Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

[slippers 3,168]

media is blaming its surge on reopening too quick but not on protests. it might be just a rumor for now but some states/cities are considering 2nd lockdown. 

and another controversial killing and this time in atlanta. this is the full version. 

 

this morning one of customers showed me a partial one thinking it was the full version. it was missing first couple mins which makes it look like rayshard brooks was sleeping in his parked car and the cop was unlawfully trying to arrest him and seemed to have racist motive. but the full version shows rayshard was driving while intoxicated and fell asleep on wendy's drive thru so the cop had every right to arrest him for dui. but its too late, rioters burned down wendy's and 100s of looters targeted walmart. this thing is not going to end anytime soon i dont think..what a mess

[slippers 3,168]

crap man. another mandatory mask order and $1000 fine to those who do not. crazy county judge over here shes pathetic. she didnt say a peep when protests and ritors caused havoc for two weeks, but its us law abiding working citizens who have to suffer now. all employees and customers have to wear one. my mask was hanging on my left ear almost all day. so thats close enough har har. some brands of supplies running low like cigars/cigarettes and imported beers and banks only give out 5 rolls of quaters per week when we need boxes so its making my job difficult. florida i heard is planning a 2nd lockdown and another stimulus check is vey close to pass and we could get it as early as august. we'll see.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Wow. We're entering a phase 4 reopening this week. Movie theaters, etc. Will be opening back up. We still have the mask order in place. Mostly we have to keep them on at all times in grocery stores, etc. But outside of businesses we only need them on when closer than 6 feet from somebody. You can walk down the street with no mask on, but if you are going to walk past someone, slip that mask on. I've also seen plenty of cashiers have them off until a customer gets close, then they'll slip them on. Mostly in smaller businesses, gas stations and hardware stores.

Restaurants here have indoor and outdoor seating but the tables have to be 6 feet apart and there's no enforcement of masks on staff working in restaurant kitchens. I guess it's because it's so hot. Everyone seated to eat don't wear masks but when you get up to enter or leave you have to wear them. It sounds dumb, but apparently all the rules must be working because we're not getting any spikes in cases here.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I don't see a second lockdown coming, not without even more civil unrest. Honestly if they try it, everyone should just disregard it completely. I don't see law enforcement trying to expend energy to stop it on a massive scale after what's been going on the past few weeks. Its amazing how this is all of the sudden an issue again after massive gatherings, rioting, looting, and destruction of property. The media said nothing about CV for weeks, and now all of the sudden everyone needs to stay at home. The only reason the riots were as bad as they were in the first place was because people are bored and frustrated and had nothing better to do.

Nothing should close, but workers shouldn't be penalized for not going to work. People that don't feel safe can stay home, but we cannot function as a society like this. We can't do more stimulus, the government is taking in less income tax right now with how historically high unemployment is. We're pass the lockdowns.

[Myk JL 1,731]

I think I'm more likely to die from 2nd hand smoke than I am from COVID-19.

Have a neighbor who likes to pace out in the front yard while smoking.

And keeping my windows closed now only guarantees that my brain is going to get fried.

[slippers 3,168]

not good. all bars are closed in texas. all restaurants dropped to 50% capacity from 75%. my nephew's daycare center is closed bc one of employees has corona, my fav bakery shop was closed since last month bc owner got sick so who knows when itll open again, and best buy i use to go to got permanently closed so now i have to drive extra 15-20 miles to shop at a different location. yesterday i had to line up outside and waited 30 mins to enter (just before big rain was dumped on my way home). no more than a week ago we were all free to enter and shop so thats a big step backward. i wont be surprised if best buy revert back to its curbside pick up only and go out of business like the other one. banks are still drive through only here and line's way too long. so unnecessary when places like walmart, target, and body shops've had no such restriction and inconvenience during the lockdown. and recently two night clubs were raided here and got their business licenses taken away for letting too many ppl in. and my manager saw undercover cops lurking outside the store early this week so thats comforting to know..not. we have to put signs that requires customers to wear masks and stores can be ticketed  if these new restrictions are not followed. im sure other states will follow similar suit soon. cant control everyone but it seems like they are punishing businness owners and working ppl as if its their fault for govts failed response to corona at the early stage. they are going to tank the economy at this rate.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Are your Best Buys small? I find that odd they don't enjoy the same benefits that Walmart and Target do. The reason they get all the slack is because the capacity of a building has zero to do with anything health related. It's set by fire codes. So since Walmart and Target have huge buildings with square footage, their 50% isn't even close to their average capacity during busy hours. I know this from standing at the door at the store I work at and counting people to make sure we didn't go over. Since its a grocery store. it's 50% is around 500 people... we never even made it to 200. Capacity could have been cut to 10% and we'd only gone over max by 10 people a few times. That just shows how useless the strategy it is for most places.

I had some old lady yell at me one day because "there were too many people in the store" (120 at the time) so she was gonna find somewhere else to go. I'm sure she felt like a dumb fuck when she went to walmart where their 50% capacity was 600 higher than our pre-lockdown max capacity, and there was probably over 500 people in the store. 🙄

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Any store in NY that sells groceries was considered essential and never shut down. Dollar stores have grocery sections so they had the same weak restrictions as walmart. Our area is in phase 4 reopening but they didn't allow movie theaters or the malls to open yet at the last minute. We've had no hot spots and just about every business around here is now open back up in some capacity. We did have a lowes employee test positive last Sunday so everyone that shopped there should self monitor, but everyone is wearing masks so its not spreading. I gotta say, masks are working here and is helping prevent the spread. Everyone got used to wearing them and nobody even comments about them anymore. Some people don't like the masks, others wear them wrong. Some businesses are not enforcing it for outside lines when they should be and some people will give you a mean look like they'll beat your ass in the parking lot for not having one on. Other businesses straight up enforce it and tell people to leave the store if they don't have one on. Other stores will give you a free disposable one. But enough of the population is wearing them to be very beneficial and continue the reopening. I'm honestly surprised there wasn't a federal order for everyone to wear masks, if that was done covid could have been completely under control in the entire country least a month or 2 ago.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Everything is open here pretty much if they made it... but if anyone tests positive they shut down for 3 days and have a specialty cleaner come in and disinfect the entire facility.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

That's a good way to do it. Around here they just tell everyone to self monitor and keep the business open after the staff disinfects everything.

[slippers 3,168]

its standard size bc other 2 best buy stores i went to have similar interior space and displays. but the one thats permanently closed had larger options of hd tvs and games bc of competition nearby. target was only walking distance away and walmart was a couple streets down. i went back and forth between target and best buy looking for better deals of games, tvs, and apple products etc when i wanted to buy something that i didnt want to order online. when the lockdown started, they were closed for like a month and i think that really hurt that place while target benefitted with almost no restrictions. and any work place that had corona positive employees, the place had to be shut down for 2 weeks minimum. schools were suppose to open in august but thats likely not going to happen, and i havent heard any plans about 4th of july here but other cities are canceling parades and firework shows. normally around this year, there should be firework stands all over the place for several weeks prior but i dont see them anywhere

[Myk JL 1,731]

 

[slippers 3,168]

i wonder how accurate these surge numbers are. my coworker told me today that one of customers said she was very ill last weekend. went to hospital and without any tests done on her, they told her she had corona so she needed to stay home. she had fever, diarrhea, and coughs, but later turned out to be some kind of throat/stomach infection. thinking she had corona, she got home but it got worse and worse so she called an ambulance twice bc first one wont take her in. when she got there, they gave her the test and it came out negative. so basically first hospital she went to probably reported that one of their patient had corona and sent her home to be quarantined. and i doubt that 2nd hospital notify first hospital that they diagnosed her wrong and needed to correct their corona case numbers for that day. i mean watching local and national news about surge in houston, all their hospital footage shows nothing but empty beds and interviewing maybe one or two patients. *crickets* and im suppose to believe them that its getting worse here than how italy was. anyway ive been asking a few customers (those who visit hospitals regularly) if they have to wait in long line and they tell me hospitals are not that crowded and seems normal like any other day. when houston was suppose to have its peak in april or may, it didnt have the test available except for extreme cases only. now people are trying to get it done by thousands everyday even for a slight cold or allergy and im sure there might be mixed ups and errors in data bc they are extremely overwhelmed and not well prepared. but we still have one of lowest death rates due to corona compare to other states/cities. at least one thing i know for sure now is im immuned. some of regular customers had tested positive and their coworkers or relatives come to let us know why they were missing for days. id been exposed to them daily and that was way before mandatory mask was ordered and no one was wearing masks then. and one irony thing, county judge who championed face mask mandatory here is sick at home with corona. guess her face mask didnt work.

 

[Myk JL 1,731]

2 hours ago, slippers said:

and one irony thing, county judge who championed face mask mandatory here is sick at home with corona. guess her face mask didn't work.

Masks are suppose to prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading it.

It's probably super rare for someone who is Asymptomatic to cough or sneeze on someone else.

So they're basically pointless as anyone who is sick would have to be quarantined anyway.

-

On the bright side I unintentionally scared the guy in Apt 3 when I first wore the Angry Joe Show Army Mask in early June.

And I plan on doing something Plague Doctor related when I buy Fruit Loops in July.

Follow Your Nose!

[Sledgstone 8,672]

The malls around here will be opening back up this friday. No news so far about when movie theaters will open back up yet. The numbers here have still been good and we've had no deaths in this county for a week straight.

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/07/coronavirus-update-no-covid-19-deaths-for-a-week-in-onondaga-county.html

https://www.syracuse.com/destiny-usa/2020/07/destiny-usa-cleared-to-reopen-friday-county-exec-says.html

 

[slippers 3,168]

cali is on 2nd lockdown now. texas governor has threatened lockdown if ppl dont follow mandatory mask order. and houston mayor and county judge are trying to push for 2nd lockdown as well so its only matter of time for houston

at first i thought ppl should ignore these orders and open their businesses too, but after seeing first and 2ndhand how police/authorities whatever badly want to ticket businesses, take away their licenses etc., there are really no other options but to follow

i mean shit, mortality rate is so low, is it worth locking everyones life down to the point ppl losing their jobs, homes, and sanity? if you are a person at risk, shouldnt it be your responsibility alone to protect yourself bc you cant expect everyone to tiptoe around you. think about it, if your mask only works when i wear my mask, then your mask doesnt work at all. 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

What happened in NY is all the lock down kept the mortality rate low. We all started wearing masks way early on so when they started lifting the restrictions the virus stayed in check since we weren't spreading it. If Houston is getting that strict then their experts must think they'll hit max capacity of ICU beds way too fast. The mortality rate is low now, but once ICU beds gets filled the mortality rate will spike and thats when people will start dying off. Covid doesn't seem that lethal around here as long as theres medical care to treat it. We have alot of increased testing too and we're still not getting any spikes in covid. They announced we'll have schools reopening in September (thats when school starts here). We'll find out all the new restrictions for in person school in 3 weeks. So far they did say all kids will have to wear masks except when eating and for eating theres going to be assigned seating so only the same kids are potentially near each other day after day to limit spreading to different groups, something like that. Still no word on when we'll have gyms or movie theaters opening yet. Gyms were supposed to open wednesday last week but it got delayed. My niece and nephew in Ohio are getting their new masks prepped and ready for the next school year since it'll be required there. As far as I know they'll be reopening their schools in August and will announce their restrictions in a week or two.

Btw, this is a pretty good video about masks that PBS made. Pretty informative for showing air flow.

 

I can only imagine wearing a mask all day for work tho. That has to suck.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/864515630/the-battle-between-the-masked-and-the-masked-nots-unveils-political-rifts

I stumbled on this article from back in May... wearing a mask is political?

Everyone truly does get offended by everything.  "Wear a mask for public safety"... *offended*  I saw some other articles about Georgia's governor overriding mask mandates.. It boggles my mind. Honestly, its in the best interest of these states to force a mask mandate since it's their own base that could potentially start dying off over the next couple months leading up to a major election. Sure people aren't dying now, but in a few months when schools reopen shit will start hitting the fan with more hotspots. When we had kids in school, I'd get sick from them all the time, I'd never have sick time saved up, I'd almost always use it the moment I got some available.. After the kids moved out I only get sick like twice a year.. hell my PTO time was banked up to 120 hours a couple months ago and I had to use some. Kids in schools is a germ factory of contagion. I'm sure they can reopen safely with proper measures and I hope they do, but I'm just saying I'm glad I don't have kids in school anymore. But without proper measures, covid is going to go rampant. BTW, my older brother in Ohio had to go back to working from home because someone in his office tested positive for Covid. Hardly anyone in Ohio is wearing a mask either.

Turns out walmart is limiting their entrances to just the grocery section entrance now with two employees in black shirts called "health ambassadors" that will enforce their mask mandate at all their stores nationwide. Menards has been doing that to begin with and other stores like Target and some others are enforcing it to. Its probably a good idea since at some point somebody will sue one of these stores for exposure.

I read that the extra $600 a week federal unemployment bonus will still expire in a couple weeks and any extension to it will force that extra federal bonus to be capped at whatever the salary was of the unemployed person if it even gets extended. Thats how it should have been to begin with. I do think we might get another stimulus check to at this rate.

 

[slippers 3,168]

^ they moved out already? damn time flies huh. how old are they now?

i think this might very well be a 2nd wave and death rate is so low bc we all have been exposed to it since last year and perhaps we all have developed some kind of immunity. normally i rarely got sick until late 2016, thats when i noticed something wasnt right. my 12+ years of binge drinking had finally caught up with me. my health was wreck. if i catch a cold, itll last for almost a month and i end up with ear infection and with endless coughs. i had almost every symptom of fatty liver disease except for juandice (i didnt go see a doctor, i just suspected that it was my liver gone bad). i was pissing blood and i ignored it thinking itll pass. what made me stop was i developed food allergy. it started with eggs, and within 2 years, i couldnt eat fruits, spicy food, cheese, even white rice. one day i ate some vitnamese instant noodles and i could see half of my face turned bright red..as if someone pulled out a red lipstick and painted all over my face. i freaked out and i just quit drinking cold turkey. i know that was reckless to do but i consider myself lucky because being sober 6 - 7 months in, my food allergy disappeared. then thats when i got sick with what i think was corona in jan. if i hadnt quit when i did, i would be really screwed by now. this june was one year being sober. im just glad my liver recovered in time for pandemic. i havent got sick since.

generally since we all know now who are most vulnerable to corona, imo states/cities shouldnt just blindly shutdown hoping for the best like what cali is doing. 55+ millions out of work and thats just wrong for what may be just a flu to many. i like this one safety measure of what best buy is doing by designating a certain day of morning to at risk customers only. i think thats better than lining everyone up outside and make them wait for almost an hour to shop, which i think is pointless bc other stores dont even follow that policy and lets everybody in anyway

 

[Sledgstone 8,672]

On 7/18/2020 at 6:45 PM, slippers said:

^ they moved out already? damn time flies huh. how old are they now?

28 and 25. They're adults now. Lol.

I'm glad your healthier now. Congrats on 1 year sobriety! If you get the chance to go to a doctor maybe get a physical done? They do full blood work with a physical, that's how I found out my liver was crap years ago. High liver levels, I started getting headaches from drinking. Headaches before I even went to bed. I saw a gastroenterologist, more blood work, etc. Aside from getting a biopsy done to confirm, the doctor said I have fatty liver. Fatty liver sucks, I can't drink worth a damn and drugs like tylenol and ibuprofen can wreck it further. I still occasionally drink at social events or maybe have a beverage once or a couple times a month. I swapped drinking with exercise and now I drink more protein than I ever did alcohol.  btw, just a heads up, losing weight doesn't seem to help fatty liver. But my gastro dr did tell me to take vitamin E once a day with a meal and that does help reduce my liver levels.

On 7/18/2020 at 6:45 PM, slippers said:

i like this one safety measure of what best buy is doing by designating a certain day of morning to at risk customers only. i think thats better than lining everyone up outside and make them wait for almost an hour to shop, which i think is pointless bc other stores dont even follow that policy and lets everybody in anyway

That's good, they do the same thing at most of the stores here. I think it's Tuesdays only from 8-9 am at the local grocery stores, walmart and wegmans have a seniors only morning hours too on certain days.

I read an article a while back about the majority of businesses that are going to shut down permanently because of covid wont be shutting down until late this year and they're basically hoping to make up sales by black Friday and if they can't pull enough profit in they'll be shutting down, including alot of restaurants that won't make it through winter months. With second shut downs happening these at risk businesses probably won't even make it that long and we'll get way more unemployment right before the holidays.

With the end of the $600 unemployment bonus happening this week I'm betting alot of people are going to start raging soon and crime will go up. A large chunk of citizens have basically been on paid vacation for the last 4 months and not giving a damn about the state of country. Once their paydays end the shit will really start hitting the fan. I bet we'll see an advertising blitz of manipulating bullshit to try and control all that rage politically. It'll be a mess of horrible real news, fake news and lies soon.

[slippers 3,168]

haha wth i was thinking they were like 18 or 19. man they are really old now

i do get my physical for my commercial license every 2 years but they only do basics and take my urine sample. so i wanted to take xrays for my liver at a local clinic but it was too expensive like close to $200 so i said fk it and went on a really strict diet, like no soda, no ramen, etc. but now i seldomly eat junk food like ice cream, corndogs, and pizza but i read that if a fatty liver is in a really bad condition, it could take 2 full years to completely heal so im still very careful about my diet just incase. 

yeah its getting bad down here too. texas' mandatory mask order ends in late august but average flu season is like right around the corner..starts in mid september/october so theres really no break from this. yesterday at work frito lay delivery guy says they just closed one of their factories temporarily bc some of workers came positive and now 100s of them are staying home. the company is paying for those workers to keep them but they are losing money with no products coming in and if shutting down takes any longer, theyll probably get laid off to save its losses. i heard family dollars is in a similar situation and walmart will close their stores for black friday due to large crowd gatherings. sure they are both big companies so they can survive for awhile but imagine how small businesses are handling. i wont be surprised if suicide rates skyrocket in coming holidays related to unemployment and evictions if things continue like this

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I had a liver sonogram done and it revealed nothing but a large bill to pay.  Getting your bloodwork done for liver enzyme tests is alot cheaper than a sonogram or xray. It might be worth getting done just to know where your levels are and then again at the end of the 2 years to see how much improvement has been made.

Walmart has had hand over fist profits during the entire coronavirus. All that extra $600 a month along with people furloughing their mortgages for a year let a massive chunk of people with nothing to do and a crap load of money to spend at walmart, home depot and amazon since no where else was open. I think walmart made more profit in the last 3 months than they have in the last 3 years. They gave out bonuses to all employees twice already and they made so much money they can afford to shut down for thanksgiving pre-black friday sales and give out bonuses to all employees a third time. All that stimulus money meant to shore up the economy only benefited large businesses because all the small businesses were closed. They should have held off on sending out those initial stimulus checks until everything reopened. Now that the extra $600 a week is going away right when small businesses have only just begun to reopen in the last 3 weeks, all their potential earnings are going to dry up quick. 

I read an article that alot of the PPP small business loans went to large companies that were owned by private equity groups that shouldn't be considered small businesses. The majority of these PPP loans don't have to be paid back as long as the companies followed the rules, so it was basically the free stimulus money sent out to all the small businesses. If all that money actually went to small businesses, maybe it could have helped them more.. instead big organizations like the catholic church somehow got around $1.4 billion of those small business PPP loans for all their multiple churchs across the country... Our taxpayer money is either helping to pay off all their child abuse lawsuits / settlements or at least shore up the foundation of their bank accounts to prevent them from closing as a result of all those lawsuits. Imagine if $1.4 billion went to actual small businesses that employed an actual work force instead of some churchs, that could have helped saved alot of independent restaurants. Since the PPP loans had no oversight, all the money just went out to whoever just like the $600 a week going out to everyone. I've never seen the US government just give away money like this before. Its crazy. And another article I read said they want to convert a large chunk of the PPP loans into grants so they don't have to pay anyone to do the paperwork to confirm if any of the PPP loans were none fraudulent. wtf.

Links for references:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/06/sba-ppp-loans-data/

https://time.com/5865746/catholic-church-billion-ppp-loans/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-wave-of-sexual-abuse-lawsuits-could-cost-catholic-church-over-4-billion-2019-12-02

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/20/ppp-small-loans-forgiveness-368551

Edited July 23, 2020 by Sledgstone
typo

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I know my company has made record profits since this has all started. I've been compensated with an extra raise, and multiple $100 gift cards. A lot of the younger generation in my company are crying about how its a gift card for our company and not to use whatever they want. But in reality, it is. I mean you HAVE to buy groceries, even if you eat out 3 times a day... you need TP and detergent. Now that's money you don't have to spend on groceries, and can spend how you want. With how irresponsible this generation is, it's helping them more than they know probably. If they got a cash card they'd spend all the money on dumb shit along with their grocery money and then cry how they're starving and they aren't making a living wage. These people can't see the benefit in long term investment. They see Walmart and Target giving out cash bonuses, while we got an extra raise on top of the 2 we already get per year. I'll take the raise, the bonus is nice but the raise has way more longevity. I rather get paid more for what I do than get a one time pay out. We're already closed on thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Easter. We get free company stock based off how many hours we've worked. You can literally work as a peon if you could afford to for 30 years and become a millionaire if you play your cards right with minimum effort. There are people that never bought extra stock and just accumulated what they earned for free and have $90k dividend checks. So yeah, while giving out gift cards for your own company can be seen as just a big tax write off.. in reality its serving a dual purpose.

Walmart closing on Thanksgiving is hilarious, like it's something special. My former company started doing it last year only because my current company moved into the state and has been doing it for years. At one point my former company was trying to justify opening on Christmas as well. It was volunteer only for double pay. They lost money every year but was waiting for the one year they made a profit so they could say it was mandatory every year. Walmart only did this because of the profits and because everyone else is doing it. There has been a big push over the last few years to pressure companies to close on Thanksgiving. In this industry its nice to have more than 1 guaranteed day off a year.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

 You get 2 raises per year? Nice.

$100 gift card at a grocery store is the same as cash to me. Like you said, everyone has to buy groceries.

Having a store open on Thanksgiving for black Friday sales seems pointless to me and it just keeps people from spending time with their families. Nowadays almost every company starts their black Friday sales online 2 weeks before Thanksgiving anyway.

My niece in ohio has covid. She was sick back in january like alot of us. Either she didn't have covid back then or she did and she got it a second time. If that's the case then everyone who thinks they had it earlier this year might be susceptible to getting it again now. Stay safe because that immunity from having it could be completely temporary.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Looks like starting September 1st the payroll tax deferment will kick in so we all have more money in our paychecks. But we'll have to pay that when we file our taxes since it's a deferment. I wonder how many people will be complaining they have a smaller return when they file their taxes next year.

NPR: Payroll Tax Delay To Boost Take-Home Pay, But Don't Spend It Yet.
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/12/901416058/payroll-tax-delay-to-boost-take-home-pay-but-dont-spend-it-yet?ft=nprml&f=1001

Maybe we'll get a new stimulus plan in a couple weeks when the Senate comes back into session that will negate this payroll deferment.