Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Dog days are ... just beginning?

 

Guess Saint Dabo of the Upstate really does want to be the coach of the Tide one day. He seems to have the same values -- and the same ignorance -- as this Trumpist legislator.
Alabama GOP Leader Says He Wants More COVID-19 Cases In Order To Build 'Immunity'

 

Wishing @MileHigh, @FileNotFound, and everyone who has had this hit close to home comfort and strength. @maumann, I'm afraid this is the way it will be for a while. Dreading the day our magic number starts to go down because of it.

The shift in discourse about this is scary.

An increasingly common sentiment about COVID is that getting it is inevitable and let anyone who can't handle it die off to make room for everyone else. Talk from friends in the health field to those of us at risk has gone from it being around 18 months, to two years to five years. Actual leadership might not have solved this, but it would have made things easier to take.

 

Because of the way I was brought up, I've had a hard time coming around to that way of thinking. My father and one of my brothers had serious allergies and asthma. I have allergies that were diagnosed later in life and many people mistake them for a cold. Sometimes, I can't tell the difference.

When I was in college, I'd usually be OK, but when I came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, there were times when literally within minutes of arriving home, my windpipe closed right up.

During one Christmas break, I was working at a warehouse. My dad gave me a ride to work one day and I was having a particularly hard time breathing. I told him I couldn't breathe at all through my nose. "I can't, either," he said. He dropped me off and went to work.

Basically his response about any respiratory symptoms I had was "Anything you've ever had, I've had 10 times worse."

Essentially, don't be soft.

Eventually, at the urging of my aunt, who was a nurse, I ended up going to the ER on New Years Day. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed an inhaler and antibiotics.

In my family, seeing the doctor was something you did as a last resort. Same for calling in sick. I think that's the way they were raised, too. My mother used to tell me that whenever she complained about a minor ailment, her father's response was either "Well, we could always amputate" or "I knew someone who died from that once."

I'm guessing that they were just a product of their times. You really had to be on death's door to miss work or go to a doctor. Otherwise, you just sucked it up and went on with your life.

There's something to be said for that, but given the seriousness of this virus, it's not too smart.

 

In other words, you didn't follow the teaching of Reverend Horton Heat.

 

Remember when Dr. Fauci said we'd hit 100k new infections per day soon?

It's coming. Fast.

 

Over 40 Florida hospitals max out ICU capacity as Covid-19 cases surge across US

 

Does Bret Stephens still wonder where Gov. Trumpupppet goes to get his apology? Or why the SEC states should have to live by NYC rules in the Trumpandemic?

 

Yep. And considering the estimate that there are actually 10 times the number of cases that are going unreported, that’ll mean a million actual cases per day. Once we run out of vents and start triaging, the deaths will spike.

 

My boss asked me today just before I punched back in for lunch how I was doing. Told her I'm holding up OK, but just getting frustrated over constantly having to play cop at my register: Telling people to get back if they're a little too close to the customer in front, don't take cuts, needing to be firm, constantly cleaning the work station, ect. That and this shit just isn't going away soon.

Just don't know what it's going to take for this administration to get it's head out of Trump's ass on this. Maybe Donnie will get it (not wishing it on him, of course, but ...). Glad to see the CDC and school districts stand up to him on opening schools. Convinced we will not see high school or college football in the fall, which will freak out a lot of folks, and if the NFL is reduced, we're gonna see a Trump meltdown like we've never seen before.

And although it's been said, many times, many ways, the riblets crowd is gonna be the ones crying the loudest if the NFL calls it a season. Well, you could have had a football season, but, dammit, you wanted the bars and restaurants open, and you didn't want to wear a mask or wash your hands. Think more than five minutes ahead, for once in your life.

 

Throughout all of this, I've had a deep respect for grocers coming to work each day. The shelves look better. The place looks more normal. I'm not getting up at 6am to get to the store by 6:30 just so I can get a week's worth of groceries before they get picked over. I know much of that is the supply chain catching up, but store employees have done a helluva job to make it look normal and to make sure product is on the shelves so schmoes like me can get my daily bread, so to speak.

Hat tip to you and your coworkers, HanSen. Hang in there. It's frustrating AF that people can't make a few changes and are willing to place people upon the sacrificial altar of the economy. There's no arguing with them. I've tried.

When this is over, it's beers all around!