Lostin76

I read the story in the NYT. Did I say anything incorrect? They chose to pass and Pfizer sold to another country.

I would like to say why this happened, but I can’t b/c of politics. Let’s just say that the powers that be decided they didn’t need Pfizer’s extra doses that were offered. So, Pfizer sold them to other countries.

After our experience with rescuing Greta from a local rescue organization, we are committed “adopt, don’t shop” people now. Like you said, there are just so many dogs and cats that need a good home. In 19 short months, Greta became the best friend I’ve ever had and I know we gave her the best 19 months after her time on the street and in shelters. I still tear up thinking about her almost six months later.

I recall in boot camp getting all of the shots pretty much at once and on both sides. It was an assembly line with no heads up about what shot was what. That said, I’ll get a COVID vaccine when it’s offered to me.

Sounds like here, just w/o the indoor dining. We are just not comfortable with that yet. We are going out quite a bit and shopping, etc but being smart and trying to keep a distance. We’ve also started riding the sub occasionally into Manhattan, probably once a week or so. Well, at least one Mimi’s still stands. I absolutely love a good breakfast diner! Yeah, I saw that woman in CA. Horrible. Places are spending so much extra to keep customers happy and warm and then...

Staffing indeed is going to be a problem in many areas. Not sure how it is for other places people live, but places around here are really going all out on the outdoor dining and it seems like people are taking them up on it. We’ve been doing a fair amount of take out and visiting holiday pop up shops. Seems like most places are setting up little stores in the front and selling goods, bottles of wine, etc. Our favorite bookstore is back open to the public (only 5 people in at a time, but it’s still nice to browse). On Small Business Saturday, we visited and spent money at like five different places. We and most people I know are really trying to pump money into the local economy, but am not sure what it’s going to be like in January with super cold temps and winds. I know restaurants have to be spending a fortune on heaters and propane around here. What’s it like for others? Also, @milehiiu not sure if you remember Mimi’s Diner (that you had looked up), but they closed for good a week or so ago. That was a huge bummer for the neighborhood. And one of our bodega’s closed, but it was the one that we didn’t go to as much. The kids that worked there never wore a mask and that doesn’t go down to well.

I’ve wondered the same thing and that might be what it comes to this winter if it gets bad enough. I know the hospital ship was kind of joke at first here, since they weren’t letting COIVD cases on and there was so much confusion. Also I’m not in favor of destroying 20+ Million people’s livelihoods either. If people would just value protecting each other over personal freedom for a damn month or so, we could get a better handle on this.

So as cases and deaths rage across the country, you continue to bring things here that “seems believable.” As we continue to screw the pooch, you bring things here that say masks are the problem. But now it’s not masks, maybe it’s hospitals? Do you have any idea how nurses, staff, and doctors are trying to hold on during this? What’s next an article from OAN that exposes those crafty nurses trying to cheat the system, eating bonbons in the break room as they falsify patient records? I really try to give people the benefit of the doubt on this thread, but you just keep bringing trash and more trash.

@Billingsley99 I am so sorry. My thoughts go out to you and your family. One of the hardest things is having to say goodbye to a beloved pet.

Nothing corny about John Denver. Though he always reminded me of Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch.

One of our foster kittens (Fred) was adopted this weekend by a really nice family. This is Fred in one of our rubber tree plants. And my wife took the other photo of Fred holding onto my shoulder as I was carrying him to the common room to meet his new family. He was such a fun cat.

Man, I love this album. I haven’t broken it out this year, but now that you have reminded me I will. I think Linus and Lucy is my favorite too, but I have to just let the whole album roll when I put it on.

She’s got some pipes!

Binny’s Beverage Depo! That’s a name I haven’t heard in ages. Loved that place.

My wife’s uncle. who lives in MI, has tested positive. He had convinced his father to go on their annual hunting trip with a group of other friends and while they were all together one person in the cabin got sick and had to leave. He tested positive for COVID and just yesterday her uncle got his results - he tested positive. Still waiting on results for his father. In the meantime, they have cancelled the big Holiday dinner for the MI gang, which is smart. My wife and I are having a quiet Thanksgiving here with the dog and cats. Actually looking forward to it! Just thankful we are both healthy and employed this year.

That’s where I am with how long we will be dealing with this. At least through summer of next year, but hopefully the crazy number of cases and deaths will go down after a bad winter.

Absolutely one of my favorites. Takes me back to my childhood listening to my Dad’s records over and over again.

Long guitar intro here by Nancy Wilson on Crazy on You. If you want to skip to like 1:45, it’s where she settles in to the intro. Then at about 2:15, she crouches down and just goes off on the main riff. Love this. Also, all this Tom Petty talk made me break out Damn the Torpedoes for a listen.

This last paragraph is really important. Science advances as new data is received. What was known and said in March SHOULD be different than what it known and said now. The CDC definitely stumbled at the beginning of this by not recommending masks, but I do know that they and medical professionals were worried about having enough masks for medical staff. At one point our docs were reusing one N95 mask for a week - insane!

If Sit and Wonder gets closed down b/c of this, I will have her send her resume to you!

NYC is above 3%, our zip code is not. I’m not sure you understand just how big NYC is and how many separate neighborhoods there are. We also have these people called “tourists” who like to visit us and many of them don’t understand masks and social distancing. They claim to not be able to read the signs. Another reason, positivity is rising citywide b/c we recently allowed restaurants and bars to go to 25% capacity indoors and our schools have been open for roughly six weeks. As we who follow science understand - the virus spreads when you introduce more people to indoor environments with poor ventilation. And when they are maskless (eating and drinking) it’s even worse. Another factor is that our “outdoor dining” which is EVERYWHERE is not so outdoor anymore. Those beautiful outdoor open air dining tables have started adding plastic walls and ceilings to protect diners from the cold and wind in the last couple of weeks. They are now basically indoor dining now w/o ventilation. There are no easy answers. We want our restaurants and bars to survive, but this is clearly not going to work.

Oof, this Is a perfect example of why we are having this new spread. We just went over 3% here and people are freaking out. Our neighborhood is pretty good about masks and distancing. We have all got used to queuing up for the bakery, coffee shop, wine shop, etc. Stores only allow a certain number of people inside and woe to someone who tries to enter a Brooklyn establishment w/o a mask. They are just not having it here. I watched a tiny barista at our local coffee place just shut down this hulking guy who tried to order w/o a mask. She made him leave with his tail between his legs and people were cheering as he walked out cussing.

If the virus can travel 100 feet and you need N95 masks or greater to have any effect, these current protocols are not going to do much. Why not hand out Vitamin D to everyone? Seems like that might have a much greater benefit/ cost. No need to reread. I stand by every word. I am done with “both side” BS on this. People are dying, many more will die before we get a handle on this. And you continue to try to muddy the waters with this pseudo-science crap.

Reacher, this last point is SUPER important. Thank you for sharing it. That we don’t have these payments in place that would allow us to pay people to close is one of the saddest things about this. We try to tell people to lock down and then say, “Good luck paying for food and housing!”

I’ve worked in healthcare research since I got out of the Navy in 1997. In the Navy I was a corpsman and worked in the medical field. In all that time, I have worked with doctors who are obsessed with improving healthcare. I have no patience for doctors that turn from that mission to chase fame or try to play contrarian to get attention and clicks. I just simply have no thoughts on that doctor other than I think he’s a ridiculous quack. Just b/c someone is a doctor, it does not mean we should trust them. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was shooting the messenger. I should not attack you for bringing things here, but I have to be honest - a lot of what you bring here just does not seem particularly helpful. We don’t need to see “both sides” right now. We need to unite behind simple concepts - wear a mask when around others, social distance as much as you can, and avoid indoor situations where COVID can easily spread. That’s it. If we did those things, we wouldn’t be sitting here contemplating new lockdowns and not seeing our families for the holidays. For gods sake, NYC just closed in person schools again. There is real fear that we may be heading back towards refrigerated trucks holding dead bodies. I just don’t think people get how serious things were at one point and that they can be like it was for us in other places if we are not careful. Thankfully, we had the capacity (until you died) to take care of the patients we had, but I’m worried about my hometown in Gibson County with one tiny hospital. I’ve seen the bad old days of 24/7 sirens and morgue trucks on our pre-dawn runs. I don’t want to go back there. To debate whether or not we should be wearing masks right now, b/c some famewhore Swedish doctor stumbles upon a flawed study just seems counterproductive.