The Spreading (And Potentially Deadly) Coronavirus Epidemic....

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

12 minutes ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

Grocery stores are out of meat near me, NW burbs of Chicago.
 

My wife and kids only eat meat and limited fruits and vegetables due to food allergies/sensitivities. I’ve resorted to ordering meat online for a little bit more than my normal cost (talking organic grass fed beef and organic chicken).

Do you have a deep freezer?   Might be worth looking into buying at least a half cow from a farmer.   

I ended up with a quarter cow by pure luck a few months ago (farmer got stiffed on a half cow and I bought half of that) and it's coming in very handy now.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

20 minutes ago, Estil said:

No, it's an economic stimulus package.

That is an interesting way to spell socialism.

(it's OK to admit that laissez faire capitalism doesn't cure all ills and sometimes social programs do provide a net benefit -- in this case attempting to smooth out the disruption of so many wage-workers not getting paid, all at once) 

[ICrappedMyPants | 302]

14 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

Do you have a deep freezer?   Might be worth looking into buying at least a half cow from a farmer.   

I ended up with a quarter cow by pure luck a few months ago (farmer got stiffed on a half cow and I bought half of that) and it's coming in very handy now.

I don’t have a deep freezer, but my parents live 10 minutes away and have an extra refrigerator and freezer. They are by themselves, so I could save stuff there.

We have talked about buying a share of a cow in the past, might bite the bullet now.

[Estil | 1,265]

35 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

That is an interesting way to spell socialism.

(it's OK to admit that laissez faire capitalism doesn't cure all ills and sometimes social programs do provide a net benefit -- in this case attempting to smooth out the disruption of so many wage-workers not getting paid, all at once) 

When did I ever suggest such a thing?  Remember I'm the one who cautioned about the absolutist fallacy ("you always...", "you never...", all/nothing, no guarantees, etc).  Capitalism vs socialism are like a broad spectrum and like anything else in life, neither extreme end of that spectrum is ever good.

But yes if we are indeed having to do this "self-quarantine/isolation" thing, then we must provide the means for people to realistically do so.  Because if there's one thing we DON'T need is for this to get any worse.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Estil

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

23 minutes ago, ICrappedMyPants said:

I don’t have a deep freezer, but my parents live 10 minutes away and have an extra refrigerator and freezer. They are by themselves, so I could save stuff there.

We have talked about buying a share of a cow in the past, might bite the bullet now.

It's not cheap by any means, but if you're already buying organic then it may be about the same or cheaper than what you're currently paying.

Mine worked out to be about $6.10 a pound between the cow itself and the processing cost.

[themisfit138 | 523]

3 hours ago, captmorgandrinker said:

It's not cheap by any means, but if you're already buying organic then it may be about the same or cheaper than what you're currently paying.

Mine worked out to be about $6.10 a pound between the cow itself and the processing cost.

My pig came out to about $3.50 a pound between feed and processing. Beef does tend to cost a little more than pig. In feed cost and processing fees. Well worth it to me. Especially when you figure that some cuts. Such asT-bones and fillets are $20+ apiece at the store. 

[a3quit4s | 4,103]

Went to the store today, was able to find everything I needed. Hopefully a sign the panic is subsiding. Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, and Lysol Clorox wipes all sold out though. Personally didn’t need them, just an observation. 

[Californication | 1,477]

I keep thinking about that Rahm Emanual quote - You never let a crises go to waste. 

The Trump administration is gonna profit from this. F@$! % those guys. They defunded CDC, HHS, disbanded the government group that is responsible for preparing for virus outbreaks, and now they are gonna use American fear's right now to steal as much money as they can. They may have a hard time winning the election, but here it goes, they are gonna take all they can on the way out.

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Californication

[MrMark0673 | 197]

Kansas schools done for the year, looks like more are likely to follow.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

32 minutes ago, Californication said:

I keep thinking about that Rahm Emanual quote - You never let a crises go to waste. 

The Trump administration is gonna profit from this. F@$! % those guys. They defunded CDC, HHS, disbanded the government group that is responsible for preparing for virus outbreaks, and now they are gonna use American fear's right now to steal as much money as they can. They may have a hard time winning the election, but here it goes, they are gonna take all they can on the way out.

 

Trump cares more about being seen as some sort of American hero than he does about making more money.  I'll at least give him that.

[Magus | 169]

24 minutes ago, MrMark0673 said:

Kansas schools done for the year, looks like more are likely to follow.

Yeah they are doing online courses i guess though to replace it. 

I hope if MA does the same and closes for the year they do virtual classes as well, otherwise we are absolutely toast for income. 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Magus

[Richardhead | 2,813]

3 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Went to the store today, was able to find everything I needed. Hopefully a sign the panic is subsiding. Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, and Lysol Clorox wipes all sold out though. Personally didn’t need them, just an observation. 

It’s only getting worse every day here. Been 8 days since people started losing their humanity. 

[Skorp | 383]

Pretty much everything has closed around Dallas area since yesterday like gyms, movie theaters, small retailers, restaurants (with some doing drive-thru only), bars, etc. Only grocery stores and some other stores are open like Autozone and of course day care centers, which ours is still open. Some daycare centers are closed on their own accord. Still, not everyone can work from home and a lot of families do count on us, so we will open for them and do what we can to sanitize and keep everyone safe. Like, we are told to check every single person's temperature before entering the center.

[Skorp | 383]

4 minutes ago, Richardhead said:

It’s only getting worse every day here. Been 8 days since people started losing their humanity. 

Yeah, Sam's Club is like a wasteland here still. Nothing essential back in stock since Thursday and 95% of frozen section empty and the only fruits left were grapes and some apples. It's crazy. My dad always talked about living in a communist country and this is what it was like for him growing up daily. Now I understand.

[Californication | 1,477]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Trump cares more about being seen as some sort of American hero than he does about making more money.  I'll at least give him that.

What do you mean?

[Estil | 1,265]

Wow, I guess we now are really asking this when we go to the grocery store!  Then again good luck finding "big fluffy buns" as well!!

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Estil

[Tabonga | 2,324]

5 hours ago, Richardhead said:

It’s only getting worse every day here. Been 8 days since people started losing their humanity. 

I think the madness will end only when a lot of these poltroons run out of money they don't have - the supposedly scarce goods will keep being produced in a normal (if not accelerated) fashion and once the two balance out things will perforce stabilize.  I wonder how much stuff will be wasted since much of it has a fairly short shelf life.  

[B.A. | 1,139]

9 hours ago, Magus said:

Yeah they are doing online courses i guess though to replace it. 

I hope if MA does the same and closes for the year they do virtual classes as well, otherwise we are absolutely toast for income. 

Online courses don't work very well for my kindergartener and 1st grader. From my understanding what "distance learning" means is they will email the lesson plans to me and I'm supposed to essentially homeschool them. That's on top of working full time with my kids being home all day. 

[RH | 4,923]

32 minutes ago, B.A. said:

Online courses don't work very well for my kindergartener and 1st grader. From my understanding what "distance learning" means is they will email the lesson plans to me and I'm supposed to essentially homeschool them. That's on top of working full time with my kids being home all day. 

I'm not saying it will be easy (it won't) but what you might learn is what my wife and I learned when we homeschooled our daughter for two years--when you have one-on-one time, learning time reduces dramatically.  While homeschooling for 1st and 2nd grade my wife taught my daughter, maybe, 2-3 hours a day.  The extra time they were suppose to spend on "schooling" was spent playing outside (PE), doing art, or other fun things that were generally beneficial to children's health. Regardless, she placed in every subject at least one grade level above her peers and on her best subject she we 2.5 grade levels ahead.  This year, she has been in private school and with the exception of handwriting, she is doing better than most her peers.

I'm not bragging on my kid.  (If anything, I am bragging on my wife!) I honestly think that if you try to work directly with your children, you'll be surprised how much your kids can learn when the distractions of the classroom and classmates are removed and how quickly they can learn it. Plus, we are all kind of "locked in".  Try to take advantage of the time and enjoy being with your kids.  Play games with them, teach them and realize that it's rare we get a chance to slow down our frantic paces of life.  I feel there is a plus-side to this for most of us.

[B.A. | 1,139]

2 minutes ago, RH said:

I'm not saying it will be easy (it won't) but what you might learn is what my wife and I learned when we homeschooled our daughter for two years--when you have one-on-one time, learning time reduces dramatically.  While homeschooling for 1st and 2nd grade my wife taught my daughter, maybe, 2-3 hours a day.  The extra time they were suppose to spend on "schooling" was spent playing outside (PE), doing art, or other fun things that were generally beneficial to children's health. Regardless, she placed in every subject at least one grade level above her peers and on her best subject she we 2.5 grade levels ahead.  This year, she has been in private school and with the exception of handwriting, she is doing better than most her peers.

I'm not bragging on my kid.  (If anything, I am bragging on my wife!) I honestly think that if you try to work directly with your children, you'll be surprised how much your kids can learn when the distractions of the classroom and classmates are removed and how quickly they can learn it. Plus, we are all kind of "locked in".  Try to take advantage of the time and enjoy being with your kids.  Play games with them, teach them and realize that it's rare we get a chance to slow down our frantic paces of life.  I feel there is a plus-side to this for most of us.

What time is that exactly? My wife and I both work full time. We aren't given the luxury of 2-3 extra hours a day, plus more to go outside or do fun things. What will happen is we will do what we can afterwork and our kids education will suffer.

[zombiemicrowave | 42]

My jobs are really feeling the pinch. My main job helps supply theatrical supplies to schools for the most part so that's going to be slow for a while. My secondary jobs involve putting on a convention and live music reviews so that's done for a bit. It's gonna be a trying time. My main focus is to keep from getting cabin fever. 

[RH | 4,923]

2 minutes ago, B.A. said:

What time is that exactly? My wife and I both work full time. We aren't given the luxury of 2-3 extra hours a day, plus more to go outside or do fun things. What will happen is we will do what we can afterwork and our kids education will suffer.

I can't speak for every business.  I know that many people I know, at least in my area, have businesses that are trying to work with them, and this includes sizable corporations.  People that are being quarantined are starting to work from home, even though they've never had to do that before.  Management is encouraging them to both stay focused but to take care of their families.  Yes, you need to do your best to do your work, and if you work hourly (I do) I get that can be tough to find the balance so that you earn income and take care of your families needs. 

However, I'm trying to encourage (and that's the key attitude, is I want to encourage) everyone to do your best to see this as a challenge that can have benefits.  If you need to short-change your work to spend a little extra time with your kids for their education, speak to your managers and see what they say.  If they expect you to give a full-output, then shame on them when literally the entire world is having to re-adjust to this madness. 

TL;DR: I get that everyone's circumstances are different and for some this may even be an extremely difficult experience that could last months.  However, being fearful, worrying or angry at something you can't change make the experience worse.  Try to look at the positive side of the experience and, if at all possible, restructure your thinking to work through the difficulties with a strong resolve, while being thankful for anything that is both different and potentially beneficial. 

Peace be with you and your family (or families to anyone reading this.) I'm earnestly praying for all of you, your health and your provisional needs. God bless.

[MrMark0673 | 197]

Distance learning is a blanket term and will mean something different to people depending on their district.

We’ve been a 1-1 district for years, so every kid has an iPad they need to bring to school each day.  Utilizing things like MyHomework and Google Classroom allows me to do a lot of my general teaching without being in direct contact with my students.

I’ll be giving instruction directly to my students.  Parent expectations won’t change for what I’m providing.  If they want to know what their kid is doing, they can access MyHomework or Google Classroom as they always have.

As parents will have a tough time with their children at home, teachers will need to provide instruction while at home.  Not super easy for me to teach with a 2 year old at home.

Edited March 18, 2020 by MrMark0673

[B.A. | 1,139]

5 minutes ago, MrMark0673 said:

Distance learning is a blanket term and will mean something different to people depending on their district.

We’ve been a 1-1 district for years, so every kid has an iPad they need to bring to school each day.  Utilizing things like MyHomework and Google Classroom allows me to do a lot of my general teaching without being in direct contact with my students.

I’ll be giving instruction directly to my students.  Parent expectations won’t change for what I’m providing.  If they want to know what their kid is doing, they can access MyHomework or Google Classroom as they always have.

As parents will have a tough time with their children at home, teachers will need to provide instruction while at home.  Not super easy for me to teach with a 2 year old at home.

I'm sure there is a grade level associated with what you are describing Mark.  I can't imagine they are giving iPads to kindergartners. 

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

1 hour ago, B.A. said:

Online courses don't work very well for my kindergartener and 1st grader. From my understanding what "distance learning" means is they will email the lesson plans to me and I'm supposed to essentially homeschool them. That's on top of working full time with my kids being home all day. 

Thankfully, my daughter's kindergarten teach is doing about an hour worth's of Youtube videos each day to walk the kids through the lessons supplied by the school district.