I can't see myself going back to following college football largely because of what I see from the fans now. I don't know that I'll pick up watching basketball.

I suspect that for you the basketball camps and clinics are more something you do for your kid b/c your kid loves basketball and so do you, and for a lot of people it's something they do for their kid so they can get them out of the house but not unsupervised. I.e., upper middle class and rich parents need "day care" for far longer than other people, both agewise and fraction-of-day-wise. (That's a horrible construction, I'm sorry.)

Also, putting your children in situations where they might catch and propagate the coronavirus is a great way to stick it to the libs.

Are these basketball camps and clinics being held indoors or outdoors?

That's what I was thinking. Because an outdoor camp that is well-run seems safe enough. Realistically, there's no way to keep kids in total quarantine for as long as it's going to be required with our country's deep commitment to fucking over the poor and ailing.

I sent my kids to swimming lessons for most of the summer on the grounds that a half hour activity where they were mostly in chlorinated water was worth the risk given that the benefit was them having something to look forward to. Also, the Calabat went from unable to doggy paddle to doing 50y of backstroke in 10 weeks, so... there's that. Our county's been doing reasonably well with infections, though.

Indoors.

so they can get them out of the house but not unsupervised

I'm sure that's true for some, but most of the dads (some moms) hang out at practice.

You're all clearly apologists for Big Suburb.

I live in a Democrat-controlled city.

Anyway, indoor basketball strikes me as a bad idea.

We sent Steadfast to karate camp. (I have tons of frustrations about the fact that he's doing a martial art, all of them stemming from my old life in martial arts, but he unambiguously loves it.) It had good precautions and we didn't get sick, so it turned out to have been the right decision.

I didn't anticipate how instantaneously it would right our ship. We've done pretty OK so far, but that's because we've relaxed all standards. For eating together, for screens, for bedtime. Which wont kill us, but leading up to camp, our eating was completely uncoordinated, with my partner in a regular habit of midnight meals and sleeping late and all of us on screens. It all seemed like we'd never recover.

But first day of karate camp (8:30-3:30), a lifetime of training asserted itself, and we popped out of bed at six, got breakfast ready, etc. Had family dinner and clothes laid out and an early bedtime that night. I hadn't known how strong that habit was, or that we'd click back into schedule so fast and strongly. Then camp ended and it has been a slow slide back. (Until we leave for the mountains next week.)

So I'm pretty sympathetic to wanting to schedule something, and it might as well drain some kid energy. Don't know if I'd pick indoor basketball, though.

doing 50y of backstroke in 10 weeks
That's a pretty slow pace even for a kid, although impressive endurance to stay in the water that long.
I'm happy to say Fuck Big Suburb. I grew up in borderline suburb/exurb (recently featured in the NYT guide to white flight) and it was awful.
Our city's hockey program is being very cautious but the regional league is saying fuck it full speed ahead* so our program is withdrawing from the league for at least the first part of the season and looking at setting up a local mini-league of a few neighboring towns.

*Mites, which I coach- 8U- does cross-ice games which means two games at once per sheet of ice with bumpers or removable boards down the red line, which means two teams sharing what is normally one bench, and they refuse to scale that back because it would either double their ice cost or halve their revenue for that division which is the largest by number of kids. It's not just sharing the bench but also twice as many parents in and out of the building for each time slot. It's insane to run it that way.

Damn I miss indoor basketball.

re the NBA I am hoping they play some more games and then strike again, to maximize the attention they get.

Let me be the first to suggest calling the team The Mitey Ducks.

Unfortunately all the different aged teams in a program always have the same name, so if you did that you'd have angry teenagers.

Indoors.

This is insane.

Am I correct to assume that the kids are not playing basketball with masks on?

I'm really irritated lately with the attitude that "We have to do this dumb, dangerous thing because look, life has to keep going." No, life doesn't have to keep going. We can take a year off of most things, and still be okay. And those things that we can't take a year off of desperately need a stimulus package.

You know what, they're outdoors. That was buried in the emails and I just double-checked. Somewhat better, I guess. But...breathing in people's faces is kind of part of basketball. I didn't see anything about masks.

10: what about Steadfast? seems less likely to be outdoors?

It was mixed. Outdoors a lot and Steady told me that it was great to eat lunch outdoors 'cause he could take his mask off. Inside they did a bunch of precautions, which we now know worked.

To be obnoxious, you only know if precautions worked if campers or adults with covid were present, but it didn't spread. Otherwise it might have just been luck.

That's why you have a control kid who loves licks all the other kids on the nostrils.

We usually call that the out-of-control kid, but YMMV.

In my county, they have taken down all of the outdoor hoops except a few in obscure locations that I know about. I had to relocate in the summer, and my known hoops locations are all just far enough away to render them unusable on lunch breaks.

But young folks were gathering in groups to play, and that does seem like a bad idea.

They come just make the hole smaller so everyone gets frustrated and goes home.

I didn't mean anything rigorous by "worked". I meant that two weeks after camp, we weren't sick.

I feel like some people are trying to get an A+ in not having COVID. But this is a pass/fail test. I want the lowest possible passing grade, to get through this with the most pleasant subjective experience. We're doing the things, but not looking for ways to do them more rigorously and suffer more righteously. Steady's getting to go to karate camp was super for him and helped our family to an extent that surprised me. I worried mildly at the time, but in retrospect didn't get sick, so, still passing.

I also wouldn't have sent him to indoor basketball and would have sent him to swim camp.

But this is a pass/fail test.

For an individual, yes, as a collective, no -- it's a statistical process. I remember having a conversation with somebody early on (in April?) in which I said that my standard approach would be a cost/benefit analysis, "is the risk that I'm taking worth the benefit that I get from it" and that has some value but it isn't necessarily the best approach for a public health crisis. Because we aren't making decisions independently; we're trying to coordinate with a bunch of other people, and that public health directives are a way of solving a coordination problem -- we'll all be better off if we each take slightly less risk than we would if we were just making the decision for ourselves.

You're a good person, NickS, and that was a very kind answer.

11: I'm coaching U-9 this year (in Canada) and we were supposed to play 4 on 4 half ice until December and then switch to 5 on 5 full ice. Now we're going to play 3 on 3 cross ice until at least December, and probably all year. And because of gathering limits, it's just once game/sheet, with no one allowed on the benches-- the 'bench' is just the other side of the bumper pads. Dressing rooms all closed. And 24 (I think) people max on ice for practice. Last year for practice we had 36 players plus around 10 coaches.
So either hockey is going to be absurdly expensive this year (I mean, even more than normal) or we're getting half the ice time we did last year.

24: We have a small rooftop court at my office - not enough room for the whole three-point line. I was hitting a consistent 90 percent of my free throws, and probably something like half my 3s, though I didn't track that with as much discipline.

The county courts have foul lines and three-point lines that are probably two feet further out, and the hoop is maybe a foot higher. And the rims are more rigid -- I'm not getting the bounces I used to get. So I'm down to 70% free throws and maybe 30 percent three-pointers.

I find it frustrating.

I feel like some people are trying to get an A+ in not having COVID

This is totally me -- and I've been positioned to do it, with kids who can entertain themselves, a job I can do remotely, and a spouse who is careful. I have refused to go to the barber because it's not essential, which got kind of hilarious after awhile. My daughter gave me my first haircut in six months last weekend and ... it's actually pretty good! We're talking about how we're going to fix it this weekend.

But my son, with my permission, is going to return to lifeguarding several days a week, and my wife is going on a beach trip next week. So maybe B-plus for me.

You could do like disease-prevent offsets. Maybe wash your hands when the sign says only employees have to.

I feel like people who are on team "let's stop the world" are being unrealistic about what's politically or individually possible, and just using it as a cosh to beat other people with.

I think Megan in 25 and Nick in 26 are both kind of right. They are approaching the same line from different sides, but the question is still the same? What should we (collectively) do? What should I (individually) do? And the answer, no matter what, is not going to be "total isolation, stop the world for years." and it's not going to be "let's continue on as if covid doesn't exist". I'm getting increasingly irritated with the A+ passing in covid crowd, because, it's just wishful thinking and personal neuroses.

As it happens, I'd like our government (here in the UK) to be doing a lot more to explicitly set what we can collectively do, and I think (probably), the right place for that to be set right now, is probably somewhere more locked down than where we currently are. I also suspect, that I (personally), have done a few things, where, looking back, I probably shouldn't have done. So I'm not saying this in a spirit of "fuck you, I'll do what I want" or "Wherever I personally choose to draw the line, is the right place for the line to be drawn."

It had good precautions and we didn't get sick, so it turned out to have been the right decision.

Is there a purer statement of (a certain kind of) consequentialism?

The 26/27 interaction was great.

I'm surely in the irritating A+ crowd. Everything we do individual to reduce risk reduces group risk. My being risk adverse makes it a non-linear epsilon easier for people around me to live more. And that's fine with me, if they're sensible about it and at a minimum follow the rules and generally live with a community-driven spirit. But even still so many people don't wear masks in shops or on public transportation, or wear them in some ridiculous way (as a chin-strap or elbow guard) to signal that they know the rules exist and fine they're following the letter but the man isn't going to make them follow the spirit.

I could go on, but it's just so depressing. We all want to live our lives, but it's so sad when people aren't even willing to do a very low cost signal they're part of the team.

signal they're part of the team.

They are. Just not your team.

32: did you post an online screed about how parents who were sending their kids back to school should reflect about their child's probable death over their selfishness? (Not hypothetical.) No, because you're a reasonable human being? No A+ for you!

My son is afraid to go to school because he thinks it might kill us (because we're old). Still sending him to school when it opens because I don't think it's been good for him to be alone this much.

We are keeping the Calabat home because his school isn't going to distance and we are in a position to manage online school. We're sending Pebbles to daycare because if she is home while the Calabat is occupied with school instead of her, she will probably burn down the house.

Matches are really too interesting for their own good.

xelA is going back to school in a week or so, because, we don't have any choice.

I think we'd be generally OK with it, even if we did have a choice, because all of the alternatives are also pretty shitty. There's going to be some measures in place to mitigate some things: staggered entry and leave times, some things they are doing around how they handle sport and some other indoor activities, measures to limit access to the school by parents and other adults, etc. But xelA's bubble is basically his class of 29 kids. There's no further distancing or smaller bubble sizes. It would be nice if there were further measures in place, but realistically, they can only accommodate the number of classes they have, in the number of rooms they have. The site has a fixed number of rooms and no possibility of expansion. So, the only alternative would be busing kids somewhere else, which isn't realistic, I don't think., and brings its own problems in terms of exposure. Especially given that there are 7 other schools for 4 - 11 year olds within a mile who would all have to do the same.

I also fully expect lockdown to come back into force more strictly at some point, and for him to end up back at home some of the time, but we'll see what happens.

We've had our first week of having a care-taker/babysitter come in 3 hours a day, even though the kids don't start school for another week+. The thing that I noticed that made it huge is that it gave them the adult attention they need. In other words, they can occupy themselves for three hours without a babysitter, but at the end of it, they want some attention and interaction. This way, at the end of the three hours, they then have some appetite for solo play and entertaining themselves, which really lengthens the amount of work I can get done in a day.

It's really not the same in the UK or most other places in the civilized world. Americans are a special type of stupid, and sensible folks have been wise to shun us.

I've tried to inoculate my kids against idiocy so that they can go out into society without catching The Crazy, but with Covid-19 still raging here, I'm going to limit their contact with Americans.

We've had no formal childcare support since March, but xelA has gone to two sporting camps over the summer. Just for a couple of hours a day, and only for a couple of days a week. So he's maybe had the equivalent of 20 hours or so, of time when he's not being looked after by us, since March. All activities were outdoors, and managed fairly responsibly. Eating outdoors, coaches with masks and regular hand-washing/anti-bac, etc.For him, they were a big deal.

||
Hey, any thoughts on whether I should take public transportation (train + possibly bus, or walking/biking) to get somewhere today, or call a Lyft with usual megatip? I am sick to death of cars (and don't have access to my own for this), but I honestly don't know what the risk level is.
|>

I have no idea either.

If you can walk/bike, why not? That seems the least controvertible option.

I think trains and buses are relatively low risk given the heavy duty circulation. Car, probably also okay, but more of a wild card if the driver isn't taking precautions.

43, 45 What's the smoke situation? What might it be if the wind shifts between you leaving home and needing to return?

45: It's from here to SF, so can't bike the whole way unless I'm missing new information about the Bay Bridge. (And realistically, that's a little ambitious for my current fitness level.) I meant that for the in-city leg I could either bus or walk/bike. This is just a one-way problem; there will be a ride back.

I've not done a Lyft in years. Do they let you keep the windows open? If so, I think that's what I would do.

Probably too late, but I have been leaning towards the idea that as long as its not crowded---and public transit in the bay area is not currently crowded---it's not any more dangerous than going to the grocery store. I can't find the links now but this editorial
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/06/18/covid-19-and-transit-what-we-think-we-know-may-be-wrong.html
alludes to the fact that there isnt' yet much evidence of any super spreading on transit. I'd wear a mask and sunglasses and hand sanitize copiously.

48: I haven't taken the T or a bus here, but I think San Franciscans might be better about wearing masks. That's my main fear here, that in public transit I can't get away from the people who aren't wearing masks. I think that I personally would feel more comfortable on a bus with some windows than on a train.

I can't believe you copied our train name.

Am I an asshole for not going to my nephew's wedding?

Inside or outside? How many guests? From where? Open bar?

By a process of pure reason, I'm going to assume the answers are indoor, hundreds, all over the United States, and cash bar.

So, no.

My niece's wedding is going to be via Zoom for almost all guests, including me. I probably would be an asshole if I didn't attend.

Outdoors, about 150 people, and coming from all over the U.S. Probably an open bar.

Peep, I definitely think the answer is no, not an asshole for not going.

Separately, I'm wondering if I will be an asshole for attending my birth mother's funeral? She apparently will not live through the night. I only found out she was in the hospital and likely dying this afternoon. I made plans to drive the 5 hours there in the morning, but then found out this evening she likely won't make it through the night, and so no trip tomorrow.

The tragic part is that we only connected by phone for the first time in January. (Which was great!) We had tentative plans to meet, but then COVID happened. I then tried to arrange a visit a few weeks ago, but she didn't return my calls. So...

Maybe I'll go to the funeral. I don't have to decide today. Shits weird!

58:. Weird and sad. I'm so sorry. No idea what you should do, but I'm sure neither going or not going would make you an asshole.

My condolences.

Depending on your gender, it's an opportunity to be the mysterious black-clad woman standing at a conspicuous distance at the funeral or however men dress to look mysterious.

Mets jersey.

Oh my goodness, that's freaking hilarious, LB! (My mental state is very much in flux right now, but I definitely got a chuckle out of that image.)

I've spoken with one of her sisters a few times before, and then another one for the first time today, but haven't met anyone in person or even seen any pictures. I got the cell phone from one of them of yet another sister who was maybe going to the hospital tonight so I sent a cold text to have them say some things from me, but no reply from her. The other 2 sisters (I guess my birth aunts) were nice.

And peep was right, weird and sad.

Or... I could go as Maude (from Harold and Maude) in bright clothes and a yellow umbrella, instead of black and mysterious. And then steal the priest's car.
(But not really, since I'm a guy.)

What a thing! I'm sorry, L. President.

Pres, that is so hard. I agree that there's no right answer. But if you think you might regret it, I'd err on the side of attending.

A 10th grader who is friends with the kids in my circle of friends committed suicide yesterday. (ie I know the parents, but not more than acquaintances since our kids are much younger.) But the 4-5 10th graders that I've known since they were five all lost a friend they'd known since kindergarten, and the world seems very fragile and sad.

A 10th grader who is friends with the kids in my circle of friends committed suicide yesterday. (ie I know the parents, but not more than acquaintances since our kids are much younger.) But the 4-5 10th graders that I've known since they were five all lost a friend they'd known since kindergarten, and the world seems very fragile and sad.

(To be clear, it would not be appropriate for people to extend condolences to me. It's not my tragedy, just affecting.)

Oh, without extending condolences to present company, that really is sad. L. President's strange story too.

Everything does seem so vulnerable. Not the same order of thing, but I just learned that a particular cottonwood grove in the mountains north of Tucson, that I'd been hiking to since childhood, probably burned down in the fires earlier this summer. Next time I'm home I'll have to go up there and grieve It.

hi. we're back and we have more disk space now

The fires are so destructive and massive in scope. I'm so sorry.

71: Thank you.

|| 140 people were sacked. Including our chief librarian/deputy ED who was one of the few truly professional, competent, and kind people at the top. Really the only one. But the outgoing ED really put the knife in his back last year. What a place.

|>

When do you hear from Canada?

In about a month.

Meanwhile I'm stess eating and drinking like a motherfucker

76: Are there other jobs you can apply for while you wait on that one?

78 I now check my listservs daily and of anything comes up that looks likely I will.

Listserves are still a thing?

Anyway, good luck.

Speaking of luck, when I was eating a leftover hot dog, it tasted off so I started to wonder what kinds of taste-issues you get from Covid and if I was getting a symptom. Then I remembered the hot dog might have been old and that could explain the taste. So I resolved to not eat food that I thought might be expired for the duration of Covid. Then I realized there's probably not a good reason to limit that rule based on Covid.

Then I remembered that I wanted to wish urple well if lurking.

What happened with Barry's lady friend?

She's leaving for her native Poland towards the end of September

Rascal, after pulling up his swimtrunks in the bathroom, doing that scootch uncomfortable dance.
Me: what's going on?
R: These don't feel right!
we pull down his pants, and sure enough both legs are through one side of the underwear-netting.
Me: but you didn't take your swimsuit all the way off just now. Have they been feeling weird all this time?
R: yes! I guess so!
It's only been about 4 hours...

Putting pants on one leg at a time is too cliché.

Yeah, I've done that. Painful as shit.

71. Thank you. How much storage do we take now?

||

Protester wearing a hat with a far- right group's name on it was fatally shot in Portland yesterday I'm afraid that LB's fear may prove prescient, namely that this will be used in some way to discredit the left.

|>

I wonder if the Trump-parade of pickups won't have the side effect of cutting down on urban pickups? There's just way more pickups on the streets here than five years ago and they take up more room than the streets and garages are able to provide.

168 cases reported here today, first time below 200 since back in April

Anyway, sometimes it feels useless against the tide of violence, but I'm going to go to another Zoom meeting for the Democrats.

92: what are you doing for them? I was too lazy to volunteer for Markey even though I initially signed up, because I don't like phone banking.

My pitch for Markey: Kennedy is meh. He has nothing special to offer other than his name. Markey is a good enough progressive. He's not super smart but neither is Kennedy. If we stick with Markey, maybe we can get Maura Healey in 2020. If it's Kennedy, he's just going to be around forever.

I have no idea. I could be annoyed by a Kennedy if that helps.

Old people are going to old people no matter what.

Anyway, people really like signs. I honestly had no idea.

95: The 28-29 year old really seem to like a Markey! I think it's 30's and 40's plus lower income folks who like a Kennedy.

95 was not to 94.

Just a quick update. Birth mom didn't die overnight after all. So I did end up driving there the next morning, not knowing what to expect, or how that would go. She was fairly alert, in utter disbelief but quite happy I was there. Really appreciated the flowers I brought. Spent some good time with her on 2 days there. So definately a really good thing I made the drive. She's being transferred to a nursing home today, so with 2 weeks of quarantine for all new residents, it may well be the last we can see each other in person. She's going to have a really rough end of things with discomfort and pain that's difficult to know about, and looks like I'm now part of the family for updates. All very odd. But also ok, and a touch of it is what it is.

I'm very glad you got to meet.

Thanks, Moby! Me too.

Hey, I'm really glad to hear that. That's wonderful.

That's fantastic news, LP!

Thanks Herbie. I was saddened by the death by suicide you mentioned above. That's horrible.

Heebie.

Not Herbie.

But now all I can think of is the Love Bug.

99:. That is wonderful!

Thanks for the update, LP, and glad that you were able to see her.

How wonderful that you met!