Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

I miss that. This whole thing fucking sucks. That is all.

[iam416]

I usually go to the grocery store at about 7am before I start "work"/chiding Strangelove. Today I went after I rode on my fancy bicycle. It was about 1030a. Fuckton of people there and I'd say easily 90% with masks. I saw two adults w/o them and two high school kids.

As I understand it, masks and distancing are a belt and suspenders approach. In theory, the 6 feet keeps you out of dangerous human contact zone. The masks, in theory, reduce the amount of droplets hanging in the air that create the dangerous human contact zone. Whatever.

My son's youth baseball season is set to get started in the next few weeks with covid-modifications such as no one stays in the dugout (in addition to obvious no high 5s, etc or sharing of massive bag of sunflower seeds, which is youth baseball SOP). Hopefully it works. I'd really like to see him interacting with kids again -- in person, instead of via XBox.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Some will hate the touches of politics in this story but read for the short tales of 3 WWII vets who all died at the Holyoke Soldiers Home near Springfield, Mass. Out of 210 veterans living at the home in March, 89 are now dead.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/u...the-virus.html

These are very sad stories ...... before I retired from practice, I was offered a contract to provide care inside the GA War Veterans Home in Milledgeville, GA (just east of Macon). I had been working in the Milledgeville hospital's ED at the time. The standard practice for the weekend nursing staff at the VA home was to send residents to the ED if they had any complaint during the weekend when they were usually under-staffed...... and this was before COVID.

Our ED director worked very hard to stop them from doing this as often there was no NOK, medical records were not accurate and when the patient presented, usually demented to some degree, it was a mystery solving process. They all got admitted at least for 24h becasue there was just no telling. The VA facility care was just bad, the company that ran it was frequently in court battling liability charges. Thanks, but no thanks.

Since that time, there's a new company running the place and, apparently it's being much better run along with most of the VA system. To the VA's credit, nationwide, they very early on recognized veteran's long term care facilities were going to be COVID hot spots, tested residents and staff on the regular and have not become the care homes of morbidity and mortality that some have in the NE. I just checked and they have had 3 residents fall ill with SARS-COV-2, only 1 death with 4 staff also testing positive and quarantined. Central GA has not had a lot of cases to begin with so, good news on that front for vets in these facilities. GA rocks!

[AlabamAlum]

Look, you guys ignore Belichick at your own peril.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I have noticed a definite increase in masks at the grocery store compared to March. Would say 80-90% are wearing them at the store I usually go to.

[AlabamAlum]

It’s around 60-40 in the Bham area.

[Whitley]

I have noticed a definite increase in masks at the grocery store compared to March. Would say 80-90% are wearing them at the store I usually go to.

I went grocery shopping for me and my folks Saturday. This is what I saw.

Stopped at the gas station to get a Free Press and Record-Eagle. The cashier had a mask on. However, another cashier came in to get change (must have been working the gas station car wash) come in and got change had no mask on (and they had a conversation while people waiting in line). The person checking out had no mask on. The guy behind me checking out had no mask on. Another guy comes in, with no mask, asks where the restrooms are standing about a foot from me. The cashier tells him and he goes and cuts between me and guy checking out.

Then went to Walmart and in the twenty minutes I was there saw 15 people without masks and 2 people did not have them on right (not covering their nose). One lady was on her phone, loudly (could her conversation 15 feet away), over the produce. As I was checking out was chatting with the cashier. She told me that previous night, she had a guy checking out with no mask from Brazil who had just flown in. He said there was nothing to worry about because he was from a region of Brazil that had few cases. She told me as soon as he was checked out she wiped down everything.

Went to get Sunday papers yesterday (and pick up some dried cherries for salads). Neither gas station cashier had a mask on. A guy pays for his gas and was asking where he could rent a cottege for the weekend on Crystal Lake. Cottages, hotel/motels, campgrounds etc. are all closed down per Whitmer's EO. Not much chance of it being enforced in the county where I live, because the local county Sheriff publicly has said they are not going to enforce it.



A person is smart but people are stupid. There is a certain group of people that will do what they want when they want. The problem with this is in the world of covid 19 is that by not doing reasonable things then that increases the chances of them passing it on (if they have it) to others who might not be as fortunate with their immune responses.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Also, Fuck Belichick

[Dr. Strangelove]

I'm sure most of you have seen the videos circulating of the people partying it up at the Lake of the Ozarks this weekend.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/25/no-way...-ozarks-mayor/

I just wanted to comment that these enormous party pools gross me out even when there aren't any public health crises. What the fuck is the appeal of standing in waist-deep piss-water, drinking overpriced Bud Lite, with hundreds of sweaty strangers?

[Jeff Buchanan]

.......As I understand it, masks and distancing are a belt and suspenders approach. In theory, the 6 feet keeps you out of dangerous human contact zone. The masks, in theory, reduce the amount of droplets hanging in the air that create the dangerous human contact zone. Whatever.

My son's youth baseball season is set to get started in the next few weeks with covid-modifications such as no one stays in the dugout (in addition to obvious no high 5s, etc or sharing of massive bag of sunflower seeds, which is youth baseball SOP). Hopefully it works. I'd really like to see him interacting with kids again -- in person, instead of via XBox.

You understand correctly ..... mostly. There are several really good studies out there about how masks cut down on airborne droplets as a means of transmission. There's no theory. They are factual, evidenced based engineering tests that demonstrated a substantial reduction in airborne droplets from coughs, sneezes and yes, the recently dreaded talking loudly! when wearing a mask. They included aerosolized particle reduction. It's called point of origin protection. IOW the persons wearing masks are protecting others within 6' - 13' from airborne transmission risk. Several kinds of face coverings work for this purpose. You don't need N95s. I linked to those studies maybe two weeks ago so folks could see how to make them from scratch and be confident they work.

One other point. How well masking actually inhibits spread is not fully understood but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that it does and one paper I read on this subject said reduction in viral spread occurs with 70% compliance ..... a number I've seen elsewhere that buries the notion that EVERYBODY has to be masked. That's not going to happen and that it has to happen for Americans to be safe is the baseline requirement for press reporting on this subject. Fuck them.

Glad to see ohio is easing restriction on youth group events. Both GA and FL are as well with the usual suspects wringing their hands about ..... THE CHILDREN. Desantis made the announcement on Thursday last week that youth summer camps could be open. Parents of youngsters I know breathed a sigh of relief as they want their kids to get out of the house like you also appreciate the need for that. Desantis also said parents don't have to send their kids to camp but he's allowing the choice. Well, GOOD!

Desantis does defer to local decision making though. I'm opposed to the mess in S. FL that allows local authority to make re-opening decisions. That's because up to now, none of them have been based on the right metrics. The problem is residents don't know what metrics these officials are using for them. Lots of editorial opinion in the papers reflecting justifiable anger over this situation. i.e., why,if the metrics support re-opening of a gym, pool, park or restaurant in Palm Beach county (Boca), which is 10 miles north of FTL, these same facilities are not allowed to re-open in FTL which is in Broward Co. Never mind that these two counties are subject to the same or actually, in some cases, better metrics in Broward.

BTW, that got resolved over the weekend after residents cried foul - the cycle studio I use opens tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th...... I'll be there to cycle ...... with a mask until I see how the studio is set up. If the ventilation is good (corporate paid for HEPA filters, high turn-over rate AC upgrades and UV scrubbers in the duct work), the spacing is good (studio holds 48 bikes - there are 15 available during COVID each 30-40m class) and people are behaving.

[AlabamAlum]

DSL,

Can I put you down for a yes to the celebration party when Belichick passes Shula?

[Dr. Strangelove]

DSL,

Can I put you down for a yes to the celebration party when Belichick passes Shula?

The total indfference, even hostility, towards the safety and well-being of their players ensures that Belichick and Saban will be cellmates in Hell.

[Jeff Buchanan]

..................A person is smart but people are stupid. There is a certain group of people that will do what they want when they want. The problem with this is in the world of covid 19 is that by not doing reasonable things then that increases the chances of them passing it on (if they have it) to others who might not be as fortunate with their immune responses.

There's nothing wrong with this logic which is why, the choice to venture out is a personal one. I support informed choice. To that end, as I mentioned, but I want to mention it again, in America, for a number of cultural reasons, not everyone is going to wear a mask like they might in Asia ..... a proven device to reduce transmission. OTH, 100% compliance with masks is not a requirement where folks who do this kind of thing look at it and hypothesize 70% compliance will probably do the trick.

I posted an article by noted Twitter blogger and virologist, Erin Bromage, where I argued his concern about super spreaders and high risk socialization associated with family gatherings over the Memorial Day Weekend was over-played. For one thing, super spreaders are rare and his math that worries that lots of folks are going to get infected when lots of folks gather depends on high transmission rates. The science and the evidence doesn't support that kind of dooms-day thinking.

TBC, super-spreader events happen but not every time there is a gathering with or without mitigation measures being practiced and probably not at all with a modicum of them in place. If super-spreading events were that common and nobody gave a shit about mitigation measures - flaunted them on a large scale - we'd all be infected by now and lots more people would have died. Common sense and application of existing data trends applies.

[AlabamAlum]

The total indfference, even hostility, towards the safety and well-being of their players ensures that Belichick and Saban will be cellmates in Hell.

lmao. Good work.

[Dr. Strangelove]

A small group of FREEDOM lovers hung Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in effigy yesterday out on the lawn of the Governor's mansion. It was every bit as intimidating and impressive as you might imagine. Bonus points for blaring Lee Greenwood