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1. With Covid-19 doing the exponential growth thing
... I'm reminding people that we all need to do our imitation of Howie Mandel, washing our hands like someone with OCD. Or the Karate Kid 2020 - soap on, soap off ... soap on, soap off.
2. Unless you're Mike Pence, We've known that smoking kills
... but now we have evidence from China and Italy that smokers are much more likely to be infected and die. More in this thread. In a way it's poetic justice - we've known for 70 years that smoking isn't healthy, and all those smokers that set shitty examples for the next generations are now dying off. So, okay boomers, FOAD, like you've condemned future generations to.
3. All these sports events cancelled - oh my, what will I do?
Same as always, except with better programs on TV, because I could never see the point of rooting for professional sports teams, most of whom don't even live in the city they're "playing for." Good riddance, NHL. Playoffs well into spring? Yeah, yeah, it's all about the money ...
4. And speaking of absolutely useless, pointless sporting events - CANCEL THE OLYMPICS ALREADY.
It's not like I'm the only one saying it.
5 Finally, I'm happy to note that all those idiots saying that they're going on another cruise soon because way more people die of the flu have changed their tune
... too bad I can't rub it in because they're in isolation for two weeks from their most recent cruise. Why do people have a hard time understanding exponential growth anyway?
It's not that hard. Here's a question most people won't get, and will say it's a "trick question." It's from a Reader's Digest for kids book from 50+ years ago:
Q. A beaker contains one bacteria, that doubles every minute. It is full after one hour. At what time will it be half full?
Most people say 30 minutes, then bitch and moan that at 59 minutes MUST be the wrong answer.
Have fun trying to explain why their answer is wrong ...
6. Good things about the current outbreak part One
Less cold and flu going around as people wash their hands more, People are more aware. Hopefully, this will be at least one change that will "take".
7 Giving Away Hand Sanitizer
Last winter we got a few pallets of hand sanitizer, 70% alcohol. I ended up with 6 bottles over the course of the next few months, as did many of us. So a week ago today I had a meeting at a clinic, and I noticed that NOBODY was using hand sanitizer and people were going into the back offices for meetings several times a minute, and that door handle saw LOTS of action.
When I saw my social worker (she's helping me deal with life's challenges as someone with visual handicaps) I took the two bottles out, said "Take your pick - hand sanitizer, and they're both 70% alcohol." I mentioned that there are probably 200 people an hour using that doorknob, and no hand sanitizer. Told her that she can keep it, but that she should hide it because otherwise it's going to disappear really quickly. That's what happens when people share offices several days a week.
Personally, I'd have also brought my own spare mouse and keyboard. Or my own laptop, instead of using the office one. But I guess that's what phones are for, right? And hand sanitizer. And latex gloves. And (as someone pointed out), a piece of saran wrap when you have to use the keypad on an ATM or card reader to enter your pin. Or a plastic lunch bag.
I carry my own pen around all the time now, because you KNOW where those other pens have been. Ditto for utility knife (for boxes). Same with black marker.
8. Good things about the outbreak part 2 - Montreal Introduces Free Bus Rides
Today the mayor announced that passengers will enter and exit the buses by the rear door, and since there's no bus pass reader at the rear door, bus rides are essentially free. So unless you have to take the subway and go through the turnstiles, you are riding for free. Sucks if you already paid for a monthly pass, but great if you have a reloadable card for multiple individual trips.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday March 18 2020, @03:02AM (3 children)
The city can still have inspectors that check whether you have a valid pass after you are already on the bus, and then find you if you don't.
Happened to me after I entered a metro station a few years back. Fortunately I still had my pass. In the days with paper transfers it would have been easy to throw it away, not realising you might still need it.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:31PM (2 children)
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(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday March 18 2020, @01:32PM (1 child)
Yes, that's a problem. Maybe the pass-scanning machines should talk.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday March 19 2020, @05:10PM
Do you remember when Super C introduced talking "Welcome to Super C" speakers as you entered, and talking scaners when the cashier was scanning stuff in? You might have missed it, because it died a well-deserved death. Really annoying. Probably also created a toxic work environment for the workers.
I'm not about to ask bus drivers and other passengers to put up with the noise for every passenger who gets on when I can just ask the bus driver (well, can't ask now, have to avoid contact with the bus driver, but such is life).
I could have just loaded it on the phone and used NFC, but why encourage them to track people. When I bought a new card a couple of months ago (the 4-year "expiry date" of the chip is totally bogus) they wanted me to register it "for my convenience if I lose it." What convenience? If I lose it, I'll never see it again, and I'd have to buy another one before I got it back if it were turned in later on. Let whoever finds it count on their good fortune.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 18 2020, @12:35PM
Fortunately, I don't have to, because it turns out burden of proof is not a thing.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 18 2020, @06:13PM (7 children)
Alton Brown explains why washing you hands is better than sanitizer anyway. [youtube.com]
I thought it was kinda interesting/funny.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday March 21 2020, @09:47PM (6 children)
Unfortunately, that video is private. At least, it was private when I tried it just now.
The reason for the efficacy of soap and water, so I've been told, is that the covid-19 virus has a lipid shell. And the one thing that soap and water are good at is dissolving lipids.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday March 22 2020, @12:09AM (2 children)
Video? What video? I didn't link to any video.
I have to laugh at the Quebec government's multiple contradictory responses. The latest was launching a site specifically for covid-19 a week ago, with heavy advertising on french TV. Worked fine 2 days ago, now doesn't seem to exist. Probably because they were telling people 70 and over that it's okay to take a walk as long as you distance yourself from everyone else, and now they're changing the messaging again.
My suggestion to everyone is to get a dog and walk it - even in places with strict rules, you're allowed to walk a dog (even the Quebec government says as long as you confine yourself to withing 2 km of your home). Of course they'll change that too, not because of any new evidence to the contrary, but to "maintain consistency in messaging."
I wish they'd make decisions solely based on science, because there's no evidence that anyone is in heightened danger in the middle of an empty field. Or outside as long as you maintain your distance and keep your hands to yourself instead of touching contaminated surfaces.
Anyway, good luck either way. It's going to take a year or more to settle out, and there's no way you can keep the population indoors that long - especially when delivery people are going to be a major vector of virus transmission.
Instead of "show me the money", soon it will be "show me your (latex or nitrile) gloves."
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(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday March 22 2020, @04:53AM (1 child)
Looks like I replied to the wrong comment by mistake.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday March 23 2020, @11:33PM
Don't worry - I keep checking my nose, still on skin off it :-) Stay healthy. We're classified by the government as an essential service, just as half the volunteers aren't showing up because of their concerns, so I won't be replying in a timely manner for the duration of the crisis, which by my estimation will be a year or more. By the time a vaccine is available, most people won't need it - they'll either be exposed and have no or a very mild response, an acute response, or be dead.
All these assholes crowding in stores and emptying the shelves (because shopping is an integral part of their daily routine in our consumer society) and having "coronaparties" ...
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(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday March 22 2020, @12:14AM (2 children)
So ignore the TV when they say you can't. Obviously, there are time constraints on the level of detail they can go into in a tv ad, and interviews tend to go all over the place instead of focusing on this issue.
The weather is going to be nice enough that I'm putting the patio chairs on the balcony again Tuesday. Enjoy the spring. It's the reward for putting up with the 6 months of winter and 5 months of construction season.
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(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday March 22 2020, @06:19PM (1 child)
When I checked this morning, they were forecasting snow for Tuesday. But Ednesday starts a warmer spell.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday March 22 2020, @06:40PM
True, but with a high of +2, I can always throw on a jacket and sit on the balcony with the dogs and do the Vulcan / Jedi / Yoda mind trick and pretend it's nice out - at least until a gust of wind comes along.
So funny, got a call from my boss, she wanted to know if I was still willing to go in Monday. Sure, why not? Turns out that there are not multiple reports that most of the deaths of people with "underlying health conditions" were obese or morbidly obese (in other words, badly managed type 2 diabetes). And most of them were smokers. So well-controlled type 1, never smoked, if I catch it I probably won't even notice it. Turns out that in some countries there are plenty of sub-clinical cases out there, in others there aren't, so who knows? Maybe in some countries almost everyone who catches it gets really sick?
Just got a call confirming I'm going in in an hour to set up, and the guy asked me if we were still opening Monday. We've shut down everything except the food bank, which is classified as an essential service, so yes. We just don't let the clients in, even though in theory we could as long as we respect the 2 metres apart rules, because we don't want to take the risk - let them wait outside and pick up their stuff outside, for everyone's good health. If they're too ignorant to respect the 2 metre separation requirement outside (like a lot of people still seem to be packing the stores - must be the hunger for toilet paper drives them nuts) that's on them.
Gotta say, I don't see much traffic on the streets, but I do see "the young and stupid" walking in groups in close proximity.
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