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Laura

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I just did a quick search for today and found that it is quite possible, US EDT first column, Australia east coast second column and US PDT third column. We could go a bit later to accommodate people?who are working or pick a weekend day

	Mon 7:00 pm *	Tue 9:00 am	Mon 4:00 pm *
	Mon 8:00 pm *	Tue 10:00 am	Mon 5:00 pm *

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On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 10:12 AM Jaya <ermabom@...> wrote:

Laura,

I thought I saw a new dog in your IG feed. I'm sorry it didn't work out. All the best to you in getting a new one and coping with work and the isolation through the winter.

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To all the Mongers: one of the groups I admin on Ravelry has been very active with Zoom calls since COVID-19 started. We meet for two 40-min sessions every Sat am US time which is Sat pm Indian time. That has been a very pleasant interlude for most of us who are either isolating by choice or by necessity - India has been on total lockdown without public transport and requiring only essential trips till very recently. It is essentially like a knit night - we knit (sometimes I spin) and we chat and we look at each other's work, discuss patterns, food, COVID-19, politics (occasionally and very superficially), books, TV, movies, etc.?

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If any of you are interested we could do the same for Mongers. It might be tough to work in Beryl and US PDT but early am US EDT might work. I can look into times if people are interested.?

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On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 9:28 AM Laura Need <lrneed@...> wrote:

Hi, I’ve been reading through with interest - like Beryl, I’m a lurker these days.

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Jenny, it sounds like you’ve had a rough go of it, what with your parents, and everybody being scattered about and quarantined from each other.? I am so sorry and I hope your small menagerie is helping when you’re not on the phone.?

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I’m pretty isolated myself.? As you may know, my beautiful Golden died just before I had a knee replacement last November.? All of my attempts to adopt a new dog came to naught, as one after another candidate disappeared as I awaited yet another Rescue group’s approval process.? I even had a re-homed dog for a week, but she had undisclosed aggression, got worse every day as she missed *her person* (and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t there), and had teeth on my face by the end of the week she was with me.? I suspect she had acted equally aggressively towards her person’s wife, which is why the wife was re-homing her.? It was an incredibly challenging week, made worse by my “helpful” greyhound rescue neighbor who basically accused me of being irresponsible to return this dog to the people she loved. After I picked myself up And dusted myself off from that, and even had been approved for a rescue puppy, The pandemic started in full swing, and I realized I couldn’t give a new puppy the time she deserved as my hours might get very crazy indeed, and the Doggy Day Care I had used for Max was closed due to COVID (and even now is only open limited hours).? So I remain dog-less for now, but am hoping maybe next spring I can get one. ?

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Work is, well, work.? I still work several times a month in the hospital, in the nursery, and labor and delivery. Labor and delivery is an oddly high-risk location, as the risk of transmission from an asymptomatic laboring mother, panting, blowing, and pushing in close proximity to health care workers - sometimes for hours! - became quickly apparent.? At this time, all moms are either tested prior to a scheduled induction or cesarean, or are tested as soon as they arrive on L&D, which I think is standard now here for all the hospitals in Boston. ?

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At the beginning, as the hospital made lists of who could be pulled from their usual job to help elsewhere if needed, I had volunteered, as my pediatric cardiology background means I know more about ICU management, ventilators and lines than most average adult primary care doctors.? However, I fall into a rather high risk group If I were to get COVID, so the head of the ICU (who happens to be my pulmonologist) and my cardiologist both said, “No!? Thank you, but, please, no!”?

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Outpatient primary pediatric care Is an odd thing during a pandemic.? At the height of our shutdown, I was still seeing a handful of patients every day in the office - kids 2 yr and under who needed vaccines (because *my* patients are not going to get measles or diphtheria because of COVID, thank you very much!).? Everything else was converted to telemedicine from my kitchen and dining room, and my *job* was to manage everything remotely and keep the ERs as empty as possible.? Fortunately, with kids isolated from each other, the average constant background of infectious respiratory illnesses dried up essentially overnight. As the numbers in Massachusetts have gotten better, and we have slowly reopened, I now see all kids for physicals, and kids with non-COVID-like symptoms for urgent appointments.? However, kids with fever, cough, sore throats, diarrhea?? I can’t see those in my office without potentially exposing other patients, and the number of phone calls for those issues are ticking upwards as day cares and schools reopen.? All pediatric COVID testing is taking place at Urgent Care centers (commercially separate free-standing clinics), and, as I tell my patients’ parents, if your kid has a fever, the most important thing to do is make sure it’s not COVID. ?

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So we muddle along.? We also moved office locations In July - new, bigger space, More exam rooms, more ancillary staff to help get patients in rooms and help clean them afterwards.? It’s a good move, but a new space adds to the general dysphoric sense of being disconnected that I’ve heard from other outpatient primary care doctors. ?

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Parker is muddling through his early 20s, trying to figure out what he wants to do. Someday I hope he will actually have a job that pays him enough to cover his own rent and expenses.? He had flirted with the idea of using his Econ/Psych degree to go into business (investing), but over the past year, realized his lack of direction about finding a job was fueled by his feeling that much of business lacked a soul, and he didn’t think he could do that and live with himself.? So he’s been writing (don’t know about what...), and is about to move to NYC (staying w a friend) where he has a short term writing contract for something in the music Industry, with plans to move to LA w the new year. ?

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So I knit - some - and I read - some - and I walk - as much as I can - and I work. ? Not very exciting....

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Laura?

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Jaya

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Jaya

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Therese Shere
Sent: Monday, September 7, 2020 3:29 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [yarnmongers] How is everyone?

Melisande, sorry to hear how complicated and tough this all this on the kids -- but yeah, not surprised. Hope that Baird's and Ezra's school situations stay stable.

I’m sorry to read that things are so rough for you Jenny, and about the extra challenges and frustrations the pandemic is bringing to others too.

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At the moment, we’re keeping on here.? After a lot of chaos and last minute insanity, both Baird and Ezra are physically back at school.? They drove out together (which occasioned a lot of the insanity trying to get in touch with anyone who could grant Baird permission to arrive early to accommodate Ezra’s class schedule) and survived the road trip.? Ezra’s school went from “everyone is welcome back” to freshman, transfer, international students on campus only, all classes virtual for the first module (first half of the semester), with other students able to petition to return.? Ezra felt strongly that he needed to be out of the house, which he was right about, so he asked to return and is now back on campus along with two of his close friends, and the first week of classes seems to have gone well.? About 25% of the student body is at Mac right now and they seem to have good protocols in place.? Carleton seems to have adopted more of a head in the sand approach.? Yes there is testing and mask and distancing requirements, but professors were allowed to opt to make classes in-person only, so although Baird had originally decided to stay home (but return from his leave of absence), he had to go back physically to take a class he needs for his major and his minor.? Carleton is going to have about 75% of the student body on campus, which is only slightly down from the usual 85% in any given term.? And yes, I am worried.? Especially worried about the possibility that the campus will close and I will need to find someplace for Arielle to stay and fly out to drive back with Baird if Macalester doesn’t close and send Ezra home at the same time.

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I can’t remember who mentioned the idea that this pandemic is especially hard (in a different way) on teenagers and college students, but based on my kids, I tend to agree.? Having the 3 of them home for 7 months was really hard on all of us, and I am hoping, for everyone’s sakes, that the boys are able to stay at school.? Arielle goes back and forth with how she’s doing.? She had a group of 3 or 4 girls she was spending time with socially distanced over the summer but a lot of those families chose to take vacations so that’s been nearly nonexistent the last bit.? She starts school with a hybrid approach on Wednesday but we just don’t know how that’s going to work out or for how long.? Extracurricular dance class is currently a go with small sizes, masks, and extra precautions, and I’ve opted to allow that (her father disagrees) because in weighing the risks for our particular family, given that she is also going to school (which was also her choice in the face of her father’s opposition), it seems like the best choice to balance her physical and emotional health.? She hasn’t seen her father since February since Jemma is afraid of everything and even the several ideas I floated about outdoor distanced ways for them to spend some time together didn’t generate any interest on Jemma’s part, so I’ve given up on that.

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We did see my Dad a couple of weeks ago before the boys left and I’m hoping to get back down there some Sunday before it becomes too cold for outdoor visits.? That was really nice and he and his wife seem to be doing well.? Arielle and I have also had a couple of outings with Lise, who Arielle adores, which has been really wonderful too.? My dog training club has reopened with lots of careful measures in place (the average age of teachers and students for everything except the manners classes – and those are still virtual – is probably over 60, and the board and members seem to have a real sense of the importance of what to do so that we can stay open) and being able to go back to class with the dogs is really good for me.?

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My work really hasn’t changed much, so I’ve mostly just added juggling pandemic related things to the mix.? I’m still knitting a ton but not so much spinning or weaving lately, since I turned my ankle and have been babying it quite a bit.? Which did not stop me from agreeing to take Arielle and the younger dogs hiking at the Delaware Water Gap yesterday.? We had a wonderful time, I was glad we didn’t take the oldest dog (she would have been miserable) and I found out that an 18 or 19 inch (at the shoulder) dog can scramble up rocks much more easily than we can, so Arielle is busily picking some other rock scrambling hikes she’d like to do this fall too.?

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I’ve finally been dragged onto Facebook, kicking and screaming, so if anyone wants to find me, I’m Skye Wolf (yup, borrowing a dog’s name for my pseudonym because I don’t feel like being found by a bunch of people I went to high school with).?

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Melisande