Hmmmm. What about no mucus?

I hate the add antibiotics to the dumpster fire. They always wreck my stomach which is unhappy enough due to everything tasting like cardboard. Will a sinus infection go away on its own eventually?

That's what I tried in desperation last night. I had to go sell my soul to the devil at the pharmacy counter.....felt like a criminal. But it kept me up all night. I literally never fell asleep. I felt like I have drank four cups of very sugary coffee right before bed or something. It did kick down the stuffiness slightly.

It's good to know that this is somewhat "normal." Sigh. It is the possible secondary infection that has me wondering about seeing a doctor. How do they go about diagnosing that?

I know we have big threads about this but I am hoping to rope in people who might have recent experience but are no longer following those threads. What are we seeing with recovery paths/times with the current variants of Covid? I know this will vary widely but I am trying to determine if I should see a doctor and how best to proceed with life. I tested positive 14 days ago. Symptoms started 17 days ago. I'm boosted (back in November) and this is my first time being positive (that I know of anyway). At first I thought I got off easy. It started with the classic sore throat. The day I finally tested, I had a slight fever which only lasted 18 hours. When the fever went away, I felt mostly fine. For two days, anyway. Then I woke up to my head being all stuffed up. Not a runny nose, just stuffed. Even my ears felt stuffed. I am not prone to sinus infections but that is what I imagine one might feel like? Add in the occasional non-productive coughing fit.....so not coughing all the time but when I do, it is hard to stop. And the dreaded impaired taste. This has been the status quo for ELEVEN days now. It is not getting better or worse. Just the same. I am not tired, I'm sleeping OK, but this cough and stuffiness is driving me bananas. I'm worried I'm going to crack a rib. I am a runner and I have a half marathon coming up in five weeks. I was on vacation for two weeks prior to illness so I have not been training for 4+ weeks now. I tried to go on a short run today for the first time and found my heart rate much higher than normal and was coughing a lot. And I was running at a significantly slower pace than normal on a flat trail in cool temps. Running (actually any cardio) is also my main and most effective tool to cope with anxiety so not working out is causing other problems for me. I did some light gardening yesterday and also noticed that my heart rate was higher than I would expect. Any BTDT stories? How long can I expect this stuffiness and cough to last? Any hacks to move it along or at least get some relief? I have tried Sudafed overnight which might have decreased the stuffiness a little but kept me up all night.....I have never taken it before and it was a weird trip that I do not want to repeat. I have been using a neti pot several times a day. I have also been sipping hot tea pretty much constantly because that keeps the coughing down a little. Cold or even room temp water makes the coughing worse. I am getting very frustrated and don't know if I should seek a doctor appointment or if this is just "normal." Thank goodness I work from home!

We also have a big emphasis in our freshman engineering classes on how to handle team dynamics. How to set up your team expectations before work begins, what to do when there is a problem team member(s), how and when to properly communicate problem team dynamics to an instructor, etc.....

Our STEM majors often have to do a lot of electronic processing before submission, ironically much more so than arts and sciences majors. Some things my students struggled with that might be much reduced after zooming during Covid....some of which might be better addressed as an open Canvas course that any student in your department could access videos on demand if/when an issue arises. How to save files in different formats, including zip/unzip How to merge files as PDFs How to use campus printers, in general and in large format How to share Google docs for collaborative writing/editing How to navigate the campus software center How to use a computer lab (I wish I were kidding.....) How to find/recover lost files How to video/audio record a presentation How to use a thumb drive How to document a problem (screen shot, for instance) when sending a technology problem to an instructor/TA I could go on and on. Most students will know most/all of these but some might be lacking all! I am impressed the hoops some students will jump through to avoid asking for help when they don't know how to do one of these things.

More pondering on student services, background, and privilege..... I confess that as someone who did not find college easy and with little family support, I sometimes struggled to empathize with students when I was faculty. One student I had really helped me understand how student services might not reach everyone. I was teaching a general freshman engineering class, the second in a two-class series. It was the first time I taught this particular class so I was floundering myself and it was the largest class I had ever taught to date. The content was not a problem but managing such a large class that used several different software packages, having 14 sections to align with, and a very complicated learning platform had me nervous. Even the wireless mic for the class was a constant problem. The class was so large, I never got to the point of knowing each student's name. But during the first tightly-timed, technologically difficult, in-class lab practical, early in the semester, one male student started crying when time was up. The rest of the class filed out and he sat at his computer sobbing. I, of course, went up to him and sat down to try to calm him down. He explained that he barely passed the first class in the series and could see he was going to have the same problems. He had done the practical and felt like it was correct but he didn't know how to save his work to the desktop to upload it to Canvas properly (they were on guest accounts that timed out) and that his work was lost and he had nothing to upload. I assured him we would work this out and to not panic. We made an appointment for him to come to my office to retake the practical with me directly supervising so his work would not be lost. This turned into a weekly meeting when I learned a few things about him. He was a first generation college student and his childhood home did not have a computer. He was from a very small farming community and his schools also lacked technology that most of us take for granted. He simply did not have the skills to figure out how to use a computer, let alone the crazy circus we expect students to be able to manage for every course. We met once a week and I walked him through Canvas, file management, troubleshooting, etc.... I helped him figure out how to use the online textbook for Calculus. He had failed the previous semester because he could not even INSTALL the textbook, let alone manage the homework platform. He did not even know how to attach files to an email! There was (and still is) no help center or class for this type of need. He was too embarrassed to ask for this type of help from friends. I ran into him three years later. He was elated. He said he was graduating, with honors, and had a job and it was all because he got that little bit of help. It was a warm fuzzy feeling that every teacher loves but it was also eye opening how easy it could have been for a very smart young person to fail. I am now seeing it first hand (please don't quote). My own dd, who does make her own doctor appointments FTR, is struggling in college. She was homeschooled and that masked what is now becoming obvious. She likely has ADHD and struggles with executive functioning. Without the scaffolding I provided as her one-on-one teacher/handholder, managing all things organizational is very difficult for her. Luckily, she attends a local school and more than once dh and I have stepped in the help her with everything from successfully getting the proper software on her laptop to working out difficulties with Canvas. Her grades are good. She is not having difficulty with content. But without our help and privilege, she would likely drop out of school. She still might. And I pretty much guarantee she would have by now had she gone away to school. It is just too stressful for her. We are all hopeful that the sheer amount of busywork and the management that requires will decrease as she progresses through her degree sequence. Again, I don't know how to fix this. I see the challenges on both sides. I see how this can push some (not most, however) students to take unethical shortcuts.

Yes. I totally get that and battled the same things in my classrooms. They are two very different things. I was only responding to the posters that stated that collecting materials from past classes and reviewing them was cheating in the "good old days." I don't feel that is or was cheating.

This exact thing has made calculus so much more difficult for my child than it needed to be. I think more time was spend trying to master the format of answers than learning the actual material. I imagine this contributes to a lot of failure.

I have been following this thread with much interest as a have a child currently pursuing a STEM degree that is struggling to make the jump from home-based one-on-one education to large-lecture course management. And because I spent 13 years as faculty at a STEM university teaching engineering courses. I see both sides of the discussion and have absolutely zero idea how to fix it all. But, I have seen the above called "cheating" a few times in this thread and have some thoughts. First, it is and was true that IME greek (and other) organizations do maintain collections of past work, exams, textbooks, etc..... I do not see this as cheating. If an exam or any other work has been returned to students, I do not see reviewing this material as cheating. In fact, the STEM university I graduated from often had these materials available at the department level to anyone who requested it. Sure, one could copy homework solutions from these collections but homework was almost never graded for credit so what would be the point? I know I found it helpful to look at different approaches, including *wrong* ones to strengthen my understanding of the material. And any faculty recycling exam questions after returning those exams to past students has got to understand that it means some people will come to the exam having seen those questions before. I mean, we encourage our high schoolers to take practice (past) SAT/ACT/AP exams. How is this different? One of the classes I taught had a large individual project component. I changed it slightly every year....just enough that any student that attempted to start with a past completed project to try to "cheat" actually would have to demonstrate a higher level of competence than starting from scratch. I knew that people were sharing old files so I worked that into the approach. Go ahead! I could also have just created completely unique projects every year and achieve the same thing. But if I just used the same project year after year.....well, that's on me....I would be begging people to cheat. Towards the end of my teaching time, I too had a suspicion that cheating was on the rise. Most of the assessment in the classes I taught were pretty cheat-proof. I caught a few blatant examples but it would be hard to cheat without being caught unless someone was straight-up impersonating another student. However, there were a few assignments in which cheating would be easy. So, I tested the suspicion. I placed an embedded indicator within cheatable exam questions to see if students were sharing files with each other either during the online exam or from/with earlier sections. I expected a high level of cases over the approximately 500 students who took the exam. I found exactly *one.* And that one happened to copy from another student who got the solution very wrong. I did not turn in the two students involved as my plan from the beginning was simply to see if cheating was happening.....and they got zeros anyway. It would probably have been considered entrapment anyway. I'm not sure what I would have done had I kicked up a large percentage and it would have likely opened a big old can of ethical worms which I should have thought about before doing it. This anecdotal story means absolutely nothing other than my suspicion was incorrect.

This is true for many issues in my life right now!

I have one. "Could care less" It should be "Couldn't care less!" When casually uttered, I can excuse it, but I have started hearing it in song lyrics and it drives me bonkers!

I'd go back to the piercing place and ask for a ring-type replacement. I actually have never heard of a stud for a nose ring. Dd got one when she was 13 and several of her friends have them and they all had rings from the get go. Dd's was so hard to undo the first time, there was essentially no way to could just fall out. Nose ring holes heal up very very fast so he will want a solution ASAP.

I too would make sure they know ahead of time that it is not hosted. We often include dc's friends when eating out or doing whatever and we always pay. It does not even seem to be a question for anyone so I think you could very well risk someone coming and being in a bind when they find out they have to pay. I like the idea of maybe modifying plans to something you could pay for.

There was a long-running ad campaign for the Big Boy chain of restaurants with billboards declaring them The "Fresh" Choice! I believe the chain is now completely out of business and I have a few theories as to why that is. I mean how many people did this campaign copy clear to make it onto billboards!?!?! Without any of them questioning why one would advertise being fake fresh?

I cannot comment too much on the private school financial aid assessment. But we do own our home outright and that did not ding us on the FAFSA. A whole lot of other things did and we qualified for almost no aid, but that was no surprise. Luckily dc got top merit aid and other scholarships so that was moot anyway. But, to the OP, on bank accounts for aiding elders, this is tricky. If your name is on it as a joint account owner, then you have to declare it. But there is such a thing as a "POA account" in which you can be the named custodian without it being considered an asset. We did this as I too am managing finances for an elder in my life. I am still on a joint account so that they have access to every-day cash, but I keep less than $1000 in it at any given time so it does not significantly contribute to our assets. The POA account is where I keep the bulk of the cash and that is not counted. I am not a joint owner of that money. It also protects that money from anything that could happen to me, like a lawsuit or divorce proceedings.

People can obviously do what they want with their teeth and their dc's teeth, but I have found that the people I live around just assume everyone needs this done and then has it done. And even our dentist broached the subject with "most insured people have their dc's wisdom teeth out, are you interested?" He does not do the procedure himself so has no skin in the game. When I asked if he recommended dc have them out, he said no and in fact he thinks most people do not need them removed. That fits my personal experience since dh, me, and all four of our parents never had them removed. He said looking as dc's x-rays, he saw no reason to have them done at this time and that is was quite likely it would never need to be done. I get that there are horror stories about people who opted not to have them removed but my dentist said that if you are getting regular dental exams and are proactive about any changes or pain you experience, it is not likely that it will be some sort of tragic emergency. If it has to be done later in life, it may be more painful but there is also a much greater chance that it will never have to be done at all. That's not to say that nobody needs to have it done, and perhaps the OP is in that boat. I am sure there is a good subset of people that clearly would benefit from preventative removal. But I personally would not consent to such a procedure unless there was compelling evidence that it was indeed necessary. There is risk of complications at any age.

I think this is a somewhat controversial subject. My dh and I still have ours and there have been no problems. So, we opted not to have dc's removed. Our dentist seemed fine either way.

I second the folding card table and chair set! We got a set that we did not register for and it gets use on a regular basis. The components last forever (ours are 25 years and going strong) and if they are of no use to the recipient, they for sure can be passed along with no risk of ending up in a landfill or lingering on a thrift store shelf for years on end. I say this because we also got several fancy crystal serving pieces that we did not register for. We never ever used then, moved them across the country twice, and continually got annoyed at the space they were taking up in our cabinets until I finally donated them. I am sure they are sitting on the same thrift store shelf that they got put on 5 years ago! So much guilt! I am sure they were expensive but anyone who knew us had to know we are not fancy crystal people!

RKS is so good, we even went to great lengths to see them live. It was 100% worth it! Fever Pitch is a great intro song.

All Alt-J is good Alt-J! We are a huge music family that likes all genres. Here are some of our current top plays: First Aid Kit Sarah Jarosz Billy Strings Punch Brothers Greta Van Fleet Rainbow Kitten Surprise (don't judge by the name) Portugal the Man Mount Joy Anand Wilder

I too think this guy is whack. But to speak to the original question. My dc is majoring in environmental engineering and minoring in ecology as they want to move to environmental science or ecology for grad school. One would think there would be some overlap, but there is not. They came in with 26 credits of DE, only 20 of which apply to the major/minor requirements and they will graduate in 4 years assuming there are no hiccups.

I am a planner, so I know how you feel. But I would recommend just going with the flow for now. My dc homeschooled all the way through and is now in college. At 5th grade, if asked, I would have told you there was no way I was going to homeschool high school, let alone started making plans. Right up until the start of 9th grade, neither of us was 100% committed. And it still worked out just fine. On cost, which will matter whether you homeschool or not, there is a wealth of info buried in this forum. My family is very pragmatic. My dc could have gotten into and done well at a *much* "better" school than where they are attending. But we have zero college savings. We made compromises and chose a school that stacked up scholarships and merit aid to be full tuition. Dc will graduate with a respectable degree with no debt. The school is still a fine choice and challenging despite not being a tippy-top university. In your shoes, I would for sure financially plan and understand the tools available to you. It is never too soon to do that. But I am a prime example that things happen and the best laid plans can and do go awry. I do believe there is an affordable option for almost any kid as long as everyone is willing to make compromises.

I would encourage minimalism. This coming from the mom of a kid in a very very VERY small dorm room. We are local so I visit periodically and it hurts my head to see how packed some of the rooms are. Mine is lucky because things not in use can be stored at home and are easily accessible and the roommate also does not have much. Also, one year goes very fast! Mine will be moving into a large house with tons or space so anything we bought that was dorm-specific would be useless after what seems like a very short time. We also found that although command strips are allowed, whatever paint they use seems to be in conflict with the strips. They don't hold. Dorms are often overheated so a fan is nice to have. Eye mask and ear plugs are good for communal living.