Posts

Showing posts with the label Risk

Consider a Move to Rhode Island, but Connecticut is almost as safe

Image
In a new report on natural disaster risk Connecticut ranks as the third most-appealing state to move to if one wants to stay safe. This report by Texas -based personal injury lawyers DJC Law does not factor for earthquakes. Wildfire data for 2010-2022, tornado data for 2008-2023 and flood data for 2010-2025 (presumably through mid-January) was collected. Rhode Island is the least vulnerable state to natural disasters, having experienced no flooding between 2010 and 2025 the study shows. Connecticut, though, fares very well too, as we have had proportionately few wildfires, floods and tornadoes over the same period. The Ocean State boasts a very low likelihood of natural disasters occurring in the future, at just 0.11%. The state reported no cases of flooding between 2010 and 2025. Over a 16-year period, only seven tornadoes were recorded, resulting in a minimal probability of 0.03% for tornadoes in the coming years. Connecticut , the report states, had only two tornadoes during that ...

A day in the life of a pandemic substitute teacher

Image
This morning I coughed up some phlegm. Is this the detritus of my Covid that ostensibly ended a couple weeks ago? Or did I catch something this week? I don't feel safe in New Haven schools because I am not. Before I get hate mail: I know what the rules are. It's who-gives-a-hoot in terms of masking in America. Young Americans have decided the pandemic is over, so those of us over 50 can just grin and bear it and hopefully not end up in hospitals gasping for air. Yesterday, a teen was coughing. I put on a second mask as I sat at the desk, nervously wondering if she were ill. I decided to call Admin and ask that a mask be sent up. The teen agreed to wear one, then as she became more and more lethargic, soon asked if she could go to the nurse. Of course, I said, of course. I heard a few coughs from the other side of the room, an animated boy "working" in a close group. Did he have Covid? I counted: maybe three masks in class. It should be noted, often I see more kids t...

Risk in the age of the horrific

Image
At a job interview, a woman was told by the interviewer that not only had she had Covid, but it had been virulent. "I ended up in the hospital, felt like I couldn't breathe." The applicant wanted to feign sympathy, but was only feeling fear. 'How do I get out of here?' The interviewer continued: "But that was months ago. I'm fine now." Relief? Another time, an employee questioned a hybrid work policy. "You are to come in more than once a week," she and her colleagues were told in a Zoom call. When she asked what that meant, the manager shot back, "just what I said." We are living in an age none of us imagined, and the business world is not out to protect us any more than it has protected coal miners from pneumoconioses and silicosis, explosions or chemical hazards. In 2019, who among us would have considered a food service or reporting job risky, let alone a trip to a largely unmasked Walgreen's or Kroger? At the start of the...