How is Coronavirus affecting you?

Well, another aspect of this is how the US lets practically anyone walk about packing a gun.

 

One doesn't necessarily exclude the other. On the news this morning, every time they commented on the "poor air quality" they were also careful to explain that included the smoke from the fires because the equipment everyone uses isn't set up to determine which particulates in the air are from the fires and which are from the normal causes.

 

It certainly would make sense that there would be a connection between a respiratory disease and air pollution which compromises our respiratory system. Two years ago we had a very bad fire season up here and the winds blew south. Our neighbours in Washington state were very mad at Canada for causing the stress so I guess this is payback. We normally have very good air quality here in the city. Once in while we will get an inversion and it degrades for a few days. But our winds normally blow east so all of our city pollution is blown out into the rural valley and our rural neighbours usually have poorer air quality than us.

 

I see that Allegheny County (southwestern Pennsylvania, surrounding Pittsburgh) is red. I don't understand where the air pollution is coming from. I was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Allegheny County. My great-grandfather settled there on emigrating from Darmstadt in 1859, so I know about the area. When I was born (in the early 1950's) there was a thriving steel industry there. It began to collapse in the 1970's and is pretty much dead now, along with the coal-fired furnaces that pumped smoke into the air 24/7.
I know that many of my generation fled in what I call "the Western Pennsylvania Diaspora". I can picture it as a hot-bed of COVID, what with the inverted demographic pyramid resulting from the Boomers bailing, but it's hard to imagine it as a hot bed of air pollution these days.

 

The other map, I've shown before, was better:



Covid19, June

 

265.014 conf. cases, 235.100 recovered (minimum), 9.367 dead, here.

 

I noticed my county, Montour, was also red, which has me perplexed.

 

more than once someone cut me in queue here just because I kept safe distance following the marking on the floor, or while I keep distance to the person infront of me, someone behind me literally breathing on my neck, and arguing would beat the purpose, so I now try to stand sideway while in queue with one hand on my waist and elbow out at least I have some distance, or if I do groceries I pull the shopping cart/ basket behind me while queuing on the cashier.

 

There are now seven deaths linked to this Maine wedding due to ignoring Maine and CDC guidelines, it's on the front page of CNN, has nationwide coverage yet still no sanctions, punishments or criminal charges other than a slap on the wrist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/heal...sSq_7d2ozh1i2xNlniiRUCdus5ipFA9IqREHZvKzPTQOk

 

Looks to me like Montana and the western parts of the Dakotas are the places to be

 

It is one thing to question in February or March and wonder if "this thing" is as serious as people are claiming. To stand here in August knowing 200,000 American have died from this disease and attend a wedding, motorcycle rally, or other large recreational gathering is incredibly callous and selfish.

 

This a Germany-map from March, but it's one of the more useful maps, showing the reality of the spread. Only Bremen, Berlin and Hamburg are not more hotspots, now!



I'm in a Mark 3 to 5 area.

 

Only Nordrhein-Westfalen, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen and Bayern represent over the half of total German Population and are the powerhouse of German industry.

 

Apparently the Brits are panic-buying turkeys in case people panic-buy turkeys should there be a second national lockdown.

 

I never really understood these types of reactions. Particularly here in the U.S. when the Great Toiletpaper Spree of 2020 happened. It fascinated me because of the psychology behind people's behaviors. I was also perplexed because I kept thinking to myself, "This isn't a blizzard, ice storm, flood, etc. The roads are *open*." So, a part of me has come to the conclusion that, on some deep psychological level, this toilet paper schtick, has become some sort pf "automatic survival response" that's "programmed" into people. By this, I mean, with all the weather type responses, so many, rather than stopping and thinking about this, went into automatic mode and behaved that way. It's like a "default setting" psychologically.

And speaking of which...I was very happy to get some decent toilet paper after the last few months. Yay.

 

With winter fast approaching and cold weather already here in Maine, does anyone have suggestions for pandemic-safe frigid socializing?

Lizzie, does The Strand have any plans for staying open this winter?

 

I wish I knew. All we've done over the past six months is streaming, the drive in, and the radio show. There's no official word on when we're actually going to reopen. I'm working in the building as kind of a night light -- doing maintenance and making arrangements for things that will need to happen inside before we can reopen -- but the upper management hasn't committed to an actual reopening date. The longer this goes on the more worried I am about having a job -- with the "paycheck protection" loan having run out, we're starting to lay people off as of the end of this month -- but the decision on reopening will have to come from upstairs, and with no criteria laid out for how and when that decision will be made, I'm completely in the dark.

The multiplex has reopened up the road, but they aren't showing anything I'd pay to see. I'm curious to go, though, just to see what their operating arrangements are.

 

During WWII, there was a phenomenon of people seeing lines outside stores, and then joining them, without understanding what the line was for. The assumption was that some scarce item had arrived in stock, and they'd better get their share while they could. We didn't reach quite that level in the present unpleasantness, but the I think it's the same psychology. You see other people hoarding and you feel like you better do it too, or you'll be left out.

 

Well. I am a really healthy person. Never smoked. Kind of looked after what I was eating. Never seen a hospital from the inside. Until COVID. Caught from a neighbour. Had 4 days between the first symptom and my induced coma, which lasted for about 15 days. Survived, just, with a rather shattered lounge. But improved really well, until last week. Heart stroke due the Corona infection.

Am I the norm? No. But listening to remarks in regard to a 2% mortality rate. Playing things cool just to be sounding cool is actually something that I have difficulties with Believing in it being an investor game. Well? Fact is one can die from it. The spanish flue was certainly more deadly, but imagine we would have had the same medical supports and the same social understanding of prevention. How many millions would have survived?

The above was not supposed to be snippy. But it is the reality. Everything else is just opinons. Sorry

 

Do you still have your fur coat stored in the attic? Restaurants here are keeping their patios open and 'winterizing' them with coverings and propane heaters. This and a fur coat and you are all set!