Also, interesting on the quarantine. I have a student from Florida who is supposed to come in for one day to do simulation. I am not sure we can ask her to come two weeks early and quarantine, but I also don't think we can let her come. We are doing simulation in an actual Operating Room that will be used for patients. No one wants to be the school who causes an outbreak.

Hil, I think being feet away from a friend outside has got to be OK, because we will all lose our minds.

I think one of the narratives missing in the coverage the abject loneliness of an unpartnered person with no children. The partnered people with children have challenges that I can never dream of but when my options for contact with another live human person are going to the store unnecessarily or seeing a friend, I think I would rather see a friend.

Yeah, agreed. A friend of mine was saying she didn't touch another person from February to her dental appointment last week.

I'm tempted to COMM this sans context.

Hee.

No one wants to be the school who causes an outbreak.

MA is doing so well, and I'm really worried about the fall when all the students come back, because it's not like they stay on campus.

I think the colleges are going to about-face and go all-virtual, unless something changes very soon. Private colleges tend to start late, but a lot of the public colleges (especially in the south!) start in early August.

We don't have a decision on a plan from the school board yet, and school is supposed to start August 15, for example. That is in 6 weeks.

A friend of mine was saying she didn't touch another person from February to her dental appointment last week.

huh. yeah, I wonder about that. like other than handing people things or getting change I wonder if I've touched anyone. Without Bailey and now Miley I would be much worse off. I talk to them A LOT. I pet and kiss on them A LOT.

My neighbors are good for talking to people even briefly at least once a day, but touch... I don't think I have had any. Poor Sara and Lisa when we get a vaccine - the hugs they will have to endure.

I think the colleges are going to about-face and go all-virtual, unless something changes very soon.

Tufts just announced everyone's back on campus in the fall!

huh. yeah, I wonder about that. like other than handing people things or getting change I wonder if I've touched anyone. Without Bailey and now Miley I would be much worse off. I talk to them A LOT. I pet and kiss on them A LOT.

I'm sure that helps a ton! I realize how lucky I am to have my mother.

I think the colleges are going to about-face and go all-virtual, unless something changes very soon.

I'm starting to think so, too. So many colleges are putting out plans for fall that just make no sense at all. I've seen speculation that all-virtual was the plan all along, but the schools wouldn't admit it until after the acceptances and deposits were in.

West Chester University already announced they'll be back in person this fall. The public schools are still deciding. My mom's Friends School is going back in person, too, at least partly, but that's mostly because if they don't, they would probably need to close.

I'm lucky to have the kids and the dog for touch and hugs. Also, the young baker at work, J., is the sweetest soul, and she gives the best hugs whenever needed, and is also happy to get them.

Last Saturday I saw my mom and stepdad at their house, very socially distanced, because they're even more careful than I am. They only go out to pick up their online grocery order, and otherwise are pretty isolated. I felt pretty comfortable with seeing them, and it was a short visit.

Then Sunday (Father's Day), Tim and I went to see my dad, after confirming with Dad that I was not comfortable eating at a restaurant, but we could get takeout and eat it at his place. And we did that. But my dad has been working at Kroger all along, through the pandemic, and I've been super hesitant to see him because of that. He's required to wear a mask at work, but masks primarily protect other people, not the mask wearer. (In theory, Dad is protected from other employees -- assuming they all wear their masks, and wear them properly -- but not from customers who refuse to wear a mask.)

Before we decided to visit my dad, Tim and I talked it through, and concluded that it was probably okay to visit him as long as we stayed 6 feet apart and didn't go to a restaurant. And, as far as we know, my dad is healthy. But the problem is that you can't know for sure without a test, and my dad hasn't been tested for Covid-19.

All of that is to say that I've had low- to middle-grade anxiety ever since we saw Dad last week, and I probably won't actually feel at ease until another week has passed.

I've seen speculation that all-virtual was the plan all along, but the schools wouldn't admit it until after the acceptances and deposits were in.

I would not be willing to pay full tuition for virtual learning. It's so expensive and it's such a shadow of a real classroom experience. I'd take the gap year.

The Universities here in Texas are still saying we'll be here in person for the fall but, really, they mean the football season. They want that revenue even more than tuition.