I am so sorry askye. Hoping Laura is recovering quickly and painlessly. Hoping doggo is nothing much, pix.

Everyone else in the omicron of it all, calm and negative tests for you all.

I am drowning in work and unable to focus on doing much. Rant ahead: Our health department, which is where we have directed people to for months to get quarantine guidelines and the specifics on when to test if exposed, stopped giving out that info at at least one number (the number I had been giving out) and directed employees to email an email box that I alone monitor. Some people at Health seemed to be under the impression that because OHR sets policy on when people can return to work that we should be the ones giving that out?!?! The return to work policy is “when you have completed the health dept directed quarantine time AND are symptom free ”. We still need them to give out the medically determined quarantine times! And that only covers people who have tested and are positive. I am not about to start giving out medical advise. My boss is also about to lose her mind dealing with them.

This is on top of me alone being the person reviewing religious accommodation requests. No guidance on if I can not approve anyone. NO GUIDANCE. Just 70+ forms of wakkadoos to read through and check for signatures, I guess.

I can’t really even talk about it, but I so sympathize, Msbelle. Our students need to have PCR tests before they come to orientation tomorrow. They don’t have to be negative. Before break they said they could get them here. Today they need to get them on their own. Nine out of 73 students have them. Did I mention they need them to attend tomorrow?

Oh msbelle that sounds awful! Much sympathy

My work is not at all interesting in its onerousness, it’s just…every year as the pressure builds during the Xmas shopping season we all naturally think “in January I’ll be able to breathe again” and then we get to January and hahahanope. I feel like this probably happens every year and I just forget.

I’m sorry, Sophia, WHAT?! None of that makes sense. What a mess.

Yes, the policy is that you can come with a positive PCR and no Self- reported symptoms but can’t come with no PCR??? Which it is now sort of too late to get?

My next door neighbor thinks his post-holidays flu may in fact be Covid-19, so I'm invoking "UNCLEAN!" protocols and running the other way when we meet in the stairwell for the next week or so unless he gets a negative test result. I'm thankful that the amount of family togetherness over Christmas break has kept me from feeling like visiting friends the past week.

Msbelle and Sophia, that sounds like a shitshow, I’m sorry.

With the weather here and omicron I’m so feeling cozy burrow don’t leave the house but I need to remember that (a) it’s good for me and (b) I still need to reach out to friends even if I’m nesting.

I maybe should get tested, but the lines at the in-person sites are really long - several blocks with social distancing.

I've invoking the Unclean protocols on myself. Either this is and I don't want to expose people while I wait to test or it ins't and I don't want to be exposed while I wait to test. I'm isolated anyways. Omicron, sinus infection, blah and who can say.

God this country is a shitshow in places. I really hope we rise above eventually. At some point.

I will say, the several-blocks-long line I waited in last week only took an hour to get through, and I felt fine being outside for the vast majority of it with pretty much everyone in a mask.

But yes, everything is a shitshow. I'm especially sorry for you on the front lines of it, msbelle and Sophia!

Well I got through about 40 of the religious waivers. So now I’m going to bed and will go into the office tomorrow to set up a computer for a new employee that does not have any work, but if I can get him access to emails I can basically use him as an intern until his job duties start.