Jiggy-Z

Sounds like he might have caught it at 31 flavors, check again.

I was gonna say, maybe alcohol enabling isn't the best idea right now. As I type this, I am drinking a Shiner. But seriously, it is one thing to have a few, and another to get really drunk and be worthless the next day. No judgment, I just think we all might feel better if we didn't let go just yet. If we are still here in a couple of weeks, then a reevaluation may be in order. Vince was down 12 with 4 minutes to go and he pulled it out. Hang on a little bit longer and you will be richly rewarded with Surly $ and rep points.

Big liquid oxygen strikes again.

Man on the street: Went by Central Market Westgate yesterday evening and there were no masking signs up at any of the doors I saw, not even the "mask recommended" type. Mask wearing was at about 50% in the store-non employee. They had a big band playing in the cafe for the olds, but it was pretty dead in there compared to a couple of weeks ago. Austin is bad right now and people are not getting the message.

Who knows what goes on all tucked away down there.

Gotta survive the surge -Mac Brown

Obligatory: In Russia , bomb disarm you.

What, no reefer madness?

Me too, class of '85, "The class with more class than the class with class"

I was keeping an eye on this. I knew you guys could make it...and with time to spare. Good job.

The marketing possibilities could be endless if there were a helmet face mask mask that went over the face mask instead of the mouth and nose. It could be the next big thing.

Hawaii got caught with its pants down. They eased a bunch of restrictions and just put most but not all of them back in place on the 11th. Just can't let your guard down.

I foresee a Surly school district Covid bracket challenge.

Looks like lunch is going to be an Achilles heel. Not sure what the logic is here. Hey, lets gather all students together at the one time of day where they absolutely have to take down their masks to eat and drink. But lunch was always going to be a problem anyway.

OK. The rest of the story from fallout yesterday afternoon. The wife wrote a strongly worded letter advocating for full mask use and made better arguments than I did. However, while she was working up the letter, one of the staff (vaccinated and no symptoms) tested positive for Covid, which caused the delayed start of school to Monday instead of today and a revision of the mask policy which is now everyone on campus. All exposed faculty and staff are being tested to see the extent of the spread, positive case is being quarantined and held out for prescribed amount of time, weekend test results will determine path going forward on Monday. So we were strangely fortunate to have a scare this early that hopefully will be dealt with so we can have in person class going forward. However, this is a small "progressive" school in central Austin with a staff that is 100% vaccinated and I daresay a student body that is close to that where eligible. I would be hard pressed to find a more ideal setting to deal with Covid effectively unless it were some kind of isolated community of Mennonites or something, and we still have issues. As others have said, regardless of mask and vaccination policy, any school of any size is going to be dealing with an absolute shit show for at least the next month. Good luck out there.

To deprive someone else from getting it. What is with this board today and the stupid questions?

If only there were a vaccine.

But I want it to be Ted Cruz.

Ted Cruz , you're up.

What alcohol would you recommend for an early crazy?

So on Sunday you will be living in the past. Got it.

Either they need to pretty up that graph or you are from the future.

I wonder if this is going to be like Halloween where all the other parts of town head over to get in on the rich people protest...er candy.

I'm not too concerned about the "muh rights" people. Just not many people going to this school that have that mindset. My concern is the effectiveness of the policy. Seems like the goal of a good policy would be to protect especially those who cannot get vaccinated yet (the under 12 group) and those who are otherwise not vaccinated by having all students wear a mask. Hell there are only 60 students and this wave is not going to last forever. Implementation is another issue. If this were my policy I would have armbands indicating if student is under 12 and another indicating vaccine status. Otherwise, how is the policy going to be enforced? Of course after a period of time this could be done away with as staff becomes familiar with student info. But why mess with that Nazi shit at all? Just have all wear a mask and be done with it. Seems like they are asking for an administrative headache for a policy that is going to be ineffective.

For Surly input, I present the Covid protocols for my kid's school. I have two school aged kids 13 and 15, both vaccinated. School is a small private school with at most 60 students in ATX. It is middle and high school aged kids only. My first impressions are does not go far enough, seems like it was made to please everybody, and difficult to enforce without flare. Wanted to get some group think on this for my response but mostly to have some ideas that are not my own when my wife quizzes me. I’ve listed below the measures with which we will begin the year: We are always keeping an eye on the wellness of our students, and always do a general wellness check as part of our morning arrival welcome and greeting. As always, if your student is showing signs of illness, they will be required to stay home. For students age 12+ who are unvaccinated, masks will be required. For students age 12+ who are vaccinated, masks will be optional. If your family is making the personal choice to mask even if vaccinated, we fully support you and will help to make sure your student is masking at school. We know that some of you have people at home who cannot vaccinate, and will support your student to mask for an extra layer of safety. For students who are under the age eligible for vaccination (under the age of 12) masks will be optional. Again, we will fully support your choice to mask at school. In the event of a Covid exposure on campus, we will consult with health experts and may need to close the school. For students age 12+, if you choose not to wear a mask, you will need to show proof of vaccination. If you’re child is vaccinated, please send a photograph or photocopy of your child’s vaccination record for us to keep on file. Please send this as soon as possible, or bring your student’s vaccination card on Day 1 so that we can make a photocopy. If we do not have proof of vaccination we will ask your student to wear a mask on campus.