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

not too sure that a curfew is a great idea? if i have to go out, i'd rather do it at odd hours rather than compressing everyone into the same timeframe

― mookieproof, Monday, March 16, 2020 3:16 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this was my thought

could always go out at exactly 5 a.m. :/

godspeed io

of course the food stores won't be open at 5

best wishes to Fetchboy & uncle

and anyone else with friends/family (or themselves) affected, by COVID itself or by income worries - these threads are moving fast so I know I've missed som

my mum's eccentric thespian cousin who lives in a bothy in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish highlands with no running water or electricity looking p otm rn

Up till a year and a half ago, I lived in a cabin in the woods in Alaska with a woodstove and a freezer full of moosemeat and salmon. Then I decided it would be a great idea to move to Seattle. Brilliant move on my part.

I'm down to my last pair of contacts so I called Fred Meyer optical today to order more, and they were like, "Well, we would happily do that for you but our whole system is down and we're not even allowed to open to day soooo, we'll call you back?" I guess this is the modern version of that one Twilight Zone episode.

No surprise, it has hit my town of 6,000: "There is now one confirmed case of COVID-19 in a St. Marys resident." So a bunch of things have closed indefinitely.

curfews are not bad. It sounds bad, but it's fine.

<3 <3 <3

I reupped my contacts in Jan juuuust before I left my job (and my insurance) so I'm feeling very lucky/grateful. If your old ones are driving you crazy, my uncle is an optometrist who has worked for medical equip company Topcon for decades, and he told me a secret for prolonging contact life: You can make a watery paste out of baking soda and storage solution and gently abrade the lens with your fingertip. It gets all the deposits off and doesn't harm the lenses. Rinse well, obv.

I know it sounds crazy! But I've done it for years when I didn't have insurance and I wasn't supposed to keep wearing the same pair of lenses for 6-10 months. Every time a doctor says "Hey that's really bad for you, your eyes are probably scarred from that" they have been wrong and my eyes are fine.

I'm down to my last pair of contacts so I called Fred Meyer optical today to order more, and they were like, "Well, we would happily do that for you but our whole system is down and we're not even allowed to open to day soooo, we'll call you back?

I'm overdue for an eye test but I suspect this isn't really a good time to press my face into optometric gadgetry and have someone inspect my squishy virus-contracting humours. however they did send me a free eye test voucher and that's testing my resolve slightly. I can get a free one through work, but the paperwork...

(yeah, probably still best not for now, although who knows when "now" ends, and I'm paranoid about leaving my eye test too long after my mum had a previously unnoticed serious problem spotted in an eye test)

my 6 month supply of contacts ended up lasting me 4 yrs because i just put them in saline overnight until I decide it's time. I finally just got a new batch (4 month supply) from costco 2 months ago.

My town, depended on tourism, is deserted. Like a ghost town. I work in a shop geared toward tourists. I have been put on “economic leave” for one day this week. But I suspect it’ll be 100 percent next week (and the rest of april).
1 we have very little sales
2 in all honesty it is not really smart healthwise.
(But I get it: are we going to survive this financially? I fucking hope so.)

i just got an eye exam a few weeks ago and was shocked at how deteriorated my vision is because i wait too long between prescriptions and my astigmatism gets worse. i really need new glasses. but i guess i gotta wait to get them because opticians are too much close physical contact and i won't die.

already broke down sobbing twice today. the same friend from above is sick, with a sore throat and a dry cough, no fever, but she said she feels mild pressure in her chest. she's only 24, and isn't worried, but says they won't test her. and....she told her boss this and he said it was "statistically improbable" that it was COVID and that she was no longer welcome to talk about it anymore.

we're such an idiotic people. just four days of quarantining and I don't know how I'm going to make it. today it's just the one friend, tomorrow another, soon my parents, who I can't visit today because they're at risk. and I'm home alone with a roommate that isn't ever here.

I'm usually the calm one, and I'm just not right now.

feelin you, bro

Hugs, Neanderthal. Let me know if you need to talk.

thank you both <3

debating trying to find a friend that I know and ride quarantine out with him and his wife. i don't even care if I pay rent at a house I'm not living at for two months.

good luck nath, and hugs to neanderthal

my roommate's work is run by conservative shitheads who believe this is overhyped and they're refusing to close their office and i'm ready to go there myself tomorrow to kick all of their asses

Begging the boss of my part-time job to close (retail) for the sake of my coworker. I don't have to go in for a few days but I'm really worried about my coworker. bosses are "following the CDC guidelines." FUCK!

I really feel like we should form a task force to risk our own health and just kick the shit out of conservative bosses who won't close or let people work from home.

we need one treasurer to keep bail money. sorry, yours is a no-action job.

I feel like all the iTs nO wOrSe tHaN FlU* people should be quietly hoping everyone forgets they ever spoke but ime they have just taken it in stride and carry on having opinions

*I am a bit tired of doing this and think we should bring back tildes

For good or ill, one effect of this whole debacle is that we all know for certain who the selfish shitheads are.

Thanks for the contact-cleaning tip, in orbit. I'll give it a try in a couple of weeks when they start to really bug me.

I'm sorry, Neanderthal. I spent all of last year in a similar (though non-pandemic-related) situation, so you have all my sympathy. Finding a friend to ride out quarantine with doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

Opinions are like flus, everyone catches one once in a while.

My heart goes out to you, Neanderthal. These are trying times. I'm grateful to have an awesome partner and two really close friends next door. I don't think I could ride this thing out on my own. You should definitely consider crashing with friends if it seems like a comfortable enough option.

A little sweet levity:

oh my god, the chicago aquarium closed due to coronavirus, so they let the penguins run around and check out the other exhibits. (staff was present.) pic.twitter.com/YGa8CugymE

— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) March 16, 2020

FB friend 0wen M@ercks runs a famous reptile store in the Bay Area, some asshole called yesterday to ask if he could trade his hoarded TP and sanitizer for a snake

they told him to fuck off

Thinking of all of you, in your various situations and stresses. This feels more and more unreal.

I've worked from home for years now so this isn't as disorienting as it could be. But it's been weird to not go anywhere or see anyone - and this plague meant that I had to cancel a two week trip to the Austin area to visit my son. (Was supposed to leave last Saturday, cancelled last Wednesday as it became clear that shit was starting to get very real.) My son was irate when I told him I cancelled the trip, but the more he's read about what's happening worldwide and the more things have changed where he lives, the more he's come to understand. Still, it SUCKS. This is his spring break week and our tradition for the past half decade or so is for me to fly down there, take time off, and for us to spend a lot of quality time.

my brother in law lives with my mother in law and his own (adult) son at her apartment (which my wife and I pay part of the rent on ... long story and we're annoyed by that anyway). today he decides he and his son are flying to colorado to look after his younger kids who are with his ex-wife (who is a bitch, admittedly). but he's leaving his 71 year old mom here (bay area) with no groceries, didn't set up delivery, etc. Thanks, asshole.

explaining to him that getting on a plane was stupid he claims he's investigated everything on youtube, it's a 'strain of the flu' and people should calm down.

My non-freelancing day job of just over 5 years just suspended operations 'until further notice', and in continuing discussions in private employee FB groups, we're widely speculating that that 'further notice' isn't coming. (We do bar trivia/entertainment).

posted this on another thread but this is a list from the UK government of people that should be strict in taking social distancing measures...

We are advising those who are at increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus (COVID-19) to be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures.

This group includes those who are:

aged 70 or older (regardless of medical conditions)
under 70 with an underlying health condition listed below (ie anyone instructed to get a flu jab as an adult each year on medical grounds):
chronic (long-term) respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
chronic kidney disease
chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), a learning disability or cerebral palsy
diabetes
problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease or if you have had your spleen removed
a weakened immune system as the result of conditions such as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or chemotherapy
being seriously overweight (a BMI of 40 or above)
those who are pregnant

Note: there are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you are in this category, next week the NHS in England will directly contact you with advice the more stringent measures you should take in order to keep yourself and others safe. For now, you should rigorously follow the social distancing advice in full, outlined below.

People falling into this group are those who may be at particular risk due to complex health problems such as:

People who have received an organ transplant and remain on ongoing immunosuppression medication
People with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radiotherapy
People with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia who are at any stage of treatment
People with severe chest conditions such as cystic fibrosis or severe asthma (requiring hospital admissions or courses of steroid tablets)
People with severe diseases of body systems, such as severe kidney disease (dialysis)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

my mum's eccentric thespian cousin who lives in a bothy in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish highlands with no running water or electricity looking p otm rn

You're going to go on holiday by mistake? :)

Dippin' Dots! We are now getting fucking COVID emails from Dippin' Dots!

Dear Dippin' Dots Corporation, you are not at the top of my list of concerns right now, thank you very much.

lol

maybe they found a cure

somebody hacked my Match profile. who the fuck you gonna hook up with now, dummy?

xps

i'm really sorry to hear that, C. Grisso/McCain. do you still have freelancing stuff to keep you afloat for a while?

i've got a teenage nephew with downs syndrome and i think he's going to be staying with my over-70s mum and dad so that should keep all of them occupied

(parents are actually taking this seriously now, thank god)

(they will still be very shit at it though)

Genuinely sorry you won't be able to see your son, Raymond. I hope you can at least do a healthy amount of Skyping.

i'm really sorry to hear that, C. Grisso/McCain

yes, gone back and read this. seems very inadequate to say this but good luck and best wishes to you

Strength to all of you going through tough times. This system is so fragile, care and tenderness is sometimes so hard to find.

A message from me and my dad, @Melbrooks. #coronavirus #DontBeASpreader pic.twitter.com/Hqhc4fFXbe

— Max Brooks (@maxbrooksauthor) March 16, 2020

It took this crisis for me to learn that the world war z guy is Mel Brooks’s son

i'm really sorry to hear that, C. Grisso/McCain. do you still have freelancing stuff to keep you afloat for a while?

Without getting too deep I think I'm okay for the time being. The big shock now has been all the behind the scenes stuff that came to light just now (corporate lay-offs going back to January, etc). This job was ultimately screwed anyway, as about an hour after our company's announcement, the county shut down bars and clubs until April, and I'm not sure if some of our venues here can survive that.

presuming we all make it through okay to june and life goes back to non-pandemic normal, it's hard to imagine what my economic life is going to look like.

I just got back from a run with my daughter, and we passed a grocery store. It's not that the shelves were empty, it's that this event has really underscored how much of the shelves are stocked with shit you really don't need or want in a crisis.