Coronavirus (Covid-19) affecting you any?

Don't suppose you thought to ask them what they were going to do with all the toilet paper?

 

No, but I'm pretty sure some of them plan to sell it at triple the price. Profiteering is the usual pattern in these sorts of situations, no?

 

New announcement from the UK government. In a couple of weeks time, all of we over 70s are going to have to self-isolate. This is going to stretch the supermarket delivery services beyond breaking point pretty quickly, so it won't last too long.

 

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13876698/...g-on-those-jazz-nights-and-senior-living-gigs

 

I think it is becoming clear that the financial effect of this pandemic is going to far surpass Black Monday, and even The Wall Street Crash. In both of those it was really only the financial sector that was hit, but now it is going to be everybody. And it isn't going to be over any time soon. Tighten your belts, everybody.

 

So yesterday my wife and I went to the supermarket to do a normal, smaller-scale amount of food shopping. We actually needed toilet paper as we were down to the last roll, so I went to the paper products aisle, and the shelves were virtually bare. A store employee was just standing there by herself smiling, literally hugging what appeared to be the very last toilet paper, a 12-pack sitting on the shelf, like it was her baby or something. Pretty bizarre. I said, umm are you actually buying that? because if not I'd take it. After a significant pause, she started to release her grasp and step back, still smiling and saying nothing; at that point I saw a cardboard box below her with 2 more 12-packs, so I gladly took one of those instead. The rest of the time going up and down the aisles with that sitting on my cart, I was totally getting the eye from people like I was an evil hoarder; I'm like but, but, this is all that was left! Meanwhile I saw another employee, a woman in a white coat which indicated probably a meat products worker, and she was obviously sick with a red runny nose and sniffling, just walking around laughing and chatting with people, I'm like wtf. We were happy to get the heck outta there and took a good walk on a quiet ocean road with plenty of fresh air and no people. Life's gonna be different for a while, that is for sure.

 

Along with the public event cancellations and travel restrictions, petro politics are driving the price of oil into the ground, puns intended.
I seriously think we'll see sub $2.00/gal. gas prices at the pump here in the US, but will have nowhere to go.

 

Fuel prices over here work on a ratchet. When crude prices rise, our fuel immediately goes up with them. When crude drops, our fuel remains the same. They make excuses like "it can't go down until the later fuel reaches the pumps" but that is just so much bullshit.

 

I am now informed that gas prices in the DFW region of Texas are already $1.60/Gal.

 

I do freelance IT consulting and have a couple of projects that have been put on hold. So far it's not affecting me financially because a lot of my clients suddenly want to allow their workers to work remotely so I've picked up a lot of business setting up VPNs and terminal servers.

On a personal note my grandson is in Cuba trying to get home. So far his best bet is to wait for his scheduled flight Wednesday. Cuba is kind of unique. Flights to/from Canada are not affected by US restrictions as they are not allowed to land in the US. No one seems to know if Cuba is affected at all. So far all scheduled flights are getting through but trying to change flights to come home early is impossible

 

Worst, it's like a war... In my country all the schools are closed and the students have online conferences to go on with the lessons, and teachers give also extra homework because we don't have to go to school in morning, so they add something for those hours. Some people are in remote working (smart working), but some factories or companies are closed, so about half the economy is stopped; the others need a permission to move from home, also to go to the supermarket. Also sports are limited: if you want to go on a bike ride or walk, you can do it (at a safe distance, with facemask...), but other sports are allowed only indoors (if you can practise them into your home). People rush supermarkets like if there wasn't another day to do it (and there might be also the police); open-air markets have also a barrier to keep distance, people scattered at a safe distance and police that monitors the situation.
Tell me if it's not a war... We can't move from our house and if we do, we can be stopped for checks and we need a sheet of paper that attests that we are moving for real reasons.
I don't want to imagine the situation inside the hospitals. This is not a simple flu: doctors wear facemasks and I suppose they must wear protective suits. In China they have to wear them all the day long and they can't remove them if they need to go to the toilet, probably also here. They work very long hours and more than usual: they haven't only ill people to take care, but also the ones with Covid-19 virus, and these ones may be intubated because of lack of oxigen (one of the sintoms of Coronavirus), so they need more medical treatment than ordinary patients (I heard that one of the first people infected here, 38-year-old, intubated, had or still has at least 30 doctors that take care of him).
I'm not pessimistic, these are the real precautions that my country is taking.

 

Well, I don't go to school, but I follow online lessons (YouTube or live conferences). Teachers give homeworks and we have also oral tests (some unexpected too...).
In my opinion we can survive, in China and in Italy there are some medicines that are giving really good results. They discovered that the ones for arthritis are efficent, but Holland might have found another medicine too.

 

Which medicines are those, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug family? I'm sure plenty of us here have arthritis. Also, which country are you in? Things aren't nearly as restricted as you describe here in the US but seem to be inching that way daily.

 

There is anecdotal evidence from France that ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, IBU and more brand names) actually aggravates the virus.

 

I work for a large media corporation with 1000+ people and offices, bureaus, and reporters worldwide. Travel has essentially halted. As much of the staff as possible here in the home office has been sent to work at home. Thankfully the corporation has taken a humane stance. The staff have been given three additional weeks of sick time over our usual and urged to go home if we are sick.

I'm a sound designer for film and video. I work in a state-of-the-art audio control room. The other day my boss stuck his head in the door and said, "I need a proposal for a home DAW and peripherals so you can work from home. Two days later a stack of boxes landed on my desk and I started loading a new laptop with all the programs I need. I'll walk home the dongles for all the software when it is time. Of course I had a snag with Waves but I think that is traditional. As of right now I'm still working at the plant. I've got a movie premiering this week and the family is debating whether to go see my work in a theater.

So, yeah, a little impact.

Bob

 

WHAT ?

Movie theatres are still open ? Really ? And then they'll cry out that the virus is still spreading and killing.

If that virus isn't affecting you, you must live on a desert island or something.

 

I would take a pass, if it were my family. Lot's of cases in your area and judging by 7 other countries infection rates, we're not at the top of the infection curve for awhile yet.

 

@papagayo
PapaGAYo is still trolling the forums with his idiotic comments about Epiphones so its obviously not affecting him any.

 

Warning- Dark Humor
Sung to the chorus of "Ain't no Woman Like the One I Got"
(Ack Ack Ack) Ain't no virus like the one I got
(don't think I'm gettin' bettah)
Feel like I'm freezin' though I'm burning hot
I don't ask for things cause there's no vaccine
Cain't go out to buy food and meds
the Guvnor say don't do it
Coronavirus bound to leave me dead...