Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

paul this is just my experience in nyc but a lot of doctors have been just straight up approving meds for an extended period of time. contact your doctor if you can, see what’s possible

Tracer: I don't know whether you're still flourless, but a lot of local bakers near us seem to be shutting up shop and selling off all their flour stocks to the public, so check social media for any near you that might be doing this. We're picking up 6kg from ours on Friday. One problem that everyone including bakers is having though, is a major shortage of yeast, so you'll need to make sourdough or pitta or something else instead

yeah paul, i had the same situation and i renewed online. also my pharmacy is offering deliveries. i had to give the delivery guy cash so i told him to keep the change.

at the very least call your doctor and see what your options are. there is no sense in letting anxiety about not-having the meds make everything worse!

AA, if it's any consolation every time I see your screen name I think of the Kinks song and am reminded of the thread where we determined it may have more chords in it than any other rock song and it makes me very happy.

Speaking of Australia, was just talking with my SIL in Sydney, and it sounds like they're finally starting to take it seriously there. Though my BIL (in construction) is still working, and they only just now closed the (big) beaches. Most amusing is my niece still has to wear her school uniform when she's attending online classes.

Thanks Brad and La Lechera. Obviously I'm not the only one in this boat but it's comforting to have confirmation of that. I'll call my doctor today and see what my options are.

Someone I know has already banished her husband to the van. Allowing him back for toilet breaks.

Is it wrong that that actually sounds kind of nice to me right now? Of course I don't have a van but if I did, I could just go out there with some books and some weed and a bottle of Jim Beam.

AA, if it's any consolation every time I see your screen name I think of the Kinks song and am reminded of the thread where we determined it may have more chords in it than any other rock song and it makes me very happy.

The one where Turrican listed all the chords used alphabetically?

someone tried to pawn her spouse off on us last week because she needed a break. This week she has been sending us pics of him cooking and vacuuming.

i found out that a relative of a close friend is trapped in her house with an emotionally abusive husband* :( that has been on my mind. i am not worrying about her actively but that has to be unimaginably bad.

*he was also physically abusive once, several years ago, but the toll of unrelenting emotional/psychological abuse is both invisible and extremely heavy to bear

Thanks everyone, I appreciate it a lot. But we have options - more than most Americans - and will probably land on our feet eventually. I’ve been pretty homesick for New Zealand these last couple years but moving back wasn’t financially viable. But if America’s economy tanks, it might just be!

Paul, I agree with LL - contact your dr and see what can be done. I’m with kaiser and one of their few good qualities is the ease of prescription-filling through their app, plus free shipping. They even take care of contacting your dr when you run out of refills. Your meds aren’t less important than insulin, they’re just different.

It’s absolutely stunning how badly supermarket workers are being treated during this. These people are risking their health and their family’s health so you can eat and you’re gonna be a dick to them?? I’ve seen some horror stories on twitter and it’s infuriating.

I worked as a supermarket cashier for about 4 yrs when I was in my teens so that’s my backup plan. My local grocery store pays $16 plus benefits which is actually better than my current job as the garment dyer/inventory manager for a tiny clothing store.

people are dicks to service workers even in normal times, so i imagine it's much worse now. :(

this country is full of ungrateful assholes, that much is certain

my stock line on this is "crises bring out both the best and the worst in people".

Just1n3 do you work for B1g Bud Pr3ss?

i am trying to avoid reading anyone's public complaining at the moment -- it's still shocking to me the things that people will complain about publicly and i am not personally compelled to shame the shamers or use my energy to process their gripes and snipes. muted!

Xp silby - no, we have our own small press (Chance Press)

What’s the most succinct article rebuking that WSJ article saying corona isn’t that bad and mortality rate is way over inflated? Need to send it to an old friend who is being a dick.

I'm sure many of you by now know someone directly who has tested positive; within a week or two, that'll probably be true of everyone. I'm still not there, but in the last two days I've heard of positive tests from the daughter of one of my best friends (around 20, contracted it staying in London--a week in, she's doing fine "apart from boredom") and the friend of another good friend (Florida, older, not sure). So it feels like it's getting closer.

I know a few people who have it, getting tested for it in the good old U of K is more difficult.

Including the founder of this site!

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2020/03/things-i-wish-id-known-before-my-wife-got-presumed-coronavirus/

i wish my friend who was presumed positive and sent home would text me back.

Don't know of anyone who's tested positive, but it's the UK so I don't know anyone other than members of the Royal Family who have been tested.

What’s the most succinct article rebuking that WSJ article saying corona isn’t that bad and mortality rate is way over inflated? Need to send it to an old friend who is being a dick.

I'd send them any of the personal stories of healthy, not-old people who might not have died but have been absolutely tortured by it, may need lifelong oxygen, etc..

Remind your friend that this lethal virus has spread from complete obscurity to 180 countries in less than five months, including almost all of the small island nations, and in almost every one of those 180 nations, the infection is only just now getting started. This is a global event that will affect everyone now alive in some personal way. A 'mere 2%' death rate could kill more people than WWII and in a much shorter time. Then tell your friend to shut the fuck up.

i'm not sure I know anyone who's BEEN TESTED

i only know two people (girlfriend of my best friend + her mom). she's in las vegas, and posted a really long epic story about all the ways she tried and failed to get a test before finally breaking through. sounded like a fucking nightmare (this was a few days ago, maybe it's better now)

Have a friend who works the front desk at a hotel. Guy just came up to the desk to tell her he's checking out and that he tested positive. Now she's trying to figure out what the fuck she can do.

one of my dad's coworkers was tested, ended up negative

friend responded, she's alive but badly beaten up. this thing hangs on for a long time apparently.

two of my mother's coworkers were tested after making the excellent and defensible decision to go on a cruise amid all this; supposedly they get the results today

I had a friend who just tested negative

hoping that doesn't mean what it sounds like. sorry either way, gbx. :(

What’s the most succinct article rebuking that WSJ article saying corona isn’t that bad and mortality rate is way over inflated?

The best rebuke is that there's a lot we don't know and we can't rule out that the virus is less lethal than it appears. If that turns out to be true, great -- we will be very, very fortunate. But do you really want to bet your society on it?

it isn't even the mortality rate, it's the overcrowding of hospital beds that will lead pepole that wouldn't have died otherwise to die.

how are people (WSJ etc) not getting this? states are ALREADY REPORTING OVERCROWDING. my ex is a nurse in NOLA and pleaded with everybody to stay home on social media because their hospital is getting short of beds.

btw I hate my fucking company. the leader of customer service is a piece of human garbage who doesn't actually give a shit about any of his employees and never has and has inexplicably held the job longer than any of his previous five predecessors.

obviously in a call center, service levels will suffer when an entire office closes and not everybody has wfh capability. so this dumb motherfucker rushes through a 90 person training class, which I've previously mentioned. with a partner site that we don't have a previous relationship with - y'know, to ensure that the employees would be possibly cared for.

On day 1 of training, we were assured social distancing/isolation was being practiced, with people six feet apart. I mean...there's still a lot wrong with that scenario. I know this is a company where these CC people can work from home. but at least they're keeping distance, quarantining people, etc.

well come to find out NO, they actually weren't following WHO/CDC guidelines, they were separated a little but not six feet. they were crammed in a bit. and people were coughing in the room apparently.

the motherfucking CDC showed up, stopped training, and made the leaders separate the learners, which meant putting some of them into different classrooms, some of which weren't equipped with machines. a lot of the learners are dejected now, because a) the training was interrupted, but b) some are on edge that they might get infected.

and there's talk about having some or most of them work from home starting tomorrow, which begs the question WHY DIDN'T WE DO THIS TO BEGIN WITH?

why? cos my asshole leader woulda had his precious training delayed a day or two and that just wasn't acceptable.

I am hoping I wake up tomorrow to see these learners have been given the day off, paid. tempted to say I am going to ask if distancing is being practiced tomrorow before we begin but if the CDC is already there, I guess I trust them to do that.

"I know better than all the experts in this field" type thinking makes me wanna scream

xp

And yet...these are the same motherfuckers who if you disagree with them on basketball immediately ask YO BRO U EVER PLAY BASKETBALL AT HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL OR ABOVE IF NOT YR OPINION IS INVALID BIIITCH.

hoping that doesn't mean what it sounds like. sorry either way, gbx. :(

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, March 25, 2020 1:49 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

no, it's good, i think, he's just sick with something i guess

oh, good! i think i misread your reference to him in the past tense in the darkest way, sorry

we live in dark times, man

sorry for xps, just want to reply to josh:

AA, if it's any consolation every time I see your screen name I think of the Kinks song and am reminded of the thread where we determined it may have more chords in it than any other rock song and it makes me very happy.

brilliant! iirc i picked it because i was listening to it when i made the account, but it really is a gorgeous song.

Speaking of Australia, was just talking with my SIL in Sydney, and it sounds like they're finally starting to take it seriously there. Though my BIL (in construction) is still working, and they only just now closed the (big) beaches. Most amusing is my niece still has to wear her school uniform when she's attending online classes.

the problem we have in australia is that the murdoch press fetishises the economy above everything else (specifically the national economy and debt/surplus, not things like people having jobs or whether people can afford to eat), so the government’s impulse has been to protect the economy. that’s led them to put the dumbest measures in place to balance infection rates with their fanatical love affair with ~the economy~, which has led to:

• no public gatherings, but 30 kids in one tiny classroom is fine
• only five people at weddings, but 10 people can attend a fitness class, and it’s completely fine to go and get your hair styled (as long as you stand 1.5 metres apart at all times)
• only go to work if you’re essential, but everyone who has a job is classified as essential, so... go to work? or don’t go to work? no one’s quite sure
• shopping centres get to stay open, but DO NOT go shopping
• booze shops will stay open for you to develop a crippling alcohol dependence in your isolated torpor

sorry about all the unnecessarily stressful shit you’re all going through. granny dainger is otm about people not listening to experts — if ever there were a time we should be listening to experts, it’s now. and on global warming. but especially now.

Apparently i am unfurloughed? HR is such a shitshow right now

I just wanna know if its time to do some crimes or not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_5M5tqy594

I realise I'm fucking lucky but the board of the company I do most of my work for met yesterday, I was a little bit worried. They endorsed a plan that contains no reductions, no cutbacks, and even some hiring if we can work out how to on board people remotely.

I live in one of the top 3 US cities for COVID-19 incidence. My fresh produce was exhausted and I've deliberated about a grocery trip for days. Today I ventured out, and for the first time, donned a mask (I have 3, I gave others to relatives). I tend to the elderly, and I would be devastated if I were the vector.

I was worried that I'd be the only one, but to my relief there were two other masked shoppers, the first of whom was eager to talk about her coughing fit earlier this week. I feel very sorry about the woman on the aisle who pressed her her scarf to her face during this moment of humanity.

making my first delivery tomorrow, transporting a care package from chinatown to queen west. fun! I gotta find some gloves.

they installed a plexiglass panel at the end of the checkout conveyors at the local grocery store chain to stand behind, separating you from the cashier