So, I'm the one to create the obligatory thread. First, let's get the obvious out of the way:
Yes, it's funny
Apart from that, we have a virus out of China that obviously is easy to distribute. We have close to 100k infections since its discovery 2 months ago. Lethality rate is low single digit percent. The majority of cases are mild, symptoms are cold-like.
Current stats: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Past similar pandemics: https://www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/. The worst comparable virus in recent history was the Spanish flu with a total number of infections in the hundreds of millions, and a mortality rate of 10-20%.
Any thoughts?
I personally was affected because I wanted to travel to Poland to a large E-Sports event, which was eventually closed to the public to prevent a possible spread of the virus. I personally hope that there aren't any more disproportionate reactions like that, where society is effectively shut down because of fear.
Re: Coronavirus By: StuckInTheDitch Date: March 14, 2020, 08:31:08 pm
I'm going to a Genesis tribute concert (Musical Box) next week. I really hope its not canceled.
All the parks and bike trails are closed in my town but nobody listens and there were tons of people there too. I went; I don't give a fuck! Fuck the virus! I don't care if I die or if I spread it around. I'm serious too, son of a bitch!
Sorry... I'm in a weird mood...
Re: Coronavirus By: grams88 Date: March 16, 2020, 09:37:44 am
There's that chance where your Genesis concert could be cancelled CallMeBronco hopefully not but from what I hear there seems to be lots of mass gatherings being cancelled. A lot of events seem to be getting cancelled. A lot of people might have to work from home, I hear the Spanish flu was very bad back in the day, was not that not the one where a lot of people couldn't breathe and they were coughing up blood, it sounds horrible the spanish flu. We haven't really seen something as bad as that since the world war with the amount of events being cancelled. I hear as well that I don't know if it's just a UK thing but a lot of the over 70s might have to self isolate. Each country will probably be handling things differently where some might be be doing a better job than others.
I like that joke stoneeh about the lyme disease.
Re: Coronavirus By: StuckInTheDitch Date: March 18, 2020, 05:41:08 pm
yes, it turns out my Genesis concert has been post-poned until July. And unfortunately it seems like stoneeh said is right; society is essentially shutting down out of fear and panic
Don't get me wrong: I think care and precautions should always be used whenever any kind of virus spreads, or any disaster/terrorist attack or problem. But this is just like every other major event; instead of thinking logically and intelligently with calmness and kindness people just go apeshit. The economy's in the toilet; stores are out of everything. That's not the virus's fault; that's people's fault. People's reaction is 100% responsible for that part of this mess.
Re: Coronavirus By: grams88 Date: March 18, 2020, 07:17:07 pm
I agree CallMeBronco, we need to encourage our fellow human being that panic buying is never the answer, panic buying can actually probably be more harmful. Our supermarkets in the UK are making announcements where you can only buy two toilet roll packets, two per customer. I know this might be the last thing you want to hear CallMeBronco, I think the Genesis concert might get cancelled, I'm hoping it doesn't but does not look too good at the moment.
It looks like we might be going into lockdown here in the UK soon, I just have that feeling with the way things are. Our prime minster made an announcement that all schools in the UK will be closed by Friday. Pretty powerful statement when you think about it. What's it like in America? there might be a lockdown there as well, just a matter of time.
It does feel like society is effectively being shut down because of the fear. Don't get me wrong this is a dangerous time for our elderly who we must look out for as this one could probably do a lot of damage to the elderly.
Re: Coronavirus By: stoneeh Date: March 18, 2020, 09:33:44 pm
So I've been thinking about this some more, and doing more research, and the situation seems as follows: the risk to people under 50 is very minor, with a mortality rate in the fractions of one percent. However, for people above the age of 70, the mortality rate is around 10%. That's no joke. So old people definitely shouldn't be going out right now.
Regarding the drastic measures like shutting down most non-essential businesses, schools etc.: not too long ago my point of view was that most of us are going to be infected anyway. There's hardly a way around it - if you participate in society, you'll eventually come across someone who has it. So I was thinking, let's rather get it over with quick, and be done with it.
The problem with that though is, as I've come to realize, is that our health care system is so undersized and underfunded, it really isn't able to deal with any new major illness. That of course is a major fuckup by our leaders in office, and also us, because we're too greedy to pay for better healthcare. Either way, that's the situation as it is. If we don't stop the spread of the virus, our hospitals will be so overfilled, they'll neither be able to take care of the Covid patients, nor perform any other necessary medical procedures. Got an appendix that's about to burst, or a melanoma that's about to spread under the skin? "Nope sorry, we can't operate on you, we're full." might be what you're looking at in the near future. There's also a catastrophic shortage of certain medical utensils at the moment, because nobody thought about stocking anything.
So we have to shut parts of society down right now as to not render our healthcare system completely ineffective.
My only hope is that after this is over, we will have learned from it. Seriously, there've been many people who have seen a situation like this coming for years or decades, and nobody listened, nobody acted. We need to wise the fuck up.
Re: Coronavirus By: jackulator Date: March 21, 2020, 07:39:14 pm
without reading any previous posts in this thread, I will say this...
1. initially I thought the response was overblown. totally out of proportion. I mean, after all the mortality rate was only like 4%... but then someone posted a pic that said I gave you 100 skittles... and 4 of them will kill you. I'm pretty sure you'll avoid the skitles.
that kind of sealed it for me
plus the fact tha my wife has RA, which lowers her body's ability to fight off attackers. and on top of that she's taking methotrexate, which ALSO lowers her body's ability to fight off attackers. so... I guess the bottom line for me is, if it was just me? I'd probably be the coronavirus equivalent of that dude wearing a horsehead during Hurricane Sandy... like -- hey... whatever. y'all freakin' out over nothin'.... losers...
but I also have a 92-year old grandmother, who still rides her bike, still plays golf, and still plays tennis....
and I have a mother who is 63 and has really bad RA...
so, I don't have the luxury of being one of these punks in NYC or Philly where they're out there taking selfies talkin' about drinkin' and livin' it up...
I'm sorry if I've gone soft. but fuck... I see all these motherfuckers buying up all the toilet paper, hand sanitizer, peanut butter, pasta noodles and sauce, salt, sugar.... do they know something I don't?
the first few weeks this was happening I was like -- the fatality rate is only like 3%!!
who gives a fuck??!?
that's like the flu
but... the flu's mortalty rate is 0.01%....
not 1%.
so... this thing is 30x more deadly.
and granted, it doesn't kill children
it seems, the older you are, the more likely you are to be one of the unlucky ones
but that said, the odds of survival are pretty goddamn good
unless you have a severe respiratory issue or are severely immuno-compromised
sigh...
so yeah...
I'm hoping for the best.
I'm hoping a bunch of ignorant douchebags full of life don't go out there and accidentally, through their own hubris exacerbate a global pandemic...
stay safe jackulators. though it pains me to say that, because somewhere deep down, I still feel like all of this eventually could be revealed to be one of the biggest over-reactions of all time...
but if it turns out it wasn't? hey... good lookin' out y'all...
at this point? I don't fucking know.
Re: Coronavirus By: jackulator Date: March 21, 2020, 07:49:09 pm
I work at a grocery store. In the bakery. I come into close contact on a daily basis not only with the community at large, but with my co-workers...
my company just announced they were going to pay us an extra $2 per hour for the forseeable future.
that definitely helps. considering my wife (who I mentioned before is immuno-compromised in three separate but compounding ways) is not working at Petsmart now, so we're lacking her $240+ a week.
I make about $37k a year...
and I hear about this idea of sending every adult $1,000. and $500 for every kid.
well, I've got two adults and three kids at home. so I guess that means I'll get $3,500...
okay. between that and the extra $80/week my employer volunteered to pay me -- we're probably gonna be okay, assuming we don't get the virus
but shit... there are so many people out there that aren't going to be able to work for MONTHS
is that money going to help them? I mean yeah -- in the short-term. but after this is over, or after it dies down, are they going to still have the same job?
at this point I'm just fucking done. as people down in Pennsylvania say, "I can't even with this. I'm just done."
I have no idea what it means exactly, but I'm starting to understand it.
Re: Coronavirus By: stoneeh Date: March 21, 2020, 11:06:29 pm
Do you still have access to your Paypal Jack? I just shot over 25$. "It's all I got
" Maybe some of the other remaining members can also donate as to keep the site up. Jack has paid for it all by himself these last few years.If all else fails, my offer from a few years ago to host the site on my server still stands. It's running 24/7 anyway. It would eliminate all costs for keeping the site running except for the domain, which is just like 15 bucks a year.
Re: Coronavirus By: jackulator Date: March 22, 2020, 04:12:54 pm
holy shit yeah ! thanks man -- roy will be happy about that. it's coming up time to renew over here
and after that bullshit they pulled - omg... I forgot to tell you guys. I was hanging out with Jaidan and showing him how FTP worked, and showing him how to upload a file to your website, and I accidentally deleted the 'jackulator' folder... the one that contained OUR ENTIRE WEBSITE... but it was one of those things where I right-clicked it, and a menu popped up, and it said 'rename' or something, and then the option I clicked was moved when new info popped in, and the menu changed. so I ended up clicking 'delete' by accident. I spent an hour on chat with netfirms, and they kept trying to tell me that to restore the folder out of the recycle bin would cost me $100.... but I gave them a rash of shit and said I'd been a paying customer for 12 years, and after a while they sent me to higher-level tech support. then like four days later it was magically fixed. no charge...
fucking hell... at least they did it
but yeah...
so that's the type of shit administrators have to deal with
anywho.... thanks stoneeh for your contribution
it's been crazy. the last few months we've been getting random donations of $5 and $10 from random people
I'm not sure, but I think maybe there is some kind of retro/nostalgia thing happening. like millennials or hipsters like this place. I don't know. can't tell.
but whatever. who knows. if shit keeps on the way it is, maybe roy will poke his head out of retirement like Punxatawney Phil and do another call...
or I will. whatever. I want him to help me. we'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......
it's fucking 2020... this shit seems almost ridiculous now. but we always have hilarious ideas about who to call.
Re: Coronavirus By: stoneeh Date: March 26, 2020, 09:51:17 pm
It's good that other people donate too. Man, it would have been sweet if Patreon was around in the heydays of prank calling. You might have had it made by now.. full time professional Jackulator
Anyway, on topic: a couple of days ago, I was coughing, and having slightly restricted breathing. Freaked me the fuck out. But it passed within a couple of minutes, and nothing since, so dunno what that was. I mean, I don't smoke.
I've just listened to a great interview regarding the subject on Valuetainment. A couple of you probably know the channel.. he kinda emulates the Joe Rogan podcast. I found the interview to be very informative. Link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWOYj8hjjjM
Re: Coronavirus By: StuckInTheDitch Date: March 29, 2020, 06:41:56 pm
well I knew this was bound to happen eventually. A major disaster of some nature or another and people wouldn't take it seriously until it was too late; or at least right away, because why?
BECAUSE THE FUCKING ASSHOLE CUNTISH NEWS MEDIA BLOWS EVERY GODDAMN STORY OUT OF PROPORTION ALL THE TIME!!!!
They've been doing this for years; so just like the classic story of crying wolf; people have generally grown to distrust them or not pay any attention to them. What do you expect? A healthy person (mentally/physically) can't afford to get freaked out at every dumb dipshit thing the news tells you so you end up not believing any of it until something like this happens. I'm genuinely happy that the news organizations like New York Times have been suffering for years and now this. Like stoneh said I hope people fucking wise up; maybe this will help.
My whole family was sick (my uncle definitely had some type of pneumonia) about a month or two ago. And my mom was sick for almost a whole moth. Then I got something similar just last week. But I seem to have recovered on my own. There's no testing around here so Idk if I had it or not, may never know. I stayed home for three days then my company shut down all last week, fortunately, but I'm going back tomorrow. Not sure exactly why my company is excluded from the ban but I'm sure it has something to do with the rich motherfuckers we work for.
Anyways; my illness wasn't too bad; but definitely had all the symptoms; dry coughing and fever. Plus weird occasional nausea that came and went. Most of the time it wasn't too bad but a couple of times I had these coughing fits that were scary; felt like there were razor blades in my throat; like I never had before. But just like stoneeh said it passed within a couple of minutes....
It's possible I had it I guess, but then my family didn't get it and according to how easily spread it is... I'd have think they'd have gotten it; even with being cautious around eachother, so idk...DAMN I want this to be over.
I've already been dealing with enough stupid stress in my life right now from my stupid family problems all goddamn year long...Re: Coronavirus By: grams88 Date: March 29, 2020, 08:46:28 pm
Actually it does sound like yoy have had that one CallMeBronco, A lot of coronavirus symptoms people do describe a sort glass or razonblade type of sensation. It sounds nasty to be honest. I don't know if this is true that if you get it you become immune, the ministers were talking about it in the UK, thinking that could be one of the ways to conquer this thing. Do let us know if you do get tested anyone what the results are. (You know where you stand once you get the right test)
I'm still a bit worried about going back to the volunteering, I'm wanting to do it but my main fear is that because I volunteer in a hospital shop and taking the Trolley around the wards there could be a chance where you could catch the condition. Saying as well that if you have the condition and your not sure you could be spreading it around. I believe things will get better, we need some positivity. They are thinking about testing the nurses and front line staff first, The thinking process behind it is saying if you had the condition you could be immune from it in the future.
I was hoping to get into the basketball this year but that might have to wait for a while till the virus situation gets better. Thinking about it, this is one massive event and will certainly go down in history as one as well. Think about the films they will make in the future, all the theories people mention as well might get talked about more. I've noticed I don't really get sick from flu that bad, I can't quite remember when the last time was. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I think there's a chance I might of had the coronavirus one as well considering that I'm volunteering in a hospital shop
The news can have a massive effect on how we feel. We all probably have our favorite newspaper. News can have a very negative impact on us. One story that does come to mind was that there were people having a massive party and the police were shocked. I have Ocd but not the contamination one but a lot of ocd sufferers in the community are finding this one a tough one at the moment.
Re: Coronavirus By: HairyChinaman Date: April 05, 2020, 01:55:51 am
I went to Walmart today and it felt like a Twilight Zone episode. I really am rooting for those with dwindling incomes.
Re: Coronavirus By: jackulator Date: April 10, 2020, 02:25:26 pm
I work at a grocery store. still considered essential. but I work in a section OF the grocery store that in my opinion is NOT essential... I've said for a week or two now, once it gets up to 500 cases in Lackawanna county (where I live) I'm out... using up my two weeks of paid vacation time... hopefully that'll get me through the 'peak'... but what happens after that? Idk.. if this thing goes on month after month... having to wear a surgical mask at work so I can make danishes and artisan rolls... this is just bullshit. all of it.