We are trying to find a used car for my 17 yo. We keep being told that there is a shortage of cars due to COVID and they are being sold quickly. It does make sense that there would be a shortage of people trading in cars with the downturn in the economy and while dealerships never shut down here I imagine maybe some places they did? It doesn’t really matter because we either find a car or we don’t- but I get prickly about sales tactics and I was wondering if this is really another hard to find item due to pandemic? Or this is just the latest sales line? Anyone else been used car shopping?

The thought is the virus is a real thing but no worse than H1N1 which didn't shut down the economy. Media and Democrats are overblowing the seriousness to destroy the economy and in general make people miserable so they don't re-elect the president. As soon as the election is over everyone will move on and things will go back to normal.

Oh- as far as cost- just the tub was quoted to us at $625 with a five year warranty. It is worth it to us at this time.

I am getting one tub refinished next week. Just the tub. The tile surround is fine but the tub is 70s harvest gold. We are also getting the six foot double sink vanity top refinished at the same time. Same thing- 70s gold. Everything is solid and in good shape but we just arent up for a bathroom demo just for cosmetic reasons. Then, two weeks later we are getting our shower stall in the master completely refinished and the vanity top in there. This shower is stained small ceramic tiles that had been covered by a DIY apoxy kit that is now peeling off. It's very very bad. Both these bathrooms were structurally fine and the floors, and walls, etc, are fine and we didn't want to demo and replace so we are trying the refinishing as a cheaper compromise and something that can be done without displacing us from our bathrooms for weeks. They absolutely would have to be done before we sold and while we don't have plans to move, with dh's job situation it could always be sprung on us. So, I can let you know in a few weeks how it went.

I have been thinking about this for my family. I expect my young adult men (who would make their own decisions apart from me anyway) to need it for jobs/college etc. and we have always vaxxed so I don't think they will hesitate much. I think dh and I will be ready to get it not right away, but fairly early in the process. I think risks for us of Covid (at our ages and conditions) probably outweigh the vax risks. I don't see giving it to my tween daughter anytime soon. She has too much physical and mental development yet to go and for her the vaccine risks probably outweight the Covid risk. We do most vaccinations and have only declined or delayed a few over the years. We even get yearly flu shots. But a new vaccine on a a kid for a disease she would probably weather well is just a different story.

So... I am thinking of just covering it with a skim coat (well not me but paying a handyman who suggested it) and then painting. It doesn't have to be perfect. In five years when we get to major renovations in the upstairs we can just gut it and start over. But as an intermediate step it would be a vast improvement over the wallpaper. Some terrible reason why I shouldn't do that? I realize it would make it harder to remove someday...but I'm thinking that someday would never come. We'd paint over it until we just gutted the rooms.

Dd is going to the dance studio five days a week. It is just one small studio with one class at a time so not lots of people coming and going. All of her classes are less than five kids and they have room to spread out (if they remember to). Masks are encouraged but not required. Over the course of a week she might be exposed to six or seven different people there for up to two hours at a time. My dd is very conscientious about her mask and keeps her distance even when the other kids bunch up. I don't feel fantastic about this setup but we are taking the risk for now. It seems worth it for the benefit. Nothing here is shut down at all even though we have alot of community spread. This is the one thing we are doing. I'm pretty comfortable with the setup but I'm not comfortable with the other folks there. Anti-maskers, deniers, etc etc. This is the first week of a full schedule so we will see how it goes. Everything here is going on as normal pretty much but we aren't participating in church or homeschool activities at all. My 17 yo ds is working at a grocery store and that is his extracurricular for now.

Nope. Not even for teachers. Masks are allowed. Some principals going as far as "encouraged". Elementary started Wednesday and had a positive reported Thursday. High school started Friday and had a positive reported that day. As a community I think we have just decided to ride it out and barrel our way toward herd immunity. Online options were offered but I think 80% or so of the students are back in the classroom full time. We have alot of cases here but people just largely are okay with it.

This is pretty much how I am feeling about it!

I have two good sized bathrooms that need wallpaper taken down. At least two layers that I can easily tell. Who knows what is underneath. It has to come down. It’s awful and ugly and peeling in parts. I have done it before in previous houses and swore it was a “never again” project. Yet here I am. I always said we would hire it out but it isn’t that easy to find someone and it is going to be a lot of labor costs and just very expensive I think. So here I am thinking I’m at least going to attempt this. I’m not happy. I’m not super handy and while I have done alot of painting I’m not going to be masterful fixing up my walls post removal. Any ideas? Should I just hire this out whatever the cost like I had always planned to? Should I look at the steamers they sell at Home Depot? What about the bigger machines they rent out? Maybe if I just take it slow and do a little bit at a time I can keep myself from becoming totally frustrated and overwhelmed? If I give it a try and can’t do it I guess I could bring someone in. So either tell me to give someone all my money to rid my house of the wallpaper or encourage me that it can be done and share your secrets. Now that it is finally time (way past time) for this project I am totally depressed. 🙁But it has to be done. It’s bad. Very bad.

The craziest thing is that he posted the picture himself. How drunk must he have been? We expect better social media control from our teens.

My Ds saw his on Tuesday but he did not take the writing section.

You are 100% correct and may be the first person I have communicated with that understands this issue regarding Hope scholarship!

Oh yes. And our local schools have made the distinctions between remote learning, virtual school, homeschooling with an umbrella school and independent homeschooling very confusing. I understand that it is very difficult especially if you have never had occasion to look into homeschool laws before. It's so hard to help them even sort it out. They don't have the context or base of knowledge to even know what questions they should be asking. So, I don't blame them for being confused. I do have to bow out though because they don't believe me. I have seen people recommend Khan Academy as an umbrella school. I pop on and comment that they can use Khan Academy but it doesn't legally cover them in TN and they will need to register with an umbrella school or the schools system. Then people tell me I am wrong. So at that point I'm done trying.

I have the impression it is whatever people are paying for their curriculum or online program or however they choose to homeschool. They are all very confused about the law and how everything works but they don't realize they are as confused as they are.

In the thread hating on the new homeschoolers I mentioned that I (a 17 year homeschool veteran) have given up on giving advice because newbies tell me I am wrong. I was thinking about the final straw for me and it was when someone insisited that homeschoolers could not get into college or recieve scholarships unless they graduated from Liberty University online school (or whatever the online high school associated is called). No way could I convince the person giving the advice or a few of her followers that was simply untrue. Didn't matter that I had two kids graduated and get tons of college scholarships and acceptances. I was wrong and she would not concede her point. Ah well...that was the end for me trying to be helpful with what I had learned in that format. This was pre pandemic so I guess I was ready for the onslaught that has come this summer. The things that have made me crazy since Covid homeschooling discussion were the suggestion to use Khan Academy as an umbrella school. Another poster set that one straight and said that Easy Peasy is the best umbrella school. Yet another told them both they were wrong and said "this is where you sign up to homeschool" and linked Time4Learning.com. (our state requires registering with the local school system or an approved umbrella school so all of those options leave people truant). There was then an argument about the "homeschool fee". A couple people tried to point out that there is no "homeschool fee". That was met with mocking and derision by posters commenting that they know the fee was $250 the year before and someone else saying it is more because they homeschooled a few years ago and it was much more expensive and someone else saying it is $40/mo. Etc, etc, etc. Everyone was an expert and they were all so very very wrong. Just made me wonder what "questionable" advice others have seen that have turned them off to being helpful or just makes them crazy. I never have been able to let go of the Liberty online thing.

My ds ran into the same problem with UAH. He has one application he will be spending a lot of time on but he was trying to get the easier ones done.

That is very frustrating. Sorry.

How competitve is this school? Our local schools that are not very competitive allow test scores to be submitted for scholarship purposes all the way through the summer after graduation. They also regularly admit and enroll students in the weeks and days before the semester starts. There is nothing wrong with these schools, they are just very open admissions wise. If this is the kind of school I feel like you are going to be able to work around the test issue. If it is a more competitive school they will likely expect you to go much more out of your way to secure the test score and to them explaining you have to travel probably wouldn't convince them. I would definitely be in an ongoing discussion with admissions about this situation. Sorry. It stinks.

Just an FYI- My ds checked and his July scores are up today. He came in one point short of his goal but it is still an excellent score and an increase so it was worth doing and he is done. No way going to fool with it again.

People on Twitter reporting registration for tests sites and then the confirmation site has them in different states. Like registering in NJ and then then the confirmation has them registered at a test site in Idaho. Saw one who chose a test site in Houston and was assigned to Univ Wisconsin- Whitewater. It would be comical if it wasn't serious. Can't even figure out how they could have messed it up this badly.

I agree about people having to decide most of these things for themselves. I think the awesome thing you say is that you are transparent with others who you are spending time with. Not everyone is!

THIS!! I feel like I'm just running around town willy nilly sucking in all the germs when I read about how others on this forum are living. But I feel like we are being SUPER cautious compared to those in our real life. We pretty much just stay home but we are doing these things: -dh works from home but has regular doctors appointments and physical therapy which he attends masked the entire time -17 yo ds works (masked) at a grocery store about 25 hours a week, he took the ACT in July (which felt like a huge risk), he sees his girlfriend that lives a couple hours away about once every 2 months for about 8 hours. I hate the girlfriend exposure but I'm allowing it because I just don't know when this thing will ever be over. I make her promise that she is not sick and has not been exposed under threat that if she shows up to the house sick I won't be trusting them next time and there won't be a next time. -12 yo dd takes dance three or four nights a week. There are two other girls (the same every time) and one teacher. They all mask but the other two girls do a poor job of just leaving it on. My dd stays far away from them all the time. Their mothers are anti-maskers so I don't trust this situation but I also feel like the benefit outweighs the risk and we are continuing for now. I mask and stay in the studio only if I am the only one there. If there are other parents hanging around I'll go to the car to wait. -For myself- I really only take my dd to dance and do curbside pickup of groceries. I went to one meeting at church where masking and distancing was required. Our pastor is very strict on Covid safety so there are no members deciding to take masks off or get close or social pressure not to be careful. It's about the only scenario in my real life where people are careful. -as a family we have seen my dad about once a month here at my home for dinner. We aren't huggers so it isn't hard to keep some kind of distance. I feel exposed after he has been here but he is so depressed and lonely we are doing it occasionally. -dh will run into a grocery store or Home Depot or Staples while masked about once a week or so. I am sure some on this board think this is huge risk and I do see risk there. However, I feel like we are nearly locked down because no one else, besides my fellow church members, are being careful at all. We have alot of cases and alot of spread here right now. I saw multiple posts today on FB of people at their packed churches. All the sports are going on. Lots of dining out in restaurants, vacationing, etc. Schools start here Wednesday. So compared to the real world going on around me, people think we are NUTS and paranoid.

My college student never returned home during this. He stayed in the college city in FL and has worked full time retail and socialized with a small group. So we have been away from him since the onset of the pandemic and all the uncertainty, his career track job loss during the shutdown that has not and probably will not return, riots in his neighborhood during the protests, and then the increase of infection in his city. It has been rough and I have been worried about him. The list of things to worry about is long and actually becoming infected with Covid isn't the worst of it for me (very possible he already was as he was quite sick for a long time in March and his job involved interacting with frequent tourists from NY especially). I am more worried about how the general fallout will impact him as far as school and job prospects go. I am grateful he is not on campus so a shutdown won't leave him without someplace to live. I would worry about that. The uncertainty of the whole situation produces the greatest anxiety for me. It is more the fallout from Covid than the particular chance he will become gravely ill. Of course, I am a little worried but I worry about alot of things. I do fuss at him to get a flu shot every year because he just doesn't need to miss class, etc. so the general worry of getting sick and that interfering with his coursework is always one for me.

This is how it is here and I've gotten really sick of it this week. I, actually, come down on the side of personal freedom on this even though I mask. I wouldn't fret about a mask mandate but I'm not clamoring for one. I guess people have a right not to mask, and businesses have a right to refuse service to the unmasked, in my mind. I realize that is an unpopular take on this board but that's where I am on it. But I am so sick of being mocked, called stupid, a sheep, etc for choosing to mask. I actually don't concern myself trying to figure out why people aren't masking. I stay home as much as possible and try to stay distanced when I can't stay home. I don't have the mental energy to ascribe motives to the non-maskers and especially not to their children. But when wearing a mask means I'm mocked I'm going to assume it isn't a medical issue.