Warm and damp.
Yesterday was hot and steamy. Started out reasonably enough but soon was hot. And steamy. Did I mention steamy? And hot?
Morning was still overcast and rain was forecast so I didn’t do much outside until after lunch. Then it was yard work, garden, and trees.
If the trees weren’t going to shade the garden, I’d have left them, but I need the sun on the raised beds. And with hurricane season only a short time away, I went ahead and trimmed near the utility lines, since I had the saw and ladder out.
I’m debating whether to do the tree trimming on the oak in the front yard or not. I usually trim back the branches over the house, and every couple of years I get out the rope saw and take down some dead wood high up in the tree. There are other things that are a priority but if I’m in the zone and have the tools out anyway….
I need to get back to my driveway/garage storage and organize party. I need to get whatever seeds I hope to plant this year in the ground. I usually plant seedlings from Lowes or HD, but I’m not going shopping ATM. I’ve got seeds. I’m a bit surprised at some of the stories I’m seeing of seeds being sold out, both in the stores and online. I guess maybe I’m not the only one hoping to get a garden in this year. Whatever the motivation, I’m glad that others are planting. The learning curve is steep.
Chickens are sold out too. Hmm.
Too many people are too invested in particular outcomes for me to believe 99% of the reporting on wuflu right now. I’m just going to stay the course, watch for primary sources of indirect and secondary indicators, and act as if my life depended on it.
The wuflu won’t be the end of everything, nor will the economic impacts, nor will the cultural impacts. As a nation we’ve been through worse versions of all those things. WE may not survive, and WE may not return to a world we expect, but PEOPLE will. And they will muddle through or prosper or not. I intend to make it through. What’s on the other side I can’t predict, as I think this is one of those times when everything changes. I thought that last year, and haven’t changed my mind. War, pestilence, and plague. They were overdue.
I don’t know how long it will take but think about the changes in one lifetime, from 1900 to 1965. Who would have predicted the destruction of the British Empire, the rise of America, the Cold War, and Communism? Or look at 1965 to 2020. Who would have predicted the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of China, the changes wrought by PCs and the internet? The massive financialization of everything? Or the destruction of western culture?
Things change, this is just the pebble that started the boulder rolling down hill. Something would have. It was time.
Stay in, stay safe.
nick
One lifetime. Heh. I was fortunate to know 2 of my Great-Grandparents. My mom’s grandmother was born in the Beacon Hill area of Boston in 1888 and was just shy of 100 when she passed. She remembered when Beacon Hill got gas lights and running water and watch men walk on the moon. Radio, television, telephone, cars, planes, and spaceships in one lifetime.
And we complain the world is changing too fast.
This looks like a classic scare tactic system to me by using huge numbers to start and then moderating then down severely.
Like hurricanes in Florida or, since Harvey, the Texas Gulf Coast.
Similar to how gas lines form at my local HEB the moment the NHC’s “Cone of Death” brushes Galveston, the TP will now disappear from the shelves inside every Fall when the CDC issues flu prediction numbers.
The wuflu won’t be the end of everything, nor will the economic impacts, nor will the cultural impacts. As a nation we’ve been through worse versions of all those things.
H1N1 under The Anointed One during his first months in office. This time, the bug is more contagious with a higher death rate.
I also think more of the culture is fetishised to narrow audiences, including the news.
If anything changes, this may mark the end of the media conglomerates that lean to heavily on fetish properties. I don’t see how Disney survives without shedding ESPN and the Fox library, possibly Marvel too while the money is there.
Yeah, it’s hard to separate the grains of truth from the mass of speculation and click-bait headlines. Corona, or COVID, or whatever we’re finally going to settle on: it is clearly more virulent than the flu. Beyond that, we have very little reliable data. No one has reliable data.
Some politicians are doing the best they can to keep their people safe. Others are trying to take advantage of the situation to advance their agendas. Switzerland is no different. The executive council seems to be doing a good job, but the members of Parliament – especially on the left – are trying to sneak unrelated items off of their agenda into Corona-related legislation. Sort of like Pelosi tried in the US, only not quite so obviously absurd.
The government here has announced that all restrictions are extended until 26 April, after which they will be relaxed slowly, step-by-step. That seems a very reasonable approach: give people something to look forward to, but keep things screwed down until after Easter (which is normally “Spring vacation” time).
Exactly what the first steps in the relaxation will be, that’s still not decided. I expect they will allow shops to open that can guarantee “social distance”. I hope that they will re-open primary schools (i.e. elementary schools). But they have carefully not said, and perhaps they haven’t even decided yet…
I seem to remember dire predictions of gas being over $5.00 a gallon nationwide. I don’t remember it getting about $3.20 a gallon where I live. CA got higher, close to $5.00, but that state has it’s own problems that contribute to their higher prices, such having little to do with the actual cost of fuel.
I seem to remember Al Gore predicting massive crop failure, sea rise, etc. many years ago from global warming. By 2010 the world would be back to the stone age. The timing of his massive world ending predictions have long passed.
I remember in the ’70’s that there was going to be a massive ice age with the ice pack extending as far south as Oklahoma. Millions were going to die.
I remember Y2K, SARS, H1N1, Swine Flu, HIV, etc. were going to kill millions and the bodies would be buried with earth movers as there would be too many bodies to process.
I even go so far back as “duck and cover” and the building of a bomb shelter in the neighbor’s back yard. Half the population was going to die in a nuclear war and subsequent winter.
The only thing that didn’t happen that I wish would have happened, is that California did not slide off into the Pacific Ocean. (snarky comment).
What has been the common factor in all of these predictions, aside from never appearing, is that a select few people made a lot of money. Al Gore in particular enriched himself dramatically with speeches and other events where his fantasy predictions were demanded.
China has been able to massively impact the economy. The timing was shortly after China got their fingers burned in the trade and tariff negotiations that did not end favorably for China. The timing is suspicious. Conspiracy brain cells feel that China released the WuFlu on purpose. But it got out of hand, unintended consequences. I don’t like to think that as it puts me in the same deranged mindset as Al Gore.
In this WuFlu event I see a lot of political carnage. I see a lot of political gains. I see a lot of financial damages to many, significant gains to others. I see a lot of people snuggling up to the government to bail them out. In the process they are allowing governors and mayors setting rules and laws without proper oversight. No judicial or legislative process involved. People can be arrested for standing around in a park in groups of two.
Police and local governments have elevated their position of power to a much more authoritative stance without proper vetting. People can now be charged as criminals based on the stroke of a pen of a single individual without due process. Governors and mayors using the phrase “by the power and authority granted” without citing the law that provides such power and authority. A very bad precedence.
Yes, we will survive. With more government dependency. More government control. More unrestricted law enforcement. More people afraid of their shadow. Just what the government wants. We will never be the same.
I just heard someone* say we need to keep the lockdown in place for another six weeks and then decide if more is needed. I see no reason that this would not go swimmingly. /sarc
* Someone in “public health”, a professor or researcher rather than a high-level bureaucrat.
I can envision a scenario where the citizens of a State vote out the COVID gatekeepers. Put in people who lift the sanctions, restrictions, arrests. Then the other States and Feds threaten that State. Then the shooting starts.
I’m mailing the tinfoil hat back to Mr. DadCooks, now.
Very hot 94f yesterday – expecting 64f today
A couple of interesting items from the morning local news.
1. At one drive-up testing station they tested 98 people yesterday with ZERO positive results. These were all people who suspected they had the symptoms. Perhaps it’s not as widespread as we think.
2. A major Oklahoma City hospital is laying off 50% of staff. Since they cancelled all elective surgery, the hospital is less than half full and the extra staff are unnecessary. They will be called back if / when it begins to fill with virus patients.
There are not enough data points here to learn anything other than in Oklahoma, perhaps we are spared the nightmare of NYC.
Still keeping home when not running to dialysis or the pharmacy. Plenty of food on hand but milk is running low. A local grocer has announced delivery so I may try it out.
Stay safe out there.
Update: Just learned that the Mayor of Norman, large suburb of Oklahoma city, has announced he has revised his business closure rules. Non essential business may open on ODD numbered days if they have an ODD number street address and EVEN days if they have an EVEN address. The limit of 10 or less in an establishment still applies.
A good point I read: if less people are driving, shouldn’t car insurance be less? Gym memberships refunded? Etc.
Not to be a posterior orifice, but shouldn’t it be “Aluminum Foil” hat? I don’t think they make tinfoil anymore, if they ever did. Correction, yes it is to be a posterior orifice.
I follow Hanlon’s razor “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”.
I lived in Hong Kong and worked with both HK & mainland chinese. It’s so much easier to believe an accidental release than a plot.
In any case, this has devastated China’s already shaky economy and turned much of the world against them. We will likely see legislation requiring essential manufacturing return to the US. Good for us, bad for them.
Our local hospital spent a lot of money and time to set up tents in the parking lot. The tents are empty and the hospital is about half full.
I suspect the hospital was given a lot of money, or is able to bill the feds a lot of money, for setting up the tents in the parking lot. Such money being a lot more than what was actually expended.
I would like to believe in your assertion based on your experience and expertise. I just find it difficult given the timing. I still believe something was attempted intentionally and got out of control. Did not go as planned. Alas, it would not be the first time I have been wrong and certainly not the last.
Colloquialism. But you knew that, you crusty, old orifice. I’ll mail the *hat* to you. lol.
I can envision a scenario where the citizens of a State vote out the COVID gatekeepers. Put in people who lift the sanctions, restrictions, arrests. Then the other States and Feds threaten that State. Then the shooting starts.
The lax government oversight leading to infamous beach video shot in Clearwater, FL last month has already contributed to political changes in the city.
When the CNN (?) crew shot that video, they knew they had to be careful not to show the landmark Scientology buildings just across the intercoastal waterway, within visual range of the party site. THAT would have resulted in a phone call in Atlanta.
Ann Coulter’s article today:
I’LL HAVE THE CHICKEN TESTICLE SOUP – HOLD THE DEADLY VIRUS
Pundits are starting to challenge goobermint’s unprecedented power grab. Just like us here.
Calling Mr. Ray….
Obsolete 1950s computer code is causing unemployment chaos amid huge lines: Appeal for retired programmers who know obscure code to fix outdated COBOL computer system in states across US
I left COBOL about 20 years ago. Probably like riding a bike. Problem with these states is they are looking for volunteers. NFW. They would have to pay me, and pay well. I retired for a reason.
I think it’s mind over body for a lot of scared people. They read about the symptoms and start obsessing over the virus and freaking out about having it and then next thing you know when they feel warm it’s a fever, when they clear their throat it’s a dry cough, and when they get winded it’s respiratory distress. Then they think they’re symptomatic and they line up for a test. Similar to how when someone starts talking about head lice you absentmindedly scratch your head.
Yep. Everything that makes money for hospitals/health systems has been put on hold. No money coming in and a ton of hospital staff standing around waiting for the ED (when did we stop calling it an ER and start calling it the ED) to flood with pandemic victims which in most states is probably never going to happen.
WRT tinfoil hats, some of us have been around a bit longer and old colloquialisms die hard.
In my little corner of WA State (colloquially called the Tri-Cities) we are now up to 22 COVID-19 deaths, supposedly all “old people”. Our current population is a bit over 200,000, it could even be 225,000, the Census will tell. BTW our County has the highest Census return rate in WA State.
I believe absolutely nothing I hear from any media right now. I have listened a bit to Rush the past couple of days (he is sounding great and invigorated) and he makes sense some times and other times not.
Edit/Add – Firefox v75 is running slower than a snail in December so I have dumped it as my default browser. I am using the “new” Microsoft Edge (Chromian based) and it is like a race car. I tried Google but it didn’t sync correctly with my Google account whereas Edge did, go figure.
State refund appeared in my account today, 8 days after filing. Seems short ~$70 but USPS monitoring service email shows a letter coming from the Revenue Service that might explain.
Traffic on the local urban freeways is light but hardly near “0” when I’ve visited my shut-in friend at her airport hotel round about noon and 9PM. Gas is $1.39/gal, down about a buck. Surely that won’t last, although I’ve noticed that there is usually a welcome decline in election years.
We were speculating that surviving restaurants might end up with Texas sized dining rooms in the near future if “social distancing” remains the norm. Walmart could rip out every other aisle of grocery to replace China clothing aisles. Socially distant bars/taverns seems a contradiction in terms. Mr. hcombs may find sanitizing wipes stations for every lobby/vestibule a profitable venture if wipes can be sourced. Facial recognition will take a hit if covering remains fashionable.
The aftermath of this madness will reverberate beyond the horizon.
CNN is headlining that nearly 1/3 of renters in the US did not pay rent this month. I hope they realize that without rental income that their landlords don’t have any money to pay their mortgages or pay for maintenance. There seems to be this rent revolt that, at least in my opinion, started a little too early into this whole thing. I can understand a month into it, but this thing really hit the US mid-March and by the third week of March people were already driving around with signs saying “End Rent!” taped to their cars.
Also glad that it didn’t happen. I’m 1 1/2 crow miles from the water. OTOH, my daughter was on the Huntington Beach High School surfing team.
Raining here again …… I can hear the fog horns going off.
I’m happy to report that 100% of my renters paid on time. We will see what next month brings.
There seems to be this rent revolt that, at least in my opinion, started a little too early into this whole thing. I can understand a month into it, but this thing really hit the US mid-March and by the third week of March people were already driving around with signs saying “End Rent!” taped to their cars.
Never let a crisis go to waste. Were the signs hand-written or professionally printed?
Professional printing means lead times.
A big segment of the population is not going to want to go back to work, and, as I noted earlier, the entertainment companies deal in a lot of fetish properties which are available 24/7 without as much as a trip to the Redbox being involved. Think about what happens when sports broadcasts become available again.
It was foil made of tin through the end of WWII. After that, aluminum foil took over.
All the adults I knew called it tinfoil, so I did, too.
I’ve always looked forward to it as well. Using the book ‘The Late Great State of California’ as a guide I would end up with beach property.
(okay the book was really more a political statement which is why I liked it)
Whew… couldn’t sleep, left phone (alarm) in office, just got up. Wiped out.
Stuff to do , AFK
n
Thanks for the info. I knew they had tin cans but was unaware that there was ever any actual foil such as we use today that was ever made of tin.
Just being a posterior orifice. Been cooped up too long.
I soft of remember tin cans. In the early 80’s, my best friend and I would routinely walk to the local middle school and collect aluminum cans to recycle. A small portion were tin, so we just left those where they were.
Son and daughter both heard in their “Skype meetings” today that their respective employers are making plans to furlough employees and reduce wages of “management”. The “slips” may go out Friday or Monday. I foresee much more of this in our future.
FWIW these “Skype Meetings” included many states (in the case of my daughter) and many countries (in the case of my son). My daughter’s meeting had over 200 people in it and my son’s meeting 452 with all classifications of employees. In both cases, the meetings got out of hand and had to be ended as it was impossible to deal with the avalanche of questions and complaints.
The World is Leaderless and in a State of Befuddlement.
Turns out I got sunburned on my face, neck, and arms while doing the yardwork yesterday. That always ‘takes it out of me.’
Concerning news out of South Korea–
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/south-korean-scientists-warn-covid-19-can-spontaneously-reactivate-cured-patients
Coupled with anecdotal reports from china, including video, and video out of SKorea showing the exact same sort of falling down and seizing… Consider this a heads up.
n
The virus is a coronavirus, specifically “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”. The disease is COVID-19, COrona VIrus Disease – 2019.
“The damage done by Democrats’ delay on the relief bill” by Marc Thiessen
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/07/damage-done-by-democrats-delay-relief-bill/
“Want to see the damage done by the Democrats’ week-long delay in passing the emergency relief bill? Consider the bill’s most important employment provision, the Paycheck Protection Program — a $350 billion fund to provide small businesses with “forgivable loans” so they can keep the lights on during the lockdown and avoid laying off their workers.”
“According to a survey published the week after the bill was passed, a quarter of small businesses reported that they had already been forced to temporarily close, and 40 percent of those left said they were on the verge of closing within two weeks. That is more than half of all small businesses in the United States.”
The PPP program is immensely difficult to administer also. I am now having to teach my banker what a SUB S corporation is. It is not going well.
Why couldn’t the idiots in Congress pass a simple grant bill ? Because they are idiots !
I am trying very hard to keep from laying people off. Congress made this hard on me. Idiots !
You repeat yourself.
Similar to how gas lines form at my local HEB the moment the NHC’s “Cone of Death” brushes Galveston, the TP will now disappear from the shelves inside every Fall when the CDC issues flu prediction numbers.
I disagree. The TP profiteers apparently spent their life savings on TP. They now have garages full of TP and do not know how to sell it for 2X to 10X their purchase price since Ebay shut them down.
They will not buy 10,000 rolls of TP again. They are tapped out.
The World is Leaderless and in a State of Befuddlement.
What happens when everyone is in charge ? Nobody is in charge.
Trump cannot reopen the country. The state governors have do that. You ever try to get 50 people to move in the same direction ? Not possible without using cattle prods.
Of course, Trump could arrest the state governors who refuse to reopen their states. That should go well.
We may end up in a civil war anyway out of this.
What we used to call “revisionist history” and now call “retconning” (from entertainment media ‘RETroactive CONtinuity’ or explaining away changes from previous versions of the media, ie -it was all a dream) and “gas-lighting” (from a film with similar name) is already starting.
“The AP reported Sunday that the Trump administration squandered nearly two months after the early January warnings that COVID-19 might ignite a global pandemic, waiting until mid-March to place bulk orders of N95 masks and other medical supplies needed to build up the stockpile.
By then, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for help.”
There is no way to read the bolded portion that matches the recorded facts. On 3-11-20 there were 1270 active cases in the whole US. The sentence reads as if more than one state had “thousands”. Even if the ‘several states’ was cummulative, it’s still not “thousands”. And a week earlier, when the decision would have been made, there were fewer than 200 cases.
I’d say that the order was blindingly fast on a .gov timeline, and based on only a few cases doubling once.
The order a week later, was placed when there were 26K cases. A week later. That increase must have made some sphincters loosen.
BTW, March 12 was less than a MONTH ago. Not ancient history. Anyone who’s ever done business with a government agency would recognize how stunningly fast that response is.
n
FWIW these “Skype Meetings” included many states (in the case of my daughter) and many countries (in the case of my son). My daughter’s meeting had over 200 people in it and my son’s meeting 452 with all classifications of employees. In both cases, the meetings got out of hand and had to be ended as it was impossible to deal with the avalanche of questions and complaints.
Our upper management has been busy working in the office since we’ve all been out. There is talk about making all of us who don’t drive spreadsheets PRN (as needed) hourly until the lockdowns stop. I may start making a once a week trip down to the office just to keep an eye on the antics and see who shows up in the building.
I won’t work PRN. We’ve been in trouble since late last year, and the virus has nothing to do with the company’s problems.
BTW, March 12 was less than a MONTH ago. Not ancient history. Anyone who’s ever done business with a government agency would recognize how stunningly fast that response is.
The API is leftist. The goal of the media now that the virus situation is heading towards a positive outcome is to win the election with the “right” candidates.
Plugs can’t win if he walks into a debate with Trump, regardless of format, and, after Monday’s “friendly” phone call, made at Uncle Joe’s insistence, Biden can’t say that he considers Trump too incompetent to debate.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see another attempt at Impeachment.
SOP for most of us.
Nick, what the AP and others are doing is not retconning and it’s not gaslighting. It’s lying, plain and simple.
I read that the Ds are investigating Trump for reacting too slowly. That will be a big stretch given Biden’s, Schumer’s, and others’ tweets. Plus Obama doing nothing during Ebola etc.
Yes, lying. But to what end and in service of what, needs to be pointed out on record, if only so I don’t forget.
I put the link on the AP part of the quote to draw attention to the source- as you guys sometimes remind me….
n
From FEMA —
“• NYC: Javits Center currently with 104 (+47)/665 beds filled; 1/41 beds with
ventilators filled; 5 (+1)/48 ICU beds filled; 137 (+67) patients
• USNS Comfort 50 (+9)/920 beds filled; 27 (+9)/80 ICU beds filled; 64 (+3) patients
• USNS Mercy 12 (+3)/920 beds filled; 7 (+4)/80 ICU beds filled; 30 (+5) patients
• 52 (+1) Major Disaster Declarations approved; 3 Disaster Declarations in process
• LA: 225 medical personnel supporting Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New
Orleans; 2/204 beds filled; 2 patients
• Eight task forces, jointly led by HHS and FEMA, continue work on assigned areas ”
–also for the record. Was it just 2 days ago the whining was that the temp federal medical support was un-needed and un-used? I’d love for that to be true, but it isn’t. Watch these numbers increase rapidly. Also, watch for the crews to be contaminated. Currently one sailor on each hospital ship is positive. Anyone think that will continue to be true for long?
–italy has 100 Doctors dead from wuflu
these caught my attention today.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8205033/How-Germanys-meticulous-testing-allowed-medics-track-exact-moments-coronavirus-transferred.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8203781/China-closes-border-Russia-drives-city-Wuhan-style-lockdown.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8204555/COVID-19-patients-dying-corridors-Detroit-hospital-help.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8205135/Islamic-missionary-movement-blamed-spreading-coronavirus-Asia.html (I wonder how much the recent increase in cases in Germany is due to the religion of piss?)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8204699/Fears-food-supply-chain-Tyson-meat-packing-plant-Iowa-closed-coronavirus-cluster.html
—you really don’t want to take a chance with this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8204465/Coronavirus-ICU-nurse-warns-left-unit-except-body-bag.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8201783/Some-doctors-moving-away-ventilators-virus-patients.html “80% of NYC coronavirus patients on ventilators die – and doctors search for other ways to help them breathe ”
–so, food production and distribution both starting to be affected.
–get seriously ill and your chances of dying are significant (which I’ve been linking to for some time, freaking baby duck.)
–you can get it from a SALT SHAKER — so you still want to open the cooler door at the grocery??
–china’s picking up the pace for wave two.
–World to end tomorrow- blacks, poor, and females hit hardest, news at 11 (old joke)
n
Over The Hedge: stuff
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2020/04/09
Yup.
And I love my new F-150 4×4. I chased 50 pigs with it Tuesday night across my property.
Did I mention that it’s 104F in my driveway? NO FREAKING WAY am I doing the cleanup in the driveway…. Or pulling cable in the attic….
n
Dilbert: bad Dogbert clones
https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-04-09
What did Dogbert expect ? And now there are five Dogbert clones running around.
I read that the Ds are investigating Trump for reacting too slowly. That will be a big stretch given Biden’s, Schumer’s, and others’ tweets. Plus Obama doing nothing during Ebola etc.
Obama did nothing with H1N1 until the situation was *bad*. He was going to fix healthcare, and playing catchup with a pandemic was not the image he wanted to present to the world. The total tally was 13,000 dead, 300,000 serious infections, and 60 million asymptomatic infections.
Russian collusion was a stretch but they did it anyway, partially to try and get Plugs.
I do think Trump and Putin are friendly and talk more than is generally known. Would you really want the President of the USA to not have a cordial relationship with the leadership of Russia?
holy cr@p it’s hot out. I just want to put some bird net over my blueberry bushes. Hottest part of the day for that southern exposure.
Really hot. Time to get the cool vests out of storage.
n
I think they should. I never understood *why* Putin supposedly wanted and helped Trump to win. I guess they hoped we wouldn’t actually think about that.
PRN? I’m drawing a blank.
I think they should. I never understood *why* Putin supposedly wanted and helped Trump to win. I guess they hoped we wouldn’t actually think about that.
Trump is an adult albeit with a lot of bluster as part of his schtick. He likes women — not little girls — but isn’t a druggie or a booze guy.
He was the best choice to avoid a World War.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bubba Clinton pulled that lever. He knows.
It’s kind of interesting. Aluminum was sort of a postwar miracle metal. Not only did we get tinfoil and aluminum cans, we got aluminum siding, aluminum airplanes, aluminum car parts, and a host of other things – including aluminum Christmas trees! ALCOA was big, big, big back then.
Hmm. I just got an email from USAA. They are giving a 20% credit on two months premium for auto insurance. Thank you. Still got kids and three cars on the policy.
PRN here’s the definition.
p.r.n.: Abbreviation meaning “when necessary” (from the Latin “pro re nata”, for an occasion that has arisen, as circumstances require, as needed)
Truck is put back together. The LED bulbs for the a/c control are much more blue or white than incandescent. They don’t dim to dark. But… 20 for $7.21 compared to $14 each on Amazon, I’m good. I have 17 spares too.
I have one! Just like my Aunt had when I was little. I put it up every year. Last Christmas the four-color light thing went kaput on me.
Oh, I thought is was another colloquialism for pr0n. 😉
Trip to WalMart today for prescription refill for wife, and a few things.
Noticed that the TP and paper towel and napkin aisle is starting to fill back up; no panic buying but limits in place. No sugar/flour; a few pastas (store brand). Canned goods at about 50-60%. Bread at 80-90%. Meat/dairy/deli/eggs/cheese at 90+%. Veggies normal. Did see some gallon bottles of bleach, but bleach-based cleaning supplies at about 40-50%.
Crowd control lines were set up, but not enough shoppers to need to limit entry. About 30-35% masks worn on shoppers. Did the self-checkout.
Gas prices here in Olympic Penninsula are about $2.19-$2.65 (cash, credit is $0.05 higher). But didn’t need any – current gas mileage is about 2 weeks per gallon for us.
Outside temps are getting into the mid-60’s here; humidity at 50%. Lots of pollen floating around. Mowed the lawn (very small, takes about 10 minutes).
AKA “zero hours contract”. The employee is viewed as having obligations to the employer, in committing to be available for whatever hours are assigned. This is not considered to be a two-way obligation.
I learned something today! 🙂 In other words, “we are cutting everyone’s hours to PRN because if we fire you we’ll be on the hook for unemployment payments and it’s better for us if you would just quit”.
Nevermind you can’t buy the gas to get to work if you are getting all of 5 hours a week…. and of course that would be an hour a day.
It’s kind of interesting. Aluminum was sort of a postwar miracle metal. Not only did we get tinfoil and aluminum cans, we got aluminum siding, aluminum airplanes, aluminum car parts, and a host of other things – including aluminum Christmas trees! ALCOA was big, big, big back then.
I worked for Alcoa for two months back in 1986. Never again.
Although I did meet the strongest woman that I ever saw. I watched her lift an 80 lb bag of sodium hydroxide, hold the bag with one hand and rip it open with her other hand, and then pour the bag in to the bauxite pot. She did that about a 100 times a day.
My brother’s business partner with SARS-2, COVID-19, is out of the hospital. He never had to go on a respirator. But now he is at home for two weeks. My brother and their 490 employees want him to stay there a long time.
And since they are a public company, they had to release a 10-K statement. Lovely.
No further word on my wife’s infected co-worker yet. Hoping for the best.
n
p.r.n.: Abbreviation meaning “when necessary” (from the Latin “pro re nata”, for an occasion that has arisen, as circumstances require, as needed)
AKA “zero hours contract”. The employee is viewed as having obligations to the employer, in committing to be available for whatever hours are assigned. This is not considered to be a two-way obligation.
The Texas Workforce Commission won’t allow that crap if the employee files for unemployment. They view any change of 20% in employment time or money to be a separation if the employee files.
Hmm. I just got an email from USAA. They are giving a 20% credit on two months premium for auto insurance. Thank you. Still got kids and three cars on the policy.
I believe Allstate did that too.
I doubt that will happen with Geico. Buffett spent a ton of cash working with the Specialist to defend the vaunted “intrinsic value” of his stock on the NYSE floor in the “meltdown” market temper tantrum, staged to get QE4.
One upside of the virus is that I learned I was right about my estimate on that intrinsic number. I’m going to miss Warren when he’s gone. That’s the stock in my stash that has been consistently the most fun to play and watch.
The PRN thing is how HEB works for front end people. Well, the HEB in Burnet, I suppose they are all the same.
Yep, get hired as a checker. Get scheduled for half of the week as a bagger. Great job, that, in the Summer to be pushing carts in from the parking lot.
Then get just 30 hours. And the same routine. Then 20 hours.
To add to the fun, get scheduled from 6am to 9am and then from 8pm to 11pm (closing time) several days in a row. “The computer makes the schedule”. Yeah, but -you- are approving the schedule. Then went over like eating raw bread dough.
I don’t miss that bullshit. Not for one moment.
CNN is headlining that nearly 1/3 of renters in the US did not pay rent this month.
I’m happy to report that 100% of my renters paid on time. We will see what next month brings.
All three of my renters paid on time. I am not sure about the wife’s three renters since she uses Real Estate agents and they take about a month to get the checks to us.
Just got that. Do I get a refund? I paid the entire 6 months all at once. I guess I’ll see what happens.
Yep, get hired as a checker. Get scheduled for half of the week as a bagger. Great job, that, in the Summer to be pushing carts in from the parking lot.
Then get just 30 hours. And the same routine. Then 20 hours.
You know, I have never seen a female buggy cart gatherer at HEB. Future EEOC lawsuit ?
I left COBOL about 20 years ago. Probably like riding a bike. Problem with these states is they are looking for volunteers. NFW. They would have to pay me, and pay well. I retired for a reason.
I last wrote some Cobol back in 1977. Never again.
“Senators block new virus aid, Pelosi decries ‘stunt'”
https://www.chron.com/news/article/McConnell-Democrats-jostle-over-urgent-business-15189303.php
“The Senate twisted itself into knots Thursday over President Donald Trump’s new coronavirus aid request, as Democrats refused to rubber stamp his proposal for $250 billion more to boost small businesses, demanding modifications along with an additional $250 billion for health care providers and states. Republicans wouldn’t go along.”
Hey Pelosi, bite me ! Are you the reason I am having to fill out so much paperwork for this SBA PPP loan that I probably won’t get ?
“Disney+ surpasses 50M paid subscribers globally”
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/disney-surpasses-50m-paid-subscribers-211914027.html
Everybody is watching baby Yoda and “Sleeping Beauty” (the animated version, not that live action crap).
Jeebus it’s hot. I bundled up a few bundles of branches for the tree waste trash tomorrow. If you tie it in bundles the regular weekly greenwaste guys will pick it up. If it’s in a pile you have to wait for heavy trash day. IDK if I’ll bundle the rest. IT’S HOT.
I see that BoJo is released from ICU. That’s good news and I hope it’s not premature.
I see the House of Saud is hugely over represented in the hospital admissions in SA. Sweet.
n
They are there. But they are so slow that it’s best to have them as baggers and doing carry out
Pushing carts in is work. Four carts per trip isn’t enough to keep up.
I chased 50 pigs with it Tuesday night across my property.
What’s half of the Senate doing in Texas?
You know, I have never seen a female buggy cart gatherer at HEB. Future EEOC lawsuit ?
I see girls wrangling the carts all the time at our HEB. Male cashiers too.
I worked for Publix when there were different jobs for men and women, *zero* female store managers, and very few African American full timers. That arrangement didn’t survive past ~ 1990, but the oldsters in Florida were upset when the changes first started. Plus there was a method to the madness.
I had an assistant manager explain the deal to me one night when I asked about cashier work, which was higher paid than bag boy and didn’t have to serve as the questionably-legal floor maintenance labor.
“Old people come to Publix for the pretty young white girl in the tight green uniform ringing up the groceries, a nice white boy to bag and haul the groceries out to the car, and a police white man store manager to handle the complaints. Otherwise, they’d go to Winn Dixie.”
Keep in mind this was 30 years and several lawsuits ago. Still, the Old South died hard, and the chain operated that way through the 80s. Publix didn’t even open on Sundays until the early 80s.
And the uniforms were tight on the cashiers until the founder died.
Our low today was 38; the high so far is 47. This is our third day of rain. My makeshift rain gauge, a can in the yard, shows 0.8″, but there is always evaporation to consider. Our normal annual rainfall is about 4″, so we got a lot by our standards in one storm. Everything is soaked. If we warm up (65 highs expected in a couple of days) and get some breezes, it could dry what is visible, but scratch the dirt and 0.25″ down it will be damp for a couple weeks. Our rainy season is nearly over. Deserts are different.
A week ago, our highs were in the low 70s a couple of days. Summer will come. Outdoors in Summer, I can drink a quart of water an hour and never visit the bathroom. Also never drippy. Sweat works!
I remember living in Fort Lauderdale. We used to say we could tell it was winter when it only rained once a day. Wet. Wet. Wet. Don’t miss it. Also don’t miss Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois.
I see the House of Saud is hugely over represented in the hospital admissions in SA. Sweet.
Probably hospital room reservations.
There are quite a few, including vintage, on eBay.
“16.8M Americans out of work; Easter celebrations move online”
https://apnews.com/c06a37220e461922c61bdf18c3a20c3e
And just like that, we moved from 3% unemployment to 13% unemployment.
And that is a nasty picture of a mass burial site.
““That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don’t even have the words for it,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, though he added that there are hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the number of people being hospitalized, admitted to intensive care and placed on ventilators.”
“He said the onslaught of patients has not been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so far. About 18,000 people were hospitalized, well short of the 90,000 hospital beds statewide, many of which were hurriedly lined up at a convention center and a Navy ship docked in the city.”
Incredible.
Hat tip to:
http://drudgereport.com/
Everybody is watching baby Yoda and “Sleeping Beauty” (the animated version, not that live action crap).
We let our subscription lapse after watching Baby Yoda and the decent parts of “The Imagineering Story”.
The rumors about the parks are really scary. I don’t see how Disney survives without cutting some of the recent acquisitions loose. Apple might be a better home for the Fox catalog.
More Plugs’ *gaffes and flip-flop* video masterpieces are coming out. I think the only way he saves face during the election is to drop dead. Seriously, the guy should retire and spend the rest of his life with his family. Be a Statesman. Crone Ginsburg should retire, also.
I just got ten more pages of required documents to fill out for the PPP loan. This is crazy. It is the same information over and over again.
Crone Ginsburg should retire, also.
And take her creepy SCOTUS sister with her too.
The rumors about the parks are really scary. I don’t see how Disney survives without cutting some of the recent acquisitions loose. Apple might be a better home for the Fox catalog.
Cory Doctorow used to maintain that the parks ran everything at Disney (see “Makers”). Looks like they will lead them into the poor house as the parks will probably be closed until 2021.
https://craphound.com/category/makers/
“Why Does Covid-19 Make Some People So Sick? Ask Their DNA”
https://www.wired.com/story/why-does-covid-19-make-some-people-so-sick-ask-their-dna/
“Consumer genomics company 23andMe wants to mine its database of millions of customers for clues to why the virus hits some people harder than others.”
“SARS-CoV-2, the pandemic coronavirus that surfaced for the first time in China last year, is an equal opportunity invader. If you’re a human, it wants in. Regardless of age, race, or sex, the virus appears to infect people at the same rate. Which makes sense, given that it’s a totally new pathogen against which approximately zero humans have preexisting immunity.”
“But the disease it causes, Covid-19, is more mercurial in its manifestations. Only some infected people ever get sick. Those who do experience a wide range of symptoms. Some get fever and a cough. For others it’s stomach cramps and diarrhea. Some lose their appetite. Some lose their sense of smell. Some can wait it out at home with a steady diet of fluids and The Great British Baking Show. Others drown in a sea of breathing tubes futilely forcing air into their flooded lungs. Old people, those with underlying conditions, and men make up the majority of the casualties. But not always. In the US, an alarmingly high fraction of those hospitalized with severe symptoms are adults under the age of 40. Kids, and in particular infants, aren’t invincible either.”
Cory Doctorow used to maintain that the parks ran everything at Disney (see “Makers”). Looks like they will lead them into the poor house as the parks will probably be closed until 2021.
The rumor in Florida is that EPCOT is done for a year, possibly not reopening until the 50th anniversary of Disney World. The tradeoff would be that the park would not operate as a construction zone like it has for most of the last six months.
And take her creepy SCOTUS sister with her too.
Sisters. Plural. The Wise Latina and Hermione Granger.
Ginsberg will hold out to give Biden the Payola seat to fill because if anyone is going to owe people for winning the election it will be Plugs. He’s just the figurehead for a cabal of interests.
If Trump wins, Ginsberg will dig in to take it as far out as she can. The next possible vacancy would be the Roe v. Wade seat, and Trump would have to burn a lot of political capital to plug the Catholic woman with all the kids into that nomination.
“Why Does Covid-19 Make Some People So Sick? Ask Their DNA”
If Blacks, excuse me, African-Americans are getting COVID at the disproportionate rate, do you think it might have something to do with race? Oh, I forgot, race doesn’t exist.
I’d love to see someone let that cat out of the bag.
Thomas may croak/retire at anytime. If tRump wins, Crone Ginsburg won’t make it through. She’ll either retire due to illness/feebleness or croak.
“He said the onslaught of patients has not been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so far.”
–might be that 200-250 at home deaths per day are making a difference.
n
Had a short SKYPE session with the great granddaughter. She’s doing the remainder of first grade on-line and looks forward to ZOOMING with her teachers and class. Desperately wants to go back to school. We learned her custodian has lost one coworker to the virus and has several others in hospital. We wish we could get little Addie down here with us but not till June. Fingers crossed we will all be well then.
Well, phooey. Aesop just closed comments. I understand why, but I hope he reconsiders down the road a piece.
It was getting a bit raucous with a couple of particularly strident voices.
n
given that aesop is one of the two people I credit with being ready for this pandemic I definitely will miss his comment section. Both he and I are probably too busy with real life to argue much with trolls though. I already decided not to respond to ChasinVA when he tried to put words in my mouth. I might have a week ago, but I’ve made my thinking clear, and I’ve got stuff to do. Arguing with trolls is a waste of energy and time.
n
Thomas may croak/retire at anytime.
Does Thomas have health problems? He’s only 72.
That’s Thurgood Marshall’s seat. Filling that was ugly 30 years ago. It would never get done this year, and, should they win, the cabal behind Biden would nominate Obama and dare McConnell to vote it down.
Cold front finally got here this evening. Rain and big temp drop. It’s currently 72F. What a relief.
n
I did learn more about my wife’s coworker that tested positive. She’s doing well at this point. She believes she got it from her husband, who works a a grocery store chain. He had a mild reaction and recovered without ever getting tested. She had a much worse reaction. Hopefully she’ll continue to improve.
n
If Blacks, excuse me, African-Americans are getting COVID at the disproportionate rate, do you think it might have something to do with race? Oh, I forgot, race doesn’t exist.
I’d love to see someone let that cat out of the bag.
Here in the Crescent City the media is trying to racialize the China virus crisis: “If Louisiana is only 32% black, then why are 70% of the deaths among blacks?”
Well, perhaps the fact that the majority of the deaths are in New Orleans and that the city is 70% black might have something to do with it. Viewed in that light, there’s nothing “disproportionate” about those figures at all.
But I thought race was a social construct, with no biological basis???? What???
Aren’t we always hearing that blacks and poor people have problems with health, like diabetes and obesity? Wuflu is a lot harder on people that have comorbidity issues. So… if you have a population with a lot of additional problems, you’ll see more poor outcomes. Makes sense to me.
n
(and the point that blacks are not uniformly distributed throughout the country is well spotted….)
Obama would never take the job. He’d have to work for a living. He makes a $100,000 an hour giving the same speeches he did for 8 years. Plus, he’s probably got his eyes on another McMansion.
72 would certainlly be a relief here. It is about 38 and beginning to rain again. Earlier, saw the snow level on the mountains down to about 5000 ft. Snow in April is unusual here. Rain is supposed to end mid day Friday. Yay. Sun in the PM. Double yay. Our solar heat has not seen sun for three days, and we are on $backup, plus fires the last two evenings. Where is July when we need it? 😉
Yeah my solar tiki torches in the backyard are not lit at 5am. Never saw sun yesterday.
Pool is almost overflowing. Wetest April in years. Rainfall for season is above normal and rural roads are flooded.