August 2020 Chat Thread

[Bean]

My husband's been doing a daily photo diary, so they've probably seen more of it than I have!

We've had a scorcher of a weekend, and it still seems nice today, but my weather app is predicting thunderstorms most days. We'll see how it goes, but I got all the washing cleared yesterday!

[3piggles]

I've been watching the chances of rain, so I do most of the laundry to hang out to dry, when it's not raining. We swim on Tuesdays and Fridays, and wash our suits and towels when we got home. If we have no other laundry, that fits on the accordion rack. Otherwise, it all goes out on the line.

We've had another heat wave. Today is the last day, though the humidity(it feels like a steam room outside) isn't dissipating until sometime tomorrow. It was hot and steamy outside when we went to bed last night Last year we had 10 days of 90F or hotter. We've already had 20 this year, and August isn't over. We are going into a cooler stretch, of mid to high 80sF can be considered cool, but at least the overnight temps will abate, so people without a/c can get some sleep.

We got hurricane Isaias on August 8, and about 30K people in Connecticut don't have their electricity restored, and didn't for the heatwave. That must have been awful. Temps got close to 100F here, and Connecticut is farther south than we are Everyone has electricity restored in NH, which is great, as they missed the worst of the heatwave.

You don't get many scorchers, do you? It must be really nice, though I'd still want my a/c on the few scorcher days. Doubt we could afford it over there.

One local school returned to sessions yesterday. They must have a/c, or it would have been horrible in that building.

[Bean]

We seem to be getting more record temperatures as the years go on...

Yesterday ended up being really hot again. It was quite nice during the day, although I had a few jobs to do in the garden which left me a bit hot and bothered! But last night was way too warm. I slept really badly - I feel like I cooked instead of slept. AC would have been nice!

[3piggles]

I don't know if we're in a hot phases, like El Nino v La Nina, if it's global warming, or what, but the heat seems to be everywhere. I friend in CA is having anxiety attacks being trapped in the house because it's too hot for him to go outside. There's no humidity in CA. Another friend regularly posts his weather station readout on Facebook, and it's like 108F with 2% humidity. Hot on the skin, but people unlike here, where it's a steam room, there people are getting dehydrated.

We haven't set any record temps, just twice as many days of 90F+ than we had last year. Tomorrow is going to be a close one, too, as it's forecast to be in the high 80s. By Friday, the humidity should be clearing out, finally!

It's got to be hard to justify any form of a/c when electricity is really expensive, and you use it so seldom. They old-you could spend the money, now, and not need it again for several years. Is it worth the money? At the time, it definitely seems so.

[bazookagoof]

Aug 12, 2020 21:36:06 GMT 3piggles said:

I don't know if we're in a hot phases, like El Nino v La Nina, if it's global warming, or what, but the heat seems to be everywhere. I friend in CA is having anxiety attacks being trapped in the house because it's too hot for him to go outside. There's no humidity in CA. Another friend regularly posts his weather station readout on Facebook, and it's like 108F with 2% humidity. Hot on the skin, but people unlike here, where it's a steam room, there people are getting dehydrated.

We haven't set any record temps, just twice as many days of 90F+ than we had last year. Tomorrow is going to be a close one, too, as it's forecast to be in the high 80s. By Friday, the humidity should be clearing out, finally!

It's got to be hard to justify any form of a/c when electricity is really expensive, and you use it so seldom. They old-you could spend the money, now, and not need it again for several years. Is it worth the money? At the time, it definitely seems so.

I love central air, so I can't live without it. However, if the temperature drops I have no issue turning it off and opening the windows. Over here, the temps vary, as does the humidity level. I don't complain about it; it sure beats winter!

[Bean]

You can get portable AC units that many people really like, so that would probably be the best solution for us if nights like we're having at the moment are anything but the exception. We could stick them in the shed for most of the year (well actually, I don't know if there's space for anything else at the moment...!). But at the moment it doesn't happen often enough to motivate us to do anything about it.

We haven't had any of those promised thunderstorms, although they've been pretty dramatic in other parts of the country. We've just had continuing heat and humidity! High temperatures can certainly make getting out and about really difficult for a lot of people. I hope it's not too long before your friend can escape, 3piggles.

[3piggles]

Today should be the last yucky day for a few. Temps are supposed to drop a lot more overnight tonight, than they have for the last several nights, and much less humidity.

We're discussing getting an a/c for the shed. The shed has no insulation, which is partly why it's so hot, so hubby would have to insulate the shed before installing the a/c. They can be expensive once the cooling season begins, but by Fall, stores want to reduce their inventory, so a/c units go on deep sales. It's definitely the best time to buy one, as long as we have the storage space to keep it over the winter. I'm also hoping having to move everything out of the shed to insulate will be the impetus to finally get the right storage in the shed, instead of trying to use all the different shelving units we've accumulated. He can build shelving to suit his needs and space, instead.

Those portable a/c units are nice, but as you said, you have to have a place to store it for all the days you don't need it. That's one reason a/c units are often built into the side of the house, instead of taking up a window we then can't open when the temp drops for a while.

[Bean]

Our temperatures have dropped about 10c now. It's pretty grey and drizzly, I wouldn't mind it being a bit nicer for the summer holidays please!

Just watching the news (rare these days!) with the latest government guidelines - people coming back from France now have to quarantine (lots of indignant holidaymakers on the news saying they can't afford to lose 2 weeks wages, but how did they not think there was a decent chance of this happening when they chose to go in the middle of a pandemic?) but lots of other businesses can reopen - stuff like beauty salons and bowling alleys.

[3piggles]

Did the country announce the quarantines before people went abroad, or after they returned? I think it's expect of a government to announce such things before a whole lot of people go traipsing around the world, only to end up in lockdown for 14 days, and as they said, not working. Especially since the whole world economy has tanked due to this pandemic, and we all need to get every working person who can safely work, working, that was really bad time on everyone's part

The largest hospital in the state's largest city announced it has no more COVID-19 patients. All have recovered and left the hospital. That's quite a step in the right direction, since for a while, no one but COVID patients and the worst emergencies, could get a hospital bed. The virus isn't gone, but we're getting there, slowly, but steadily.

We did our first swim sharing a lane, and there was another couple there, sharing a lane, so 6 people got to swim in the four lanes, for that session. Not bad I think it would be okay to allow close friends and family members to swim together, people who are around each other all the time anyway, just as a married couple is, sisters, brothers, best friends, etc., as long as they have no temp when they enter the building. There's an employee at the door to take everyones temp, so it really shouldn't matter, as long as they have a connection. It would also only possibly double the number of people in the locker rooms at any time, from a possible 4 between the mens and womens, to a possible 8. I think we could manage that without overwhelming the air recirculation system. Anyway, it was still a great swim. We were close enough for me to check what lap we were swimming, without having to get his attention across a couple of lanes. All good

[Bean]

There are a bunch of other countries on the quarantine list, and they announced it about 24 hours before it was due to come into effect. There was a mad scramble for flights, Eurostar and ferries to return. Apparently social distancing went out the window! Genius planning as always, but I also think anyone going abroad knew this list of countries that you have to quarantine after visiting could change at any point, so I'm not sure why anyone who took that chance is so surprised/ heartbroken/ angry/ appalled (just a selection of comments from the news). It's just how things are going to be for some time.

Glad sharing a lane worked out! It's definitely better for them to get a few more bodies through the door, as well as it being better for more of their customers to be able to stay fit.

[3piggles]

You're right. They should have anticipated it, and planned for, and apparently did neither. If they need to be back at work, and are that important to their bosses, why didn't their bosses ban traveling outside the country? As you said, another great job of planning by everyone 🙄

[Bean]

The A Level results released last week have been a complete shambles. They've seemingly ignored the mock exam results and teacher's predicted grades (which they said would be used in lieu of them not having been able to sit exams) and just used some wonky algorithm that spreads out all the grades for each institution based on how well each school/ college has done in previous years. These results have been used to distribute the grades for pupils this year, regardless of how well they had been expected to form individually.

So kids at private schools have generally done really well as they have a consistent history of strong results, but about 40% of other kids (most at state schools) have done worse than predicted (and generally results tend to improve year on year). There are loads of stories about pupils predicted As who have got Ds for the first time in their lives and are in danger of losing their places at university if they can't get them raised on appeal really quickly (and there are so many people doing this, I wouldn't blame them for having little confidence it will be done in time).

GCSE results are due this week - will they be any fairer?

[3piggles]

Oh, no That's basically saying the person who won the race last week gets the win again this week, since the race was rained out Is the appeals process doable, or a complete joke? Unis will know this happened, and know the results have little to do with the students actual ability or grades, but are going to have a terrible time figuring out exactly how each applicant fits into the algorithm, if they bother to do that Sigh

[bazookagoof]

Another rat was spotted this week, so now I've set snap-traps in the garage where they're likely hiding out.

My wife said she saw another method of catching them, but it involves getting them to jump into a bucket of water & drowning themselves.

This doesn't seem better than the snap-trap. I can't bring myself to do this.

In a perfect world, I could just chase them away and they'd go elsewhere.

[Bean]

Sounds difficult! Just make sure you check the traps frequently so you can help despatch anything caught in it but not killed by it - a horrible thought, but if it has to be done, you can help ensure it's as painless as possible!

There was a U-turn yesterday - the appeals process (which is usually okay) simply can't cope with the volume there'll be, so they've now decided to accept teacher's predicted grades (which many think have been inflated, hence why they weren't accepted before). So there are lots of teenagers who had been rejected by their chosen universities on the basis of the dodgy algorithm, who are now desperately trying to get in touch to see if they'll reinstate the offer or if their place has already been filled. Shambles!

[3piggles]

That would be a huge lawsuit in the US, and yes, the government can be, and often is, sued. I really hope the universities waited for this to be sorted, before giving away any slots.

Do you visit the schools before applying, or is it more of a go local or go for a special degree? Visiting colleges and universities is huge over here, as it has to be a good fit for the student, or the student won't last very long.

I don't know if you've heard of the American cooking show/blogger Ree Drummond/The Pioneer Woman. She's from Arkansas. She went to L.A. to college to get away from Arkansas, met and married a rancher from Arkansas, and now lives on a huge ranch in the middle of nowhere, everything she hated. I knew students who went to a school a long way from home, just to get away from their parents, and students who went locally, so they weren't far from their parents, students who went to a specific school for a degree program, and those who went where they got accepted. Is it the same way over there?

Speaking of lawsuits, our Moron in Chief demanded the US Postal Service make some major changes to its service, just before the huge number of mail-in ballots would be hitting the system. They were supposed to remove a large number of mailboxes, discontinue using some of their mail processing centers, and lay off A LOT of people. The USPS has never been solvent, but it's something the government needs to provide, even if needs subsidizing. POTUS thought he'd make sure all the mail-in ballots for Joe Biden didn't get delivered in time, so he would get voted in by default. The Attorneys General of 12 states filed lawsuits against the federal government, and the whole plan was dropped. I guess the mailboxes were removed in some places, so they'll have to be put back.

[bazookagoof]

Aug 18, 2020 23:57:48 GMT 3piggles said:

Speaking of lawsuits, our Moron in Chief demanded the US Postal Service make some major changes to its service, just before the huge number of mail-in ballots would be hitting the system. They were supposed to remove a large number of mailboxes, discontinue using some of their mail processing centers, and lay off A LOT of people. The USPS has never been solvent, but it's something the government needs to provide, even if needs subsidizing. POTUS thought he'd make sure all the mail-in ballots for Joe Biden didn't get delivered in time, so he would get voted in by default. The Attorneys General of 12 states filed lawsuits against the federal government, and the whole plan was dropped. I guess the mailboxes were removed in some places, so they'll have to be put back.

I've been following this, and although I plan to vote by mail, my plan is to drop my ballot off at the ballot box in my precinct. That way, even if the mail delivery has been sabotaged, this method bypasses it.

[Bean]

Universities all have open days for prospective students to visit, and most people will go to a few before deciding. Many decide on the best place for their course or the reputation of the university, others based on where they want to live, others just go where anywhere that'll have them!

The universities didn't know that so many results were all going to be changed, that's never been done before. So they had already started proceeding as normal - offering the remaining places (from students not making the grades) to other students, which they can't really now withdraw. It's tricky.

Intake for some courses can often be nudged up slightly, but for courses like medicine and veterinary science where there are a strictly limited number of places, it's more likely to be an issue. They're saying they don't think too many will miss out on their chosen university, but I'm not too convinced yet. And even if it's not a massive number, that's not much consolation if you're one of the people who has been affected.

And then add in the fact many courses are being run online for the first term. It's a strange academic year.

[3piggles]

That "not too many" will not be accepted by their chosen uni reminds me of Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos saying only about 2% of children exposed to COVID-19 at school will die, and that's not that many. As you said, it's a freakingly huge number, if you're one of the victims, and that fact that you aren't one of many makes absolutely no difference

We vote by mail, or actually absentee, which just means we get the ballots sent to us by the town clerk, and can either mail them in, or return them in person. We've been doing that since 2017, and we return them ballots in person. That's really not the point, though, as there are people who can't get out to vote because they have an auto immune disease, and can't take that risk. The USPS HAS to do it job, and once again, tRump has made a nasty fool of himself by trying to stop the USPS from being able to do its job, just when it's needed the most

[Bean]

Is that 2% old statistic? They're not still saying 2% of children will die, are they?

I understand it to be significantly under 1% of all children that get the virus will even hospitalised as a result, and of those only a few have died, most with pre-existing health conditions. It puts it as a much lower risk to kids' lives than, for example, getting knocked over walking to school. So I can understand some measure of risk acceptance as we all do that in our lives every day. But 'only 2% will die' doesn't sound like good odds!