Corona virus (1 Viewer)

[nysoldiers]

How true how true. I remember those days of news too. The problem IMO came about when 24hr news networks started to "outrate" network shows and literally the advertising on them is more expensive than most tv programs. That tells you what people are watching.

I have a near 16 year old who was formerly a broadway kid, actor with IMO incredible talent musically as well as intelligence. He told us 8 years ago he wanted to be a broadcast journalist and still does, in fact now its 100% and the drive of what he is looking for in college and internships. Now, my initial reaction 8 years ago was yeah right, concentrate on going to law school. Now, it is hard to argue with his choice, his chance of making a better than decent living as a broadcast journalist is huge, probably better than me (CPA) or a lawyer. How times have changed, they really have.

TD

I have always agreed that the "opinion reporting" and "punditry" is way overdone. But there is still plenty of good factual reporting if you know where to look and can differentiate and weed out the biased reporting. Personally I enjoy hearing some commentary from guests who are experts and experienced in particular news related subjects......elected officials from all sides of the political spectrum, former government administrators, retired military and law enforcement leaders, health experts and on the scene reporters.
My family and I were very trusting of the news (Wintchell, Cronkite, Brinkley, etc,,) until the Vietnam War when reporting was hindered by government lies and coverups. We talked to family members and friends who came back from Vietnam to get a better perspective.

Bottom line is that the consumer of news must be alert, willing to listen and read from several sources, critical of commentary from known sycophants and conspiracy theory pundits and willing to do some research on their own.
I remember some of my teachers in middle school and high school who taught history (social studies). It was mostly "facts", dates, names, winners and losers which we forgot right after the exams. Some teachers gave more in depth explanations which made it more interesting. In college professors would add their take on an historical event and we could debate their perspective. The same goes for the news today, having qualified people give their opinions and perspectives can be helpful and enlightening. But we have to understand their biases and experiences.
Studies show that most people go to the news source that fits their preconceived political position. They refuse to listen to a contrary position, this is where "tribalism" takes hold. Unfortunately that is the real problem in todays' hyper partisan society.
I find some reporters more credible so I try follow them and stay away from the "entertainers" and hate mongers. I have been watching "I24" which although an Israeli based network seems to report world news more objectively.




Maybe some of our members can recommend those reporters or outlets that they find more credible.

 

[nysoldiers]

NOW THIS .. :redface2: .. there have been "some" (unreleased number) employees at a food chain diagnosed with COVID-19.
So, now there is discussion of how to limit the number of people who enter at food store at any one time.

Initial plan under discussion is to base the day that you go on your last name, verified by store security

FOR EXAMPLE: A->E go on Monday; F->J go on Tuesday, etc
Home delivery will be free and available 7 days a week, prepay online w/ CC# and delivery will be to your front door.

Stores will be open 5 days and two days to completely disinfect the store.

This makes sense in the larger cities like Portland, Bangor, Augusta, and such, but in my local food store there is hardly more than a few people at any one time, regardless of the day or time. I can't see this working

--- LaRRy

Our food stores on Long Island are limiting entry and have early hours for seniors.
Smaller food outlets like our local fish store only let one customer in at a time.
We are using curb side pick up to support our local restaurants. They bring the food out to
your car wearing gloves and masks. We empty the bags and containers in one location before
entering the house and then throw out the containers, disinfect the area and wash our hands
before touching the food. Maybe not perfect but so far so good.

 

[marco55]

Any way you look at this it's a nightmare.
Mark

 

[tdubel]

Just a general comment, I understand the gravity of the situation in NYC and the surrounding areas and hope for the best. Major population center with lots of transient visitors over the last several months, hence more likely to transmit. It is a problem. Here in Maryland, our hotspots are relegated to DC area and Baltimore. Everywhere else is sparsely affected, it is a wild dynamic to look at in graphs. Hopefully the more people tested the more is known and further we continue to get through this. It does appear that it is better in some parts of the world as time passes which is something to look forward to.

PS something like this makes rural life even more appealing! Point of this post is there are a lot of different viewpoints on this terrible situation because seemingly everyone's lifestyle is affected differently. I am hoping for some kind of normal sooner rather than later.

TD

 

[jazzeum]

I may have mentioned this but I thought I would remention in light of Rich’s post. I don’t touch packages until four days after receipt. I had not been following this for ordinary mail but as of yesterday I’m now doing the same.

 

[Warrior]

WHY is that Zack? The testing has increased?

--- LaRRy

Massachusetts was woefully behind in testing; we have about 8 million residents and as of yesterday, about 14K have been tested, about 1,100 infected, which is a 10% infection rate.

It makes sense that the more people you test, the higher the number of infected people is going to go.

If people continue to wash their hands and practice social distancing, the hope is the number will drop below the 10% that it is currently running at.

As Zach said, the prediction here is we're going to hit peak within the next 2 to 4 weeks, same for the rest of the country, which will take us probably until the end of April and the hope is by that time, the number of positives flattens out...………..then declines, plus we'll be into May when it warms up here, so that will help too.

The next month or so is going to be a ****show, no doubt about it.

 

[Warrior]

Just a general comment, I understand the gravity of the situation in NYC and the surrounding areas and hope for the best. Major population center with lots of transient visitors over the last several months, hence more likely to transmit. It is a problem. Here in Maryland, our hotspots are relegated to DC area and Baltimore. Everywhere else is sparsely affected, it is a wild dynamic to look at in graphs. Hopefully the more people tested the more is known and further we continue to get through this. It does appear that it is better in some parts of the world as time passes which is something to look forward to.

PS something like this makes rural life even more appealing! Point of this post is there are a lot of different viewpoints on this terrible situation because seemingly everyone's lifestyle is affected differently. I am hoping for some kind of normal sooner rather than later.

TD

Rural life is appealing; until you need something like medical care, food or any other item.

Living on top of each other packed in like sardines in major cities is not appealing at all.

Where I live, there is a happy medium; anything I need short of medical assistance is literally 1 minute to 5 minutes away. The best hospitals are in Boston, but some of the outlying ones aren't bad. We're pretty well spread out here in the suburbs, we don't live on top of each other.

At a time like this, I would not want to be living in the middle of nowhere, getting gas, groceries, prescriptions etc, etc, shouldn't have to be an adventure...…………..

 

[jazzeum]

Rural life is appealing..

https://youtu.be/wzT1kO_-xbQ

 

[paxtoysoldier]

Many hotel, restaurant, grocery, postal and other employees feel that their work puts them at a high risk of contracting the virus. Some simply do not show up for work: an unofficial strike similar to what police call the blue flu and school kids call senior sick day. So these businesses are facing a labor shortage and we will all experience troubles until things are sorted out. If that ever happens.
Anyway, stay safe and play with toy soldiers is my advice!
Paddy

 

[Larry Allen]

Rural life is appealing; until you need something like medical care, food or any other item.

Living on top of each other packed in like sardines in major cities is not appealing at all.

Where I live, there is a happy medium; anything I need short of medical assistance is literally 1 minute to 5 minutes away. The best hospitals are in Boston, but some of the outlying ones aren't bad. We're pretty well spread out here in the suburbs, we don't live on top of each other.

At a time like this, I would not want to be living in the middle of nowhere, getting gas, groceries, prescriptions etc, etc, shouldn't have to be an adventure...…………..

Actually, many people's perception of "Rural" life is often misinterpreted to mean lack of services and amenities …. Not so even in the slightest.

There is a local food market within a 3 min drive for me, a major food store (Hannaford's) with in a 12 min. drive.


There are more "local" doctor offices and clinics than in most cities.
Miles Hospital is among the best in the US and connected with a very large organization of hospitals, specialized centers and labs all over Maine.
Maine Medical Centers (MMC) maybe not better than some Boston hospitals, but on Par with the best.

This is Miles Hospital, only 20 min away.



This is only one of the MMC campuses in Portland, about 50 - 55 min away



What is "missing" if you will; is the congestion of dozens and dozens of mini-malls, major malls, homes packed side-by-side and all the factories, and such.
A traffic jam here is three or four cars in line, waiting for the deer or moose to get out of the road.

Instead I have 34 acres of land to wander about, the ocean is 10 min away, the bay or cove is 2 min away.
There are 1000's of acres of woods, parks and trails to get out and spend an hour or a day.

To Mainers keeping 6 feet apart is curious since we consider that -- WAY TOO CLOSE ..{eek3}

I lived in Boston and Cambridge for many years and I did enjoy the availability of recreational facilities like Movie Theaters, Sporting Locations and commute to work (Microsoft) but I will take Waldoboro 100% these days.

Of course, you have probably 100 GREAT places to go to eat. I have maybe thee or four.
You have dozens and dozens more stores to get items, I have one Walmart (about 45 min) away.
The pizza here is "BLAH" and Taunton probably has the best Italian anywhere (Except Boston North End)
The nearest hobby store is an hour away and I use the words (Hobby Store) loosely.
I only have one Dunkin Donuts shop .. :redface2:

Gas station is 5 min away and (at the moment) the price/ gallon is $1.69 and $1.49

Getting OLD I guess but enjoying it way more! {sm4}

--- LaRRY

 

[zblang]

Larry , my sister is an RN at Maine med Portland. Stay well my friend and do not go see her

 

[bradleyl30]

I have always been down with 666 "The Number of the Beast", so while everyone else is "Run to the Hills" attitude, I will be a "Trooper" and stand my ground. Then again, it may send me "Straight To Hell" and subsequently "Under the Graveyard" but I will hopefully have a lot of that devil green so I won't die an "Ordinary Man"

Trivia since this thread jumped the shark 200 posts ago, gold star to the first post to identify the author's above of quotes...................

TD

Iron Maiden

 

[tdubel]

Iron Maiden

Correct, second phrase is Ozzy Osbourne (New album Ordinary Man which is actually a duet with Elton John), i encourage music fans to check it out, it is pretty good

TD

 

[paxtoysoldier]

Actually, many people's perception of "Rural" life is often misinterpreted to mean lack of services and amenities …. Not so even in the slightest.

There is a local food market within a 3 min drive for me, a major food store (Hannaford's) with in a 12 min. drive.
View attachment 259086

There are more "local" doctor offices and clinics than in most cities.
Miles Hospital is among the best in the US and connected with a very large organization of hospitals, specialized centers and labs all over Maine.
Maine Medical Centers (MMC) maybe not better than some Boston hospitals, but on Par with the best.

This is Miles Hospital, only 20 min away.

View attachment 259087

This is only one of the MMC campuses in Portland, about 50 - 55 min away

View attachment 259088

What is "missing" if you will; is the congestion of dozens and dozens of mini-malls, major malls, homes packed side-by-side and all the factories, and such.
A traffic jam here is three or four cars in line, waiting for the deer or moose to get out of the road.

Instead I have 34 acres of land to wander about, the ocean is 10 min away, the bay or cove is 2 min away.
There are 1000's of acres of woods, parks and trails to get out and spend an hour or a day.

To Mainers keeping 6 feet apart is curious since we consider that -- WAY TOO CLOSE ..{eek3}

I lived in Boston and Cambridge for many years and I did enjoy the availability of recreational facilities like Movie Theaters, Sporting Locations and commute to work (Microsoft) but I will take Waldoboro 100% these days.

Of course, you have probably 100 GREAT places to go to eat. I have maybe thee or four.
You have dozens and dozens more stores to get items, I have one Walmart (about 45 min) away.
The pizza here is "BLAH" and Taunton probably has the best Italian anywhere (Except Boston North End)
The nearest hobby store is an hour away and I use the words (Hobby Store) loosely.
I only have one Dunkin Donuts shop .. :redface2:

Gas station is 5 min away and (at the moment) the price/ gallon is $1.69 and $1.49

Getting OLD I guess but enjoying it way more! {sm4}

--- LaRRY

All that would be awesome but since I have never shopped at Walmart (and never will, for anything) and I don't use social media or Amazon I guess I have to live closer to the plague-centers of civilization. Also, it's far easier to make money near a city.
But sounds great for you! More retirees may consider it. I think there's enough land, for the moment.
Best wishes wherever you live
PJr

 

[marco55]

Actually, many people's perception of "Rural" life is often misinterpreted to mean lack of services and amenities …. Not so even in the slightest.

There is a local food market within a 3 min drive for me, a major food store (Hannaford's) with in a 12 min. drive.
View attachment 259086

There are more "local" doctor offices and clinics than in most cities.
Miles Hospital is among the best in the US and connected with a very large organization of hospitals, specialized centers and labs all over Maine.
Maine Medical Centers (MMC) maybe not better than some Boston hospitals, but on Par with the best.

This is Miles Hospital, only 20 min away.

View attachment 259087

This is only one of the MMC campuses in Portland, about 50 - 55 min away

View attachment 259088

What is "missing" if you will; is the congestion of dozens and dozens of mini-malls, major malls, homes packed side-by-side and all the factories, and such.
A traffic jam here is three or four cars in line, waiting for the deer or moose to get out of the road.

Instead I have 34 acres of land to wander about, the ocean is 10 min away, the bay or cove is 2 min away.
There are 1000's of acres of woods, parks and trails to get out and spend an hour or a day.

To Mainers keeping 6 feet apart is curious since we consider that -- WAY TOO CLOSE ..{eek3}

I lived in Boston and Cambridge for many years and I did enjoy the availability of recreational facilities like Movie Theaters, Sporting Locations and commute to work (Microsoft) but I will take Waldoboro 100% these days.

Of course, you have probably 100 GREAT places to go to eat. I have maybe thee or four.
You have dozens and dozens more stores to get items, I have one Walmart (about 45 min) away.
The pizza here is "BLAH" and Taunton probably has the best Italian anywhere (Except Boston North End)
The nearest hobby store is an hour away and I use the words (Hobby Store) loosely.
I only have one Dunkin Donuts shop .. :redface2:

Gas station is 5 min away and (at the moment) the price/ gallon is $1.69 and $1.49

Getting OLD I guess but enjoying it way more! {sm4}

--- LaRRY

Sounds like a great place to live except maybe at winter time.Do you have Moose crossing the roads up there?
Mark

 

[marco55]

They are talking about locking down New York but the problem with that is a lot of people already left to escape the virus not knowing that they already have it and are now spreading it to other areas.{eek3}
Mark

 

[nysoldiers]

Just a general comment, I understand the gravity of the situation in NYC and the surrounding areas and hope for the best. Major population center with lots of transient visitors over the last several months, hence more likely to transmit. It is a problem. Here in Maryland, our hotspots are relegated to DC area and Baltimore. Everywhere else is sparsely affected, it is a wild dynamic to look at in graphs. Hopefully the more people tested the more is known and further we continue to get through this. It does appear that it is better in some parts of the world as time passes which is something to look forward to.

PS something like this makes rural life even more appealing! Point of this post is there are a lot of different viewpoints on this terrible situation because seemingly everyone's lifestyle is affected differently. I am hoping for some kind of normal sooner rather than later.

TD

Rural life has its advantages but the global trend is overwhelmingly to more urban settlement. There is a great exhibit in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC about the evolution from agrarian to rural and urban. If Im not mistaken the world will be 88% urban population within 50 years.
So we better prepare for all the challenges that come with densely populated areas.

 

[nysoldiers]

My son lives in a town adjacent to New Rochelle where one of the worst clusters of the virus started.
They took very aggressive actions with testing and quarantining. In the last few days there have been
few or no new cases. How to do this on a national scale is daunting!

 

[nysoldiers]

I may have mentioned this but I thought I would remention in light of Rich’s post. I don’t touch packages until four days after receipt. I had not been following this for ordinary mail but as of yesterday I’m now doing the same.

Wash your hands frequently and try not to touch your face.
If you wash your hands after touching the mail and packages and wash down the surfaces where you put them down you should be fine.

 

[Larry Allen]

Larry , my sister is an RN at Maine med Portland. Stay well my friend and do not go see her

I normally save the following phrase for my brother service men and women, BUT to your sister ... "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE."
She is most definitely on the FRONT LINES!

God Bless her! {bravo}}

--- LaRRy