Primary Day, Leap Day, weekend stuff

Happy Leap Day! And it's the day to vote in the Primaries here in South Carolina. As soon as I have a cup or two of coffee, and take a shower, I'll be going out to do my civic duty. But I'm not excited about it. All of the Democratic candidates have flaws and I've had a hell of a time trying to decide which one to vote for. In fact, I'm still not 100% certain. I've been thinking hard about it all week and wishing the Democrats could get their sh*t together and put forward better candidates. No matter who I vote for, Biden is almost certain to win SC. The African American community (the biggest Democratic voting population in this state) strongly back him. I like Biden okay, but he's just too old in my opinion. (I say that not because of his biological age, but due to some of his debate performances early on. He just looked kind of lost and confused, and it made me cringe). He should have run last time, and now I fear it's too late for him. Ah, well. I'm used to my vote not making one iota of difference. When you're liberal and progressive and live in South Carolina, even if the candidate you vote for wins, it won't be because of good ol' SC. We're one of the reddest of red states. I still go vote my conscience every time though and have done since I turned 18.

My dad finally got to come home on Thursday afternoon. He's better than he was, and I'm glad he's home and feeling better, but he's in bad shape. He's wearing a LifeVest, which is a wearable defibrillator, until they can decide if he's going to have a pacemaker put in or an ablation of one of the valves in his heart. He has congestive heart failure and a very weak heart muscle as well as pulmonary hypertension, high blood pressure, and terrible venostasis in his lower legs and feet. They had to send him home with oxygen, too. My mom's been having a hard time coping with it all, and since I was there when they brought in the LifeVest and explained all the (relatively complicated) ins and outs of it, I had to teach her how to use and maintain it. I drove dad home when they released him (45 minutes away), showed mom how the vest worked, and met with the man delivering the oxygen to their house and helped get it set up. Mom was very, very grateful for all of the help, and dad too, of course. I'm worried about both of them, but hopefully things will settle down a little now that he's at home. I missed a good deal of work this week. My coworkers and the principal were very understanding and accommodating, and I'm very grateful for that. To say it's been a stressful week would be an understatement.

On Tuesday our school district's Superintendent put out an open letter for parents, students, staff, and the community about steps being taken to prepare for Coronavirus. Holy hell. I didn't quite realize things had gotten to that point. Here's a copy of the letter:

Dear Parents,
With all the recent influx of information regarding the Coronavirus and flu, we wanted to assure you that F1S is monitoring the situation closely, implementing a plan and taking initial precautionary steps, with continued guidance from SC DHEC. The school district has purchased disinfectant wipes for all classrooms; hard surfaces and commonly used objects will be vigilantly cleaned and disinfected. All custodial staff are aware of our increased efforts and will implement them into their duties as well.

School nurses will be monitoring students who present with symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath and coughing. Any student with a fever will be required to leave school and will not be allowed to return until fever-free for 24 hours without any fever-reducing medicine, as is required under normal DHEC guidelines.

We also wanted to share some simple ways to prevent the spread of illness including:
• Washing hands often
• Avoiding contact with sick people
• Staying home while you are sick
• Covering mouth/nose with a sleeve or tissue when sneezing or coughing
• Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces

• Avoiding touching eyes, mouth and nose

Florence 1 Schools also has an e-Learning protocol in place in the event that the district has to close for any reason. If an e-Learning day is required, students will be able to complete assignments on their district-issued Chromebooks. Information regarding e-Learning can be found on the Florence 1 Schools website at https://www.f1s.org/domain/3540.

If you have any questions, DHEC has a Care Line available at 1-855-472-3432. You can also talk with the nurse at your school.

Sincerely,
Richard O’Malley, Ed. D.
Superintendent, Florence 1 Schools

After watching news reports about global disruption in supply chains due to the virus, Gregg and I decided to be proactive and we're stocking up household supplies, medicines, and non perishable food. That's something we like to do when hurricane season approaches anyway, and we have plenty of pantry and storage space to store some extra stuff. I'm not too worried about it, but a well-stocked larder is peace of mind when any kind of emergency comes up, so I'll be doing some extra shopping this weekend.

Well, off to finish my coffee and hit the road. The polling place for our new house is actually at my school! So I'll be going to work on a Saturday. :) I'm still pleased that we bought a house less than 2 miles from where I work.

What are you up to this weekend?