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

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lol uly! Also what I thought of.

I should maybe save this for #tbt but does anyone have a recommendation for a thermometer that is reliable and good value? Looks like they are finally available again.

medline should be fine, run you 10-20 bucks or so? but that's in the states, they don't seem to be for sale under that name in the uk

The cheapish ones I’ve looked at over here have very mixed reviews, a lot of people claim they are wildly innacurate

i bought the Walgreens brand cos it was literally the only one on the shelf

Am also starting to wonder about travelling. My mother and tons of friends are in Portugal (won't deny that the persistently great weather also makes me pine for a swim in the ocean), and I also worry that x-mas will be cancelled this year so it's now or 2021. But travelling w/o an emergency reason feels reckless.

i think emily oster gives good advice about how to figure out when to change your behavior in covid times

https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/when-to-change-your-mind

We have immediate family in England, Australia and scattered around the US. We have our daughter's bat mitzvah coming up in September, but right now we just assume no one but that grandparents (on the east coast) will be there, plus maybe local friends, depending on phase of reopening. The Aussies and Brits ... very, very unlikely.

Middle schools but not high schools are opening here next week. It’s only for two weeks before the summer break, there will be no grades given, and students have already turned in their books for the year. We’re not sending our youngest back under these conditions.

My wife's Mom is getting remarried July 4th weekend and is still having the wedding. Supposedly the wedding is going to be socially-distanced and only 35 people in a big restaurant, but I don't trust that for one second. It is insane to me that we're going to throw away nearly 4 months of almost total quarantine for this.

merit raises for non-union staff officially not happening this year here at Flagship State University…I'll live because I got an effective raise b/c my housemate got a job.

Substantial merit raise given then immediately put on indefinite hold in early March at Stupidly Large Corp. And now I qualify for a "voluntary retirement incentive package" (aka lay off the olds so they can't sue for age discrimination) which shit yeah I'm taking. Grandbaby being born in August. In a state a 6 hour flight away that is apparently proud of its record-breaking new cases and daily deaths - huge dilemma.

The Aussies and Brits ... very, very unlikely.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 18 June 2020 4:25 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Today, Our PM re-emphasised no overseas tourism in or out this year. Brits are all gonna die IIRC

I didn't realize Australia's borders are closed and will remain closed--that is really smart.

Most of the world is closed to me, except Portugal, so I am fantasizing about a trip there. This is purely a fantasy though--for the near future (and however long after) I doubt I will even leave my state.

I am perversely pleased that Americans are being barred from so many countries after so many years of Trump trying to ban "shithole countries" from coming to the U.S. I feel like this is justice in some way.

if you're sick of quarantine hangouts with friends feeling like meetings because zoom then check out http://rambly.app

i cannot begin to imagine how badly it would go if we set one of these up for ILX

I didn't realize Australia's borders are closed and will remain closed--that is really smart.

Exceptions apply if you're rich, or the US military.

i cannot begin to imagine how badly it would go if we set one of these up for ILX

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Thursday, 18 June 2020 4:10 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Poxyfule slack will test this.

Yeah, my SIL's September Qantas flight to Chicago was officially cancelled the other day.

In other news, very in line with the thread title, I had applied to do some census work back in February or so, and now ... I really don't want to go door to door, masked and gathering information from stragglers.

Orange County FINALLY imposed a mask order....for 10 days.

not looking forward to the douches who are likely to picket this shit or raise hell outside supermarkets, but it's long overdue.

but...if they don't enforce, it is fucking useless.

The governor of TX found a loophole in his order that barred local communities from enforcing masks, so now the mayor of Austin can impose mask rules for businesses and the governor can still look like a good bootlicker for daddy Trump. What a stupid situation.

xp is that OC FL or OC CA?

OC CA is a mask shitshow too. the director of public health there received death threats/nazi imagery, etc. after she ordered mask in the usual public places and so she quit and now they have a very permissive mask law. but just today it's been superseded by a pretty strict state law.

FL

I donated blood today, and everything went smoothly. I think (if they haven't already) that given the circumstances they've loosened some of the more onerous restrictions. For example, my wife lived in Germany for a while and was therefore forbidden from donating, but I think finally she can (because they need her bloooooooooood). Everyone I talked with complemented me on my sugar skull mask, too, so it was a win for the Covid era.

Neanderthal, cheers. I cannot IMAGINE what MDC would be like w/out our mask ordinance, which no one has really protested. It might help that even the Trump-loving viejos don't wanna die.

Anyway, they're a psychological boost.

first day of mask order and our local grocery isn't doing shit to enforce it, this was the most lax it's been there in a long time. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt because the city is giving businesses a few more days to have their plans in place, but they have signs on the doors saying masks are required and that's about it.

Friend from Brazil called in tears, his aunt has been diagnosed positive and is now on a respirator, according to him the queque to get tested was so gigantic that if she didn't have it when she joined she sure as hell would now. His aunt shares a house with her husband and elderly grandmother, they're working class people who could never afford to self-isolate in the first place. Said friend used to be torn on Bolsonaro - he grew up in a very rough idea and Tough On Crime messages appeal to him - but now he has nothing but hatred for him.

Brings home again that the risks of this epdemic aren't at all independent of class and country, but I guess that's not apolitical.

(rough area, not idea)

In other news, AMC theatres are planning to reopen, but they've said theatres will be mask-optional for patrons (unless it's in a place that requires masks). The CEO said staff will be required to wear masks, and there will be other cleaning and spacing protocols in place, and there will be cheap masks for sale, and he himself would wear a mask, but he didn't want to require masks because he didn't want to make things "political."

teach the controversy!

on the one hand, masks decrease the chance of spreading coronavirus

on the other hand, uhm, they, the masks, masks are, well. masks

Hey, don't make it political.

Will they cancel Halloween this year?

no, but all masks will need large holes in them to ensure coronavirus can pass through

http://youtu.be/_nhE0Crz1Ig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhE0Crz1Ig&feature=youtu.be

I guss this is "fun"....anyway^ on halloween cancellation

“It really does feel like the U.S. has given up.” -European scientist.https://t.co/A910VQq7mX pic.twitter.com/xl8BuqqJ2n

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) June 19, 2020

The US is just very very out of shape and tired of all sorts of shit.

this fucking administration is the worst

It’s the same here. Our cinemas are set to reopen on the 10th as part of the govt’s “exit strategy” that consists entirely of pretending the virus doesn’t exist (I should note I’m talking about England and maybe wales - Scotland’s policy on cinemas is currently that the virus does in fact exist). No mention of masks because as discussed above they are just not a thing here, not that I fancy sitting watching a film through fogged-up glasses with a mask on. It’s a fucking head trip tbh, “given up” is the only thing that feels applicable. I can’t think of much more depressing than deciding to spread plague before we’ve got a handle on it because the dumb shitty new Nolan movie simply must see the light of day

today is one of my best friend's birthdays, and he will be hosting a party in his garage. next month our poker game restarts. I really miss doing both of these things but I can't go in good conscience. this sucks. I miss social interaction.

Is your friend in town? Could h/she host it outside instead? If it's a handful of people staying away from each other outside, you should be good. For a pal's birthday last month he and his wife set up the backyard so that each of us had a table about 10 feet apart. They were only five of us, though.

Getting a haircut - my first since March - on Tuesday morning.

giving up has its attractions

i'm growing out my hair and will be a beautiful mermaid on the other side of covid

<3