Coronavirus hysteria is hurting every one.

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Been on vacation a week ... drive home there were noticeably few cars and LOTS of semis ... I presume loaded with TP:confused:. Restaurants at the ski area and home were about half full. Dropped out of the market when the Fed started screwing around last year (didn't seen smart until now) ... re-buying (nibbling) at some of my old stocks once the market slid under 25000.
 
FastEddieB said:
New definition of an optimist: someone who can look at this chart and look at the remaining gaps in the US and still put "pandemic" in quotes.
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Eternally, brother!

Hey wait a minute, I only used single quotes, stop overstating my optimism, dammit.

Glass half full and getting fuller (thank you, bartender)!
 
benyflyguy said:
It’s the breakdown in civility that scares me. I went shopping today after a quick flight. There was the couple-60’s holding way too many groceries in their handy-didn’t want to take a cart due to germs. Wife at the deli counter. Husband hovering around muttering to himself-clearly ****ed off. Wife watches the last slicing cheese, who is wearing gloves- starts to scream at her to take those gloves off and wash her hands and put new gloves on. Husband muttering and hovering still. You can see the fear and panic in everyone’s eyes. I have never really seen that before.
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I went to three different stores on Saturday, didn't see any behavior like that. I even found almost everything I was looking for, the only thing I couldn't get was fresh ginger.
 
FormerHangie said:
I went to three different stores on Saturday, didn't see any behavior like that.
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I didn't either. Yesterday, Safeway was a little busier than normal, but not unmanageably so. Today, I stopped by the neighborhood CVS. It was in it's normal uncrowded state They didn't have hand sanitizer, but I noticed the food aisles were mostly stocked. They even had milk. They also had hand soap, bar soap, and body wash.
 
Everskyward said:
I didn't either. Yesterday, Safeway was a little busier than normal, but not unmanageably so. Today, I stopped by the neighborhood CVS. It was in it's normal uncrowded state They didn't have hand sanitizer, but I noticed the food aisles were mostly stocked. They even had milk. They also had hand soap, bar soap, and body wash.
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In Publix, I did check the paper goods aisle, there was no TP, but there were some paper towels. We don't need either of those, but I was just curious.

We're beginning our allergy season, pine pollen in particular is ramping up. That means about half of us are going to be sneezing and coughing even if we don't either Covid-19 or the flu. That should make things confusing.
 
FormerHangie said:
In Publix, I did check the paper goods aisle, there was no TP, but there were some paper towels. We don't need either of those, but I was just curious.

We're beginning our allergy season, pine pollen in particular is ramping up. That means about half of us are going to be sneezing and coughing even if we don't either Covid-19 or the flu. That should make things confusing.
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We are in the middle of our allergy season. I have tried to be diligent about taking an antihistamine so I don't sneeze and scare everyone, even though they say that sneezing is not one of the symptoms. I know it's allergies because the antihistamine immediately stops my eyes from itching, even though I still sneeze occasionally.
 
It's only going to get worse. If you want to have food in your house, now is the time. In a couple more days it's going to get a lot more difficult. If you think it's just a media-induced hoax, then don't sweat it.
 
write-stuff said:
It's only going to get worse. If you want to have food in your house, now is the time. In a couple more days it's going to get a lot more difficult.
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It is already here. Wanted Sloppy Joes for dinner and get some eggs for breakfast...shelves and any proteins were completely wiped out...and my town is not even really in panic mode yet. That was at a local neighborhood store, not even the big box retailers. I am afraid to go in to Safeway!

Looked at a lady in a an aisle and said "This is dinner challenge 2020...what can you make with what is left one the shelves?'...she laughed and let out a sigh. "We are just trying to make enchiladas tonight, not prep for Armageddon..."

My favorite local quick bite restaurant just shut down...not due to health concerns but the virus has decimated their business and they can't afford to keep the doors open...and they are unsure if they will be able to reopen.

I wasn't worried until tonight...and I am still not worried about the actual virus.
 
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Went to a Publix today. Out of most of the bread and a few things, but had plenty of meat and other things. Looked basically normal except for a few items. And not crowded.
 
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Stores around here are empty unless you go at the crack ol’ dawn. Went shopping very late last night at a dead Kroger to pick up a few things and ran into the bread delivery guy. I picked up a loaf and the dude handed me a second and said it might be a few weeks. The meat aisle was completely empty with no restock available according to the butcher. Only thing I wasn’t able to find besides ground beef was a bottle of vegetable oil.

Walmart this afternoon was a bit nuts but nothing compared to the day we had our first case. That day people were freaking clean out at the store. Saw two people fighting over some Campbell Soup and a woman running clean across the store to grab the last can of Lysol.

At least my morning commute will be free of any traffic.
 
As others have stated, it's not the virus that scares me, it's the panic. HEB (Texas grocery store chain) announced they're changing their hours to 8AM-8PM. They said they have plenty of supplies, but they can't seem to get them on the shelves fast enough. It's hard to stock during the day because the stores are so crowded, so they'll use the extra time at night to stock everything.
I went and bought a few things I normally buy and almost everything was there. Of course, no TP, but I didn't need any. There was water, plenty of can goods, milk, etc. Most things had limits on them and I saw two people make the poor cashiers call for management because they thought if the limit was 2, they should be able to have 3... gotta love idiots. The funny thing for me is seeing the order things go... most can vegetables were low, but there were plenty of green peas! Most Ramen noodles were gone, but there was a spicy asian flavor.
 
Monday, 3/16, Atlanta
We did a bit more shopping yesterday. Of course no TP, hand sanitizer, or isopropyl alcohol. That stuff vaporizes the moment it hits the shelves. You never even see it. Milk, bread, and fresh meat remain sparce but occasionally available. I noticed the canned and frozen goods sections starting to look a little moth eaten. But otherwise, I haven't seen any huge crowds and checkout times have been reasonable. Here's a hint if you're looking for something to stock - chips and salsa. Good vegetable content and fun food at the same time. Long shelf-life, too. Plenty of it in the stores here.

There are 99 confirmed cases of COVID in Georgia as of yesterday and all Atlanta schools will closed for the next two weeks. The governor's office is reporting that 100 cases per day can be tested. They hope to up that to 200/day by the end of the week.
 
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Our local grocery store didn't have meat but the town butcher had the cases full. The funny part was they only had 90% lean and people were like I don't want to pay for that good quality do you just have ground Chuck? Does it look like it lady! The dollar tree also had some good supplies not name brand but tissues are tissues. Tortilla chips are tortilla chips.

In a way this is sort of good people getting out of their comfort zone and trying new things and new places.
 
Went shopping this morning to get some stuff to cook up in the coming weeks. The shelves don’t have quite as much as they did before, but there’s still pretty much anything you might need still available (including toilet paper). Lines are a bit longer though.
 
Never would guess that TP would be a high value black market item

Or instead of the electronics and military weapons, thieves hi jack the 18-wheelers hauling groceries
 
Pretty ironic how people thought us preppers were crazy and made fun of us just a few short years ago. Now who's laughing. :fingerwag:
 
azblackbird said:
Pretty ironic how people thought us preppers were crazy and made fun of us just a few short years ago. Now who's laughing. :fingerwag:
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Yeah, I guess so. You guys never broke a sweat when the issue of provisioning jumped to the forefront.
 
azblackbird said:
Pretty ironic how people thought us preppers were crazy and made fun of us just a few short years ago. Now who's laughing. :fingerwag:
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Yep. I have to wonder how many preppers have implemented their bug out plans and have gone off grid.
 
It's pretty bad. I still managed to leave Vons with a nearly full shopping cart last night (not hoarding), you just have to know how to look for stuff. The pasta and ground beef was empty, however they still had plenty of "cut top sirloin for stir fry" and various hamburger helper boxes.. so bought some of that. Funny also how all the rubbing alcohol is gone but fully stocked shelves of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar.. do people not realize those clean and disinfect extremely well? Only "soup" left was bone broth.. which is thicker, healthier, and can be diluted with water to last longer and have decent health benefits, greater than just basic broth. "riced cauliflower" (which there was plenty of) is healthy, filling, and can be used for many diverse things.. I just sprinkle it in the broth instead of pasta, for example.

It's amazing how uneducated, irrational, and illogical people are. Spock, our founding fathers, anyone with an IQ > 100 ought to be disappointed

**On the plus side, the stores here have signs now that they have the right to refuse purchases if they think people are hoarding. I asked if they actually had to restrict people and they were saying "ohh yeah, couple times today!"
 
Tantalum said:
It's pretty bad. I still managed to leave Vons with a nearly full shopping cart last night (not hoarding), you just have to know how to look for stuff. The pasta and ground beef was empty, however they still had plenty of "cut top sirloin for stir fry" and various hamburger helper boxes.. so bought some of that. Funny also how all the rubbing alcohol is gone but fully stocked shelves of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar.. do people not realize those clean and disinfect extremely well? Only "soup" left was bone broth.. which is thicker, healthier, and can be diluted with water to last longer and have decent health benefits, greater than just basic broth. "riced cauliflower" (which there was plenty of) is healthy, filling, and can be used for many diverse things.. I just sprinkle it in the broth instead of pasta, for example.

It's amazing how uneducated, irrational, and illogical people are. Spock, our founding fathers, anyone with an IQ > 100 ought to be disappointed

**On the plus side, the stores here have signs now that they have the right to refuse purchases if they think people are hoarding. I asked if they actually had to restrict people and they were saying "ohh yeah, couple times today!"
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saracelica said:
the town butcher
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The local smaller shops are fully stocked here too.. there are several Italian markets that have all the meat / cheese / pasta anyone can ask for.. and the international market has plenty of imported stuff as well. Got myself some pelmeni! Admittedly, these places tend to be more expensive than what you'll find at something like Costco or Food 4 Less
 
The only problem with hydrogen peroxide is that it has a relatively short half-life. Pour out a spoonful than add water. If it doesn't bubble, it's useless as a disinfectant. I bought some from the pharmacy a couple of years back, and it was already dead as soon as I opened it.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Yep. I have to wonder how many preppers have implemented their bug out plans and have gone off grid.
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I've been "bugged out" for the last couple years living out here in the boonies of CO. I don't think it's that serious and probably never will be. Social media and the mainstream media are mainly responsible for all the "monkey see monkey do" hysteria going on in the big cities. From my observations, the panic isn't so much in the panic of catching the virus, it's the panic of being panicked created by the panickers who widely spread disinformation to those that are so easily influenced and gullible, therefore creating more of a panic. Un f**king believable. :mad2:
 
azblackbird said:
I've been "bugged out" for the last couple years living out here in the boonies of CO. I don't think it's that serious and probably never will be. Social media and the mainstream media are mainly responsible for all the "monkey see monkey do" hysteria going on in the big cities. From my observations, the panic isn't in the panic of catching the virus, it's the panic of being panicked created by the panickers who widely spread disinformation to those that are so easily influenced and gullible, therefore creating more of a panic. Un f**king believable. :mad2:
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Each to his own opinion. Personally, I'm going to trust the doctors and PhDs who study this stuff for a living.
 
azblackbird said:
I've been "bugged out" for the last couple years living out here in the boonies of CO. I don't think it's that serious and probably never will be. Social media and the mainstream media are mainly responsible for all the "monkey see monkey do" hysteria going on in the big cities. From my observations, the panic isn't so much in the panic of catching the virus, it's the panic of being panicked created by the panickers who widely spread disinformation to those that are so easily influenced and gullible, therefore creating more of a panic. Un f**king believable. :mad2:
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I do agree to an extent, so much of the panic is because everyone else is panicked.

That being said, as I mentioned in one of the other threads here, I do have a little personal concern about the virus. I had some type of similar viral pneumonia about 10 years ago. It was never determined what caused it. I was hospitalized and quarantined for a week, then another two weeks at home. I wonder if that makes me more or less susceptible to this virus. I also really don't want to even relive that experience, it was terrible.
 
Did weekly grocery shopping per normal yesterday (Portland OR). Only thing I couldn't get was baker's yeast. I'm not even sure why it was on the list to be honest.

It helps that we're Keto for the most part, but no issue with supply. Our favorite brunch spot was a ghost town at "peak brunch", which is a big deal here. I worry they'll go under soon, they just did a big remodel and must be hurting badly.

I feel like Enzyte's Smiling Bob lately, and annoying to everyone. We have a well-provisioned home, with bidets. I've been in bonds for months and am able to buy the dip in a big way. I'm just smiling and watching the world burn. Coworkers bemoan their portfolios on every conference call, I stay quietly smug. Burn, baby, burn. :D
 
Personally, I think 6 months from now, we’ll look back and say, man we really overreacted to this. COVID-19 will run its course like other viruses. Won’t be long before it peaks like in China and then starts a downward trend.
 
/rant
I am going to be in panic mode soon most likely. I just got off the phone with HR at my soon to be new job. Instead of starting March 30th, the earliest start date would be April 20th now. I don't have the finances to hold on much past that. You all that are worrying about hanging on to your plane sure are lucky that is all you have to worry about.

I won't be able to get any help as I am in between jobs. I didn't quit my last job FYI. It was an internship that ended Feb 28th and I was offered this new job on Feb 27th.

Luck has not been on my side since I got out of the Navy in 2006. Its been one bad thing after another. Life sucks. Finally when I thought I was finally going to get a really good job, WHAM! I don't care if I get Coronavirus. I can just stay home any way and get plenty of calls from bill collectors.

/rant

David
 
Velocity173 said:
Personally, I think 6 months from now, we’ll look back and say, man we really overreacted to this. COVID-19 will run its course like other viruses. Won’t be long before it peaks like in China and then starts a downward trend.
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Thats the Catch-22. If this plan works, less people will get sick and die, and everyone will say see I told you so. If it doesn't, then everyone will say why wasn't more done. No way to win.
 
flhrci said:
/rant
I am going to be in panic mode soon most likely. I just got off the phone with HR at my soon to be new job. Instead of starting March 30th, the earliest start date would be April 20th now. I don't have the finances to hold on much past that. You all that are worrying about hanging on to your plane sure are lucky that is all you have to worry about.

I won't be able to get any help as I am in between jobs. I didn't quit my last job FYI. It was an internship that ended Feb 28th and I was offered this new job on Feb 27th.

Luck has not been on my side since I got out of the Navy in 2006. Its been one bad thing after another. Life sucks. Finally when I thought I was finally going to get a really good job, WHAM! I don't care if I get Coronavirus. I can just stay home any way and get plenty of calls from bill collectors.

/rant

David
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I’m at Longhorns right now and it’s a ghost town. The bartender is stressing! Rumors of shutting down restaurants and she just bought a new house, car bills etc. I feel for her. Fortunately in my job, health scares just make my job more stable. Just give it time and it’ll die down. Still got a greater chance of dying from other causes vs COVID-19.
 
I see a pattern of state governors all vying to out-idiocy each other. I almost threw a wine glass at the pub's TV which was airing Gav's speech on the impending state anti-corona virus measures.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I see a pattern of state governors all vying to out-idiocy each other.
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My favorite was when our Gov Polis instituted drive up testing a few days back. I told my girlfriend every hypochondriac in Denver would be in line. Sure enough, there were lines that stretched for blocks and blocks tying up traffic.:rolleyes:
 
FormerHangie said:
I went to three different stores on Saturday, didn't see any behavior like that. I even found almost everything I was looking for, the only thing I couldn't get was fresh ginger.
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So there is a shortage of ginger!? Gotta go! Stock up.
 
Morgan3820 said:
So there is a shortage of ginger!? Gotta go! Stock up.
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Too late, I just checked another store and they're out too. They did have some nice strawberries and blueberries, so I bought some of those.

Didn't check the TP aisle.
 
write-stuff said:
Each to his own opinion. Personally, I'm going to trust the doctors and PhDs who study this stuff for a living.
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I agree we have to trust doctors and the best thing for them to tell us is wash your hands, stay home if you can and let this pass.

The problem I have is when I look at the stats being provided. Most doctor have no clue about this... they simply can't. I heard in Infectious Disease doctor the other day who made a lot of sense to me.

He said we're about to see a massive amount of new cases. It's going to skyrocket. However, he said it's not what you think and it's all about looking at the whole story. We have very few tests. So most of the people we're hearing about are the high-risk groups that are getting the few test available and a lot of them end up dying. Once you test a lot more people, you'll find there are already a more cases out there than you thought, and a many of them fully recover. So this makes it a lot less deadly by stats.

I don't know who is right, but doctors are only as good as the data they have.
 
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I hope the stock market doesn't see this then...

Annual Global Road Crash Statistics
View the WHO’s infographics on road safety facts.

  • Nearly 1.25 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day.
  • An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled.
(interesting fact) Over 90% of all road fatalities occur in low and middle-income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles.

Annual United States Road Crash Statistics
  • Over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year
  • An additional 2.35 million are injured or disabled
  • Over 1,600 children under 15 years of age die each year

Coronavirus??

upload_2020-3-16_12-20-2.jpeg
 
The photos I've seen show the Seattle docks empty. no ships no trucks no containers nothing..

I don't think it is over.
 
The top leaders of the travel industry were just advised by government officials to expect and be prepared for a 2 week national quarantine.
 
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