Work
A week or two after my last post our school decided to mail out the students' paper packets. We had so many people who didn't come pick up their packets for multiple weeks and it was a bit annoying to store them. Mailing packets of course meant the literal cost of packets went way up. However, I think it was worth it because it insured that everyone would receive their packet even if they were at work during packet pick-up/drop-off time and if their address was incorrect it forced them to contact us and update their information. In case y'all didn't know, schools really appreciate having up-to-date phone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses! It is VITAL during this time of remote learning.
Our principal has now shifted the paper packet work to a couple of the Assistant Principals and their secretaries so it is no longer part of my job. I can't say that I'll miss it! I'm keeping fairly busy with student enrollments and sending/receiving student records. This past Friday I was on the team that assisted with handing out senior graduation things (cap & gown, cords, National Honor Society stoles, etc). We had people drive up and a staff member asked their graduate's name. We had pre-printed papers with grad names which they then put on their dash. When they drove around we were able to see the grad's name and grab their things. It went well, all things considered. It took about four hours to serve around 400 students. The biggest issue we had was students who had not paid for their cords and did not have cash. We were able to have them pull to the side and pay online via their smartphone and then show us the receipt. I survived with only a minor sunburn!
Friend with COVID-19
My family friend who was diagnosed with COVID-19 is out of the hospital! Of course they are not yet out of the forest but things are looking good. I am determined to stay optimistic and continue praying. So far they (and possibly their spouse) are the only people I know personally who definitely had COVID-19.
Texas is Opening Up
The big news of the hour came from Texas governor Abott who announced yesterday that the state will start re-opening. I found these helpful graphics from a nearby city:
Personally, I probably won't be going out more than I already do (about once per week to work and the grocery store). I think that many people will do the same which means that things are only going to change a little. That's exactly what I want to see: small changes taken slowly so that we have time to collect data and analyze it. I really wish we had more testing and better transmission tracking but we have to play the hand we are dealt. My spouse and I agree that it would be very interesting to see more tests for antibodies since data seems to show that a large number of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic. Even if we find out that a great majority of us have the antibodies, I do not regret our sheltering in place and having an abundance of caution. From what I'm seeing, we successfully flattened the curve . . . for now. It is important that we don't get antsy and suddenly re-open everything all at once. From what I understand, that happened with the 1918 Flu*.
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| From the CDC website. Please note this show the UK and it shows both flu and pneumonia deaths |
Our House
My spouse and I have started some big work on our house. Two weeks ago a company came out and built another room on our house! I am calling it the "sunroom" because it has a bunch of windows and therefore sun. It's a bit pretentious but I honestly couldn't think of a better name for it. My spouse knocked out the old window and we will be building a half-wall in its place. The goal is to have a long counter with a large aquarium that can be seen from the sunroom and from the kitchen. Right now we are repairing the brick work and we are going to seal it to keep moisture out. Next will be adding the flooring. It looks like we will be doing an epoxy because it is very durable and we will need that since this room will mainly be used by our dogs and birds. We also need to repair the hot water closet because it used to be an outdoor closet but is now indoor. It is definitely showing its age.
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| So many windows! The roof is at an angle although it looks flat in this photo. |
Well this post got a lot longer than I meant. I really need to update this blog more often! You'd think with all this time at home that I would write more but life is weird. I feel stressed all the time about small things, I sometimes don't sleep at night (I keep waking up and I'm convinced that I have to stay awake for some reason or I wake up and think that I need to wash my hands immediately), and some days just doing the bare basics (get up, get dressed, eat, check email) is the most I can do. I am learning to be very flexible with myself because there are days I am super motivated and I can get all the work for my job done plus laundry, dishes, and a small home project (like cleaning my desk). Other days I find myself eating granola bars all day because even cooking a box of macaroni and cheese would require too much effort. Life is weird, y'all. It's really weird.
-Clare G. S.
*Side note - I'm sure someone noticed that I prefer to call it the 1918 Flu and not the Spanish Flu. Calling it the 1918 Flu is more accurate because that is the year we started to see cases. Spain was not the origin of the flu but was more likely to have reports in the newspapers due to censorship in other countries who were part of World War I. In the same vein, I prefer to call the current pandemic COVID-19 because it is an accurate description of it. Yes, I am confident COVID-19 originated in China but I have heard that people of Asian decent are being attacked because people think Asians are spreading it. If there is even a small chance this is true, it's not worth re-naming the flu to something like the Wuhan Flu. COVID-19 is a clear name so that's what I'll be using.
