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

In France at least, post offices house banks too (La Banque Postale), which is the easiest bank to get an account at if you're foreign / without a fixed address. So I gather that's a lot of what the lines are at the one downstairs. On the day that benefit checks are direct deposited (around the 5th of each month), the lines at the ATMs at this post office go down the block. These ATMs were boarded up until last week, but things are getting going again, for better or for worse.

oh yeah I forgot about that aspect. yeah I had to open up a bank account in france once, it took me months.

for most other banks (even most of the new online-only ones) you need an address to get a bank account, but to get a bank account you need an address.

er, to get an address you need a bank account

I would love for Djokovic to retire because of his refusal to be vaccinated. I would love never have to see his stupid face again.

― Yerac, Monday, April 20, 2020 5:25 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

^^^
Rafa 4ever.

― Fetch the Bolt Thrower (PBKR), Monday, 20 April 2020 22:57 (yesterday) link

Imagine if Fed keeps his record because the next 4-6 slams are cancelled.

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, April 21, 2020 12:12 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

now find out that djoker's wife is a 5G'er as well. he'll end up getting vaccinated for the sake of his career the same way he apparently caved on his no surgery stance

wow i used to think djoker was hot-headed asshole, had no idea about the anti-vax stuff, go feds 4ever

he is referred to as jokey smurf in this house because I refuse to say his name.

My mom hates him and the nickname in her house is Jock Itch.

My partner hates him too just because he hates his terrible attitude. Didn't realize he was 1) anti-vax and 2) widely reviled!
ha

i feel like it was a controversial sentiment on the wimbledon or us open thread. I don't care. I cannot stand to watch him play.

finally snapped last night and gave myself a haircut, and considering the last time I did this resulted in my having to get a buzz cut for a year, I think it turned out pretty well

Not necessarily COVID-19 directly related, but a bit of an etiquette question that I'm curious about. I ordered something back in late February and it was shipped out mid-March, just as everything was breaking open and shutting down. I got sent a USPS tracking number for it and it shows as "in transit to the next destination" since March 20th now. Totally fine with being patient given the state of the world and esp shipping, that said, no status update in over a month makes me think it might be lost or something. Would it be an asshole move to kindly reach out to the tiny shop that shipped it to see if they could check in with USPS on it from their end?

idk how they are going to have an easier time reaching the USPS than you are, i would just try to reach out to USPS myself if i had the tracking #

three nearest laundromats are closed

i mean, i don't blame them, but ತ ಎತ

xpost - yeah, I contacted USPS myself, still waiting for a response, but last time I had an issue with a package that seemed to get lost they made me have the sender contact them. We'll see. Thanks.

Not necessarily COVID-19 directly related, but a bit of an etiquette question that I'm curious about. I ordered something back in late February and it was shipped out mid-March, just as everything was breaking open and shutting down. I got sent a USPS tracking number for it and it shows as "in transit to the next destination" since March 20th now. Totally fine with being patient given the state of the world and esp shipping, that said, no status update in over a month makes me think it might be lost or something. Would it be an asshole move to kindly reach out to the tiny shop that shipped it to see if they could check in with USPS on it from their end?

― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, April 22, 2020 1:47 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've been ordering shit from all over and it's getting here pretty in a reasonable time frame and with few tracking irregularities. Definitely sounds like the package is lost or something.

Me too - everything I've ordered has arrived, except for one CD from Japan.

I bought a CD on Discogs on March 20. Eight days later the tracking said USPS didn't have it yet, so I asked the seller about it. They said they'd sent a number of packages that day and the tracking showed the same thing for all of them. When none of these packages had been been delivered by April 9, they sent a refund. The CD wasn't expensive (about nine bucks shipped), but I felt a bit bad about it since it didn't seem to be the seller's fault. Regardless, I think a polite inquiry is reasonable.

Starting Monday, Houston-area will be have mandatory wear a mask in public order in place for 30 days.

Jeez, took them long enough. It's weird that they are so behind the other major cities here.

Still pretty convinced the main positive (and not necessarily inconsequential) of wearing non-medical-grade masks out and about is psychological, with the actual impact on prevention of disease a distant second, so orders with the force of law to wear them don't make me happy

i sorta agree in my perception of actual effectiveness, maybe slightly less distant. both aspects are actually important for many persons, so idgaf so much.

i disagree. if you're wearing a mask and COVID-19 carrier is wearing a mask, even if neither are non-medical grade, there should still be a substantial reduction in transmission

i mean, i don't think the psych effect causes people to be more reckless about other distancing practices. at least i've not seen that way out here in the sticks.

The stores here are 100% mask wearing and social distancing, and I'm convinced it's a good thing that should continue well after other restrictions are relaxed.

i feel like i have a ton of near factoids in my head about transmissibility and filtration and droplet size and possible actual aerosol transmissibility, but the only takeaway i feel safe with is between “epidemiologists don’t really know for sure on covid” and “masks at least help a bit and maybe more.”

Halloween is going to suck, that's for sure

Aw man. That thought had not occurred to me yet and we're a big Halloween family.

Halloween...everyone wears double masks!

oh man, if we're in motion by then i will forgive every asshole wearing a coronavirus costume
i think that falls under the header of a "dumb shit you're actually looking forward to seeing when this is over" thread but maybe enough with the COVID threads just now

Xps if you have tracking then you probably have insurance. Except that USPS makes it almost impossible to collect on that insurance. I’d suggest politely letting the seller know the situation - they honestly can’t do more than you at this point, but they may offer to replace the item.*

*i manage the webstore for my employer and USPS has fucked me over a number of times. When customers send me irate emails about it, demanding this and that, I’m inclined to remind them of our policies, clearly stated on our website. But if they’re nice and not presumptuous I’ll immediately offer to replace missing items.

“i disagree. if you're wearing a mask and COVID-19 carrier is wearing a mask, even if neither are non-medical grade, there should still be a substantial reduction in transmission“

I don’t understand why ppl think this isn’t the case? I saw an animation of mask vs no mask and it clearly restricts the radius of your breath transmission.

Duct tape would be even better

when I'm wearing the mask I have access to can feel my breath go up out of the top of mask past my glasses, maybe it's not going as far in space from there but I have a physical sensation of uselessness. I am not convinced that my exhalation is passing through the fabric of the mask with less moisture in it.

It's not an answer I actually want, but I keep wondering how vulnerable eyes are. Should I be wearing glasses to keep droplets out of my eyes?

silby, there is presumably no one standing above your head. If your breath is going up rather than out, how can that not be helpful?

I think we can also all agree that there's a range of quality for masks, some provide a better seal than others

why do we still need any animations or really any conversation at all about how this works?

here's a crazy experiment: 1) exhale into your palm, then 2) do it again with ANY FUCKING OBJECT between your palm and your mouth

otm

I sent a nice phono cartridge in for retipping. Paid for insurance and postal service lost it. They totally screwed me over, I was furious for a week. Never send anything precious through USPS.

the only mask I have at my disposal is a n95 (was given it at work because I still attend the office once in a while) and I will feel like a real dick if I walk around with one of them on while not immunocompromised or sick during this pandemic with the shortages situation

I think there's an element of public health speak that clouds this issue because officials are reluctant to put things in terms of expected risk level or probability. Everything is either effective or not. So if they are unable to say that wearing a mask will absolutely save you or someone else from COVID-19, then they are not effective.

The only mask I had was an N95, that's what I wear because that's what I have.

xxp Jim — Why? It's not selfish to wear a mask. If anything it's generous. You don't know if you are a carrier.

I'll look like a privileged panic-buying dickhead? if I take to covering my mouth I may just go out with a scarf on.

yes—I mean better an N95 than no mask at all

Or you could save the N95 for the more dire times to come, and wear a bandanna in the meantime?

yeah Hadrian otm

here's a crazy experiment: 1) exhale into your palm, then 2) do it again with ANY FUCKING OBJECT between your palm and your mouth

or yeah you could obsess about whether the seal is correctly fitted to your facial shape, then say fuck it and say the whole effort is futile

i mean, you do you, silby

sheesh

I don't think it's futile, I just am cranky about it and inevitably doing all the things people will scold you for doing, like constantly touching the mask.

it's not a burden I think it's not something that needs to be added to the list of things the cops are empowered to hassle people about by ordering it.