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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?

*SPOILER* (click to show) *SPOILER* (click to hide)

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.