Quiet times

[Mims]

A month ago I put myself in social isolation/distancing feeling the kind of anxiety I do went I I know there is a hurricane headed this way. I try to control that anxiety by staying busy with preparations but can’t go to bed til I have checked the last hurricane update and repeat as soon as I wake up. Have followed the same strategy with Covid-19. Two weeks ago that anxiety changed to the numb feeling you get when you wake to check the latest forecast and see that not only are you in the cone but the center line is going right over your head. There is nothing to do but wait and even though you know the wait is going to be only days or hours it can seem interminable. But there is always in the back of your mind the hope that it could veer just enough and I try to focus on how great it will feel to go outside in the bright sunshine hugging and hi-fiving neighbors as they make their way outside.

Yesterday my hurricane Anxiety/fear reactions left to be replaced by what I call an “On The Beach” reaction. Not a good feeling at all. It’s not just me in the center of the cone but family and friends in many different states, people all over the world and “it’ is coming to all of us. And I now have a different understanding of interminable.

Before anybody calls social services or law enforcement to come do a welfare check on my mental status, I am feeling much better this evening and I am only a text or phone call away from family and friends - And there have been a whole lot of those calls and texts. The highlight of the day was when my son called to let me know my granddaughters were on their way with a food delivery. Ribs, just off the grill, potato salad, baked beans and a loaf of banana bread. I waited for them on the front porch and they left the bag at the end of the walkway and I actually had some real person to person inter-action and conversation(far enough a way to be safe)and could wave at them as they circled around the driveway and out to the road.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, dim though it may be. Be strong, be safe. We have to, and can, make it through that tunnel.

And now I’m going to listen to some bill withers.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by Quoth

A cord with address at the end out the window. Your end to a bell.
Let down a basket on a rope using a pulley.
It's a system that's worked ever since multistorey was invented thousands of years ago. The rope is also useful as an escape route.

Obviously no use if your window doesn't overlook the main access street.

My apartment is on the back of the building.

[lxpose]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This XKCD is very relevant to what's going on now.

Attachment 178101

Thank you. I liked it.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Mims

A month ago I put myself in social isolation/distancing feeling the kind of anxiety I do went I I know there is a hurricane headed this way. I try to control that anxiety by staying busy with preparations but can’t go to bed til I have checked the last hurricane update and repeat as soon as I wake up. Have followed the same strategy with Covid-19. Two weeks ago that anxiety changed to the numb feeling you get when you wake to check the latest forecast and see that not only are you in the cone but the center line is going right over your head. There is nothing to do but wait and even though you know the wait is going to be only days or hours it can seem interminable. But there is always in the back of your mind the hope that it could veer just enough and I try to focus on how great it will feel to go outside in the bright sunshine hugging and hi-fiving neighbors as they make their way outside.

Yesterday my hurricane Anxiety/fear reactions left to be replaced by what I call an “On The Beach” reaction. Not a good feeling at all. It’s not just me in the center of the cone but family and friends in many different states, people all over the world and “it’ is coming to all of us. And I now have a different understanding of interminable.

Before anybody calls social services or law enforcement to come do a welfare check on my mental status, I am feeling much better this evening and I am only a text or phone call away from family and friends - And there have been a whole lot of those calls and texts. The highlight of the day was when my son called to let me know my granddaughters were on their way with a food delivery. Ribs, just off the grill, potato salad, baked beans and a loaf of banana bread. I waited for them on the front porch and they left the bag at the end of the walkway and I actually had some real person to person inter-action and conversation(far enough a way to be safe)and could wave at them as they circled around the driveway and out to the road.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, dim though it may be. Be strong, be safe. We have to, and can, make it through that tunnel.

And now I’m going to listen to some bill withers.

Glad that you are close enough to family to get a hand delivered care package.

My SIL's daughter and grandkids are up in Vermont/up state NY (technically they live in upstate NY, but right across the border from Vermont and work in Vermont). She is comfortable with staying in touch via social media/texting/phone calls, but my mother has trouble understanding what people say on the telephone these days, so they will sometimes do a video chat with my mother so she can see and talk with the great grand kids. I think that helps a lot.

[mlewis78]

Originally Posted by Greg Anos

It depends on what you are testing. The test you are quoting for for viral assay. Functioning, able to reproduce virus. The longer test was looking for RNA on surfaces, not necessarily functioning virus.

Different standards.

Plus temperature makes a big difference. The colder, the longer it remains potent. Apparently above 45-50 C, it denatures.

It is very warm in Florida. South Florida is around 90 degrees for past few weeks. They have a lot of COVID-19 and deaths as well. Why weren't they spared during 90 degree weather?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

It is very warm in Florida. South Florida is around 90 degrees for past few weeks. They have a lot of COVID-19 and deaths as well. Why weren't they spared during 90 degree weather?

Because too many did not take precautions against person to person spread.

[Mims]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

It is very warm in Florida. South Florida is around 90 degrees for past few weeks. They have a lot of COVID-19 and deaths as well. Why weren't they spared during 90 degree weather?

You have to remember that symptomatic persons getting tested may have been infected up to 14 days before they became symptomatic and a lot of people who came to Florida to party may have brought the virus with them from cooler climes, spread it around (droplet spread, contact spread) and gone back home before they showed any symptoms. And in Florida, air conditioned hotel rooms, restaurants, etc are more likely to have the temp set at 60F than 100F.

Also the people dying from covid-19 May have contracted the virus 2-4 weeks before they die. What was the temp then?

I’m pretty sure there were lots of spring breakers sharing hotel rooms with multiple friends. And parents sharing one room with a couple of kids. So definitely no distancing. Colds and flu spread more easily in the winter, not just because those viruses recycle then, but because it is colder and people spend more time inside together so more chance for direct spread by droplet and contact. So crowding -inside or outside- is always conducive to spread of disease.

[Mims]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Glad that you are close enough to family to get a hand delivered care package.

My SIL's daughter and grandkids are up in Vermont/up state NY (technically they live in upstate NY, but right across the border from Vermont and work in Vermont). She is comfortable with staying in touch via social media/texting/phone calls, but my mother has trouble understanding what people say on the telephone these days, so they will sometimes do a video chat with my mother so she can see and talk with the great grand kids. I think that helps a lot.

I have 2 grandkids in MA, 1 in NYC, 1 in Maryland and 2 in Florida. It is much easier to communicate these days. I grew up as an army brat at a time when only the direst emergency would warrant a long distance call much less a transatlantic one. I still have letters that I received from my grandmothers all those years ago. When one grandmother died, my aunt returned a stack of letters to me that my grandmother had kept. Of course, lots of those letters contained photos, announcements, etc.

My granddaughter in Maryland was very anxious a couple of days ago after going to the grocery store. She says people were crowded together, bumping or backing into each other and seemed totally unconcerned with distancing. I sent her the instructions for DIY masks. My recommendation was to paint Rocky Horror lips on the mask and practice the Time Warp- just a jump to the left....then a step to right. I think it helped to lower her anxiety a little. Today she sent a pic of a rainbow outside her apt. Made me smile.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Mims

I have 2 grandkids in MA, 1 in NYC, 1 in Maryland and 2 in Florida. It is much easier to communicate these days. I grew up as an army brat at a time when only the direst emergency would warrant a long distance call much less a transatlantic one. I still have letters that I received from my grandmothers all those years ago. When one grandmother died, my aunt returned a stack of letters to me that my grandmother had kept. Of course, lots of those letters contained photos, announcements, etc.

My granddaughter in Maryland was very anxious a couple of days ago after going to the grocery store. She says people were crowded together, bumping or backing into each other and seemed totally unconcerned with distancing. I sent her the instructions for DIY masks. My recommendation was to paint Rocky Horror lips on the mask and practice the Time Warp- just a jump to the left....then a step to right. I think it helped to lower her anxiety a little. Today she sent a pic of a rainbow outside her apt. Made me smile.

There is a certain Police song that is starting to make the rounds again - "Don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me"

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Mims

You have to remember that symptomatic persons getting tested may have been infected up to 14 days before they became symptomatic and a lot of people who came to Florida to party may have brought the virus with them from cooler climes, spread it around (droplet spread, contact spread) and gone back home before they showed any symptoms. And in Florida, air conditioned hotel rooms, restaurants, etc are more likely to have the temp set at 60F than 100F.

Also the people dying from covid-19 May have contracted the virus 2-4 weeks before they die. What was the temp then?

I’m pretty sure there were lots of spring breakers sharing hotel rooms with multiple friends. And parents sharing one room with a couple of kids. So definitely no distancing. Colds and flu spread more easily in the winter, not just because those viruses recycle then, but because it is colder and people spend more time inside together so more chance for direct spread by droplet and contact. So crowding -inside or outside- is always conducive to spread of disease.

What about Louisiana? Do you think it's the same thing there? What about Iraq?

Shari

[pdurrant]

I'm safely back home after a trip to the supermarket. With a bit of luck I won't need to go out again for another month.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

There is a certain Police song that is starting to make the rounds again - "Don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me"

The Police and Oingo Boingo. Love them both, but the lyrics to some of their songs...

On the other hand, when Sting went solo and started writing all these sappy, happy songs I lost interest in him

[ZodWallop]

Speaking of old media that is newly relevant, yesterday I picked up a free copy of Daniel Dafoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Anybody read that yet?

[Robusto]

I tried to create a thread in the Onyx forum, but it disappeared. Any idea why that might have happened? I'm trying to figure out how to take my BOOX Note2 apart so I can remove the microphone. Are modifications that void the warranty off limits on mobile read?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Speaking of old media that is newly relevant, yesterday I picked up a free copy of Daniel Dafoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Anybody read that yet?

Hmm looks interesting, but it's no longer free. Still, later editions are only 1$.