Topic: Corona Virus Panic/Discussion Thread

I'm not expecting a slight return to normalcy until late 2022. I've even heard indications of '23 and '24. Not sure I'm that pessimistic but I think people should probably be prepared for the fact that a vaccine will probably take longer than they think.

Also, from what I understand, immunity by way of vaccine only really works if enough people have the immunity so I'm not sure just rolling it out to old people changes the situation all that much. Until pretty much everyone gets the vaccine it's still gonna be all about the masks and social distancing.

‘Magna Carter’ is trending because of people looking for loopholes in lockdown. They can’t even spell Magna Carta right, they sound like farmer historians.

Kinda off topic but first week of March I was strolling through Walmart, blissfully ignorant of the fact I'd be back a week later hopelessly trying to stock up on dried goods, when I see both an Air Fryer and Pressure Cooker on sale and I bought both on impulse. These were easily the smartest impulse purchases I've ever made. I use these constantly.

@zupertramp That was a wise decision, I got a slow cooker before lockdown and it’s been a godsend. Kitchen appliances are my Achilles heel though, I buy them on a whim far too often.

@nessisonett yeah I'm kind of a sucker for stuff like this too. Griddles, sandwich makers, waffle makers, smoothie machines. I've bought just about everything. Truth be told I do use them but some waay more often than others.

@zupertramp I used to use my George Foreman loads but not as much since I got a proper great pan. I really want a Nutri Ninja though, the lack of a blender or food processor limits some of the stuff I can do, especially baking-wise. Plus smoothies. Mmm.

@nessisonett I have a Ninja Blender which, at one time, I used often but now that I have one of their smoothie blender things I rarely get it out. So I definitely recommend them. The only thing that sucks is the blades are really dull these days. Not sure if you can get replacements or if it's easier to just get the whole thing new.

Was looking forward to Covid disappearing over here stateside after the election. No dice, I guess, after third straight day of record numbers. Weird. It's almost like the the health experts we keep in place for these exact situations know what they are talking about.

@zupertramp Lol, yeah - people actually believed the pandemic was fabricated for political purposes and would disappear after the election. I think these same people must be the ones believing the earth is flat too.

@Th3solution Hey, I’ve played Assassin’s Creed. The Earth isn’t flat, it just has a big wall around it that says “Area not available. WARNING: Desynchronization imminent”.

@zupertramp I don't know what you're talking about. Covid disappeared after Easter. Trump wouldn't lie to us about that.

Here in the states, Veteran's Day means businesses offering quite a few freebies to those who have served. Mostly this means free meals at restaurants and I wasn't sure what that would mean this year with Covid. Being that many, if not most, who take advantage of such offers are older, I wondered, would businesses offer a somewhat safer alternative to dining in? The answer seems to be no. Seems unwise.

On a side note, I was recently thinking, it really says something about the resilience of our species that we can be so dumb and still have lasted so long.

@zupertramp I’ve always had a weird relationship with Remembrance Day as it’s called over here. My great grandad fought in WW2 and married a German woman of Polish background he met over there so I have family that died on both sides of both world wars. Plus, I have loads of Irish family with, shall we say, an interesting relationship with the British Army so it’s a tough one. Poppies are also completely politicised where I’m from due to the crazy sectarianism. I do usually support the White Poppy campaign but with Covid I haven’t been out to pick one up. I did see this absolute gem on Twitter though 😂

Me: Checks phone quickly for notification, distractedly refreshes Push Square because the browser is still open, reads "Poppy People," sighs heavily, heads to search engine while ignoring entirely the original reason for checking phone.

Oh and just to clarify, your Rememberance Day is more akin to our Memorial Day. Veterans Day is just for any ol' schmuck who served... like myself.

@zupertramp Same day though! I wonder if Veterans Day is 11th November due to WW1’s armistice being that day too?

@RogerRoger Thanks. I actually spent most of my time in the military at a joint USN/RAF base in Cornwall so it seems appropriate. Though I think we thick-skulled Americans often brought the Brits there more grief than we were worth. I know I certainly did.

@nessisonett Yeah no totally, they're on the same day so in that regard yes the two days are kinda the same. It's just some do take offense over here mixing up the days or using them interchangeably. Thought I'd head off any accusations of disrespect.

lol We hit 161.5K cases in one day yesterday. We're likely going to be at 200K cases a day before the month is out.

I guess we're going to find out how viable the "herd immunity" strategy is before the vaccine even lands, eh? And still the governor of my state is resisting mask mandates, saying he won't force compliance.

America has the political stability of a third-world nation at this point, between the COMPLETE lack of leadership on all levels of government to handle a crisis that other nations have effectively curbed and the head honcho doing his best impression of a tinpot dictator who is casting the integrity of our electoral system into doubt with baseless conspiracy theories that at least 20% of the country eats up without question. And we're supposed to be a "world leader?" Ridiculous.