Corona Virus
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AlbergSteve
Minister of Fire
Nope, that's my point. Doesn't matter if you're a homeless person, a burger flipper, under employed, or a millionaire, I can leave my wallet at home.
My wife and I just had a conversation that led me to a new realization; as a household with two salaried incomes its incumbent on us to help those that work hourly or otherwise to make ends meet. I encourage others here in the same situation to think similarly.
In our case its a personal trainer/dog walker/whatever who does odd jobs to pay the bills. We decided tonight to engage her, and perhaps others to help us with things needing to be done at our home/property. We're not rich by most measures but we can certainly afford to share with other hard-working Americans to get us all through this. It serves the greater "good".
In our case its a personal trainer/dog walker/whatever who does odd jobs to pay the bills. We decided tonight to engage her, and perhaps others to help us with things needing to be done at our home/property. We're not rich by most measures but we can certainly afford to share with other hard-working Americans to get us all through this. It serves the greater "good".
It's strange how the same things that threaten you may also bring you together.
My wife and I typically spend Thursday nights alone.
Tonight, both my sons showed up, one with his girlfriend to share dinner. Our neighbors' young children (3 and 5) showed up followed by their mother. Pretty soon we had 8 people (aka potential Petri dishes) in our kitchen socializing along with our 4 dogs and cat.
So much for social distancing. I guess if we're going to go we'll go happy.
My wife and I typically spend Thursday nights alone.
Tonight, both my sons showed up, one with his girlfriend to share dinner. Our neighbors' young children (3 and 5) showed up followed by their mother. Pretty soon we had 8 people (aka potential Petri dishes) in our kitchen socializing along with our 4 dogs and cat.
So much for social distancing. I guess if we're going to go we'll go happy.
blacktail
Minister of Fire
I went to a grocery store friday at 10:30pm and it was an eye opener. The parking lot was full with lots of bare shelves and long lines inside. Luckily I was only getting a few things and there was no line at self checkout.
I went to a different store last night, again at 10:30, and it was a lot better. Very few cars in the parking lot. While not at their normal level, the shelves were stocked ok. Things like rice and pasta were empty. The store did a good job of getting things out. For big sellers they stacked cases out on the sales floor or even had pallets of product out. My shopping list was pretty short (I needed diet coke!) but I picked up $90 worth of stuff for myself just because, and a few things to drop of at my folks' house.
No unusual behavior to report from my trips, but I heard there was a fight outside one grocery store the other morning when people were waiting for the doors to open.
I carry protection all the time anyway, so no change in that department for me.
Police departments have let it out that they're not responding to property crimes if they can help it. Combine that with a lot of businesses being closed, and things could get interesting.
You are clearly only semi-pro in the plague-stopping department.both my sons showed up, one with his girlfriend to share dinner. Our neighbors' young children (3 and 5) showed up followed by their mother. Pretty soon we had 8 people (aka potential Petri dishes) in our kitchen socializing along with our 4 dogs and cat.
So much for social distancing. I guess if we're going to go we'll go happy.
A friend of mine works for a company that owns large amounts of warehouse space. For various reasons some of it does not get leased out usually because they are planning to rip it down and replace it at some point. They will lend this space to non profits on occasion. One of these large warehouses was used by medical non profit that handled outdated medical equipment and supplies to be sent to the third world and disasters. I didnt see it at its full capacity but even partially empty if was impressive. Rows and rows of pallets of unopended cases of supplys and obsolete medical equipment. Medical equipment like respirators have an expiration date and get obsolete. If its not needed it still needs to be maintained, upgraded and eventually discarded. Someone has to pay for that. Same with medical supplies like masks. They can be brand new in a sealed box but out of date. If they get used in the US after the expiration date someone can get sued. For infection control almost anything in contact with a patient is disposable and the best way to make it is with plastics and they deteriorate. Usually face masks have resilient seals on the edges to seal between the face and the mask, they get old and deteriorate. They usually use stretching straps to snug them up, the straps deteriorate. The companies who make the products do not want to get sued so they are very conservative about how they set the expiration dates assuming the worst case.
So where does this stuff go? The really old stuff gets donated to very poor countries while the better stuff goes to places like Mexico, South and Central America. Keep that in mind when you read the articles about moving to another country to retire due to cheap living and medical costs. The same thing applies for those who live along the southern border who drive across the border to get cheap healthcare. Sure 99% of the time it works out but if it doesnt good luck suing someone. Its pretty well expected that in third world countries the medicines available are frequently expired stock from first world counties or animal medicine.
I ran into someone once that worked for a lawyer that specialized in medical malpractice and one of their many jobs prepping for a trial was to to subpoena hospital records and review the expiration dates of everything that possibly touched the patient. Therefore most medical facilities practice just in time inventory to make sure their stock is always in date. Their suppliers are in the same situation, if they have a warehouse full of product if its doesn't get used, it gets donated or thrown away. Someone has to pay for that. In the case of the US the "someones" are mix of the government for medicare and private insurance. There is a lot of pressure to reduce costs so the best way to avoid the waste 99.999% of the time is keep the inventory low.
The military has the same issues, they are expected to maintain readiness supplies to support a future war but things get old and expire so they need to constantly rotate inventory. Its a major logistic issue. The government does things like storing equipment in underground limestone mines to try to stretch out the life of supplies but that means its hard to get to the front. There has to be supplies forward deployed near the fronts whether its used or not so much of it get disposed off when it goes out of date. One of the big jobs when the military clears out of theatre is dispose of the forward deployed supplies. They try to give it away to the local governments but much of it gets bulldozed in pits and burned rather than allow it to get in the hands of the enemy When I lived down near the coast the Navy had some converted cargo ships that constantly and randomly circled around the Gulf of Maine full of rapid deployment supplies. It would dock every so often and the supplies would be rotated out. If there was an incident somewhere they would head out at full power with enough supplies and equipment to support a marine unit for some initial period of time when they landed.
So the current system has its limitations in times like these. Would the taxpayers support keeping large warehouses and manufacturing facilities for decades with the output going to the landfill 99.99% of the time?. I expect if they did, there would be politicians screaming about government waste. BTW this sort of planning was put in place during the cold war. The cost for strategic equipment would be subsidized by the government for private industry. There would be permanent marking on the equipment that it was partially funded by the goverment abd was subject to re purposing for national defense in case of emergency. I remember old Dodge powerwagons released to communities for firefighting use with those stickers and also saw them on old machine tools.
The far more prudent approach is have plans in place to ramp up production and have supply chains in place when world events line up. This requires a strong government support and planning in advance and as publicized this was not a priority for the current administration. No doubt the delayed response by the adminstration to this event will be analysed for long time.
So where does this stuff go? The really old stuff gets donated to very poor countries while the better stuff goes to places like Mexico, South and Central America. Keep that in mind when you read the articles about moving to another country to retire due to cheap living and medical costs. The same thing applies for those who live along the southern border who drive across the border to get cheap healthcare. Sure 99% of the time it works out but if it doesnt good luck suing someone. Its pretty well expected that in third world countries the medicines available are frequently expired stock from first world counties or animal medicine.
I ran into someone once that worked for a lawyer that specialized in medical malpractice and one of their many jobs prepping for a trial was to to subpoena hospital records and review the expiration dates of everything that possibly touched the patient. Therefore most medical facilities practice just in time inventory to make sure their stock is always in date. Their suppliers are in the same situation, if they have a warehouse full of product if its doesn't get used, it gets donated or thrown away. Someone has to pay for that. In the case of the US the "someones" are mix of the government for medicare and private insurance. There is a lot of pressure to reduce costs so the best way to avoid the waste 99.999% of the time is keep the inventory low.
The military has the same issues, they are expected to maintain readiness supplies to support a future war but things get old and expire so they need to constantly rotate inventory. Its a major logistic issue. The government does things like storing equipment in underground limestone mines to try to stretch out the life of supplies but that means its hard to get to the front. There has to be supplies forward deployed near the fronts whether its used or not so much of it get disposed off when it goes out of date. One of the big jobs when the military clears out of theatre is dispose of the forward deployed supplies. They try to give it away to the local governments but much of it gets bulldozed in pits and burned rather than allow it to get in the hands of the enemy When I lived down near the coast the Navy had some converted cargo ships that constantly and randomly circled around the Gulf of Maine full of rapid deployment supplies. It would dock every so often and the supplies would be rotated out. If there was an incident somewhere they would head out at full power with enough supplies and equipment to support a marine unit for some initial period of time when they landed.
So the current system has its limitations in times like these. Would the taxpayers support keeping large warehouses and manufacturing facilities for decades with the output going to the landfill 99.99% of the time?. I expect if they did, there would be politicians screaming about government waste. BTW this sort of planning was put in place during the cold war. The cost for strategic equipment would be subsidized by the government for private industry. There would be permanent marking on the equipment that it was partially funded by the goverment abd was subject to re purposing for national defense in case of emergency. I remember old Dodge powerwagons released to communities for firefighting use with those stickers and also saw them on old machine tools.
The far more prudent approach is have plans in place to ramp up production and have supply chains in place when world events line up. This requires a strong government support and planning in advance and as publicized this was not a priority for the current administration. No doubt the delayed response by the adminstration to this event will be analysed for long time.
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SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I forsee goods becoming more expensive and more durable in the future. The expense coming from cleaner manufacturing and durable because the goods cost so much to start. I'm already planning on making all the things I want in the future. Even if things normalize after all this, it won't be the same. This quarantine will probably continue on for several months, so I have plenty of time to learn how to spin fiber, carve bows, and tan hides.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
My biggest fear with this whole ordeal is our healthcare workers. My wife is a pregnant r/n at our local clinic. Obviously they are busy as hell and I pray that she makes it through unscathed for herself and the baby. Makes a man feel guilty for having kids in these kind of times. God bless all the folks out there putting theirselves at risk for the needs of others.
They told me if a socialist like Bernie got the nomination the stock market would crash and the grocery store shelves would be empty....
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
They told me if a socialist like Bernie got the nomination the stock market would crash and the grocery store shelves would be empty....
I'm pretty sure we will be some form of socialist after this shakes out. My brother in law is essentially paying his employees to stay home while he continues working. I think eventually all non essential personnel will be paid to stay home until this passes or folks get tired of staying home.
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
We live near a large flood control lake managed by the Corp of Engineers, Mark Twain Lake. It's an 18,000 acre lake at normal pool, surrounded by 54,000 acres of public lands, no one owns lake side property here. The Corp shut down the offices, visitor center and camp grounds which is no surprise, but what caught everyone off guard is they also shut down all the Corp boat ramps on the lake, currently there are 2 state ramps still open, and there's talk of shutting them down. These ramps are never manned and you rarely see any officials there, occasionally you'll see rangers, highway patrol and conservation agents. It makes no obvious sense to people that want to get out on the lake and get away from people, it's great social distancing. They obviously have reasons that in spite of several inquiries have not been revealed.
In the big scheme of things this is petty. We have a few friends that are in the medical field and they are the ones on the front line of this, I really feel bad for them, not only the long hard hours, but also living with the fear of getting it themselves and possibly spreading it. But for people wanting to keep some normal semblance of life closing boat ramps and access to public lands seems unnecessary. This virus is affecting a lot more than anyone would have thought.
In the big scheme of things this is petty. We have a few friends that are in the medical field and they are the ones on the front line of this, I really feel bad for them, not only the long hard hours, but also living with the fear of getting it themselves and possibly spreading it. But for people wanting to keep some normal semblance of life closing boat ramps and access to public lands seems unnecessary. This virus is affecting a lot more than anyone would have thought.
Not a good idea to advertise that fact. Like putting out the welcome mat for trouble.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
They probably don't want to have to worry about drunk dudes falling into the lake and needing to be rescued.
NH allowed a couple of ski areas the option to stay open. Ski areas have large common spaces that are jam packed on ski days. The owners tend to under invest in things like restrooms. The staff tends to do what they can during the rush and swamp things out later. The slopes were allowed to open under special rules but they closed down the lodges and asked people to social distance. After two weekday days the governor shut them down as a large number of customers ignored the rules and were abusing the staff for following the rules. Now the staff is out of job and the a**holes who caused it are probably somewhere else acting as Typhoid Mary's.
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
With no official explanation, there's a lot speculating. Emergency response, as you mention SpaceBus, is certainly one possibility and another possible reason is to keep people that travel a couple hours to get here and have to make stops along the way for gas, bait, beer to keep from interacting with others. From what I've read (unverified by me), some other Corp lakes are keeping ramps open and even waiving ramp fees. Crazy times, hope the best of health for everyone.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Yes, this. As much as it may hurt while watching your portfolio plummet and uncertain of your own future, it’s important to continue supporting those that have more immediate needs, who may rely on you, to the degree they will accept it.
Yes very important. Within the last 2 days iv offered 3 of my tenants who just lost their jobs , jobs working with me at the same rate they were previously making for as long as they need it ,. I also assured them they could pay their house payments when and if able, no pressure. Some were quite frightened by the whole thing,and have small kids so i hope i was of some comfort in a very difficult time. Im sure not worrying about a roof over your head is helpful.
A local whiskey maker stepping up as well.
philadelphia.cbslocal.com
Not only that, but they are giving the hand sanitizer away, NOT selling it.
Coronavirus Latest: Revivalist Spirits In Chester County Stepping Up To Produce Hand Sanitizer Amid COVID-19 Crisis
Eyewitness News spoke with Revivalist Spirits in Chester County on why they decided to make the switch.
philadelphia.cbslocal.com
Not only that, but they are giving the hand sanitizer away, NOT selling it.
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has posted relevant info on this topic, please keep the comments coming, the more we share our experiences the better off we are as whole.
For myself, as a electric utility provider, I'm labelled essential, I have made some personal sacrifices over the past 2 weeks, isolation is my friend here, I basically go to work, go home and then back to work, I avoid human to human contact, we've implemented new work rules that hopefully mitigate as much human contact as possible while providing reliable electric, at this time we're all willing to step up and make personal sacrifices of comforts for the greater good.
For myself, as a electric utility provider, I'm labelled essential, I have made some personal sacrifices over the past 2 weeks, isolation is my friend here, I basically go to work, go home and then back to work, I avoid human to human contact, we've implemented new work rules that hopefully mitigate as much human contact as possible while providing reliable electric, at this time we're all willing to step up and make personal sacrifices of comforts for the greater good.
When people get tired of staying home, they will venture out, then that is when we will quickly see Marshall Law implemented. (if not sooner).
I work in an "essential" job. It baffles me to see customers coming in all day long and buying just one tiny item then coming in again the next day for yet another SINGLE item.
It's like driving 4 hours in a sand storm to get to the fountain, only to take just a quick sip of water. Silly people.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
I have the same sentiments, to many people out and about during this time of needing isolation, I don't have a choice so I have to be out, you would be amazed at all the traffic out on the roads, so many people just driving around, going from here to there, I personally think we're screwed in the coming weeks, people just don't know what it means to isolate.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Thank you for doing your job. People like you are certainly essential and I hope they are paying you well, at this point nothing is too much.
That's weird. Here Flemington is deserted except for the day laborers at Steve's and the roads are free of traffic. Most stores are closed.
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