Coronavirus

[cats paw]

Tupp,
 
 If I remember correctly, I read an article that referenced another that had first appeared in something called i-news (I think) in the UK.  It mentioned using the "nudge' to deal with behavior during Covid was like nudging people to obey traffic laws- that surely people would do what they need to do to ensure their own safety.  If only! 
 I guess potatoes are the new cake they can eat.  Madness prevails in the US as well, and it is being enabled.

Amber/Skep,
 I miss Game Of Thrones!  S (husband) and I are watching a ridiculous series on AMC called NOS4A2. We got hooked on the story unfolding.  We also watched Penny Dreadful:City of Angels, and are currently watching the HBO Perry Mason series.  It truly helps to escape for a while.

 Has anyone heard of Brain Pickings?  By reading there, I have spent many pleasant hours down the rabbit hole.
 
Hops- S and I torture ourselves regularly listening to testimonies.  Didn't remember Dr. Fauci was on until I read you saying you were watching.

[lighter]

My friend,who's ill with COVID, didn't answer my call today, or my text.  I'm trying to remain calm and see what happens without judgment or fear.

The last conversation I had with her was about green burials, oddly enough.  IF she doesn't make it, I'll know exactly what she wanted, down to the smallest details. 

I think that's not a very cheerful outlook, but it was very calming for me.  I decided I can't worry her back to health.  I focused on what I CAN do, and put it on the shelf, grateful she's connected with her sons, who were almost estranged at this point. 

I can't remember WHY we talked about burial services.... who brought it up.   

Lighter

[Hopalong]

CP, yes! Let them eat...potatoes!
We have had quite a few cute life lessons bestowed on the public by the president's vapid craven daughter, whom I profoundly wish would shut up and go apply cosmetics alone in her bathroom for the rest of her life.

Tupp...great music, great books, great music, great books.

Lighter...I hope your friend will be okay. You don't need to be in charge of her burial if she dies. You don't have to be in charge of anything.

[EDIT: That sounded blunt! Sorry. What I was thinking is that unless a family reaches out and asks, do you know her burial wishes? -- it might be intrusive to imply that unless they do a green burial (not easily managed everywhere) they'll not be honoring her, based on your conversation with her but not her own conversations with her family or her own personal documentation of such wishes....to feel compelled to offer this info based on one enthusiastic conversation--mushroom suits!--might actually bring additional stress into their grief. That's all. Perhaps you could just offer sympathy and support.]

hugs
Hops

[Twoapenny]

Tupp,
 
 If I remember correctly, I read an article that referenced another that had first appeared in something called i-news (I think) in the UK.  It mentioned using the "nudge' to deal with behavior during Covid was like nudging people to obey traffic laws- that surely people would do what they need to do to ensure their own safety.  If only! 
 I guess potatoes are the new cake they can eat.  Madness prevails in the US as well, and it is being enabled.

Amber/Skep,
 I miss Game Of Thrones!  S (husband) and I are watching a ridiculous series on AMC called NOS4A2. We got hooked on the story unfolding.  We also watched Penny Dreadful:City of Angels, and are currently watching the HBO Perry Mason series.  It truly helps to escape for a while.

 Has anyone heard of Brain Pickings?  By reading there, I have spent many pleasant hours down the rabbit hole.
 
Hops- S and I torture ourselves regularly listening to testimonies.  Didn't remember Dr. Fauci was on until I read you saying you were watching.

What is the Perry Mason one like, CP?  I saw it advertised but haven't watched it yet.  CSI is on back to back this afternoon so that will be me taken care of - project in lap and not eating biscuits because I really must stop

Yes, nudging.  I think you could take a bulldozer to some and it still wouldn't be enough.  A friend of mine is a psychologist (retired).  He reckons that a lot of people have addictions but they're to things that are socially acceptable - work, dinner out on a Friday, weekends by the sea and so on.  He feels that's the reason that some people will take risks they don't need to - I might catch this illness and pass it on to someone else or become ill myself but I have a need to go to the beach this weekend because the sun's out and that's what I do.  I get it with younger people (that certainty of youth; I used to have it and feeling invincible is amazing) but I'm baffled by people in my age group who have a nice home, nice garden, family they live with and enough money to order in, keep the kids entertained, redecorate - and they still need to go shopping.  I can only say I'm very grateful that I don't feel that need and am happy at home watching TV and chit chatting to you guys on here xx

I haven't heard of Brain Pickings, I will have to have a look out for that, thanks! x

[Twoapenny]

My friend,who's ill with COVID, didn't answer my call today, or my text.  I'm trying to remain calm and see what happens without judgment or fear.

The last conversation I had with her was about green burials, oddly enough.  IF she doesn't make it, I'll know exactly what she wanted, down to the smallest details. 

I think that's not a very cheerful outlook, but it was very calming for me.  I decided I can't worry her back to health.  I focused on what I CAN do, and put it on the shelf, grateful she's connected with her sons, who were almost estranged at this point. 

I can't remember WHY we talked about burial services.... who brought it up.   

Lighter

I think you're right to focus on what you can do, Lighter.  It's hard when people are poorly, we often feel so helpless.  Many people have reported extreme fatigue with this so it may be she's sleeping a lot.  She'll be glad to see your text whenever she does, I'm sure.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that she gets better soon and yes, it's good that her sons are back in her life.

I think a lot of people have been discussing burial options and making sure their wills are up to date just now.  It does focus your mind on those sort of things, unfortunately.  But hopefully you knowing won't matter because she'll be getting better soon xx

[lighter]

My friend is on antibiotics for double pneumonia, but holding her own.  She's not been hospitalized.  Her 2 sons haven't been dx'd with COVID, but the doc said they're likely asymptomatic and infected.  No one seems to care.  No one is tracing contacts.  No one is enforcing quarantine.  No one is following up.  The oldest son left yesterday.... he's likely spreading the virus.  The doc said it's unlikely people can be in that close proximity, in a household like that, and not get COVID.

I was relieved to hear she's recovering.  Unhappy to see what a miserable job the US is doing with controlling COVID.

My sister and niece were required to qaurantine in Canada for 2 weeks under penalty of fines and prison time.  People are doing pop in visits to check and enforce quarantine for people traveling to and from the USA.  I wonder how they're handling those dx'd with COVID.  Better than we are, it's assumed.

Hops, if my Georgia friend were to pass away, I believe her children would want to know her wishes, if she's not already made them known.  She was planning to visit the monks and purchase her site, but she had to move first.

Maybe she wrote it down, like you said, Tupp.  I haven't brought it up, bc I don't think she's frightened right now.  I don't want her to be frightened.  She knows she has many of the problems associated with poor outcomes for COVID patients.   

Lighter

[Meh]

Its sad but yes people are just letting it run it's course but still if people have it they should be diagnosed so they can stay home. So many people just don't care.

The situation is past the containment option and yet it's no reason to be careless.

[sKePTiKal]

I don't think this can be contained - anymore than the common cold virus can be. Too many doctors & nurses observing the strictest protocols are getting ill. So many of the tests are coming up false positive or false negative... asymptomatic as a descriptor may not even be accurate. Drives me a bit nutz. But even the docs I know are hard pressed to nail down a diagnosis - with thorough testing. And there are - from the same docs - lots of head-scratching questions about why some of their elderly patients with underlying conditions are recovering, while heathy younger people are quickly succumbing.

Makes me think this virus is mostly harmless - UNTIL there is certain genetic feature that is the switch for the virus to turn deadly. But no; no one knows yet if there is such a thing (the researchers ARE looking; genetic research takes awhile).

The only thing I know for sure, is that our location/lifestyle has been preventative. Exactly what variable it is - number of people in a smaller geographical area or what - that makes the probabiity for getting sick go up, I've not no ideas. And I DO think about it a lot. Masks don't seem to be a guaranteed preventative; but I still wear mine in certain places. After working for years in a large campus building with lots of students/faculty in and out of it - and also open to the public, I've suspected HVAC systems of spreading germs for a long time... but no, there's no proof of that either. Maybe it's just a higher percentage of oxygen exchange in our rural location that's helping my state keep our numbers so low.

[Twoapenny]

I think more rural areas are doing better, Skep, certainly here the towns and cities are much worse than the coastal and rural areas.  I think just more space and I wonder if people in more rural areas tend to stick to their own 'groups' more than city dwellers are able to (in the sense that they're probably not sharing public transport and public toilets in the same way that city fold would be).  It is a head scratcher.

There was a paper out here just recently that one group of researchers think some people have better T cell immunity - built up through the common cold and 'normal' flu - which apparently Covid is a part of.  They think that might be why some higher risk people are getting better while some fit and healthy ones aren't.  Not proven at this point, though - I'm not sure anything is at the moment.

We have just been in to town on the bus for the first time in four months and I'm really not keen to repeat it too often.  They've done a good job of arranging the library to make it safer but most shops just don't have the room.  The pubs and cafes are all packed, there's loads of holiday traffic on the roads (vehicles overflowing with camping stuff and loads of caravans) and it just isn't possible to always keep away from people, however careful you are.  We didn't go near the shops so I don't know if people are wearing masks much or not but it's not possible to wear a mask when you eat and drink so whether wearing it in a shop is going to help with so many in pubs like that I just don't know.  I'm very, very glad that I don't have to work somewhere like that and equally glad that we just don't have to go out very much.  It was nice to go to the library though, son got a book about coping during a Virus Outbreak!  It's a fiction one and kind of like a puzzle in a book; different scenarios are described and you have to pick an option.  That takes you to a different chapter and you work through it like that.

Lighter how is your friend getting on, is she starting to feel better now? xx

[lighter]

Oh,  what a delight, Tupp. To have your new box set, a nice visit to the library... sounds like they figured out how to stay safe, and son really enjoying himself.... doing well..... flowing: )

My friend has good and bad days.  It's all over the board, but she sounds pretty good.

Lighter

[Twoapenny]

Oh,  what a delight, Tupp. To have your new box set, a nice visit to the library... sounds like they figured out how to stay safe, and son really enjoying himself.... doing well..... flowing: )

My friend has good and bad days.  It's all over the board, but she sounds pretty good.

Lighter

Is she doing better overall, Lighter?  I keep hearing that the long term from Covid can be tough, even if you get a mild case.  I do keep wondering if it is what I had back in December.  So many people talking about the possibility it was here earlier than we thought.  I was very unwell over Christmas - dry cough, high temp, awful chest and I was still struggling by the March, just couldn't quite shake it off.  Hard without knowing enough about any of it.  So much is still speculation.

But we have some good news - the area I am in is in the five least affected areas in the country.  Only four cases recorded last week, one the week before that.  One death.  The local population is around the 90,000 people mark so that's pretty good going.  We've had loads of holidaymakers down here but it doesn't seem to have caused a big jump in numbers.  Definitely nowhere near as bad as it was.  Some people feel it will just burn itself out.  I would love for that to be the case.  I'm still not rushing to go anywhere - health appointments, library, cinema from next month once the kids have gone back to school.  I think people are taking care.  But it's nice to feel more relaxed about it.  It feels more relaxed in general; I think the precautions have become more normal for people now so the anxiety over masks and hand sanitiser seems to have reduced.

[lighter]

Tupp:

THAT IS GREAT NEWS!  Yes!  Lower numbers are a really good thing to read, aren't they.

I have the name of a UK company selling what appears to be new 30 day wear masks that don't heat up, don't muffle sound and keep the virus from getting in or getting out... not sure if it KILLS it or not,  but friend in medical field said, exactly.  The site says they're reusable self disinfecting proven to kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria continuously for 30 days.  WHOO HOO, friend said he did the research... has the seal of approval from the right agencies.

Can you get them where you are... have them delivered?  Maybe they're somewhere close to you, on a shelf?

INVISISMART MASKS.... get the 30 day ones... ISM30,  not the 5 day ones... almost same price, for heaven's sake.  They also have shields you might find necessary as well.

I pay 10.00 in shipping and masks seem to be a little over 10.00 each, so maybe you'll find a much better deal there?

The site also says they're 4 layer surgical grade....look them up if you feel it's worth your time.

I have some ordered... back ordered, rather. 

Lighter



 

[Hopalong]

Alas, cases here are still going up every day.
And worse, the local university is opening up for fall semester.
So there's a bit of dread building about how many thousands of more vectors for spread are about to arrive.

The U. really does not care about the local community, though it pretends to.

Beyond stupid decision, as students carouse recklessly all over town and have done so forever. I just don't think some people are mature enough to restrain themselves.

More, longer, tiring, demoralizing quarantine months ahead. In the cold.

Hops

[lighter]

Tupp:

My friend seems to be doing better.  I hope she doesn't have any of the dreaded damage to her heart or lungs experienced by some.

She's in the high risk category for several reasons.

((Hops:))

It will be a dark cold winter, but we'll all be here for you. 

Lighter

[Hopalong]

I'm glad your friend is doing better too, ((((((Lighter))))).

And thanks very much for your kindness about my winter dread.
It's creeping up on me.

(Note to self: Counter-intuitive or NOT, those affected by SAD need to start using their lights in AUGUST! The brain notices a subtle change in light even when it's still hot summer outside.)

hugs
Hops