Not weird to me. Probably.

I've never heard of fried pies although I'll say that it is possible I've had one under a different name. Oklahoma would be a plains state which means I'd say it is part of the Midwest. Arkansas is not part of the south. But one should never pay attention to my opinion on what area a state belongs in (ref my Oklahoma paragraph).

@Farrar Actually, it is on a Cornell Engineering page: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/first-year-applicants#home How do you evaluate applicants who are home-schooled? In order to understand and appreciate the depth and variety of the homeschool experience, the admissions selection committee requires the following information for all four years prior to entering college: English: list of books (including all textbooks and other anthologies) you have read each year; how many papers and how long (indicate which are creative and which are expository writing); any research papers (list titles and length of each). Social Studies: list of textbooks and books you have read each year; how many papers (topics listed) and how long; independent research projects (titles and lengths).

Prayers for you! And hugs!

Topical! That would be an option, maybe. Keep me posted on how it goes. It is a gel or a cream?

Usually, they pass it onto their kids and/spouse and sometimes people at work. Absolutely no denying the hospital overload, that a certain amount of people get really sick, and some die. The data is unavoidable. I was trying to provide one perspective requested. I am not anti-vaccination. I am anti-governmemt over-reach.

I'm not surprised they didn't mention Isotretinoin (the old accutane), but I am miffed that in this day & age, the doctors seem to go straight to a long-term (years vs months) off-label med for teenagers that just cover up the problem & don't even try to get to the root of the issue.

It is funny that when I asked about a temporary trial of antibiotics, the derm says they only allow a short run of them -- acting like I asked for her to stay on them forever. I specifically didn't want her to be on some med for the rest of her life (and they don't mention that the spironolactone would be a perpetual thing when they bring it up). I just wanted to try different options. Apparently, being on a med forever (going off of it when you want to get pregnant) is much preferrable to trying the 3-4 other options that were the go-to options 30 years ago.

We aren't there yet. Ask me in December!

Dd#2's derm offered it as an option. We are ruling out other treatmrnt options first (currently on .5 tretinoin & other topical stuff, going to do 3 months of antibiotics next if topical doesn't work). He thinks most of her issue is hormonal.

For what it is worth, I think businesses should be allowed to have a mandate for their own employees but that the government shouldn't be requiring them to do it (which includes requiring the vax or testing option). My position is consistent = businesses make their decision & take the consequences of those decisions without the government bailing them out or requiring something. And yes, that includes that I'm not an OSHA/FDA/etc fan.

Doesn't Or the federal mandate also include employers who have any contracts with the federal government? Those businesses are not employees of the federal government. The federal government is one of their clients.

And accepting more of the same is the right thing to do? So, China restricts the rights of the citizens of Hong Kong and they should just throw up their hands & say, "What's one more violation of our sovereignty?" when the next order comes down? Really? I think we are well past the slippery slope. There will be no one to speak up for me if I don't speak up now against federal government over reach. This is one more, "well, you accepted ... so why are you complaining about [...]?"

It is so hard to see our kids hurt & struggle and not be able to magically fix them and the situation. Hugs!

"It isn't me" causing the problem? The over-crowding of hospitals is a complicated, multi-faceted issue. Most people I know who have chosen not to receive the vax believe they will have a mild case. Actually, the majority of people I know IRL have had it (once or twice) and have had what is referred to as a mild case (even if they were pretty sick) because none had to seek doctor or hospital help. So, realistically, those people are correct in their own interpretation. But, obviously, there is still an issue of full hospital ICUs. Why? Hospitals running lean on staffing to maximize profits all these years. Not having robust HCW training programs all these years. Those are contributors. Obviously compassion fatigue, pay bonuses for traveling nurses, and firing staff for not vaccinating now causing worse staffing issues in certain places. Separately, is the current and upcoming supply chain issue totally a covid-caused one? Or did it provide a major contributing cause to highlight what was already a strained system? I would argue the latter and that we've known for years about it & done nothing to beef up the system. Same with sourcing our medicine & PPE overseas. Are we going to do what we should (IMO) to fix the situation long-term? Or just point fingers, bellyache, and bandaid the problem? These are complicated issues that have multiple solutions. They are an everybody problem. But the solutions involve a bigger group than I think you highlighted. Things run smoothly until there is a hiccup, or in this case, a pile-up.

I text like an old person but the real trouble is all my kids text just like me because they learned from me. Teens texting like an old person? ... awkward!

Absolutely. That's what makes this so very valuable information -- that the population involved was almost completely vaccinated. This is what we may be looking at in the US even if we were able to get to an absolutely (unattainable) 95%+ level of vaccination. I am absolutely not comparing this to what could happen with unvaccibated people. We have that now. This is maybe a possible glimpse into the future that the US is trying to go for. More study is needed, IMO, to be able to have an educated discussion on the future with Covid in this country & this world. Separately, the US will have just as much trouble (or more) enforcing 3rd dose & booster uptake as initial vaccination. The very situation this data looked at is what the US is facing right now -- except with a much lower vaccination percentage. I.e., we need even more options than we currently have. I am glad there are still people studying new treatments. ‐--- "Although [mask] use was inconsistent, it was enforced during patient–staff encounters for both sides. On the dedicated COVID-19 ward, dedicated staff members worked with full personal protective equipment (PPE): N-95 mask, face shield, gown, gloves and hair cover." This seems to imply that our current highest level of precautions may not be enough. From a behavior-level standpoint, proper, consistent, inexpensive, large-scale n-95 usage will likely not to be achievable in the population as a whole. Real world conditions and not ideal hopes need to be discussed by the epidemiologists moving forward. A sobering and eye-opening data set but not by itself enough to panic or base change on, IMO.

This one study may also be challenging the previous accepted science that viral load is not as high in vaccinated people and that vaccinated people don't transmit at high levels. We know they can trasmit and the idea was that they would transmit at lower rates than unvaccinated people. This was almost all vaccinated people transmitting. It gives me zero reassurance that the vaccinated and at least theoretically masked hospitalized patients were sick/old or had stressed immune systems. I hope more studies like this are done as I would like to see if this is an isolated finding or if the results hold water.

You can submit a written letter to the financial aid dept of his school with your situation and hope for the best.

I'm sorry for your loss, @Dmmetler & @regentrude. Many hugs.

I put weighted & unweighted gpas on my dd#1's transcript because she had Honors courses starting Freshmen year and DE startimg the summer before senior year. It made a significant difference. I know at least one of her schools recalculated gpa themselves based on only "core" classes and their formula. That was fine because her transcript showed everything they needed for that process. Dd#2 only ended up applying to 2 schools and she took zero honors classes. She did DE at one of the colleges she applied to starting the summer before senior year but so few weighted classes basically made no difference. So I only showed unweighted gpa for that kid. I haven't decided for dd#3 yet.

My almost-not-a-teenager-anymore DD likes me more when she doesn't have to be around me. I embarass her & nag too much. I love her, but it was for the best that she decided to go away to college. She's an amazing kid. More amazing from 800 miles away. Sometimes her choices & decisions frustrate me. They frustrate me less when I'm not reminded of them every night at the dinner table. I will probably be The #2 Villian in her life story.

I can hear the sarcasm here, but for those who haven't been following the latest as closely, at this point, there is no known 'herd immunity' level for covid. (That is, a level at which transmission drops off because a large portion of the community is immune to the disease.) So, sadly, ML is saying NSW officials are trying to get the latest surge going strong in hopes it will drop off before Christmas. I've seen many references to surges lasting 7-9 weeks (with long tails). So, perhaps there is some logic there, just not the humanitarian logic that people would like to see employed.

Dd#2 who is not a strong math student tried ASU's College Algebra class. Either way it was a win for her. If she passed, she wouldn't have to take College Algebra in college. She'd come in with that credit. If she didn't pass, she spent the time working through the math (using ALEKS, basically). It was like trying to CLEP it. After spending most of her senior year working through it & taking the first two practice exams, it was clear she wouldn't pass. So she dumped it. I don't think she even paid the $25 because she signed up when they were doing a covid special, I think. She finished out the year sitting through math with her younger sister. Anyway, she's taking College Algebra now at college. It is looking so far like the time using ASU wasn't completely wasted as this is about the third time through some topics & my kids all need a lot of repetition. This one could probably use another 2-3 times through to learn it but she'll likely never use it in life. Fortunately, she only needs to take a non-calc-based statistics class & she's done w/math. She didn't use the teaching videos much. She never used the help offered. She just went through the ALEKS modules. So, YMMV.

From the article posted earlier: "According to the Wall Street Journal, the FDA may not make its decision until sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving, citing a person familiar with the matter." and "If the same timeline is followed for this application, younger children could start receiving their shots as soon as late October."