COVID impacts

[BelleCanzuto]

Sadly, an acquaintance of mine has now passed away from coronavirus as well as a family member of a friend. Something tells me that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Cases are exploding here in NYC but still not clear how much of that is due to the fact that there's much higher testing going on here. I'm still only leaving home for groceries once a week, during non-peak hours, so hopefully keeping risk of exposure low. However, a friend in the building told me he was just tested after showing all the signs of the virus.
Curious to see if I already had it and possess the antibodies but I don't think that'll happen any time soon. For now, just getting by.

So sorry for your losses, SR. I suppose it was inevitable that someone here would be directly affected. I hope you, and yours, and everyone is able to stay safe.

The county sheriff's department where I live is calling seniors this week to check on them. I didn't give it much thought when I read about it, but my daughter called and said they reached out to her (as my emergency contact) when I didn't answer my phone. It didn't take us long to decide they had an old number (my phone didn't ring this morning and nothing showed on the call log for today). A quick conversation with a deputy fixed it. I've been staying in and away from others so hopefully when they call again, I can still tell them I'm doing all right.

One of our local sheriff's depts is doing the same thing. They have a list of people they check in on every day. And other people can call them and if they don't have other options, the sheriffs will bring them things. The local news did a story about a deputy taking a roll of TP to a lady who was quarantining herself.

They did quote him as saying, "You know, we aren't gonna go hunt down the latest DVD at Target for ya, but if you really need somethin' legitimate, we'll help ya out."

I thought it was really nice.

 

[ishtat]

In some respects Australia is like a mini USA. We have a Federal system of government and like the US it is our State Premiers (Governors) who are leading the charge. The two leaders acting almost in unison are the conservative premier of NSW and the socialist premier of Victoria. Their two states have the worst infection rates and all credit to them for working together; to some extent they had a practice run with co-operation during the bushfires. WA. NT. and Tasmania all have an ocean or at least 500 miles between any population centre over 5,000 and the state border. That helps.

NZ is ideally equipped institutionally, just 5 million people, only one legislative chamber in their single parliament. Their premier, Jacinta Adern, went very hard and early with lockdown and thus had negligible cases. But that example cannot be extrapolated easily; Ms Adern could put all 120 of her country's legislators on a single Zoom conference call - try that with 50 states and two legislating houses in some of them.

The USA made some serious errors with testing and the scrapping of the CDC's capability but once that behemoth gets moving the medical services sector will get the job done - despite rather than because of political leadership but they will get the job done.

In the bigger countries National leaders need to lead with calm and compassion and a 'we are all in this together' approach helping the professionals do their job particularly with easing supply chain problems. Some are doing well, some OK and some are appalling - but they will all take credit from the front line heroes and heroines when it is over.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

In some respects Australia is like a mini USA. We have a Federal system of government and like the US it is our State Premiers (Governors) who are leading the charge. The two leaders acting almost in unison are the conservative premier of NSW and the socialist premier of Victoria. Their two states have the worst infection rates and all credit to them for working together; to some extent they had a practice run with co-operation during the bushfires. WA. NT. and Tasmania all have an ocean or at least 500 miles between any population centre over 5,000 and the state border. That helps.

Yeah, the space between your population centers will really help. In the Northeastern/Mid Atlantic US there's a "Megalopolis" that has over 50 million people in it. The most well known part is the Boston-NYC-Baltimore-DC part, but nowadays it extends through Richmond into North Carolina. Including that population, it might be closer to 60 million people. It's all densely populated with easy transportation from one end to the other. It's prime breeding ground for a virus like this. And it's eight or nine different governments. NYC is the center of the known outbreak now, but it's got lots of people to spread to. And some of those governments are taking it more seriously than others. Some of them are better at working together than others.

Ms Adern could put all 120 of her country's legislators on a single Zoom conference call - try that with 50 states and two legislating houses in some of them.

My state alone has more legislators than that...

The USA made some serious errors with testing and the scrapping of the CDC's capability but once that behemoth gets moving the medical services sector will get the job done - despite rather than because of political leadership but they will get the job done.

In the bigger countries National leaders need to lead with calm and compassion and a 'we are all in this together' approach helping the professionals do their job particularly with easing supply chain problems. Some are doing well, some OK and some are appalling - but they will all take credit from the front line heroes and heroines when it is over.

There are already serious problems in NYC and serious problems on the near horizon in other cities, most notably New Orleans.

The supply chain issue is a major problem. Multiple governors here have talked about knowing that they're competing with other governors, and the federal gov't for supplies, and that's driving up the price astronomically. There are other options, but {she says completely non-politically} our federal leadership has declined to pursue those options or use the leverage available to them. That's going to be a huge tragedy, if this virus behaves the way it's predicted to.

 

[oggbashan]

My wife went shopping during the senior hour at our local supermarket, leaving me at home. The supermarket was enforcing one in, one out and social distancing inside and in the queue outside the store. The queue was 300 yards long and she had to wait 40 minutes to get in.

Once inside she could buy everything she needed including toilet paper. She was in and out in twenty minutes - a record for her.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Once inside she could buy everything she needed including toilet paper. She was in and out in twenty minutes - a record for her.

No doubt because you weren't there, dithering about with the trolley with the wonky wheel and the complete inability to decide whether you wanted jam with cream doughnuts or cream with jam doughnuts. You know, like the good ol' boy who reckons, "It's gettin' crazy round here."

 

[oggbashan]

No doubt because you weren't there, dithering about with the trolley with the wonky wheel and the complete inability to decide whether you wanted jam with cream doughnuts or cream with jam doughnuts. You know, like the good ol' boy who reckons, "It's gettin' crazy round here."

When I go shopping on my own I am quicker than her by a factor of 50%. When I go shopping with her I am often left, sitting on my walker next to the trolley while she goes to the toilet.

 

[SolarRay]

So so sorry to hear that, SR my condolences.

So sorry for your losses, SR. I suppose it was inevitable that someone here would be directly affected. I hope you, and yours, and everyone is able to stay safe.

Using your descriptions about your stockpiling, I bought puts across pretty much the whole market and went long on General Mills, Walmart, Costco, Kimberly-Clarke, Proctor&Gamble and a handful of others.

Coronavirus investing is one of the things I'm using to keep my mind occupied while being shut in. I've bought a handful of stocks at multi-year lows that I feel are way undervalued due to panic selling and have two other strategic plays that are already speedily recovering after I managed to catch them at the bottom (if that's actually what it was).

 

[oggbashan]

Leaking U-bend

The washbasin in my ensuite was blocked by the hair I had lost due to chemotherapy.

When dismantling it to remove the blockage the seal ring was damaged. The local DIY stores, open yesterday, have closed today. Temporarily it has been fixed with a rubber band and plumber's sealant.

I have ordered a set of seal rings online but they won't arrive until next week...

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

General science type info on the Coronavirus that causes COVID19, and why this one turned into a pandemic when the other dozen or so haven't. This article *should* be freely accessible:

From The Atlantic: What We Know So Far about SARS-CoV-2

snippets:

Good reads, Thanks BC!

And on a lighter note: A doctor who lives close by told me this story. On the one hand we have a lady who is a councillor on the Local government authority. She is loud, persistent, self righteously evangelical, and committed to the moral welfare (asked or unasked) of the community. Always ready to give advice, it sometimes seems that the constant reminders of her 'volunteering' at the suburban hospital serves to remind us of her moral calibre.

The other protagonist is considerably younger and the proprietor of a local massage shop. Two or three of these (legal businesses) are to be found in every suburb in Sydney and perhaps 70% are in reality rub 'n tug shops. These businesses are the depths of depravity so far as the first lady is concerned but the second lady although much less loud seems well able to hold her own in an argument.

In the last week or 2 the first lady has completely failed to hide her delight that business for the R & T shops has collapsed in the face of CV infection fears, but she found out on Monday that the gods are indeed capricious. She arrived for her volunteering session to be introduced to her new supervisor. She was gobsmacked; she discovered that her new nurse supervisor was: ddddrum roll, her aforementioned nemesis, the massage shop owner. It transpires that the massage lady is in fact a fully qualified nurse who had previously been splitting her time between her 2 professions, but for the time being must concentrate on one.

The Doctor didn't know exactly how things resolved but added that the medical staff and especially the nurses need all the laughs they can get at the moment.

This made me LOL for real. Karma’s a chick that’s not particularly pleasant

Nothing to apologize for. I didn't see your remark as being anti-American.

Agreed. I really appreciate your insights, Ogg, and hope that you didn’t feel in the hot seat for your concerns and opinions. I think it’s important to get multiple, considered, measured perspectives.

I just snorted my coffee. Happy to be an economic indicator for you Vix - I shall do my best to share in future, thus allowing you a good lead in lol

Coronavirus investing is one of the things I'm using to keep my mind occupied while being shut in. I've bought a handful of stocks at multi-year lows that I feel are way undervalued due to panic selling and have two other strategic plays that are already speedily recovering after I managed to catch them at the bottom (if that's actually what it was).

Thank you again, Chloe!!

Yes, it is. Thanks.

We just had a college girl test positive who decided she was too young to worry about the virus and took her spring break trip anyway. The list of places she went is long, including Madrid on March 10. Now she's in isolation, struggling with high fevers and difficulty breathing.

Ai ya! I’m so sorry to hear that and pray the best for her. My younger brother has a part-time job he loves because it allows him to write off his travel, and despite my parents and I begging him not to, he did something similar at the beginning of March. He traveled from his college to Seattle and then Michigan to see friends, and then a stopover in NYC, and then to London with our sister, with plans to come back to NYC to see me on the way back to school.... They’ve been quarantined for weeks and doubly frightening because they both have asthma, and they can’t even do so at home because our mother is the highest risk possible. So far, they’re OK but in the long run, who knows?

The washbasin in my ensuite was blocked by the hair I had lost due to chemotherapy.

When dismantling it to remove the blockage the seal ring was damaged. The local DIY stores, open yesterday, have closed today. Temporarily it has been fixed with a rubber band and plumber's sealant.

I have ordered a set of seal rings online but they won't arrive until next week...

I thought that one odd side effect of the chemo was that it was making your hair regrow. I hope that you still are getting by without the nausea and other discomforts of the chemo and radiology.

I had to make a trip to Lowes hardware store for the same; our jacuzzi tub trap isn’t working (I guess it’s the trap, I’m not a plumber) and so I got plumber’s sealant and a rubber band-based stopper.

 

[oggbashan]

I thought that one odd side effect of the chemo was that it was making your hair regrow. I hope that you still are getting by without the nausea and other discomforts of the chemo and radiology.

I had to make a trip to Lowes hardware store for the same; our jacuzzi tub trap isn’t working (I guess it’s the trap, I’m not a plumber) and so I got plumber’s sealant and a rubber band-based stopper.

My hair is regrowing but I lost a substantial proportion during chemotherapy. I tried to stop it going down my washbasin but was not wholly successful.

 

[KeithD]

My wife went shopping during the senior hour at our local supermarket, leaving me at home. The supermarket was enforcing one in, one out and social distancing inside and in the queue outside the store. The queue was 300 yards long and she had to wait 40 minutes to get in.

Once inside she could buy everything she needed including toilet paper. She was in and out in twenty minutes - a record for her.

Once in, I'd first have to go looking for a restroom.

We've had no such queuing in our town. Of course this is a university town and stored up for that--and the students are unexpectedly gone.

 

[oggbashan]

Several of our contemporary friends have been in touch by telephone in recent days.

Despite my diabetes and in-remission lung cancer, they all seem in much worse health than me.

 

[_Lynn_]

Ai ya! I’m so sorry to hear that and pray the best for her. My younger brother has a part-time job he loves because it allows him to write off his travel, and despite my parents and I begging him not to, he did something similar at the beginning of March. He traveled from his college to Seattle and then Michigan to see friends, and then a stopover in NYC, and then to London with our sister, with plans to come back to NYC to see me on the way back to school.... They’ve been quarantined for weeks and doubly frightening because they both have asthma, and they can’t even do so at home because our mother is the highest risk possible. So far, they’re OK but in the long run, who knows?

I'm in Michigan. So far, the greatest number of cases is on the east side of the state.

Fingers crossed for both of them.

 

[gordo12]

One thing about all this is I've finished 4 stories this week over 40k words. Stuff that's been languishing. Also a flash story that occurred to me while writing the others. Two are edited and ready to go. Two I'm editing what I've written this week.

My WIP's are now down to 18.

And I filled up our new caddy for $32 instead of $80. Enough savings to buy 120 rolls of toilet paper. I'm off to shop

Being retired I've always been able to come and go at will. It's never been important. Now locked up and frankly facing a future where I could die in the next 14 days, finishing those stories has become important.

Funny how your perspectives change.

 

[SolarRay]

One thing about all this is I've finished 4 stories this week over 40k words. Stuff that's been languishing. Also a flash story that occurred to me while writing the others. Two are edited and ready to go. Two I'm editing what I've written this week.

My WIP's are now down to 18.

And I filled up our new caddy for $32 instead of $80. Enough savings to buy 120 rolls of toilet paper. I'm off to shop

Being retired I've always been able to come and go at will. It's never been important. Now locked up and frankly facing a future where I could die in the next 14 days, finishing those stories has become important.

Funny how your perspectives change.

Way to go! -- Though I hope it's more the being-stuck-at-home that's motivating you and less the crushing awareness of your own mortality.

Current conditions finally got me to focus on finishing my own languishing story. It's over 50k words which I've divided into 3 chapters but I've been poking away at it for so long now that I badly need to send it off to a beta reader who expressed interest for a pair of fresh eyes. With any luck I'll be able to drop all 3 chapters soon and return to 2 other stories in final edits. I can't imagine 18 WIPs...

 

[gordo12]

I can't imagine 18 WIPs...

Down from 22 now. Did I mention I lack focus. (80 or so in my idea folder)

I get hot over a story, write a large percentage of it and then drift off to something else. Then it's haul it out weeks later. Add a few lines, then back to something else that's caught my attention.

It's my worst enemy. And yeah, the mortality thing and being locked up at home are combining to make me focus. At 68 years old it doesn't appear there is much mercy from this disease.

 

[litfan10]

Once in, I'd first have to go looking for a restroom.

We've had no such queuing in our town. Of course this is a university town and stored up for that--and the students are unexpectedly gone.

Yeah, I was talking to some restaurant owners I know and they are panicking over the loss of revenue from no graduation celebrations. That is the biggest money maker for many of them.

 

[litfan10]

I wonder if we will see a spike in the divorce rate in a month and another spike in births around December.

 

[yukonnights]

Down from 22 now. Did I mention I lack focus. (80 or so in my idea folder)

I get hot over a story, write a large percentage of it and then drift off to something else. Then it's haul it out weeks later. Add a few lines, then back to something else that's caught my attention.

It's my worst enemy. And yeah, the mortality thing and being locked up at home are combining to make me focus. At 68 years old it doesn't appear there is much mercy from this disease.

I hate to be the one to put the last nail in your coffin....but; In the news today; Global Condom Shortage Looms As Coronavirus Shuts Down Production.


Okay, maybe an author doesn't have any use for condoms and this seems a small concern. But, if the reader's begin to fear that our arousing words might tempt them beyond their normal safety standards — the smart ones will abstain from reading our stories...just a matter of time before the not so smart follow them.

Phht, with no readers, I may as well just write them and delete them when I'm done or just stick 'em on a thumb-drive that I'll misplace in pretty short order.

Don't believe me? Here's the story in the Guardian —> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...om-shortage-coronavirus-shuts-down-production

Sorry Godo — I really am

 

[gordo12]

I hate to be the one to put the last nail in your coffin....but; In the news today; Global Condom Shortage Looms As Coronavirus Shuts Down Production.


Okay, maybe an author doesn't have any use for condoms and this seems a small concern. But, if the reader's begin to fear that our arousing words might tempt them beyond their normal safety standards — the smart ones will abstain from reading our stories...just a matter of time before the not so smart follow them.

Phht, with no readers, I may as well just write them and delete them when I'm done or just stick 'em on a thumb-drive that I'll misplace in pretty short order.

Don't believe me? Here's the story in the Guardian —> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...om-shortage-coronavirus-shuts-down-production

Sorry Godo — I really am

Seriously YK. You think @ 68 I'm in the market for condoms I should be so lucky!!!

 

[gordo12]

It's funny how you go from stud to silver fox to creepy. Women are sooo strange.

 

[yukonnights]

Seriously YK. You think @ 68 I'm in the market for condoms I should be so lucky!!!

It can still impact you as an author according to my analysis

 

[KeithD]

Yeah, I was talking to some restaurant owners I know and they are panicking over the loss of revenue from no graduation celebrations. That is the biggest money maker for many of them.

Yep, UVa final exercises have already been called off. A big blow to the merchants in town already reeling from the regional book festival having recently been canceled--and the national-level film festival here will probably follow in the dust.

 

[yukonnights]

It's funny how you go from stud to silver fox to creepy. Women are sooo strange.

Sounds like someone has been trash-talking you — I won't stand for that

 

[gordo12]

Sounds like someone has been trash-talking you — I won't stand for that

I'll ship them north you feed them to the wolves

It appears that your chances of survival now depend on how much you kiss somebody's ass.

“If they don’t treat you right, I don't call,” Trump said, shortly after telling reporters: “I want them to be appreciative.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2017/10/26/98ae44db448742a79ae48aff31d45803_8.jpg

Please sir. May we have another ventilator