Manatees Roar into the 20s! CLOSED (Page 98)

We have pretty good mask compliance in my area too. What amazes me is that most of the people not wearing masks are people who look like they are in the high-risk category! The others either 20-somethings or people who look like they don't do anything until Fox tells them to do it. Now that our president has said it is patriotic to wear one, perhaps some of the "you can't tell me what to do" people will start wearing them 

It depends upon your local order. In my county you don't need to wear a mask if you are outside exercising and can social distance. I don't remember where I saw that even outside exercising with social distance still requires a mask -maybe Ohio...

I've been back at work since 6/8 with the exception of a few work from home dates after 2 of the support people in my office got COVID., so i understand not having a choice and the need to make the best choices under the circumstances.  One of the many frustrating/scary things about this virus is that it appears antibodies don't stay with us very long, so it is very possible that we can get reinfected. 

I am grateful that i am not in the position where i have to decide whether or not to send my child to school! I feel so sorry for those people who cannot -for whatever reason, keep their child home and i am sorry that teachers and other school workers are put in such a tough spot.   

Mask compliance is terrible in Oklahoma.  We went to Moab, Utah three weeks ago when my sister was moving from Colorado to Utah to see some of the family.  Driving through Colorado and New Mexico it was nice to see how states that were good with mask compliance were doing things.  We went out to Wyoming and Utah again last week and saw that Kansas is also a state that is very good with mask compliance.  Wyoming, Utah, and Texas were very relaxed (i.e. fewer wearing masks than those wearing them). 

Last week lots of cities in Oklahoma increased public mask requirements and this week some people here have been in mutiny.  There have been people threatening employees at establishments that have been instructed to turn away patrons that don't have a mask, there have been people knocking over stands of merchandise in front of stores that turn away people without masks, there have been people say they will never go back to stores that they have been regulars at for years because they are now required to wear masks to shop there, etc.  Oklahoma as a whole is a very backward thinking people.  They better wake up and get with the program.  We have been asked to wear masks for four months now and many parts of the country have been doing a great job of that.  Many people in the relaxed area feel that because their community has been weak on compliance that everywhere in the country has been relaxed and that anyone that isn't relaxed is a Natzi and should be treated as an enemy and resisted.  It is very sad to live in an area that is so thick-headed.  

When we got back from Utah and Wyoming my daughters started training for their first Kids Triathlon.  I originally wanted to do a Community Youth Triathlon Camp in August leading up to a Kids Triathlon at the end of the month.  I had 60% of the Triathletes in town committed to helping with this and anticipated 100% participation (all five of us).  That isn't going to happen now, but with 6 weeks until the race and a green light from the city on holding the event, my daughters started to cycle this week.  My 10-year-old is doing great on her bike.  My 8-year-old is getting there.  We pulled the training wheels off on Monday and she is learning to ride.  I think her record is now 25 pedal strokes without putting a foot down and she has learned to break rather than crash at the end of each attempt.  My 6-year old still has the training wheels on and will likely do the race with then on.  We have a gravel driveway and very bumpy roads so we have been taking them in town twice a day to ride their bike for 45 minutes each time. 

Next will be the swim.  The Regional Wellness Center where I swim doesn't allow youth and I don't know if any of the outdoor community pools are open for the summer so I need to look into pools.  My girls are about at the same point with their swim as they are with their bike.  The 10-year has been trying to swim 25-yards continuously every time we go to the pool because she knows my requirement for them to go in the deep end (i.e. use the diving board) is for them to be able to swim 25 yards and float on their back for a minute.  It isn't pretty but she makes it the whole 25 yard.  In the same way that my 8-year old has taken the training wheels off the bike she has taken the inflatable arm cuffs off in the water, but I don't know if she has done a continuous 25 yards yet.  Her age will race 50 yards and the 10-year-old will race 100 yards so they have some work to do.  I think the 6-year old will be doing 50 yards in the race too (I need to check the distance for her age).  She still has the inflatable cuffs on.  I don't know if they are allowed in the race or not but if they are, like the training wheels, she will likely be racing with the inflatable arm cuffs. 

They are solid on the run though, so that is one area I know they can do.

I don't think I will be racing this one. I don't want to steal any spotlight from the kids although there is a super sprint on Friday, Sprint on Saturday, and Olympic race on Sunday, so it is very tempting to get all my USAT races done in one weekend so I can get a ranking this year.  I think this will just be the year of the Duathlon for me though.  I have done a Solo TT Duathlon, two Virtual Duathlons, and two live Duathlons.  That may be enough for me for the year. I am looking at doing a 15K run in November as my next "A" race.  That is a distance I still have a good shot at setting a PR. :-)

This doesn't help you for this very moment, but if remote learning continues to be a thing for years to come, I think there will be a huge market for tutoring by former educators. My boss is hiring a private tutor to help with her three kids' remote learning - they've got a group of neighbors who are all going in together on it - and I've heard of lots of folks going down this path. It's clear that most parents aren't equipped (especially if they have multiple children) - and when you add in both parents working full time, you have a huge gap. Sadly, this will only be an option for people who can afford it, but I definitely see opportunities for teachers who opt to not go back into the classroom.