Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[huckbucket]

Your stat game is a little weak. Most people know more than a single person.

I was corrected at the top. Actually, my stat answered Timber's question, I just fooked up the message. He wanted to know who on this board has had CV19 and my stat says there's less than a 1% chance that you've been infected which means less than 1 out of 100 on this board should respond positively to Timber.

[skaredshtles]

I don't mean to take you to task for this but rather to make a broader point. I've read and heard from American parents that the pandemic's interruption to their children's routine and stability is going to leave an indelible mark on their psyche, outlook and all the rest. For a minute, let's pretend that's true - can you imagine being in a nation that is subject to invasion or bombing or occupied? Their stability is non-existent, their friends, their parents and other adults in their life may suddenly be killed or uprooted. If we grant that our kids missing some school for a few months with a bit of uncertainty is bad & impacting, then maybe we can find a little compassion for regions where their children find no sanctuary, no stability and avoid being cavalier about their plight and maybe our policy that adds to that instability. Hopeful that maybe our hardships with the pandemic can lead to more empathy for people that have so much less than we take for granted.

Listen to Mr. Optimism!

I agree it would be nice. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[TBS]

Somewhere in Oregon:

Sorta looks like Umatilla County. Which as you know is such a hot spot that local hospitals are overflowing and patients are being shipped to Portland

Here’s a piece I heard Tuesday from Oregon Public Broadcasting about the situation there. Appears to have its foothold in the Lamb Westin potato plant.
https://www.opb.org/news/article/ore...eorge-murdock/

We are seeing - and will see - additional spikes in the farm communities as harvest and processing get under way. Sad situation with migrants and poor people taking the brunt

[old goat]

I don't mean to take you to task for this but rather to make a broader point. I've read and heard from American parents that the pandemic's interruption to their children's routine and stability is going to leave an indelible mark on their psyche, outlook and all the rest. For a minute, let's pretend that's true - can you imagine being in a nation that is subject to invasion or bombing or occupied? Their stability is non-existent, their friends, their parents and other adults in their life may suddenly be killed or uprooted. If we grant that our kids missing some school for a few months with a bit of uncertainty is bad & impacting, then maybe we can find a little compassion for regions where their children find no sanctuary, no stability and avoid being cavalier about their plight and maybe our policy that adds to that instability. Hopeful that maybe our hardships with the pandemic can lead to more empathy for people that have so much less than we take for granted.

yes

[old goat]

As mentioned before, we really need to stop focusing on infections/case counts. This virus has shown that what really matters are hospitalizations and deaths.

since deaths lag case counts by at least a month if we wait for them to go up we've lost vital time in increasing restrictions during which the virus is spreading exponentially. (Not that we haven't wasted plenty of time already.) If we have any hope of slowing this thing (I don't) we have to follow positive test counts and percent positives.

[old goat]

FIFY. Most of us know more than 1 person.

FIFY

I took the survey to be considered for one of the vaccine trials. A lot of questions about how many and what kind of contacts (do you work in a meat packing plant or are you sheltering in place with 6 months of groceries) and risk factors. My guess is that they're looking for people at high risk for getting infected and low risk for getting bad sick, which would exclude me on both accounts.

I also volunteered to go back to work. If things get so desperate that they need me we're talking about Black Death level disaster.

[TBS]

THIS

If I could find the HR fucker who first decided that vacation and sick time should be combo'd into PTO... that person deserves the 'Rona and the flu.

From experience dealing with this BITD with two large companies, it was a response to employees gaming unlimited sick leave (calling in sick Friday AM, still sick on Monday, show back up on Tuesday with a tan) to preserve theIr accrued vacation grant. It became institutionalized behavior because supervisors lacked the balls to call out the abusers. Union contracts and discrimination claims based on health also made enforcement difficult. So large company “best practice” started combining the two paid grants, sometimes with an optional ST disability policy

[ötzi]

Pretty amazing, 68% of people in aptly-named Corona, Queens, test postive for antibodies: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/n...sultPosition=1

[ötzi]

I know people too. My original question was who here on TGR besides Nutmeg has had it.

Didn't Art Shirk? Or was that ever confirmed? And where's Art lately btw?

[muted]

Pretty amazing, 68% of people in aptly-named Corona, Queens, test postive for antibodies: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/n...sultPosition=1

ooooooooo....you are going get an earful about this, otziman!

i think 3-4 people have said they got it on this board

[The AD]

From experience dealing with this BITD with two large companies, it was a response to employees gaming unlimited sick leave

Wouldn't the obvious solution be to eliminate unlimited sick leave?

[riser4]

From experience dealing with this BITD with two large companies, it was a response to employees gaming unlimited sick leave (calling in sick Friday AM, still sick on Monday, show back up on Tuesday with a tan) to preserve theIr accrued vacation grant. It became institutionalized behavior because supervisors lacked the balls to call out the abusers. Union contracts and discrimination claims based on health also made enforcement difficult. So large company “best practice” started combining the two paid grants, sometimes with an optional ST disability policy

Better yet were the assholes who showed up with a goggle tan after being out sick. Abusers ruined it fir everyone.

[ötzi]

ooooooooo....you are going get an earful about this, otziman!

I actually looked to see if it had been mentioned but didn't go back far enough. oops.

[KQ]

Sorta looks like Umatilla County. Which as you know is such a hot spot that local hospitals are overflowing and patients are being shipped to Portland

Here’s a piece I heard Tuesday from Oregon Public Broadcasting about the situation there. Appears to have its foothold in the Lamb Westin potato plant.
https://www.opb.org/news/article/ore...eorge-murdock/

We are seeing - and will see - additional spikes in the farm communities as harvest and processing get under way. Sad situation with migrants and poor people taking the brunt

Yeah I'm sure it is. I'm about 5 miles from Umatilla County in W2 County. Picture came from an article in the East Oregonian. People down in Milton-Freewater have been downright defiant about masks, SD and anything Gov. Brown has to say hence the rapid rise in cases.

Yes Lamb-Weston and migrant workers with their crowded living conditions have been a large part of it but those people don't just stay at work or home they travel around doing what they need to do spreading the virus as they go and it is so easily spread.....




The efficiency of coronavirus transmission is "really striking," Fauci says

The variability and "striking" transmissibility of Covid-19 makes the virus the "perfect storm," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Not to be hyperbolic about it — it really is the perfect storm and [an] infectious disease and public health person's worst nightmare. It's a spectacularly transmissible virus. The efficiency with which this transmits is really striking," he said at an event hosted by The Hill.

Fauci explained that the range of people it affects — from those with no symptoms to those who end up in intensive care or die — make the virus "a very complex situation to really get control of."

"Now what we need to do in this country is to successfully make that transition from baseline control to safely be reopening the country, and following the guidelines are going to be critical," Fauci said. "And I think what we've seen unfortunately, is that in some of the Southern states, the states have not really followed those guidelines in some respects, and jumped over the benchmarks, and the points that needed to be checkpoints. We've got to do better.”

[XXX-er]

I don't mean to take you to task for this but rather to make a broader point. I've read and heard from American parents that the pandemic's interruption to their children's routine and stability is going to leave an indelible mark on their psyche, outlook and all the rest. For a minute, let's pretend that's true - can you imagine being in a nation that is subject to invasion or bombing or occupied? Their stability is non-existent, their friends, their parents and other adults in their life may suddenly be killed or uprooted. If we grant that our kids missing some school for a few months with a bit of uncertainty is bad & impacting, then maybe we can find a little compassion for regions where their children find no sanctuary, no stability and avoid being cavalier about their plight and maybe our policy that adds to that instability. Hopeful that maybe our hardships with the pandemic can lead to more empathy for people that have so much less than we take for granted.

this ^^

nobody in NA is starving/ being bombed/ shot at/ having a relative dissappear due to Covid

[The SnowShow]

I don't mean to take you to task for this but rather to make a broader point. I've read and heard from American parents that the pandemic's interruption to their children's routine and stability is going to leave an indelible mark on their psyche, outlook and all the rest. For a minute, let's pretend that's true - can you imagine being in a nation that is subject to invasion or bombing or occupied? Their stability is non-existent, their friends, their parents and other adults in their life may suddenly be killed or uprooted. If we grant that our kids missing some school for a few months with a bit of uncertainty is bad & impacting, then maybe we can find a little compassion for regions where their children find no sanctuary, no stability and avoid being cavalier about their plight and maybe our policy that adds to that instability. Hopeful that maybe our hardships with the pandemic can lead to more empathy for people that have so much less than we take for granted.

Excellent point. I would love for people to change in that way after all this. I may be too optimistic.

I also keep hearing people talking about how the kids need to go back for social reasons, to be with their classmates, to learn in the classroom in-person and if not, it leaves an indelible mark.

You know what leaves an indelible mark for the rest of your life? A teacher or family member dying because of CV.

[muted]

All these kids are getting a hard life lesson at a young age, and as a result I hope they are not going to take everything for granted for the rest of their lives. They may miss track and field and whatever, but the lessons they get out of this pandemic could shape their lives in a meaningful way.

Of course, if they have a bunch of other issues on top of this, or a relative dies, their parents lose their jobs, etc that's a different story.

Edit: I mean late teenagers / new HS graduate age, not kids

[bodywhomper]

Excellent point. I would love for people to change in that way after all this. I may be too optimistic.

I also keep hearing people talking about how the kids need to go back for social reasons, to be with their classmates, to learn in the classroom in-person and if not, it leaves an indelible mark.

You know what leaves an indelible mark for the rest of your life? A teacher or family member dying because of CV.

Bear River high school in southern Nevada County still needs to replace their basketball team head coach (he was also a teacher at the school).

Regarding sick time, PTO, and vacation time, my understanding is that PTO and vacation time are considered debt, sick time is not.

[AK47bp]

Bear River high school in southern Nevada County still needs to replace their basketball team head coach (he was also a teacher at the school).

Regarding sick time, PTO, and vacation time, my understanding is that PTO and vacation time are considered debt, sick time is not.

If it has cash value (pays out at termination) it’s debt.

Sick time has no cash value and doesn’t pay out at termination so not debt.

That’s the average scenario. Of course employers may structure things differently.


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[Mustonen]

Depends on your policy and state law. I wouldn’t call it “debt”.... but you do need to accrue for it and since it’s an earned benefit it’s typically paid at termination. Vacation and sick time are typically not considered earned benefits.

As an employee I like having a bank of time that gains value every time I get a raise. As a supervisor I like not having to give a shit why you missed Monday. As an employer I hate that the structure encourages staff to save their PTO for fun time rather than take it when they’re sick, but I recognize that my PTO structure is far from the only driver of this behavior.

[TBS]

[AdironRider]

this ^^

nobody in NA is starving/ being bombed/ shot at/ having a relative dissappear due to Covid

I love this shitty argument about how you basically need to STFU unless you are currently living in an active war zone.

This is going to affect every child worldwide in some way. Some more than others, sure, but please, this is not a good thing for a child's development in any way and it would be preferable if it wasn't the situation.

[bodywhomper]

If it has cash value (pays out at termination) it’s debt.

Sick time has no cash value and doesn’t pay out at termination so not debt.

That’s the average scenario. Of course employers may structure things differently.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Depends on your policy and state law. I wouldn’t call it “debt”.... but you do need to accrue for it and since it’s an earned benefit it’s typically paid at termination. Vacation and sick time are typically not considered earned benefits.

As an employee I like having a bank of time that gains value every time I get a raise. As a supervisor I like not having to give a shit why you missed Monday. As an employer I hate that the structure encourages staff to save their PTO for fun time rather than take it when they’re sick, but I recognize that my PTO structure is far from the only driver of this behavior.

Thx for clarity. I’m not a biz owner, but I know many in Cali. From a bank’s perspective, the”payout” PTO/vacation is debt, like when looking for an increase in credit.

San Francisco’s mandated minimum sick time from employers for employees working in the city was intended to reduce disease transmission. It’s in addition to PTO accrued, for those that accrue PTO. It doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

[ötzi]

This is going to affect every child worldwide in some way. Some more than others, sure, but please, this is not a good thing for a child's development in any way and it would be preferable if it wasn't the situation.

Was somebody saying they're in favor of it?

muted's point is well-taken though. Not that they all needed a reality check but certainly some could benefit from some exposure to real life.

[muted]

This is all a warm-up for a flu pandemic, the kids are getting broken-in gently with COVID first.