How is Coronavirus affecting you?

Well, it is happening again here. The news is now reporting the dreaded 'second wave' is nigh so sure enough the line ups at Costco have resumed. They are limiting one bale of toilet paper per person and the pallets are empty soon after opening. I went yesterday, in ignorance of the impending armageddon, for my weekly shopping. The line up was around the building so I kept on driving to my local super market. No line ups there.

 

The only second wave we can sure of is round 2 of the media scare campaign.

 

See KellyAnne Conway tested positive. Her husband will not be pleased.
Still working from home (as is the wife) and view the locals as being disease vectors as it has hit my little town. It was just a matter of time, really, and it can spread so quickly.
I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my guitar collection and am on the hunt for a reasonably priced Gibson Firebird VII. The seller I'm working with is on the fence about actually taking my money, it's one of those deals.
After the trauma of Molly Dog's death the wife rebounded with Marty, a miniature poodle. This little bundle of energy looks like it should take batteries.

 

The coronacircus isn't bad news for everyone, the world's billionaires have seen their wealth increase by over 25% during the crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...is-boosts-the-fortunes-of-worlds-billionaires

 

Typical. No matter what, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

 

I think we're a few days away from a second lockdown in the UK. Authorities don't want it because of the expense, but if people won't play by the rules and take proper precautions.... We're staying indoors until a vaccine arrives. It's not much of a sacrifice really for a few more months. All my teaching is online at least until Christmas; I'll be surprised if that changes now.

 

Walking into the grocery store this noon, I happened to notice a flaxen-haired rictus-grinning woman of about thirty-five trailing a knot of six flaxen-haired, rictus-grinning identically dressed girls ranging from their early teens to kindergarten-age. And none of them were masked. The Front Line Hero stationed at the door pointed at the "Masks Required" sign, and asked in a friendly tone "Need masks today?" And Mrs. Rictus grinned thru clenched white teeth and said "No, thank you." And she breezed on into the store, her daughters trailing behind her like they were tied to a string.

All righty then. It's a small town, and I know very well who these folks are -- they're adherents of an ultra-fundamentalist sect called "Quiverfull," who drive around town in a van covered with Bible quotes and stand on the street handing out tracts to anybody who'll take them. Their cult teaches that the role and purpose of women is to produce as many children as possible for as long as possible, thereby to create "an Army for God" which will one day rise up and bring a literal real-world theocracy to America. And apparently, masking up is a sign of unfaithfulness to that god.

Well. If a grown woman wants to spend her life LARPing "The Handmaid's Tale" this is her own affair. And if she wants to believe her cult's teaching that COVID is a snare of the Devil, that's her own affair too. But seems to me endangering a whole brood of children this way is not "freedom" at all, not for the kids themselves. Contrary to what they may teach and believe, children are not property, and the State has every right -- and obligation -- to intervene to protect their safety. Let alone the safety of all the rest of us poor infidel slobs in the store just trying to get our paper and our cat food without worrying about what they might be tracking in with them just for the sake of proving a theologically-dubious point.

The stores won't enforce the mask rules against such people because they're afraid of being sued for religious discrimination. Well, I'd gladly pledge my business for life to any store that would have the guts to say "bring it on, we're doing the right thing."

 

In old Germany, the mask obligation does apply basically, BUT the signed "supplying contract" of every supermarket/grocery store applies, too. So it's handled different.

 

I will pray for you!

 

This is very sad and tragic, Lizzie.
It makes me wonder who would win this case in court, the cult of Quiverfull or the big bat of CPS, Child Protective Services?? Seems like child endangerment to me.
B

 

There's a certain irony that the first to scream "religious discrimination" are also the first to demand that other religions be discriminated against. Surely, though, the biggest obstacle to their 'right' to endanger themselves and their children is that there's every possibility that the whole lot of them could be asymptomatic carriers. In reality, the masks aren't to protect the wearer, but others from the wearer. So much for "Do unto others", eh?

 

I had learned that the explosion of cases from nearby Northumberland county were essentially all nursing home cases. Found this out when I was talking with someone who happened to be from said county.

My concern also arose out of the fact that the president had a rally not too long ago out near Pittsburgh. While it was outdoors, little to no mask use and no distancing.

Then not far south of me in Lititz, there was another semi-rally that was outside in a large tent. Again, no social distancing and practically no mask use.

So, I really do not care to ponder how those two gatherings (and who knows which others - political or not) that do not have precautions will make things. Naturally as another poster mentioned previously that Trump has covid. For the sake of all the politicians, I wish they would do remote debates (if it really must be done...) and also be able to work remotely rather than having to have so many come in to their building (house or senate, etc.).

*sighs...*

Gonna need more whiskey soon.

 

I'd stand shoulder to shoulder with you in support of that store's legal rights. If they don't already have one, maybe they need to hang one of those "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason" signs on the door.

 

From the air-pollution maps it seems, that England sadly has the bad situation of beeing high-smoggy area, similar to North-Italy.

 

What does smoggy air pollution have to do with the COVID virus..??

 

London is bad. I live on a main road and wasn't really aware of it until traffic dropped by 90% during lockdown. The difference in air quality was perceptible to a surprising degree.

I assume the suggestion is that by staying in we're also saving our health from the air pollution as well as the airborne virus?

 

I guess....

 

Those living in areas of high air pollution have damaged respiratory systems & so are more likely to develope serious respiratory complications if infected by the COVID virus.

 

And similarly to N.E. France which regularly chokes on the smog from German coal fired power stations.