Corona Virus. The End is Near.

[fronobulax]

I was gonna say... "one more reason to double your guard against the virus", but then, thought better of it. :teapot:

My grandfather spent his career working for them

In Ye Olden Days when all phones were landlines, all the equipment belonged to the phone company, calls were priced based upon distance and lines were sometimes shared between users ("party lines") my grandfather used his knowledge and access to surplus parts to install an unauthorized extension phone in his house. I knew about this because there was one part he needed and did not have. Because he lacked that part a long distance call that originated from the pirate extension would be charged to the "first party" on the party line and that was not us. So the grandchildren were always cautioned about outgoing calls.

 

[bluesypicky]

My grandfather spent his career working for them

In Ye Olden Days when all phones were landlines, all the equipment belonged to the phone company, calls were priced based upon distance and lines were sometimes shared between users ("party lines") my grandfather used his knowledge and access to surplus parts to install an unauthorized extension phone in his house. I knew about this because there was one part he needed and did not have. Because he lacked that part a long distance call that originated from the pirate extension would be charged to the "first party" on the party line and that was not us. So the grandchildren were always cautioned about outgoing calls.

Too funny..... networking skills run deep in the family I see.

 

[walrus]

Harvard just announced all students must get out within the next 5 days. Classes moving on-line. Cancelling lots of athletics, etc. Students on the news saying stuff like "I have big exam tomorrow, and now I have to pack and leave!".

And where I teach, in the suburbs just outside of Boston, it looks likely we will do the same thing. FWIW, students are beyond pissed, since there seems to be no issues on campus at all. This trend brings up so many questions. Do they get a room and board refund? If I was paying I would want one! Will the cafeteria and maintenance people get paid? And so on...

And as with Harvard, students (as of yet) at my school have not been consulted. I doubt they will be. At Harvard it was a surprise announcement! Our students heard it is being discussed and are reacting to that.

According to many "decision-makers", the end IS near...

Up to a moderator, but IMHO this thread is no longer "funny".

walrus

 

[Default]

Yeah, it's close to it. Not quite there yet. It's just the uncertainty factor kicking in that has everybody skeered. Looks like cases are down in China, hopefully a good sign.

 

[F312]

What a$$ wipe is buying all the toilet paper.

:angry:

Ralph
​

 

[walrus]

What a$$ wipe is buying all the toilet paper.

:angry:

Ralph
​

Ok, now the thread is funny again!

walrusd

 

[awagner]

I live in New Rochelle, which is now considered a "hot spot." I am thankfully asymptomatic, but to ensure the safety of this forum, I promise to wear rubber gloves and a mask when posting.

 

[fronobulax]

What a$$ wipe is buying all the toilet paper.

In Ye Olden Days in parts of the US that had snow a lot, the standard snow emergency protocol was to go out and buy bread, milk and toilet paper. I'm guessing there are a lot of people who internalized that as the protocol for any emergency.

 

[davismanLV]

All this and the current death toll in the US is like 12? Hell, Jeffrey Dahmer ate more people than that!!!

 

[geoguy]

In New England, folks will buy out a store's supply of bread and milk for even modest-intensity snowstorms.

For the big storms, they'll pick the liquor-store shelves clean of the hard stuff. :very_drunk:

RE: this current corona virus, I think one big (and legitimate) concern is that people who have become seriously ill have often needed extensive life-support (particularly mechanical breathing equipment). If the virus becomes widespread, those patients could easily over-run the number of ventilators available.

And the mortality rate is scary high (greater than 10 percent) for elderly people, particularly if they have underlying health issues.

 

[ruedi]

I startet this thread in the funny section because I wanted to spread some dark humour. Of course this topic can be debated in a serious manner.

A friend of mine who is psychologist came up with an explanation for the toilet paper buyout: since people feel helpless against the uncertainity and realize that the authorities are not really willed or capable to protect them, they try to get back control and power to act by actually DOING something, even if it's something quite irrational (at this point of time) like buying an annual supply of toilet paper.

 

[Default]

All this and the current death toll in the US is like 12? Hell, Jeffrey Dahmer ate more people than that!!!

29 so far. More would be expected as it spreads to nursing homes and to people with compromised immune systems.

 

[Westerly Wood]

this kid created a website to track the spread of the COVID 19 virus. He has had it up since December when there were only 1000 known cases in mainland china:

https://ncov2019.live/data

 

[GAD]

My company just shut down all travel. We are a global company that is feeling the supply-chain problem first hand as we have many parts made in China. We're actually better prepared than most, but it's a real problem, especially for my team who travels the globe doing in-person training. That's all being canceled, rescheduled, or converted to virtual. If you're glibly discounting this whole thing, I'd advise you to wake up.

It doesn't matter what the death or spread rate of the virus is at this point. What matters are the repercussions because, like it or not, perception matters more than reality. It always has, and it always will. If people are hoarding hand sanitizer and toilet paper now, it's a VERY short leap to people hoarding food. Do you know what happens if truckers stop driving? Or the super-market cashiers stop reporting to work? There will be food riots in about three days because our "just in time" inventory systems are not designed to handle a problem of this scale. If we're lucky, automation may actually save us, but things can go bad FAST.

BTW this is the shelf for Lysol disinfecting wipes at my local supermarket:



Now, I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but our society has a very thin veneer on top and I've seen it crumble before. And that was for a short-term (two week) hurricane power outage that only affected a small area, but this upper middle-class neighborhood had people stealing generators and gasoline from people's front yards. People on Staten Island were sleeping in their living rooms with shotguns because of looting. For the most part people are behaving right now, but I can easily see many small business folding as they don't make numbers for a month or two. This might only be the beginning of how it affects the economy at large. Additionally, with everyone on edge, the chances for something bad happening that spreads even more fear is high.

Is this the next black plague? No. Should it be taken seriously? I'd say yes. Don't let fear rule your judgement, but don't ignore what's happening, either.

 

[Westerly Wood]

our company did too, for the most part.
Harvard Univ cancelled all classes onsite, and I hear March Madness might only be viewable via Television. the next month should be very telling. We were talking at work that we could most likely be working from home shortly.

 

[ruedi]

..... This might only be the beginning of how it affects the economy at large. Additionally, with everyone on edge, the chances for something bad happening that spreads even more fear is high.

Is this the next black plague? No. Should it be taken seriously? I'd say yes. Don't let fear rule your judgement, but don't ignore what's happening, either.

Well spoken, Gary.

What worries me much more than the virus itself are the political, economical and social impacts and aftermath on all of us. Over here in Europe, the Italian economy is virtually paralised. This is bad because it was already in a bad state since the financial crisis 2008/2009 (actually even already before that), and was kept alive artificially by the central banks. Central banks now run out of options to further stabilize the Italian economy, which is a big thread for the Euro currency. Combined with the badly battered Chinese economy this is no good news at all at may have a big impact on us all, maybe we even witness some kind of turning point in history right now. But well, who knows.

Ok, now I need to go buy toilet paper.

 

[ruedi]

Let's justify this thread's presence in the funny section:

 

[chazmo]

Y'know, at times I have overly-optimistic memories of my youth in the '80s. Great band; awful look.

 

[fronobulax]

Y'know, at times I have overly-optimistic memories of my youth in the '80s. Great band; awful look.

I'd go out and buy me some eye shadow except my eyes are already sunken and tired looking from the time change.

 

[chazmo]

I'd go out and buy me some eye shadow except my eyes are already sunken and tired looking from the time change.

Crazy clock changes... Well, if we can't travel because of COVID at least we can suffer jet lag.