Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

travel nowhere

get home, stay home

we're barely at the beginning of this

and because the president is a lying imbecile*, incredibly vulnerable to what's coming

* Opinion | A Complete List of Trump’s Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus

 

When this is all said and done, it will be the ratio of deaths to total population that judges a country’s administration.

We won’t know until the end how badly this was fucked up.

 

I would drive my family to the beach or to a national park, but no hotels. Take out food only.

This should be an amazing time to golf or take up photography.

 

I’m planning to do some serious hiking in a couple of weeks. Lots of places within an hour’s drive, and I can pack my own food.

 

Have you not been following the news?

 

fly the dips!

 

You're very likely to get stuck wherever you go, so plan accordingly.

 

Going back to OTC meds for a moment... Is this the right thread? Apologies if it isn't.

@Slacker and @GilGarrido made very good points about OTC pain/flu symptom meds.

• Check the labels. Look at the active ingredients first to see what matches up.
  
• If you have allergies, check the supporting players below to be sure there's nothing that might cause further distress.
• Check dosages. Some med indications and strengths are described in Grams, Micrograms, Milligrams, etc. You might be getting more or less medication than you think. When in doubt, Google it.
  
• Per my doc, it's best to leave an eight-hour window between smaller, preferably unmixed doses of ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen and NSAIDs like aspirin. He has told me that part of this is intended to avoid overdoses and part of it is to prevent big hits to your digestive tract and the filters.
• Start with lower doses and increase them if they are not sufficiently addressing the pain.
• Good pain management usually entails small doses. If you can feel pain coming on, it is better to answer it with a small dose and other measures to keep it tamped down than to wait until you are at an 8 to 10 and have to take a megadose just to function.
  
• Sleep is an underrated response to nearly everything that ails you (except the first hours after a concussion.)
  
• Calming music, hypnosis, subliminal audio programming, deep breathing, and meditation can help. Youtube is good for that.

Sorry to be pedantic this morning. Pain management is part of my day. I am nowhere near an expert on this, but what's here is what I've learned over the past few years. To everyone scared or feeling like a week-old paint rag right now, take care and know you're not alone in this.

 

I had a bout of bronchitis in December and January that knocked me on my ass pretty good ... no fever though, at any point, which was weird. Struggled to breathe some, and I finally had to be prescribed an inhaler to break up the mess in my lungs.

Re: travel. I was thinking a lot about hiking and visiting some of the state parks that I never seem to visit because I'm always so into watching sports. I see that in my future this weekend. Lots of good hiking within a two-hour drive of me.

 

re hoarding and profiteering:

 

This city has closed our (surprisingly good, I'm told by serious golfers) municipal golf course because of the pandemic, and I'm not sure why. I assume any other golfers who would be in the cart with you are people you would be close to anyway. The guy in the pro shop is the only one who would have to come into contact with lots of people, and it seems like enforcing a six-foot distance and having him wear gloves should be pretty easy.

Running in my usual park is great - I see lots of people I know walking or running in the opposite direction, but very briefly.