Yes, certainly there was a good bit of uncertainty at the time. I suspect the memories of some may have softened with time? Certainly if one was infected back then the consequences were severe without exception. It will be interesting to see how people remember this era once they are more comfortable with the idea of this virus.

Really? I’m thinking you must be a younger person? There were legitimate fears for many, if not most, of us concerning HIV in the 80s-90s. Sexual activity, the blood supply, blood and body fluid exposure (especially for those of us in health care), newborns getting it from their mothers. It ravaged some parts of Africa.The photos of dying people were everywhere in the media. I’m not an anxious person at all, but the potential consequences of an HIV infection for people in all age and health categories were extreme.

Notre Dame announced recently that they will start the semester in-person on August 10 and end at Thanksgiving.

Depends on what "all four seasons" looks like to you, but Albuquerque might be worth a look. Definitely skiing in under an hour. Editing to add that there is a military base/commissary in ABQ too, which is nice.

We actually lived on the Navajo reservation for a few years and worked in healthcare there, as well as in rural/off road Alaska. My oldest daughter was born in a reservation hospital. Arctic Mom offered some good insights. There are actually decent grocery stores in some of the bigger population centers with everything you would see in a typical store anywhere. The issue is that the reservation is quite spread out though, so there will be some driving to get to the store from some homes. That's true of any rural area though. The village population in Alaska has a completely different situation though, with no road access to villages and air service that can be unreliable. The Alaska population has more access to seasonal subsistence food gathering activity though (fishing,hunting, foraging) than those on the Navajo reservation. Huge gains in improving water access and sewage disposal have been made in the last three decades. Completely different situation than it was when we first started working in the area. Communal living is common and will guarantee the spread of infection.

Slippery slope there. HIV infections transmitted via sexual activity comes to mind. I worked in labor and delivery during the late 80s-90s when there were many unknowns and exposure was a real risk. My husband actually had a healthcare workplace Covid exposure just yesterday. In the end, it's the healthcare (and other essential) workers who have to decide whether the job is worth the risk.

She is eligible but there may be specific steps you need to take to continue coverage and it may cost more. I'd call directly to inquire. When my oldest graduated in 2017, it was an additional ~$350 a month for continuing coverage (which we did for a few months until her wedding.) There will be additional costs for my current college senior-almost graduate shortly 🙂

Yes, it is highly likely we are trading one set of problems for another.

Contact lens wearer with dry eyes since the early 80s and mom to 3 contact lens wearers 🙂 If lens wear is possibly only going to be intermittent, disposable single use dailies would be the likely best choice. No worries about them sitting in possibly contaminated storage fluid for a period of time. I like the "moist" version of the disposable dailies. Even if one wears contacts every day, like I do, disposable dailies are generally the most comfortable with the lowest risk of complications, like infections. The cons with dailies is that they are more expensive, and you do not want to sleep in them. They can be uncomfortable by the end of the day, and you may need to pop in a fresh pair if extended use is desired. There are extended wear versions of lenses, but the rates of complications go up significantly with those.

As with chicken pox, it may be preferable for young people to be exposed now while they are at significantly lower risk of severe complications, rather than in their senior years.

The actions resulting from mental illness rarely make sense. But the hopelessness that accompanies depression and anxiety can be exacerbated by social isolation and hyper-focus on news of the spread of infection and tanking economy. Many have been separated from therapists (online therapy not the same). It's already tough to find care and if you need new care now, good luck. I've got one daughter in that precise situation right now.

That's fantastic! My second homeschooler (but the only one that was truly "start to finish", no preschool) finished all the major requirements for her electrical engineering and Chinese degrees yesterday! Online grad in late May. It sounds like you and I started with Well Trained Mind right around the same time. :-)

People need to remember too that the professionals releasing these recs are just...people. Educated, dedicated, and flawed. There are thousands of people in various positions at the CDC and they don't all agree with each other. The professional making policy recs for our city is a social worker with an MPH.

Absolutely! I do think many, maybe most, people are uncomfortable with gray areas. It's comforting to know the "rules", and there's a tendency to cling doggedly to any semblance of structure.

We tend to choose the leaders that pay lip service to the "facts and science" that support our personal beliefs. Human nature. I don't know too many people who truly seek unvarnished truth.

We can start by slowing down and stopping with the name calling. We can recognize that there are legitimate points to be made on all sides. We can recognize that neither side has a claim to "science". We need to accept that we are likely all going to get sick with this at some point and for most of us it will be okay. Sickness and death is always going to be a part of life. What I think should have been done from the beginning is putting the massive resources that have now been thrown to the wind (a ridiculous $1200 check to most) toward sheltering and protecting the vulnerable. It would have been ideal to keep those who are able working. But here we are now. Yes, people need to have the opportunity to work if they wish. We still need to protect the vulnerable, though now we have wasted a tremendous amount of resources that could have gone toward that endeavor. Yes, there is going to be a spike in occurrences of this particular illness. But then we will have fewer cases. That is the way herd immunity works. And, yes, there are plenty of unknowns about this illness. There are risks regardless of the decisions made. The hindsight here will be interesting.

Exposure is a good thing for healthy immune systems. Some kids (and adults) have perpetual drippy noses and persistent coughs for various reasons that have nothing to do with contagion. Going to be interesting to see how this is managed going forward in this era of hypervigilence.

I don't think people mind sacrificing. They just want to know that the sacrifice makes sense. In this current situation, there is a big question mark as to whether these restrictions are logical. As I have said before, we are a public health family. My dad's a retired CDC epidemiologist who has been involved in multiple investigations through the years and done the modeling. At one point during this crisis, my home oven was being used by my spouse to test a method of sterilizing masks which a local hospital is currently utilizing. I know people who had the virus and I've talked on the phone with an NYC ER nurse friend who is in the middle of it. We get the science. We also get that this is an inexact science. It's pretty clear that a good many of these restrictions are put in place for fear of liability and out of political ambition. This is a serious illness. People are going to get sick and people are going to die. And as it stands now, those that remain (which is our young people) are not going to have much of an economy. And we did this to ourselves.

Not going to quote your whole post, but I completely understand. My two young adult daughters are in ABQ now, along with my son-in-law. My SIL has gone from working 80+ hours a week, as a truck driver delivering to restaurants, to being laid off from his job and getting 0-32 hours per week in temp work. My oldest daughter has been accepted to grad school at UNM and given a grad assistant position that makes it affordable, but there's a big question mark now as to the future funding for those positions. She's suddenly the primary breadwinner in the family because she does childcare for an ER doc. My college student, who had to relocate to NM from her East Coast school to live with her sister, has had ongoing respiratory issues but has been unable to get ongoing in-person care (after she was tested for the virus and found negative) because of the current medical situation. We have lived in NM ourselves. Great place, and there had been so interesting economic developments happening of late, but it's not a wealthy state and there's not much cushion. This is going to hit hard.

I think it's more about not being able to cover costs with the limited amount of seating allowed under AK's current plan.

I'd question the equipment and the technique if there are not any other symptoms. Making sure his hands are warm is good advice. Try the reading on another finger. Try it on another person. Make sure there is nothing obstructing circulation.

We locked down so early in our area that the curve never even developed. There is certainly a large contingent that seem to be under the impression that that was the goal, and that "testing" is key to safety. It's not just rural areas where medical personnel are being furloughed. We are about to open up the economy to a greater extent here. There will likely be more infections. It's frightening, but inevitable, and probably positive in the big picture.

I think that is wise. Your daughter has some unique qualities and could very well get one of the big scholarship packages.

It's a great school. I don't think it is very easy to get in, but doubt that would be an issue for your daughter.

I do a lot of unsubscribing.