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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 20, 2020 14:40:15 GMT -6
The woman I used to babysit, and who would spend time at my house from time to time, texted me that one of the houses where her mother cleans has COVID. And her mother tested positive, but she tested negative. However, she has a sore throat and is coughing. She moved out of my driving range, so I’ve had no contact with her. This is the first time I’ve known someone who got the virus.
There was a Church family that had contact with someone with COVID, but I hadn’t heard if they had gotten it or not. Church was online for a few weeks, and they asked members to wear their masks when in service started back up. I haven’t been since May. Only five of us were wearing masks, so I stopped going. The preacher has been filming his sermons, and uploading them to the Church’s Facebook group I created long before the virus. He has his own YouTube channel he uploads to as well, for those who don’t have Facebook, and don’t want to signup.
The virus is getting closer all of the time. But there are three companies expecting to have a vaccine soon . . . but who knows how those will go.
Be safe everyone.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 21, 2020 7:47:33 GMT -6
I knew that's why you don't like politics - you've mentioned it before. You (in the collective sense) gotta do whatever helps preserve your mental state or gives you peace of mind, especially with all the other cr@p that's happening. If you recognize that being apolitical is a way for you to keep unneeded stress out of your life, then you're that much more ahead of the game. Me, I'm a venter - when I get frustrated, I've got to let some of it go by verbalizing what's stressing me out. That's why I gave the little "I know you don't like politics" warning - I was feeling quite frustrated at the moment and needed to vent.
A guy on one of the landscape crews is a self-described "virus is a hoax" "anti-masker", as is his whole family. His grandfather, who he spent the day with last Saturday, ended up in the hospital this week; he tested positive for Covid, and has blood-clots in his lungs. The guy got tested (no word yet on the results), and has to quarantine for 14 days. It's frustrating to me that it all possibly could have been avoided if they'd follow basic guidelines from the beginning - we are too far into this thing for people to still think that it's not real.
And crap, our next-door neighbors - both husband and wife - tested positive on Thursday. Computer Guy works for the schools, his wife is a physical therapist at a nursing home - two of the places were it seems most likely for the virus to spread. They were going through the arduous task of contact tracing the other day - because of their jobs, who knows how many in those two places are affected.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 21, 2020 12:58:31 GMT -6
Ah . . . I have a very bad habit of repeating myself. It drives my sister nuts. She does things that drives me nuts too, so I consider that a win.
Sorry to hear about these families. It’s getting even more scary when it’s people around you getting it. I’ve managed to make it through the past few months, but I fear I might not make it through these cold months. The thought of getting the vaccine scares me, but so does the thought of not doing something to protect myself. It’s a double-edged sword. Although, those who get the shot before I get around to getting it, will lessen my chances at getting it, so there’s that.
Stay safe, everyone.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 21, 2020 15:22:02 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 22, 2020 18:24:02 GMT -6
My Aunt called to tell me about what’s going on at Church. Her granddaughter is dating the preacher’s son. One of his friends got COVID and he and the granddaughter tested positive. Then the preacher and his whole family tested positive. That’s why no in-service at Church for a couple of weeks. My Aunt said that before this, she was the only one wearing a mask, and now everyone is wearing a mask. They’re all fine now though, so that’s good. With how bad it’s getting, I think I’ll stay home.
Stay safe, y’all.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 23, 2020 7:15:52 GMT -6
HA! I do things on purpose just to drive the girls nuts; of course, they usually know I'm doing it on purpose, so it's kind of expected. Every once in a while though, I catch them off guard - and it makes me laugh!
Sorry to hear about your friend and her mom, and the people in your church. I hope everyone is either asymptomatic or has a very mild case. I am very, very worried about my co-worker who was admitted to the hospital last week; he spent four days there on intravenous blood thinners, was released, and is on oral blood thinners and will be, his wife thinks, for weeks or months. There is no change in his condition - still fever, headaches, and extreme fatigue. The last day we worked together was October 6th, and we kept in contact via text, but I haven't heard from him directly in weeks.
I had read the article you posted earlier - the similarities between what happened then and what's going on now are eerie. Hubs and I decided last week, we won't be having Thanksgiving dinner with the girls and their boyfriends - LX was going to host, but we all live in separate households, all work outside the home (except Hubs, who is able to work strictly from home), and getting together inside for hours in their apartment, we thought was too risky. Might seem drastic to some to cancel, but Hubs and LX both have autoimmune issues, so being apart right now is best. It's supposed to be fairly nice weather Thanksgiving though, so we are planning to drive down for a short visit outside - all the kids are very respectful of us "older folks" and wear masks whenever we visit.
Seems like the best plan to me.
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Post by katina2nd on Nov 23, 2020 19:46:35 GMT -6
A guy on one of the landscape crews is a self-described "virus is a hoax" "anti-masker", as is his whole family. I guess it's just a hoax as well that over a quarter of a million Americans have died then. Fair dinkum, you can't believe how stupid people can be. There,s a "news" channel here called Sky News, our version of Fox, and they're forever downplaying the pandemic, attacking state premiers for "draconian" lock down measures and the like; maybe they'd be happier if we went the same route as your country, with the same inevitable results. Stay safe all.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 24, 2020 19:24:01 GMT -6
One thing I've learned during all this - during the last four years really - is that conspiracy theorists will always find a way to eschew facts or twist them in whatever way it serves to fit their narrative.
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Post by katina2nd on Nov 26, 2020 17:44:28 GMT -6
Victoria just recorded it's twenty eighth day with no new cases, and after a man was released from hospital on the twenty fourth of this month we now have zero active cases for the first time in 269 days.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 27, 2020 8:11:00 GMT -6
OMG, Katina, that is so great! It's kinda of weird to offer congratulations for something like this, but Victoria's citizens have all made a lot of sacrifices to achieve it, so Congratulations for a job well done! We are soo, soooo, very far away from that point (I read this morning that 6 of our state's hospitals are at 100% capacity, while 18 more are at 90% - that's some truly scary sh!t), that it seems we'll never get to the point where you guys are. It gives us hope though, that it can be done.
On a personal note, I talked to my brother yesterday - his second Covid test results were negative also, something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
Stay safe.
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Post by katina2nd on Nov 27, 2020 22:49:01 GMT -6
You're 100% correct, we're willing (the majority of us that is) to put up with some short term pain for (fingers crossed) long term gain, sadly I just can't see enough people in your county willing to do the same, hopefully I'm wrong.
Great news on your brother. How was Thanksgiving, it was this past Thursday wasn't it?
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Post by Phalon on Nov 29, 2020 9:16:46 GMT -6
I hope you're wrong too, but as long as a portion of the population refuses to do even the most simple things in order to mitigate the spread, it seems painfully clear that things are not going to improve anytime soon. What's really scary to me is that our health care system is becoming overwhelmed - more beds and other medical supplies can be added, even creating hospital space where there currently is none, but medical staff cannot be manufactured, and they are in ever shortening supply, overworked, burnt out, and getting sick themselves.
Good news - small in the big scheme of things, but any bit of good news is always welcomed in my book - is the neighbors are doing well. The husband is asymptomatic, and the wife's case is mild - she was having some breathing issues, but was given a steroid (I'm guessing Prednisone, because that's what is prescribed to LX when her asthma gets really bad), and seems to be feeling much better now.
Spoke (via text) to my co-worker yesterday for the first time in weeks - he's doing much better also, though his wife says he's still got a long recovery ahead of him. Fever has finally relinquished, fatigue isn't as extreme, and he has some of his strength back - enough even to laugh at my bad puns, of which I was on a down-hill roll while texting him.
Yes, Thanksgiving was Thursday. Ours was very quiet, but nice - it was just Hubs and I, and we had steak instead of turkey. I cook turkey - usually a tenderloin - often throughout the year, but it's been a very long time since I've had steak, and it was oh-so-good!
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Post by moonglum on Nov 30, 2020 4:57:37 GMT -6
That is good news about your brother, your neighbours, and your co-worker.
The circus rolls on over here. We come out of national lock-down on Wednesday and replace that with the 3 tier system, where some areas of the country are in a higher tier than others, meaning tighter restrictions for some and less for others. Then over Christmas, it all changes again for 4 days, when all restrictions are lifted so families can meet up and start spreading the virus all over again. Am I being cynical or is this so crazy? They say one of the effects of the pandemic is the state of people's mental health. Well, I think after the year Vox and I have had, we deserve to go insane. I think I'll go and play murder-in-the-dark.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 30, 2020 10:04:59 GMT -6
I read in the news about the lifting of restrictions for Christmas there, and yes, it does sound crazy....but not more crazy than all of the cr@p going on over here.
You and Vox definitely have had one helluva rough year! And I admit to drilling "murder-in-the-dark" to find out if it is indeed a game of some kind (a parlor game, yes?), because just for a second, you had me worried there, Moonglum.
Oh, and I've been keeping up with your stories, and am looking forward to see what you've got in store for Dr. Jones....or what Dr. Jones has in store for everyone else!
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Post by moonglum on Dec 1, 2020 0:21:57 GMT -6
It was a quote from a tv comedy series, 'The Young Ones', uttered by anarchic punk student Vivian, played by Ade Edmondson. 'A parlour game' ha-ha, love it!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 2, 2020 5:45:33 GMT -6
Too funny - the lack of knowledge I have of British pop-cultural references! Made me laugh that you had to explain it to me (and you know I had to look up "The Young Ones", never having heard of it, even though it aired for awhile in the U.S.)!
"Murder-in-the-dark" is actually a parlor game though (also funny that I can't type parlour without it getting a misspelling red-underline - like why does a computer in the U.S. that's set to English not recognize a word that's actually English?). It sounds fun...though maybe not in the way, based on what I read about "The Young Ones", that Vyvyan probably would have played it!
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2020 3:28:23 GMT -6
I just found out why 2020 is such a horrible year:
Match Made in Hell
When Satan Met 2020
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2020 3:31:00 GMT -6
Victoria just recorded it's twenty eighth day with no new cases, and after a man was released from hospital on the twenty fourth of this month we now have zero active cases for the first time in 269 days.
So glad to hear that. I hope it stays that way until your country gets the vaccine.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2020 3:33:27 GMT -6
On a personal note, I talked to my brother yesterday - his second Covid test results were negative also, something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
Good news.
More good news.
Glad to hear good news, when there's so much bad news out there.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2020 3:43:06 GMT -6
1 day ago:
Zone: Red- 30.8%
Total Cases: 264 Total Active: 81 Hospitalized: 1 Recovered: 180 Deaths: 2
13 Hours Ago:
Total Cases: 272 Total Active: 89 Hospitalized: 1
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Post by moonglum on Dec 3, 2020 9:56:38 GMT -6
The second piece of good news of 2020 so far. The first consignment of the Pfizer vaccine is on its way now from Belgium to the UK via the Eurotunnel. The regulation for its use was approved yesterday. It should be arriving any time now.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 4, 2020 1:20:48 GMT -6
Good news. I hope it works out well. It will be a few weeks here yet.
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Post by moonglum on Dec 4, 2020 1:56:52 GMT -6
Good news. I hope it works out well. It will be a few weeks here yet.
Yes it is good news Jox. It'll be a while yet before the vaccination process starts. Vox and our youngest daughter have received letters saying they are in high risk groups. Vox because of her stroke and our daughter is insulin dependant. So they will probably be ahead of me in the pecking order, I must have upset someone! Although the government is saying vaccinations will start within days, it'll obviously be healthcare workers that will be first and rightly so.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 4, 2020 7:35:19 GMT -6
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Post by moonglum on Dec 4, 2020 10:42:49 GMT -6
Ooops. Apologies Britain. I should have said healthcare workers AND the elderly in carehomes first.
The UK government has announced vaccinations will start next thursday!
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 6, 2020 19:07:11 GMT -6
Ooops. Apologies Britain. I should have said healthcare workers AND the elderly in carehomes first. The UK government has announced vaccinations will start next thursday! Are they mandatory or voluntary MG?
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Post by moonglum on Dec 7, 2020 0:22:34 GMT -6
They are voluntary Kat. Although the government is strongly advising people to take up the option. There seems to be a number of anti-vaccination people out there, those that won't get their children vaccinated because they consider it an evil! or an attack on their rights or religion?
They have moved the timetable up. The vaccinations are starting Tuesday.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 7, 2020 7:06:20 GMT -6
It's the same here, in addition to people who believe in any number of conspiracy theories relating to vaccines in general as well as the Covid vaccine specifically.
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Post by moonglum on Dec 7, 2020 11:13:28 GMT -6
I know, it defies logic. As if a government would spend millions of taxpayer's money killing off the very people they collect the money from!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 8, 2020 16:33:48 GMT -6
I'm pretty sure that logic doesn't matter to some people. At least, that's the way it seems.
Yesterday, the Michigan Health and Human Services Department extended the recent round of restrictions to December 20th - on-line classes only for high-school and college, no indoor dining at restaurants and bars, no indoor team sports, etc..
The governor today ordered flags be flown at half-staff for 10 days - to mark the state reaching the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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