Strap in and lock y'all selves down NOW if you can (repost for the day crowd)

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
03/17/2020 at 10:57 • Filed to: None

Greetings from DC, the next potential coronavirus hotspot lockdown after San Francisco! I’m here to tell you, I have family members who are highly connected in the functioning of our healthcare system, and based on speaking to them, we’re in for some SERIOUS shit. If you are able to self-quarantine, it is most definitely not too early.

Here’s the deal: COVID-19 is super contagious. While old people are most susceptible, it is possible for younger, healthier people to need to be put on a ventilator to ride it out, or even die. Being on a ventilator, or especially dying, SUCKS.

The US has only a small fraction of the testing capacity that it needs right now. Tests are being heavily rationed and only people who are showing acute respiratory symptoms are likely to be tested. Additionally, people with ZERO symptoms can carry and spread the disease, only to develop symptoms days later. Just because someone looks fine doesn’t mean they’re not a carrier.

Even if your area has only a few or a slightly growing number of reported cases, without severely limiting ALL human interaction, the virus multiplies exponentially. We’ve seen it happen in other countries and it’ll do the same shit here.

Testing capacity should be much higher by the end of this week and at that point, don’t be surprised when you see a huge increase in reported case numbers.

With San Francisco going on lockdown, you can count on any number of mayors and governors considering taking similar action. While some of them are !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the majority of them are trying to get out in front of the spread of the disease. It’s only a matter of time before we see our movements restricted to healthcare, groceries, pharmacies and maybe banks.

This is not only to protect yourselves but also to prevent from inadvertently infecting others. Even if you are in a group that is less susceptible to the most severe effects of the disease, because of how contagious it is, you could be infected, without symptoms, and pass it along to others who may be more susceptible.

We are quite literally all in this together.

I personally have to make one last trip to the pharmacy tomorrow today to pick up some meds for my cat that had to be ordered, and as I went around the house last night and today I’ve identified a couple last items it’d be good to have so I may hit Target or a grocery store or something. But otherwise I’ve got literally every single need anticipated, right down to the motherfucking margarita mix. I’m ready to chill in my house, with walks/runs in the neighborhood for exercise and sanity, for at least 3 weeks, if not longer. I will consider going to a grocery store for produce before then, but I’ve got enough frozen veggies where I don’t have to.

We’re going to be in for significant disruption to the functioning of society in general. None of us can control the impact to the economy. Financial markets are going to continue to go haywire as long as there is uncertainty, and we’ve got more collective uncertainty than the markets can handle right now. Let them go haywire, for now. The better we are at containment now, the quicker we can get to the recovery stage.

Even if your area isn’t on lockdown yet, now is the time to get ready for that possibility, and to put those restrictions on yourself. Doing so is far from an overreaction. Be safe, be smart, good vibes only, much love, and we’ll ride this out to the other side. But for now...

DISCUSSION (34)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Textured Soy Protein
03/16/2020 at 23:13

Thank you for this. Even the brethren at church who are in charge were smirking at me a week ago because I was worrying about this thing. It’s like we’ve being invaded and we can hear the distant guns.

Textured Soy Protein > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/16/2020 at 23:16

At my company, we spent most of the day sending engineers home with their desktop computers because they need graphics cards to run CAD programs and we don’t have enough laptops with graphics cards to go around. Last week I was pessimistic that they would respond in time but thankfully I only was stuck going to the office this morning and I spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening wrapping up my final errands.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Textured Soy Protein
03/16/2020 at 23:23

Same. My daughter stopped at Trader Joe’s and the line went around the building because social distancing. I filled up the van.

Textured Soy Protein > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/16/2020 at 23:26

I’m thankful that I started stocking up on Saturday. I hit a generally less-busy grocery store at 10 pm and had the place nearly to myself. I ordered various things online and today was follow-up shopping during normal work hours . I was able to completely avoid any crowds or lines and I feel really solid in my ability to stay at home.

AestheticsInMotion > Textured Soy Protein
03/16/2020 at 23:41

They closed the gym, but thankfully I can go to the now-closed high school to run on the track I guess. I'd like to swim, unsure if I'm hardcore enough to attempt the lake this time of year...

Textured Soy Protein > AestheticsInMotion
03/16/2020 at 23:46

We have a treadmill but it’s slightly on the fritz. I called a repair guy yesterday who asked me to email him details but he’s yet to get back to me about a visit. It’s mostly functional, it just drags a little at slower speeds . My neighborhood is a little residential enclave off a main drag so I can run “laps” in here. I have adjustable dumbbells that go from 5-50 lbs, some bands , and today I got the *last* adjustable utility bench at my local Dick’s Sporting Goods along with some rubber f mats. I don’t have space for a full power rack or anything like that but this should be enough for the time being.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/16/2020 at 23:50

People here were doing the social distancing line thing pretty well at Costco this morning, I was impressed:

Kinja'd!!!

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > Textured Soy Protein
03/16/2020 at 23:59

My wife & I just got back from a grocery run, at 10pm EST. We spent $250 on food, but couldn’t get any potatoes, flour, rice or bread. She went this morning and spent $200, plus a Costco run last week where we got toilet paper (thank God), detergent and cleaning supplies. I’m kicking myself for not buying a big bag of rice, flour and pancake mix. I fully expect Ohio to be on lock down like France/Italy by the end of this week. Our governor is not fucking around with this. If/when this gets announced, it will be absolute bedlam. I figure my family can ride out a 2-3 week stay-cation. After that, it may get a bit dicey. Stay safe everyone.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail
03/17/2020 at 00:14

Look at those pictures. This is serious s**t.

AestheticsInMotion > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 00:15

Probably for the best. The hardcore gym guys would 100% show up even if they were half-dead.

Have you read anything off of https://www.garage-gyms.com/ ?

Good way to kill time, if you’re like me and dream of someday having a cool home gym.

Textured Soy Protein > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
03/17/2020 at 00:21

Pro tip since my vegan ass is better equipped than most to cook exactly the kind of cheap, nutritious food necessary to ride out a long enforced staycation. I f there are any hippie friendly markets near you and you have an appetite for further shopping, their bulk sections are great in times like this. I hit the one by my office today and there were of course certain things missing but plenty of dried beans & grains. Between my various shopping trips, for d ried stuff I’ve got 3 different kinds of rice, freekeh, barley, split peas, 3 different kinds of lentils, plus assorted canned beans.

If you have room in the fridge carrots & onions are plentiful and last for a good long while. I know onions are a pantry item usually but they can be refrigerated and you don’t want them to spoil on you if you buy a lot.

You can do a lot with dried beans, some seasonings (including soup base! good pantry item) , carrots & onions. Celery’s good too here but doesn’t keep as long even in the fridge. Cook a big batch of those, a grain, and some frozen/canned veggies. That’s a whole bunch of healthy cheap meals right there, complete protein and everything.

Since I have to head to the pharmacy anyway, t here are a couple last things I may decide to stock up more on like nuts and dried fruit . We’ve got a good variety of them but it may be worth having a little more in the pantry. I m ay actually grab canned veggies too. Normally not something I use but we have a small freezer. M y parents live close by and I’ve got more frozen stuff stashed in the extra fridge in their garage which I can access by keypad, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra veg in the house without needing to drive.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/17/2020 at 00:25

And this Costco is now kind of a smaller less popular one now that a couple larger ones exist less than 10 miles away. Apparently some others had larger lines, and have for the past week. I told myself I wasn’t going to get in on the mayhem, but I was in the area and needed something from the monthly sale book (I already have enough TP). It was pretty calm and orderly, just busy. I was in and out in maybe 20 minutes.

Textured Soy Protein > AestheticsInMotion
03/17/2020 at 00:28

I haven’t looked much into home gyms only because I’ll be like goddammit I’m not moving to somewhere I could do that anytime soon.

Gyms are ripe for disease spreading. Not just the machines, t hink of how many different plates, bars, and dumbbells you touch in a given workout. It’s crazy. There’s no way to do a whole workout in a gym without touching a ton of things others have touched.

Here in MD we already had a situation where a member at a local Equinox tested positive a few days after going there for a personal training session. They notified the gym, which then notified ONLY THE PEOPLE WHO HAD SCANNED IN THAT DAY AND NOBODY ELSE. And they were like, “gym’s been scrubbed real good, we’re back open come on in!” All the other members who hadn’t swiped in that day only got a generic precautionary email with no mention of the confirmed case.

Corporate gyms can’t even manage to cancel a membership right, no way they were going to manage contact tracing of disease outbreaks.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 00:44

Yeah, we got onions, carrots and lots of canned fruits and veggies. I have a teenage son and 20 year old daughter at home. My wife & I looked at our stock pile of food/supplies, and realized it was not near enough. I wish this was later in the year, as I have a pretty good sized garden in my back yard. My daughter is an avid gardener, and we bought a small green house to set up in our back yard. Looks like I may have time to get it set up soon.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail
03/17/2020 at 09:48

I considered visiting Home Depot this morning but changed my mind. Project can wait.

Did you notice in the maelstrom that 45 threw in the idea of pardoning Michael Flynn? Nobody even paid any attention. Kind of his last, pathetic distraction bomb before he made the full pivot on the disaster response, Sean Hannity and the rest now having gone from conspiracy theorists to lauding the president’s performance throughout the crisis. Sean Hannity is really second only to Mr. Trump himself in his power to harm.

I am hoping that in November, the rout will be decisive and epic and legendary.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:13

The school I teach at is closed (private and public are both closed), distance learning kicks in on Thursday to allow for some continuation of normalcy and social interaction. I’m tempted to have my students put an over/under on how many minutes into each “class” until one of my kids or cats shows up on camera.

For Sweden > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:19

An idea: do your family members have any suggestions on volunteer or temp work to support their healthcare operations?

People will get stir-crazy, and they might as well do so in a way that is productive.

For Sweden > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:20

The Peloton guy looks pretty smart right now

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:26

I posted this in another thread, but I think it is relevant here :

For people who are infected, two weeks is enough time for 99% of them to show symptoms. If an infected person passes it on to another, the additional two weeks should capture those secondary infections and the 1% who don’t develop symptoms until after 14 days.

By that reasoning, 4 weeks is a minimum.

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2762808/incubation-period-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-from-publicly-reported

mazda616 > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:27

I just got told today to work from home to test our VPN and now they’re saying come back to the office tomorrow - even though said VPN is working fine. Ugh.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:29

My concern is the chaos ensuing at grocery stores. Everything else is fine, I am going about business as usual. Since all of my free time is spent avoiding population centers and not interacting with people, this is a minimal interruption. I have everything I need at home and can easily make it a couple weeks, but im certainly going to do without things for a bit just because they were unavailable at the store. Sure I could have tried multiple stores but its not worth the effort, I can survive without butter and bread.

I just wish things would go into full shutdown sooner rather than later. Right now everything keeps gettings incrementally more locked down. If we just went 100% shut down for a month, this shit would go away. Instead its going to drag on for months with more people dying before any of this gets better because “BUT THINK OF THE ECONOMY”

Ash78, voting early and often > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 11:44

Just chillin at home, working really hard, wife trying to keep the kids’ brains from rotting via puzzles, worksheets, etc. Mandatory family walks around the block every few hours to stay sane. House painter is here and coincidentally wearing a pretty good respirator...and he’s working alone. At least 3 more weeks of this, but hopefully the results bear out the fruit of our labors here.

I really wish we could do 100k random tests every day around the country. I feel like that’s the only way to get a handle on the spread. A lot of people don’t fear things until its an imminent threat.

Brother up in MD has been working from home a few days, plus everything that isn’t grocery/gas is now closed. I suspect the rest of the country will be there soon.

On the plus side, China’s spread is leveling out, which is encouraging.

I SHOULD be working out twice a day and getting really fit, but honestly it feel frivolous. And it’s hard to get motivated with all this somber, anxiety provoking atmosphere .

Textured Soy Protein > For Sweden
03/17/2020 at 11:51

Good question. A little inside info that I don’t think will get anyone in trouble if I share: the state of Maryland and presumably others are working on ways to provide childcare to healthcare workers since schools are closed . Nothing’s finalized yet but they will be looking for volunteers and/or temps.

Anything that can be done to support local food pantries and similar organizations is helpful as they are running low on donations as people buy up supplies for themselves.

Amazon is doing a hiring surge in temps to get enough people in warehouses and delivering packages, but honestly I only recommend that to people who absolutely need the income because it’s putting yourself at risk.

The states and federal government are working on unemployment backstops but those plans are very much works in progress.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > For Sweden
03/17/2020 at 11:52

One of the local school teachers here is organizing a non-perishable food drive. The school knows which families are in need (having been working with them since the beginning of the school year). People are going to leave cans of food (or pasta, or whatever else they feel they can share), and the teacher and her family is going to come around to pick it up for distribution to the needy families. It saves anyone having to go anywhere (except the teacher and her family), so exposure should be minimal. I thought that was a pretty nice thing to do.

Textured Soy Protein > mazda616
03/17/2020 at 11:54

That’s fucking insane. Unfortunately there are too many business decision makers wary of their employees working from home and they’re not recognizing the seriousness of not having people show up to offices if it can be avoided.

Last week my company’s IT dept spent a bunch of time adding additional network/server hardware to support remote work. They didn’t have enough graphics card-equipped laptops for our engineers to work from home with (they need graphics cards for CAD) so they had the engineers cart their desktops home with them.

I personally am working reduced hours from home but I’ll be fine financially, and I’ll continue to have health insurance and a job to go back to when shit gets right side up again.

Textured Soy Protein > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/17/2020 at 11:59

I agree with you that a full shutdown needs to happen sooner than later. MD governor Hogan just gave his daily update and was very open and honest that while there are only 57 reported cases in the state so far, we have not even close to enough testing capacity and that number will go up drastically as more tests become available. We need more of our political leaders to speak frankly and honestly.

Chaos will probably hit once a shutdown is announced but the stores will remain open. We’ve seen that in other countries, San Francisco, and Gov Hogan among others keep saying it. But even if stores are open, it’s best to limit trips to them as that could result in exposure. I’ve been lucky that while I’ve run a ton of errands since Saturday to get ready, I’ve largely avoided any crazy crowds. We’ll see how things go on my final (for a while anyway) trip later today.

Textured Soy Protein > Ash78, voting early and often
03/17/2020 at 12:05

Not everything in MD is closed just yet, but we’re getting there. No schools, bars, nightclubs, theaters, gyms, or dine-in seating in restaurants. Non-essential retail is taking it day by day.

I went to Dick’s yesterday to get the supposed last one of this utility bench (but the website is still showing it in stock at my store) , and some floor guard mats . I’ve got a treadmill, adjustable 5-50 lbs dumbbells, and some bands. Not a full home gym but plenty to be effective for a while.

This situation is crazy but I’m lucky to have a nice house with a wife and cats to keep me occupied, and I’ll be fine financially. I’m kinda looking forward to having the time to do a lot of nice scratch meal planned cooking and getting as many workouts as I like. We’ll see how that plays out.

Brickman > Textured Soy Protein
03/17/2020 at 13:11

I use walmart pickup for food. No need to go in the store. 1st time I had trouble ordering as there were no spaces to place an order to pickup . Finally able to make an order this morning to pick up tomorrow afternoon. Im crossing my fingers they dont run out of TP till then.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
03/17/2020 at 13:13

If you go out, just do it right when they open. Probably easier in the long run.

I didn’t see that about Flynn. Something that if he does, the left should jump on and scream it out back to him, but they will be “civil” and say nothing as the sleaze continues. When people like Hannity and Bannon have had such instrumental power in shaping this regime, it says a lot.

I just hope the supposed 6'3 239 (LOLOLOL) oaf makes it long enough to be dragged through the mud and strung up on state charges for the rest of his godforsaken life, and that his shithead kids are brought down with him. These people are corrupt garbage. I am surprised DeVos or Ivanka weren ’t picked to head the COVID task force.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Ash78, voting early and often
03/17/2020 at 13:26

When my employer announced we should all work from home this weekend my initial thought was “I could use the time I would otherwise be commuting to go for a run with the dog in the mornings! Maybe get a tiny bit more extra sleep, but it’ll be a great way to get active again!”.

Here I am now, sleeping in every morning until I MUST roll out of bed and log in to my computer and eating chocolate chip cookies for breakfast because “why bother work out if the world is grinding to a stop?!”

Ash78, voting early and often > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
03/17/2020 at 13:43

Yep. And working from home full time, anyway, I feel like I have no excuse. But the outside world just being in complete disarray just changes everything. Mostly just my options for getting out -- I usually run errands on my lunch break just for the variety. Now I’m just kind of wandering around the neighborhood and wondering if I could take a nap...

Textured Soy Protein > Brickman
03/17/2020 at 14:37

Every single paper product aisle in every store I’ve hit here in the DC burbs is completely bare, with the exception of tissues in certain places.

We have a halfway decent supply of TP in my house, maybe 12 rolls and it’s just me and my wife . But yester day I happened upon a stash of baby wipes and such in the travel size section at Target. I didn’t completely clean it out but I took several packages while leaving a few others for someone else to get surprised by.

mazda616 > Textured Soy Protein
03/18/2020 at 15:28

They changed their minds (again). I’m working from home for the “foreseeable future” starting tomorrow.

Textured Soy Protein > mazda616
03/18/2020 at 16:01

Well that's good, I'm glad they made the right decision. I feel awful for the people whose jobs put them out in public like grocery, pharmacy and restaurant workers. All those folks need to get full protective equipment ASAP.