Thursday, August 26, 2021

Just a Thursday update

 Thanks for all the positive feedback on my last post. It made me feel better about how busy I've been just recently. 

Things are still crazy at my job. Not really my job per se; so many students are out due to either having Covid or quarantining because they've had close contact with a person who tested positive that it's almost like last year with the A/B cohort days and some students using the all virtual option. I'll bet anywhere from a quarter to a third of our student body is out right now, and at the rate things are going I don't see how we'll manage to keep the schools open until Christmas break. A kid at one of our three public high schools actually died last week. It was a 15 year old girl who had some pre-existing health conditions, but it was Covid that killed her. Several staff members at our school have been out sick, and a couple ended up going to the hospital. This includes my teacher friend with MS. I've been so worried about her. She wasn't able to take the vaccine due to her MS treatments and it's monstrous that she had to come to work with the Delta variant raging in this community. I saw the other day that the ACLU is suing the state of South Carolina over the ban on mask mandates and virtual options for school, saying that it denies medically fragile students their rights to a public education. And it damn well does! We'll see what happens.

But my job is okay. I'm staying as safe as possible. Without the awful coworker from last year around things feel much better and the work is a little bit more fairly divided. And hey! I get a lunch break now! That's progress. 

Not much to report on the home front. I picked the last four (half green) Brandywine tomatoes the other day and now the garden is ready to be torn down and cleaned up. I harvested an astonishing 53 pounds of tomatoes this year and more jalapenos than I know what to do with. The last of those (the jalapenos) need to be picked and pickled if I can manage to find any canning jars to put them in.  I'm out and they're hard to find this year. I'm currently drying two massive ristras of peppers and don't need any more of those. I can't believe how much four plants have produced!




 

30 comments:

  1. Congrats on your green thumb!

    As for your those idiots bringing Covid to your school? People will keep dying until they start using their single brain cell... which may never happen.

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    1. People won't take the vaccine, but they'll take livestock dewormer. What a world.

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  2. I am so jealous of your tomato and jalapeno crop!!! I see salsa for months!

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    1. I made some excellent salsa earlier in the summer! It's almost gone, though.

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  3. I always used to bottle Ratatouille (equal mix Tomatoes, Peppers, Aubergines, Courgettes), but not a single jar this year. Oh dear!

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  4. I can't imagine working in a school these days with so much Covid. I'm sorry to hear your friend with MS is in the hospital. It is especially frightening for people with other health issues. It is good to hear the ACLU is suing the state over banning masks. I hope they are successful. Here in Missouri our Attorney General is suing to prevent a mask mandate in the schools! How insane is that! And our hospitals are full.

    Those peppers look wonderful! You will get a lot of use out of those. Take care and stay safe Jennifer!

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    1. Just to clarify, my friend with MS isn't in the hospital. She had to go there for breathing treatments but she's okay and at home now. Thank goodness.

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  5. Sorry about your teacher friend being in hospital. She should never have been forced to come to work in her condition and under the circumstances! And how terrible that a student has died.
    It is not quite as bad over here, but the quick rise in case numbers is worrying nonetheless, and it may just be a question of time before things get pretty bad again here, too. Our politicians are admant that there won't be another lockdown, but what if that will be the only thing that helps? There are still too many who have not been vaccined (either because they don't want to or can't do it for medical reasons), and we know that some people have caught the virus in spite of being fully vaccined. Oh dear!

    The bundle of jalapenos looks very nice. Would make a great present for someone in your neighbourhood, I think.

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    1. We could be out of this mess already if people would be sensible. Alas, I'm beginning to think that's impossible. My friend isn't in the hospital; she went there for help breathing but she's home now and (hopefully) on the mend. The rise in case numbers and deaths is shocking.

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  6. The Covid news out of the US is heartbreaking and inexcusable, and all completely unnecessary and due to ignorance (and politics). I’m glad you’re OK and you have those gardens to enjoy. The peppers hanging in the kitchen are beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Mitchell! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with so many dried peppers, but I suppose I can always re-hydrate them and throw them in chili, soups, stews, etc. I hate for them to go to waste.

      I love the way hanging peppers look!

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  7. That string of peppers is a work of art.

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    1. Thank you! They look so pretty hanging there that I almost hate to use them. :)

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    2. By all means use them. You can hold your head up high on these.

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  8. I don't see how the schools can stay open either. It scares me that they are now.
    Please be safe.

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    1. I'm being as safe as I possibly can; luckily there's still a big plastic shield thing on the office counter and my desk is behind that, so when parents or students come in there's that between us. Thanks Mary.

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  9. Glad you are being careful, Jennifer. It is puzzling why we can't cooperate to make our world safer. Depressing!
    Your garden was a great investment that really paid off for you this year! If you have lots of extra peppers, you could make more hanging peppers to give as gifts! That looks terrific!

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    1. I'd love to make hanging peppers for gifts, what a great idea!

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  10. Your hanging peppers are so pretty. Like Ellen D. said, they would make fun gifts. I think you have two green thumbs. The university I retired from has a vaccine mandate for all employees and students, and no mask mandate. I wonder if they will remain open for classes all year.

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    1. From what I understand, lots of universities are returning to virtual. Then again, California is doing better this time with the "fourth surge" so maybe you all will be able to carry on with a more or less normal life. I hope so!

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  11. Schools here start next week, but at least our state has a mask mandate for schools. Still, it is a worry--especially for the younger kids. DD was supposed to go back to her office (worked remotely since Mar 2020) in early September, but now the numbers are skyrocketing again because there are just enough non-vaccinated around, so that plan may be on hold. Hard as heck on parents trying to juggle last minute changing school hours that are wreaking havoc on their work schedules. Wishing you (and Greg) safety and good health.

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    1. I'm so thankful I don't have kids during this mess. I'm not sure how parents are coping and I'm glad that's one less worry for me! Thanks Mary (and thanks for stopping by!)

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  12. You sound as though you are coping better with all the stuff at work Jennifer. People who think that the best way to deal with COVID is to ignore it and press on with life regardless of the facts and figures are as dumb as rocks.

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    1. Hi Neil! Yes, I'm coping much better this year. Covid is stressful, but I have no coworker issues right now at least. "Dumb as rocks" is a much nicer way to refer to them than I would have chosen! :)

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  13. I'm glad work is going better than last year, even if things are crazy with Covid. I'm sorry to hear the numbers are so dire. I just don't know what to expect when our students return Tuesday.

    This post made me very proud that I donate to the ACLU. :)

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  14. Texas being Texas I expect to see schools start closing any day......



    saaaaaaaaaaalsa

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  15. Happy to know school is much better but the covid is just awful for schools. Your peppers and tomatoes were very good this year plus your first try of having a garden !

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  16. Sounds like your tomato and pepper harvest was boutiful this year, Jennifer. Re: school/COVID/Idiots- I just cannot fathom some of the idiocy going on regarding mask & vaccine mandates. Adult humans fighting sensible shit is mind boggling. I don't know what's going on with this world right now. Hope things keep looking up for you at work. Stay safe!

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  17. Hard to know how the virus scenario is going to develop in the months ahead. Infection rates in the UK are gradually rising and with the schools starting to reopen that could push them higher.

    Glad your work situation has improved now the tiresome coworker has gone. Long may that continue.

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