JCC Coronavirus Escape Pod (Vent/Emotional Support/Share/Homeschool Help!))

You should be @solojones but regrettably Kansas City thinks they can pray away COVID-19 therefore even if it winds up like the Dakotas and Utah are becoming (admitting they have to ration care) they still be in denial over the whole thing. Just shelter in place the best you can is my suggestion.

We are started hybrid learning ironically today just as they announced our region will suspend indoor dining therefore the feeling is schools will be joining that list shortly. If you cannot have indoor dining, then even hybrid learning seems like a reach. Still it was nice to have the kids back in the building as it finally like I worked at a high school again. Granted it was a high school in a bizarro world. It felt kinda a first day as the Freshmen in particular were clueless on where to go which made us all laugh. I kept it simple and did my lecture during the beginning of the class and then had the students on zoom going into breakout rooms to work on the in class assignment (which turned into their homework) while the kids in the room worked together on the same thing before we reconvened and had a class discussion I did by streaming the zoom kids online and having them simply watch me. We have like 4 monitors with a camera to do this all LOL! Worked well enough I think as the kids in the classroom said they could hear okay since they only interacted with the kids on zoom when we had our classroom discussion on the overhead at the end of class.

Crazy to think it's Halloween this week and the kids are just excited to no end for obvious reasons. We did a small drive thru trick or treat last Saturday via the park district and then are planning on taking them to a couple drive thru haunted houses later this week, at least the boys. Will see about my daughter. She is four and a half so most likely it will be too scary for her though lately she is watching all these Halloween things on Disney+ so who knows LOL! Everyone finally has their costumes which took forever plus we finally have a plan for Halloween. We are just staying in our neighborhood as everyone is putting out tables for kids to pick up the candy on and then a small group of us dads are following what a few of you said and putting a Easter Egg hunt like event at the large open area near the local park. Then our parents and my brother with his family (minus the oldest) is coming over for pizza and dessert. Left over candy this year will be insane especially typically we bring it to school and have it for the kids. Last few years we even donated some to the local senior home which I am going to call and see if they will do it again. Will have plenty of candy this year!

That and well I fully admit we are getting in hibernation mode here given everything. Boys golf is over with and right now, only my daughter is in a sport as she still goes to gymnastics once a week since it's a family owned gym where she is with the same three girls every week and the same coach. It is really well run as even us parents are sitting 10 feet apart and only the younger parents really stay in the building. Older ones typically drop off their kids and either wait in the car or as one mom said, it's my time to run errands. So she still gets her gymnastics in but the boys are right now completely sport less other then twice a week at school (which is going away I think soon). A group of dads and I are talking about if we can rent out the local church gym for an 60-90 minutes a week. See if they just let them play as it be the same small group every week. We already said no to basketball this winter and swimming is not a go either since we are not going back to the gym until at least spring but really summer (already talked to the executive director about paying a fee to keep my membership at a reduced rate so his staff can still get paid but I get a break since were not using it until most likely June or so). So we have to come with something and there is only so much they can do around the house.

But yes we are getting ready for hibernation. I upgraded my longue clothes as I told my wife, sorry we are not getting anywhere until next summer so might as well get comfy. We also thanks to Amazon Prime Days got a new TV for the bedroom as old one is now in the kids playroom (their bedrooms are for sleeping as we say therefore no TV's, no tablets, toys etc..only their beds, clothes and books) that we have set up for them. Originally it was going to my buddies little brother who FINALLY after five years of being homeless (you read that right) finally got the help he needed and is now back home with his brother and stepmom as they bought a house with a basement suite praying he finally come home which again he finally did. Not much has gone well in 2020. Matter of fact it's been a complete and utter horror show but one of the few good things is my buddies little brother finally got the help he needed (basically he is a schizophrenic) and therefore moved back with his dad and step mom. We were going to give him the TV but we all decided (a group of us who grew up with my buddy and his little brother) threw in $50 for a new TV for him (thanks Amazon!) so he can feel like he can have a fresh start. Plus it's way bigger and newer then old one LOL! Also got more workout equipment for at home, upgraded the WIFI knowing there is a good chance we could have at least four of us on Zoom at once come this winter etc. And if we indoor dining about to end were going to start ordering out twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays picking hopefully mom and pop places that we love. Got to keep them going if we can.

So that is where we are at. Just plugging along like everyone else. Trying not to worry too much about stuff out of our control but it's difficult. Really difficult. I know deep down that there is light at the end of the tunnel but as Harvey Dent said in "The Dark Knight", "the night is darkest before the dawn and I promise you the dawn is coming". Just going to be a really rough few months for many different reasons even with the holidays approaching which will do our best to make fun for the kids, those around us and well us to keep our spirits up. And I guess to end this on a lighthearted note, 2020 is turning out to have the most awkward conversions for me. Paraphrasing quite a bit here:

New dad in the neighborhood: "Boy the local elementary school is great though".
Me: "Yes it is" (has no idea my wife is the principal which btw is one of the main reasons we moved so my wife and kids were so close to the elementary school they can walk there plus yes they are now be attending the high school I work which I am not ready to even think about at all").
New dad: "Yes, it's just an outstanding school truly. Deserves all the praise it gets but I must admit, some of the staff? Wow some really good women".
Me: "Really?"
New dad: "Yes...we had a zoom call with the principal the other day. Holy cow guy!"
Me: "Really...the principal?" (me acting clueless)
New dad: "Oh yes! Super nice and very outstanding but it was honestly hard to concentrate when she talk as she was so good looking".
Me: "You don't say?"
New dad: "Yes and I saw her directing traffic the other day when I drop off the kids. So gorgeous even if with a mask on".
Me: "Interesting".
New dad: "Not that it matters but I wonder if she is married".
Me: "I really don't know. Don't really much about her at all professionally speaking". (he didn't caught on to the last part)
New dad: "Really? Your kids have been for two years now and don't know her".
Me: "Nope".
New dad" "Huh figured you would especially since you both are in education"
Me: "Nope. About the only thing I know about her is she has three kids".
New dad: "Three kids and she looks like that? I mean she is smoking hot!!!"
Me: "Yep"
New dad: "Now I am really impressed...she truly is a TOTAL MILF you need to check out ASAP.....*some silence*....Wait a minute. How do you know she has three kids...."
Me: *Gives him an eye*
New dad: "Oh bleep dude..I am sorry....truly sorry". (honestly turns BRIGHT RED!)
Me: "That is okay. I think she is hot as hell as well. Just remember the next time you check her out, who knocked her up and goes with home with her every night" *claps on his shoulder and winks as I walk away laughing*

So not in a month I had a mom tell me she needed to finish put on her makeup during a zoom call since her daughter told her I was extremely cute and she agreed, my best friend drunkenly admit he always had a bit of a crush on my wife (which I always knew, she is deep down his type even though he is afraid to admit it) and now new dad in the neighborhood is going around telling all the other dads they need to check out the MILF Elementary Principal aka my wife. 2020. What a bleeping year! LOL!!

 

I don't know, our Mayor has been great and will absolutely shut things down if needed. The Governor is a massive problem, but our mayor at least is good.

 

This is perhaps the occasion when the local, immediate area matters more than the wider ones. If you're in an area that takes it seriously that can be supportive.

 

Okay, Luke is back on ignore.

 

My 2nd grader went back this week. I'm not at all happy they decided to get any kids back in the buildings because even here cases are going up. It's inevitable unless we close the borders to our county or state that people are going to travel and bring it back and spreading it is Not high numbers yet, but a steady climb. To be clear if numbers were steady or continuing to decline I'd say that getting kids back little by little is the right thing to do. We have a whole new plan. Right now all special ed kids are back. On Nov 17 Pre K and K goes back. Dce 1 1st and 2nd grade. Jan 1 3rd-6th grade. Jan 26 7-12 goes back. Not everyone goes back and no one goes back everyday. Parents who "opt in" their kids will go two days a week in person. That way everyone can distance, but since the teachers are teaching to kids in the classroom and at home the kids in the building are still sitting at their desks watching the teacher on their laptops. Not sure what the point is. This is about the 5th plan presented since June so I am not putting much stock in it anyway

Meanwhile we are trick or treating tonight. Much like @Luke02 everyone will put tables with treats in their lawns. I made so many snack sized bags full of fun sized candy bars and tootsie rolls. I have a bag of unopened candy for back up and I am really afraid some older kids will swipe more than a baggie and we will run out. Not sure why, I also know the parents here are really good and watch their kids so hopefully all goes well. We have so many kids here I always worry we will run out of candy and we have come close some years. Hopefully all goes well. Just trick or treats here though, we are boring.

Also very frustrated with just about everyone I know. Saw so many women running in groups this AM on the trail. I know they are different MRTT (mom's run this town) chapters. Hopefully they are all in the same bubble. I wish I could have a Covid circle but I have two co-workers who disregard every safety aspect. I feel I can only risk being around my family and my best friend. That way if I get sick I only have to tell 4 people they could have it. I'd hate to have to call 20+ friends. I'd feel so guilty. My best friend is my neighbor and we walk outside every day. She doesn't come in the house or anything, but we don't wear masks and we talk walking next to each other. You just gotta have that one friend. I mean if this was 3 months we could do it, but it's been 7 months and there is no end in sight. I need contact with my one friend.

 

So my school/district is back in remote along with my wives school and our kids therefore we are all back home except my wife who has to go into the building since she is the principal. My wives/kids school just found out they will be in remote until the end of the year but my school has only extended it to December 6th. None of us (staff) including the principal thinks will be back in hybrid until next year sometime...if then. As staff it's volunteer basis only to be in the building so since I have kids + no sports/after school duties that are in person, I am staying at home for now since I got the kids. Plus there are teachers mostly in tech and science that prefer to be in the building since they need equipment that is really there in order to effectively teach therefore many of us who are not on that built feel like staying at home will be easier for them so there are less bodies in the building. I am a person who normally is always in the building due to sports/extra curricular activities so being outside the building for an extended time feels really odd especially I been in the building this entire time other then one day early on in the semester. So all of this feels strange. It does a few advantages like working in comfy clothes and getting to have the NFL Network/CNBC on in the background along with some music but still it just sucks. And I just feel awful that we just told a bunch of room moderators they are effectively out of work until the end of the year. They were hired to watch the rooms for teachers who were working remotely but obviously they are no longer needed. I saw a few of them on Friday and they were bummed but all knew it was coming for a few weeks plus they told me they can obviously sub which we still need therefore they were not too upset. One of them is a soccer mom (very nice lady) who is feeling in our someone in my department and said she is already been asked a bunch of times this month so really she is going to miss out a few days so while again it sucks she won't get as much work as a room moderator, she will most days in still. Again sucks but at least is something.

I was kind of hoping we make it to Thanksgiving before we went remote but the numbers are too insane plus the number of people who were needing to quarantine to exposure was getting huge. Besides the amount of kids who were doing hybrid drop dramatically within a matter of a few weeks. By end of last week we had less then 250 kids in the building (and I think Friday was less then 200) for hybrid learning. Perspective? Our school enrollment is just under 2700 therefore not even 10% of the current school roster was in the building. That played a factor in us going remote even though we won't admit to it. It was costing quite a bit of cheese to have the building in hybrid and the original thought was we have about 600-800 kids in the building at a time. But we never had more then 300 and by the end less then 200 were in the building therefore when not even 10% of the kids are in the building, the cost analysis says we should be in remote especially the students who most needed to be in the building (the ones who are struggling academically) were basically not. Again this all sucks but end of the day it just made too much sense from every standpoint to drop into remote learning.

So the priority @Runjedirun is to get the younger grades and SPED kids back into the building, at least that is what the plan is here. Will that happen here? I say not until the spring but if and when/we start heading back into the buildings, they are the priority and should be. So assuming your district follows suit (though Virginia can be really odd on their decisions) your youngest son should be the priority at least that is the thinking around these neck of the woods. All students obviously get a much better learning experience being in person but younger students along with those in SPED need it a lot more then say your typical 17 year old. So if they go to remote, they work like crazy to get your youngest back in the building though it sounds like he is doing good regardless. *fingers crossed*

Don't look now @solojones + @Juliet316 but the Toilet Paper Wars are about to heat up again:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/business/grocery-stores-toilet-paper-cleaning-wipes/index.html

It's still on Amazon though they are apparently limiting how much of it you can buy as well now. I must admit we are so stocked up on TP and paper towels (along with the other basics) it's almost redonkcilous as it looks like we are getting ready to hunker down for until next summer but in a way we are (I been stocking up on the basics since the summer buying extra every once in a while and throwing it in storage). I really do not see us being at school much for the rest of the school year and we really are staying home as much as possible. Our daughter is still going to gymnastics since her class is only two other kids and the coach always has a mask on while our boys are playing basketball twice a week at the local church with two other boys (who are apart of our COVID-19 circle of trust) but other then that? We are basically at home. We see our parents, my brother and his family along with a very small group of people. That is it. And we really have finish our Christmas shopping (thank you Amazon along with some other stores who deliver) therefore my wife really is not going to do her annual Black Friday other then check a few deals that morning plus any other post Thanksgiving shopping we normally do. Obviously we won't be taking them to see a movie nor will be going to see anything on a date night, we will not be going out to dinner around the holidays/any faculty Christmas parties (which can get a bit rowdy but fun), no family Christmas parties, etc. Just a lot of time at home. A lot of time at home. In a way my wife and I both think in a way it gets a chance to really focus on the most important of the holidays without the hustle and bustle. It be more about spending time as a family more then any other at being home making cookies, putting up decorations (I gave in and bought a few inflatable Christmas decorations), playing in the snow (assuming there is any), watching Christmas movies while having hot chocolate etc. But still it's going to suck.

And speaking of holidays we already had it planned it will just be our family + my brothers and our parents as they been our COVID-19 group this entire time. Everyone is at home except my wife (who is working basically in a empty building now and as a office to herself obviously) while my oldest nephew is currently in the midst of a two week quarantine and will get tested before leaving college this upcoming Friday and will stay there for the semester. Originally he wasn't supposed to be coming for the semester at Thanksgiving but his girlfriend (who goes to another school) is therefore soon as we heard that we knew he be coming home for the semester LOL! I guess a lot of kids are. One of my colleagues stepdaughters just came back home late last week from Michigan due to simply being bored and rather be home comfortably then being stuck in the dorms with nothing to do. I think a lot of kids will be coming home from college if they can at Thanksgiving and staying that way. Now of course if this was all planned it be real easy. Just have them quarantine for two weeks like my nephew is and then get tested before coming home but you know nobody is really planning since therefore a lot of them will bring it home with them accidentally. What a frickening disaster all of it!

I guess one of the few good things about is it not only are we spending way way more time together as a family but also my wife and I are getting QT we never ever again. Like she says we spent more time together the past six months then we have perhaps the past 2+ years. Maybe longer. That and well our bedroom door is locked more then normal though the boys are starting to ask why that is. The look on their face when they find out in hopefully a few years LOL!

 

That reminded me I'm almost out of TP and so I bought some more. Yikes I don't want this to become a thing again though with people stocking up too much...

 

It is in some parts:

https://www.kcra.com/article/will-w...per-shortage-due-recent-covid-surges/34677370

The good news (I guess) is the TP companies are ready this time plus the stores are already starting to throw limits on stuff so it should not be like the spring. I just check Amazon and they have assortment of stuff though Scott's @Juliet316 is still a bit hard to come by. I actually order my parents a big thing of it since that is what they use and that will last them until next spring if not longer (they go thru it quickly for only two people, my mom keeps saying it's because they are old LOL!). They are obviously not going to Florida this winter (my brother and I said we would tackle them at the gate) therefore they do need quite a bit since they will be at home until again well next summer. We use Scott's as well and again we are well stocked on it. Really well stock it but again I did my "binge buying" over the summer knowing this was very well likely going to happen plus 2 adults + 3 kids being at home pretty all day and night means will need a lot of it.

 

My 2nd grader went back 3 weeks ago. He will remain in school. There are 3 kids in his class and 2 teachers. Pre K and Kindergarten were going back tomorrow, that got called off at 1pm today. They will re evaluate on the 30th of Nov. I doubt they'll be going back anytime soon. My kid could be back to virtual any day now too. He'll be sad, but this whole year has been about staying safe and being sad. I have no clue why they had dates to send all the kids back during this period when numbers were predicted to go up, because up they went and plans out he window. So much time wasted making plans that never happen. Just teach virtual until it is safe and stop wasting your time. It's infuriating to try to keep up with plans. They change the plan here every few weeks. If I tried to tell you half of them your head would spin.

I'm really feeling the stress with Thanksgiving coming because 1 the virus. and two I don't want to spend it with people who don't hate Trump anyway. I've had it with my sister. She is married to a #1 Trump fan and is "in the middle" BS either you call him out or you support him. Aren't I a delight this evening?

 

I'm sorry about that @Runjedirun . I'm down in the pandemic dumps today too, as my husband and I decided not to have my nephew come stay with us for a four-day Thanksgiving weekend. He said he understood, but I could see how disappointed he was in our video call. In the last few months, my husband has developed some asthma-like symptoms and is still in the process of being tested for various things, so it just made it feel like he might be in an at-risk group. My nephew will be leaving the region in February, so not having a Thanksgiving visit means we've probably lost the only chance to see him for a while.

 

Cases rising at our school (probably between 15-20). No closure in sight. I have had 4 cases.

48% of our school is failing right now. About 1000 of those students are beyond recovery. That was last marking period. This marking period is worse. Many who are virtual just aren't doing anything at all.

That's outside the fact that technology has been a mess too. Schoology (or should I saw "foology") keeps crashing.

This has been an absolute disaster!

 

Wow @jedijax that's heartbreaking. I do wonder what # of kids in our county are struggling. All students K-12 were distributed laptops. My kids have done really well online. I know the curriculum is easier than normal and they are giving kids who crawl out of bed and sit in class in PJ's third and fourth chances to turn assignments in.

I think the majority of the nation is getting a half ass education this year. Except I guess those parents who can afford private tutoring or think in person private schools are safe.

Years from now there will be consequences. I know most teachers are working hard and doing wonderfully. My kids have been lucky so far and they are at least getting some education.

 

Like I've said, this isn't so much as the education is poor but rather that this is exposing what has been covered up for so long. The success rate of students has had a bandaged placed on it for so long. This system exposes the reality and truth to how things actually are in society. Those that are in honors level classes and want to go to college are hanging in there or excelling. Those that don't who we've had to struggle to get to work, are completely collapsing without repair.No more safety nets.

 

Got up in the middle of the night last night and could not go back to sleep. The reality of Thanksgiving and likely Christmas without my mom and sister hurts way more than I was expecting.

 

My brother was just notified that his unemployement, which ended a couple months ago, has been retroactively reactivated due to a new law passed in California. So happy.

 

That's great! Any idea for how long?

 

I think per the EDD's tweets it looks like for an additional 20 weeks.

 

That's excellent. Sounds one one state has its act together.

 

Of course my family will still complain about California's liberal government, lol.

I mean Newsome is terrible but overall the government being liberal is a good thing for its people.

 

That sucks. I hear ya.

My MIL was supposed to come up this Dec and stay w us for a few months. She lives alone in Miami, and it would have been great to have her w us for the winter. Give us a small break. Help watching the kiddo. Enjoy Xmas together. My wife hasn't really seen her family in over a year now.

But it looks like she's staying. Which makes total sense. She's in her late 60s, and has multiple health issues.

Of course that also hasn't stopped FL from not helping the situation. She just got a summons for jury duty on Dec 23. I'm like..who the **** has court 2 days before the holiday, and during an out of control pandemic that's killing 3K Americans a day. So even if she wanted to travel, she now has to show up in court, in a jury pool of dozens/hundreds of other people in a small indoor space for hours.

 

Since she has other medical issues can she get a note from her doctor and request that her jury duty be delayed? Friend of mine was supposed to serve in CT back in September but that got cancelled.

 

Yeah my coworker was supposed to serve in Missouri back in September and they wound up canceling it. My guess is they're pretty much just holding court for severe crimes and things that really need it.

 

Actually, it's a terribly run agency; might be the worst part of government out here.



A good S.F. Chronicle op-ed about it



Debit card nightmares among EDD's problems

 

Oh it's definitely a mess.... but you should see what Kansas' unemployment system has been like. It might be the worst part of CA's government, but it's still better than most midwestern governments (out here where everyone hates the government until they want something from it...)

 

Well that is easy @DarkGingerJedi just tell her not to show up and tell her if they ask just say she never got the notice. What they going to do? Throw grandma in jail for not showing up to one jury duty summons. I would say also she simply get a note from her physician saying it's too dangerous for her to do it but it's Florida and well they are insane.

That interesting @jedijax since we haven't had any problems *knock on wood* with Schoology this semester then the few problems they had on their end which was taken care of quickly. Last spring yes Schoology was a mess especially when we first started e-learning since many schools began using it for the first time. Again though we have not had any problems with Schoology so far this semester though we used it now I believe for 7 or more years at this point. Everyone is completely used to it and quite frankly it saved my paint a few weeks ago when our internal grading system crashed for over a week but I use Schoology as a backup for my grading therefore I was able to keep putting grades in like nothing happened and just update our other system when it came back online. Our students really begun to struggle attendance why when we bounced from remote to hybrid and back to remote in the matter of a few weeks. We did okay going from remote to hybrid but quite a few kids dropped off when we went back to remote. The number of students who were not showing up to class via skyrocket jumped way up. And now they are saying we are very likely to go back into hybrid next week to finish the semester. I really hope we don't since besides the cases being high, I also fear we are going to lose more kids somehow trying to flip back from remote to hybrid yet again. Just does not seem worthwhile for not even two weeks of school especially talk is will be in remote for pretty much all of January.

The kids @Runjedirun have simply check out mentally once we got to around a week before Thanksgiving break or so. Ever since then they just been MIA mentally especially since we do not have any finals this semester. That really help keep them engaged once we got back from Thanksgiving break and help both us staff and them have something to focus on. Yes it makes for the final week of school to be less exciting since it cannot be all fun and games with Christmas break coming but again it kept everyone focused. That focused is gone obviously as we are really running out the string at this point. That is why I set it up for the seniors to take the constitution test this week (today and tomorrow) so not only do we have some assemble of a final exam but also something to focus on. Plus their major project with includes a presentation is next week so that bought me some extra time to try and keep them engaged. But the last week of school? I got NOTHING planned. Just time to turn any missing assignments that I gave them extensions on , perhaps watch a movie and play a game the last day(s) of school. That is it. I am essentially taking a knee for the last week and a half of the semester. I only done that in AP classes before since I never saw the point of doing anything substantial once they took the AP exam. But still with that there was a final for that class which I would give a few days before their AP exam so they would not have to study twice plus I always try and grade them right away so they could use that as a sort of practice for the AP exam. This year? I got nothing once they complete their final projects/presentations which should be done by Wednesday. It's going to be so odd which makes since all of this odd.

Apparently the stores @solojones are doing a better job of getting TP and paper towels then they were back in the spring but the limit is still 1. We got loads at the house of both. Like I did a inventory count over Thanksgiving weekend break and we have enough to last us until at least mid-summer of next year, maybe even longer. We need it though since again were going nowhere these several months and I learned that kids use a lot of TP especially the younger ones and my daughter is not even five yet.