Such a sad time for people in the arts. It's a tough transition from college under the best of circumstances, especially for someone who was very connected socially at school.

How is he feeling about it playing out this way? It will be nice to get the financial savings if nothing else.

How is she handling the news?

So many unknowns. There was so much focus on this year's seniors and what they would miss, but I'm feeling worse about the kids heading for a 2021 graduation.

The apartment is a good idea. Will provide some continuity if things end up getting cancelled again and she will feel more adult being on her own.

That really is awesome! My first nursing job was part of a dedicated nurse internship and it is a great way to ease into the profession.

It's really hard to say. Not much precedent for this situation. If merit was tied to housing, I would guess there is an impact. When the school year was cut short this year, everyone at my daughter's school got the same amount of housing cost refunded without regard to merit.

FWIW, of the three people I have known personally who had Covid, two were in NYC (living right across from Central Park, actually; I visited them last August). One woman was in her early 30s, one woman in her late 50s. Mother and daughter, so they lived in the same apartment, and the mother was (is) an ER nurse. The other case was in Minnesota. Flu-like symptoms, and full recovery within 10-14 days without lingering effects.

Yeah, that article doesn't make sense. And written with a lot of drama. I imagine that her pre-existing interest in epidemiology played a part in the way she was interpreting events.

Honestly, if you are not handy and don't have a significant amount of cash to hire someone else to fix it, I would not do it. Your story sounds like us when we bought this house of similar size 19 years ago. Undoubtedly you will run into additional issues that need work. We thought we could learn how to do things, and it inevitably turned out that we would make expensive mistakes. I have spent almost 20 years regretting this house and feeling stuck in it.

If it is feasible to submit an optional portion of the application, I would submit it.

The high school here hasn't announced an official plan yet. They have floated the idea of a form of block scheduling so that there are fewer classes per day: two core classes meeting for a longer period of time per quarter, along with two electives meeting for one period. The online learning for high schoolers here did not involve meeting a certain number of days. There was just work assigned to be done by the student as it worked best. They did have issues with students not doing the work though.

This is a huge economic blow for Southeast Alaska

Do you feel confident that it is not hairpulling? One of mine struggled with trichotillomania around that age with small bald spots. Is it more generalized hair loss?

This is one of those situations where if you feel the risk is too high, you just don't participate. It's reasonable to contact the leaders and tell them the specific elements that bother you as that may be helpful to them in planning future events. It's not a scenario that would bother me at all.

If it was in a group, it will have the "seen by". A regular post should not have that. And not every group has their settings that way.

When my daughter got questions like that, I advised her to name a couple of colleges similar to the one asking. She is not under any obligation to give her whole list. 🙂

How exciting, and hoping it is a positive and educational experience for her. I think there is a lot of growth and development that can develop from the process.

I had to go to a medical appointment today in a clinic within a larger medical facility. Though I suppose our state is "conservative", the city/medical facility/staff are certainly not. There was a sign to "check in" when you walk through the door. There were three people sitting with computers at the area, immediately adjacent to each other. I waited, and was not acknowledged. After a minute, I asked, "Do I check in here?" They looked up, asked if I had an appointment and whether I had used the hand sanitizer, and pointed me toward the clinic. There were tables in front of the check in area for the clinic, so distancing from staff happening there. However, the staff was all sitting together, passing papers and such back and forth. No particular setup for distance in the waiting area, but it wasn't super busy either. Then I got called into a tiny room where I sat in the enclosed space immediately adjacent to a young man with a beard and loose mask to talk about insurance. Back in the exam room, they used a standard thermometer and actually auscultated the blood pressure, so a staff member had her face by mine for a prolonged time getting the reading with the stethoscope. The provider who saw me had a loose mask that was hanging below her nose most of the time. I do know they had a positive case at the facility just hours before, so it's not like they had no experience with the situation. Anyway, interesting. I'm not super worried. I could have walked out if I was. Again, not a remotely conservative population at this facility.

My Great Dane is normally with me, but, yes, daily. Yesterday a small black bear popped his head up about 10 feet from us 🙂

Our state is mostly open, though there have been a number of events cancelled. My daughter was out selling bracelets at an outdoor market yesterday, then we went to a friend's home to sit on the deck. Went to a baseball game the day before, where I noted that no one was masked. I talked to a local pediatrician who was there watching her son play, also unmasked. She described the struggle to keep the practice afloat during the crisis. They ultimately had to take federal money to be able to pay salaries, and she is not sure how much longer they can continue.

I hope it works out. One year post-grad is a good time for the students to get back together. Most are not overly tied down with adult responsibilities at that point.

Oh, that is SO disappointing! Would have been special to have the experience of walking at graduation. I hope for the best for all our graduates...hoping the jobs come! Glad she can stay with you in the meantime.

My daughter's school says they will do a May 2021 grad ceremony for the 2020 class. I don't know how many parents would go if it plays out that way; sounds like something that might be fun for the students though. Ah, those transitioning to the adult world tasks! Daughter got an insurance quote just today herself!

There definitely were upsides to the way it all played out. I liked the sharing with extended family aspect too.