Octopus Overlords

I thought they once were saying if the US reopened that the death count could be 80,000. Its not even reopened yet and there are over 83,000 dead now.

By the end of the year we all will be dead!

Sudy wrote:The dog ran out into traffic on a busy city road. He ran out after it. (They were fine.)

That will never not remind of the guy that dove head first into a hot spring to save his dog. They were not fine.

Daehawk wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 5:15 pm I thought they once were saying if the US reopened that the death count could be 80,000. Its not even reopened yet and there are over 83,000 dead now.

The administration's favorite model was updated today to predict 143,000 by August 1.

Kraken wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 6:49 pm

Daehawk wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 5:15 pm I thought they once were saying if the US reopened that the death count could be 80,000. Its not even reopened yet and there are over 83,000 dead now.

The administration's favorite model was updated today to predict 143,000 by August 1.

Presumably before the second wave in the fall that will or will not be worse maybe.

RunningMn9 wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 6:27 pm

Sudy wrote:The dog ran out into traffic on a busy city road. He ran out after it. (They were fine.)

That will never not remind of the guy that dove head first into a hot spring to save his dog. They were not fine.

I did not not think of the same incident.

New 24 hour death toll for Ilinois. Yeah, we're ready to reopen.

Jeff V wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 7:50 pm New 24 hour death toll for Ilinois. Yeah, we're ready to reopen.

They're priming the pump for a Federal Reserve pension bailout (buyout). These deaths shall not be in vain!

morlac wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 7:24 pm

Kraken wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 6:49 pm

Daehawk wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 5:15 pm I thought they once were saying if the US reopened that the death count could be 80,000. Its not even reopened yet and there are over 83,000 dead now.

The administration's favorite model was updated today to predict 143,000 by August 1.

Presumably before the second wave in the fall that will or will not be worse maybe.

And the current number is surely an undercount.

This is a classic boiling frog strategy. By July we'll be hearing that anything under 250k is a win.

Ill only count it as a win if it gets the White House and GOP. Hell just the White House would be good enough to count.

90% of people in town had no masks of any type today. From kids to what appeared to be 80 year olds. Crazy folk. Me and the Walmart cashier exchanged pleasantries about how we were doing and she said she is trying not to get sick yet working at Walmart. Told her she is doing it wrong

Id like to thank to two farts standing right in front of the meat section. The cooler was broken so all meat they had was in a tiny little place on another cooler shelf. These two people stood right there talking talking talking. I got tired of standing and went to two other aisles and came back. Still there. Must been 10 min. I finally scooched up right behind one and stuck my head over their right shoulder. Almost had my chin sitting on their shoulder. They saw me but never moved and kept talking. Both no masks.

I saw that ground beef is $8.00 a lb and moved away quickly.

In Walmart two guys without masks jabbering up a storm. As I pass they give each other a big friendship hug. I really wanted to fake sneeze and cough on people all the time I was in stores.

On a funny note as I was standing in one store I heard My Girl by The Temptations start to play. I smiled and thought wow a store can play some good music after all. Then realized it was my phone ringing which I refused to answer because my hands were not sterile.

Get out your surf board, man. Wave 2 is gonna be EPIC!

Totally! Kawabunga!

Come to think of it I shoulda set my chin on their shoulder and did a Pauly Shore "Hey BUUuuuuuuuudy, what we talking about?"

That would also work in Stewie Griffin voice.

I saw that ground beef is $8.00 a lb and moved away quickly.

I haven't been shopping since a couple of days after Easter. I bought 10 pounds of frozen 75%/25% for $40 and thought that was twice as expensive as it should be but just wanted to stock up for Armageddon and not worry about cost.

LordMortis wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 1:59 pm

I saw that ground beef is $8.00 a lb and moved away quickly.

I haven't been shopping since a couple of days after Easter. I bought 10 pounds of frozen 75%/25% for $40 and thought that was twice as expensive as it should be but just wanted to stock up for Armageddon and not worry about cost.

Call the meat market in Conroe.

Locally it's $4-5 a pound depending on the lean %.

Grocery prices in general have been going up rapidly for the past few weeks, unsurprisingly. I scored some ground beef on my last trip and now have enough frozen burger patties to last me most of the summer.

We got spoiled by factory farming and especially sweatshop processing prices. The cost of meat is going to stay elevated for some time.

Kraken wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 10:35 pmAnd the current number is surely an undercount.

This is a classic boiling frog strategy. By July we'll be hearing that anything under 250k is a win.

I'm an old timer. I remember way back when, I think it was March, the President said between 100k and 200k deaths would mean we did a good job. Our work is almost done.

Kraken wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 3:00 pm Grocery prices in general have been going up rapidly for the past few weeks, unsurprisingly. I scored some ground beef on my last trip and now have enough frozen burger patties to last me most of the summer.

We got spoiled by factory farming and especially sweatshop processing prices. The cost of meat is going to stay elevated for some time.

It's rapid approaching the prices at my local butcher. Ground chuck is (and has been for some time) $10.95/lb. It's much higher quality but has been reserved as a luxury in our household. If factory supermarket stuff is $8/lb, I may get 100% from the butcher. They get whole steers delivered and break down on-site so I don't expect their supply channel to have issues. The shortage/bottleneck is in meat processing and packing.



I've also noticed that Amazon prices are up. Not 3rd party seller stuff, but sold by Amazon stuff I've bought in the past. I always check previous invoices and it's usually 50/50 whether the price has gone up or down and it's usually just a few percentage points. Lately everything I've wanted to re-order is up 10% plus. Velcro strips (USA), thread (USA), power bricks and adapters (China), etc. Not exactly "COVID" stuff but I guess with plants shut down and logistics in a mess it's kind of expected.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 3:59 pm

Kraken wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 3:00 pm Grocery prices in general have been going up rapidly for the past few weeks, unsurprisingly. I scored some ground beef on my last trip and now have enough frozen burger patties to last me most of the summer.

We got spoiled by factory farming and especially sweatshop processing prices. The cost of meat is going to stay elevated for some time.

It's rapid approaching the prices at my local butcher. Ground chuck is (and has been for some time) $10.95/lb. It's much higher quality but has been reserved as a luxury in our household. If factory supermarket stuff is $8/lb, I may get 100% from the butcher. They get whole steers delivered and break down on-site so I don't expect their supply channel to have issues. The shortage/bottleneck is in meat processing and packing.

The big meat packers aren't going to be able to return to assembly lines with disposable workers crammed elbow-to-elbow, and their lines are running a lot slower now with distancing and rudimentary health precautions. Their old model is the reason we could buy a hamberdler for a buck. Now they're rushing to automate, but that's going to take time and up-front investment. Cheap meat will return when they can cut humans out of the operation (or go back to their old practices, although that seems unlikely).

We're getting takeout tonight and I splurged on some steak tips, which were already high-priced to begin with. Ordinarily during the summer I'd just throw some on the grill when Wife goes away, but Wife never goes away anymore and it's a crapshoot whether the stores have any.

In 3 stores and none had the canned DAK hams or any types of canned tamales.

Spent $350 for our weekly grocery run this morning. The cart was stacked to overflowing, and I was buying food and other supplies for six people (2 adults, 2 teens, 2 seniors). It barely felt like overpaying relative to pre-virus prices. For example, high-quality salmon was $9/pound the way it was last year.

Customers were asked to wear masks and keep distance, but otherwise everything seemed normal. There were no major gaps on the shelves except for a few specialty items (e.g. Bob's Red Mill wheat bran, which appears to be out of stock on their website as well). Green-leaf produce was also iffy, but I happen to know that this store gets their best shipments tomorrow.

It seems to me that the supply chain has mostly adapted to social-distancing consumer habits.

Just need a short vent here.

As of tomorrow, the state of Utah will be moving to "yellow" status. Part of that shift is opening up sports leagues for the summer, albeit with "symptom checks" prior to participation.

I don't feel good about it, but I'm also not sure I can lock my kids in the house all summer either. They're climbing the goddamn walls and about ready to destroy each other right now, no matter how many trips up the canyons or backyard campouts we do. Mrs. Skinypupy is feeling strongly like they need to do something (she's about at the end of her rope as well), but I'm not particularly comfortable with team sports being the answer.

Bah...

This is why having kids that love board games and video games to exclusion of all else is nice. Going outside? I mean they'll take the odd bike ride, but no need for sports or in person social interaction. They are certainly my boys.

Yeah, that's the balance I'm trying to strike. I'm sure they'd be perfectly happy if I just let them play video and board games all day every day, but I don't feel great about that either.

I mean, it's better than catching COVID-19, but probably not a great option from a responsible parenting standpoint.

How about non-team sports like golf or tennis? Certainly there's still some risk, but not nearly as much as something like basketball.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 4:00 pm How about non-team sports like golf or tennis? Certainly there's still some risk, but not nearly as much as something like basketball.

I've played golf several times during the crisis. Easy to maintain social distancing, see friends, and get exercise with the benefits of UV light from the sun.

Skinypupy wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 3:43 pm Yeah, that's the balance I'm trying to strike. I'm sure they'd be perfectly happy if I just let them play video and board games all day every day, but I don't feel great about that either.

I mean, it's better than catching COVID-19, but probably not a great option from a responsible parenting standpoint.

Look in the mirror. WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME??

Went to get new glasses today. The place was well setup for distancing, there was the standard check before entering, and all the staff had masks. The person helping me pulled hers down twice, but all the rest of the staff seemed to keep theirs in place. I saw 12 different customers while I was there and, counting me, only 2 of us were wearing masks. Clients ranged from about 9 to 80. Go SC!

Kraken wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 3:00 pm Grocery prices in general have been going up rapidly for the past few weeks, unsurprisingly. I scored some ground beef on my last trip and now have enough frozen burger patties to last me most of the summer.

We got spoiled by factory farming and especially sweatshop processing prices. The cost of meat is going to stay elevated for some time.

Several local restaurants are charging a 15% surcharge. I expected this and it is one of my favorite spots. I want it to make it through this.

Holman wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 10:10 pm Spent $350 for our weekly grocery run this morning. The cart was stacked to overflowing, and I was buying food and other supplies for six people (2 adults, 2 teens, 2 seniors). It barely felt like overpaying relative to pre-virus prices. For example, high-quality salmon was $9/pound the way it was last year.

Customers were asked to wear masks and keep distance, but otherwise everything seemed normal. There were no major gaps on the shelves except for a few specialty items (e.g. Bob's Red Mill wheat bran, which appears to be out of stock on their website as well). Green-leaf produce was also iffy, but I happen to know that this store gets their best shipments tomorrow.

It seems to me that the supply chain has mostly adapted to social-distancing consumer habits.

I should do a photo essay here in Central Jersey. Its better than March but I would liken it to rolling outages. This week the frozen section was wiped out but I finally got chicken.

My Amazon is still severely disrupted. I just got something I ordered in late March. Our regular subscribe & saves have been bumped a couple of weeks in April and May. It has been pretty frustrating.

Oddly buying my wife a laptop was super simple. Ordered it on Bestbuy.com and they threw it in the back seat Of my car 30 minutes later through the window.

Only things Ive ordered online the last couple months are dog supplements from Chewy. Usually it takes 4 days to get to me. But since all this COVID started its taken 7 days to just ship then another 4 or 5 days to reach me.

malchior wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 6:49 pm

Holman wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 10:10 pm Spent $350 for our weekly grocery run this morning. The cart was stacked to overflowing, and I was buying food and other supplies for six people (2 adults, 2 teens, 2 seniors). It barely felt like overpaying relative to pre-virus prices. For example, high-quality salmon was $9/pound the way it was last year.

Customers were asked to wear masks and keep distance, but otherwise everything seemed normal. There were no major gaps on the shelves except for a few specialty items (e.g. Bob's Red Mill wheat bran, which appears to be out of stock on their website as well). Green-leaf produce was also iffy, but I happen to know that this store gets their best shipments tomorrow.

It seems to me that the supply chain has mostly adapted to social-distancing consumer habits.

I should do a photo essay here in Central Jersey. Its better than March but I would liken it to rolling outages. This week the frozen section was wiped out but I finally got chicken.

My Amazon is still severely disrupted. I just got something I ordered in late March. Our regular subscribe & saves have been bumped a couple of weeks in April and May. It has been pretty frustrating.

Oddly buying my wife a laptop was super simple. Ordered it on Bestbuy.com and they threw it in the back seat Of my car 30 minutes later through the window.

We had two or three weeks of supply disruption at the grocery (I'm in NW Philadelphia), but since then shopping has been pretty routine. I'll go with a weekly list of about 50 items and come home with 48 of them. Of course the gaps can still be significant, as when I couldn't buy any brand of all-purpose flour for a week or more.

As for bigbox stuff, we've had little trouble. Three days ago I ordered a book from Amazon and was told it would arrive in three or four weeks. It came today. (I think we benefit from being just down the highway from a major Amazon warehouse.)

Have a Amazon warehouse in my county..town even.....and NOTHING has ever come from it to me over the years...ever. Id like to get a tour of it just to see whats in it. Probably pool tables and edgamacationallal books.

My entire library is on sale on Amazon. After many months of no activity, I've sold 6 books in the past week, including 2 I need to ship out in the morning.

The other day, my earbuds went mono (right ear was dead). I ordered a two-pack from Amazon, they arrived the next day.

Jeff V wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 8:32 pm My entire library is on sale on Amazon. After many months of no activity, I've sold 6 books in the past week, including 2 I need to ship out in the morning.

i have a number of CDs i need to sell. maybe now is a good time to list them.

hitbyambulance wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 8:33 pm

Jeff V wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 8:32 pm My entire library is on sale on Amazon. After many months of no activity, I've sold 6 books in the past week, including 2 I need to ship out in the morning.

i have a number of CDs i need to sell. maybe now is a good time to list them.

Certificates of Deposit or Compact Disks? If the latter, you missed the boat by about 10 years.

Ottawa hit a significant milestone this week. Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 can now be tested, although people in the higher-risk categories will have priority.

i've started bringing my own (acquired as a freebie) pen to various take-out places so i don't have to use the one provided to sign receipts (and to spare the staff from disinfecting it afterwards).

I had to use cash someplace when I went out the other day. I asked before I tried and they said theres no problem. Shrug. So no money in bank and no way to roll my car window down is a damn hassle these days lol. Ive not had fast food in 2 months or more. And I dread all places..even my pharmacy has a drive through. Ive asked and no one has a date for their lobbies to reopen.