Coronavirus

[Twoapenny]

Thanks, CB.  I know, I've seen reports from various places about entire groups getting infected going to a wedding or out for an evening together.  People here get stupid when they're drunk at the best of times; A & E's always full of drunk people on a Friday and Saturday night so people drinking puts pressure on services anyway.  They did close some pubs because it got too dangerous; I feel most sorry for the staff.  Their choice is go to work or not get paid.  So we'll see what happens, I just feel upset, I think, that we can't really trust any news source or government service to be truthful and people are having to rely on 'my friend who works in A & E said her friend in ICU said' and try to work out from that what they ought to be doing.

We are pretty well stocked up; I've been ordering extra for the last six or seven weeks so we've got plenty of tins and the freezers full, plus plenty of laundry stuff, bleach, paracetamol, loo roll and all that sort of thing.  Just in case we lock down again and the supermarkets get stripped like they did last time.  I hope you can get your supplies back together again, it just helps to reassure yourself that you've got enough in, doesn't it?

Yes I like the idea of having sort of 'making lists as a hobby' lists lol.  It's the balance, isn't it, between getting on with today and allowing yourself to dream of something better in the future.  Ironically I've got more done today than I usually would if I'd written loads of lists out lol.

I hope things get better over there for you, CB, I'll keep you posted with what's going on here!  A friend wanted to come round this morning but I said no; I'd rather stay home for another couple of months and see how it goes.  One of the benefits of not rushing about is that we've been able to explore our local area more when we've been out for walks and I've found a more direct and much wider route into town, so it will be easier and safer for us to walk in now which is good (not that we'll be going very often but they're doing click and collect from the library next week and we're both very excited about getting some new books!  Lol) xx

[Hopalong]

CB and Tupp,
Sounds to me as though both of you are very reality-oriented, and thank you for the reminder. I have loads of staples still, though I should order some more dried beans maybe. And dehydrated onion and garlic.

Brown rice and beans. And if one does Amazon, dehydrated veggies, which fluff up just fine in water. Surprisingly good.

Other big thing, sounds silly. I'm fine on toilet paper for now but mindful that's one thing I'd hate to live without. So I'm thinking of training myself to just use a stream of water (I've read this many places) to "wipe" myself after urinations only, and save the TP for going doody, so to speak. It's actually a cleaner result anyway, experts say. Why I don't plan to go water-only for doody (a gay guy who thinks for .5 second about female needs until prompted, but he's funny): https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/toilet-paper-shortage-learn-how-to-hygienically-clean-your-butt-without-it-a875cbb06cbe

And how easy it is to use water for peeing, I guess I don't need an article to explain. One could pat with a sheet or two of TP if one is super damp, or let the gusset of the undies absorb it (won't build up bacteria as body heat dries it quickly). Or go commando until dry. Just have to find a flexible squishy water bottle to keep by the loo. An old dishwashing detergent bottle, minus the soap residue, would work fine. Homemade bidet!

I HAVE A NEW CAUSE!  

WE CAN COPE WITH THIS. WE ALREADY HAVE, FOR MANY MONTHS. IF WE HAVE TO DO IT FOR LONGER, WE CAN DO THAT TOO.

(I've recently read guesstimates that a functional, well tested and proven vaccine--including the testing and proving time---is a long way away.) Hence, waterloo. [See what I did there?????]

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

I hear you. I need to get bleach, laundry soap and dish soap for sure.

Otherwise, I think I'm fine. I wonder if they sell dried potatoes. I just don't cook enough to keep fresh ones long enough. As to bread, I've got flour and some Chinese yeast that finally came from Amazon. Hope it works.

But I'm trying not to eat a lot of carbs anyway, sticking mostly to rice and Ak-Mak crackers.

And if I'm out of something, I do have a community to call on in real need. This town is both small and expensive enough that I think there will be supplies. That's wrong, but I think true.

I've saved money too, to my surprise. I was eating my income because friends always wanted to meet out, and I don't cook. But I'm forcing myself too, more than I used to.

I'm making zucchini and onions and a big salad for tonight, and have defrosted cod fillets that M will fancy up when he comes. Had hoped to sign up for just a month of DisneyPlus so we could watch the Hamilton movie, but my Roku box is out of date (planned obsolescence) so we're outta luck. If I can find a newer Roku on sale I might get it though.

hugs and hang in there, CB--I completely understand the restlessness.

Hops

[Twoapenny]

They do instant mashed potatoes here, Hops, but they're pretty disgusting.  You can get tinned potatoes here, they're not great on their own but they're quite good sauteed.

Yes, I think you're right that it's long term.  I'm missing friends.  Haven't seen a friend now since February and I miss face to face contact.  I've kind of got in my head that it's likely to be next year before we actually see people in the flesh again.

On the plus side we are saving a ton of money.  It will go quickly once we do start getting out and about again but it's nice to have it there for the time being.  CB, I'm finding the same with the days passing so quickly.  I'm finding I'm perfectly happy sitting watching TV and I suddenly realise it's been hours and I didn't even notice.  I think it's such an unusual situation that we're all bound to be having odd experiences right now.

One thing I do feel a bit down about is that I've had to pretty much stop any and all online activity apart from here.  The endless guff that other people keep posting was really getting me down, as are the various news outlets.  We're really starved of good quality, fact based information here, and some decent educated guess work from suitably qualified people.  So many people seem to focus more on their own ego or their profits, or both, and that seems to interfere with fact.  So that has kind of got me down a bit because there are bands I like to follow and a couple of disability related groups.  But everything feels very confrontational at the minute so even groups that are supposed to be about music tend to fall into 'all of this' as well.  So I've had to pretty much cut off from all of that.  I miss some of it.

I have been surprised that I still feel tired a lot of the time.  I'd have thought I'd be brimming with energy now but it seems to be having the opposite effect.  We're doing a short walk each day but I feel like I've been up a mountain when we get back.

[Hopalong]

You too, ((((((CB))))).

It's got to be awful to live in a very active hot spot.

hugs
Hops

[Meh]

Not surprising. Suspected all along duh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W64V7rXWxHY

[Twoapenny]

I know what you mean, Tupp. I have been dragging my butt for the last week. No reason for it except I'm just DONE with all this.

Placed my order Saturday and got everything I needed. Then this morning, my son had some specific things he wanted so we placed another! He's feeling it too, and hoping diet changes will be helpful. I'm sure we aren't as healthy as when we started all this because of much less outdoor time. I don't miss work but I do miss the greenhouse.

The situation here is becoming dire and I don't think I can avoid being anxious. More information makes me feel BETTER, without info I would still be housebound but I think it would start taking on an unreal quality. I am very aware of what is happening in Congress and in activist groups. It helps. From time to time, I check in on old friends and I am astounded at some of their opinions. I'm feeling some grief, but that feels inevitable.

As it is, I am having to be very conscious of time so I dont lose track of where I am--it is Monday. It is lunch time, etc. I have a couple of kids who are having issues with sleep because their inner clock is skewing. It seems to be bothering those of us who are not working from home, but are just waiting this out.

Keep safe everybody.

CB

I'm glad you got everything you needed, CB.  That at least is a comfort.  I think I would be comforted by information if I knew it was factually accurate.  For me, the numbers aren't stacking up - for them to be consistently falling as more and more people go out and mingle doesn't make sense.  Ditto the death rate.  Two weeks ago we were still having around a thousand excess deaths a month (that is, a thousand more than you would expect for the time of year).  Last week we didn't have a single excess death, despite having hundreds of Covid related deaths.  That would mean that fewer people than usual had died overall, and it would have to be a lot lower than normal to accommodate all the Covid deaths without the number going up.  That didn't make sense to me and still doesn't.

I am finding the lack of focus of time means it's just vanishing, as you say.  I have tried a few times to do myself a time table or set myself some time goals and some days that seems to help, but others nothing seems to get my bum off the sofa.  I'm still liking not having to deal with people.  Some friends mentioned coming to visit in October and I panicked a bit.  I don't think it will be safe until they have a vaccine (at least not in this country and probably not in yours either).  So much is unknown.  Can you get out walking at all or is it too busy where you are to avoid people?

Yes, a lot of people have said their sleep is all over the place.  Very difficult to deal with.  Ironically my son's sleep is better than usual.  We are both so back to front.  I hope things settle in your area soon.  I do wish people hadn't been so arrogant about this at the outset.  I think we'd have had fewer problems. xx

[Hopalong]

Dunno about other states, but this one is divided into "health districts." (Maybe that's common.) And...once you find the state website, you can select the health district you live in.

What mine has is super helpful--it's for this city and the surrounding counties. A daily update of New Cases is posted at 10am, and there's a large graph masthead that shows the angle of the curve. The data is broken down in every way you might be interested (age, gender, race, city or which county, all kinds of categories if you like to know more).

What I am most interested is the specific daily rate of new hospitalizations (death rate isn't super high but both are rising), because for me, that's the urgency. Avoiding getting covid-19, and avoiding the hospital no matter what.

That said, a close friend who desperately needed a hip replacement and had it scheduled for March, lived with serious unremitting pain until two days ago, when they finally operated. (Well, she's in recovery pain, but so relieved one hip is done now.) I was so sad for her. Lives alone and just had to cope when they had to cancel all elective procedures for a time. Unfortunately, they will soon be doing that again I'm sure, as our first-wave curve is still climbing. That's why the great mask arguments are so hard to witness...people who doesn't understand what's happening have made it all a huge tribal/political fight, instead of a human being challenge. And people who need such surgeries will live in pain because of it.

I don't mind if I'm staying home a couple years from now. Whatever it takes. I'm prepared! Life is different, we don't know exactly what the lasting social changes might be, but I am very confident some will be good. Might as well align myself with those positive visions, because the negatives will happen whether I'm fearful or not. And I'm stronger when I tap into hope.

hugs
Hops

[Hopalong]

Great chart to ponder right now.

https://thecounselingteacher.com/2020/04/how-to-relieve-anxiety-during-times-of-uncertainty.html

hugs,
Hops

[Twoapenny]

I'm glad you got your paperwork sorted, CB, even if it did mean hours on the phone.  Argh, I know that feeling, such a waste of time just waiting to get through.  But done eventually.  It does feel good to cross a job off the list.  And yes, reintroducing things slowly for both of us is going to be the thing - do a little bit, see how we both feel and respond, maybe not do it again!  Feels nice to have the choice.

Hops, your local information sounds great!  We're not getting any now - they've stopped publishing daily case numbers and the Office of National Statistics don't seem to be publishing information about the excess death rate now, either (or at least, not in a format that I can understand).  We're just being kept in the dark, with a budget package announced today to stimulate jobs and to entice people out to eat with meal vouchers.  Seriously?!  Who'd have thought the most radical thing any of us could do in 2020 would be to stay home and only eat your own food.  It's kind of bonkers.  They're acting like it's over and we can all just get back to normal now.  There are huge waiting lists for all sorts of operations and procedures (I feel for your friend having to wait so long for her hip op).  We are apparently unprepared for a second wave with a lack of PPE and food prices are expected to rise sharply when we leave the EU without a deal at the end of the year.  So that's good.  I am seriously wondering whether I should clear the shed out properly and start stacking tins out there.  Tins should be alright, I think, I guess I could stack things like tins and pasta in those clear plastic storage boxes to keep them dry and keep mouse wee off them.  I perhaps need to go and move stuff around a bit and see how much space I can free up.

[Hopalong]

Another very helpful chart, much appreciated when gov'ts have such difficulty conveying decision criteria with consistency!

http://www.ezekielemanuel.com/writing/all-articles/2020/06/30/covid-19-activity-risk-levels?fbclid=IwAR2oNoUnjxrHjC1jrWUUYaBybVpYK4cOJuzLBEchi6PtIv4LpsgWxOSmx4o

[Twoapenny]

That is handy, Hops, we can easily stick to green activities so that's good

Things here don't make sense.  We've got (apparently) rising numbers in 108 places across England, with one country back in total lockdown and six pubs closed since Saturday for deep cleaning after someone tested positive in each one.  We also had today one of the lowest death counts we've had so far and a lower number of diagnosed cases as well.  It just doesn't make sense to me.

[Hopalong]

I know. For the average-educated person, the numbers can't be woven. Even for the above-average, highly logical person like you, they still can't be woven. I think the only thing we can weave is the covering of our own common sense, and reasonable responses to evidence we are seeing/hearing from scientists.

It's very weird to feel we're on our own in decision making. But that's one reason I so liked that chart. It's concrete and pragmatic. Doesn't solve the long-term worries but certainly makes it easier to negotiate the next day/week/month with some of the best info (summarized) I've seen.

I'm just not trying to make sense of individual or anecdotal reports, because it's a novel virus that's caught both our governments flat-footed, and I frankly think informed citizens like yourself, or others who think and read outside politics, are among the best prepared. We can just face the facts we DO have, and make our best decisions. Our governments will keep parsing and explaining several beats behind the emergency, imo, so our best security is really from trusting our own good minds.

hugs
Hops

[Twoapenny]

I think you're right, Hopsie.  Son and I are lucky that we can basically sit this out - although oddly I feel guilty about that.  Grateful as well, but I feel bad for others who can't.  It is a little tricky because the news reports are all about things opening up again - son reads all of that.  I still don't feel it's safe but I don't want to labour the point with him that I think the news is inaccurate (because he's taking so much pleasure from the positive statements).  So I'm just fibbing a bit or avoiding the issue, which I don't like to do.  But I suppose it's needs must at the moment.  I just notice contradictions when I read them and I like things to balance properly.  Lol xx

[Twoapenny]

A team of science people from Oxford have released a paper (not peer reviewed yet) stating that they think T cells may be playing a role in some people having better immunity to Covid (asymptomatic, mild cases, severe cases but recovering well) and that herd immunity may be possible with 20% of the population having immunity.  There is a cancer doctor in the UK who has been saying all the way through this that he thinks T cells may play a part.  He's also been found to falsely link himself to a University in the past and there was something shady about a paper he published at one time, I think.  It's very difficult; people can be dishonest and still be good at their jobs, but it means that it's difficult to trust their opinion or point of view.

I'm personally finding the fact that papers can publish information that hasn't been proved one way or the other (and I know this is happening globally; little bits of information from various studies, much of it not formalised) really disconcerting.  The opinion from many has been that herd immunity may not be achievable anyway, because the anti-bodies don't seem to linger for long.  80% was also touted as the magic number needed at the beginning as well.  People are confused and fed up with being confused, I think.  We are in a bizarre situation here where people can go to the pub and meet with strangers but are still not supposed to just be visiting friends and family in their homes (you can do it in a bubble if both households aren't going anywhere else but as almost everyone is at the very least going to the supermarket that makes it virtually impossible).  Most people I know are listening to the advice coming from Scotland rather than from the English PM.  Sturgeon has done a much better job of handling this and their death rate has been zero for a week now, I think.

I did read that one of the big hospitals in our county hasn't had a Covid death for a fortnight now.  It should cheer me but my immediate thought was to wonder whether they're just sending them somewhere else or leaving them to die in care homes.  I feel sad that I can't trust any of the information given out now.