2021-01-06 20:40 from ParanoidDelusions
Nobody rational should accept the claim that it is a hoax at this
point, nor really - should they ever have.
True enough. My other friend, (a skiing buddy), has a son who is diametretically opposite politically.
The son calls it a hoax... then turns around and tries to "clarify" that it's, umm, err, some kind of semi-hoax... and continues on with the various forms of disinformation. His facebook page read very very angry for a while.
Everyone is always telling me about these people who think Covid is a hoax. I wish I could meet these people for myself.
2021-01-07 14:33 from nonservator
Everyone is always telling me about these people who think Covid is a
hoax. I wish I could meet these people for myself.
Agreed.
There is a lot people claiming that the response to the virus in their respective country has been overdone, when considering the actual health threat it is, but I have not personally met anybody who thinks the virus does not exist.
I am sure there are some, but it is not a widespread opinion.
My boss was admitted to a hospital today. 54ish, no previous conditions, Typically fit for his age - not a total POS... he does active things. Non smoker. Single and parties too much. Fairly anti-mask, pro-Trump. Never really a "hoaxer", but absolutely going to too many large social gatherings throughout this. We've got a friend who was, "it is a hoax," at one point - and I took a fair amount of shit for being a "Liberal sympathetic Mask wearing Californian," at the height of it. I'm not sure how bad it is. Sounds like he has been hit with a pretty bad pneumonia. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets.
I don't get this virus.
I'd agree with that.
I think a lot of people mean the same thing by "Covid is a hoax," that they mean by "Global climate change is a hoax."
It is like the two sides speak two different languages.
The hoax isn't the thing itself, it is how partisan interests manipulate the thing to their agenda that is the hoax. But no matter how much you clarify what you meant, the other side insists, "You are a science denier! You think God will just magically fix it! You are a superstitious deplorable!"
Thu Jan 07 2021 19:46:32 EST from Nurb432Virus isn't a hoax, but the reaction to it by the worlds leaders is criminal.
2021-01-07 14:33 from nonservator
Everyone is always telling me about these people who think Covid is a
hoax. I wish I could meet these people for myself.
Want me to introduce you to my uncle? I mean he literally said it was a hoax.
I am sure there are some, but it is not a widespread opinion.
I think it's widespread *in certain circles.* Waldo County Maine -- home of said uncle -- has a certain type of rural culture and very low vaccination rates.
To quote my niece's husband (COVID survivor)... "I want to tell all the non-believers.... this is no fucking joke."
2021-01-07 17:46 from ParanoidDelusions
My boss was admitted to a hospital today. 54ish, no previous
conditions, Typically fit for his age - not a total POS... he does
active things. Non smoker. Single and parties too much. Fairly
anti-mask, pro-Trump. Never really a "hoaxer", but absolutely going
to too many large social gatherings throughout this. We've got a
friend who was, "it is a hoax," at one point - and I took a fair
amount of shit for being a "Liberal sympathetic Mask wearing
Californian," at the height of it. I'm not sure how bad it is. Sounds
like he has been hit with a pretty bad pneumonia. Hopefully this is
as bad as it gets.
I don't get this virus.
Truthfully, we take a lot of precautions here. But we try to balance that with living our lives. Lockdown fatigue is a very real thing, even among those of us who are very committed to working from home for as long it takes.
I've been working from home since March. As you recall, I got sick in March, coincidentally symptoms started to get scary bad on March 12 which was the very day before NY's PAUSE order. And it was really scary for me although my SpO2 stayed in the high 90s for the most part, I was very fatigued, and delirious at times, and having problems with blood pressure and tachycardia, and just generally miserable and terrified.
Even if I was immune as a result, we didn't now that for sure, it took a long while to fully recover, and there was no way I was going to subject myself to that experience again... and I was going to try to do my part to stop transmission... so really, working from home was a no-brainer.
So since March I can count, on the fingers of one hand, the numbers of times I have been inside a building (other than my own home) for longer than it takes to go to the grocery store or buy a few things at Home Depot. And those places are pretty safe, I think. But we like to go a restaurant with a nice patio, and a few times our discipline broke down when the patio wasn't offered to us and sat inside.
We think that's probably where my girlfriend got covid last month--1 hour in a restaurant full of plexiglass dividers and with really quite few other people nearby. She works from home as much as possible, but is required to go into the office 1 or sometimes 2 days a week. Her team rotates who has to go in.
So what I'm saying, in a long winded sort of way, are a couple different things:
(1) I've said in past messages that in some cases the virus can be surprisingly hard to transmit
(2) In other cases, surprisingly easy--1 hour in a restaurant? She hadn't been to the office for almost a week prior, so this is the only exposure where the timing makes a lot of sense.
(3) I think it would take a superhuman effort for anyone to isolate well enough to avoid the virus entirely, for themselves. Eventually, most people will slip up. (My elderly mom is talking about going back to work part time, during tax season. Gah.) Everyone's going to get exposed to this eventually, but if enough people work to "flatten the curve" -- I'm fine with that.
we need that vaccine yesterday.
I don't get this virus.
Right. I mean it's kinda crazy how it affects some people not at all, and others brutally.
A friend from the Portland area had "antibiotic resistent pneumonia, probably viral" with multiple ground glass opacities throughout the month of February. Which initially, people thought that couldn't have been covid because of the timing. It was brutal for him. I spoke to him a little about some symptom details details afterward, and I do think it was covid. He had to get on a plane to go see his sick parents. Me: "It was covid. You're immune. Focus on your folks."
So since March I can count, on the fingers of one hand, the numbers of
Maybe two hands. Did I mention I'm quasi-polyamorous these days? Been to an umm "friend"'s house, or had her in my car for extended periods, a handful of times over the summer. She takes some precautions, not as many as I do, gets tested a lot. We try to do what makes sense. What boggles my mind is the do-nothing-about-it crowd. We take all the precautions we can bear to take. That's about how to sum it up.
I think the problem is there are entire circles of people who - everyone they know came out on the other side going, "It isn't even as bad as a cold," and some of them should, by media accounts, be dead.
Then there are people who know people who by media accounts, should have died, who did die.
And then there is another group, who almost everyone they know came out going, "It isn't even as bad as a cold," until ONE of them, who should have been fine, ended up on a ventilator in ICU or dead.
And that creates a lot of confusion - and the media should have addressed that more honestly, sooner - but they didn't, because they were complicit in politicizing it because they despised the particular man in the Oval Office at the time it hit.
If it had been a Democrat President in office when Covid arrived, we would all be
A: Better Informed
B: Less freaked out.
I truly believe this - and it is the biggest crime politicians have perpetuated on the public in my lifetime, that we are aware of.
Thu Jan 07 2021 21:47:28 EST from zooerTo quote my niece's husband (COVID survivor)... "I want to tell all the non-believers.... this is no fucking joke."
And it also divided the public and created the damn "Do nothing" crowd who were still having huge parties and going clubbing and engaging in hookups. They made young people feel immune at the start, too. That was a mistake. Tell the most social group in society, "You'll probably be fine," when they don't really see beyond their own sense of immortality. If we were going to lie to ANYONE to scare them, maybe teens and young adults is where we should have started.
"It'll make your pecker shrivel up and you'll start voting conservative and laughing at your dad's jokes."
And honestly, Loan Shark, despite all our ideological differences on the virus, our household is living pretty much like you are - in some ways, stricter... being a monogamous couple helps, there.
But yeah, we've had to make some trips... to California, to Chicago. By plane.
We've ate in restaurants a couple times.
But - not inside since the spike came back - even before, when it looked like it was coming back, when the scientists we don't necessarily trust and think are partisan said, "it is going to come back, harder..." and others were saying, "It is going to come back, and be bigger, but it'll be weaker..."
We err on the side of caution. I think of GW Bush and his famous, "wouldn't be prudent" approach to risk. Overall, I'm trying to play very conservative hands.
I'm 50, I've BEEN pre-diabetic - I edge in and out of it... I've been pre-hypertension... I edge in and out of it... and I've had diagnosed heart arrhythmia episodes since I was 15. I have an irregular heartbeat, I get palpation, it was diagnosed as mitral valve prolapse when I was a kid, but recently they rediagnosed that as a false diagnosis - but SOMETHING is irregular with my heartbeat.
I really don't want to give Covid a shot at seeing if it can turn a lifetime's minor annoyance into something severe or deadly.
Although - I think I may have had it in November 2018 after family visited from California for Thanksgiving.
They've caught my heart skipping a beat ONE time in 35 years on an EKG... The Doctor went, "based on every other record I've seen, we would have guessed it was in your head, but I can see what you describe *right here*"... and he showed me the line where it happened, asked if I felt it... and of course, the one time they caught it happening, I didn't even notice it.
BUT... I was in there getting the whole workup because shortly after the illness in 2018, it started acting up again for the first time in years. It is better now.
But like everything else - it is just suspicion and guesswork and probably partially wishful thinking. OR... maybe I got something ELSE that got into my heart and caused it to act up. Covid isn't the only thing that is potentially serious for a guy with a pre-existing condition like mine.
The only thing I know for certain is some day, something is going to punch my ticket. I'd rather it be later than sooner, presently - although I may live to rethink that, the way the world is going.
Just like regular flu or common cold. or most any other ailment. People react differently.
The fact that the % of severe reactions is so low, goes to show you about the overreaction that has been forced upon us. Sure, dont be stupid and use some common sense, just like you should due during a normal flu season anyway, but you dont hide in your house in fear and shut down the world. Will we lose a few people anyway? ya, but we do that with everything else too. Its just part of life, there are no guarantees.
Thu Jan 07 2021 22:03:49 EST from LoanSharkI don't get this virus.
Right. I mean it's kinda crazy how it affects some people not at all, and others brutally.
A friend from the Portland area had "antibiotic resistent pneumonia, probably viral" with multiple ground glass opacities throughout the month of February. Which initially, people thought that couldn't have been covid because of the timing. It was brutal for him. I spoke to him a little about some symptom details details afterward, and I do think it was covid. He had to get on a plane to go see his sick parents. Me: "It was covid. You're immune. Focus on your folks."
Ironically, except for work we pretty much live like this anyway. Not a fan of people, so we rarely go out to 'do stuff', beyond shopping for food and stuff. Walk or drive to the park and such, but its just me and a dog, not a flesh and germ party or something.
No one ever comes visit here either. But that is normal for us. Perhaps visit family a couple times a year.
For me, working from home 100% is a great thing and not really a 'hardship' like its is for some and a good thing. ( and i'm still working, i realize some are not anymore, that is different ). It used to be ~25% until march of last year so other than the duration and volume ( from a few thousand to nearly 50000 ), so not a new concept for our office either. Even at the office, in our department, most of us keep to our selves most of the time. Of course there is interaction, but i doubt as much as many offices. Other than project meetings, most of us have 'stuff' to do that is between us and the terminal. Most of our communication is via email or my ticketing system.
Fri Jan 08 2021 01:07:31 EST from ParanoidDelusionsAnd honestly, Loan Shark, despite all our ideological differences on the virus, our household is living pretty much like you are - in some ways, stricter... being a monogamous couple helps, there.
Fri Jan 08 2021 12:52:18 AM EST from ParanoidDelusionsI think the problem is...
Thu Jan 07 2021 21:47:28 EST from zooerTo quote my niece's husband (COVID survivor)... "I want to tell all the non-believers.... this is no fucking joke."
They live in South Carolina, which doesn't have a mask mandate and seemed very relaxed about the issue. No one seemed to be worried about it.
He caught it from one of his employees, that person tested positive but came to work, wearing a mask. He didn't stay long, he needed to pick something up. The employee only had minor symptoms.
No one seemed to be worried about spreading it, no one seemed to be worried about contracting it. (until they did)
When my niece was giving birth to her daughter in May, she had friends take care of her two other children. It wasn't as if they were social distancing or worried about spreading it. Her husband was the only one allowed into the hospital, one visitor only.
2021-01-07 21:47 from zooer
To quote my niece's husband (COVID survivor)... "I want to tell all
the non-believers.... this is no fucking joke."
Yeah, the whole thing is weird.
I got it and didn't realize I had it til I got tested. Same for my family .
Then some 18 yo gets it end develops permanent lung damage.