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Bryson
Rocket Surgeon
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
 
2020-08-25, 16:05

I worked at home before, so not that much difference for me. Well, except my wife and kid are here too. Usually it's just me during the day.

Most of my friends, however, work in live performance and so they're in the middle of what's going to be an involuntary year off. That sucks. At least we're in Canada where they're getting CERB. ($2k/month)
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Anonymous Coward
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2020-08-27, 02:04

Here in the 90% Democratic, no Trump allowed part, science-based of California, not much seems to have changed. I don't get out much, but when I drive around (mostly to feed the chickens, water the garden, dog-sit or house-sit at my sister's house in the southern San Francisco Bay Area) traffic is just as heavy as pre-COVID (except for maybe the first few weeks of the "shelter-in-place" order), the only exception being that rush hour traffic has disappeared (or did, until recently). I read about how no one cares in Florida, but I don't see how the beaches there could be any more crowded than the beaches, lakes, and other recreation areas here.

I take advantage of being retired from the military to only shop at military facilities. They are not stocked any more than regular grocery stores, but there are fewer people around.

Gardening is not new for me, but in the past I grew seeds mostly to plant at my relatives' houses. Now I grow vegetables in those big COSTCO/Home Depot 27 gallon bins. Plants don't grow as well there as in the ground, but I'm still in California drought mode and the yard is covered with landscape cloth.

If I had no family obligations, I would stay home much more than I do, but as it is, I am out more than I am comfortable with, but it seems that most others are trying to get back to "normal". Given that there is almost no communication from the governor or local leaders, I suppose it is not surprising that people are starting to test the boundaries. Quite different from the national leadership that has no filter, no self-restraint, and says the first thing that comes to mind, but still ineffective.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2020-08-27, 08:03

I am "in jail" with my mom, who will turn 90 soon. Thankfully, I can work from home. The most human contact I have is during pick ups of food from restaurants. Our little church can hold 120-130 people but on any given Sunday only draws 12 people. It was down until late June. When it came back I had a front row seat to people who don't understand how to be safe. Lots of improper mask use, which turned out to be Kabuki theater anyway since they would all go out to eat together afterwards (including the pastor, who didn't get it anymore than they did). When I notified the congregation that the Conference had put out a call for churches in counties experiencing the summer surge to return to quarantine, they didn't do anything. Kept going. I wasn't willing to make mom stop going, but we would arrive early enough to sit well away from others. The Superintendent finally found out that we were still meeting (the only church in his district to do so) and thankfully put pressure on our pastor to shut down again.

The thing I have learned during this time is that people are simply not engineered for pandemics. Unless you are a hypochondriac, or super good at THE FLOOR IS LAVA, you're going to do something that defies a strict protocol. I'm a stickler for staying the heck away from people and find myself taking chances that make me feel uncomfortable.

I learned early on that it isn't useful to bitch at other people. People are going to do what they want. I just have to take care of me and mine. If I was on my own I might very well take more chances and go out to eat at restaurants and meet up with my friends in person.

There are at least three components to this pandemic: physical health, financial health, and mental health. The first two are often pitted against each other, debilitating the third.

People in the film industry have been VERY OUT OF WORK and it's been rough because the state was overwhelmed by the volume of unemployment claims. Some have yet to receive the first dollar of assistance. Things are beginning to come back slowly, and strangely, with levels of access, pods, multiple tests throughout the week. Such a strange new world.

I'm programming the pirate pubcrawl to be virtual this year, which should be interesting.


...
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2020-08-27, 09:20

Speaking of pirates, I was starting to think about what’s going to happen at Halloween this year. You know that stubborn people are still going to send the kids out door to door. My personal stance is, nope not this year, since people tend to drive their kids into the middle to upper class neighbourhoods. I just don’t see a safe way of doing it, without going overboard. People might just have to settle for trick or treat at home.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-08-27, 10:07

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
The thing I have learned during this time is that people are simply not engineered for pandemics. Unless you are a hypochondriac, or super good at THE FLOOR IS LAVA, you're going to do something that defies a strict protocol. I'm a stickler for staying the heck away from people and find myself taking chances that make me feel uncomfortable.

...
My mental illness finally comes through for me.
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Dr. Bobsky
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: UK's most densely packed city. It's not London...
 
2020-08-27, 17:37

I'm not really sure that's true. A lot of scientists are trained towards an intuition about risky behaviors when it comes to spreading microbial and viral contaminants. The public can learn...
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Anonymous Coward
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2020-08-28, 02:19

I must add that I was incorrect about the California governor. While helping my aunt with automobile and computer stuff, she mentioned that the governor has a daily briefing that she watches. (Although, when she tried to find it, there did not seem to be a briefing today.) What is curious is that supposedly it is broadcast on the FOX affiliate, and I thought that (at least around this area) FOX is considered to be the Republican mouthpiece not to be trusted. I always used to listen mainly to the CBS radio affiliate (Walter Cronkite and all that) and their website doesn't say anything about daily briefings. But if it is true about frequent communications, then the situation is much worse since it seems he is being ignored. The San Francisco Bay Area was one of the first to mandate a "shelter-in-place" and seemed on the way to getting control of the situation, but since then, California has risen to the highest case load, keeping ahead of Texas and Florida. And we are still relaxing restrictions. But, I would not be surprised if Governor Newsom is not eventually a Democratic presidential candidate, joining his former District Attorney as mayor and Attorney General as governor (Kamala Harris).

I just checked the local FOX website, and it does not mention anything about daily briefings, so I guess it is only on the television. I rarely watch broadcast television, and never in the middle of the day, and wonder how well known such briefings are.

Last edited by Anonymous Coward : 2020-08-28 at 02:29. Reason: Added info
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Dr. Bobsky
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: UK's most densely packed city. It's not London...
 
2020-09-09, 17:35

How anyone still supports world leaders who were informed and knew the risks of this disease well before the public, and continued to minimize these risks over the last nine months, just boggles my mind. In the US alone, over 190,000 dead, for what? A bit of braggadocio? 190,000 lives.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2020-09-09, 19:32

We're up to at least seventy 9/11s at this point. Maybe we should throw a party and set off some firecrackers in the woods at 100! 🔥

I've been trying to use that 9/11s metric since at least March. For a while I switched to "your entire home town/city of X wiped out" as a metric, but that was too hard to keep in my head.

I haven't been around the forums much this year, but I guess it's not too late to chime in with my own depressing anecdotes.

The second week of March, shortly after the US case count broke 1000, my employer (Red Hat) announced that effective immediately all employees would work remotely/from home. The following day, all US offices were closed to anyone that who didn't have business-critical on-site work like manning a data center. By that point, a few of my friends/coworkers had already started WFH, one of whom I think had switched to hoarder mode for about a week. We all, at least the people in my close circles, started taking this growing Covid thing very seriously very quickly. I've been working from home ever since. I only go out to pick up groceries, and I always try to do that during unusual low-traffic times to minimize exposure. Early or mid morning Mondays seem to be the best for avoiding filthy humans.

I have several conditions that put me at high risk for severe complications or death of I were to be infected. I have the usual asthma and slew of allergies to airborne particulates, of course, but I also have several other auto-immune conditions including a sometimes dangerously low leukocyte (white blood cell) count (aka "leukopenia"). I went through a scary phase seeing a hematologist-oncologist over the previous year or two ending last autumn. No official diagnosis of the big C, but I'm to keep a close eye on things. Did I talk about that here? I don't think I did. My wife and I kept that mostly to ourselves.

I was fortunate to start this catastrophe with a mostly-full box of real 3M N95 masks; I was lucky to have these leftover from some painting work I did more than a year ago. Whenever I need to go out (ditto for my wife), I put on my well-fitted N95 mask and wear mechanics gloves to make sure I don't accidentally touch something contaminated and then my face and usually I wear a hat and long-sleeved buttoned shirt that I can toss aside when I return. Upon removing the mask back at home, I often look like I've spent all night as a hospital RN in triage; a tight well-fitting mask not only passes the pressure check but also tends to leave a ring around your face where it makes contact.

Whenever we have a package delivered, which like many people is more frequent nowadays, we bring it inside off the porch but leave it on the floor by the door to "decontaminate" for a couple days. I know the chance of transmission from delivery guy to box to us is probably pretty low, but I'd rather not take the chance.

My inner introvert has mostly been fine with staying at home all of the time now. I do miss my coworker friends, but I think they share a similar mindset of gladly suffering in isolation today knowing that it means maybe some time next year we can meet up again.

Suddenly stopping eating out, even if it's just usually the office cafeteria and snacks and coffee dispensers, had an almost immediate effect on my weight. When I realized I was approaching an unhealthy BMI a couple months ago, I took some deliberate steps to plan my meals and eat more. I know that's a problem a lot of Americans probably wish they had, but I'll just say that forcing yourself to gain weight is about as fun as forcing yourself to lose it.



Oh yeah… and a week ago I had a nosebleed that, being the third in three days and refusing to stop fowing after two hours of constant pinching, was continuing to back-wash so much down my throat that I was starting to choke and gurgle and gag. At that point I gave up and let my wife drive me to the ER. At 3am on a Sunday night. The good news there is that despite the general cesspools that hospitals can be, my understanding is that ER patients like me are treated in a completely different opposite end of the hospital from the Covid cases. They didn't test me for Covid. I wasn't showing any signs. I just have awful luck.

Health sucks.

Fuck. I lost my train of thought.

Oh yeah, Covid stuff. Several months ago a friend/colleague of my wife was diagnosed with Covid. They volunteered at our local arboretum for years. She died from Covid. Just another statistic at this point. I don't want to be another statistic. I WANT TO GET OFF MR. BONES' WILD RIDE.

Also, as far as we're concerned, this year's Halloween is cancelled, and that's more than a little heart-breaking for us because we love the season and love going over-the-top with costumes. I should dig up some photos to share somewhere from my last couple of years. Last year, I won the Red Hat company costume contest and shared a conversation and handshake on-stage with our CEO. It was pretty cool.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2020-09-10, 02:52

Thanks for the update Brad. We all have our seasons here. A lot to unpack from your update. It's late/early here now. I'll do an update of my own later.


...
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Dr. Bobsky
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: UK's most densely packed city. It's not London...
 
2020-10-02, 02:52

It was only a matter of time for policy incompetence and a blaise attitude towards the virus to catch up with President Orangina.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-10-02, 03:59

Forgive me if I take this news with a kong-sized pinch of salt. This man and his administration has lied about literally everything, so I'd like some reliable 3rd party verification before I start sending whatever thoughts and prayers are deserved.

So it goes.
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Matsu
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2020-10-02, 08:21

The only safe outcome for the American people is now to hope that the president recovers fully and then is so utterly destroyed in both popular vote and electoral college that he has no choice but to concede to a peaceful transfer of power; and, that following his exit from office, both he and his cabal of cleptocrats (extended family and children) is punished to the full extent of the law for every breach of office (as president), and for any and all transgressions for which there is evidence to convict him of any misdeeds as a private citizen. But those are a lot of hurdles to clear...

The danger of not clearing them borders on civil war, especially for the first few, certainly civil unrest not seen since peak of civil rights resistance in the late 50's early 60's. I know it sounds insane to think it, but he has so successfully fomented existing conflicts and unrest, that in any other nation in the world a security analyst would at least raise a threat level warning. There are too many guns and too much ignorance to have the same confidence in the virtues of the American people or their government that we once had.

.........................................
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-10-02, 09:47

I laughed pretty hard when I read the news last night and yes I know that makes me a bad person and no I don't care.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2020-10-02, 14:40

Seems like many conservative leaders get it. The new conservative leader here in Canada had it and came out fine - “just like a cold”. Bet what’s his name will have a similar case, and brush it aside even more than before.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-10-02, 19:57

I hope he does come out fine. I really do. Can't say I don't find some glee in him dealing with a self-created problem he and his many enablers can't buy or bully away, but I do want him to live a very, very long life.

So it goes.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2020-10-02, 20:33

I'll add my voice to the "get well soon" card. Hopefully with a newfound respect for the dangers of this stupid virus.


...
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-10-02, 20:55

CNN now reporting that he's having trouble breathing so who the hell knows.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-10-02, 21:49

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
Seems like many conservative leaders get it.
You mean anti- mask/science/common sense people put themselves in more danger? quelle surprise!

Looks like the news coming out now is that Trump is a superspreader, and he's knocking out Senate Republicans. Even Kellyanne has the Trump Virus now. What a world what a world.

So it goes.
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Brave Ulysses
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2020-10-02, 22:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by 709 View Post
I hope he does come out fine. I really do. Can't say I don't find some glee in him dealing with a self-created problem he and his many enablers can't buy or bully away, but I do want him to live a very, very long life.
Why? He would not give a shit about you. If Biden got it, trump would call him weak and mock him for wearing a mask and still getting it.

He is a terrible human being and deserves everything he gets.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-10-02, 23:14

Hilariously, Trump did mock Biden for showing up in public settings with "the biggest mask I've ever seen". Quote.

And I don't give a shit about him as far as me wanting him to be miserable for the rest of his long life. I want him to grouse, I want him to yell until the blood vessels in his eyes pop. Most of all, I want him to do it all impotently, far far away. Bring charges and convict, if possible, every single person in his orbit during the last 4 years. None of this 'heal the country by moving on' bullshit. This wound requires deep surgery, and the cancer is the GOP.

So it goes.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-10-03, 00:24

I personally don't care if he lives or dies, honestly. He bought this ticket, he takes this ride.

OTOH, I really don't want to live in an America where half the country ends up convinced his death is the result of a conspiracy theory, so I guess overall I'd rather he live out his term and get his ass whooped so bad in the election there's no doubt as to the victor.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2020-10-03, 00:59

All of the above, and I don't want to become my worst self. I refuse to allow him to make me as petty as he has been.


...
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-10-03, 01:19

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
All of the above, and I don't want to become my worst self. I refuse to allow him to make me as petty as he has been.


...
I'm past that. Fuck em all. He told us it was under control, he told us "one day it would disappear like a miracle", he told us he doesn't take responsibility for this disaster, he fired or silenced CDC staff, put his dumbass son-in-law in charge, deliberately hindered testing, told his followers it's a hoax, blamed the media, China, Obama, the Democrats.

Beds, lying in them, etc.
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Brave Ulysses
BANNED
I am worthless beyond hope.
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2020-10-03, 06:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan View Post
I'm past that. Fuck em all. He told us it was under control, he told us "one day it would disappear like a miracle", he told us he doesn't take responsibility for this disaster, he fired or silenced CDC staff, put his dumbass son-in-law in charge, deliberately hindered testing, told his followers it's a hoax, blamed the media, China, Obama, the Democrats.

Beds, lying in them, etc.
Yes
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2020-10-03, 09:05

Quote:
Originally Posted by 709 View Post
You mean anti- mask/science/common sense people put themselves in more danger? quelle surprise!
Yeah tell me about it, one of my clients is into conservative politics, a bureaucrat, and I always have to keep backing away each time we meet.

As for Trump, I’m honestly surprised it took him this long to get it, given his stance and activities. I don’t wish death on anyone, but anyone who doesn’t respect the gravity of the pandemic gets what they deserve.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-10-03, 12:15

Since the first week of March, I haven't set foot in the office. Haven't had any physical contact in all that time. I live by myself, I'm isolated, wearing a mask any time I go out. Trying to do my part to contain the spread. Seven months of loneliness and worsening depression from not getting any closer than six feet to my friends.

Then these assholes have a big party with no masks or distancing to announce ACB? Ignoring all the rules put on us little people? And THAT is what gets them all infected?

Yeah, I'm laughing. Karma's a bitch. Sucks to find out your position doesn't protect you from consequences the way you thought, doesn't it?
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2020-10-04, 16:05

So, and completely typically for this cabal of dim-bulb wanna-be fascists, the medical updates are self-contradictory and keep getting weirder. First, noted osteopath and obedient lapdog Dr. Sean Conley had to walk back his earlier timeline in a completely non-sensical manner, since it made it clear that Trump tested positive before several campaign events that he went ahead and attended. He then did some transparent "it depends on what the meaning of is is" about the particulars of Trump's condition. Now he assures us that Trump's doing great, might be out of the hospital tomorrow. But oh, also, we have him on a regimen of heavy duty drugs that normally would be given only to a patient in extreme distress. Including steroids, which can be dangerous in their own right. Then we get these obviously staged shots of "Trump at work" (which include him signing a blank piece of paper and in two different offices 10 minutes apart with the same folders and his jacket off in one), intended to sell the idea that he's fine and just waiting to get the green light to come charging back. Offices, by the way, which are clearly not part of the "Presidential Suite" at Hopkins, so it's unclear when or where these were actually taken (although of course he might have insisted on using a conference room to look more presidential).

This is all starting to feel very North Korea-ish, where the supreme leader must not ever be seen as "weak" or "infirm", and he just kind of disappears for a while when ill. Shit, the way these guys roll Trump might already be dead or comatose and they're just trying to buy time till they figure out what to do. At any rate, if Trump does walk out of the hospital tomorrow it will be grave malpractice since (by their timeline at least) he's still well within the "might suddenly crash" phase of the infection. It's possible that Trump is insisting on some of this, and if his need to appear strong in every circumstance proves to be his undoing, well, I can't say that it wouldn't be hilarious.

Worse case scenario: he recovers quickly with no apparent lingering after effects, and uses that to establish that a) he is superhuman and b) the virus isn't that dangerous. Again, mutually contradictory but that's the brand.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2020-10-04, 16:52

OK now it's being reported that Trump just waved to well wishers outside Walter Reed as he went past in a motorcade. If he's being discharged the day after being given dexamethasone, something is seriously off the rails.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-10-04, 17:45

Apparently he just wanted to ride around the block to wave to 'fans' in his hermetically sealed SUV. RIP Secret Service agents.
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