RANT & RAVE & MAYBE MORE

Didn't want to impose on anybody's thread so decided to start this one. I'm very curious how other people are feeling about this crapshow as Prato referred to it on another post. I for one am ready for this insanity to end! Every major hospital in MN is laying off, When the nurse called me this week to cancel my remaining appts. at Mayo she told me sorry sir but the governor wants us to be ready for the surge? My question is what about the surge of people that need treatments, that need surgeries, I totally get that covid-19 is dangerous but why can't the medical industry keep plugging along being cautious and using plain common sense but attending to the needs of all patients. When the surge comes then deal with it at least they will have a full staff available. I was texting with my cousin in Michigan yesterday who is a state policemen who was telling me they can't go to their summer cabin in the UP but out of state people can go to their cabins in the UP? Really? While the insurance premiums keep right on going along putting billions of dollars in a very few people's bank accts., No taxes are being paid to fund city budgets, no taxes for terrible infrastructure that so needs to get done, While at the same time unemployment is draining what little money the states have left. Even though we live in a state that has good unemployment amounts it is still not sufficient to live on. Usually people that work in the health care industry make a decent wage we need those jobs to keep going to provide services to people that need those services! Some of you know that my Mother suffered a terrible, terrible, agonizing 6 yr battle with ALS. that would have made Covid-19 look like a walk in the park. I am sure that most of you have experienced similar experiences. Over 22 million people have lost jobs in the last couple of months, almost no manufacturing going on, hundreds of business's have closed their doors, and yet the stock market continues to climb? That's why I say this insanity has to stop! No more money for small business's that would love to keep their employees while still handing billions to banks? We don't need any more media making a grandstand out of people's suffering! We don't need the government grandstanding every day! We don't need news anchors and others telling us how bad they have it while living in houses that the average person couldn't afford the taxes! I hope and pray that we are able to put back in some common sense get our great country back to doing what the average working men and women do every day. Keep plugging along, provide for our families, and have a little fun and recreation along the way. I personally believe we can do this safely with good old fashioned common sense and some good old American ingenuity as we have done so many times in the past! Let's get through this minor crisis before we have a major crisis that we can't recover from! mmmmmm Maybe my testosterone is starting to rise from the ashes! Everybody have a good and safe day

I live in a rural county (2400 people) about 70 miles from a city of 30,000 people. They have had 15 confirmed cases of Covid 19 with 10 recovered so far. It is hard to figure out the direction the medical facilities are taking. The therapy center I go to twice a week stopped massage therapy 2 weeks ago and I was told yesterday that some physical therapists (mine included), the pool life guards, and other staff will be furloughed indefinitely but my next 3 weeks have been rescheduled with other therapists.
On the other hand, in mid March scans at the Mayo Clinic found 3 new areas of metastases and I was able to meet with the local Medical Ongologist on March 26, he quickly scheduled the port placement and first Taxotere infusion for March 30. The hospital had only 5 surgical procedures performed that day. I was to return to the Mayo Clinic in May to repeat the scans but was now told to wait till 4 to 6 weeks after chemo is completed to do the scans. I was nervous about being able to get a starting date for the chemo with all the precautions and delays being discussed, I did restart Lupron the last day at Mayo, PSA dropped from 6.16 to 1.03 in two weeks.
There is a local modern beef slaughter plant with about 1000 head per day capacity that has not seen any Covid 19 cases reported, as opposed to the disaster at Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls.
We are a cattle and grain operation and usually sell the past years calves in mid March but with the rapidly falling cattle prices we are still feeding those cattle and watching the prices of beef and other groceries in the stores go up. Our local small town grocery store has items on all the shelves even toilet paper, which is still sold out in the big city stores. The planting of crops will have to go on in the normal and timely manner somehow, many local businesses have locked doors to reduce social contact.
This pandemic has affected everyone to various degrees and it is impossible to guess what the future effects will be, but life will go on. God's Blessings to each and everyone. Dave

Minor crisis? Tell the tens of thousands of people who've lost someone to this it's a minor crisis.

I'm ready for it to end too, just not pushing up daisies in a grave someplace, leaving my disabled wife, two children, elderly mother, elderly mother-in-law, etc. etc. etc. alone.

Economies can come back, dead people can't.

As Prato pointed out, there is plenty of TP and paper towels out there...it's just not packed for the consumer market (cases of single roll TP, wrapped or unwrapped is readily available from office supply and commercial distributors).

What we have is a supply chain problem, not a shortage per se. Stuff that would normally be going to bulk consumers (restaurants, hotels, schools, businesses) is suddenly needed by individual consumers. Rejiggering that supply chain takes time--and some is just not practical.

So far we have not been impacted that much by all of this. I avoid the news so I don't dwell on body counts or the political fray that I hear is ensuing so my anxiety level over this is nil. My wife is a CPA so the extension of the tax season reduced the intensity of her workload quite a bit by spreading it out.

I miss my running group although 3-4 of us are still getting together for ad hoc runs. I miss my twice weekly meetups with friends at a brewery. The 3 university classes I am taking have switched to online and I miss the regular interaction with other students about our art projects.

I hear that the some of the stores here are picked over for some products but I haven't noticed. I've been shopping at a small local store down the street and they even have toilet paper. Friends tell me that baking yeast is not to be found. I am an avid bread baker but I use my own starter so I haven't needed the yeast.

Of course, I am in Montana and we aren't exactly a hot spot for this. Bozeman, about 140 miles to the west has a bigger issue but they are home to a large university as well a many well-healed types who travel.

One of my running partners does tech support and training for one of our hospitals and she suggested that they are well-prepared but more concerned about losing a million bucks a day because of the deferred treatments and appointments.

Sky - You could live in the Twin Cities like I do, home of the crazies, be thankful. We have enough medical facilities down here for almost any disaster. In fact, they are always trying to close them due to over capacity as you have probably read about here and around the state.

However, I look at something as simple as the Twin Cities Orthopedics outpatient surgery center which is adjacent to the Vikings new practice field and training complex near the airport and I can not understand why those places are not open (there are many down here). Same with endoscopy/colonoscopy out-patient centers. They are completely independent from the hospitals and do their own thing which help lots of people. I also recall your wife needing some hip work which should not be the problem it is now.

I go to the food store and Home Depot a few times a week without fear as there not many people in them when I go and everyone goes out of their way to maintain the 6'+ perimeter. Even went to Costco a couple of times and just walked to an open register when paying. That was better than anytime I had every been to a Costco store anywhere and they even had TP which I didn't need and didn't buy.

Hope your testosterone settles back down soon. Time for a walk through a county park that I think is still legal. If not, I may be away for a while.

Mumbo
Yeppers I am lucky for living up here in the boonies I walk an 1/8 mile across the road and am in hundreds of acres of city, county, mining property. I have about 7 miles of snowshoe trails throughout this area and the bike trail is a 1/8 mile away also just waiting for the snow to melt so the Grandson and I can go on it. about the wife when the nurse called me from Mayo to cancel my remaining appts. she asked if there was anything else she could help me with. I told her it would be wonderful if my wife could get her appt. as she is now having to walk with a walker she asked me for her name and Mayo #. Yesterday afternoon we got a call to set up a video conference with a Dr. on Monday morning so really excited about that. I'm not sure if the nurse was able to help but we were thankful for the call. Thinking maybe hopefully the hospitals and clinics are starting to open up here a little in MN. I am down in the cities quite a bit with family, Valley Fair, and camping at Bunker Hills although this year they might be closed?

Interesting thoughts Bill. I think you might be right on a lot of them.

Another perspective of new/old "normal" is the very real possibility of another "normal" that will...over a longer period of time and which has already begun...think Matrix...umm...ya know...folks plugged into technology communicating with HAl/Alexis...on/line friends who are never seen...cooped up in cubicles of icicles passing off pretentions of life as reality with smugness and glazed looks...never missing warmth...reciting nursery rhymes...so as to forget that they are the new milk of life...one that is made soured...with no pasture...sucking on teats of Panem...laced with pretty embroidery posing...posing...posing

yea...that's it...that's it

Buddy Blank said...
I still can't get over Skypilot56 describing this as a "minor crisis".

CV has been very inconvenient for him

This chart compares deaths on a weekly basis to other causes of death. (Including the 1957-1958 flu.)
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/imglib/20200414_covidweeklydeathsusv2.jpg

Stephen S said...
I am with SkyPilot.

Earth is a dangerous place.

Every year in America something like 2.25 million people die of all sorts of things.

In 1957/1958 there was a flu that wiped out 1 or2 million people across the world, including 100 k or so in the United States, and we didnt shut the economy down over that.

Poverty kills people too

How many Covid fatalities would have been fatalities sometime this year anyway?

Not getting solid medical care will also lead to many unintended consequences, including fatalities. Tests are done too late. Delayed procedures etc....

When we get to the civil unrest part of this production, how many people will succumb to that?

This is a complete overreaction, the first pandemic unleashed.in a 24x7 news cycle.

open up the economy full stop and if anyone is nervous they can continue to stay home.

so you're saying the whole world overreacted and the country with the most deaths should resume business as normal to save lives? ****!

Would any who would argue we should end physical distancing and our other cautions take some time to read or view the reports of front line health care workers working in hotspot hospitals? Their accounts of their days are heart-rending. These heroes are isolating themselves from their children and going to work each day afraid and determined. 30% of the CV-19 cases in my state (NH) are health care workers. There are refrigerated vans at hospital loading docks to receive corpses. This is not a normal every year scene.

I am at a loss why we would not each do his part to get ahead of this virus.