Corona Thread |OT| Nu variant, who dis?

[Bebpo]

Whew. Just got back from a state park hike and it was like Fourth of July out there. Every parking spot filled and every picnic table and grill packed with multiple families. Dozens of biker convoys 15 people deep driving through.

Quarantine is over.

 :'(

[thisismyusername]

Work today only had a whopping two people show-up for 4 of us sitting there full-time.

Thank you so much higher-ups for wasting my time. But hey, at least I get paid to shitpost on Twitter for the hours.

Speaking of Wal-mart: Able to go in and check phones.

Want to make sure to buy it unlocked, go to Best Buy: Totally closed and need to order online/Curbside Pickup.

On one hand: Good for Best Buy for protecting their employees. On the other: I wanted to get the fucking replacement phone today since my current one is "healthcare battery plz"-ing from 80 to 30% in like 4 hours (and getting weaker). But now I need to order from NewEgg or Amazon (ugh) and hopefully 1-day deliver it.

i actually meant to stop by best buy some time to get a phone myself. stores like target were open but i dunno if BB is as well.


might not be the right thread for it, but since we're on the topic of phones....apple or android? 

It might be just mine due to county ordinances. But you might want to order online and call ahead to make sure just in case.

I couldn't tell you which is best. I'm strictly an Android person. No Andy, No Googie.

[Madrun Badrun]

My schadenfreude is really high right now for the US.  It's like you guys tried really hard for a month and a half and you did you best but it just not you.  And instead of trying to change who you guys are, you just embraced a corona-positive lifestyle and now post about how great and life-changing it is on Instagram.   

[Oblivion]

in my part of L.A. people are still taking seriously. at least so far, thankfully

[Oblivion]

Speaking of Wal-mart: Able to go in and check phones.

Want to make sure to buy it unlocked, go to Best Buy: Totally closed and need to order online/Curbside Pickup.

On one hand: Good for Best Buy for protecting their employees. On the other: I wanted to get the fucking replacement phone today since my current one is "healthcare battery plz"-ing from 80 to 30% in like 4 hours (and getting weaker). But now I need to order from NewEgg or Amazon (ugh) and hopefully 1-day deliver it.

i actually meant to stop by best buy some time to get a phone myself. stores like target were open but i dunno if BB is as well.


might not be the right thread for it, but since we're on the topic of phones....apple or android? 

It might be just mine due to county ordinances. But you might want to order online and call ahead to make sure just in case.

I couldn't tell you which is best. I'm strictly an Android person. No Andy, No Googie.

i'm a google fanboy myself, and was looking to get a pixel.

on the other hand, i'd be lying if the iphone doesn't look pretty sick. i may make the jump if i could find a good deal

[Madrun Badrun]

Ontario isn't really doing much better - we are about to open up but really I feel like we should be waiting another 2-4 weeks

https://covid-19-status.ca/on.html

Quebec is the only place in Canada that doesn't seem to have it under control and I feel like most other provinces, other than Ontario could open up.  I kind of feel like if the Maritimes and Manitoba wait they could actually get to a containment stage. 

[Bebpo]

My schadenfreude is really high right now for the US.  It's like you guys tried really hard for a month and a half and you did you best but it just not you.  And instead of trying to change who you guys are, you just embraced a corona-positive lifestyle and now post about how great and life-changing it is on Instagram.

Yeah, pretty much.

[Oblivion]

My schadenfreude is really high right now for the US.  It's like you guys tried really hard for a month and a half and you did you best but it just not you.  And instead of trying to change who you guys are, you just embraced a corona-positive lifestyle and now post about how great and life-changing it is on Instagram.

we all just collectively sort of decided the rona went away

and thus it did

[Nintex]

My schadenfreude is really high right now for the US.  It's like you guys tried really hard for a month and a half and you did you best but it just not you.  And instead of trying to change who you guys are, you just embraced a corona-positive lifestyle and now post about how great and life-changing it is on Instagram.

I'm not even surprised. This is often compared to a wartime situation and this is how the USA has behaved in nearly all wartime situations.
The only example of the US not going all in in recent history is Syria and if you go back further in time probably the Cuban missile crisis.

WW1
French: "Don't just run at the German machine guns, they'll tear you to shreds it's better to...."
USA: "COWARDS, You're just too weak to break the German lines, let's go boys! USA USA!"

WW2
Churchill: "You see Italy is the soft underbelly of Europe, if we land there then..."
USA: "No, we'll liberate France, the liberation starts there, we'll just drop our para boys behind enemy lines and straight up attack their most heavily defended beach fortifications FOR LIBERTY"

WW2 Part II
Soviet Union: "We will now join you in your battle to fight Japan it is too dangerous to attack them directly, we first need to take out their puppet states"
USA: "We'll just nuke em, fuck yeah"

Korea
South Korea: "Well this is hopeless, we can't beat the communists"
USA: "Don't worry, we'll push them back into CHINA!"
McArthur: "How about we nuke the Chinese?"
Truman: "Ok dude, time-out"

Vietnam
France: "It is impossible to impose our will on these people, we're outta here"
USA: "COWARDS, you just need some more NAPALM"

Serbia
Germany: "Declaring Kosovo a state will really upset the Russians, they see this as an attack on their backyard, there is a long history that...."
USA: "Serbians can eat shit, Kosovo is now FREE bitches"

Afghanistan
Russia: "So this is where the Taliban camps are but just in and out, I wouldn't stay there bad idea"
USA: "Those guys can't do shit. We'll win this in 2 weeks, trust us"

Iraq
UN: "It is probably a really bad idea even if Saddam has nukes, our inspections so far don't show anything alarming"
USA: "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED*"

Libya
Russia: "Well, it would be terrible if that city would turn into a killing field. So we agree that action should be undertaken to defend it"
USA: "RAPING QADDAFI IN A DITCH AFTER DROPPING F16 BOMBS ON HIS ASS AND HILLARY LAUGHING ABOUT IT ON TV IS BASICALLY DEFENSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT"

Syria
Russia: "Arming these terrorists is a really bad idea"
USA: "Surely these guys can't be worse than Assad?"

Ukraine
EU: "We must be careful, you will probably upset the balance of power in the region, who knows what Putin will do and we're not sure the opposition can be trusted..."
USA: "FUCK THE EU! FUCK PUTIN! UKRAINE FREE!"

So to me it is no surprise that in this 'war' the US wants to have the most masks, ventilators, vaccines and at the same time open the earliest.

[CatsCatsCats]

So you’re saying the 3 months being added in the back end will be significantly more expensive to me than if I just pay now? I did enroll, because as I saw it in the terms, I can still pay it on time and it will be processed normally if I choose, so nothing to lose getting it squared away.

Obviously I don't know the details of your loan, but when I worked in the loans (and granted it was student loans) biz, forbearances were a scam to let extra interest accrue and add it to the backend of the principle and squeeze more money out of you in the end. I saw people double the total of their loans using up forbearance time.

I’ll definitely have to run numbers before I skip a payment then, thx

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/jc_bradbury/status/1261800352229318656

[Positive Touch]

My schadenfreude is really high right now for the US.  It's like you guys tried really hard for a month and a half and you did you best but it just not you.  And instead of trying to change who you guys are, you just embraced a corona-positive lifestyle and now post about how great and life-changing it is on Instagram.   

at this point there's not much to do besides sit back and watch people die. i know it sounds evil as hell but i hope that as the bodies pile up it'll be those who decided to be reckless and not those who wanted to be safe but couldn't.

it really, honestly, blows my mind though. like it was unreal to me that the country just decided to accept that being a victim of daily mass shootings was ok, but being completely ok with knowing that you might randomly get struck down by the fucking plague is so absurd that i don't think any of us would have ever considered it possible. it all feels hopelessly idiotic.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/chrisredreports/status/1261815620066144256

[Mandark]

Someone in this thread quoted Ioannidis a while back but I'm not going to say who it was cause Leadbelly would get defensive about it.

[Phoenix Dark]

https://twitter.com/hunterw/status/1261701460384985089

[Mandark]

Feels like we're headed towards some weird middle of the road response, where enough people start going out that we can't get control of the virus, but enough people stay careful that the economy (especially restaurants/hospitality/airlines) doesn't rebound, and the semi-reopening makes the political leadership complacent about the money printer going brrrrr.

So we get to have a half-assed public health response AND a half-assed fiscal response.

[toku]

thoughts and prayers tho

[team filler]

the tales of apocalypse throughout human history were only wishful thinking 

[ToxicAdam]

https://twitter.com/karenkasler/status/1261801923021361154?


Patio bars are open in Ohio. All are packed tonight.

[Coffee Dog]

The vulnerable are protecting themselves, but out here the rest of them aren't concerned for just too many different reasons; repub brainworms, dont think its worse than flu, got antsy staying home, resistance to big govmint, and just a generally stupid out of sight out of mind. If there was more of a response federally I think this could be contained somewhat, but in absence of that we simply have many different americans with many different truths, the only throughline being that it's a neighbor's problem but never your own. People are dying at the altar of Truthiness. 

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1261838849396715520

Grain of salt and all that

[Phoenix Dark]

https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1261629370726301696

We made it! No more deaths.

[Madrun Badrun]

US is now at 1.5 mil cases and 90k reported deaths. 

[Madrun Badrun]

It also basically guarantees at least 200k deaths before this is over.

[Tripon]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/asia/zhong-nanshan-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html

China still faces the "big challenge" of a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, the country's top respiratory authority has warned, with the lack of immunity among the community a serious concern as the race to develop a vaccine continues.

Dr. Zhong Nanshan, the Chinese government's senior medical adviser and the public face of the country's fight against Covid-19, also confirmed in an exclusive interview with CNN on Saturday that local authorities in Wuhan, the city where the novel coronavirus was first reported in December, had suppressed key details about the magnitude of the initial outbreak.
China has reported more than 82,000 coronavirus cases, with at least 4,633 deaths, according to data from the country's National Health Commission (NHC). The number of new infections surged quickly in late January, prompting city lockdowns and nationwide travel bans.

By early February, China was reporting as many as 3,887 fresh cases a day. A month later, however, daily cases had dropped into the double digits -- while in the US, the number of daily infections skyrocketed, from 47 new cases on March 6 to 22,562 by the end of the month.

Having now largely contained the virus, life in China is slowly returning to normal. Lockdowns have eased and some schools and factories have reopened across the country.

Zhong is known as the "SARS hero" in China for combating the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003. This time around, he has led the country's coronavirus response -- especially in the critical early stages of the outbreak.
On January 20, it was Zhong who confirmed on state broadcaster CCTV that the coronavirus can be transmitted between people, after Wuhan health authorities had maintained for weeks that there was no clear evidence for human-to-human transmission, and that the outbreak was "preventable and controllable."
Heading a team of experts dispatched by the NHC to investigate the initial outbreak, Zhong visited Wuhan on January 18. He said that upon his arrival, he received many calls from doctors and former students, warning him that the situation was much worse than the official reports had claimed.

"The local authorities, they didn't like to tell the truth at that time," Zhong said.
"At the very beginning they kept silent, and then I said probably we have (a larger) number of people being infected."

Zhong said he became suspicious when the number of officially reported cases in Wuhan remained at 41 for more than 10 days -- despite infections emerging overseas.
"I didn't believe that result, so I (kept) asking and then, you have to give me the real number," he said. "I suppose they are very reluctant to answer my question."

[Great Rumbler]

-Russia will pass Spain tomorrow for 2nd most cases worldwide, they also had their worst day for deaths today.
-Brazil jumped into 4th place and had the most daily cases outside of the US, deaths have averaged 800 per day for the past 5 days.
-India and Peru are both ramping up in terms of new cases and are likely next up to be global hotspots.

[Madrun Badrun]

https://globalnews.ca/news/6952623/new-brunswick-covid-19-update-may-16/

All 120 COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick have now recovered

[Positive Touch]

completely shocked to see that the worst-hit countries are all run by fascist morons who promote doing whatever the fuck you want at the expense of society

[Occam]

What's with the title? More than 300,000 have died worldwide.

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/GapToothGinny/status/1261802488786595841

 

[Nintex]

Charlie Brooker breaks it all down in Antiviral Wipe
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hi5G7kvo9Fs1kDXImc2Wyzu1BWZeGA5c/view
 

[Oblivion]

https://twitter.com/debdrens/status/1261798123418128384?

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/TimesofIsrael/status/1260386662162378752

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many observant Jews have found themselves forced to confront the theological implications of a plague that has subverted popular assumptions regarding reward and punishment.

Ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel have seen the lion’s share of infections and deaths from COVID-19, at the same time as Jewish communities abroad have been disproportionately affected, with high infection rates in Hasidic neighborhoods from New York to London.

The high rate of infection in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods was all the more shocking to some in the wake of early assurances by community leaders that their religious observance would provide divine protection.

As the virus began to spread in Israel, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the foremost leader of Lithuanian ultra-Orthodoxy, announced through a spokesman that study halls should remain open, as “canceling Torah study is more dangerous than coronavirus.”

Taking their cue from Kanievsky, some members of the community at first assumed that not only did they not have to take drastic steps to staunch the spread of the virus, but that they were essentially immune.

“The Torah protects us. We don’t need to do anything,” one yeshiva student said at the time.

On Sunday, reflecting the zeitgeist in his community, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri called on Israel’s ultra-Orthodox to take stock of their actions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to do very deep soul-searching,” the ultra-Orthodox politician said, asserting that God was “telling us something.”

Several days earlier, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian branch of non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodoxy, told followers that their community was bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because secular Jews weren’t as prone to divine retribution as the religious, whose sins are judged more harshly by God.

[Bebpo]

Man, I just can't even anymore.
I used to be surprised that Trump was elected president and we have so many idiots running government positions.

But seeing people and communities reactions to Covid-19, crowded bars, protests to open up and die,
the lack of people giving a shit about voting and electing competent people makes sense,

Americans just, as a whole, don't give a shit about anything besides themselves.


When this whole pandemic is done, if I make it through this, even if Biden wins and is trying to fix some stuff with the dems, I think I'm gonna really look into the requirements to make the move to Canada and become a citizen.

[bork]

Americans just, as a whole, don't give a shit about anything besides themselves.


When this whole pandemic is done, if I make it through this, even if Biden wins and is trying to fix some stuff with the dems, I think I'm gonna really look into the requirements to make the move to Canada and become a citizen.

People being stupid and only giving a shit about themselves is not just an American thing.

[nachobro]

americans that don't care are just getting more news coverage is how i see it, people that stay home don't make for good headlines.

at least here its a minority of overall people that are being dicks and the majority seem to be following the guidelines and wearing masks, social distancing, etc.

[bork]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

[Tripon]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

I think that's going to be one of the bigger takeaways here, is that yeah, maybe people should start living in their own plot of land that isn't shared instead of in the city in large apartment/condo complexes.


----

[Ghoul]

America basically:

hahahahahaha How The Fuck is Corona Real Hahahaha, Nicca Just Walk Outside, Just Close Your Mouth Hahahahaha

[Nintex]

To me it seems like a lot of people want to do the right thing but find it very difficult as this drags on longer. There's no 'feedback' so to speak that shows you that staying home is a good thing. I don't at all find it strange that people want to go out again.
Especially the more social, outgoing types. And once you're out the door and you distance, well what is all the fuss about?

Scientists and doctors are also not great at giving 'straight' answers because this is a new virus and they simply don't know how long it takes to develop a vaccine, what sort of cure will work, who is vulnerable and/or how exactly it is and isn't transmitted etc. .
In a consumer based society that is based on 'instant gratification' their methods and explanations simply don't give the answers people expect. And as they learn more about the virus at the same time their recommendations, projections and answers change. Which makes them 'unreliable'.

Most governments try to 'fix' this by doing visible things like order masks, increase the number of tests, set-up emergency hospitals etc. because those are practical things that people can see.
In a way this reminds me of McNamara reporting on the Vietnam war. He would have all these statistics and numbers to show that 'yes', the US was winning the war.
From the number of enemies KIA to the amount of sorties and bombs used etc. . And even though 'on paper' they were winning it, the sentiment was very different. Both in the US itself as well as among the Vietcong.

Trump and other heads of state are saying that they're winning. But are they though? We don't really know until we start to open up.
Some people indeed agree that we won and things should re-open (or they didn't believe the virus was a big deal anyway), others think governments the world over are just 'out of options' and simply have no choice but to open up their economies again as this will drag on for years. And finally there's a group that feels that if we open up now it will be disaster and we should at least wait another 2 - 3 months.

I'm confident that the measures like social distancing, not shaking-hands etc. on a global scale will reduce the spread.
But keeping everyone inside for much longer will likely make matters worse for the health and welfare of many people in the long run.

It's a difficult situation and I don't think you can just call people 'stupid' for wanting to go back to work or back to their lives.

[Bebpo]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

I don't know man, I hear you and I've always felt like I could retire a bit further out since outside social friends I just mail order everything anyhow.

But if you're in some rural area, you're still going to interact with your community when you're in town doing things and if you think people there are gonna be better about things like covid than in a city...I just feel that's an unrealistic expectation.

[bork]

To me it seems like a lot of people want to do the right thing but find it very difficult as this drags on longer. There's no 'feedback' so to speak that shows you that staying home is a good thing. I don't at all find it strange that people want to go out again.
Especially the more social, outgoing types. And once you're out the door and you distance, well what is all the fuss about?

.....

I'm confident that the measures like social distancing, not shaking-hands etc. on a global scale will reduce the spread.
But keeping everyone inside for much longer will likely make matters worse for the health and welfare of many people in the long run.

It's a difficult situation and I don't think you can just call people 'stupid' for wanting to go back to work or back to their lives.

They're stupid- they're not social distancing and are acting like this situation is over with. 

[bork]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

I don't know man, I hear you and I've always felt like I could retire a bit further out since outside social friends I just mail order everything anyhow.

But if you're in some rural area, you're still going to interact with your community when you're in town doing things and if you think people there are gonna be better about things like covid than in a city...I just feel that's an unrealistic expectation.

This is true, but there would still be generally less people out and about.  Am not thinking just COVID here, either- I want to get away from crowds and especially the awful traffic and crazy highways where I live.  I'm kind of stuck where I am for now, however, and am making the best of it.  At least where I live is generally pretty quiet.

[Bebpo]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

I don't know man, I hear you and I've always felt like I could retire a bit further out since outside social friends I just mail order everything anyhow.

But if you're in some rural area, you're still going to interact with your community when you're in town doing things and if you think people there are gonna be better about things like covid than in a city...I just feel that's an unrealistic expectation.

This is true, but there would still be generally less people out and about.  Am not thinking just COVID here, either- I want to get away from crowds and especially the awful traffic and crazy highways where I live.  I'm kind of stuck where I am for now, however, and am making the best of it.  At least where I live is generally pretty quiet.

Yeah, I'm just thinking about Covid right now.

But still, I live in a fairly old boomers red small city and there's Obama hitler signs everywhere and neighbors complaining about "those damned asians bringing their virus" and all kinds of bullshit. I'd imagine a small midwest town would be pretty similar. Every time you're in town and try to have a conversation with someone, you just gotta nod and get away as soon as you can.

I like that in cities when I talk to people often they're pretty reasonable, liberal and and easier to get along with.

[Oblivion]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

i'm the opposite. i wanted to move far away into rural parts when i was younger but warmed up to city life once i realized that driving 20 miles to the nearest grocery store might be a pain in the ass. of course, i grew up in a grungy, dirty neighborhood which initially colored my perceptions of city life.

[Bebpo]

One thing that sucks about Covid-19 is I'm probably going to lose another group of irl friends because of it. I had a friend group for 3-5 years that fell apart because relationship drama stuff and then I went a couple years with no social friend group outside online and it was depressing. I made a new friend group about 3 years ago and we've been really good and tight, but the last couple months has been rough and I'm getting more and more distanced from my friends.

The problem is my friends are mostly being dumb about covid-19 and since they won't listen to reason I've basically been not talking much with them. Once things open up a bit more soon, they'll be out and about at bars, restaurants, doing social stuff like nothing changed, etc... and I'm going to be not going to any of that and all their chat is gonna be about planning outtings and stuff and I'm gonna ignore all that since no point anymore in me trying to bring reason in. So basically I'm gonna get left behind and in a year or whatever if hopefully there is a vaccine and we're all past this and I get back to going out again, it'll be like "hey there kids" and haven't seen them for a year and will be an outsider now.

Like they all went out and did a 30th birthday taco party last night playing games outdoors and things and I was the only one in our friend group that didn't go.

I guess this is the down side that I usually hang irl with people about 5-10 years younger and people under 35 just aren't taking this seriously.

[bork]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

i'm the opposite. i wanted to move far away into rural parts when i was younger but warmed up to city life once i realized that driving 20 miles to the nearest grocery store might be a pain in the ass. of course, i grew up in a grungy, dirty neighborhood which initially colored my perceptions of city life.

I wouldn't want to live that far out, either.  I'm OK with a smaller city.  For reference I live in ATL and moving even to a neighboring city in Georgia would probably work for me.  Or just further out.  As much I like the convenience of being close enough to where I work, I'd be up for a longer drive to live out in a less crowded area. 

I actually like where I am until I have to get on the highway, lol.

[bork]

One thing that sucks about Covid-19 is I'm probably going to lose another group of irl friends because of it. I had a friend group for 3-5 years that fell apart because relationship drama stuff and then I went a couple years with no social friend group outside online and it was depressing. I made a new friend group about 3 years ago and we've been really good and tight, but the last couple months has been rough and I'm getting more and more distanced from my friends.

The problem is my friends are mostly being dumb about covid-19 and since they won't listen to reason I've basically been not talking much with them. Once things open up a bit more soon, they'll be out and about at bars, restaurants, doing social stuff like nothing changed, etc... and I'm going to be not going to any of that and all their chat is gonna be about planning outtings and stuff and I'm gonna ignore all that since no point anymore in me trying to bring reason in. So basically I'm gonna get left behind and in a year or whatever if hopefully there is a vaccine and we're all past this and I get back to going out again, it'll be like "hey there kids" and haven't seen them for a year and will be an outsider now.

Like they all went out and did a 30th birthday taco party last night playing games outdoors and things and I was the only one in our friend group that didn't go.

I guess this is the down side that I usually hang irl with people about 5-10 years younger and people under 35 just aren't taking this seriously.

Things are very different for me.  I'm a social hermit and don't see friends very often anymore, either due to people having moved away, had kids, or both.  And now with a kid on the way in a few months I'm not going to have time for socializing anyway.

[bork]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

I don't know man, I hear you and I've always felt like I could retire a bit further out since outside social friends I just mail order everything anyhow.

But if you're in some rural area, you're still going to interact with your community when you're in town doing things and if you think people there are gonna be better about things like covid than in a city...I just feel that's an unrealistic expectation.

This is true, but there would still be generally less people out and about.  Am not thinking just COVID here, either- I want to get away from crowds and especially the awful traffic and crazy highways where I live.  I'm kind of stuck where I am for now, however, and am making the best of it.  At least where I live is generally pretty quiet.

Yeah, I'm just thinking about Covid right now.

But still, I live in a fairly old boomers red small city and there's Obama hitler signs everywhere and neighbors complaining about "those damned asians bringing their virus" and all kinds of bullshit. I'd imagine a small midwest town would be pretty similar. Every time you're in town and try to have a conversation with someone, you just gotta nod and get away as soon as you can.

I like that in cities when I talk to people often they're pretty reasonable, liberal and and easier to get along with.

How is it that I live in the south and don't have that kind of dumb shit going on with my neighbors?  Guess I'm closer to the city than I thought.

[Bebpo]

One thing that sucks about Covid-19 is I'm probably going to lose another group of irl friends because of it. I had a friend group for 3-5 years that fell apart because relationship drama stuff and then I went a couple years with no social friend group outside online and it was depressing. I made a new friend group about 3 years ago and we've been really good and tight, but the last couple months has been rough and I'm getting more and more distanced from my friends.

The problem is my friends are mostly being dumb about covid-19 and since they won't listen to reason I've basically been not talking much with them. Once things open up a bit more soon, they'll be out and about at bars, restaurants, doing social stuff like nothing changed, etc... and I'm going to be not going to any of that and all their chat is gonna be about planning outtings and stuff and I'm gonna ignore all that since no point anymore in me trying to bring reason in. So basically I'm gonna get left behind and in a year or whatever if hopefully there is a vaccine and we're all past this and I get back to going out again, it'll be like "hey there kids" and haven't seen them for a year and will be an outsider now.

Like they all went out and did a 30th birthday taco party last night playing games outdoors and things and I was the only one in our friend group that didn't go.

I guess this is the down side that I usually hang irl with people about 5-10 years younger and people under 35 just aren't taking this seriously.

Things are very different for me.  I'm a social hermit and don't see friends very often anymore, either due to people having moved away, had kids, or both.  And now with a kid on the way in a few months I'm not going to have time for socializing anyway.

Yeah, that's normal. If I was married and/or had kids I probably wouldn't have much of a social irl friend group outside some drinking/movie buddies.

For me having an active social life and friends is great for expanding interests, having support group, getting introduced to new single people and improving social skills, so it's an important part of my life that I'll need to get back on track when this is all over. I mean it especially comes up when I'm dating and it gives me lots of things to talk about because I'm organizing all these horror events and social stuff in addition to my hobbies/work/self-care.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/epsilon3141/status/1261787762107322369

[Positive Touch]

go to a bar nintex

[Tripon]

What this pandemic has done is further cement the idea to get the hell away from a big city and go live further out, away from the crowds and general idiocy.  When I was younger, I wanted to live in the city.  Now, at almost 40, it's the exact opposite- just give me some fast enough Internets and I'm good.

i'm the opposite. i wanted to move far away into rural parts when i was younger but warmed up to city life once i realized that driving 20 miles to the nearest grocery store might be a pain in the ass. of course, i grew up in a grungy, dirty neighborhood which initially colored my perceptions of city life.

I wouldn't want to live that far out, either.  I'm OK with a smaller city.  For reference I live in ATL and moving even to a neighboring city in Georgia would probably work for me.  Or just further out.  As much I like the convenience of being close enough to where I work, I'd be up for a longer drive to live out in a less crowded area. 

I actually like where I am until I have to get on the highway, lol.

Yeah, it's a bit different in L.A. since most of the smaller cities in the area are still interconnected where the boundaries are literally different streets. You'll have to go to the outskirts of the county in order to find areas that aren't developed yet, and the other issue is that there's no cheap area for people with the suburb cities costing just as much or even more than living in L.A. proper. to move to even if they wanted to.  We'll see in 6 months if house bubble pops and thousands of households can't pay their mortgages or renters can't pay their rent, which means landlords can't pay their mortgages, etc.



 

[Flannel Boy]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MarkLevineNYC/status/1262047082808033283

[Great Rumbler]

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/hhs-secretary-says-trumps-warp-speed-vaccine-may-not-be-safe-and-effective-but-well-have-it/

We’re going to scale up commercial manufacturing and produce hundreds of millions of doses at risk. They may not pan out, they may not prove to be safe and effective but we’ll have it so we can begin administration right away.”

The fuck is wrong with this country

I'll just continue to stay home, thank you very much.

[Tripon]

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/aprettyPR/status/1262032954982875136

[team filler]

went by a park that had previously blocked off all benches and tables to keep people from gathering. all the yellow tape has been taken down and people were gathered sitting around like normal again 

at the center of empire we are not used to being inconvenienced and certainly not for an extended period of time. we're fucked, brehs 

[Tripon]

The Texas Department of Health reported Saturday there are more than 47,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state, with over 1,800 new cases reported Saturday. It is the largest single-day increase in confirmed cases in Texas since the pandemic began.

There were 33 additional deaths reported Saturday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the Lone Star State to 1,305.

Meanwhile, Texas is moving forward with plans to reopen. On Monday, gyms can open with 25% capacity, and they must space equipment and provide cleaning products throughout the gym, CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reports. Nonessential manufacturing and work offices can reopen with 25% capacity as well.     

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1262145782041456640
https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1262029906512404480
https://twitter.com/ChristineCSE/status/1262045144804712448

[Leadbelly]

Wave 2 is gonna hit kids and Trump will still be on TV talking about how schools need to be open immediately

"I don't want people to think this is all dependent on a vaccine," he said. "Vaccine or no vaccine, we're back. And we're starting the process."

"In many cases they don't have vaccines and a virus or a flu comes and you fight through it," he added. "Other things have never had a vaccine and they go away."

"I think the schools should be back in the fall [autumn]," Mr Trump continued.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52685487


He doesn't explicitly say it, but I interpret this to mean there isn't going to be another lockdown. But then Trump says a lot of things, and then forgets he said it at a later date. lol