Talked to my boss today. I was officially off for Spring Break, but the University of Idaho moved to online classes for the rest of the semester. I will not be needed until further notice. He said the University has yet to determine how to compensate temporary staff like me. I guess I will know tomorrow. I expected it. Right now I am doing alright.
Hey Gramps; I'm in the same position. Are you a returning, retired person? (guessing from your screen name) - one of my colleagues in that position is early 70s and has a very sick wife, so he's keeping his head well down.
It looks like for us, they'll pay us to the end of our (previously, part-time and rolling) one year contracts in June. Empty shelves in the supermarkets are encouraging me to distribute this small amount of public cash in local chip shops and cafes - take away or sit outside, I stress. I even brought a machine home from work to work on (I'm a workshop technician), but it will be a shame if I sort it out and then don't get to play with it next year. Ah well; the wife and I were making ourselves feel better by coming up with a list of ways it could be worse, and the list (quite apart from conking out with the illness) was long indeed.
Walking home last night from the station, I was peering in at all the pubs, with people sitting there drinking pints of lager, and I thought, this isn't working. I don't know if the govt are taking a laissez faire approach or not. And who are these people laughing and joking over their pints? They feel immortal, I guess, but I don't.
Day 4 of quarantine here and 15 year old son (original cause of our isolation) has a cough and feels fine, as do several of his friends. I, however, have a cough and feel crap. I’m about to go back to bed.
FT reporting that a lockdown hasn't been implemented in London because of the possible impact on the markets:
"Given the capital’s status as a major global financial hub, Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak, chancellor, were determined not to further alarm the markets by putting the city into lockdown."
This is entirely, completely, totally irresponsible. This prioritizes the money before people. In the eventual inquiry there will be conclusions of terrible. Having disregarded the medical and statistical predictions. So wrong. So bad.
From the Newsnight interview last night it seems like the nudge strategy has some ways to run.
Walking home last night from the station, I was peering in at all the pubs, with people sitting there drinking pints of lager, and I thought, this isn't working. I don't know if the govt are taking a laissez faire approach or not. And who are these people laughing and joking over their pints? They feel immortal, I guess, but I don't.
As a fellow Norfolker (immigrant of course) I'm not seeing the same where we live. People move from denial to acceptance at different paces. The earlier assertions (just another influenza) are out of date but some folks will hang on to that, because it suits them.
My husband’s flight out of Germany is a week today, so that might not happen. I am happier for him to be there, to be honest, supporting my son who is right on the front line. Thank goodness his hospital has no shortage of protective equipment.
My son’s best friend is a consultant who works with patients on ventilators. My son is doing his best to look after him and his family. Luckily he lives on the same street.
My other son is a pilot (EasyJet) they have all just been asked to take three months unpaid leave. Which means he hasn’t lost his job but also means he may not be eligible for the mortgage holiday.
He‘s pragmatic. He has a camper van and says he’ll h]rent his house out for the duration and head up north in his camper.
Hmmm....
I am fine. I became a prepper getting ready for Brexshit and have a wardrobe full of store cupboard essentials. I’m glad not to be shopping in these crazy times!
I have just bought a windup/solar radio (which works really well!). A new camping stove and 8 gas canisters, lots of candles and tea lights and two solar lanterns. I have three big battery pack for the iPhone and iPad. I also have two big waterbuI remember the power cuts of the early 70s and bought all the things which would have been useful then.
Two weeks ago I bought three 20Kg sacks of dog food.
Everyone I know laughed at my Brexshit prepping, some are still laughing at my onward prepping - but, if power workers are in short supply, so will electricity.
About 95 people in the state of Virginia have tested positive. One is about a hundred miles from me. All the others are at least two hundred miles away, on the coast or in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.
I think the authorities were right to close the schools, libraries, and recreation centers, but I think part of the population has gone nuts. The shelves in the supermarkets are empty. Why do people think they need all this stuff?
About 95 people in the state of Virginia have tested positive. One is about a hundred miles from me. All the others are at least two hundred miles away, on the coast or in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.
I think the authorities were right to close the schools, libraries, and recreation centers, but I think part of the population has gone nuts. The shelves in the supermarkets are empty. Why do people think they need all this stuff?
With your population base I'd suspect quite a few more have it. Any idea of number of tests given?
Food is scarce. We are going from shop to shop. When people come into the supermarket, you see their eyes widen with shock, as most shelves are empty. No fruit or veg, no meat, a bit of fish. They keep baking French bread, thank goodness. And this is the middle of London. How are old people coping?
Day 4 of quarantine here and 15 year old son (original cause of our isolation) has a cough and feels fine, as do several of his friends. I, however, have a cough and feel crap. I’m about to go back to bed.
Prayers for all of you. Take very good care of yourselves and don't let up on being careful.
Food is scarce. We are going from shop to shop. When people come into the supermarket, you see their eyes widen with shock, as most shelves are empty. No fruit or veg, no meat, a bit of fish. They keep baking French bread, thank goodness. And this is the middle of London. How are old people coping?
Mr M’s been shopping for us, as I’ve been confined to the house for the past couple of weeks, so I’ve no idea what to expect to see once I emerge, (tomorrow, I hope). We’ve decided that we’ll just make do with whatever odd items are available; could lead to some inventive cooking.
I've got a few bits the last couple of evenings, but not what I really need. A kilo of spuds, a dozen carrots, a head of broccoli, maybe half a cucumber ... is that really too much to ask for? Even two out of those items. I'll try the bigger Sainsbury's as I go and collect my children or the weekend and see if they've more than the one in the town centre I can walk to ... otherwise it'll have to be a less healthy diet for the children without the veg they love so much. Otherwise I'm stocked up for a few days, maybe a litre of milk will be needed.
Suddenly all that dispensationalist paranoia instilled by my church background in my younger years turns out to have a use.
But, actually, this puts the paranoic dispensationalists in a tough spot, because, from their viewpoint(*), coronavirus DEFINITELY fits the bill as Pestilence. So. logically, they should be expecting everything else in Revelation to start happening almost immediately now, rather than in the ambiguously near future, the latter being what they usually preach(eg. Lindsey's "1980s: Coundown To Armageddon"), in order to keep their bets sufficently hedged.
(*) Again, from their viewpoint, which tends to treat current events as unique one-offs. From an informed historical viewpoint, by contrast, we managed to see the Black Death and the Spanish Flu come and go without the Apocalypse materializing, so we'll likely get through this in the same fashion.
The quantities in our normal fortnightly Tesco order have been reduced such that another shop will be necessary within the week, but no deliveries are available up to 9th April! Meanwhile due to an error by BT my personal (i.e. non-work) email has been out of action for eleven days now, and I’ve spent hours in online chats or on the phone trying to get it fixed.
We are off to the shops again, although we have enough for the weekend. But no fruit, not much bread, no spuds. But remember, Boris has it all under control.
Suddenly all that dispensationalist paranoia instilled by my church background in my younger years turns out to have a use.
But, actually, this puts the paranoic dispensationalists in a tough spot, because, from their viewpoint(*), coronavirus DEFINITELY fits the bill as Pestilence. So. logically, they should be expecting everything else in Revelation to start happening almost immediately now, rather than in the ambiguously near future
My timeline has contained people convinced that both; THIS TIME it's DEFINITELY the apocalypse and also WE MUST STOP it this because the DEVIL is getting his way.
We are off to the shops again, although we have enough for the weekend. But no fruit, not much bread, no spuds. But remember, Boris has it all under control.
I sense the narrative shifting actually - they are going to do nothing and blame it all on selfish people hoarding and refusing to self isolate.
The quantities in our normal fortnightly Tesco order have been reduced such that another shop will be necessary within the week, but no deliveries are available up to 9th April! Meanwhile due to an error by BT my personal (i.e. non-work) email has been out of action for eleven days now, and I’ve spent hours in online chats or on the phone trying to get it fixed.
Yeah, we have used Click & Collect instead this week and booked in for next. I am hoping that Tesco will ramp up the delivery options. I think they have sufficient vehicles to provide more slots but will need to sort out staffing... I suspect they are probably doing this it's just a question of how quickly they can move things around.
Italy is a cause of fear.
South Korea is a source of hope.
Suddenly all that dispensationalist paranoia instilled by my church background in my younger years turns out to have a use.
But, actually, this puts the paranoic dispensationalists in a tough spot, because, from their viewpoint(*), coronavirus DEFINITELY fits the bill as Pestilence. So. logically, they should be expecting everything else in Revelation to start happening almost immediately now, rather than in the ambiguously near future, the latter being what they usually preach(eg. Lindsey's "1980s: Coundown To Armageddon"), in order to keep their bets sufficently hedged.
(*) Again, from their viewpoint, which tends to treat current events as unique one-offs. From an informed historical viewpoint, by contrast, we managed to see the Black Death and the Spanish Flu come and go without the Apocalypse materializing, so we'll likely get through this in the same fashion.
Woman travelled. Has sick family. Totally irresponsible. Don't be a #Patient 31.
Is it time for enforcement? I think so. One person can really screw it up.
We are bracing for students coming back from spring break. Both universities have sent out texts and emails telling them if at all possible stay away.
Last night my wife said one of her co-workers saw a bunch of law enforcement vehicles congregating at a local parking lot. He was worried they were going to forcibly shut one of the universities down. Rumors.
Suddenly all that dispensationalist paranoia instilled by my church background in my younger years turns out to have a use.
But, actually, this puts the paranoic dispensationalists in a tough spot, because, from their viewpoint(*), coronavirus DEFINITELY fits the bill as Pestilence. So. logically, they should be expecting everything else in Revelation to start happening almost immediately now, rather than in the ambiguously near future
My timeline has contained people convinced that both; THIS TIME it's DEFINITELY the apocalypse and also WE MUST STOP it this because the DEVIL is getting his way.
We are off to the shops again, although we have enough for the weekend. But no fruit, not much bread, no spuds. But remember, Boris has it all under control.
I sense the narrative shifting actually - they are going to do nothing and blame it all on selfish people hoarding and refusing to self isolate.
Aren't they also pretending that nobody was talking about herd immunity? That's so last week. There are a lot of nervous comments around that the govt don't know what they're doing, and cases will explode like Italy. I would prefer a coalition govt, but it ain't gonna happen. Also, food rationing is imperative.
I went grocery shopping this morning (my usual day) at Winco (my usual store). The line to get in stretched around the corner. They were only letting in 50 people at a time. I asked the guy guarding the door if they were letting seniors in first. “My company doesn’t do that,” he replied. I left.
So I went to Fry’s, which I usually don’t go to because of their policy allowing people with loaded guns to go in. (Hey, this is Arizona.) There was no line to get in, but the place was pretty busy. Many of the shelves were picked clean. They had boxes full of generic el cheapo toilet paper four-packs, which people were stuffing into their carts. Not me. Otherwise not a roll of toilet paper to be found. The lines at the checkout registers stretched the length of the store, although the self-service checkouts had no lines. You can guess which checkout I used. No paper bags, though, like they have at Winco. I had to use plastic bags – ugh!
I was able to get everything on my list, although I had to make a few substitutions: red kidney beans instead of Great Northern beans; crumbled bleu cheese instead of a wedge. There was good, fresh produce in abundance. The meat department and dairy department weren’t bad, although cheese was pretty well picked over. I got some really nice Romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, radishes and tomatoes, and will predominantly have salad for lunch this coming week. I’m getting tired of soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (well, maybe not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).
I also found some nice stew beef (a little pricey, although I didn’t notice any price gouging on anything else) and will make a stew in the crock pot. I also found Ball Park franks (my preferred brand) and will make a crock pot full of my prized recipe for Honey Maple Baked Beans (using the red kidney beans). I had no trouble finding honey or maple syrup (the real thing – not so-called “pancake syrup,” which is colored water and sugar). I had to settle for Grandma’s Molasses, though, but I would have preferred Bre’r Rabbit.
I am not hoarding. I did buy a few things that I normally wouldn’t stock up on, like an extra gallon of bleach and a few extra cans of vegetables. Even so, I went way over budget at Fry’s, whereas I hardly ever go over budget at Winco. Fortunately there is enough in my Entertainment budget to make up the difference – hey, I’m not eating out and I’m certainly not going to the movies or other events.
So I guess I’ll live for another week, although it’s getting a little scary.
One of the way rumours spread is by people repeating a rumour, even when they are repeating it to discredit it.
I can pull up the research demonstrating this if you like, as I recall it relates to some McDonalds ingredient or foreign body pollution. See also the Streisand Effect. The only result of repeating a rumour is spreading it, especially if, as was the case in your post, there is no refutation or proper sourcing.
I'm not understanding the state of emergency here. They have declared but are piecemeal making mostly suggestions not orders. The schools and universities are closed. Universties are started up online after 3 days only with free data and wifi. The problem is for students doing internships and practica: all the medical and allied professions. My wife is having meetings all day long how to organize (she's an academic dean).
The drill at my offices is: everyone gets a call before coming to the buildings. Health screen per SaskHealth. They get the same questions before entering. They see one person with 2 metre (10 feet).
With free data and free wifi now Zoom meeting is happening 50% as of yesterday (while there are private cell phone and internet companies here, telecommunications infrastructure and internet are socialized and publicly owned; in other jurisdictions probably government order to provide free data is needed as a basic public health method). I expect online video calls to approach 100% in our office by mid next week. Works very well from cell phone or computer. Even with slow data streaming.
I was going to mostly retire after the May long weekend this year (Victoria Day). The time line has shifted to 1 to 5 years I think. It's not about my funds to retire it's about my responsibility to 15 people who have families and children. I relapse into "interventionist God" thoughts in such contexts. I guess there's a different plan, must go with it, and continue to serve others, which maybe sounds odd coming from a business owner but that's how I've lived my life: providing employment and mentorship, so others can contribute to society also.
Eventually all will be well, or at least okay. I'm very thankful that I have several pounds of really good tea on hand (not tea bag if you understand). Everything is better if you have tea.
I can pull up the research demonstrating this if you like, as I recall it relates to some McDonalds ingredient or foreign body pollution.
Start by reading Rumors: Uses, Interpretations, and Images by Jean-Noël Kapferer. Should be required reading for every journalist and church leader. I defy anyone to read it and not find a rumour they have at one time believed and passed on themselves.
One of the way rumours spread is by people repeating a rumour, even when they are repeating it to discredit it.
I can pull up the research demonstrating this if you like, as I recall it relates to some McDonalds ingredient or foreign body pollution. See also the Streisand Effect. The only result of repeating a rumour is spreading it, especially if, as was the case in your post, there is no refutation or proper sourcing.
Even this far into his term, it is still a bit of a shock to be reminded that the single most potent force for misinforming the American public is the current president of the United States. For three years this has been a massive — and unsolved — problem for the country and its political leadership.
But now it is life and death. On everything that involves the coronavirus crisis Donald Trump’s public statements have been unreliable. And that is why today we announce that we are shifting our coverage of the President to an emergency setting.
This means we are exiting from the normal system for covering presidents— which Trump himself exited long ago by using the microphone we have handed him to spread thousands of false claims, even as he undermines trust in the presidency and the press. True: he is not obliged to answer our questions. But neither are we obligated to assist him in misinforming the American people about the spread of the virus, and what is actually being done by his government.
We take this action knowing we will be criticized for it by the President’s defenders, by some in journalism, and perhaps by some of you. And while it would be nice to have company as we change course, we anticipate that others in the news media will stick with the traditional approach to covering presidents.
I found a loaf of bread, and a bag of carrots! We're in the money, the skies are sunny!
Your first sentence brings this cheerful ditty to my mind '...the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold...'. Actually the first bit of the couplet goes 'Children died...' which, although it happens a lot, doesn't seem to be a feature of this particular pestilence. So that's OK - Larry doesn't think this is the One
Aren't they also pretending that nobody was talking about herd immunity? That's so last week. There are a lot of nervous comments around that the govt don't know what they're doing, and cases will explode like Italy.
The only problem, of course, is that it quickly became apparent to everyone that this was epidemiological nonsense. “Herd immunity” is something public health officials typically seek to generate by vaccinating populations (you know, once an effective vaccine has been developed, which is not the case here), not by allowing diseases to infect people largely indiscriminately; it’s a bit like trying to fireproof your house by burning the most flammable bits down. In practice, the Johnson’s policy would have meant that up to 7.9 million people would be hospitalized. The 500,000 figure came from a working assumption of a one percent death rate — Italy’s currently stands somewhat higher than that, as health care services have become overwhelmed — so the number could easily have been far worse (a 3.8 percent death rate in an infected population of 54 million would mean more than two million dead).
Okay, so I think the latest set of measures announced in the UK are late but good -- now they just need to implement better social distancing measures and fix the supermarket supply chain issue.
Ensuring that business which would - under normal circumstances - remain viable are less likely to go under during the self inflicted slowdown is a very good thing.
(Things picking up in our local coop - quite a lot of veg and meat today after none for a couple of days, but still lacking bread and pasta. And toilet roll, natch )
(Update 3/18/20): Since the publication of this article, Maldonado’s King Jesus International Ministry announced that services are suspended “until further notice” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We are blessed our organic box arrived last night. It had 4 apples, 4 bananas, 1 mango, cauliflower, lettuce, onion, garlic, 4 potatoes, a head of red cabbage, and about 2 lbs of asparagus, a bag of mushrooms and something large and round that I am guessing is a very large turnip. All for $30,00 delivered to our front door. I signed up for this to be delivered bi-weekly about a year ago. So glad to not have to go out to shop as everyone says the stores are empty and crowded. I had an extra 4 rolls of TP and paper towels I received as a sample a few months ago. As I already have plenty of both I put it on my front porch and posted on the neighborhood face book page come get it who ever needs it. It was gone in 15 minutes. I hope they shared.
OK I don't know if the government was right or wrong to delay the closure of schools and nurseries, but the way they've gone about it is a SHAMBLES.
You would have thought that, having chosen to delay, they would use that delay to draw up and communicate a list of criteria for what counts as a key worker.
My wife is definitely one but it wasn't clear last night whether *both* patents had to be a key worker.
I found out at 9:00 this morning in an email from my children's nursery that I *may* count as one. (For my sector, the wording (at least as communicated by the nursery) is uncertain, nor can I tell how they would police it and what they would do if I claimed to be one and was then subsequently determined not to be. At about 11:00 I found out that only one parent has to be a key worker so the question doesn't arise. Nursery needed a list of key workers by 3:00pm so that they could work out staffing rotas. I still don't know if I am *really* one or not.
If I was the only potential key worker in the house, and relied on nursery for more than one day's childcare, I would be shitting bricks.
Supermarkets here are interesting. The last few evenings I've popped into the Sainsbury's in the town centre, as it's a short detour on my walk home from work. The fresh veg section was completely empty, except for apples and bananas. But, further in and there were cans of stuff on the shelves and frozen food (not fully stocked, but if not too fussy about whether you want peas or carrots, for example, OK). But, needing to walk home and self-limited to 2 bags there weren't many cans I was going to get. I admit to not looking at stuff I have a few days supply of (eg: rice and pasta) or more (eg: loo roll where I've several months supply purchased at the start of the year).
So, as I'm out of fresh veg and almost out of spuds, as I went to collect the children I stopped at our bigger edge of town Sainsbury's. Text exchange with children's mum and she said there was lot they couldn't get and if there was some could I pick things up. I thought I was in luck walking in and faced with well stocked fruit and veg section ... only further in absolutely nothing, I had the car so could get canned stuff, but the shelves were bare. How come stores only a mile or so apart, of the same company, have such widely different stock levels in different departments? The only thing I can think of is that people are strange.
Comments
Hey Gramps; I'm in the same position. Are you a returning, retired person? (guessing from your screen name) - one of my colleagues in that position is early 70s and has a very sick wife, so he's keeping his head well down.
It looks like for us, they'll pay us to the end of our (previously, part-time and rolling) one year contracts in June. Empty shelves in the supermarkets are encouraging me to distribute this small amount of public cash in local chip shops and cafes - take away or sit outside, I stress. I even brought a machine home from work to work on (I'm a workshop technician), but it will be a shame if I sort it out and then don't get to play with it next year. Ah well; the wife and I were making ourselves feel better by coming up with a list of ways it could be worse, and the list (quite apart from conking out with the illness) was long indeed.
From the Newsnight interview last night it seems like the nudge strategy has some ways to run.
As a fellow Norfolker (immigrant of course) I'm not seeing the same where we live. People move from denial to acceptance at different paces. The earlier assertions (just another influenza) are out of date but some folks will hang on to that, because it suits them.
My son’s best friend is a consultant who works with patients on ventilators. My son is doing his best to look after him and his family. Luckily he lives on the same street.
My other son is a pilot (EasyJet) they have all just been asked to take three months unpaid leave. Which means he hasn’t lost his job but also means he may not be eligible for the mortgage holiday.
He‘s pragmatic. He has a camper van and says he’ll h]rent his house out for the duration and head up north in his camper.
Hmmm....
I am fine. I became a prepper getting ready for Brexshit and have a wardrobe full of store cupboard essentials. I’m glad not to be shopping in these crazy times!
I have just bought a windup/solar radio (which works really well!). A new camping stove and 8 gas canisters, lots of candles and tea lights and two solar lanterns. I have three big battery pack for the iPhone and iPad. I also have two big waterbuI remember the power cuts of the early 70s and bought all the things which would have been useful then.
Two weeks ago I bought three 20Kg sacks of dog food.
Everyone I know laughed at my Brexshit prepping, some are still laughing at my onward prepping - but, if power workers are in short supply, so will electricity.
I think the authorities were right to close the schools, libraries, and recreation centers, but I think part of the population has gone nuts. The shelves in the supermarkets are empty. Why do people think they need all this stuff?
With your population base I'd suspect quite a few more have it. Any idea of number of tests given?
Mr M’s been shopping for us, as I’ve been confined to the house for the past couple of weeks, so I’ve no idea what to expect to see once I emerge, (tomorrow, I hope). We’ve decided that we’ll just make do with whatever odd items are available; could lead to some inventive cooking.
Suddenly all that dispensationalist paranoia instilled by my church background in my younger years turns out to have a use.
But, actually, this puts the paranoic dispensationalists in a tough spot, because, from their viewpoint(*), coronavirus DEFINITELY fits the bill as Pestilence. So. logically, they should be expecting everything else in Revelation to start happening almost immediately now, rather than in the ambiguously near future, the latter being what they usually preach(eg. Lindsey's "1980s: Coundown To Armageddon"), in order to keep their bets sufficently hedged.
(*) Again, from their viewpoint, which tends to treat current events as unique one-offs. From an informed historical viewpoint, by contrast, we managed to see the Black Death and the Spanish Flu come and go without the Apocalypse materializing, so we'll likely get through this in the same fashion.
My timeline has contained people convinced that both; THIS TIME it's DEFINITELY the apocalypse and also WE MUST STOP it this because the DEVIL is getting his way.
I sense the narrative shifting actually - they are going to do nothing and blame it all on selfish people hoarding and refusing to self isolate.
Yeah, we have used Click & Collect instead this week and booked in for next. I am hoping that Tesco will ramp up the delivery options. I think they have sufficient vehicles to provide more slots but will need to sort out staffing... I suspect they are probably doing this it's just a question of how quickly they can move things around.
Italy is a cause of fear.
South Korea is a source of hope.
AFZ
The Facebook page for offers of help has had almost 600 people sign up; that's more than a quarter of the adults in the village.
Last night, we did order out at a friend's pub just to let her know we want to support her as much as possible.
Woman travelled. Has sick family. Totally irresponsible. Don't be a #Patient 31.
Is it time for enforcement? I think so. One person can really screw it up.
We are bracing for students coming back from spring break. Both universities have sent out texts and emails telling them if at all possible stay away.
Last night my wife said one of her co-workers saw a bunch of law enforcement vehicles congregating at a local parking lot. He was worried they were going to forcibly shut one of the universities down. Rumors.
Which you're spreading :rolleyes:
Aren't they also pretending that nobody was talking about herd immunity? That's so last week. There are a lot of nervous comments around that the govt don't know what they're doing, and cases will explode like Italy. I would prefer a coalition govt, but it ain't gonna happen. Also, food rationing is imperative.
How am I spreading a rumor? I called it out.
So I went to Fry’s, which I usually don’t go to because of their policy allowing people with loaded guns to go in. (Hey, this is Arizona.) There was no line to get in, but the place was pretty busy. Many of the shelves were picked clean. They had boxes full of generic el cheapo toilet paper four-packs, which people were stuffing into their carts. Not me. Otherwise not a roll of toilet paper to be found. The lines at the checkout registers stretched the length of the store, although the self-service checkouts had no lines. You can guess which checkout I used. No paper bags, though, like they have at Winco. I had to use plastic bags – ugh!
I was able to get everything on my list, although I had to make a few substitutions: red kidney beans instead of Great Northern beans; crumbled bleu cheese instead of a wedge. There was good, fresh produce in abundance. The meat department and dairy department weren’t bad, although cheese was pretty well picked over. I got some really nice Romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, radishes and tomatoes, and will predominantly have salad for lunch this coming week. I’m getting tired of soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (well, maybe not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).
I also found some nice stew beef (a little pricey, although I didn’t notice any price gouging on anything else) and will make a stew in the crock pot. I also found Ball Park franks (my preferred brand) and will make a crock pot full of my prized recipe for Honey Maple Baked Beans (using the red kidney beans). I had no trouble finding honey or maple syrup (the real thing – not so-called “pancake syrup,” which is colored water and sugar). I had to settle for Grandma’s Molasses, though, but I would have preferred Bre’r Rabbit.
I am not hoarding. I did buy a few things that I normally wouldn’t stock up on, like an extra gallon of bleach and a few extra cans of vegetables. Even so, I went way over budget at Fry’s, whereas I hardly ever go over budget at Winco. Fortunately there is enough in my Entertainment budget to make up the difference – hey, I’m not eating out and I’m certainly not going to the movies or other events.
So I guess I’ll live for another week, although it’s getting a little scary.
I can pull up the research demonstrating this if you like, as I recall it relates to some McDonalds ingredient or foreign body pollution. See also the Streisand Effect. The only result of repeating a rumour is spreading it, especially if, as was the case in your post, there is no refutation or proper sourcing.
The drill at my offices is: everyone gets a call before coming to the buildings. Health screen per SaskHealth. They get the same questions before entering. They see one person with 2 metre (10 feet).
With free data and free wifi now Zoom meeting is happening 50% as of yesterday (while there are private cell phone and internet companies here, telecommunications infrastructure and internet are socialized and publicly owned; in other jurisdictions probably government order to provide free data is needed as a basic public health method). I expect online video calls to approach 100% in our office by mid next week. Works very well from cell phone or computer. Even with slow data streaming.
I was going to mostly retire after the May long weekend this year (Victoria Day). The time line has shifted to 1 to 5 years I think. It's not about my funds to retire it's about my responsibility to 15 people who have families and children. I relapse into "interventionist God" thoughts in such contexts. I guess there's a different plan, must go with it, and continue to serve others, which maybe sounds odd coming from a business owner but that's how I've lived my life: providing employment and mentorship, so others can contribute to society also.
Eventually all will be well, or at least okay. I'm very thankful that I have several pounds of really good tea on hand (not tea bag if you understand). Everything is better if you have tea.
Start by reading Rumors: Uses, Interpretations, and Images by Jean-Noël Kapferer. Should be required reading for every journalist and church leader. I defy anyone to read it and not find a rumour they have at one time believed and passed on themselves.
At $125.99 for a used copy? No thank you.
This is particularly problematic at present.
(Also, only $43.76 in paperback and less on Kindle!)
(Not having my Best Day Ever.)
Your first sentence brings this cheerful ditty to my mind '...the days grew cold, a piece of bread could buy a bag of gold...'. Actually the first bit of the couplet goes 'Children died...' which, although it happens a lot, doesn't seem to be a feature of this particular pestilence. So that's OK - Larry doesn't think this is the One
Yeah, I guess they eventually realized that "just let a whole bunch of people die" isn't really a plan, as such.
https://youtu.be/BtN-goy9VOY
Ensuring that business which would - under normal circumstances - remain viable are less likely to go under during the self inflicted slowdown is a very good thing.
The chaser:
You would have thought that, having chosen to delay, they would use that delay to draw up and communicate a list of criteria for what counts as a key worker.
My wife is definitely one but it wasn't clear last night whether *both* patents had to be a key worker.
I found out at 9:00 this morning in an email from my children's nursery that I *may* count as one. (For my sector, the wording (at least as communicated by the nursery) is uncertain, nor can I tell how they would police it and what they would do if I claimed to be one and was then subsequently determined not to be. At about 11:00 I found out that only one parent has to be a key worker so the question doesn't arise. Nursery needed a list of key workers by 3:00pm so that they could work out staffing rotas. I still don't know if I am *really* one or not.
If I was the only potential key worker in the house, and relied on nursery for more than one day's childcare, I would be shitting bricks.
Thanks for the link.
So, as I'm out of fresh veg and almost out of spuds, as I went to collect the children I stopped at our bigger edge of town Sainsbury's. Text exchange with children's mum and she said there was lot they couldn't get and if there was some could I pick things up. I thought I was in luck walking in and faced with well stocked fruit and veg section ... only further in absolutely nothing, I had the car so could get canned stuff, but the shelves were bare. How come stores only a mile or so apart, of the same company, have such widely different stock levels in different departments? The only thing I can think of is that people are strange.