DC1 was exposed to covid in study hall this week. Fun times. Oddly the number of cases in the district has dropped dramatically… still high for those of you in sane places but much lower than the first month of school. I don’t know if this is lack of reporting or if people have been masking/vaccinating/recovered because of how bad it was. A local college student died of covid which seems to have spurred better behavior, though what a terrible sacrifice.
Scalzi with a reminder not to get complacent about politics.
Interesting thread on one company’s experience with a company-wide vaccine mandate.
This guardian article could have been paid for by the period underpants industry, it’s so convincing. Has anybody tried these?
It’s common for people to say that nobody on their death bed ever wishes they’d worked more. I thought this poem (h/t excelsiorbev) was refreshing. Ha! Or, maybe he’s talking about how he should have taken more of these moments… that’s one of the things about poetry, there’s often ambiguity. But I suspect the last line about chickenhawks and the previous line about horse poop may point to the former interpretation. Not that I believe the farmer has wasted his life, but perhaps if I stop now, I will have wasted mine. DH’s company did a company-wide meeting and they had to talk about what drives them and most people had some sort of variation of helping people (which makes sense because this is one of those startups that will save lives if they are successful). I would have said making the world a better place. Poetry, man. Thought-provoking. Introspective.
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
September 18, 2021 at 4:08 am
I’ve never tried period underwear, but I really like my menstrual cup. It feels better than tampons or pads, it’s left in longer, and you don’t have to carry extras around. Until you want to take it out, it’s as if it’s not there.
That article really played up sustainability as a reason people use period underwear. I’m always hesitant to assume that any sustainability fad is actually better for the environment, since they seem to focus way too heavily on eliminating single use items/packaging/especially plastic and on buying organic as opposed to limiting actual overall impact (which is less obvious and harder to measure). But the period underwear sound great beyond that, similar to my experience with a cup.
September 18, 2021 at 10:10 am
My older daughter has tried period underwear. She likes them but hasn’t asked me to buy her more (we started with a pack of two and I said if she wanted me to buy her enough to get through an entire period I would). You do have to rinse them out before you wash them and I think that hassle during a week when she’s already achy and grumpy might be what’s stopping her. I should ask her if she wants to try a cup.
September 18, 2021 at 11:25 am
I’m tempted to try period underwear as a backup to a tampon when I’m in the OR and can’t necessarily get to the bathroom when I want to. Have had a few close calls recently.
September 18, 2021 at 6:54 pm
So sorry to hear about DC’s exposure — hope ze will be OK, but aiyiyiyi, such times.
September 19, 2021 at 7:00 am
It is actually the fourth exposure this year.
I read people in sane states who are freaking out about getting a call from a contact tracer about a single exposure. They would not even be able to imagine it here. Four exposures and the way we find out is by comparing the list of class period exposures each day to DC1’s schedule. They only keep each day’s spreadsheet up for at most 24 hours (though it seems like the new one is posted at random times between the end of school and midnight), so you have to be vigilant.
September 20, 2021 at 6:32 am
Ugh. Yeah. Thus far, touch wood, we’ve had one case at DC’s school (5 weeks into the school year). The other high schools in our district have had 7, 4, and 1. All the data are posted, by school and week, on a spreadsheet linked on the front page of the school system website and dating back to last April (when the hybrid model opened after having been fully virtual). So, yes. It’s possible to get this stuff right, or at least a lot better. Our school district is pretty affluent, which obviously helps, and I do know one person who pulled her elementary school out of a district school because of inconsistent mask-wearing by the teacher, so clearly … not perfect. But better than what you’re dealing with, for sure. I’m sorry about what you’re dealing with. Ugh.
September 20, 2021 at 6:35 am
One case! That’s amazing! We have had almost 900 since school started, with 100 at DC1’s school and 35 at what would have been DC2’s school. Nearly 200 at the other high school (which had half as many cases as we did last year and has a higher SES).
September 20, 2021 at 7:30 am
Yikes. For reference, the denominator here is ~850 students in DC’s school, ~12K for the district overall (74 cases district-wide so far this school year). Testing is (a) surveillance, optional — not sure of opt-in rate + (b) mandatory, staff and student athletes who aren’t fully vaxed; plus of course presumably + (c) symptomatic — fingers crossed. And case counts include everyone, staff, students they are not breaking that down.
Our county is almost 80% vaxed, including the teens.
September 20, 2021 at 7:36 am
So… roughly the same size then.
Testing here is only as private citizens through local pharmacies and hospitals, backed up, and non-trivial to get in a timely manner. So our numbers are likely undercounts.
The numbers say we’re 50% vaccinated, but who actually knows since we have so many college students.
September 20, 2021 at 7:59 am
Yeah … our college students may also be driving the proportion vaxed down, though they report (voluntary, honor system) being highly vaxed (more than the general population in fact, though of course none of them are <12). They have no particular motivation to lie as there are no institutional burdens @ the university to not being vaxed so … maybe?
September 20, 2021 at 8:05 am
It’s really hard to say what direction the students here drive the rates because many of our students who are vaccinated got one of their shots here and one at home while others got both here or both back at home. That just plays havoc with the county-level rates (which seem to be a simple #shots/#people calculation from what I can tell). I don’t even know what denominator they put the students in or what data they’re using for population.
September 18, 2021 at 9:56 pm
For some reason all my social media has been flooded with period underwear ads for the past 2 years, even though I can’t remember the last time I bought any period product whatsoever. I feel like one IUD every 7 years is wins for sustainability and convenience but of course they’re not for everyone. And don’t get rid of everyone’s period. I’ve suggested period underwear for people who are annoyed by incontinence during exercise but not to the point of wanting treatment…but haven’t seen any of them back to hear if they tried them.
September 19, 2021 at 12:51 pm
FB thinks I REALLY need to try period underwear but I have not been tempted. Also they want me to try bras for both big and small breasts. At least there are still some things FB doesn’t know…
September 19, 2021 at 3:29 pm
Oh yeah, FB would also like to sell me bras for small-chested women and assorted bras and tops for breastfeeding, which, nope and nope.
September 19, 2021 at 12:53 pm
That Amber Ruffin video made my day! I think Teresa’s right about IUD for the win.Now that 40-year-old me got salpingectomy as permanent BC I’m re-evaluating what works and may get some period panties for crampy days and occasional incontinence. I love the cup – empty and handwash it every 12 hours and stick it in the dishwasher at the end of my period. I also don’t get uncomfortable like I did with tampons at the beginning of my cycle.
September 19, 2021 at 4:32 pm
One of my closest friends uses period underwear and swears by it. I was very tempted myself but it’s not a need any longer. Fingers crossed that nothing comes of this exposure and that people keep on being more careful now that there’s been a death.
September 19, 2021 at 5:48 pm
Sadly this is just one of a few hundred covid deaths in our county, but the first of a healthy college student in town.