I've literally only been inside buildings that weren't my home three times since early March.

The first time was before masks were a glimmer in anybody's eye, so I socially distanced.

The second and third times were an emergency dentist visit and an opthalmologist visit that was necessary if I wanted to get a prescription renewed. Masks were a thing by then and they were required at both offices, thankfully.

I found it hard to climb stairs in the mask and was a little breathless all the time, but I'll find a mask I like and learn to tolerate it. I just don't think I'll be going anywhere I don't have to go, mask or no, until we either get a vaccine or we get to herd immunity.

I find the notion of getting to herd immunity without a vaccine horrific, since millions of dead and unknown numbers of people with lifelong impairments are baked into that scenario.

I've found that the kind that are like tubes that you just put around your neck and pull up over your nose and mouth are the best for me, comfort-wise. But I don't wear glasses much, other than sunglasses, so I don't know how they'd do for that.

BTW, this is the same thing as you can buy to wear when you go skiing, sometimes called neck gaiters. You can layer them to provide additional impermeability (if that's a word). No, they're not N95 level protection but I am not convinced we need that unless we're going into a high-risk area like a nursing home, or we're health care professionals.

I also like the idea that you can shove them down and wear them around your neck when you don't need them (like driving to and from the store) and they don't get lost or left behind on the front seat of your car when you head into the store. Not that I've ever done that....

I cannot imagine trying to teach with any kind of covering that covered/encased my neck and/or covered my ears. I would definitely overheat.

Gentlemen, look away...

Do any of you ladies have hot flashes? My hot flashes had been relatively tolerable and I wasn't bothered by them while teaching. Basically my approach had been to ignore them and they were not long-lasting. I might take off a cardigan or something, but it wasn't a big deal.

But the first time I had a hot flash with a mask on... well, it was hell. And that wasn't even when teaching of course.

So I am very concerned about how masked teaching is going to work with these hot flashes.

I may need to start a separate thread about this...