Tag Archives: COVID-19

Current Affairs

Life Advice for Book Lovers: Finding Joy in Retirement ‹ Literary Hub

Book Recommendations for the Troubled Soul

By Dorothea, January 19, 2023

From article…

Dear Dorothea,

I’m sixty. I just took my pension after having worked in the Quebec health system for forty-two years. Yes, I survived COVID. I saw a lot of my old patients die, and I had to work under less than ideal conditions. We were forced to wear masks, scrubs and gloves all day.

Moreover, there was a lack of personnel because many employees got the bug. Therefore, the rest of us had to work like dogs but did not sleep like logs, afraid as we were of falling sick too. It was a time of distress.

So, I should feel joyous not going to work anymore, but not as much as I think I would. I’m telling myself that I will finally be able to finish and polish the sci-fi series of adventure novels I began years ago. However, in the morning I feel a little bit depressed. I have trouble believing that the whole time of each new day (or at last a big part of it) can be spent pursuing my heart’s desires.

It’s like Society is whispering in my utilitarian programmed brain: do something useful, start a garden, cook with your wife, find a part-time job, study theology, etc. How can you believe that what you write will interest anybody?

Should I read positive thinking books, although most of them are written by Republican car salesmen?

Thank you, Morning Hope, Morning Sadness

Source: Life Advice for Book Lovers: Finding Joy in Retirement ‹ Literary Hub

Food & Drink, Love & Relationships, Travel

Where do French people travel in France? Cote d’Azur Burgundy Brittany | CNBC Travel

By Monica Buchanan Pitrelli @MonicaPitrelli, Published Fri, Jul 1 20221:59 AM EDT

The Sofitel Golfe d’Ajaccio Thalassa Sea and Spa hotel, located in southern Corsica.
Source: Accor

International travelers may prioritize visits to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre when they visit France. But French residents have other ideas.

Border restrictions during the pandemic largely gave locals the chance to explore their country without foreign tourists, which in 2019 numbered some 90 million.

The French did not squander the opportunity. More than two-thirds of French residents traveled in 2021, with 84% of France’s metropolitan residents choosing to stay within the country, according to the French tourism marketing research firm Raffour Interactif.

Top destinations

As the desire for nature and outdoor activities grew during the pandemic, several areas emerged as top destinations among local travelers, said Maud Bailly, the CEO of southern Europe for the multinational hospitality company Accor, which has more than 1,600 hotels in France.  

Domestic travelers were drawn to the coasts of Brittany — or Bretagne in French — because of the “the sea [and] the wideness of the landscape,” she said. The northwest province is home to charming seaside towns, such as Cancale and the walled port city of Saint-Malo, famous for its gastronomy and history.  

Source: Where do French people travel in France? Cote d’Azur Burgundy Brittany

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Politics, Science & Health

On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

By Sharmila Mukherjee, May 13, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

What does this perilous time of disease and destruction ask of us as readers and writers?

Three new books spotlight the power of the written word to foster creative responses to confinement and oppression — and to inspire deep change within us.

Azar Nafisi’s Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times, Elena Ferrante’s In The Margins: On The Pleasures of Reading and Writing and Anna Quindlen’s Write for Your Life are all about the transformative possibilities that underlie political, social and personal crisis.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item...

Source: On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Politics

The Collapse Of American Teaching

Teachers all over the country describe problems that touch every aspect of our culture and society, from technology dependence to stats-obsessed bureaucracy to a post-COVID behavior crisis.

By Rosie Gray, BuzzFeed News Reporter, Updated on April 1, 2022, 6:29 am, Posted on March 31, 2022, 3:38 pm

Paige worked in corporate America for several years before deciding at the beginning of 2020 to switch to a career she found more meaningful.

When the pandemic hit a short time later, she second-guessed her decision, but the crisis also made her feel “more compelled to rise to the occasion.”

She completed virtual training. Paige — who spoke on the condition that only her middle name be used — started her first job as a teacher at an under-resourced Dallas-area middle school in January 2021.

The district was using a hybrid classroom model, blending remote and in-person instruction. Paige had the advantage of a previous career that prepared her for the technological headache. She felt she was able to build constructive relationships with her students, especially the roughly 30% who came to school in person.

Though her subject, reading, is a perennial testing priority, she was liberated from test pressure since states were given the option to waive the usual battery of exams that year. In hindsight, her first few months of teaching were “breezy and manageable” in comparison to what came after.

Source: The Collapse Of American Teaching

Current Affairs, Science & Health

Who should get second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot — and when? – Vox

There is no right or wrong answer on getting another booster shot. Here’s what to consider.

By Dylan Scott@dylanlscott dylan.scott@vox.com, Mar 31, 2022, 2:30pm EDT

The Biden administration has approved fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot for all Americans over age 50 and for all adults who are immunocompromised.
Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images

The Biden administration has approved a fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot for all Americans over age 50 and for all adults who are immunocompromised.

But does that mean everybody who is eligible should rush out to their pharmacy or primary care doctor to get it?

The short answer is that it depends — on both your personal risk and what’s happening with the pandemic.

Making things even more perplexing, the public health guidance has become more nuanced as more booster shots are authorized.

Whereas public health experts were unified in urging people to get their first and second shots last year, they were more divided about third shots when those were approved late last year, at least until the emerging omicron wave made the first round of boosters more urgent.

Source: Who should get second Covid-19 vaccine booster shot — and when? – Vox

Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Science & Health

Part Netflix, Part Amazon Warehouse, Libraries Adapted During Pandemic | Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii Public Libraries were among the first state agencies to physically reopen to the public after pandemic restrictions eased.

By Lee Cataluna, January 23, 2022 · 6 min read

From article…

If public libraries had been struggling for relevance in the digital age, they may have found it during the pandemic.

Libraries are often thought of as “the community living rooms” where one can browse bookshelves next to strangers, share computers and attend classes or discussions. But that function as a public gathering place became a liability with Covid-19.

From article…

“From the beginning of the lockdown, we knew we had to find ways to continue to serve,” said Stacey Aldrich, Hawaii state librarian since 2015.

One of the first things the Hawaii State Library System did was to beef up Wi-Fi service at neighborhood branches so that people could still access the internet outside the closed library buildings.

Source: https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/01/lee-cataluna-part-netflix-part-amazon-warehouse-libraries-adapted-during-pandemic/