OT: Off Topic XXI - It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)

[super6646]

Had another hf dream last night. Total nightmare, got hit with a “super warning”/“partial” ban. Made no sense, but 25 warning points for spamming? Jeez hf mods are tyrants in that alternate reality.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Yeeee-naw

Not really a huge Stampede guy usually but it's such a big event for the city. Would always make a good chunk of change if I was working it. All fun has been postponed indefinitely.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Had another hf dream last night. Total nightmare, got hit with a “super warning”/“partial” ban. Made no sense, but 25 warning points for spamming? Jeez hf mods are tyrants in that alternate reality.

Sure... "alternate"

I can make all of your dreams come true, apparently. Keep that in mind.

 

[super6646]

Sure... "alternate"

I can make all of your dreams come true, apparently. Keep that in mind.

You beast!

 

[Rubi]

Had another hf dream last night. Total nightmare, got hit with a “super warning”/“partial” ban. Made no sense, but 25 warning points for spamming? Jeez hf mods are tyrants in that alternate reality.

@super6646 I gotta say that if you are repeatedly dreaming about HF I really think you need help or at the very least a good woman in your life. I do realize that's tough to get or find in this lockdown environment so my advice is more porn less HF.

I must say though that this "pause" in the "real" NHL season is doing wonders for my current warning pts total and infraction level. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess.

 

[super6646]

@super6646 I gotta say that if you are repeatedly dreaming about HF I really think you need help or at the very least a good woman in your life. I do realize that's tough to get or find in this lockdown environment so my advice is more porn less HF.

I must say though that this "pause" in the "real" NHL season is doing wonders for my current warning pts total and infraction level. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess.

No, no it isn't like that at least I would think?

Dreamland has always just been weird in general for me in terms of the random thoughts that pop up (sipping coffee in timmies is one I've had for years from time to time), and I thought it was funny I had a couple about HF recently, but it isn't something that is happening constantly. I can definitely see mental health as a struggle during these times, but personally I wouldn't find an odd dream to be a sign of anything unusual.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the concern and I'll take note of it.

 

[Kahvi]

I'm watching Liiga eSports final, Kärpät - Tappara. This is really fun. Also typing that made me realize how much I miss hockey

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I’m getting tested in the coming days. RIP fellas

 

[Rubi]

I’m getting tested in the coming days. RIP fellas

Are you feeling ill?

 

[BobColesNasalCavity]

I’m getting tested in the coming days. RIP fellas

For Covid or chlamydia?

 

[Ace Rimmer]

For Covid or chlamydia?

 

[Bounces R Way]

I’m getting tested in the coming days. RIP fellas

 

[Kahvi]

10 weeks working from home, 3 more weeks left until summer holidays. I'd really want to go to my cottage, but lets see

 

[Kahvi]

Also bought a used PS3 and few games a couple of weeks ago for 80€. My frst game console ever, I never thought I'd get so bored staying inside that I'd need one for entertainment

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Also bought a used PS3 and few games a couple of weeks ago for 80€. My frst game console ever, I never thought I'd get so bored staying inside that I'd need one for entertainment

What is the quarantine situation like in Finland? Are you still allowed to go out if you need to or is it like marshal law?

I was talking to a friend in Chile and she said over there you need a government permit to be allowed outside, so you basically have to pack your bags, be dressed and be ready to head out the door and click submit and print on your computer and start running Amazing Race style because the permit is only good for 3 or 4 hours. After that if you're caught out with an invalid permit by the police or military, you could go to jail.

 

[Kahvi]

What is the quarantine situation like in Finland? Are you still allowed to go out if you need to or is it like marshal law?

I was talking to a friend in Chile and she said over there you need a government permit to be allowed outside, so you basically have to pack your bags, be dressed and be ready to head out the door and click submit and print on your computer and start running Amazing Race style because the permit is only good for 3 or 4 hours. After that if you're caught out with an invalid permit by the police or military, you could go to jail.

We never had that kind of absolute quarantine. Schools, libraries, museums, restaurants (take away was allowed) were closed for a little over a month, gatherings of over 10 people were not allowed, working from home was heavily recommended if possible, and Uusimaa region (Helsinki and surrounding areas) was blocker from rest of the county for a month. But other than that, no restrictions with going to supermarket to buy food, or just hang around if you kept safe distance to other people. I've shopped at nearby supermarket maybe 1-2 times a week, since last week or so it has been almost like normal, except for only a few people with face mask.

All this meant that we have had it relatively easy when it comes to infections, but now, slowly, schools, restaurants are opening etc.
I'm a bit scared that people will are tired of sitting inside and now as the government is lifting restrictions, they go crazy and we have a second wave later this summer, but who knows.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

We never had that kind of absolute quarantine. Schools, libraries, museums, restaurants (take away was allowed) were closed for a little over a month, gatherings of over 10 people were not allowed, working from home was heavily recommended if possible, and Uusimaa region (Helsinki and surrounding areas) was blocker from rest of the county for a month. But other than that, no restrictions with going to supermarket to buy food, or just hang around if you kept safe distance to other people. I've shopped at nearby supermarket maybe 1-2 times a week, since last week or so it has been almost like normal, except for only a few people with face mask.

All this meant that we have had it relatively easy when it comes to infections, but now, slowly, schools, restaurants are opening etc.
I'm a bit scared that people will are tired of sitting inside and now as the government is lifting restrictions, they go crazy and we have a second wave later this summer, but who knows.

Sounds a lot like what we’re doing here too.

I’ve been working from home since end of March, and really don’t want to go back.

Literally drive once every two weeks to get groceries.

I do miss sports and bars though.

 

[Kahvi]

I’ve been working from home since end of March, and really don’t want to go back.

Working from home every now and then has been a normal thing for me for at least 10 years, so in a way this is nothing new. It has always been based on trust and not control, I have never had to ask or explain why I want to work from home.

I know this has been a big change for a lot of people and companies, and I kinda hope companies would understand the benefits of working from home. And if you do not trust your employees working from home, how do you trust they are working while they are in the office? Working for a multinational company now, I know there are differencies in organisational cultures and how this kind of things are handled, but still, it all should be based on trust and measuring employees performance using something else than "hours spent online at Teams".

After all this is over, I want to move to countryside and work 3-4 days a week from home. But I also miss the interaction with co-workers at the office, we have a relatively small group with great people, and I havent seen them for two months

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

After all this is over, I want to move to countryside and work 3-4 days a week from home. But I also miss the interaction with co-workers at the office, we have a relatively small group with great people, and I havent seen them for two months

I'm one of those people who much prefer being in the office because I like having that physical separation between work and home life. I was going into the office until both our organization and senior leadership made official statements to not come in anymore. I knew it was going to happen eventually so I wanted to enjoy being out as long as possible before there was no choice.

But yes, agreed on the human interaction. We just had a major layoff two weeks ago and normally our practice is to announce when people were no longer working with us, but because it was such a high profile layoff due to the economy they wouldn't send out announcements on who was let go, which is really frustrating because since we're not physically at the office, we have no way of determine who is still with us and who isn't. It's also really embarrassing when our clients know who has been let go before we're aware.

 

[Anglesmith]

Teaching from home is not as fun, but the commute is much easier.

 

[Kahvi]

I'm one of those people who much prefer being in the office because I like having that physical separation between work and home life. I was going into the office until both our organization and senior leadership made official statements to not come in anymore. I knew it was going to happen eventually so I wanted to enjoy being out as long as possible before there was no choice.

But yes, agreed on the human interaction. We just had a major layoff two weeks ago and normally our practice is to announce when people were no longer working with us, but because it was such a high profile layoff due to the economy they wouldn't send out announcements on who was let go, which is really frustrating because since we're not physically at the office, we have no way of determine who is still with us and who isn't. It's also really embarrassing when our clients know who has been let go before we're aware.

We have a nice office in the center of Helsinki, and living somewhere nearby would be great, and I would go to office everyday. But currently it takes about 1 hour in the morning to commute to office, and a bit less in the afternoon to get back home, and my rent is crazy high. Moving to countryside would save a lot of time and money

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

Teaching from home is not as fun, but the commute is much easier.

How has teaching changed for you, AS?

If there's one thing this pandemic has exposed, it's which organizations are completely behind the times with technology. Calgary Board of Education is one of them. Just reading and talking with friends who have kids, all the teachers were scrambling to come up with some sort of game plan for online learning and it was a complete mess. One teacher might have one-on-one video sessions with each student, another teacher might have a group session with X number of students or as many who could attend, others would just toss up videos on Youtube, one teacher might use Skype, another would use Zoom, another would use Facetime, etc....

 

[Anglesmith]

How has teaching changed for you, AS?

If there's one thing this pandemic has exposed, it's which organizations are completely behind the times with technology. Calgary Board of Education is one of them. Just reading and talking with friends who have kids, all the teachers were scrambling to come up with some sort of game plan for online learning and it was a complete mess. One teacher might have one-on-one video sessions with each student, another teacher might have a group session with X number of students or as many who could attend, others would just toss up videos on Youtube, one teacher might use Skype, another would use Zoom, another would use Facetime, etc....

That's surprising to hear, to be honest. The public schools at least here in Victoria are all operating only using email. Each class emails out an assignment for the week at the start, and apparently these assignments are optional. The reasoning I've heard is that they are trying to avoid any security or liability issues.

My school is a private school and quite small. They were already coming up with contingency plans prior at the start of March, and during our Spring Break, they planned how everything would go. We operate through the G-Suite, so we use Google Meet for classes and there is complete consistency from class to class. The schedule was reconfigured to avoid overloading screen time. For most of my classes, I make video lessons and post them the day before, and we use our classes to discuss any questions and work on problems. I have completely abandoned the idea of testing, which more or less follows the advice of the Ministry of Education here in BC.

The biggest obstacle for us is that we have a very high Chinese student population, and our boarding facilities shut down over Spring Break. Many of the students went back to China and are now 15 hours ahead. Trying to stay in touch with those students is tough.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

That's surprising to hear, to be honest. The public schools at least here in Victoria are all operating only using email. Each class emails out an assignment for the week at the start, and apparently these assignments are optional. The reasoning I've heard is that they are trying to avoid any security or liability issues.

Yeah the whole thing with CBE was kinda surprising to me too. When we selected our new Learning Management System at the university a few years back, what CBE was using weighed heavily in our final decision. I always got the impression it was because they had their shit together, but clearly not haha

My school is a private school and quite small. They were already coming up with contingency plans prior at the start of March, and during our Spring Break, they planned how everything would go. We operate through the G-Suite, so we use Google Meet for classes and there is complete consistency from class to class. The schedule was reconfigured to avoid overloading screen time. For most of my classes, I make video lessons and post them the day before, and we use our classes to discuss any questions and work on problems. I have completely abandoned the idea of testing, which more or less follows the advice of the Ministry of Education here in BC.

The biggest obstacle for us is that we have a very high Chinese student population, and our boarding facilities shut down over Spring Break. Many of the students went back to China and are now 15 hours ahead. Trying to stay in touch with those students is tough.

That's good that you guys had planned ahead. About a week before the university shut down, an email went out to all academic staff to start considering and preparing for online/distance learning in case we were put on lockdown but I don't think that gave enough time for many to prepare.

During the town hall a couple weeks back senior leadership was giving themselves a pat on the back for handling the influx of distance learning and creation of hundreds of additional online courses in our LMS shortly after the lockdown. Except... we've always created online courses for every single course in the calendar; it's up to the instructor if he or she want to use it. I set up that process over 10 years ago and it's completely automated

I hadn't thought about the logistics of international students though. That's gotta be tough.

 

[Anglesmith]

Yeah the whole thing with CBE was kinda surprising to me too. When we selected our new Learning Management System at the university a few years back, what CBE was using weighed heavily in our final decision. I always got the impression it was because they had their shit together, but clearly not haha



That's good that you guys had planned ahead. About a week before the university shut down, an email went out to all academic staff to start considering and preparing for online/distance learning in case we were put on lockdown but I don't think that gave enough time for many to prepare.

During the town hall a couple weeks back senior leadership was giving themselves a pat on the back for handling the influx of distance learning and creation of hundreds of additional online courses in our LMS shortly after the lockdown. Except... we've always created online courses for every single course in the calendar; it's up to the instructor if he or she want to use it. I set up that process over 10 years ago and it's completely automated

I hadn't thought about the logistics of international students though. That's gotta be tough.

Where it's going to be extremely tough is in the bottom line next year. The general sentiment among boarding schools is to expect a significant decrease in international enrollment next year as a result of both fear of travelling and due to lack of satisfaction with how this online school is working for kids overseas. That said, we're doing our best. All of our classes are recorded and can be viewed at a later time, and we all make time in one way or another if a student wants to interact. But if they don't, there is legit no way to know if they are doing anything until they hand in something. That's tough.