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

Actually it was the Buying A House thread, of course.

EE is the fucking worst. Tom I’d ask if their contract allowed you to bail in a situation like this but I know that trying to get an answer to that question out of them would be a hiding to absolutely nothing. They do tend to have good 4G coverage and good speeds so tethering to your phone could be a not-bad option (as long as they uncap you as pom says)

I really don’t like those.. cylindrical towers on old homes. gives me the creeps. is that Victorian style? *shudder*

I used to live in one of those towers, when I rented a room in a big old Victorian in Flatbush. It was kind of nice, I could see all the way down the street in both directions.

This was a fun post juxtaposition:

why is toilet paper still scarce? Haven’t been able to get it from TJs, CVS or our other local supermarket in several weeks.

― just1n3

Someone way upthread was looking in the Cleveland area few years ago, and I was amazed daily on what was available there. And it's a big city.
― nickn

why is toilet paper still scarce?

mostly inflexible supply chains

weirdly toilet paper has never been a problem for me; it's hand soap I can't find anywhere

i have been using diluted dish soap as hand soap
not bad

There's no method. Often I'll go to the store at 8 a.m. and find soap and no paper. Or vice versa. Then at 3 p.m. I'll find both. At Target today I saw hand wipes and masks. I didn't need them and wasn't about to hoard.

i need to buy some rubbing alcohol but do not feel like shopping around for it. should i just assume i won't find it anywhere?

If you show up at a pharmacy right when they restock it you can get some... it's still being delivered to retail stores.

I'd try a couple of phone calls to nearby stores and ask if they have rubbing alcohol and, if not, do they expect any?

I got a bottle last week without looking for it -- I just spotted it.

I've learned I don't use much hand sanitizer and alcohol except in the car after a store run. I wash my hands 20 times a day, though.

My grocery store now regularly has hand sanitizer that’s clearly in a repurposed plastic liquor bottle. Makes me feel like I’m 21 and buying a 750 of McCormick vodka.

The McCormick back then was probably cheaper than the sanitizer now actually.

there is not even bar (body) soap in stores?

McCormick is better at killing germs!

there is not even bar (body) soap in stores?

― Yerac, Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Yeah! A little more often. And body wash has never disappeared from shelves here. Not once.

I've wondered whether the overwhelming Spanish-speaking members of my community are driven by literalism. "Body wash" is not "soap," therefore overlooked.

People who can't get tp are inserting the bars up th-

Thanks mookie xps

Dr Bronner's is always a good bet

I really don’t like those.. cylindrical towers on old homes. gives me the creeps. is that Victorian style? *shudder*

― brimstead, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 6:47 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Turrets! I'm a fan to the extent that I'm a fan of Victorian houses at all, which is "sometimes, if they're less 'wedding cake' and more 'probably haunted.'''

I never thought I'd want to live in the country again, but I'm here now and I'm surprisingly fine. We have good neighbors though, and I still have my life in the city which I will, covid willing, someday go back to. Of course, the last time I lived in a small village in a rural area the internet didn't exist yet. This is better.

I should differentiate, though: I like living in the "town" part of a small town but I'm still not interested in the whole "20 acres and no neighbors" thing.

i like turrets too. much better than all the plantation style homes i see for sale all the time in the south.

i probably went extreme and used rural first? instead of just saying non-city living.

omg who doesn't love a turret?! my god

they are the most fantastic things about small town life
maybe the only good thing

aside from the reduced cost

Some people have never wanted to haunt an ivy-shrouded manor house forever, and it shows.

"turrets" is how my brother thought Tourette's was spelled back in the day. aka two weeks ago

are you guys talking about turlets??? weird way of spelling it but sure i love a good turlet

my brother with Tourette’s slept in the turret room when we were kids

I dunno what is about that stuff, for some I got ridiculously scared as a kid touring the Winchester Mystery House

no we are not talking about tarlets

If you are likely to get a test for the vid you really need to prepare yourself for the discomfort of the nasal swab.
Really isn't very pleasant.
But I guess it could be worse. Heard the old gall bladder removal system used to be or testing for gonnorhea.
And at least it's fastish.
But I think you need to grab onto something for however long it takes.
Quite unpleasant.

So I've just been told by EE that the reason my wifi is not working is not my old router, which I just spent £100+ replacing, but with their network in my area - a problem which might not be fixed until the lockdown is over. So I'm basically without internet for the foreseeable future

... and it's back on this morning. Should be an interesting conversation when they phone me in an hour to confirm the cancellation of my contract.

What's the deal with barbershops opening that makes it such a fetishistic thing? Like my boss every week is updating us on the status of his barbershop and when he can get his hair cut. How did that particular thing become the symbol of the shutdown for a certain class of people?

because people are wack.

cornerstone of the community iirc

because people are tired of wearing hats. My hair has become an absurd, Beatles-esque mop.

chop it off. who’s going to notice??

cut it yourself! i seriously am amazed that people won't cut their hair themselves. I heard it grows back most of the time.

i did this. it was.... shorter than i intended but pretty easy to get a decent look with just a beard trimmer. close settings around the back and sides, longer settings for the top. a mirror to fix any missed spots. editors i will write this article for 25c a word.

we shaved 1/3 of my head and left the other side long. I call it my dystopian viking/retired cop on the left look.

but we also had two electric shavers and two haircutting scissors here because we are both usually too lazy and cheap to go to hairstylists and we are not too bothered by hair mishaps.

my partner cut my hair. It is very uneven in sections. But it feels better and was fun to do.

I cut my partner’s hair and did a cautious but reasonable job. I used to cut my own hair, until I sort of had to shave it all off and my reprehensible long-distance partner at the time refused to come visit me until it grew back.

social conventions fuck with people's heads and hair and "cleanliness" are a big one. I generally go a year or so between haircuts so this is fine for me but my gal is losing her mind about not getting to see someone.

my hair is still acceptable to me; it's not deteriorating any more than the rest of my appearance is

i want to shave my whole head but then kept questioning my partner if it will feel like having sex with a monk. I think he thinks it's a trick question.

I just want my eyebrows threaded and tinted sometime soon.