Coronavirus

[Rommie]

Do y'all pay for heat? Cause if not, leave the window open as much as possible, or at least if you're going to use them. Seriously, it's probably better than nothing, I'd probably do that even if I was paying for heat.

[lady_*nix]

@Rommie

We do pay for heat, and this house is chilly during winter at the best of times. And also very expensive to heat even under the best of circumstances.

Honestly, this place kind of sucks, and I would have liked to find something better maintained and less expensive, but... I didn't have much choice.

(Long story; but I basically had a choice between breaking the lease on my last place, or being an accessory to something illegal and dangerous for everyone. I can give details by DM if you want, but suffice to say it was a really thorny situation and I chose the best course of action I saw available.)

[Rommie]

Harvard decided last week that if you now leave the state for any reason, even to a less risk area, you need to quarantine at home for a bit. Which I agree with considering the state of things out in the world, but it does mean I can't go sit in the woods in New Hampshire and not talk to anyone for Thanksgiving. However, I noticed that if you have essential work that can only be done on campus, you can minimize the 14 day period to a 7 day one, where you take 1 test the day you return to MA, then one 6 days after. Decided to write and ask if I could qualify, because right now I have some data to reduce that can only be done on the Harvard Internet because mine sucks at home (and hangs if I try to log into the machine in New Mexico the data is one). I could definitely entertain myself with other work for two weeks if needed, but hey it's 2020 I'm used to it... come into work this morning, and I have 4 tests on my desk! (One for this week, two for testing next week, then one for... extra? I don't know.)

Yeah, this is 100% what privilege looks like during an epidemic. I really wish I could give them to someone else (even my husband) but they're tied to my account via a bar code on the vial, so not really possible. I also know testing capacity goes down for Harvard next week anyway as the students all go home. So I mean, now that I have them I'm gonna use them, but I sure wish everyone could get tested so easily!

[SciFiFisher]

Harvard decided last week that if you now leave the state for any reason, even to a less risk area, you need to quarantine at home for a bit. Which I agree with considering the state of things out in the world, but it does mean I can't go sit in the woods in New Hampshire and not talk to anyone for Thanksgiving. However, I noticed that if you have essential work that can only be done on campus, you can minimize the 14 day period to a 7 day one, where you take 1 test the day you return to MA, then one 6 days after. Decided to write and ask if I could qualify, because right now I have some data to reduce that can only be done on the Harvard Internet because mine sucks at home (and hangs if I try to log into the machine in New Mexico the data is one). I could definitely entertain myself with other work for two weeks if needed, but hey it's 2020 I'm used to it... come into work this morning, and I have 4 tests on my desk! (One for this week, two for testing next week, then one for... extra? I don't know.)

Yeah, this is 100% what privilege looks like during an epidemic. I really wish I could give them to someone else (even my husband) but they're tied to my account via a bar code on the vial, so not really possible. I also know testing capacity goes down for Harvard next week anyway as the students all go home. So I mean, now that I have them I'm gonna use them, but I sure wish everyone could get tested so easily!

[lady_*nix]

Pandemic hot take: any chain retailers that have storefront Black Friday sales today, instead of limiting it to online, should get their CEOs and top 20 shareholders thrown in prison for a couple decades.

I know it won't happen. I know it can't happen. But a girl can dream, and these fuckers are going to be responsible for far, far more deaths than anyone left in Gitmo.

[lady_*nix]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... ts-confirm

This is good. However:

Moderna’s vaccine is said to be stable for a month at ordinary fridge temperatures once out of the freezer, but the cost will be prohibitive in many parts of the world. In August, the company said it was charging $32 (£24) to $37 a dose and defended its right to make commercial returns. The Oxford vaccine will cost less than £3 ($4) a dose.

The correct answer to this is, "Use state power to force them to play nice, at gunpoint if necessary." That is always the correct answer to companies pulling this kind of bullshit during a natural disaster. But obviously the US cannot be expected to do that - not under Trump, not under Biden, not under anyone, because we're just that much in love with our individualist eugenics fantasies.

[pumpkinpi]

Here's a typical day for me. Up at 6:40am, a half hour quiet time on my own until I get the kids up at 7:10, breakfast, morning walk with Roster, then get ready for the day. So I start my workday around 8am. By about 3:30 I am FRIED! That is shorter than a typical work day so I have been wondering why I can't last very long. But of course I can't forget, I'm also a schoolday facilitator. So that's about 1.5 FTE within those hours. I'm not actually sitting next to the kids doing their work. But I have to make sure Rooster gets on her meetings* at 8:30, 9:15, 10:00, and 12:30 (plus 12:00 on Tuesdays), make them lunch, and deal with them coming out of their rooms when they finish between 2-3 and asking "Can I use the ipad/my PC" and then fighting with them to get them to do their chores and go outside before they can have any screen time. And I never have a typical work day. A meeting-light day is when I have only 3, and they are NEVER at the same time. The problem is, I complain that I rarely have more than an hour free to be able to do any deep thinking work. But then when I do have a couple three hours, I'm just roadblocked. I don't know how to focus on deep work anymore.

*Rooster just doesn't have the focus to keep an eye on the clock and get herself on meetings. We've tried a lot of different things. I have reminders on my google calendar to check in with her, but that means I have to interrupt whatever I'm doing. So we're going to try something new. I got her a fitbit and I'm going to program alarms for each of her meetings. I hope that works!

(I just love fitbit alarms. I use it to wake up in the morning, and let me tell you it's so nice to wake up to a buzzing pattern on my wrist as opposed to a blaring alarm clock. (Yes, we still have one of those brown plastic clock radios.))

[code monkey]

that's quite the juggling act you have, pumpkin pi, and just reading it is exhausting!

could you set up a child-appropriate electronic calendar for her and appeal to her sense of autonomy? i.e. you're so grownup! you keep track of your meetings just like mom!!

another possibility would be to track behavior. what you do is pick a few behaviors that you want to encourage (always be positive.). then every day that the child exhibits the behavior, e/she gets a checkmark. a week of checkmarks = a reward. the reward can be some stickers, getting to choose a film you watch together or what's for dinner. it need not be anything major. it's a reward! separate charts and separate behaviors for the 2 as you don't want too much competition between them. however, if there's something that they're supposed to do together think about a joint chart. this method does seem like a pain but it works. very well.

how about involving them in the lunch prep? surely they can spread peanut butter on bread, rinse off an apple etc. a bonus - all sorts of arithmetic lessons lurk in the kitchen!

[pumpkinpi]

Totally switching gears:
I posted this on facebook last week, and it's coming true.
"If you're traveling for the holidays, understand that care systems are at capacity *before* a likely series of spikes in the next 8 weeks. It's not just COVID, it's recognizing that our care systems won't be able to care for *anyone*."

My momhad a brain scan that revealed signs of a small stroke, and the dr wants a full neurological workup because there's indication she could have a bigger one. She went to the er last night but guess what--they didn't have a bed for her. She waited in the waiting room, with my dad in the car, for like 5 hours before checking herself out because she was tired. (It was like 10pm, her day started with the MRI at 8am, radiation following, then going back home. It's an hour drive to the hospital.)

She had more radiation this morning, then talked to the doctor (on the phone AFTER getting back home) and they told her, go back now. But my mom's tired and needs to rest before going in again.

This really sucks. My mom is as stubborn as shit and my dad is weak and enables her. (I mean, I love them to death, these are just two not so great qualities to have right now.) If she doesn't want to go him, he can't make her.

So I know she's in for another long wait in the er which SUCKS! It would suck in normal times but compound that with covid, I don't know how she'll get through it.

My parents are also pie inthe sky right now, my dad said "she'll get through this." I said no, she could die. He really needs to hear it. He knows it but he doesn't want to admit it. We have to give them tough love right now. My sister is 20 minutes away but can't do a thing but talk to them on the phone. So it's like she's as far away as I am.

[Rommie]

Oh my goodness, that is so awful and sounds terrible to go through for all involved. I really hope your mom gets the care she needs.

[pumpkinpi]

Small update, with elaboration over in MotherPi thread. They got a call from the neurologist who said that it's not as serious as the original person who read it said, so instead of going to the ER she has an appointment on Dec 16. Everyone's breathing a bit easier now.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Late to the party. Good to hear about your mom's condition being better than what you thought

[lady_*nix]

I'm so sorry, pumpkinpi. Very glad your mom's situation wasn't as bad as feared, but wow, this is horrible. I hope she and your dad come through okay.

[SciFiFisher]

A small bit of good news. The UK started giving people over 80 their version of the vaccine for COVID starting today. Or maybe it is yesterday now.

[Rommie]

No it was today! And the second person vaccinated was legit named William "Bill" Shakespeare. I guess being 400 years old is a high risk factor.

Saw the FDA report basically states that you have high enough antibodies after 10 days from the first jab, and the second is just a booster to keep it going strong. Great news if that holds true; we just need to hope people go for the booster.

Also, as an aside, I'm kind of surprised how many of my friends are hesitant about the vaccine in conversation. Not the scientists, but a lot of "we don't really know the long term risks" or "this was done so fast" or even some "Trump was in charge so can you really trust it if it's approved by his FDA?" The latter I like because yes, obviously Trump is in charge of all the regulatory authorities across Earth. The other two, well, I hope people come around more once it's a few months into people getting vaccinated (as none of my hesitant friends would qualify to get it in the first waves anyway). Like seriously, you know what legit has plenty of long term health risks for about 10% of people who get it even if you're young and healthy, and 1% chance of death. The coronavirus!

I should probably find more empathy, but it just seems so strange to me that you could have lived through the last nine months and think to yourself "you know what, I'd prefer to take my chances with the virus over the vaccine."

[pumpkinpi]

I've come up with a new term (which I'm sure plenty of other people have too). We should call the people who are both anti-mask and anti-vax "pro-covid."

[code monkey]

I've come up with a new term (which I'm sure plenty of other people have too). We should call the people who are both anti-mask and anti-vax "pro-covid."

wonderful!

[lady_*nix]

One of the things we've learned, and need to not forget: COVID is curable, if you're rich enough and loyal enough to Donald Trump.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... tail-trump

Notice how Giuliani was going maskless when he had it? Notice how Trump made himself a walking superspreader event? This is not an accident. These guys know that they will probably survive COVID and other people will likely not, so they deliberately spread it while they're infected.

Again, we need to stop thinking in terms of incompetence and stupidity, and instead think in terms of malice, bad faith, and democide.

[Rommie]

So, whose area announced their vaccine plans yet? Massachusetts did yesterday and it's roughly what I expected, I'll get it April-June.

The joke is someone noticed that if you have a comorbidity you get it earlier in March, and if you have two you get it in February, so time to take up smoking and gain 20 lbs!

The one part I'm a little skeptical about right now is they currently say the vaccine will be free to everyone. I'm still incredibly skeptical that all the wealthy biotech industry guys are going to patiently wait their turn, and that come February it won't turn out some people are paying to get theirs early or something. Like at first I was happy about seeing my parents can get theirs in February if Florida follows MA standards, then remembered who are we kidding, they'll be auctioning off the first spots to the highest bidders!

I guess we will see. My big hope is that well before April we will start to see some important factors falling off like people dying from it.

[lady_*nix]

@Rommie

That so much re "free for everyone". I literally jumped out of my chair and shouted in joy and relief when I saw that, but still don't trust them to follow through.

Hmm. I do have at least two comorbidities (asthma and autoimmune stuff, I might also qualify as obese depending). Kind of doubt I'll be able to get the vaccine as early as Feb though; and honestly not sure if I should as far as ethics, since the doses are limited and I have the privilege to isolate. Also, honestly, the problem is going to be surviving January.

TBH I'm also kind of shocked that they're handing out vaccines for those with comorbidities first, like... wow. The acceptance of eugenics has gotten so widespread, it surprises me now when govts (even on a state level) put the safety of the most vulnerable first, instead of just writing them off. (And most especially for people with obesity, smoking habits, type II diabetes etc. where the powers that be can just be like "LOL that's your fault, go die in a corner.")

IDK. This country has gotten so sadism-crazy, it's sometimes hard to remember that our leaders ever behave decently.

[lady_*nix]

Welp, looks like MA is pretty fucked right now.

[Rommie]

Well I mean, it's Massachusetts, which is definitely one of the most liberal leaning states in the nation and arguably the leading center for biotech/medicine. I hate to say it but I would be surprised if everywhere follows the same.

I'd say talk to your doctor, and take it whenever they say you can/should. My cousin married an epidemiologist and says this is going to be a nightmare because even if well-meaning people think "I can wait longer!" or whatever, it's still a huge headache for them in terms of a phased rollout in terms of their planning. Because each stage of a rollout has different considerations etc. I mean yeah you might not qualify to be first in line for the comorbidities, but medical professionals will know better than we do about where you fall in terms of need.

Plus from hearing about your roommates, yeah, just get the vaccine when you can for peace of mind of those around you, I say.

Re: case count, yeah the wastewater numbers also def indicate it's as bad if not worse than spring. I think the one saving grace is I heard one of the local experts say they're obviously concerned but it's not as dire as in spring because they have been preparing for this exact thing for months (and the real concern in MA is less Boston, being the medical capital it is, than the small hospitals like in the Berkshires or wherever where they are far more likely to run out of qualified people). I guess we'll see.

[pumpkinpi]

I don't see MN's rollout plans yet. I did take a rudimentary test from the Washington post, I think, where you type in your county, age, and risk level, and according to that I'd get it next fall. But I'll wait for MN's plan to be able to refine that.

So there are a bunch of things that need to be communicated right now--is the vaccine safe, how effective is it, when will I get it. But what I'm not seeing discussion about at all is the end game: when will things get back to normal*? Because if you are vaccinated in April, that doesn't mean you can now go do everything you could pre-covid**. I just haven't heard any sense of what it will take to get to that point, any more than a general we need to reach X% herd immunity. I'm betting the experts don't really know yet. Because we don't know how many pro-covids out there won't get the vaccine, which will delay the process. That's the education campaign we need now. "By taking this vaccine, you are doing your part to re-open the country."


*I know, there will be no getting back to normal life as we knew it; that's yet another education campaign to come.

**Hypothetical you, not Rommie. As above, I'm coming from the perspective of the average Joe who thinks too simply about things. We need to be speaking their language.

[pumpkinpi]

Welp, looks like MA is pretty fucked right now.

Am I reading this right, that MA is starting to approach 4K? MN just passed that, but from the other direction. We peaked at over 7K a month ago, today we're at 3500. Here's my resource:
https://www.startribune.com/coronavirus-covid-19-minnesota-tracker-map-county-data/568712601/

For comparison, MA's population is 7 million, MN's is 5.6 million.

[SciFiFisher]

I know that there are a lot of considerations about who should get the vaccine and when. There are also huge logistical issues that have to be dealt with. I am not champing at the bit to get in line for a vaccine but that's because I have the luxury of being able to work from home 100% now. My kiddo is still doing remote learning. My spouse is attending college online. The only consistent exposure we probably get currently is four other children that our boy is friends with who live nearby. And so far, knocking on formica, they have not shown any symptoms.

We rarely go inside a store anymore. We mostly do curbside delivery. Hell, even the pizza place has curbside delivery. And to be frank even before COVID our social circle was pretty limited. Most of the people we would want to spend time with are not local and the few that are for one reason or another we didn't see much of them pre-covid. The only real exposure events we went to regularly pre-covid was shopping, movies, and the occasional air travel. I hate to say it but I am rather glad I retired from the Army Reserves in 2017 as that would have been a huge exposure issue.

I also note that I am hearing that people with significant allergy issues are being told to avoid the vaccine.

I don't distrust the vaccine(s) because of Trump. I am slightly leery of them because beta testing and good data sets are not yet finalized. Yesterday the outside panel that gave the green light to approve the vaccine did not do so with total consensus. At least two of the panel were concerned about giving the vaccine to anyone younger than 18 apparently. Two others were not vocal about why they didn't like the idea of approving it.

To anyone reading this I am NOT saying don't get the vaccine. I am saying that each person should evaluate the possible benefits vs the risks and with the advice of a medical professional who is NOT willing to endorse a darwinian solution decide what is the best thing for them.

I am saying I have the luxury of being able to wait. And that is not a bad thing.