I think some states will have problems. Michigan has a very robust system with no opt out. If you get a vaccine, it is in the system. That got started under Governor Engler back in the 90's when vaccination rates got quite low, and many people had also lost or misplaced their vaccine cards. So the bulk of the students here will not have an issue. But out of state students may find themselves in a pickle if their state records are a mess or non-existent. It is something that every state should be working on now instead of waiting until August move-in, and then going, "Oops!"

I live in a similar universe. Actual things I have said to my qnon nephew over the phone, "I have not sprouted a vestigial tail, beamed up to the mother ship, experienced better cell phone reception, heard Bill Gates in my head, found the secret hideout of the lizard people, and much to my angst, not grown bigger boobs despite being given Moderna and being informed by your sister that this is a side effect of the vaccine." I am VERY disappointed about the boobs. Mine are sad, pathetic, and small. They look like two kid size tube socks with golf balls in each toe. I really could have used the boob job! So that conspiracy disappointment hit me right where it hurts! 😁

One more article about Washington State. I am very concerned for them. https://abcnews.go.com/US/washington-state-verge-4th-covid-19-wave-officials/story?id=77255377&cid=clicksource_4380645_1_heads_hero_live_hero_related

Nice to see you too. I am on hiatus laying in bed moaning from my 2nd shot so decided to come out from under my rock. I imagine I will be back under in w couple of days. Busy with elderly grandmothers, house hunting, grandsons, and vanlife.

https://www.wnem.com The vaccine county update states that residents can "schedule their vaccine appointment beheading" through the county health department! 😂 I know we are all tired of the pandemic,.but this is a bit extreme. I emailed the news website and asked if these will be public or private beheadings, and quoted the passage. Hopefully that will get someone editing pronto!

In case anyone wants to know what the health department did locally, they had everyone provide I.D. so no one would sneak in someone under 16. We have parents that would do that around here. Sigh. The confirmed birthdays, and the took our insurance card info. The state is billing insurance companies who are willing to pay, but it is otherwise free. Our insurance was willing to pay 100% not subject to deductible. I was grateful for that. They hold the clinics in a huge gymnasium not currently in use because the area schools are only having children exercise outside. It was very well run, and worked smoothly. But, it took a while to get to that point. My mother and mother in law got there vaccines back in Jan/Feb by calling their primary physicians whose offices arranged for them to get the shots at the little county hospital. The health department website was a mess, and many seniors did not know how to make online appointments. Some did not have internet. So in the beginning stages, it took a lot of work on the part of younger, tech advanced family or friends. Some seniors had no one to rely on and took to turning up in nursing home parking lots pleading for leftover doses. Bless the staff. If they had them, they shared them! Updates to the software system has helped a lot. Dh got his through a local pharmacy online registration system. It took some work. What I have told folks without computers or internet savvy is to call the pharmacies directly and simply demand someone help them register, and if they don't, call them over and over until they finally get sick of you and just do it. This has worked for a few folks, some were even told to just get in the car and go because they would have leftover doses at the end of the day.

Way back, on the very very old board. I had kids who were being home schooled, and ones that were to young. Eldest turns 30 in June, and youngest 21 next month. We are talking in the dark ages of online forums, and I was searching for English curriculum reviews and found WTM. I am back briefly now, but will be gone again soon. We have a lot of van camping coming up this summer, and I really do not have anything to offer here. I do enjoy my two grandsons very much, and may help with their homeschooling. However, I just don't want to get sucked into much social media. It has all become so bonkers. I did want to contribute to a few covid threads because some of you are trying to compile data. Very worthwhile endeavor!

Oh great. I already in late stage peri-menopausal weirdness. Just got my 2nd dose. May the "guess if the monthly fairy is visiting this month or not" games begin. Covid everything just sucks!

This isn't the initial story I read. The other is behind a paywall for local news, and my guess is you don't want to subscribe to that! https://www.kitsapsun.com It indicates a 19.1% rise in the last week. When Michigan did started to experience similar numbers, it was the precipice of a third wave. We have had some counties experiencing 30-33% positivity. Thankfully, it is beginning to drop.

I saw it on a local news site. Maybe that site is wrong! There have certainly been a lot of reporting errors this past year.

The UK variant is beginning to dominate here in Michigan. More young people are getting it, and two weeks ago the hospitals were totally overwhelmed. But, cases are beginning to drop, slowly. We have about 31.5% ish fully vaxed. If there had not been a pause on JnJ, several universities had scheduled mass vaccinations for last week. College students seem to be happy to get in line for shots. But we have a high rate of hesitancy in rural areas. I am worried because this third wave has been horrific, and now it looks like Washington State is going up badly again!

Also, Oakland University has mandated it for fall. U of MI Senate Assembly just passed support for such a mandate. It is given that Northern Michigan University and Lake Superior State will also. Both of those last schools are in the Upper Peninsula, and overwhelming the small, hospital system up there is NOT wise. My guess is that Michigan Tech may do that as well. From Michigan schools, this is all we have heard thus far.

I am an old time boardie who has chosen to lurk this year for the covid info. I felt like I should come out of hiding for this thread so NotaNumber can add my data to her compilation. I had my 2nd dose of Moderna yesterday. Unfortunately, I agreed to let a student nurse practice on my arm. Got a "scared to do it" slow push through the skin instead of a jab and a lot of painful jiggling of the needle due to shaking hands. Poor guy. He was practically in tears when he saw the blood and realized I was going to bruise pretty badly. The RN supervising was actually chatting with someone else, so not helpful. At any rate, I had sore arm and strong fatigue that resolved within 48 hrs with the first dose. I am not getting that lucky this time. My arm has a visible, hard knot, tingling and numbness when not on fire. Tylenol and anything else over the counter does not abate it at all. Ice helps, but only limited because the pain is so bad I can tolerate the ice pack against it for at most three or four minutes. I am currently running a fever of 103F and just woke up from a five hour nap. I am home alone so going six hours without something to drink has resulted in some dehydration. I have gone to refill my water bottle, which made me cold so my teeth are chattering, and am back in bed where I belong. Despite the hassle of being sick and in pain - totally normal for me, my body goes bananas over any vax - I am elated! We can breathe easy. Dh had JnJ and one would have thought he did not even get a shot. Typical for him. Middle son had JnJ at his grad school campus before the pause. Youngest and eldest sons have appointments next week on Friday for Pfizer. Youngest needed to wait until after his last final exam in case he does a repeat of me. Eldest boy had his master's thesis to submit this month and has secluded himself from the world until he submits it Tuesday. He has been a vaccine reactive, miserable person his whole life. Every single vaccine. Poor guy. Since we will be gone, he is going to grandma's house post vaccine. This is the boy that had a fever of 104.5 and tried sleeping for 18 hrs straight after his measles booster to move to campus as an undergraduate. He sleeps so deep, it is difficult to wake him, so grandma knows to wake him up frequently to force fluids. Both of the grandmas had Pfizer in Jan/Feb. Our daughter and son in law each have their first doses. So this just leaves our two young grandsons. But now we will be able to gather safely and enjoy time with them because we will all be protecting them with our vaxes. I cannot wait for our summer family camping trip! N is a real miniature fisherman and has lots of plans for being on the boat with his PapaM (Dh).

I am an old boardie from a long while back. This year I chose to lurk so I could read the pandemic threads because I knew there would be a lot of information here. My youngest is still in college and attends a university that chose to have a contest with several other universities to see whose student body, staff, and faculty could get the highest percentage of their population immunized to the flu. They considered it one more way of helping out their local communities, trying to prevent flu and covid simultaneously. Every college in the contest exceeded 75%, and two exceeded 80%. Students are camping at the bit to get vaccinated to covid so that campus life will be more normal next semester. His school also requires measles and meningitis vaxes in order to attend. So I think that with right minded administrations and student bodies, campus immunity is a real possibility.

Thank you everyone. Sorry its been a while since the last update. It doesn't look good. Her kidney function is very, very poor, BP hard to control. She was pretty lucid after her hearing aids were turned on, so we've been able to have good conversations with her. Yesterday late afternoon she fell asleep, and only awakened for a few minutes a couple of times since then. I guess that is good. She doesn't appear to be in distress. I think for her, as she has expressed before, she's had a great life, but all of her friends are passing away, and just last week, her sister in law died. Dh's dad, his two brothers, and now their wives as well. She still has a sister, but auntie's health is in very, very poor shape. MIL got to spend two weeks with her sis this summer, and her comment when we picked her up at the airport, was "This may be the last time we had together." I think maybe mentally, she is somewhat ready to let go. The fight doesn't seem to be there. I am trying to help DH process it all.

Wow, Dr. Hive. You guys have been awesome with so much timely advice. I just got an update, and am heading back to the hospital. My theater group had a performance this morning, and another this afternoon, so i was out of the loop for a long time. I did manage to briefly log in and look at 1 p.m., and then called dh. Thank you to the person who mentioned hearing aids. Dh didn't realize hers were turned off. Once he turned them on, she immediately perked up. The BP is still too high. She's had a lot of meds, so I'm very worried. Pain levels are okay. She isn't requesting much for meds which is very good given the opioid issues. Of course, she isn't moving around right now. I'm sure that if they stabilize her and she goes to rehab, she might have to move in ways that will cause a lot more pain. So we'll have to discuss that. I am taking her kindle to her so she can read, and play candy crush. Ottakee, I will ask them if they've tested for any infections, and mention bladder infection. She already has kidney issues so my guess is they are monitoring that closely, but she is a bit prone to bladder infections. Thank you all so much!

I am very upset. She's 83 and a wonderful grandma to my kids. She tripped over a rug that we've taken up time and time again because it was a hazard for her, and she kept getting out again. It's a rag rug she made years ago. Her knees are stiff so she shuffles her feet and would catch her toes on that rug. She has fallen due to that rug before. I don't know why elderly folks have to be so stubborn. She didn't do so well through the night. She has BP troubles, and kidney issues as well. The BP was hard to get down and keep down. It's more stable now. But she seems "off" to me, and the doctor isn't really very helpful. Dh has asked him what to expect, and they just rush around and shrug their shoulders. If you've had an elder with this injury, can you post here? What was recovery like? Pain management? Did they go to rehab before coming home? Were they able to walk? Should we worry about pneumonia? How much physical care did you need to provide and for how long? If they went to rehab, did you have to be there a lot, did they require lots of advocating or was it fairly straight forward? Thanks to all who respond. I think I'll be at the hospital the whole day, and will try to check back on my cell phone.

Raccoons here can be very destructive, and have rabies. We've had some cases of that in this county so everyone is quite wary. They definitely go after farmer's chickens, and so end up on the wrong end of a hunting gun often. We actually need the state to hire some hunters to thin them out. There are way too many because there aren't enough coyotes to hunt them. The rabies issue will get worse if the population isn't reduced. They also attack dogs and cats, sometimes small children, and the stuff they destroy.... They may look cute to people who don't normally deal with the buggers, but they are nasty and a menace. Dh had to shoot one that wouldn't stay off mil's front porch, and tried to attack her little King Charles Spaniel.

When I was first married, they insisted on referring to themselves as "mom and dad" and wanted me to call them that, but I had both of my parents so it was very uncomfortable because I would use their first names, and they would come back with "mom and dad". It wasn't a fun three years. But then we had our daughter, and the other grandkids referred to them as Granny and Grandpa Sandy (Sandy was a nickname) so I started using those terms all the time. Father in law has been gone for a number of years, but granny is still granny even though all the grandchildren are adults. She likes it. So happily, the problem did resolve.

Oh yikes. Clearly these people are totally unobservant! I think it's okay to simply cut them off and say, "I'm sorry. I have my day carefully planned, and won't get this yard work done if I take the time to chat. Have a nice day." Walk away. Refuse to engage. If they can't take a polite hint, that's not your problem.

I love lentil soup. Fell in love with it when we were in Egypt. I use red or orange lentils, and slow cook in my crockpot with chicken stock and finely diced carrots. I add garlic, tumeric, and cumin. Shredded chicken is a nice addition if you want meat. Dh and I like to have a big pot of vegetarian style and just eat on it all week. Dh is known to make himself a grilled cheese to dip in it. I also make a meatless chili. Canned tomatoes run through the blender to puree. Garlic, tons of cumin, only a mild amount of chili pepper, little bit of salt. I add one can of red kidney beans or if I've recently soaked and cooked kidneys, then some of those, plus two cans of pinto beans. I cook it on low for a couple of hours until it is nice and savory. My family likes to add a dollop of sour cream. I soak dry pintos with a little salt and lemon juice for 24 hours, covered. Then thoroughly rinse. I add more water, and cook until done, then drain, and add taco or enchilada sauce. I serve them over rice, and sometimes we add some ground beef to them when we add the sauce, sometimes without meat.

Agreeing with Ottakee, here they want paraprofessionals to work with special needs students for $12 an hour and want a minimum associates degree. Not really certain why they think they deserve that level of qualification for that price, but there is no accounting for the "thinking" of bureaucrats and administrators. Sub pay is worse. If I sub for the local district, I have to have 90 college credits, bachelor's preferred though at this point they are so desperate they'd take any warm body that hasn't committed a felony, arrive at 7:30 p.m., stay until 4 p,m, and if an elementary classrroom eat with the students, no potty breaks because there aren't any teacher's aides to stay with the kids. 8.5 hours of work very skilled labor for 80 a day. When I sub for high school math and science classes, same pay, and I'll have upwards of 150 students throughout the day, and am required to do the grading of anything handed in that day before I leave. If subbing for a zero hour AP class, I have to be there at 7 am no additional pay. They wonder why they can't get anyone to do it! Well seriously, Taco Bell is so desperate in the town west of here that they are offering $12 an hour. It's a lot less liability for me to make someone's fast food or cashier or whatever than it is to teach children. In our area, a 1 bedroom apartment that includes water and trash is $450 a month, usually electric heat so around $150 a month for that in the winter, and $50 minimum for internet which you simply have to have because most employers now publish schedules online and require internet access of their employees. Add to that a cell phone so said employer can get a hold of you, and you can call 911 when needed, and the minimum is $40 a month. The car is no less than $200 a month to insure because Michigan is very expensive, and that $200 a month usually doesn't even have collision on it, and only the lowest levels of PIP. Put gas in it, buy tires, and have regular oil changes, one is up to $100 a month for just that, and then one has to consider emergency savings for car repairs because we don't have any public transportation here. That's just shy of $1000 a month, and food hasn't been purchased yet, much less personal care items, any kind of clothing allowance, nor prescriptions or office calls. $15 an hour for 40 hrs per week, 52 weeks a year is after withholding $2076.00 a month. For a single person, if he or she doesn't eat, then one paycheck goes to the aforementioned stuff, and the other to health insurance, and a single young person could buy a policy on the marketplace for that. They couldn't, as a single person here, earn that much and still get medicaid. Obviously, said young person will choose to eat, have winter boots and coat, and try to keep the car maintained so he/she can keep a job which means not having health care access, using the ER if absolutely necessary, and then going bankrupt when the bill can't be paid. Try raising a family on that. The reality is that most of the jobs in the area don't pay $15 an hour, more like $10 an hour when not salaried with benefits. This means that no matter what there simply has to be two earners in the household, and if there are young children this is a major issue because childcare costs have to be added to the budget. We wonder why so many families eat mac n cheese, tostinos crappy frozen pizzas, tuna, and peanut butter sandwiches. Right here. That's the reason. It is my personal belief that the current economic model is not sustainable unless the nation is very content with huge swaths of mass poverty. I am very sad for small businesses. A lot of owners are really good people. But a business model based on extremely low wages in the face of cost of living is always going to struggle to employ people, and corporate welfare in the form of corporations paying low forcing their workers onto public assistance programs is not a recipe for economic success.

I am so relieved to hear from you. When I heard about the shooting, I can honestly say my first thought was of you and your family. I am so sorry Arctic! I know you feel the pain of your community very strongly. Many hugs.

And I agree with that. One should be cautious about throwing one's hat in the ring as expert leadership, making a names for oneself for doing it because one uses that celebrity status to influence others. That should not be a responsibility taken lightly. Most of the time, I think it is often taken VERY lightly. In the case of the Harris's, I think they are feeling this keenly at least taking into account the wording of Josh's apology.

Most laws about this are state or locality specific, and some areas do not put any responsibility on the part of the server while others put a lot of responsibility on them. I think it's somewhere down the middle. But young servers in particular without much life experience, in my opinion, should be given a lot of training, and should work with experienced servers to help learn the ropes of figuring assessing situations and responding appropriately. Management and owners should have very well written and thorough policies as well because that helps the servers know exactly what to do and when. I do believe that ultimately the responsibility to NOT drink too much is on the drinker. However, since it's a public safety issue, it cannot only be on the drinker and must include some reasonable restrictions and guidelines on the seller.