Reacher

I thought this piece did a great job connecting some dots- "There are four ways to categorize any given reality. It can be scary but not dangerous, scary and dangerous, dangerous but not scary, or not dangerous and not scary. Clearly, COVID-19 ranks high on the scary scale. A Google news search on the virus brings up over 1.5 billion news results. To date, the virus has tragically killed nearly 100,000 people in the United States, and more lives will be lost. But on a scale of harmless to extremely dangerous, it would still fall into the category of slightly to mildly dangerous for most people, excluding the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions. In comparison, many have no idea that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing around 650,000 people every year, 54,000 per month, or approximately 200,000 people between February and mid-May of this year. This qualifies as extremely dangerous. But most people are not very frightened of it. A Google news search for heart disease brings up around 100 million results, under one-fifteenth the results of the COVID-19 search. It's critical to be able to distinguish between fear and danger. Fear is an emotion, it's the risk that we perceive. As an emotion, it is often blind to the facts. For example, the chances of dying from a shark attack are minuscule, but the thought still crosses most people's minds when they play in the ocean. Danger is measurable, and in the case of sharks, the danger is low, even if fear is sometimes high. According to CDC data, 81% of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are people over 65 years old, most with preexisting conditions. If you add in 55-64-year-olds that number jumps to 93%. For those below age 55, preexisting conditions play a significant role, but the death rate is currently around 0.0022%, or one death per 45,000 people in this age range. Below 25 years old the fatality rate of COVID-19 is 0.00008%, or roughly one in 1.25 million, and yet we have shut down all schools and day-care centers, some never to open again! This makes it harder for mothers and fathers to remain employed. All life is precious. No death should be ignored, but we have allowed our fear to move resources away from areas that are more dangerous, but less scary, to areas that are scary, but less dangerous. And herein lies the biggest problem. Hospitals and doctors' offices have had to be much more selective in the people they are seeing, leaving beds open for COVID-19 patients and cutting out elective surgeries. According to Komodo, in the weeks following the first shelter-in-place orders, cervical cancer screenings were down 68%, cholesterol panels were down 67%, and the blood sugar tests to detect diabetes were off 65% nationally. It doesn't stop there. The U.N. estimates that infant mortality rates could rise by hundreds of thousands in 2020 because of the global recession and diverted health care resources. Add in opioid addiction, alcoholism, domestic violence and other detrimental reactions from job loss and despair. It's tragic. The benefits gained through this fear-based shutdown (if there really are any) have massively increased dangers in the both the short term and the long term. Every day that businesses are shuttered, and people remain unemployed or underemployed, the economic wounds grow more deadly. The loss of wealth is immense, and this will undermine the ability of nations around the world to deal with true dangers for decades to come, maybe forever."

I sometimes regret my hard cover as it can be hassle to remove. I only need to a handful of times per year. Something like this would probably work for you -https://realtruck.com/p/truxedo-truxport-tonneau-cover/v/ford/f150/2020/

My wife lovers her Peonies. And Hydrangeas, and- a whole lot more!

Beating up the numbers. Cases may be overstated by 1/4 th (as they were in CO)- https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/how-alcohol-poisoning-led-colorado-change-how-it-reports-coronavirus

What kind of tonneau cover do you have in mind?

There's always https://hdgolf.com/?msclkid=2514e763bb161afe9ee6b9ae18265fa2&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP - NonTM - Golf - Professional - US&utm_term=Professional Golf Simulators&utm_content=Professional Golf Simulators but that is for another thread!

That's great! Smokies and the App Trail are on my list. There is also the Pacific Coast Trail out west. I'm not going to delusion myself in biting off too much. Would be happy to just get in some of t he more scenic sections.

I got a tune for my truck. They called it the Camaro tune since I have the same engine as the Camaro. It is hard to lay off the gas with that. Just sounds so nice....

Let the detail shop do it. I'd have them hand wax it (too much effort now that I'm older) and if you do that, might be less than the $50.

I can notice the difference after using the Car Guys wax. I usually try and apply every 4-6 weeks between regular hand waxes. It really is as simple as spraying on, wiping off. I bought that a couple years ago when it was the new hot thing. I have several years left in that bottle. I got this one for my son because I happened upon it in a store- https://www.meguiars.com/automotive/products/meguiars-hybrid-ceramic-wax-easy-use-ceramic-wax-protection-g190526-26-oz . You don't have to wipe that one off, just hose off. Prices have come down over the time. Turtle wax has one in the stores as well. Here is one probably similar to the the Car Guys- https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/ceramic+3in1+wax.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn. In addition to the shine, which isn't all that noticeable on my dark grey, I like how the water and dirt roll right off.

Don't trust twitter for your Covid news- https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/21/1002105/covid-bot-twitter-accounts-push-to-reopen-america/

My kids are both big into Bass fishing, but I've never got "hooked" on it myself. I like to spend time on the water. Canoeing, jet sking, pontooning. Learned to water ski in my 20s and wish i could do that more. My wife and I like to travel and hike. Basically day hikes, nothing overnight. Have hiked some fantastic places. Sedona, a glacier in AK, Yellowstone, and last summer in Banff and Glacier National Parks. Love hiking in the mountains but probably not as hard core as @SteveS ^^^. 1000' elevation over 4 hours or so is my max. My wife was very nervous about crossing the frozen waterfall on this narrow ledge. Think it took about 5 minutes for her to get up the confidence.

I built this for our MI cottage but since it was underwater from the high lake levels, moved it to my backyard last year. This weekend I pressure washed it and restained it.

http://reamsmeatmarket.com/ I do now remember driving by it. Never went in though.

Agree on the insurance part. I had a large tree fall on my Sugar Grove house. It poked a hole through the roof and rained debris on my bed. State farm offered like $5000 to patch the roof and replace bedding, carpeting, etc. Luckily, I had had a roofer out who said patching wouldn't be effective. I had to hire a public adjuster. Claim ended up being near $100k including a new roof and bringing the house up to current code standards. Next house was covered by Allstate and when everyone in the neighborhood got a new roof from hail damage, I didn't. Switched to Country Companies and can happily report I was just approved for a new roof from hail damage to the house I moved into last year.

Coincidentally, 312 was what I was drinking this weekend!

No orange for me. Too much trouble, lol

No, not familiar with Reams. I did live there from around 1999-08. Never heard of it. Will ask some others about it

https://s.amsu.ng/YEEdwGfqMPLN Couldn't copy the image. Link is for a pic of the nation showing that most of the cases concentrated in a few large cities

I'm jealous. I'm stuck over the barbed wire in IL where up to a few days ago, those activities could be punished by a year in jail. That order was, fortunately, overturned. I expect IN businesses near the border of IL and MI to do quite well.

I live on a golf course and it was busier during the lockdown then before it officially opened! Joggers, skateboarders, dog walkers, bikers were all using the cart path all while people were enjoying their free golf. I'll confess to going out and golfing a 4 hole circuit behind my house on the warmer days after dinner.

Evidence for ending the lockdowns- Quote from the JPMorgan report- “In the absence of conclusive data, these lockdowns were justified initially.” But “millions of lives were being destroyed .. with little consideration that [lockdowns] might not only cause economic devastation but potentially more deaths than COVID-19 itself.”

Guess I don't need all these Lysol Wipes. I'll just return them at Costco. J/K. https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-now-says-coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-via-contaminated-surfaces