So my Dean and Assistant Dean all have Covid.

[Piasladic]

There has been no guidance for our department, and classes start on Monday. I have two face-to-face and two online.

The only news I have gotten is from the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, Marketing and Communications. Yeah, she's a complete bureaucrat. Five hours of mandatory office hours that seem unnecessary have been ordered. The staff in the building I work has gone to a staggered shift.

I don't know about the Dean's vaccine status, but she is an older, overweight, black lady, and while my Assistant Dean is older and white, she told me she didn't trust the vaccine a year ago, and I hear she's in a really bad way.

I don't blame teachers that don't want to come in. It's a crazy show here in Florida colleges.

[Hortensis]

1. Thanks for the view from your part of this, Piasladic.

What a mess. We're retired in No GA, so aren't expected to show up anywhere, but every day now we learn of more acquaintances who've come down with it. Been waiting to hear our teacher DIL's district schedule's gone end-over, but they apparently started today in-person as planned.

Stay well.

[Larissa]

2. "Normalcy" will be on hold for the duration

It'll be fits and starts for here on in. I am always reminded of some very insightful platitudes that Dr. Fauci gave in the early days. On April, 2020 Fauci was asked by The New York Times when the pandemic could end. His answer: "The virus decides how quickly you're going to get back to normal." The virus decides.

For the duration, I have accepted that what was known as "normal" is a thing of the past.