Do you need to vent about things COVID-19?

[Rat Luv]

Has anyone else experienced weird time distortion this year? Summer seems like years ago to me now, but last Xmas feels like yesterday. I saw my friend on the south coast in February when the first Covid cases hit the UK and that's like a dream...can't believe we actually went to bars and shops and weren't all that bothered or even cautious.

My mum rang me on Tuesday and said "Just calling because I haven't heard from you in a while" and I said, "We spoke on Saturday!" She wouldn't believe me until I got her to check her recents 

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

Has anyone else experienced weird time distortion this year? Summer seems like years ago to me now, but last Xmas feels like yesterday. I saw my friend on the south coast in February when the first Covid cases hit the UK and that's like a dream...can't believe we actually went to bars and shops and weren't all that bothered or even cautious.

My mum rang me on Tuesday and said "Just calling because I haven't heard from you in a while" and I said, "We spoke on Saturday!" She wouldn't believe me until I got her to check her recents 

 

Last Christmas seems like forever ago - ditto pretty much anything prior to this past March. 

In some ways, last March seems like yesterday, but in other ways it also seems like forever ago.

Definitely an odd year time-wise.

 

[Qie Niangao]

28 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

can't believe we actually went to bars and shops and weren't all that bothered or even cautious.

When I hear Red Americans whining that Pelosi once encouraged folks to come to Chinatown, I'm reminded of our last pre-COVID meal at a Vietnamese restaurant. Already I'd been wondering why Canada was taking so long to encourage work-from-home to prevent spread of what was at the time a predominantly Asian virus -- as far as we knew, although there were already some scary reports from Milan. But it just seemed xenophobic that people were avoiding Asian-CANADIAN businesses (or San Francisco Chinatown businesses) while blithely going to bars and restaurants everywhere else.

Of course, as it turns out, there was very little risk back then anyway because the virus was so rare -- so very different from current conditions where behaviors that used to have negligible risk are now very risky indeed. Meanwhile we've all become complacent, not afraid anymore, what we've been doing has been "working" even when we lapsed a bit (because we got lucky and nobody involved actually had the virus).

It's damned lucky that these super-effective vaccines are just around the corner because we've proven ourselves incapable of abiding by even the most rudimentary public health measures. 

[Sassy Kenin]

27 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

It's damned lucky that these super-effective vaccines are just around the corner

Keep us updated how that works out for you.

[Gatogateau]

On 11/30/2020 at 9:26 AM, Arielle Popstar said:

My corner of the world is what I need to look at to do a proper risk assessment for me   ... and other various myopic stupid stuff

I was *just* talking to my bff, who is Canadian. He is incredibly smart and well read and keeping up on this. He understands scientific studies, and statistics...

I mentioned the person who, on the SL Forum, claims to live "near" Toronto and sees very little COVID. He wanted to know if the person was crazy.

Apparently Toronto, and its surrounds, are in one of THE HOTTEST areas for COVID in Canada. Not theory. Not speculation. Active cases. And some of the areas around Toronto are even worse. Toronto is in a gray zone, which means "anything left is zombies" level. ffs  Gray zone = lockdown. You get to lockdown by having, as the people from Quebec say: bow coops dee cases

And it is getting worse.

So... for people who actually like FACTUAL information, here's some links he provided:

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open

https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/11/ontario-covid-colour-zones-map/

 

Yep. Nothing for anyone "to see" here. Move along.

 

[Gatogateau]

PS. Apparently my RL, Canadian bff was frustrated by the conversation I had regarding the mindset of certain people. He just sent me THIS article, which has to deal with the problem with thinking "Why do we have to do all this if the numbers aren't that bad right now"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-s-covid-19-success-really-unique-globally-1.5825390

Actually, I'm happy this discussion is about CANADA. Everyone wants to point to the USA as being the only ones with idiots.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Gatogateau

[Scylla Rhiadra]

55 minutes ago, Gatogateau said:

I was *just* talking to my bff, who is Canadian. He is incredibly smart and well read and keeping up on this. He understands scientific studies, and statistics...

I mentioned the person who, on the SL Forum, claims to live "near" Toronto and sees very little COVID. He wanted to know if the person was crazy.

Apparently Toronto, and its surrounds, are in one of THE HOTTEST areas for COVID in Canada. Not theory. Not speculation. Active cases. And some of the areas around Toronto are even worse. Toronto is in a gray zone, which means "anything left is zombies" level. ffs  Gray zone = lockdown. You get to lockdown by having, as the people from Quebec say: bow coops dee cases

And it is getting worse.

So... for people who actually like FACTUAL information, here's some links he provided:

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open

https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/11/ontario-covid-colour-zones-map/

 

Yep. Nothing for anyone "to see" here. Move along.

 

Well, it's hard to know what "near" Toronto means. But Toronto and Peel region (sort of Toronto's western suburbs/satellite city) are in lockdown, and all of the areas immediately around Toronto proper are in "red" zones -- one step away from lockdown. You'd have to travel a good couple of hours before you hit a zone that was yellow or green.

https://gyazo.com/3d0c2bfaf1f6a36836cac86a24963119

The lockdown is NOT as severe as it was in the spring. Postsecondary campuses are closed, but K-12 classes are still happening, although sometimes online. The streets are not deserted, although I'd say probably 3/4 of the people you see on the street are wearing masks, and mostly people are social distancing.

Peel district is actually suffering worse right now than the city core (where I live). That might have something to do with demographics: we know that people of colour and immigrants are getting hit disproportionately hard, and many of those live in the surrounding areas like Peel.

Politics might also be a factor: the 905 region (the area code for the regions surrounding the city itself) is markedly more conservative politically than Toronto itself, which is a very liberal. Conservatives here are not, on the whole, nearly as anti-mask and conspiracy-theory oriented as their American counterparts, but if you are going to see resistance to safety measures, that's where you'll find it.

[Arielle Popstar]

7 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Well, it's hard to know what "near" Toronto means. But Toronto and Peel region (sort of Toronto's western suburbs/satellite city) are in lockdown, and all of the areas immediately around Toronto proper are in "red" zones -- one step away from lockdown. You'd have to travel a good couple of hours before you hit a zone that was yellow or green.

If one was to drive west of Toronto, one can easily hit yellow and green areas within an hour. The case count rates seem to be determined more by population density than by political affiliations. A couple areas on the outskirts of Toronto went to red just within the past week or two and from what I gather was as a result of minor outbreaks in schools and nursing homes that pushed the areas just over into the red category.

[Arielle Popstar]

9 hours ago, Gatogateau said:

I was *just* talking to my bff, who is Canadian. He is incredibly smart and well read and keeping up on this. He understands scientific studies, and statistics...

I mentioned the person who, on the SL Forum, claims to live "near" Toronto and sees very little COVID. He wanted to know if the person was crazy.

Then he should have easily been able to verify what area I was talking about by the statistics I listed. Not sure why you are all up in a frenzy about it but contrary to your implications here, the stats I listed were correct for the day I posted them.

[Caroline Takeda]

I'd like to pu that in perspective using an analogy:

Imagine, every week Toronto had one deadly crash of an average airplane.

Every week.

In Berlin we got to one plane a day!

 

[Gatogateau]

25 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Then he should have easily been able to verify what area I was talking about by the statistics I listed. Not sure why you are all up in a frenzy about it but contrary to your implications here, the stats I listed were correct for the day I posted them.

"near" Toronto, the "Toronto area" covers a fair amount of territory. But you know that.  ETA: I just read your reply to Scylla. I'd say if you have to travel for hours to get to Toronto, if you are in green areas, then... you're not in the Toronto area. That's like saying I'm in the Boston area when I'm in the CT river valley of NH/VT. But gosh, it makes your story sound better to say "Toronto" eh?

I'm not *implying* anything. And, I believe the definition for "frenzy" is the same in Canadian English as it is American, and if so, you need to look it up. I haven't posted nearly as much as you, so who is in the frenzy? I thought it was posting.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Gatogateau

[Arielle Popstar]

10 hours ago, Gatogateau said:

"near" Toronto, the "Toronto area" covers a fair amount of territory. But you know that.  ETA: I just read your reply to Scylla. I'd say if you have to travel for hours to get to Toronto, if you are in green areas, then... you're not in the Toronto area. That's like saying I'm in the Boston area when I'm in the CT river valley of NH/VT. But gosh, it makes your story sound better to say "Toronto" eh?

I'm not *implying* anything. And, I believe the definition for "frenzy" is the same in Canadian English as it is American, and if so, you need to look it up. I haven't posted nearly as much as you, so who is in the frenzy? I thought it was posting.

Near Toronto is on its border and inside the area called the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and yes, it covers a lot of area but in a country as extensive as Canada that's not surprising. Driving from one side of the GTA to the another is further then the distance across for some small countries but the point is that the GTA is interconnected to a point where there is little to no empty spaces between the regions.

 

Your postings directed at me questioning the statistics for my area and my interpretations of them struck me as being over the top. I get an undertone of frenziedness in your attempts of trying to maximize the froth we should be in over the pandemic. If that isn't the case, my apologies.

 

[Luna Bliss]

30 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Near Toronto is on its border and inside the area called the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and yes, it covers a lot of area but in a country as extensive as Canada that's not surprising. Driving from one side of the GTA to the another is further then the distance across for some small countries but the point is that the GTA is interconnected to a point where there is little to no empty spaces between the regions.

Yes. Some cities are so far apart with great distances between that one could say they live near such-and-such a city and actually live 100 or 200 miles away.  Often when speaking to others, especially from other countries, the smaller towns aren't known so well, and so citing a larger city is the only way to communicate the general part of the country one lives in.

People who live in more densely populated areas where one big city or town is practically backed up against the other sometimes don't understand this.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Luna Bliss]

30 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

questioning the statistics for my area

For me, I'm just concerned that you might not be evaluating the dangers in your area, wherever that is. This is because you previously said there is no danger where you live because nobody you personally know has Covid, and that you think the media is just hyping things.

You may live in a more rural area with few cases atm but if a big city anywhere near you has a lot of Covid cases it easily spreads to rural areas. This happened where I live.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Luna Bliss

[Qie Niangao]

"Ottawa's COVID-19 success 'really unique' globally":

Quote

In mid-October, Ottawa saw its COVID-19 infection rate reached 132 active cases per 100,000 residents — higher than Toronto's and many other Canadian cities. The people of Ottawa were shocked. 

There were official warnings, there were public scoldings and there was a four-week partial lockdown. That seemed to work, as Ottawa's COVID-19 daily case count has been generally declining for the past seven weeks.

Ottawa is a city full of public servants and others who can work from home. And maybe not quite so many folks who imagine that the rules don't apply to them and that in defiance of physics masks might not "work."

[LittleMe Jewell]

5 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

Ottawa is a city full of public servants ...... who can work from home.

Nice of them to think that way. 

In any city that I've worked in, the public employees are the last ones that are allowed to work from home because government doesn't trust the people and they claim it makes it more difficult to be fully accountable to the tax payers.  IMO, all of that is a bowl of crap, but a good excuse to keep your employees in the office where they can more easily monitor the employees.  At least until Covid restrictions forced them to allow the WFH for as many people as feasibly possible.

[Arielle Popstar]

5 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

For me, I'm just concerned that you might not be evaluating the dangers in your area, wherever that is. This is because you previously said there is no danger where you live because nobody you personally know has Covid, and that you think the media is just hyping things.

And yet evaluating the dangers in my area is exactly what I did, looking at the numbers in my neighborhood so I could get an idea of what chances I would have to run into and be infected by someone who might have it. The rest is history.

Interesting article that you may get something out of. 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/04/pandemic-shaming-is-it-helping-us-keep-our-distance

With that, I am out of this thread. Enjoy the peace.

[Ceka Cianci]

On 12/3/2020 at 3:19 PM, Rat Luv said:

Has anyone else experienced weird time distortion this year? Summer seems like years ago to me now, but last Xmas feels like yesterday. I saw my friend on the south coast in February when the first Covid cases hit the UK and that's like a dream...can't believe we actually went to bars and shops and weren't all that bothered or even cautious.

My mum rang me on Tuesday and said "Just calling because I haven't heard from you in a while" and I said, "We spoke on Saturday!" She wouldn't believe me until I got her to check her recents 

 

For me it's went by pretty quick, I think because  I didn't experience too long of the shutdown..

I only had like 6 to 8 weeks off of work before they called me back. When I was home, my sleep pattern was all messed up and a lot of the time I  didn't even know what day of the week it was, let alone  if it was early evening or early morning..

I was really glad to get back on schedule, because it took me like two years to really get fully used to working night shift to where it was second nature.. I really felt groggy when I first got back and just glad it didn't mess that up too much..

I think the more busy we are the more things feel like they were not so long ago..

When i was off work for like 6 to 8 weeks, it felt like I was off for a few months..hehehe

[Qie Niangao]

4 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Nice of them to think that way. 

In any city that I've worked in, the public employees are the last ones that are allowed to work from home because government doesn't trust the people and they claim it makes it more difficult to be fully accountable to the tax payers.  IMO, all of that is a bowl of crap, but a good excuse to keep your employees in the office where they can more easily monitor the employees.  At least until Covid restrictions forced them to allow the WFH for as many people as feasibly possible.

Yeah. Maybe different stages and schedules of restrictions here, but yeah: they didn't seem to rush into the decision.

Nobody gets medals. The gold for "Pandemic Response Management, 2020 Division" has no recipient,

only victims.

And of course there are heros. Front line. (keep them safe and strong amen)  They deserve Veterans benefits. They'll need Veterans benefits.

[Gage Wirefly]

This business owner in California who owns a dining establishment and has been practicing outdoor dining is not allowed to open for business, but just across the way, a movie company is allowed to set up and serve people working on that. So you tell me is it right? I say no.

 

Edited December 6, 2020 by Gage Wirefly

[Luna Bliss]

On 12/4/2020 at 8:41 PM, Arielle Popstar said:

On 12/4/2020 at 3:24 PM, Luna Bliss said:

For me, I'm just concerned that you might not be evaluating the dangers in your area, wherever that is. This is because you previously said there is no danger where you live because nobody you personally know has Covid, and that you think the media is just hyping things.

And yet evaluating the dangers in my area is exactly what I did, looking at the numbers in my neighborhood so I could get an idea of what chances I would have to run into and be infected by someone who might have it. The rest is history.

Interesting article that you may get something out of. 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/apr/04/pandemic-shaming-is-it-helping-us-keep-our-distance

With that, I am out of this thread. Enjoy the peace.

For crying out loud just wear your mask when appropriate and stop risking the death of yourself and others. You should accept the blame and feel shame if you needlessly risk the safety of others. People who tell you to look at reality to reduce harm are not at fault for your shame.

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Gage Wirefly said:

This business owner in California who owns a dining establishment and has been practicing outdoor dining is not allowed to open for business, but just across the way, a movie company is allowed to set up and serve people working on that. So you tell me is it right? I say no.

 

This story is all over the far-right media, claiming the evil libruls are trying to take over the world, ruining the common businesses while giving special favors to the wealthy movie industry. But, no effort is being given to discover how these two ways of eating differ -- no effort is being given to look at 'the other side' of this. 

The difference...and why the movie crew eating area is different: with the movie crew setup they basically eat and run and don't linger around to chat as in the city restaurant -- they don't mingle for extended periods of time without their face covering.  Also, there's a limited amount of people dining with the movie crew, unlike the restaurant that serves many different people all day long. Plus, they eat 6 feet apart. And.. the movie crew is tested for the virus frequently.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/us/outdoor-dining-la-protest.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

You'd have a better case trashing the libruls if you questioned why they allow movie crews to operate in California as they close other businesses. Sadly, and only half-jokingly, I imagine the US might devolve into total chaos and insanity without their new Netflix episodes and so the movie business is deemed vital. lol 

[Qie Niangao]

3 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

And.. the movie crew is tested for the virus frequently.

I suspect this is the biggest difference. A lot of these shoots require everyone to be rapid-tested every day and get results before being allowed on set. It's not perfect, but (as Michael Mina kept telling us before schools opened) even if the tests are relatively insensitive but cheap enough to be absolutely ubiquitous, they can greatly reduce risk of spread -- orders of magnitude better than letting random untested people eat at restaurants without prohibitively expensive measures to prevent transmission.

Of course, such testing was supposed to keep the White House COVID-free, and we know how that worked out.

[Seicher Rae]

Meanwhile, our government is stuck in "tantrum land"... sigh

For the full article https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/12/06/stimulus-deadline-relief-programs/

And karma for Rudy, another person hit with a hoax...

 

[Zzevir]

My wife 90+ grandma just tested positive. very strong chance that this year Christmas going to be sh.t.