• Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDam

    From Barry Martin@454:1/1 to Nancy Backus on Fri Apr 24 12:30:00 2020
    Subject: Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt


    Hi Nancy!

    Continuing....

    "Welcome back to the Nancy and Barry Show! Go ahead caller!"


    <COVID-19>
    Very few if any places are totally unaffected now....
    Unfortunately yes. The Iowa Governor extended school closures through
    April 30th; locally the school boards are trying to keep high school
    seniors' graduations on schedule ==> won't have the ceremony but at
    least the diploma.
    Our schools are closed at least until April 29th, too... kids are
    doing distance learning and being home-schooled, too... And the
    colleges are doing things all online, too...
    I'm half-expecting another extension until mid-May -- at least here in
    the Midwest; New York/East Coast might be able to start reopening
    around the first of May just because that area had it earlier than here.
    At this point there still is no decision on whether or not
    schools will reopen before the end of the school year... Although
    we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve now,
    there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...

    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off with
    multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This reminds
    people and so they go back to protective measures (social distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will have developed an immunity (probabyl to varying degrees) and so that will also help
    reduce the curve.


    The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton
    and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the
    highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa)
    -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would make more sense if also showed percentage.
    That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed
    comparison...

    IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better to
    say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported
    because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'. Though
    is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population. One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they also had no
    test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something similar here:
    Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch of test kits and
    so they were able to do more tests and so all of a sudden a landslide of
    new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that cased the Iowa report to
    have an increase, not as much of a spike because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And probably also caused a mild bump in
    the U.S. reporting.

    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll
    sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.



    Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming
    freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed.
    Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall...
    it's so much a wait-and-see now....
    That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell.
    And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a
    friend, she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the
    fall in our area was... generally they all were still in the wait
    and see mode...

    <nervous agreement chuckle> Which at this point makes sense. Currently
    just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for sure when able
    to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm guessing plan to
    continue with the on-line learning, and if things get cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably continue as a
    popular alternative. There's also a percentage of students who will
    take off the semester or maybe even year -- always have been some but
    I'm thinking even more than usual. Combination of protective measure
    and building up some finances.


    And when in-person classes do begin will cause a mixing of people, not only locally but the U.S. and internationally -- we have three colleges
    / universities with a significant international student body. I'd
    guess a cursory medical check for flights but for those travelling by car....
    Our major ones also have a significant international student body
    as well... I don't know if all the international students went
    home, or if they stayed put here... most are in apartments, not
    in the dorms... Of course, distance learning can be done from
    anywhere in the world now pretty much....

    Right. Lots of international students here also; I'm guessing about two-thirds of the colleges/universities have on-campus housing. I have
    not heard anything on what's happened to the students - domestic or international. My guess is a few have returned to where they originally
    were from; perhaps a lot just staying where they are because would
    eventually return and moving is exensive. Also percentage who have no
    place to return: their plans were to move to someplace new.


    True.... Grocery stores becoming the new 'in' spot to gather and see
    people! I'm thinking it's national but here the Target (Super Target,
    with grocery) is limiting to 60 people inside at a time, Home Depot
    limiting to 100. What's sort of funny is here the Target is much
    larger than the Home Depot (excluding Garden Center) so the numbers
    should be reversed.
    Not sure if the big box stores here are limiting how many inside the
    store at a time, as I've not been anywhere near them, but so far
    Wegmans hasn't limited, though they have now posted signs saying that
    they reserve the right to do so if they feel it necessary... It's more
    just encouraging the 6' away from each other and otherwise maintaining
    distance from anyone... I'm not seeing so much of the stores being a
    place for gathering, but then it is being actively discouraged...
    Here also more encouragement to stay in place, only going out when necessary. I've been told Schnuck's grocery store (chain
    headquartered in St. Louis) is restricting to 60 customers at a time.
    I haven't heard of restictions at the other grocery stores (including Hy-Vee). Hy-Vee did put directional arrows on the(ir brand new!) floor
    to sort of direct a flow of traffic to help keep people 6' apart.
    No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in
    and out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles"
    to catch your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make
    them wider... They expect the carts to help maintain the
    distancing...

    "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" <g> The one-way aisles
    might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to stay six
    feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when they stop
    to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them.

    I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really
    needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were.
    Definitely not worth a special trip.


    ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the
    store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!)
    I'd think so... <G> At least the baby food/baby items has a
    separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;)

    And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! <g>



    Back to the hoarders. I'm thinking they've calmed down some also,
    though Hy-Vee did have quarts of orange juice at 99› (limit two) in the
    Wednesday ads (print, TV, digital) and they were out Thursday morning.
    Maybe they weren't able to get all the stock in that they'd ordered....
    A strong possibility too. LIS, I wasn't going to make a big deal out
    of it; maybe in regular times see about getting a raincheck but
    currently all rainchecks are suspended. Also I'm not going to make a special trip if told "we're expecting a truck tomorrow".
    I wouldn't make a special trip, either... some things can be
    foregone for a while if necessary... ;)

    We tend to buy ahead anyway: buy on sale/with coupon makes mor sense
    than buying at full price. Not always possible and sometimes need now.
    The 99› orange juice isn't a need but a desire -- a glass of orange
    juice would be nice but I don't require it.


    Then off to get gas before my points expired. No coffee-flavoured
    M&Ms yet but the lady who is more in charge and originally said she'd
    try to order said she and the supplier were still looking. :)
    It does make me wonder if they were indeed a test-market item... ;)
    But even if they were, they could be back, as a NEW item, introduced
    more widely.... ;)
    Possibly! Or another limited version in conjuction with Starbucks!
    That would likely only be available at Starbucks... or as a
    mail-in premium.... :)
    Hy-Vee now has an in-store Starbucks.
    In that case, it definitely would be a mail-in premium... have to
    drink x cups of special Starbucks drinks to get the coffee
    M&Ms... oh, and probably you have to upload a picture of your
    receipts to some website in order to qualify.... ;)

    Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! M&Ms! Cap-a-cheen-o!! <g>


    ¯ ®
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    ¯ @Q.COM ®
    ¯ ®


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  • From Nancy Backus@454:1/452 to Barry Martin on Sat May 2 19:52:32 2020
    Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 24-Apr-2020 12:30 <=-
    Subject: Covid-19 was: Miss.RvrDamBreach-Davenpt

    <COVID-19>
    Our schools are closed at least until April 29th, too... kids are
    doing distance learning and being home-schooled, too... And the
    colleges are doing things all online, too...
    I'm half-expecting another extension until mid-May -- at least here in
    the Midwest; New York/East Coast might be able to start reopening
    around the first of May just because that area had it earlier than here.
    At this point there still is no decision on whether or not schools
    will reopen before the end of the school year...

    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was keeping
    all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this academic year...

    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.

    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....

    The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton
    and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the
    highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa)
    -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would
    make more sense if also showed percentage.
    That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison...
    IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better
    to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'.
    Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population.
    One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they
    also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something
    similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch
    of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a
    sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that
    cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike
    because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting.

    The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major impact
    on what the statistics and such end up being....

    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.

    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on my
    classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to but
    because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on things...
    Richard has been going on the state website to hear our governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive orders are....

    Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming
    freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed.
    Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall...
    it's so much a wait-and-see now....
    That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell.
    And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a friend,
    she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the fall in our
    area was... generally they all were still in the wait and see mode...
    <nervous agreement chuckle> Which at this point makes sense.
    Currently just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for
    sure when able to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm
    guessing plan to continue with the on-line learning, and if things get cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably continue as a popular alternative.

    There's benefits and drawbacks to each kind of learning... and some
    majors are much more dependent on in-person types of activities than
    others... A lot of classes already have been being done mostly if not
    totally online, even before this....

    There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester
    or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some finances.

    Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for some,
    returning to school might be better than staying in a locality that
    might be earlier in the curve than where their college is...

    And when in-person classes do begin will cause a mixing of people, not
    only locally but the U.S. and internationally -- we have three colleges
    / universities with a significant international student body. I'd
    guess a cursory medical check for flights but for those travelling by
    car....
    Our major ones also have a significant international student body as
    well... I don't know if all the international students went home, or
    if they stayed put here... most are in apartments, not in the dorms...
    Of course, distance learning can be done from anywhere in the world
    now pretty much....
    Right. Lots of international students here also; I'm guessing about two-thirds of the colleges/universities have on-campus housing. I
    have not heard anything on what's happened to the students - domestic
    or international. My guess is a few have returned to where they originally were from; perhaps a lot just staying where they are because would eventually return and moving is expensive. Also percentage who
    have no place to return: their plans were to move to someplace new.

    Lots of factors enter in to this sort of decision... ;)

    Here also more encouragement to stay in place, only going out when
    necessary. I've been told Schnuck's grocery store (chain
    headquartered in St. Louis) is restricting to 60 customers at a time.
    I haven't heard of restrictions at the other grocery stores (including
    Hy-Vee). Hy-Vee did put directional arrows on their (brand new!) floor
    to sort of direct a flow of traffic to help keep people 6' apart.
    No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in> and
    out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch
    your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider...
    They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing...
    "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" <g> The one-way
    aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to
    stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them.

    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face on,
    I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but BJ's did
    put them in for the narrower cross aisles...

    I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really
    needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were. Definitely not worth a special trip.

    We are just doing our usual once-a-week shopping... only special trips
    are if something important is running out... like milk or the cats'
    kibble.... <G>

    ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the
    store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food
    aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!)
    I'd think so... <G> At least the baby food/baby items has a
    separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;)
    And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! <g>

    And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can be
    avoided anyway.... :)

    A strong possibility too. LIS, I wasn't going to make a big deal out
    of it; maybe in regular times see about getting a raincheck but
    currently all rainchecks are suspended. Also I'm not going to make a
    special trip if told "we're expecting a truck tomorrow".
    I wouldn't make a special trip, either... some things can be foregone
    for a while if necessary... ;)
    We tend to buy ahead anyway: buy on sale/with coupon makes more sense
    than buying at full price. Not always possible and sometimes need
    now. The 99› orange juice isn't a need but a desire -- a glass of
    orange juice would be nice but I don't require it.

    Yup.

    ttyl neb

    ... DOCTOR: "First the good news. Your name will go down in history...."

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  • From Barry Martin@454:1/1 to Nancy Backus on Sun May 3 09:10:00 2020

    Hi Nancy!

    <COVID-19>
    Our schools are closed at least until April 29th, too... kids are
    doing distance learning and being home-schooled, too... And the
    colleges are doing things all online, too...
    I'm half-expecting another extension until mid-May -- at least here in
    the Midwest; New York/East Coast might be able to start reopening
    around the first of May just because that area had it earlier than here.
    At this point there still is no decision on whether or not schools
    will reopen before the end of the school year...
    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was
    keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this
    academic year...

    I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic
    year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency.


    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.
    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....

    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes
    acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the
    Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate
    circles of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still
    present.


    The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton
    and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the
    highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa)
    -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would
    make more sense if also showed percentage.
    That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison...
    IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better
    to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'.
    Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population.
    One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they
    also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something
    similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch
    of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a
    sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that
    cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike
    because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting.
    The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major
    impact on what the statistics and such end up being....

    Oddly yes. :)


    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.
    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs
    on my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I
    want to but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an
    overview on things... Richard has been going on the state website
    to hear our governor's daily updates, to get directly what the
    various executive orders are....

    Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's
    daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3). Personally
    I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is sufficent.
    OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know where not to
    go to keep safe, etc.


    Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming
    freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed.
    Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall...
    it's so much a wait-and-see now....
    That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell.
    And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a friend,
    she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the fall in our
    area was... generally they all were still in the wait and see mode...
    <nervous agreement chuckle> Which at this point makes sense.
    Currently just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for
    sure when able to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm
    guessing plan to continue with the on-line learning, and if things get cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably continue as a popular alternative.
    There's benefits and drawbacks to each kind of learning... and
    some majors are much more dependent on in-person types of
    activities than others... A lot of classes already have been
    being done mostly if not totally online, even before this....

    True. A friend of mine in college did much better learning from reading
    the texts than from the lecture. He was not a bookworm by any means,
    pretty much the opposite of that stereotype.

    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as a
    hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier to
    follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems noted.
    And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done on-screen.



    There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester
    or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some finances.
    Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for
    some, returning to school might be better than staying in a
    locality that might be earlier in the curve than where their
    college is...

    Right: a lot of variables depending on where. Might be 'safer'
    (relative term) to live in a dorm than an apartment complex: dorm might
    have daily temperature checking, spraying of common areas, etc., whereas
    the apartment building probably would have nothing like that.


    Here also more encouragement to stay in place, only going out when
    necessary. I've been told Schnuck's grocery store (chain
    headquartered in St. Louis) is restricting to 60 customers at a time.
    I haven't heard of restrictions at the other grocery stores (including
    Hy-Vee). Hy-Vee did put directional arrows on their (brand new!) floor
    to sort of direct a flow of traffic to help keep people 6' apart.
    No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in> and
    out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch
    your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider...
    They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing...
    "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" <g> The one-way
    aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to
    stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them.
    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting
    face on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at
    Wegmans, but BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross
    aisles...

    Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which
    would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet and
    so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of course.


    I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really
    needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were. Definitely not worth a special trip.
    We are just doing our usual once-a-week shopping... only special
    trips are if something important is running out... like milk or
    the cats' kibble.... <G>

    I did go last Thursday - ah! People! :) <g> All of the Hy-Vee
    associates are required to wear masks -- one in Produce was kidding with
    me as he kind of liked it as hid if he was sticking out his tongue at a
    mean customer.


    ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the
    store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food
    aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!)
    I'd think so... <G> At least the baby food/baby items has a
    separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;)
    And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! <g>
    And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can
    be avoided anyway.... :)

    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less
    confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the aisle
    I was in previously......



    ¯ ®
    ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ®
    ¯ @Q.COM ®
    ¯ ®


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  • From Nancy Backus@454:1/452 to Barry Martin on Sat May 9 01:10:38 2020
    Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 03-May-2020 09:10 <=-

    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was
    keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this
    academic year...
    I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic
    year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency.

    Yes, it does make sense...

    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off
    with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the
    social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This
    reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social
    distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.
    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.

    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not keeping
    them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the virus...

    The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton
    and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the
    highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa)
    -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would
    make more sense if also showed percentage.
    That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison...
    IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better
    to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported
    because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'.
    Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population.
    One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they
    also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something
    similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch
    of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a
    sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that
    cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike
    because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And
    probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting.
    The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major
    impact on what the statistics and such end up being....
    Oddly yes. :)

    And maybe not so oddly... ;)

    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll
    sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.
    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on
    my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to
    but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on
    things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our
    governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive
    orders are....
    Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's
    daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3).
    Personally I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is sufficent. OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know where not to go to keep safe, etc.

    Sometimes it's useful to know what really was said, versus what the
    various interpretations of it end up being...

    Nothing's been said but I wonder about what's going on with upcoming
    freshman college classes: the colleges and universities are closed.
    Maybe the colleges just don't know what to plan for the fall...
    it's so much a wait-and-see now....
    That and the summer sessions! As you indicated, too early to tell.
    And just last night, when I was talking on the phone with a friend,
    she looked up what the status of colleges opening in the fall in our
    area was... generally they all were still in the wait and see mode...
    <nervous agreement chuckle> Which at this point makes sense.
    Currently just about all schools are shut down and no one knows for
    sure when able to open. Hard to make plans. At this point I'm
    guessing plan to continue with the on-line learning, and if things get
    cleared go back to in-person learning, though the on-line will probably
    continue as a popular alternative.
    There's benefits and drawbacks to each kind of learning... and some
    majors are much more dependent on in-person types of activities than
    others... A lot of classes already have been being done mostly if
    not totally online, even before this....
    True. A friend of mine in college did much better learning from
    reading the texts than from the lecture. He was not a bookworm by any means, pretty much the opposite of that stereotype.

    All different learning styles, as we've discussed before... :)

    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.

    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure to
    have to learn anything other than what you need, though you might pick
    up all sorts of other info along the way... :)

    There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester
    or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more
    than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some
    finances.
    Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for some,
    returning to school might be better than staying in a locality that
    might be earlier in the curve than where their college is...
    Right: a lot of variables depending on where. Might be 'safer'
    (relative term) to live in a dorm than an apartment complex: dorm
    might have daily temperature checking, spraying of common areas, etc., whereas the apartment building probably would have nothing like that.

    And on the other hand, there's less crowding (potentially) in an
    apartment setup than in a dorm.... and one can do their own protective measures.... ;)

    No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in and
    out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch
    your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider...
    They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing...
    "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" <g> The one-way
    aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to
    stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when
    they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them.
    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face
    on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but
    BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles...
    Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which
    would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet
    and so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of
    course.

    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles
    anyway...

    I did skip going to Hy-Vee yesterday: nothing advertised I really
    needed. I remember was two items but not recalling what they were.
    Definitely not worth a special trip.
    We are just doing our usual once-a-week shopping... only special
    trips are if something important is running out... like milk or the
    cats' kibble.... <G>
    I did go last Thursday - ah! People! :) <g> All of the Hy-Vee
    associates are required to wear masks -- one in Produce was kidding
    with me as he kind of liked it as hid if he was sticking out his tongue
    at a mean customer.

    Now that could be a definite advantage... <G>

    ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the
    store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food
    aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!)
    I'd think so... <G> At least the baby food/baby items has a
    separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;)
    And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! <g>
    And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can be
    avoided anyway.... :)
    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......

    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less confusing
    in our own minds... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... I'm out of bed and dressed, what more do you want?

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452)
  • From Barry Martin@454:1/1 to Nancy Backus on Sat May 9 10:32:00 2020

    Hi Nancy!

    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was
    keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this
    academic year...
    I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic
    year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency.
    Yes, it does make sense...

    And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the
    Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots
    with cellphone faces doens't quite give the same feeling.


    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off
    with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the
    social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This
    reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social
    distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.
    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.
    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not
    keeping them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the
    virus...

    Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance /
    zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I
    don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this
    situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is
    required.


    The news has a chart of number of instances by county. Scott, Clinton
    and Muscatine counties (me, north of here, south of here) are the
    highest -- yeah, we're also the most populous (in this part of Iowa)
    -- of course we're going to have the most COVID-19 cases! To me would
    make more sense if also showed percentage.
    That could be a useful tool... especially for an informed comparison...
    IMO yes. Lots of little factors not being presented, or maybe better
    to say overlooked. Italy had a very high death rate; later reported
    because they have an older population, not something 'Italian'.
    Though is helpful to know the virus is harder on an older population.
    One the opposite end was I think Zambia had no reported cases: they
    also had no test kits so unable to report. Had sort of something
    similar here: Louisa County (IA) had a sudden spike: they get a bunch
    of test kits and so they were able to do more tests and so all of a
    sudden a landslide of new cases. Louisa County is in Iowa, so that
    cased the Iowa report to have an increase, not as much of a spike
    because the other 98 counties' reporting format was constant. And
    probably also caused a mild bump in the U.S. reporting.
    The ability or inability to test widely does seem to have a major
    impact on what the statistics and such end up being....
    Oddly yes. :)
    And maybe not so oddly... ;)

    Oddly so, even! (I'm positive this will turn out negatively!)



    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll
    sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.
    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on
    my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to
    but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on
    things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our
    governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive
    orders are....
    Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's
    daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3).
    Personally I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is sufficent. OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know where not to go to keep safe, etc.
    Sometimes it's useful to know what really was said, versus what
    the various interpretations of it end up being...

    True: in general too many edited sound-bites have given the wrong
    impression. For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever the
    'it' is. I agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm
    probably not going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time
    for them to settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing out
    and I wasn't a crowd person before.



    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.
    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure
    to have to learn anything other than what you need, though you
    might pick up all sorts of other info along the way... :)

    Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and creations
    would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had known more
    stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be hired with
    that tiny knowldgebase!


    There's also a percentage of students who will take off the semester
    or maybe even year -- always have been some but I'm thinking even more
    than usual. Combination of protective measure and building up some
    finances.
    Time will tell if more decide it's safer to stay home... for some,
    returning to school might be better than staying in a locality that
    might be earlier in the curve than where their college is...
    Right: a lot of variables depending on where. Might be 'safer'
    (relative term) to live in a dorm than an apartment complex: dorm
    might have daily temperature checking, spraying of common areas, etc., whereas the apartment building probably would have nothing like that.
    And on the other hand, there's less crowding (potentially) in an
    apartment setup than in a dorm.... and one can do their own
    protective measures.... ;)

    Good points and bad points for everything. :)


    No one-way aisles here, at least not yet... just the one-way in and
    out of the store.... and a lot of the "stuff in the aisles" to catch
    your attention has been moved out of the aisles to make them wider...
    They expect the carts to help maintain the distancing...
    "Come near me and I'll crash my cart into you!!" <g> The one-way
    aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a lot easier to
    stay six feet from the other customer wandering down the aisle but when
    they stop to get or contemplate an item one still has to pass them.
    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face
    on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but
    BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles...
    Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which
    would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet
    and so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of
    course.
    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles anyway...

    Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the
    mini-car I use at Hy-Vee.

    And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the
    remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have
    found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes in
    the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed.




    <skipped grocery shopping the previous week>
    I did go last Thursday - ah! People! :) <g> All of the Hy-Vee
    associates are required to wear masks -- one in Produce was kidding
    with me as he kind of liked it as hid if he was sticking out his tongue
    at a mean customer.
    Now that could be a definite advantage... <G>

    As long as he remembers when the mask is no longer required to be worn
    he isn't wearing one!!


    ...Another thing to add a bit of confusion to my shopping while the
    store is remodelling! Now I need to go down the Baby Food and Pet Food
    aisles!! (Um, that's plural: they're two distinct areas!)
    I'd think so... <G> At least the baby food/baby items has a
    separate section of the store here that I can just ignore... ;)
    And helps you can 'legally' skip as no one-way aisle routing! <g>
    And even if there were one-way routing, that's in a part that can be
    avoided anyway.... :)
    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......
    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less
    confusing in our own minds... ;)

    At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the one-way)
    the 'unnecessary' aisle.

    ¯ ®
    ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ®
    ¯ @Q.COM ®
    ¯ ®


    ... I've reached the age where the happy hour is a nap.
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47
    þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA

    --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462
    * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1)
  • From Nancy Backus@454:1/452 to Barry Martin on Sat May 16 19:08:54 2020
    Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 09-May-2020 08:32 <=-

    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was
    keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this
    academic year...
    I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic
    year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency.
    Yes, it does make sense...
    And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots with cellphone faces doesn't quite give the same feeling.

    Not much comfort at this point, but when they get to be our age, they'll
    look back and see that they had a unique place in history... like others
    that missed out on certain things because of world wars or other
    pandemics.....

    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off
    with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the
    social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This
    reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social
    distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.
    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes
    acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the
    Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles
    of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.
    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not keeping
    them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the virus...
    Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance / zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I
    don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is required.

    Yup. And even when it's necessary, there's still lots of
    second-guessing after the fact...

    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll
    sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.
    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on
    my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to
    but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on
    things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our
    governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive
    orders are....
    Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's
    daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3).
    Personally I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is
    sufficent. OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know
    where not to go to keep safe, etc.
    Sometimes it's useful to know what really was said, versus what the
    various interpretations of it end up being...
    True: in general too many edited sound-bites have given the wrong impression. For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever
    the 'it' is. I agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm probably not going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time
    for them to settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing
    out and I wasn't a crowd person before.

    Neither am I... crowds are mostly something to avoid for me, too..

    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.
    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure to
    have to learn anything other than what you need, though you might pick
    up all sorts of other info along the way... :)
    Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and
    creations would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had known more stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be hired with that tiny knowledgebase!

    And no need now to be looking for that sort of employment, anyway... :)

    The one-way aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a
    lot easier to stay six feet from the other customer wandering down
    the aisle but when they stop to get or contemplate an item one
    still has to pass them.
    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face
    on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but
    BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles...
    Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which
    would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet
    and so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of
    course.
    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles
    anyway...
    Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the mini-cart I use at Hy-Vee.

    I think the bigger carts at BJ's are mostly because things are generally
    in bulk there anyway... I'm perfectly capable of only filling up the
    child-seat area of the cart, if there's not much I need there for that
    shopping trip... ;)

    And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the
    remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have
    found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes
    in the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed.

    Yeah, I think the days of the hoarding runs are past us now... :) But
    the supply train has been disrupted now in various instances... With
    meat packing plants shutting down for COVID issues, that's disrupted
    some of the meat supplies...

    <skipped grocery shopping the previous week>
    I did go last Thursday - ah! People! :) <g> All of the Hy-Vee
    associates are required to wear masks -- one in Produce was kidding
    with me as he kind of liked it as hid if he was sticking out his tongue
    at a mean customer.
    Now that could be a definite advantage... <G>
    As long as he remembers when the mask is no longer required to be worn
    he isn't wearing one!!

    True... <G>

    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less
    confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......
    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less
    confusing in our own minds... ;)
    At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the
    one-way) the 'unnecessary' aisle.

    Indeed. :)

    ttyl neb

    ... A croquette is a romantic lady frog.

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452)
  • From Barry Martin@454:1/1 to Nancy Backus on Sun May 17 09:15:00 2020

    Hi Nancy!

    Update... a couple days ago, the governor announced that he was
    keeping all the schools and colleges closed for the rest of this
    academic year...
    I'm thinking we're keeping schools in Iowa closed until next academic
    year also; to me makes more sense to have consistency.
    Yes, it does make sense...
    And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots with cellphone faces doesn't quite give the same feeling.
    Not much comfort at this point, but when they get to be our age,
    they'll look back and see that they had a unique place in
    history... like others that missed out on certain things because
    of world wars or other pandemics.....

    Hindsight does tend to make most things less nasty. A big graduation ceremony and party is probably high on the importance list at the time
    but the importance level decreases as time goes on. I do think it
    should be honoured in some way and am glad for the 'pop-up'
    celebrations. The other advantage is there has been time to prepare:
    not like "sorry Charlie, no graduation/birthday/etc. event next week".
    I'm thinking maybe the ability to plan for/create an alternative
    festivity helps: "I can do something".


    Although we do seem to be coming on the downward side of the curve
    now, there's no way to know whether it will be a quick drop or a
    flatter/longer one... and the last thing we want is for things to
    suddenly spike upwards again...
    The experts are mixed, though I think some are trying not to be
    Doomsday Prophets. I'm thinking the curve will be long in tapering off
    with multiple rises and falls as people 'are released' and forget the
    social distancing, cleanliness, etc., and so contract COVID-19. This
    reminds people and so they go back to protective measures (social
    distancing and cleanliness), and so back and forth. More people will
    have developed an immunity (probably to varying degrees) and so that
    will also help reduce the curve.
    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes
    acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the
    Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles
    of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.
    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not keeping
    them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the virus...
    Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance / zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I
    don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is required.
    Yup. And even when it's necessary, there's still lots of
    second-guessing after the fact...

    Right: no one _knows_, it's pretty much all scientific guessing and
    computer models. It acts similar to <other illness> which has a
    history. While I'm sort of of the New Hampshire 'Live Free or Die'
    attitude there are times to back down and follow.


    ...Not that I'm scooping out these details, just are there and I'll
    sometimes do a quick alternative analysis.
    I'm not searching out stuff, but I do listen to the news blurbs on
    my classical radio station... sometimes not really because I want to
    but because it's there... so I do get somewhat of an overview on
    things... Richard has been going on the state website to hear our
    governor's daily updates, to get directly what the various executive
    orders are....
    Locally one of our TV stations has been carrying the Iowa Governor's
    daily news conferences on one of its subchannels (Ch. 6.3).
    Personally I would find it boring and the highlights on the news is
    sufficent. OTOH I don't have a need to go out in the world and so know
    where not to go to keep safe, etc.
    Sometimes it's useful to know what really was said, versus what the
    various interpretations of it end up being...
    True: in general too many edited sound-bites have given the wrong impression. For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever
    the 'it' is. I agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm probably not going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time
    for them to settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing
    out and I wasn't a crowd person before.
    Neither am I... crowds are mostly something to avoid for me,
    too..

    I'm also generally not a crowd-person: too noisy, sometimes too
    uncontrolled. OTOH some things just aren't right without an audience or gathering.


    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.
    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure to
    have to learn anything other than what you need, though you might pick
    up all sorts of other info along the way... :)
    Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and
    creations would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had known more stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be hired with that tiny knowledgebase!
    And no need now to be looking for that sort of employment,
    anyway... :)

    There are advanatges to being old enough and retired!

    And throw up there the "don't stop learning" thing. Everything is
    evolving, so changing, and one needs to change with it. Not necessarily
    100% go with the flow, but embrace, though maybe at a bit of a distance.
    (That sounds like the set-up to a COVID-19 six-foot joke!)



    The one-way aisles might be more of a psychological thing: it is a
    lot easier to stay six feet from the other customer wandering down
    the aisle but when they stop to get or contemplate an item one
    still has to pass them.
    There's less chance of spreading contagion if one isn't meeting face
    on, I suppose... We still don't have one-way aisles at Wegmans, but
    BJ's did put them in for the narrower cross aisles...
    Again a lot of variables: Wegmans might have ten foot aisles, which
    would give the 6' spacing. BJ's narrower aisles might be eight feet
    and so the perception by the customer is too close. Guesses, of
    course.
    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles
    anyway...
    Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the mini-cart I use at Hy-Vee.
    I think the bigger carts at BJ's are mostly because things are
    generally in bulk there anyway... I'm perfectly capable of only
    filling up the child-seat area of the cart, if there's not much I
    need there for that shopping trip... ;)

    Right. I like the smaller carts are Hy-Vee because easier to maneuver
    plus get items in an out: don't have to drop them in the void or dig out
    the pit when checking out. There have been times when I should have
    used a large/standard-sized cart.



    And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the
    remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have
    found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes
    in the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed.
    Yeah, I think the days of the hoarding runs are past us now...
    :) But the supply train has been disrupted now in various
    instances... With meat packing plants shutting down for COVID
    issues, that's disrupted some of the meat supplies...

    Yes - my guess is the hoarders have decided they have plenty squirreled
    away, the supply may be low but not critical. As I've mentioned, the
    toilet paper and paper towels section at Hy-Vee is reasonably well-
    stocked. Yes. some holes and almost-empties; quite sure the limit of
    one has helped but also thinking lessening of the hoarding.

    Spotty holes in tuna fish, pizza and frozen foods -- might be due to a
    supply issue or could also be people are eating at home: tuna casserole,
    pizza, frozen meals.



    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less
    confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......
    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less
    confusing in our own minds... ;)
    At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the
    one-way) the 'unnecessary' aisle.
    Indeed. :)

    Some things just aren't worth a fight. I haven't observed anyone
    getting in trouble (by whatever degree from The Look to physical) by
    going the wrong way. Most are following the directional signage, some
    have simply overlooked it.


    ¯ ®
    ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ®
    ¯ @Q.COM ®
    ¯ ®


    ... November 19: It's the Have a Bad Day Day in Lebanon, PA.
    --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47
    þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA

    --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462
    * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1)
  • From Nancy Backus@454:1/452 to Barry Martin on Mon Jun 1 17:58:26 2020
    Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 17-May-2020 09:15 <=-

    And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the
    Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots
    with cellphone faces doesn't quite give the same feeling.
    Not much comfort at this point, but when they get to be our age,
    they'll look back and see that they had a unique place in history...
    like others that missed out on certain things because of world wars
    or other pandemics.....
    Hindsight does tend to make most things less nasty. A big graduation ceremony and party is probably high on the importance list at the time
    but the importance level decreases as time goes on. I do think it
    should be honoured in some way and am glad for the 'pop-up'
    celebrations. The other advantage is there has been time to prepare:
    not like "sorry Charlie, no graduation/birthday/etc. event next week".
    I'm thinking maybe the ability to plan for/create an alternative
    festivity helps: "I can do something".

    That could help... :) And knowing that it isn't just them, but
    everybody in their class, all around the world, could also be a little
    bit of a, well not exactly a comfort, but at least a mitigating factor...

    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes
    acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the
    Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles
    of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.
    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not keeping
    them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the virus...
    Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance /
    zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I
    don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this
    situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is
    required.
    Yup. And even when it's necessary, there's still lots of
    second-guessing after the fact...
    Right: no one _knows_, it's pretty much all scientific guessing and computer models. It acts similar to <other illness> which has a
    history. While I'm sort of of the New Hampshire 'Live Free or Die' attitude there are times to back down and follow.

    Especially, if the "or Die" is a distinct possibility to follow from
    Living Free as well....

    For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever the 'it' is. I
    agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm probably not
    going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time for them to
    settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing out and I
    wasn't a crowd person before.
    Neither am I... crowds are mostly something to avoid for me, too..
    I'm also generally not a crowd-person: too noisy, sometimes too uncontrolled. OTOH some things just aren't right without an audience
    or gathering.

    Well enough controlled and not too noisy, yes, I'd agree... <G> There's
    one "it" reopening that I will be in the forefront for, and that's my
    massage, whenever my therapist gets the green light... She's put me at
    the top of her list... It almost happened Saturday, but then she found
    out she couldn't reopen yet, after all...

    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.
    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure to
    have to learn anything other than what you need, though you might pick
    up all sorts of other info along the way... :)
    Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and
    creations would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had
    known more stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be
    hired with that tiny knowledgebase!
    And no need now to be looking for that sort of employment, anyway... :)
    There are advanatges to being old enough and retired!

    Indeed. :)

    And throw up there the "don't stop learning" thing. Everything is evolving, so changing, and one needs to change with it. Not
    necessarily 100% go with the flow, but embrace, though maybe at a bit
    of a distance. (That sounds like the set-up to a COVID-19 six-foot
    joke!)

    Well, there is the 'keep learning' aspect, and also the 'if it works why change' part.... :)

    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles
    anyway...
    Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more
    practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the
    mini-cart I use at Hy-Vee.
    I think the bigger carts at BJ's are mostly because things are
    generally in bulk there anyway... I'm perfectly capable of only
    filling up the child-seat area of the cart, if there's not much I
    need there for that shopping trip... ;)
    Right. I like the smaller carts are Hy-Vee because easier to maneuver plus get items in an out: don't have to drop them in the void or dig
    out the pit when checking out. There have been times when I should
    have used a large/standard-sized cart.

    Bj's only has the one size cart, which is larger than the grocery large carts... At Wegmans, we use the large/standard cart for our weekly
    shopping since we know we'll have room to put everything, even when also shopping some for someone else... but if we're in there for just a few
    things, I'll use the smaller cart... I'll use some sort of cart in any
    case, just to have the support of the "walker".... :)

    And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the
    remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have
    found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes
    in the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no
    supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed.
    Yeah, I think the days of the hoarding runs are past us now... :) But
    the supply train has been disrupted now in various instances... With
    meat packing plants shutting down for COVID issues, that's disrupted
    some of the meat supplies...
    Yes - my guess is the hoarders have decided they have plenty
    squirreled away, the supply may be low but not critical. As I've mentioned, the toilet paper and paper towels section at Hy-Vee is reasonably well-stocked. Yes, some holes and almost-empties; quite
    sure the limit of one has helped but also thinking lessening of the hoarding.

    Paper goods have pretty much gone back to normal, though not quite fully stocked everywhere... still a lot of holes in the cleaning supplies and
    things like gloves and sanitizers...

    Spotty holes in tuna fish, pizza and frozen foods -- might be due to a supply issue or could also be people are eating at home: tuna
    casserole, pizza, frozen meals.

    Or that might be a form of hoarding, too... shelf-stable or frozen, as
    long as one has room to stock, one can do some stockpiling... I have
    twice now bought a Family Pack (10 cans) of tuna fish to donate at
    church to a local food pantry that had asked for help.... but at our
    store, there seems to be a pretty good supply of tunafish... :)

    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less
    confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......
    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less
    confusing in our own minds... ;)
    At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the
    one-way) the 'unnecessary' aisle.
    Indeed. :)
    Some things just aren't worth a fight. I haven't observed anyone
    getting in trouble (by whatever degree from The Look to physical) by
    going the wrong way. Most are following the directional signage, some have simply overlooked it.

    I think it was in BJs recently, there was an older woman, obviously
    distressed enough that she had to wear a mask to be out shopping, and
    pushing one of those big carts.... I think she might not have seen the
    floor markings for the one-way aisles, even though they are large red
    squares on the floor now...

    ttyl neb

    ... We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452)
  • From Nancy Backus@454:1/452 to Barry Martin on Mon Jun 1 17:58:26 2020
    Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 17-May-2020 09:15 <=-

    And they are trying to have some sort of graduation ceremonies for the
    Seniors. Videoconferencing just isn't the same. An audience of robots
    with cellphone faces doesn't quite give the same feeling.
    Not much comfort at this point, but when they get to be our age,
    they'll look back and see that they had a unique place in history...
    like others that missed out on certain things because of world wars
    or other pandemics.....
    Hindsight does tend to make most things less nasty. A big graduation ceremony and party is probably high on the importance list at the time
    but the importance level decreases as time goes on. I do think it
    should be honoured in some way and am glad for the 'pop-up'
    celebrations. The other advantage is there has been time to prepare:
    not like "sorry Charlie, no graduation/birthday/etc. event next week".
    I'm thinking maybe the ability to plan for/create an alternative
    festivity helps: "I can do something".

    That could help... :) And knowing that it isn't just them, but
    everybody in their class, all around the world, could also be a little
    bit of a, well not exactly a comfort, but at least a mitigating factor...

    I guess we'll just have to see how things actually play out....
    True. Us non-scientists are doing a lot of guessing, and IMO sometimes
    acting illogically. News reporting pop-up areas of resistance to the
    stay at home orders; Illinois has two lawsuits pending against the
    Governor for overstepping his legal authority. OK, so people are
    getting antsy and seeing nothing happening to them and immediate circles
    of family and friends; doesn't mean the problem isn't still present.
    And they'd probably be the first to blame the governor for not keeping
    them safe, if they or their immediate circle got the virus...
    Of course! Put the blame on someone else for their ignorance /
    zealousness. Maybe Gov. Pritzger (IL) did overstep his authority; I
    don't think any place in the U.S. has laws on the books for this
    situation. Something had to be done, and sometimes overstepping is
    required.
    Yup. And even when it's necessary, there's still lots of
    second-guessing after the fact...
    Right: no one _knows_, it's pretty much all scientific guessing and computer models. It acts similar to <other illness> which has a
    history. While I'm sort of of the New Hampshire 'Live Free or Die' attitude there are times to back down and follow.

    Especially, if the "or Die" is a distinct possibility to follow from
    Living Free as well....

    For me it's more not open yet so can't do it, whatever the 'it' is. I
    agree with the closures so no reason to fight it. I'm probably not
    going to rush out as the various "its" re-open: give time for them to
    settle into the new routine, plus others will be rushing out and I
    wasn't a crowd person before.
    Neither am I... crowds are mostly something to avoid for me, too..
    I'm also generally not a crowd-person: too noisy, sometimes too uncontrolled. OTOH some things just aren't right without an audience
    or gathering.

    Well enough controlled and not too noisy, yes, I'd agree... <G> There's
    one "it" reopening that I will be in the forefront for, and that's my
    massage, whenever my therapist gets the green light... She's put me at
    the top of her list... It almost happened Saturday, but then she found
    out she couldn't reopen yet, after all...

    My learning was pretty much old style: in person, in class, though a
    lot of the electronics is self-taught. Mixed results on that: done as
    a hobby and not as a career. Working on 'stuff' it is sometimes easier
    to follow along with a printout and/or I'll make notes of problems
    noted. And sometimes those notes go in work copy and all done
    on-screen.
    And since you are just doing it for yourself, there's no pressure to
    have to learn anything other than what you need, though you might pick
    up all sorts of other info along the way... :)
    Yes, I'm quite sure quite a few of the electronics repairs and
    creations would have been a lot quicker and less frustrating if I had
    known more stuff. OTOH I'm not doing too bad; just wouldn't want to be
    hired with that tiny knowledgebase!
    And no need now to be looking for that sort of employment, anyway... :)
    There are advanatges to being old enough and retired!

    Indeed. :)

    And throw up there the "don't stop learning" thing. Everything is evolving, so changing, and one needs to change with it. Not
    necessarily 100% go with the flow, but embrace, though maybe at a bit
    of a distance. (That sounds like the set-up to a COVID-19 six-foot
    joke!)

    Well, there is the 'keep learning' aspect, and also the 'if it works why change' part.... :)

    Dunno... BJ's carts are much bigger, so they tend to crowd aisles
    anyway...
    Bigger carts tend to get people to buy more, though might also be more
    practical as a 24-pack of toilet paper would fill if even fit in the
    mini-cart I use at Hy-Vee.
    I think the bigger carts at BJ's are mostly because things are
    generally in bulk there anyway... I'm perfectly capable of only
    filling up the child-seat area of the cart, if there's not much I
    need there for that shopping trip... ;)
    Right. I like the smaller carts are Hy-Vee because easier to maneuver plus get items in an out: don't have to drop them in the void or dig
    out the pit when checking out. There have been times when I should
    have used a large/standard-sized cart.

    Bj's only has the one size cart, which is larger than the grocery large carts... At Wegmans, we use the large/standard cart for our weekly
    shopping since we know we'll have room to put everything, even when also shopping some for someone else... but if we're in there for just a few
    things, I'll use the smaller cart... I'll use some sort of cart in any
    case, just to have the support of the "walker".... :)

    And nothing all that new to report at Hy-Vee: still doing the
    remodelling, still moving around some items though many seem to have
    found their home in the remodelled sections. Still noticeable holes
    in the stock, though less seems to be due to hoarding and more to no
    supply available probably due to the manufacturing plant being closed.
    Yeah, I think the days of the hoarding runs are past us now... :) But
    the supply train has been disrupted now in various instances... With
    meat packing plants shutting down for COVID issues, that's disrupted
    some of the meat supplies...
    Yes - my guess is the hoarders have decided they have plenty
    squirreled away, the supply may be low but not critical. As I've mentioned, the toilet paper and paper towels section at Hy-Vee is reasonably well-stocked. Yes, some holes and almost-empties; quite
    sure the limit of one has helped but also thinking lessening of the hoarding.

    Paper goods have pretty much gone back to normal, though not quite fully stocked everywhere... still a lot of holes in the cleaning supplies and
    things like gloves and sanitizers...

    Spotty holes in tuna fish, pizza and frozen foods -- might be due to a supply issue or could also be people are eating at home: tuna
    casserole, pizza, frozen meals.

    Or that might be a form of hoarding, too... shelf-stable or frozen, as
    long as one has room to stock, one can do some stockpiling... I have
    twice now bought a Family Pack (10 cans) of tuna fish to donate at
    church to a local food pantry that had asked for help.... but at our
    store, there seems to be a pretty good supply of tunafish... :)

    Hy-Vee still has the long aisles with no mid-aisle cut-through so for
    now I just walk quickly up the aisle I would normally skip -- less
    confusing than skipping the aisle I don't want, go past an aisle I do
    want but is the wrong direction, up the next one (correct direction),
    then take a left to go down the aisle I had to skip, now skip the
    aisle I was in previously......
    We all make our accomodations to make the complications less
    confusing in our own minds... ;)
    At this point just easier to zip down (or up - depending on the
    one-way) the 'unnecessary' aisle.
    Indeed. :)
    Some things just aren't worth a fight. I haven't observed anyone
    getting in trouble (by whatever degree from The Look to physical) by
    going the wrong way. Most are following the directional signage, some have simply overlooked it.

    I think it was in BJs recently, there was an older woman, obviously
    distressed enough that she had to wear a mask to be out shopping, and
    pushing one of those big carts.... I think she might not have seen the
    floor markings for the one-way aisles, even though they are large red
    squares on the floor now...

    ttyl neb

    ... We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.

    --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F
    * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452)