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

xpost - I refuse to step foot in a Costco ever again. My wife knows better than to even suggest it. The worst customers ever, overcrowded, rude and angry people everywhere, shoppers that just ditch their carts anywhere to block aisles. I didn't consider myself an anxious person until I first set foot in a Costco.

they treat their employees well, I'll say that in their favor. their members, on the other hand, frequently came off as the worst humans alive when I dealt with them in a previous job

I think Costcos vary significantly from location to location. For example, I learned only recently that Costco *stock* varies from location to location. There are things you can get at one that you can't get at another. There are even baked goods that differ, since the bakers apparently have discretion. And a lot of those differences reflect the clientele. For example, I am equidistant from two Costcos. One carries a whole halal lamb, the other doesn't.

from the host of a gathering of friends next weekend; people, many of whom travel quite a bit, will be flying in from all around the country:

I am not particularly concerned about corona virus overall, however, given I have a severely immuno-compromised 80 year old cancer stricken mother in my house, I will ask that if you think you are any sort of risk for carrying it, obviously, bail

. . . c'mon lads

xpost - what pushed me over the edge for Costco was watching one shopper quite literally shove an 75+ year-old man out of the way to get at a fresh batch of free cheese samples

Well, tbf, free cheese.

lol

sorry to derail, talking about even fucking Costco for a few minutes helps pull me out of the Coronoavirus spiral I've been stuck in. This week reminds me of where I was about 3 weeks after 9/11, just constantly searching news updates and absorbing way more information than is healthy

xpost oh yeah have you ever seen the pics of all the amazing stuff in japanese costcos? The hawaii ones have a lot of beach stuff and always 3-4 different pokés, kalua pork, lots of macadamia nuts, fresh saiman/ramen noodles etc.

ohhh, and they have a steal of bubbies mochi ice cream (18 pack). although i think bubbies is everywhere now.

Yeah, we were told to stop at the Maui Costco for poke! (We're still planning to go, but recognize life might intervene, if not here then there.)

My favorite Costco story was when we were looking for cheap light weatherproof jackets for a camping trip. I did some research and kept seeing reviews of a jacket sold at Costco. So I click on a (video) review, and the guy is really thorough and informative and then ends with something like "and it fits perfectly in your go-bag." Um, ok. I click on the next review, and same thing, super useful review, ends with how perfect it is for your "bug out" bag. Surprising no one, Costco might be the only company equally beloved by suburban families and preppers.

the maui one does not have gas. boooo.

derp, disregard that. it looks like it does.

But do they have toilet paper?

(Apparently they do, say forums, but it's being limited.)

I've gone from a point of relative calm to dark circles around my eyes perma-refreshing BBC news and making infinite shopping lists in the space of about three days. Why ARE thermometers like £75 now? They can't always have cost that much.

I don't understand why everyone needs more toilet paper

like, hand sanitizer, bleach, disinfectants, ok I get that. But toilet paper?

omg! i had someone pick one up for me yesterday and it was like $6usd. I was shocked it was still so accessible and cheap.

I tried in a couple of Boots and they'd sold out, and online they're all either one-star reviews or £100.

All UK pharmacies now aggressively filling queue barriers with things that could potentially look like hand sanitiser - cleansers, moisturisers etc. Yesterday there was one filled with small bottles of lube.

If you have to quarantine for 2 weeks, you better have some toilet paper. Even moreso if you are a whole family that needs to quarantine. I don't see why this is weird to people.

LOL @ accidentally picking up a small bottle of lube thinking it's sanitizer

idk I guess we don't go through that much toilet paper
xps

Anyway, I'm stocking up on lentils &c.

like i think we buy an 8-pack once a month? TMI I suppose

on the other thread we went over how much toilet paper one person usually uses a week. I probably am lowkey annoyed by people who over use toilet paper but hopefully I will never have to be a first person witness to a lot of it. All people should be able to use the amount they need to self soothe.

but at max, even with single ply, i would think an average person needs one roll a week max, even taking into account shark week or food poisoning.

If those who poop at work will be working from home, it makes sense to stock up on extra toilet paper.

oh yes that reminds me, due to underfunding the campus bathrooms are frequently either closed or out of soap

sharkshart week or food poisoning.

tt i got this thermometer the other day, Amazon doesn’t have them anymore but Argos might. It has lots of others too.

If you have to quarantine for 2 weeks, you better have some toilet paper. Even moreso if you are a whole family that needs to quarantine. I don't see why this is weird to people.

some people like to wrap up their hands in TP like boxers preparing for a big fight. i always assume their anal cavities are in catastrophic condition

I'm just stocking up for the start of the next varsity sports season.

xp: Thank god I brush with crest every night.

Anyway, a case has been announced in my county in Maryland just now.

I wonder if there will be a covid baby boom this fall?

psa: if you're having sex while wfh and end up having a wfh/quarantine baby, it'll be a sagittarius. so use some judgment and practice safe sex.

— stan of cleves (@alex_abads) March 11, 2020

Sagittarius Baby sounds like a great fictional hippy name.

xps, thanks gyac! Alas all out of stock for delivery or nearby. I found this one on Amazon that doesn't look like the worst thing?

i am so glad we have a bidet in our household

i heard march is usually a peak month for vasectomies so I wonder how this is all going to pan out. xpost

according to andrew cuomo the cuny/suny schools are all remote starting march 19, not that the schools have announced a goddamn thing

hah, the closest location Argos suggests for that thermometer is Grimsby, 135 miles away

but I guess I too am stockpiling thermometers now as I bought a 2nd forehead strip thermometer from a local chemist since the first cheap one from Amazon didn't work and... it doesn't work? that or I might just be dead

well I guess if I'm dead already that takes a lot of the worry out of this coronavirus thing

I knooooow, I was just looking through locations, I have narrowed down various thermometers to Grimsby, Chippenham and...most of Kent? Boots say on their site they’ll get more stock in too, but I’ll keep looking.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/03/empty-spaces-due-coronavirus-fears/607666/

I like the 'idle gondoliers' and the cat

huh I always assume if I have a fever I'll just know about it

my manager came back from a skiing weekend (in Bulgaria, not a high risk area) and has been sick all week, he looks rough as fuck and his voice is gone, coughing all over the place... luckily he looked at one of those symptom checker things and is like 90% sure it's not this virus, just some other virus that he is knowingly spreading around, so it's fine. He's still in the probationary period so won't get company sick pay if he's off, otherwise he def wouldn't be in. Today the head of the dept called HR about him and after hearing the symptoms they advised that he should stay at work. Pandemic aside it's fucking galling to hear "you should work if you're sick" as official word from a human resources dept

In other dismaying news there was an incident at my mum's work of some Chinese students being racially abused by some other students who were throwing stuff at them while pretending to cough. Hope the little cunts get kicked out

I get the feeling both music events I was planning on traveling to the States for (Long Play and Migration) are gonna get shitcanned :(

really glad my wedding is not until July.

not so glad that I work at a university and have no way to work from home. I basically have to hope a student or faculty member in this building gets confirmed with COVID for the university to be shut.

sitting in a meeting right now watching everyone rub their eyes, scratch their face, and lean their heads on their faces and wondering "WTF PEOPLE??!"

Have you ever had to quit biting your nails? Breaking unconscious habits that have lasted decades is fuckin hard.