stargazer016

Glad you have made it through the worst Glee and that the transition is moving along.

Aly, good to hear that you are finally feeling better.

Courage, it must be interesting working in such a big building virtually alone. Especially in NYC.

Maintain was what I thought I was doing while drinking, but of course, that was a lie. I too have the random "When I was drinking, I..." thoughts. Usually, they are self deprecating, as I was a mess.

I had a big week. My son finally got his drivers license after forcing him to take the test after two years. My daughter finally got her braces off after three and a half years. Lastly, I found a bat that I had swatted at 3:00 am Sunday morning in my living room. It managed to have its final moments under the heaviest piece of furniture.Normally, I try to trap them in a shoe box, but this one keep flying at my face, so I had to grab the heavy equipment , i.e. tennis racket.

Take care all!

courage2

gleefan

Dee - Prayers for you to stay sane and at peace while under lock down. Are you staying home to minimize exposure to the virus? Or due to health in general? Thinking of you either way. I truly enjoy how you manage to be here, there, everywhere on SR.

Aly - I have watched more TV series during this virus than ever. I even am watching movies! I enjoy it!

Courage - I don’t watch news a whole lot. It’s not a 100% boycott, some trickles in.

I can’t imagine how quiet it must be in your office. My job is very people-y. (Not as people-y as SG, but more people-y than my husband’s; he’s an accountant). Senior leadership forced us not to be selective in our hiring this year and I am dealing with the madness of having a staff who cannot engage in critical thinking and asks me for help c o n s t a n t l y. I’m glad to be in a separate location from them!

My kids will be in 9th and 11th grade. They are starting the school year a week late so the teachers can prepare/plan and learn the new safety protocols. Once school starts they are cohorting by the first half and second half of the alphabet. Mondays and Tuesdays the first half of the alphabet will attend school in person. The second half of the alphabet will attend virtually. Wednesdays are no classes. Teachers will be attending training and working on lesson plans. Thursday and Friday the second half of the alphabet attends in person and the first half learns virtually.

The first month of school is half days so the teachers and students can take a break to help adjust to the new safety protocols and mask wearing requirements.


SG - “ Usually you use a shoebox” makes me wonder if you have to fight with bats often?!? I hope not! Your daughter getting her braces off is awesome! My kids both completed their treatment as well, and have graduated to nighttime-only retainer wear. My older son is learning to drive, too. He passed his permit test and is now enrolled in drivers ed. We are not at the point where you are of taking the test, but it’s on the horizon. Good luck to your son. I hope the testing process goes smoothly.

I’ve spent the last couple of months intensively organizing the house - cleaning the junk drawers, emptying the spice rack of old stuff, clearing the garage, going through the bathroom closet, organizing under the sinks, weeding through my closet, organizing the basement storage spaces. I’m not sure if I’m the only person to be disorganized in so many spaces, but I’ve categorized everything. I even bought a label maker! I’ve gifted items on my town’s buy nothing and sharing Facebook groups. I’m no Marie Kondo (I totally save all the extra unaffiliated electronics cords, which she frowns upon) but it really is satisfying to organize.

Going through all that stuff forced me to be face to face with lots of memories and feelings. I had a choice. I could use a toxic old coping mechanism (not drinking) maybe getting worked up about seeing stuff from the past and letting my mind wander to bad memories, dwelling on what did or didn’t happen. Instead I acknowledged that it’s ok to have memories, accept that sometimes I was part of the problem, and kept puttering.

courage2

Dee, I didn't know you had rising cases.

Dee74

In one way its very small - our cases are about 30 and rising by 4 or 5 a day - nothing to what you guys face, but we had none for a long time, just to put it in perspective.

I'm in several at risk categories should I get the virus so I am trying to only go out for essential things, but I need to get out of the house sometimes too

D

IWLSAST

Hi Posters,

I enjoyed reading the, "when I drank" thoughts. When I was actively drinking nothing else mattered but another drink. I didn't know the overwhelming grip it had over me until I took the time to reflect. I simply couldn't live in the moment unless a drink was in my hand and my next one was secured. That's so crazy...I just wrote that NOTHING ELSE MATTERED and it wasn't a figure of speech. Not my wife at the time, my kids, my friends, my job...nothing. I only pacified them as I would seek out another buzz while diluting myself with thoughts that life was good. Once the spiral became pronounced, I took up the 'woe is me' facade for pleasure-seeking rationale. I am so grateful I see the craziness in all of that today.

Dee, I feel for you and your isolation. The covid isolation was the most difficult time I've had in recovery. Right or wrong, good or bad...I am out and about now - masked up and careful to social distance while staying obsessed about good hygene and hand sanitizer.
Glee, I read your posts and it seems to me that you do an amazing job at taking on whatever comes your way. Haha, seriously, a label maker???
SG...braces, DL and a bat-tennis. Makes me glad my life is so boring.
Ali, I am in the process of a spec upgrade myself, yet, I'm really not pondering my next novel. Shame on me...anyway, do you have a good binge series? The last good one I watched was DCI Banks...I think Prime? Best with your new Dr group.
Cour, I'm a simple man and to read that alcohol is impervious to weather simply blew me away.

Not much new here...heat, humidity, covid, rain, hurricanes just missing us, occasional hang with NE, gym and work. I do love working at the Y...it's feels like a calling.

Stay safe...catch y'all on the rebound!
Carlos

Alysheba

Courage, I love the bat and the tennis ball about SG's situation. I actually just re read SG's post and looked and yours again and got a good chuckle!
SG, you do have a lot going on. Best of luck. I always like seeing your posts!
Carlos, glad to hear from you.
Glee, I'm glad you're enjoying the TV! I think this pandemic probably has a lot of us watching more TV than we ever have! Love to see your posts too.
Dee, take good care. Glad you are staying in. You'll be safer.
I need to do some shopping tomorrow, so I'll have to get out and about, besides my short walk with Luke lately. With all the smoke and atmospheric gunk from the fires, they say to really limit your time outside because the air quality is so poorly. So, we are a bit limited right now.
Take good care all.
Love and peace!

stargazer016

Glee, I am excited to see how school pans out for your kids. Our district mulled your district's idea for a bit, and it made sense to me. The lack of ppe supplies made in person school inevitably unreasonable. I too have a basement full of memories. My spouse is not one to part with things. Heck, I still have a stroller that hasn't been used in a dozen years. I too realize that a lot of my memories are not pleasant ones, but they are what they are and I am living more fully in the here and there than ever before.

We are hiring somewhat like your company sounds like they are doing. Our process is now strictly phone interviews, so we are hiring blind. We are bringing new folks on as temporary workers, in case they are not a fit for the store. So far, it has actually worked out pretty well surprisingly. There are people that work for my store whom I have never seen their full face, being hired post Covid. One person yesterday caught me sneaking a drink of coffee in the office and said, " I had no idea you had a goatee." A lot of guys are letting facial hair grow in under their masks. It will be amusing if and when masks become passe.

I just heard a news story that Covid is causing neurological disorders in the brain. I try to not let it freak me out, as I have no choice but to work. I do hope a vaccine can be brought to market quickly so that everyone can enjoy a sense of normalcy at some point in the future once again.

Carlos, I am glad that you are enjoying your new routine. Are you enjoying your new beach condo?

Aly, I am sorry you are stuck inside all the time, being as you live in such a beautiful part of the country. I guess you don't need any more respiratory stress on top of your ongoing issues. Hang in there!

Funny, I could seriously live without a television at this point in my life. I used to half watch a lot of sports while drinking back in the day. I was never a big movie person, and if I want to binge a series like Game of Thrones, I have my computer. I'd rather be outside working in the yard or taking a nature stroll. With my family stuck at home, outside is my private space,lol.

Take care all!

Alysheba

Thank you for you kindness, SG. I'm glad you keep such a positive attitude through all this.
It is smokey and overcast again. We are getting spare the air days and rolling black outs. It is so beautiful and kind of a shame we can't be outdoors a little more. At least most people seem to be wearing masks around here. If not for Covid, you don't want to breathe all the smoke in either. This too shall pass!
Have a great day all!
Love and peace.

gleefan

Told you that you’d see more of me!

Carlos - I’m glad the Y feels so right.


Day 2 of having free time again, after working against the clock for too long, is awesome.

courage2

Enjoy your free time, glee!

sg, I'd heard that people were growing beards under their masks -- otherwise it's itchy? That's what I heard. I'll bet you look dashing.

Like you having employees you've never met f2f, I have classes full of students the same way. Turns out, so far, I *hate* teaching online. So many reasons. A student wrote after class that I helped her feel okay about the weird way of starting a new master's degree program. Maybe because I was honest about being freaked out by trying to use like 6 new technologies while teaching statistics to a bunch of strangers and being recorded?... ugh.

I can only imagine, how hard it must be to teach at the younger grade level when classes are largely or often online, via Zoom or something all day long, glitch after glitch after glitch. If you have kids in school, be thoughtful of their teachers.

stargazer016

Enjoy your second day of free time Glee!

Online teaching must be extremely stressful for teachers, as well as students. Our local school district is short on Chromebooks, which is what the online curriculum is based upon. The demand nationwide has outstripped the supply. Now there is a chunk of students beginning the year without access to lessons online. And I live in a generally middle class area. More urban districts are struggling even more.

Best wishes all!

courage2

Even when people have access to hardware, a lot of people have unstable internet (me included). Or there are 4 people in a small apartment all trying to learn or work and sit still and manage one another's space as well as their own.

There may be a whole cohort of 1st and 2nd graders whose learning is delayed in core areas, especially reading, and also basic normal social norms. What can any of us do?

stargazer016

The old days and the old ways are gone.

How we establish new educational routines will play a huge part in future child development. We are figuring it out on the fly, for better or worse.

Have a good day all!

courage2

I'd like to see mega pods: purpose-built, antiseptic mini-cities. Each pod holds ~300 kids and 30 grownups. Kids go in after rigorous testing at age 4, and don't come out for 16 years.

Waddya think?

biminiblue

Could we change that to in-at-age-one? Lock up all the toddlers? YES!

Sorry. Couldn't resist. The toddlers are who I am avoiding like the (no pun) plague right now. They are why I can't (won't) go to the zoo. Germy little buggers.

On the other end, let's let them out at age 14. I have no reason for saying 14 instead of 20 other than I am having mercy on those caretakers.

courage2

OK bim-- I agree on age 1 entry. Once it toddles, it's a disease vector.

Rather than let the kids out at 14, let the caretakers out. Adult-free & pubescent. Sounds messy.

Alysheba

Just popping in to say hi. I think I said everything on the other threads. If I think of anything new, I'll come by.
SG hope you are well too! So good to see Glee. Always good to see Cour too. Bim, hi!
Take good care and stay safe! ❤

courage2

A teenager overheard using the word "nondescript" in ordinary conversation -- warms my old cold heart a little.

FBL

Just a quick pop-in to say hello. Busy, busy, busy lately. I've been posting a bit in the overs, but not here. So grateful that I was able to locate my cousin this past week.