job offer to move back there -I think we'd do it. It was just a difficult fit culturally. I really liked Indy, though Indiana has taken a hard right turn since we left. We were there when Mitch Daniels was the GOP governor with eyes on the White House so he tacked towards the middle... then he was succeeded by Pence and we all know how he is. Hell, my last vote before we moved was for Dick Luger in the GOP primary (a fiscally conservative, pro-life, anti-LBGT, warhawk who believed in climate change, gun control, and liberal immigration policy - sounds like a unicorn just 10 years later). However, Indy had the other real problem for us - weather. I just can't do that long of winter - Kansas City is about the dividing line for me going north. I'm a Texas kid at heart and like summer but, even moreso, hate winter. Like I love a little dusting of snow. But I don't think I can live anywhere where winter stretches into March or April with no sign of abating - it would take a mental toll. I want to be outside (I don't care if it's 95 - I can be outside, but I can't do it when it's 12 for long periods of time). I don't want to go months on end without feeling warm in my bones. Kansas would have a handful of days in February in the 60s or even 70s and you could tell Spring was around the corner even if it dropped down to 30 the next day. Indy - that was bleak stuff. One of the years, the highest temp in February was 40: Indianapolis, IN Weather Calendar | Weather Underground. 40 goddamned degrees for the highest temp in February? You know what that does to a person? So if you draw a line from, say, Kansas, and go south - you're either in the deep red Deep South, one of the crazy governed Sun Belt states (Florida, Texas, Arizona), cost prohibitive (Cali), the Mountain West (New Mexico is good but no large cities so economy is tough; Colorado seems to check a lot of boxes), or the Mid-Atlantic (NC/VA/MD) with its interesting cultural fit from above but still higher than most other places on the list. That said, maybe I'll just need to adjust my mindset with those other two issues (weather and people) because actively killing by intentional political neglect is worse. I'm still just having a hard time wrapping my head around it as I'm used to the usual benign neglect here and just rolling with it. But this feels different and I'm having some real cognitive dissonance with it. SI
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Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 08-05-2021 at 11:43 AM. |
08-05-2021, 02:29 PM | #296 |
Resident Alien
Join Date: Jun 2001
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We just got a message from my university. At this point, 85% of staff, 82% of faculty, and 85% of students are fully vaccinated. Sounds like like there will be progressive disciplinary measures, up to being put on unpaid leave and beyond (which I assume means getting fired).
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08-05-2021, 07:42 PM | #297 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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This has gone beyond FREE-DUMBS and just become a parody of itself.
Kids are gonna die b/c of it. And all these jackholes will get re-elected because Biden will say "Serbia" when he means "Slovenia" and everyone will make a bunch of dementia jokes. Hard to stay optimistic sometimes.
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08-05-2021, 08:19 PM | #298 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Back in Houston!
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The dementia jokes are just window dressing, it'll just be that he's a Democrat. That's all that will matter.
SI
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Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" |
08-05-2021, 09:06 PM | #299 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PDX
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Schools not having to inform parents of a positive case seems insane.
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Last edited by thesloppy : Today at 05:35 PM. |
08-05-2021, 09:22 PM | #300 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Seven miles up
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Those grandparents gotta die sometime.
{the Texas ones who won't vaccinate anyway}
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He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam |
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