Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Sades
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

Post by Sades »

Whelp, cases are skyrocketing around here, pushed largely by idiots flouting Covid guidelines and having large gatherings in their homes over Thanksgiving in October and Halloween; probably exacerbated by adult whiny babies who refuse to wear masks, complaining about "muh rights" etc who seem to be enjoying their new hobby of testing the patience of staff at shopping malls and getting kicked out of Costco.

A second wave of people panic-buying toilet paper just happened this week due to the province announcing that they would be putting in place new Covid regulations- these Covid regulations turned out to be more lame duck bullshit nothing, because our premier is ignoring the advice of medical professionals and prioritizing the economy while expecting the populace to follow Covid guidelines themselves despite the fact that it has been repeatedly proven that there are a lot of people out there with the mindsets of rebellious adolescents.

I mailed my kid's letter to Santa and walked past a bar full of old men on my way to the mailbox.

I saw my dad briefly last month, for the first time in a year. It was nice. He came to the city and visited me and some of my siblings. I was apprehensive but we'd just had Covid tests done not long before his visit and wore masks during.

I want to move to New Zealand.
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Clogs
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

Post by Clogs »

I hear you, Sades! Lots of lockdowns extended in England and the press is filled with selected moans and complaints from, almost exclusively, young people. One article I’ve just read has students being terribly upset because they cannot celebrate their 18th or 21st birthdays at the pub, the poor buggers, and contains the throwaway line: infection rates remain very high among those over 60.

It might be your idiot President over there, but it’s our press doing the harm over here. My husband reckons C-19 is not all that bad, that lots of people die every day, so a few more isn’t serious; he tells me the quoted risks are pretty much Beryllium Baloney, because he’s not had it and never will. Actually, he’s mocked and been angry at me and our youngest son (21) for daring to have the damn illness, albeit mildly.

Christmas is coming, so allow me to quote something from Scrooge, appropriate to the situation at hand: The boy is Ignorance. The girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware of this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.
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Clay
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

Post by Clay »

Saw on the news today that Rhode Island has spiking cases and hospitals at full capacity, and made me worry for Mr. Tantrum.

Apparently the US as a whole doubled its number cases for the whole pandemic just in November. And yet, when I went to the grocery yesterday to get crackers and other hunkerin' down foods, I still saw plenty of people without any mask at all. Can't imagine why cases are surging, no sir.
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Tantrum
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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I knew it was getting worse here, but not enough that it'd be making the news in other states with their own problems. We were originally going to set up 3 field hospitals, then reduced that to 1 when things started looking up a few months ago. Now, we're opening 2.

Personally, I don't think I'm at too much risk. The island part of Rhode Island, where I live, still has less than a third of the infection rate of the rest of the state. I mostly limit myself to home, work, and grocery shopping once a week. I live alone, so no chance of infection here. At work, I share an office with one other guy, and there's a 7-foot high cubicle partition between us, so I'm pretty isolated there, too. Plus, my office mate has use-or-lose vacation time to take, so he's not going to be around much the next few weeks.

I grocery shop Saturdays at 8 pm. There's hardly anyone there, and I'm in and out in maybe 20 minutes. My only other trips have been gas a couple weeks ago, CVS last Wednesday around midnight to Christmas shop, and Walgreen's Saturday after grocery shopping to get Bluestreak.

My biggest concern is getting my parents to understand that they're not coming to visit me for Christmas or my birthday, which is also this month. Rhode Islanders are not permitted to socialize outside our households until Dec 13 at the earliest. We may go into lockdown again. My mom seems to think that restrictions will be loosened for the holidays.

Clay - Could you do your grocery shopping at a different time to avoid those plenty of infection vectors? I've found most stores are pretty deserted an hour before closing time.
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Clay
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Tantrum wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:42 pm I knew it was getting worse here, but not enough that it'd be making the news in other states with their own problems.
Oh, it wasn't local news. It was one of the MSNBC evening shows. I should have specified that.

I tried your suggestion of going to the store an hour before closing time today. Far fewer people, definitely. Even though a higher percentage weren't wearing masks (maybe half instead of the third during the daytime), the lower absolute number means it's safer and less frustrating. It's also likely a recent development. Murray is a college town and actually had students on campus for the fall semester. The semester was abbreviated and all the kids sent home before Thanksgiving though, so that'll help regardless of the time of day.
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Sades
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Is online grocery order/pickup an option at all for you two?
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Tantrum
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Sades wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:00 amIs online grocery order/pickup an option at all for you two?
Online shopping is pretty much off the table for me since I don't have a credit card. I've tried applying twice in the past couple years, different companies, and was rejected both times without being told why. I got my credit report and didn't find any errors. I've paid all my debts (car, student loan, even mortgage), so I can only assume a catch-22 of being unable to get my first credit card because I'm in my 40s and have never had a credit card.

I could probably get one through my bank or credit union, but I don't want my credit card tied to my actual money if/when my credit card info gets hacked. The cards I applied for both had no annual fee, so maybe as a first time credit card recipient I'd only qualify for one with an annual fee. But, I haven't been too keen on the idea of paying an annual fee for something I haven't needed.

Plus, a credit card would be another company I'd have to deal with. Last spring, my coworker spent 6 hours on hold trying to get an issue resolved. I can't handle that. Once, after 20 minutes on hold trying to get an unwanted $4/month phone service taken off my cable/phone/internet plan, I gave up and started just paying $4 less each month. The first few months, I included a note explaining the situation.

Eventually, maybe a couple years, that added up to enough money that they called me. I was able to actually speak to a person who waived the total as long as I signed on to a 2-year contract they were promoting, which was a good enough deal that I'd've done it anyway.

Maybe that's why I can't get a credit card.
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Tantrum
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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We're number 1! We're number 1! Rhode Isand now has the highest rate of new covid infections in the world. It seems to be driven by high density areas in the center and north west of the state, especially lower income neighborhoods where multiple generations live in the same home, and few sparsely populated areas to average those out.

It's not all horrific news. The number of days to double the number of cases I mentioned a few posts ago isn't dropping so fast anymore. Instead of the 81,500 cases I predicted for Dec 4, it was 69,400. The doubling number's been 38 days for almost a week.

As of today, over 6.5% of RIers have tested positive. If the 38 days holds, it'll take 130 days to reach the 70% infection level that often causes herd immunity. So, sometime in April. Hopefully, the vaccine reaches us faster, so we don't overwhelm our hospitals.


My area's still under 2% having tested positive. I decided to try a few more stores just before closing last Friday. Marshall's had quite a few people, all properly wearing masks. No TFs, though, so won't go back until I'm vaccinated. Gamestop was empty except for a single employee with his mask below his nose. I pointed this out to him, as sometimes people's masks slip without them noticing. He said some BS about a breathing deficiency and got out of there. Then it was Barnes & Noble to finish my Christmas shopping.

I've got all my parents' presents in a single box. according to the post office website, a box of this size and weight costs $14.95 to ship, which isn't bad. Now, I just have to decide when to go. If I go after hours, I can still access the automated equipment. But, if anyone else is there, there' no employee to enforce the mask requirement, and the machine might not take cash. If I go during regular hours, there'll be more people, but hopefully the employees will be enforcing masks and distancing, and I'll definitely be able to mail my package. Maybe I'll try late Friday; I can go back Saturday if there's an issue.


I've been watching the current series of Taskmaster UK. There's no audience and all the chairs are far apart for distancing. Then, I saw a couple episodes of Taskmaster New Zealand. There's an audience and the chairs are very close, so I figured it was filmed awhile ago. Then, the host mentioned covid, and I remembered that NZ has competent leadership and has been able to return mostly to normal.
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Clogs
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Tantrum wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:11 pmThen, the host mentioned covid, and I remembered that NZ has competent leadership and has been able to return mostly to normal.
NZ also has a sensible, intelligent and socially aware population.

I think I want to emigrate.
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Sades
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Take me with you!! My province is full of selfish children and I'm so done with it. :(
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Tantrum
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Clogs wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 3:03 amNZ also has a sensible, intelligent and socially aware population.
True. But, I wonder how differently things would've played out in the U.S. if Trump had embraced masks and distancing wholeheartedly. Would his followers have gone along, resulting in much higher compliance with CDC guidelines and lower transmission rates? Or is their support based purely on his never contradicting what they want?

On one of the few occasions Trump was photographed wearing a mask, I saw an article quoting Trump fans' social media feeds praising his mask, despite denigrating masks days earlier. A foolish population blindly following a leader isn't as good as a socially aware one, but it'll do in a pinch if the leader tells them the right things.


Prior to this, I was thinking of moving to Canada when I retire. They've got single payer health care, Toys R Us, and I won't have to learn a new language. Now, I'm thinking New Zealand, but I wonder how well an island nation is situated to face climate change.
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Clay
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Tantrum wrote: Mon Dec 07, 2020 3:37 am Online shopping is pretty much off the table for me since I don't have a credit card. I've tried applying twice in the past couple years, different companies, and was rejected both times without being told why.
Have you tried getting a debit card instead? They function identically to credit cards for the purposes of ordering stuff online. Obviously you don't have a have a line of credit associated with it, but you can use it with a paypal account. It's what I've done, although honestly in retrospect I should have gotten a credit card ages ago (if able) so I could have been building credit this whole time.

Here in the US, news broke today about the government's response to covid19 back in July was to secretly let people get sick on purpose.

"Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions etc. have zero to little risk....so we use them to develop herd...we want them infected" and "it will be best if we open up and flood the zone and let the kids and young folk get infected."

<sighs in exasperation>
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Sades
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Dicks.

I wonder if this is why schools were kept open here. So fucking reckless.
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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My friends, think of Covid-19 another way: it’s an opportunity to remove the unproductive elderly and those of any age with chronic health issues.

The employer with whom I spent the majority of my working life pretty much only wanted young, fit and full time staff, and used every means possible to weed out those who didn’t match the profile (in the end, that included me). Sometimes, they didn’t even bother to act within employment law, opting to pay out a lump sum at tribunal in order to save more money, in the long run, on wages. Extrapolate that and.... well, I’m sure the US doesn’t have the only government cynical enough...
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Tantrum
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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So, despite me telling my parents that RI residents can't socialize outside our households, and people coming from NH have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, they plan to stop by tomorrow to drop off my Christmas presents. They left a message, "we'll wear our masks and we won't stay long". Now I have to contact them and remind them they can't.

Theoretically, it might be OK if they stayed outside and I talked to them through an open upper story window, like I did for trick or treaters. But, if they stop by McDonalds to use the restroom or something, they'd be breaking quarantine. Plus, there's still a lot of ice on the ground from the storm they could slip on.

This is on top of the fact that I had to call out two coworkers for not wearing masks properly this week. One was my immediate supervisor early this week, who was showing a new hire around, not always 6 feet apart, with his nose poking out. The other didn't have his mask on at all when we were about to leave the building today. I had him put his mask on before I got near him. Thursday was good, though. Between the people burning through use-or-lose vacation time and the people teleworking due to the snow, I was the only one in our building.


Clay - I could look into a debit card. Maybe my current ATM card has that capability. At some point, that was optional, and I turned it down because I didn't want anyone to have easy access to my money if (when) the number got stolen. I tried to setup a Paypal account, figuring I could have my parents send money to my account, which I could then reimburse them for. But, Paypal insisted I give them a credit card number (which I don't have) or a bank account number (which I won't give out).

I could figure out a solution. But, before the Year of Covid coinciding with Hasbro's Year of the Exclusive, it wasn't worth the trouble. I've been able to get some rarities, like Red Swoop, at a comic shop. And even if I miss a few, it's not like adding one particular figure to my stash of hundreds is all that important to me.


Edit: I e-mailed my parents to remind them about not being allowed to visit, and that I was upset about them putting me in a position where I have to be the bad guy. Mom e-mailed me back "just delivering stuff". So, instead of waiting until today to put ice melt on my driveway in the relative warmth of the late morning sun, I was out there at 10 pm putting ice melt down in the dark, so they wouldn't slip.

I got a phone call while I was eating breakfast this morning. I let it go to my machine because I didn't want to have to tell them again they couldn't come in. Plus, it might not have been them and I didn't want to deal with a telemarketer. Plus, I was eating. There was no message, but it probably was them, since I looked outside my window and saw their car.

They never knocked. A few minutes later, the car was gone, and my presents were on my stoop. Their presents should be waiting for them when they get home, courtesy of the USPS.
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Oof. As of today, I think the US is creaking toward 400,000 dead from covid 19. I'm not entirely sure because the news channels have taken down the cumulative death totals for coverage of the riots in the capitol building incited by trump to stop congress from certifying his election loss.

Ugh. :(
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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What a time to be alive, right?

We're all back in National Lockdown due to our top notch handling of things. We've realised it might be idea to insist on testing before anyone comes into the country and recognised that children, though largely immune, are super spreaders, so schools are closed. The NHS is struggling again - despite all the bespoke temporary hospitals we threw together in arenas. Great idea, but without the staff to man them, they're all stood empty. Hooray!

Oh, and it's snowing, so the entire country has ground to a halt. Becasue we can't cope with weather. So yay for that.
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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The basic reason we’re all going to the Pit on a handcart is individual human stupidity, egoism and lack of logical reasoning.

The UK government is trying to herd cats every damn day and the cats, especially the fat ones, yowl in disagreement at any attempt to herd them, because no one herds cats, right? I’m sure it’s the same with other governments around the world, although some appear to have adopted a Masque of the Red Death strategy vis-a-vis cat survival.

I apologise to any cats reading this; it was the easiest analogy.
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Oh, I'm sure there's problems everywhere, but you look at the impressive way Taiwan has handled this and think 'why couldn't we have done that?'. I guess dealing first hand with Sars sharpens government responses. I like that they did a huge amount to build public trust, getting people to sign up to track and trace without much fuss. And the brilliant efforts they've made to debunk conspiracy theories and stop panic buying, by basically taking the piss out of both of those things.

Problem we've got in this country is that trust in politicians is at an all-time low. That and our governments continued insistence of running everything centrally in London (and, for the last 30 years or more, placing more emphasis on the well being of everyone inside the M25), instead of allowing local authorities some autonomy.
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Re: Covid 19 / everybody PANDEMIC

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Skyquake87 wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:46 pmProblem we've got in this country is that trust in politicians is at an all-time low. That and our governments continued insistence of running everything centrally in London (and, for the last 30 years or more, placing more emphasis on the well being of everyone inside the M25), instead of allowing local authorities some autonomy.
Here in the US, we've got the opposite problem, of pretty much non-existent federal leadership, with the states having to run everything. I just got a postcard from my state claiming to answer frequently asked questions about the vaccine, with a website to go to for more info. Thing is, all the questions/answers are about trying to convince people to want the vaccine. Nothing about telling people who already want the vaccine when we can get it, or how.

There's a URL with more, so I tried that. The printed .org URL redirects to a .gov URL, which has more links. I looked around trying to find when I can get vaccinated, and found a link to a pdf, which had a link to a website, which could not be found. Before I tried to use this website, I was confused. Now, I'm confused and angry.

I did see some vague stuff about Phase 1 taking months, and decisions about who's in what phase still being finalized. Since I'm not in a high risk group, or a front line worker, I assume it'll be late spring at the earliest for me.

At this point, f*ck trying to convince anyone who doesn't want a vaccine to take it. When demand outstrips supply, stop advertising. Offer the vaccine to high priority people first, sure. But if they refuse, move on to someone who'll appreciate having their life saved. From Question 16, they don't even know if the vaccine stops you from spreading covid, so it's not like vaccinating any one particular person helps society as a whole.

Clay wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:04 amI tried your suggestion of going to the store an hour before closing time today. Far fewer people, definitely. Even though a higher percentage weren't wearing masks (maybe half instead of the third during the daytime), the lower absolute number means it's safer and less frustrating. It's also likely a recent development. Murray is a college town and actually had students on campus for the fall semester. The semester was abbreviated and all the kids sent home before Thanksgiving though, so that'll help regardless of the time of day.
I've read that another good time to shop to avoid crowds is Sunday morning, since there's a lot of overlap between people who won't wear masks and people who go to church.
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