The Swamp

Anyone seen Fauci lately?

There are still reports coming out with quotes from him. He just hasn't been the front-facing voice on the pandemic from the administration, for some reason.

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 2:07 pm There are still reports coming out with quotes from him. He just hasn't been the front-facing voice on the pandemic from the administration, for some reason.

There was a story a few days ago where he said the task force has stopped meeting, and he hasn't talked to Trump in weeks.

Guess that means the virus is all done! Glad that's over...(what was the sarcasm font?)

Also, for all the "if opening back up is so bad, why isn't ..." shit I've seen, Florida just saw their highest single day caseload since mid-April. Gonna be a fun one.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Jun 03, 2020 3:53 pm Also, for all the "if opening back up is so bad, why isn't ..." shit I've seen, Florida just saw their highest single day caseload since mid-April. Gonna be a fun one.

We've just had our second-highest day here in Utah. Our highest was 3 or 4 days ago. Every one of the past six days is in the top six.

And we're heading down to the protest at 5.

So, starting today, our county is allowing restaurants to open for outdoor table service, with proper spacing between tables.

Really odd to see the different interpretations of this rule. Some places have the proper 6-foot spacing. Other restaurants’ tables are way too close to each other, and apparently they’re just daring the authorities to call them on it.

We had some friends (husband, wife, daughter) over for dinner tonight. Cooked out on grill, outside 98% of the time.

It was nice. Tentatively planning on trying to have the neighbors over next weekend, if they're interested.

Last Friday (5/29), Utah set a daily record with 343 new cases.

Two days ago we broke that record by about a hundred.

Yesterday we broke *that* record, by *another* hundred.

The record is now 546, 60 percent higher than where it was 48 hours ago.

New hospitalizations is the only metric that is intelligible. Can't even figure that out at all. Traffic was back on Friday. Took a really nice urban walk this afternoon. Sidewalks still pretty empty for pedestrians.

What are the chances? Pretty damn low. 10 for 10 when the estimate is 35%


"Arkansas State reported that seven athletes from three sports programs tested positive last Wednesday. They were all asymptomatic and will remain in quarantine for 14 days, the university said.

Three football players from Auburn University in Alabama tested positive, an Auburn athletics spokesperson confirmed to CNN. The three athletes are asymptomatic and have been placed in self-isolation in a dorm away from the rest of the team."

Brazil stops releasing Covid-19 death toll and wipes data from official site

Wow. Right wing populists, amirite?

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:24 pm New hospitalizations is the only metric that is intelligible. Can't even figure that out at all. Traffic was back on Friday. Took a really nice urban walk this afternoon. Sidewalks still pretty empty for pedestrians.

Another good metric is hospitals testing all non-COVID patients entering. People coming into my wife's system with symptoms are testing at a consistent rate, maybe even reducing. They test every patient that enters, and non-COVID related patients are coming in and testing positive at steadily reducing rates. I get really nervous seeing all of the people on top of each other at protests, though. Our lily white town had a march yesterday, and there were huge numbers, to the point they had to move it to a different venue. While I love seeing that so many of my friends and neighbors were out there showing support, it makes me really nervous. On the plus side, we just ramped up the learning curve, and we will know in 3 weeks whether we can completely open shit up, or need to put on the brakes.

Quinn has been to three large protest marches here in Baltimore. At each, mask usage among the thousands marching was 100%. Among the cops surveilling the marches? Much much less than 100%.

It appears from the many videos that mask usage has been really good among the protestors in general. I don't know that I expect an explosion from the marches themselves IF mask usage really does work to reduce exposure - especially if outside.

I do worry about those protestors who were arrested and cooled in holding cells for 24 hours or more in various jurisdictions. They may be at high risk - there was apparently no masks used + over-crowding etc for those dealing with that.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:55 pm So, starting today, our county is allowing restaurants to open for outdoor table service, with proper spacing between tables.

Really odd to see the different interpretations of this rule. Some places have the proper 6-foot spacing. Other restaurants’ tables are way too close to each other, and apparently they’re just daring the authorities to call them on it.

we went to brunch on Saturday to get back to our basic lives a bit and it was great. went outside, sat on the patio away from everyone else overlooking downtown and had a great meal. it was our first time to a restaurant since the end of February.

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 10:59 am

sancarlos wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 8:55 pm So, starting today, our county is allowing restaurants to open for outdoor table service, with proper spacing between tables.

Really odd to see the different interpretations of this rule. Some places have the proper 6-foot spacing. Other restaurants’ tables are way too close to each other, and apparently they’re just daring the authorities to call them on it.

we went to brunch on Saturday to get back to our basic lives a bit and it was great. went outside, sat on the patio away from everyone else overlooking downtown and had a great meal. it was our first time to a restaurant since the end of February.

Left a better than usual tip I assume? (Not trolling. Waiters, bartenders, etc. are making less money with restaurants at half capacity. Some of the bartenders I was talking to downtown are expecting to make half what they were making on unemployment (with the temporary additional funds).

25%

Yeah, we haven't been to a restaurant yet. My venture out on Saturday was pretty much literally the first time I'd been out in months with the exception of a couple of beer runs and a couple of quick convenience store runs.

But when we do, figuring we'll have to use 25 percent as a baseline instead of 17-18 percent as usual and go from there, at least until occupancy caps are increased.

Jon Huntsman has tested positive for the Rona. He is apparently having the the "classic symptoms."

brian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 11:08 am Yeah, we haven't been to a restaurant yet. My venture out on Saturday was pretty much literally the first time I'd been out in months with the exception of a couple of beer runs and a couple of quick convenience store runs.

But when we do, figuring we'll have to use 25 percent as a baseline instead of 17-18 percent as usual and go from there, at least until occupancy caps are increased.

Ate out at lunch today at a local Indian place. It was my first time in a restaurant. Buffet closed of course but they had full menu. Very very good. Were doing decent carry out and there were four tables occupied. One outside and three inside and no one closer than 15 feet from nearest table. Tipped 25 percent.

The problem for a lot of restaurants in certain (most?) parts of the country is that gets too hot/cold for them to waste precious real estate on outdoor/patio seating. You can get away with it in temperate coastal regions, for the most part.

Bethesda just come up with a brilliant (if pretty obvious) move... blocking of streets that have mostly restaurants and allowing the businesses to physically distance their tables. I'd definitely go out to eat in that scenario.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:22 pm The problem for a lot of restaurants in certain (most?) parts of the country is that gets too hot/cold for them to waste precious real estate on outdoor/patio seating. You can get away with it in temperate coastal regions, for the most part.

Bethesda just come up with a brilliant (if pretty obvious) move... blocking of streets that have mostly restaurants and allowing the businesses to physically distance their tables. I'd definitely go out to eat in that scenario.

Lexington has done that on a couple of streets. I think Miami did it a while back.

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:25 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:22 pm The problem for a lot of restaurants in certain (most?) parts of the country is that gets too hot/cold for them to waste precious real estate on outdoor/patio seating. You can get away with it in temperate coastal regions, for the most part.

Bethesda just come up with a brilliant (if pretty obvious) move... blocking of streets that have mostly restaurants and allowing the businesses to physically distance their tables. I'd definitely go out to eat in that scenario.

Lexington has done that on a couple of streets. I think Miami did it a while back.

Tampa's doing this as well in a few areas.

How's reopening going in New Orleans?

We don't need no water cause Atlanta fire dept ain't coming for about an hour, check. Ass clap on the hood of cars, check. Saturday night is back in Atlanta. Rona who?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.thegua ... -shot-dead

https://twitter.com/nubianlocz/status/1 ... 39712?s=09

So, just got back from a 3 day trip to Denver to grab The Girl's stuff from her sorority house.*

Fucking Hell, fellas. This virus isn't going anywhere. People are fucking stupid, man. Some observations:

* - We flew out of Dulles, which is about 50/50 domestic vs. international. It was a g-d dream. Place felt like a weird apocalyptic void land, only in this scenario it was a good thing. Got to park in the usually super expensive garage right next to the terminal, no lines, and everyone (with just a handful of exceptions) was wearing masks.

* - Landed in Denver and could immediately sense a "fuck it" attitude. First off, the terminal was fucking PACKED. Wall to wall with very little social distancing. Secondly, and this was a theme, I'd say a solid 25 percent weren't wearing masks. And this is with ample signage AND P.A. announcements saying masks were required. It was fucking maddening.

* - Our hotel, a Residence Inn in Cherry Creek was a shitshow. First off, they fucked up our reservation (I'll spare details) and gave my wife attitude about it. Which... WTF? Then, we get to the room and toilet is clogged. Which... Again... WTF? How does that even happen.

So, we are wiping down the surfaces and we're both noticing... This room is just not very clean. Obviously very cursory with the cleaning. There's a White Claw can tucked behind the recycle bin, but beyond that, there's just a grime in places that wouldn't take much effort to get to.

Then, on the way back into the hotel, our key won't work on one of the side doors. We're trying to avoid the elevator/lobby, so when we go inside we tell the front desk and she says, "Oh yeah. It's broken." My wife, who is a true sweetheart, until, you know... She's not. "Well, you should put a sign up, because people will think their key isn't working." It was more just the flippant attitude. More on that in a second.

* - We got delivery once and that was great. We went to go to one of our favorite spots, and holy hell. They have kind of outdoor seating, but it's really a covered patio with walls, so... not really. Place was absolutely packed. No one is wearing masks, which I get, but... Again, absolutely wall to wall people. We called in our order and I went in (with a mask) and picked it up. Point is... There are people out there that are clearly just saying fuck it.

* - Drove by Cherry Creek State Park on our way to the airport and the beach was absolutely jammed.

* - Dropped wife and daughter at the terminal and returned to Hertz. The shuttle was a fucking shitshow. Absolutely jammed with people and again, about 20 percent or so aren't wearing masks.

SW flight for both legs was very chill and spaced out (to some extent.) Wife and I had our own row, as that's the rule for SW (2 to a set of 3 seats.) But physical distancing gets kind of fucked when you get off the plane. On the way back, I could see about 3 or 4 people in my vicinity that had a mask, but didn't wear it during the flight. Which obviously defeats the fucking purpose.

=-=-=-=-=-=

I'm kind of just venting here, but it was pretty stressful at times. I started cursing ppl without masks on as I passed them, but never really loud enough to start some shit. But, man, there were moments when I really had a tough time not starting some shit.

It's so obviously a Trumpian middle finger to everyone else. The guys on the Hertz shuttle bus were making comments about how it was good to see so many people out and laughing about some MAGA statue a friend was building. I didn't really understand the context, but they were three middle aged white dudes... And the vast majority of people not wearing masks were white dudes. I saw 5 people of color not wearing masks, and 3 of those were guys from Kenya that took them off after they got on my shuttle bus at Dulles.

I'm very very glad to be home. Hope I don't come down with COVID, but we were super careful. Fingers crossed.

Oh, so two follow ups/tip ins.

1) Daughter is depledging her sorority, which I'm happy about. Never thought it fit her, and some racist she she called out on Instagram from one of her "sisters" caused quite a stir and showed a lot of true colors. My daughter isn't having it and waited for us to get her shit out of the house so she can de-pledge without them pulling any bullshit. Very proud of her.

2) I wanted to stress just how fucked up it is that a hospitality-based business would be so shitty and ungrateful in the current climate. We've been to this Residence Inn about (...doing quick math...) 10 times over the last 3 years. It has ALWAYS been a pleasant experience, even though we got walked one time. We're writing the folks at Marriott a letter over this one... We aren't big "let me talk to your manager" people, but these fuckers really disappointed us.

It's stressful as fuck to be outside of your home for the first time 4-5 months. For it to be unclean, and for multiple front desk people to be flippant and rude... It was really unbelievable. And very VERY unlike most Marriott properties we've visited. We live in Marriott HQ territory and we have lots of friends that work there. Which means we can get Friends and Family rates = awesome. But the point in saying that is we know from Marriott. Management would be fucking livid if they knew staff were acting that we in NORMAL times. But right now? When they are practically begging people to stay with them? As are every other hotel in the world? With commensurate rate drops across the board?

Bonkers.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:56 pm Oh, so two follow ups/tip ins.

1) Daughter is depledging her sorority, which I'm happy about. Never thought it fit her, and some racist she she called out on Instagram from one of her "sisters" caused quite a stir and showed a lot of true colors. My daughter isn't having it and waited for us to get her shit out of the house so she can de-pledge without them pulling any bullshit. Very proud of her.

2) I wanted to stress just how fucked up it is that a hospitality-based business would be so shitty and ungrateful in the current climate. We've been to this Residence Inn about (...doing quick math...) 10 times over the last 3 years. It has ALWAYS been a pleasant experience, even though we got walked one time. We're writing the folks at Marriott a letter over this one... We aren't big "let me talk to your manager" people, but these fuckers really disappointed us.

It's stressful as fuck to be outside of your home for the first time 4-5 months. For it to be unclean, and for multiple front desk people to be flippant and rude... It was really unbelievable. And very VERY unlike most Marriott properties we've visited. We live in Marriott HQ territory and we have lots of friends that work there. Which means we can get Friends and Family rates = awesome. But the point in saying that is we know from Marriott. Management would be fucking livid if they knew staff were acting that we in NORMAL times. But right now? When they are practically begging people to stay with them? As are every other hotel in the world? With commensurate rate drops across the board?

Bonkers.

That trip sounds like hell. But huge props to your daughter for depledging. That cannot be easy to do.

My daughter is guilting us into doing a road trip to Oregon, but we will be taking our motor home so we can avoid hotels and restaurants and all that.

The comparison charts are a bit misleading, as different areas in the US might as well be different continents WRT COVID. If you compared NYC or NJ ro Italy and Spain, it would probably look similar, and we are seeing a vast drop in cases. The entire US chart looks like it hasn't dropped, because the virus is spreading in new areas that didn't have it before, and those areas will probably have a similar shaped curve. I think regional charts is the only way to make sense of it in a country as large as the US.

Re: hotel staff ... I imagine a lot of them wish they could be avoiding contact at home and are probably non-stop stressed out of their minds.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:24 pm The comparison charts are a bit misleading, as different areas in the US might as well be different continents WRT COVID. If you compared NYC or NJ ro Italy and Spain, it would probably look similar, and we are seeing a vast drop in cases. The entire US chart looks like it hasn't dropped, because the virus is spreading in new areas that didn't have it before, and those areas will probably have a similar shaped curve. I think regional charts is the only way to make sense of it in a country as large as the US.

I can't find it now, but the chart that backs out the northeast is pretty depressing.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:24 pm The comparison charts are a bit misleading, as different areas in the US might as well be different continents WRT COVID. If you compared NYC or NJ ro Italy and Spain, it would probably look similar, and we are seeing a vast drop in cases. The entire US chart looks like it hasn't dropped, because the virus is spreading in new areas that didn't have it before, and those areas will probably have a similar shaped curve. I think regional charts is the only way to make sense of it in a country as large as the US.

If anything, it makes the case that the US failed even more. The fact that we have all this information and it's still being allowed to spread like crazy in places like Florida, Texas, Arizona speaks to the incapability of our national leaders and Americans in general to react in any kind of meaningful way to protect the lives of their/our citizens.

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:24 pm Re: hotel staff ... I imagine a lot of them wish they could be avoiding contact at home and are probably non-stop stressed out of their minds.

And I totally get that and helped lower my wife's blood pressure by pointing it out.

I'm not going to get into every last detail, but they were just not being professional when we checked in. I don't feel like typing it all out, but there's a way to handle things when you (the company) fuck up a reservation/order, and they royally botched the interaction.

Then we go upstairs and there's shit in our toilet. And the place is just not clean overall. And the maid is walking around the halls without a mask on.

Just a really bad look for them.

brian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:28 pm

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2020 1:24 pm The comparison charts are a bit misleading, as different areas in the US might as well be different continents WRT COVID. If you compared NYC or NJ ro Italy and Spain, it would probably look similar, and we are seeing a vast drop in cases. The entire US chart looks like it hasn't dropped, because the virus is spreading in new areas that didn't have it before, and those areas will probably have a similar shaped curve. I think regional charts is the only way to make sense of it in a country as large as the US.

If anything, it makes the case that the US failed even more. The fact that we have all this information and it's still being allowed to spread like crazy in places like Florida, Texas, Arizona speaks to the incapability of our national leaders and Americans in general to react in any kind of meaningful way to protect the lives of their/our citizens.

It all lands at Trump's feet. And I would be saying the same thing if Obama acted this way. But he did the exact opposite for Ebola, to the point that Fox was all up in their butthurt feelings because it was tyrannical to put measure in place to stop any kind of spread the way he did.

From February up until now, Trump's entire plan has been to ignore and downplay this thing. I'm not gonna launch into it... preaching to the choir. But the total lack of leadership is the primary reason this thing won't go away any time soon.

Even in purple state like CO, so many of the young people are saying Fuck It. Wait until ski season. It's going to be an absolute shitshow.

We released our plans for fall. It's similar to most others in the Northeast in that students do not return to campus after Thanksgiving. Our fall plans require that everyone on campus wear masks walking on campus and in classes. It's really anything outside of private offices and dorm rooms. On Saturday I drove through downtown. Bars were packed. Lines were around 50 deep. No masks on any of the students. All of our courses are online right now. So these are just students that are spending the summer in their apartment off-campus. I don't see how we won't have a severe outbreak by late September.

NonLinear, my company has groups staying at two different hotels (including a Residence Inn) in the Bay Area right now. Our client put together a two-page informational flyer on the hotel policies that each one is using ranging from employee policies about protective equipment, food, elevator use, how many rooms they will have occupied, etc.

Your situation was FUCKED up.

brian wrote: ↑Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:59 am Could be good news on the treatment front for COVID.

Hopefully Trump or his friends can financially gain from this drug getting widespread use so the US government will support it.