Items

• 
  2021-08-11

  Sorry, Not Sorry. Vaccines Are Necessary.

  In two years of everything under the sun becoming political, it’s not a shock that vaccines are yet another unnecessarily politicized topic. Of course, unlike masks, which were not a part of our daily routine prior to 2020, vaccinations and anti-vaxxers are not new. And honestly, if my two elementary aged kids could be vaccinated I would care a lot less about anti-vaxxers. I think they’re selfish, but for the most part, they’d be hurting themselves (and the immuno compromised that cannot be vaccinated.) But my kids can’t be vaccinated and I have been trying to stay positive knowing next week they’re walking into a classroom with only a mask for protection. I asked my mom “what is their teachers are unvaccinated?” I mean, every unvaccinated person poses a risk - what is the adult in charge is an anti-vaxxer and anti-masker? So it was with complete and utter shock and total relief to get the official word that teachers in the state of CA must be vaccinated. It’s a shame that this seals the fate on governor Newsom’s recall. I don’t love the guy, but I sure as heck want him more than a DeSantis and considering the last time CA recalled a governor, we ended up with the Terminator in charge…well. With Florida’s teachers being threatened with losing their pay over mandating masks, I am relieved to live in a state taking the opposite approach. Call us Commiefornia, I don’t care. Like I’ve been saying for a year and a half, this is a public health crisis. This isn’t about politics, it’s about an invisible virus that is continuing to mutate and spread. And as a teacher, I truly believe it’s my responsibility to do anything to help mitigate the spread.
• 
  2021-08-11

  There is No Good Decision

  My daughter is very athletic. I don’t make that statement lightly. I do not lie and I will look you in the eye and tell you my son is not an athlete. But my daughter was born with a natural ability for sports. Anything she tries, even recreationally, she excels at. When she was 3, she began gymnastics and in first grade, she joined the competitive team. It’s not just that she’s athletic, she works extremely hard. So making her sit out an entire season due to COVID was not an easy decision. I do not regret it, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard. When this season began in May, we cautiously allowed her to return, fully masked. The cases were down and the coaches wore masks. We decided the risk was worth it for her mental health. Then the COVID restrictions were lifted June 15. My daughter became the only one in the full gym with a mask. We hoped for the best and have been lucky so far. But the cases are exploding. They are higher now than this time last year. What do we do? All her friends are from the gym. Truly. She doesn’t have any close friends at school because most of her time is spent at the gym. Can we take that away from her again? She worked out every single day of quarantine to stay in shape and she did. Can we look at her and basically say her work was for nothing? There is no good choice. What is more important? Protecting her physically or giving her the part of her life that secures her mental health? At the end of last week, I was seriously considering pulling her as the daily cases rose to 1,000+. However, in a move that shocked me knowing the clientele and position of the gym on this entire pandemic, even her gym has reinstated masks for all coaches. This made me feel maybe 5% better. Her one on one session is also from 8 - 9pm, which I was bummed at at first - so late for a kid! But I quickly realized we’re the only ones in the gym that late, which lowers my anxiety a bit. So we’re going to take the risk for now and allow her to continue going. I just hope it’s not a decision we regret.
• 
  2021-07-29

  Restaurant That Probably Spits in People’s Food Says It’ll Only Serve Unvaccinated Customers

  This colorful article by Vanity Fair explores the anti-vax, anti-government Huntington Beach restaurant Basilico’s Pasta e Vino. The writer urges its readers to avoid this restaurant and its "anti science" owner.
• 
  2021-07-28

  Restaurant bans vaccinated customers

  As the Delta variant continues to surge across the country and the world, I am amazed at how many people remain ignorant of the threat. We are quickly approaching our year and a half mark since the first quarantine and at this point, it is very hard for me to believe that there can be people out there that have not been affected in one way or another by this virus. I simply cannot believe that there are people out there that haven't lost a loved one because of this virus. I came across this photo on my Instagram, it was shared by one of my acquaintances. The sign makes fun of vaccination cards, asking patrons to show proof of UNvaccination, it states that they have "zero tolerance for treasonous, anti-American stupidity". I'm not sure how a life-saving vaccine could be treasonous or anti-American. With people still dying, and now children being admitted in record numbers, I wish we could once and for all take politics out of this medical emergency.
• 
  2021-05-27

  Slower Pace of Life

  It’s probably a bit tiresome for my best friend when I say “oh man, we haven’t been there in over a year” because for our family, that is everything. Every week, we open up a little more, cautiously, as our case rates continue to decline (under 50 new cases in our county today!) Disneyland, our go to hangout is still out of the question, so we returned to the beach. It’s crazy to think for over a year, it sat 20 minutes away, so close but so far. I feel like COVID not only has made us more appreciative but has also helped us embrace a slower pace of life. Two years ago, a weekday would have seen me at school AP reviews or department meetings, my mom and I coordinating pick up and drop offs for Kumon, gymnastics, piano lessons. I would have squeezed in a Pilates class before picking up my daughter from the gym. My husband wouldn’t be in the equation at all, April and May are full travel months - we barely see him. But here we are. Our pace of life is much slower. My husband is still working remotely, and will probably continue to for at least half the week for the rest of the foreseeable future. Kumon and piano seem simpler to do now that we’re all home. Even gymnastics seems less stressful. If everyone is home on a weekday at 3, why not hit the beach? I know our lives will inevitably speed up. That’s the rat race that is Orange County and I do love our lives. We like being busy, why else would someone live here? Yet, I hope the togetherness we’ve had in the past year and the realization that maybe we should just take more time to run around the beach, get excited at finding a Sea Hare, and just watch the waves without an agenda or a clock will last beyond this pandemic.
• 
  05/04/2021

  Devyn Nguyen Oral History, 2021/05/04

  Interviewee discussed what life is like graduating during the pandemic, working in a small family-owned business and the pushback against COVID safety in Orange County. She describes how the pandemic has brought her family together along with the tight-knit community with similar social values she has created.
• 
  2021-04-15

  Another Victim of a COVID Economy

  I have anxiety. It’s not uncommon, and I have coping mechanisms. One of the things that helps me not fixate on things out of my control is being active. So I run. And for the past six years, I have been very committed to “barre,” which is similar to Pilates. My barre studio is my respite from the world, one hour to focus just on myself and my muscles. And the supportive community is unlike any other I have been a part of (I’ve done boot camps, kickboxing, etc. and have never found anything like this.) Since exercise is crucial to my mental health, when the pandemic began, I knew I could not stop working out. Especially with a household of five suddenly being at home together 24 hours a day! I was extremely fortunate that my barre studio immediately transitioned online. In fact, all throughout this pandemic, I have held them up as my example of the exact right way to deal with this situation. They made a digital library, offered multiple daily live classes over Zoom, reopened as a hybrid. My barre classes have been the constant throughout this pandemic, especially before I returned to work in person. Up until a few weeks ago, my most consistent live interaction with adult humans not living in this house were my barre instructors and the other women in the classes. So when I opened my email and saw this message, it hit me like a ton of bricks. They couldn’t survive COVID-19. It makes sense - they had two studios before COVID and rent is not cheap in Orange County. I am, of course selfishly sad - where will I find a reasonably priced, low impact but high intensity exercise studio that is five minutes from both my daughter’s gym and our church? But my real sadness is for the small business owner who opened this studio eight years ago. She is truly passionate about physical and mental health and is probably one of the most positive people I have ever met. And in a way that doesn’t annoy you, which honestly is a gift. As people get excited about businesses reopening, it makes me reflect on how many more have had to close their doors permanently.
• 
  2021-03-02

  The 128th Day, aka Day One

  For the first time in 374 days, I taught from my classroom today. It is the 128th day of school, we have only one quarter left. As nervous as we are about our community and the COVID risk level, I feel very positive and relieved to be back. COVID numbers have dropped considerably, and though I haven’t always seen eye to eye with my district in the way this entire pandemic has been handled, at the end of the day, I really feel like the right decisions were made Compared to neighboring districts, I feel our safety standards exceed the norm. It is strange still - the largest in person class I will have is seven students and the smallest is zero! Many families in our community have opted to continue distance learning through the rest of the school year, which I understand. We made the same choice for our two kids! Still, it was nice for the first time in over a year to wake up and have somewhere to go. Even though on one hand it seems ridiculous to Zoom an entire class of kids with two kids in the classroom who are sitting far away from me with headphones on and are logged into also the same Zoom meeting, I did feel re-energized to just be back in my classroom. I don’t think I have a greater prayer right now than for the vaccines to continue to work and for the adolescent and pediatric trials to successfully run their course. Wouldn’t it be incredible to have the kids vaccinated by fall? I know it will not be a reality for all students, but I think that piece of the puzzle will be a big part in mitigating the spread. In the meantime, I’ll continue to follow the pleas of the SOS sign that is taped all over the school. Indeed, let’s save our school year and the next one, too!
• 
  2021-02-24

  Pinch Me and Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming, Because Your Girl Got Shot #1!

  It is, pardon the inaccurate historical depiction, like the Wild West trying to get a vaccine in Southern CA. Los Angeles has been plagued by affluent insiders getting special access codes meant for marginalized populations, keeping vulnerable groups from vaccination. This week, Orange County opened up vaccines to educators, agricultural workers, and emergency services. Before our special educator link was even emailed out to us, it was compromised by an insider sharing it and spots were taken. I obsessively checked my Othena app (Orange County’s official app) but no luck. Yesterday, my husband, also in education so eligible, woke up to a text from his boss that said “Walgreens opened for educators.” I was already teaching over Zoom, so while I continued, my husband sat on the floor two feet away and logged into Walgreens. Thankfully, I had some video clips that I was about to show after our discussion. As soon as I put the video clips on for my students, I muted myself on Zoom and told my husband to log me in on the other computer. It was like getting concert tickets. Click - “this time is no longer available.” After clicking and clicking for a minute, an appointment confirmation came through... for the NEXT DAY. I was in shock and my husband said “don’t get your hopes up” because so many appointments have been cancelled or supplies have run out. And it seemed so unbelievable. I screenshot the confirmation and hoped for the best. In the words of the musical Hamilton, I was not throwing away my shot. I didn’t actually get a confirmation email until 10:45 pm - 13 hours later, but was still skeptical. In a bit of poetic irony, the Walgreens I selected (at random) is 45 minutes away in a city called Corona. So you could say I was headed to Corona to beat Corona. The whole way there, I braced for being turned away. When I checked in, I was shocked it was actually happening. Then they took my temperature. I get cold really easily, so the whole ride to Corona we left the air off (my husband drove me in case I had after effects... and because I haven’t driven since March 16, 2020) even though it was about 80. I also have bangs on my forehead and when I’m nervous my heart races like I’m running a marathon. Bad combo. My temperature was too high for a vaccine. My heart broke inside and the lady looked at me and said “just fill this out, relax, and I’ll take it again.” She did a few minutes later and I honestly don’t know if she flubbed it for me or not, but five minutes later, I had Pfizer shot dose one. And, finding out I was a teacher, the woman administering the shot told me to get my phone out to take a picture! She said “don’t you want a picture?” She was as happy as I was. No joke, as I started getting my vaccine, the very cheesy Natasha Bedingfield song “Unwritten” played on the Walgreens speaker, and after getting my post shot instructions, I walked out of the store (to wander around for the required 15 minutes outside) with Natasha singing “Today is where your book begins The rest is still unwritten.” It was so ridiculous that I really considered maybe I’m in a Truman Show situation. I also teared up because the eleven months of not driving my car, seeing my students, seeing my friends, seeing my family sort of hit me... it’s a lot of emotion to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I did also consider the sobering reality that you have to be tipped off to be able to snag a vaccine appointment. By the time I told people that Walgreens was legitimately open for us, the appointments were booked. While I am overjoyed for myself, I can’t help but be saddened at how this whole process has unfolded. I really hope they can fix the system so unrepresented populations who might not have a boss that can text them as soon as appointments open can equitably access protection. It’s only been four hours, so no side effects yet. I do feel like my entire body has been clenched for eleven months and it has finally relaxed... I may actually get a worry free night of sleep for the first time in a long time. In short, the gratitude I have is immeasurable.
• 
  2021-02-17

  Vaccination Blues

  My homeland, Orange County, has not been a place to be very proud of during COVID-19. Between anti-maskers, inept leadership, lack of transparency, and inequity in access to both COVID-19 testing and vaccines, this year has been a roller coaster in our little coastal chunk of CA. The vaccine roll out has been a massive headache. For the past month on Instagram, I see post after post of people younger than I who are getting their vaccinations because they live in another part of the state or country, while locally it's only health care workers I know that have been able to be vaccinated. Although other parts of CA (and the country) have begun to vaccinate teachers and food workers, Orange County is stubbornly (as I was told in a meeting today) waiting until 50% of the over 65 population is vaccinated before they open it up to the next tier. Though this causes me endless anxiety - will I be able to get a vaccine before my high school of 2500 opens for in person instruction - the one relief of the week was that my 65 year old mother was FINALLY able to get a vaccination appointment. The Othena system is a joke - she tried numerous times and couldn't get an appointment for the supposed super pods. Kaiser is still only vaccinating 75+! The Nextdoor app clued us in that a local hospital (where my mom has her insurance) was starting to vaccinate. Despite logging on in the very beginning of February, the earliest appointment she could get is for March 3. She took it, but I wanted to keep searching, because I worry that if the next Tier opens, she may have trouble getting a second shot if she waits until March 3. Nextdoor again clued me in to Rite-Aid, where a friend of my mom's outside OC got her vaccine. Best part - you go directly through Rite Aid, so no Othena! Success! My mom made her appointment on Saturday for tomorrow. We were jubilant! I told both my best friends about the Rite Aid trick, and within three days, they had their elderly family members signed up. Today, an hour after my best friend texted me that her dad got his Rite Aid vaccine, my mom sent me her cancellation message. Apparently the current winter storms have delayed the arrival of vaccines. My mom got lucky again, because it turns out that our school district is vaccinating employees 65+. Though retired, because she is a part time employee, my mom received an invitation today. Once she got the Rite Aid cancellation, she made her an appointment with the school district. Tomorrow is the first day the school district is vaccinating, so we have no idea what to expect, and are a little nervous because her insurance is not one of the carriers of the school district. Fingers crossed that she can still get it! Though I am genuinely happy for everyone getting vaccinated, it is frustrating that it is so much work here to try and get one. Using the Othena site hasn't worked for anyone I know - everyone I know has been vaccinated through their work or somewhere like Rite Aid. Honestly, if I see another post of someone with their vaccination card with a "do your part!" message I am going to throw my phone at the wall. I do want to do my part, if only Orange County would get their act together and manage this whole roll out better. Come on Orange County, you can do better.
• 
  2020-12-14

  The Daily Numbers, No More Beds

  Since October, I religiously check the daily case rate everyday at 12:30 when my distance learning class breaks for lunch. Originally, I checked in outrage, as I watched the local numbers climb, while simultaneously hearing our school administrators claim our school of 2500 was “safe to open.” After Halloween, I spent a tense November planning to take a leave because there was no way I was risking my family to continue to teach in person but still over Zoom, unable to walk around, with kids unable to work in a capacity beyond their chrome books. Me, exposing myself unnecessarily to the virus inside my classroom with students, but teaching exactly as I would for distance learning, for the political facade that things are “normal.” 20 people dying a day in this county is not normal. These daily numbers climbing confirmed to me my gut instinct was right. Our school ended up having our re-opening cancelled by the state when our area moved into the most restrictive tier at the end of November. I had mixed feelings of relief, horror, and deep sadness. The day we hit 700 cases a day, I was in shock. When we crossed 1000, I was horrified. Last week, when we hit 2000 cases a day, I was in terror. Today and yesterday, we have reached over 3000 new cases a day, and there are now 0% ICU beds available in our county. I feel nothing but numb. Numb and exasperated that people here are still refusing to wear masks and still think going out is more important than the safety of our community. Oh, but don’t worry. My school still thinks it’s safe to open.
• 2020-10-18

  The Summer of Stress

  In the days following my graduation from community college in 2015, I fulfilled my lifelong pursuit of procrastination and let my apartment lease run out without securing a new residence. The two weeks of couch surfing and car sleeping which followed surely taught me a lesson in preparedness. I never thought I would be in a situation where I would lose my job and home. in 2015, I still had a job. I had friends who could take me in and help me re-establish; it is easier to continue work and remain healthy when sleeping indoors and enjoying hot showers daily. But in 2020, the story is different. My friends could still take me in; many urged me to. But the pandemic put a weight on my mind that I was not safe to stay with my friends; and I couldn't stay with one friend for a long time (and therefore minimize new contact). I am incredibly afraid that I could harm my friends' families because of the pandemic. Then my job as a cashier at a 7-Eleven by the Orange County Airport was lost because the travel and traffic in the airport area dropped drastically as lockdowns and travel restrictions began; many stores in the area closed. I waited all of summer before I applied for assistance. I kept thinking it would be like the two weeks in 2015; but this was not just my own negligence as a procrastinator, this was my own fault compounded by the pandemic. As the method of my hygiene (24 Hour Fitness) closed, I truly felt the weight of stress on my mind. No more daily hot showers. Luckily my mobile residence, my car, allows me to sleep near the cold showers of the beach. Luckily the YMCA has begun phased re-opening, and I began showering there end of September when I could afford the membership. I am still without a job, and without a permanent residence. It was impossible to manage what money I still have, because eating as a homeless person is not cheap; hot food costs far more money than grocery bought. I had to use my friend's address to even get EBT/food stamps; this is why the homeless folk who are less fortunate than me, who no longer have friends pursuing their safety with them, suffer. There is no address for EBT to send them the food stamps, or they as people in need simply have no friends who can help them shoulder the stress of bad fortune and extreme circumstances.
• 
  2020-07-14

  O.C. School Board Announces Return to Class

  Orange County has been one of the cultural battlegrounds in the U.S. over all issues surrounding the coronavirus. As reopening the economy and the mask debate have somewhat receded, the next major issue is how schools will go about returning to classes in the Fall. Despite the existing health concerns, the school board voted to proceed with suggestions concerning health concerns, but no mandates. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #orangecounty. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it highlights the public reaction to the ongoing debate on how to successfully get students back to school. Link to the CBSLA article: (https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/07/13/oc-school-board-classes-fall/)
• 
  2020-06-19

  Orange County doesn't like Masks

  Throughout the country, people have been looking for ways big and small to help fight the coronavirus. One of the simplest ways of helping has been wearing a mask. In Orange County, the populace has reacted aggressively against any mandate to wear a mask. Although various gyms, restaurants, and bars are reopening and suggesting that people wear masks and social distance, most of the time people are willfully ignoring the orders. This item was added TAGS v6.1.9.1. I originally searched under the hashtag #orangecounty. Within that search, I have chosen to add the following tweet because it shows the response of many individuals in Orange County when forced to wear a mask. Doing so makes one a bit of a pariah.
• 
  2020-06-12

  COVID-19 Skeptics at an Orange County Board of Supervisors meeting

  A video of COVID deniers speaking at a public Board of Supervisors meeting in Orange County.
• 
  2020-05-20

  Small Business Updates

  As California, and more specifically Orange County, transitions into the various reopening stages, stores are adapting their standard business practices to be in line with the health orders. At a banner and printing store, this means closing the showroom as well as closing down potential walk in business. It is walking a fine line for most businesses.
• 
  2020-05-19

  Tattoo Parlor Notice

  As Orange County has started to enter the various reopening phases set out by the government of California, there remains some anxiety about the safety and cleanliness of stores that are non-essential businesses. One of local tattoo parlors in the City of Orange posted a reminder to prospective clients about the general cleanliness of tattoo parlors, as well as the extra steps being taken to ensure safety.