Coronavirus prep

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  • mkculs13
    mkculs13 Posts: 719 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Here's a very good piece summarizing information known about the coronavirus: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/tip-iceberg-virologist-david-ho-bs-74-speaks-about-covid-19

    Some bits are a little outdated, but not terribly so.

    Still valuable; thanks.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    edited March 2020
    He won Project Runway (US) and is currently (I think, I haven't watched it for ages) in the Tim Gunn role there (which will mean nothing to you if you haven't seen the show). He's got a successful design business, I believe has done a number of dresses for celebs at awards shows and such.

    Seamstress is gendered and there could be male sew-ers -- that still seems wrong so I looked up what's a male seamstress and got: "a man who sews and does not do tailoring can be called a clothier, a woman can be called a clothier as well, but it has come to mean someone who merchandises in clothing. A man may be called a dressmaker, especially if he has created his own clothing line. A seamstress and a tailor are two different occupations." So sewer seems as good as anything, I suppose.

    Reminds me of my English gggg-grandfather who was a draper (or linendraper in one census). I like old profession names.
  • bearly63
    bearly63 Posts: 734 Member
    bearly63 wrote: »
    @snowflake954 Lol! The mask is going to be the fashion accessory to have in 2020 and beyond.

    Can't you just see the fashion models walking the catwalk next year in masks? We'll all be wearing them. :D

    That is precisely what I pictured....."I'm too sexy for this mask.....too sexy for this mask....so sexy it hurts"
    - Right Said Fred
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    bearly63 wrote: »
    bearly63 wrote: »
    @snowflake954 Lol! The mask is going to be the fashion accessory to have in 2020 and beyond.

    Can't you just see the fashion models walking the catwalk next year in masks? We'll all be wearing them. :D

    That is precisely what I pictured....."I'm too sexy for this mask.....too sexy for this mask....so sexy it hurts"
    - Right Said Fred

    I'm in the middle of my second book about the 1918 flu epidemic, and both talk about people starting to wear masks anytime they went out, and the first had photos of some US city (I forget which) in which everyone is wearing masks.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    edited March 2020
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    COGypsy wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 my pastor just put out a call saying his wife is asking church members to help her make masks based upon a few patterns she's found online. Are these masks considered disposable, or can they be washed and re-used, or bleached or something?
    That’s my question... because, I admit quite selfishly, I don’t want to use my pretty fabric if they are just going to be tossed :neutral: I have a resource for quite a bit of older fabric I was told I could have, though!

    ETA: thanks for the added info! I was posting and hubby came in from work so there was a few minutes lag, enough time for others to chime in!

    My mother and I were just laughing yesterday about people making fabric masks. We're pretty sure every quilter on the planet of Earth is probably chortling about how this is the time they've been waiting for all their lives--a deep societal need for items made from all the fabric remnants they've been stashing for years! :D

    I know the introverts thought this was their time to shine, but it looks like it's the quilters that are going to save the world!

    Being a crafter myself, I feel like the Venn diagram of quilters and introverts has a pretty decent-sized overlap.

    There are a bunch of introverts who don't quilt . . . but my experience suggests that quite a fraction of quilters are introverts. ;)

    My mother quilted at home alone, but for my grandmother, aunt, and sister, it is at least in part a social pursuit. Of course they work on stuff at home alone, but they also work together on projects with other people, sometimes quilting a single quilt together (what used to be called a quilting bee), other times getting together for classes on new techniques for making blocks, or going on trips together to various quilting destinations, gathering for quilt shows, etc.

    Respectfully, I don't think socializing (or not) is the measure of introversion.

    I'm extremely very introverted, and I socialize - I'm kind of OK at it, actually, happily talking to strangers, being assertive when needful, have plenty friends of various cognitive styles, all that stuff. Yes, most crafters have gatherings available to them, and they're well-attended. I attend some (local and statewide versions), plus regional/national shows and whatnot for my crafts. That's fun.

    In my understanding, and oversimplifying, introversion vs. extroversion is more about mental orientation toward one's own thoughts and perceptions, vs. orientation to external interactions. Still overgeneralizing, introverts tend to spend energy while socializing, while extroverts gain energy while socializng. On that same cartoonish kind of continuum, introverts are more likely to feel contented in solo activity, and extroverts more likely to become bored more rapidly. Most people are at no particular extreme of these, but are on some kind of continuum, sometimes in different spots at different times/situations.

    Yeah, that's my understanding. I was super shy as a kid, so everyone assumed I was an extreme introvert, but it later turned out I was really pretty much on the cusp (as you suggest most are). Usually when I take the Myers Briggs test (not saying that's actually real or meaningful), I usually get E, but it's close, and I've gotten I too, just depends on my mood. (I'm very/overwhelmingly strongly N, and pretty strongly T and P.)

    I have no issues with entertaining myself on my own, but a lack of human contact (and to some extent personal contact) has been a trigger for me for depression in the past, so it was something I was really worried about (especially as I normally hate the phone). The internet helps (although can be bad too, as you can fall into a rabbit hole reading everything about the virus), things like Zoom help (one of my community organization board meetings is going forward on Zoom, and I am volunteering with my alderman's office to be part of a team (using Zoom for our planning meetings) to figure out ways to connect with neighbors who might need assistance and then calling people -- this really helps me feel more connected, as well as hopefully helping others more in need), and I've been emailing and talking on the phone with people more than normal. Going outside and walking and waving and smiling at people from a safe distance away helps too -- yesterday I was out running and my next-door neighbor was on the other side of the street walking her dog and we stopped and talked for a few minutes.

    This is also related to how I don't like working at home. It's fine, but I prefer being able to brainstorm or share ideas with people in person, and I enjoy helping others work through something too. We've been actively trying to have team calls to make sure we are still working together vs. all off on our own.
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
    75 & 80 are high risk group they can wear a mask! My Doctor doesn’t want me in the stores at all told me wear a mask if I have to go to the Doctors office or ER. This stuff is serious the old is so vulnerable anyone not wanting them protected can crawl back under their rock. They are saying limit contact only home nurses no family probably why she didn’t let you in Reenie .

    My Dad we’re staying away from to protect him mainly got him to order curbside y at home delivery. So hoping that’s better.Of course then saw on the news a grocery deliverer got sick I got worried again.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    Speaking of weird, and I don't know whether this is weird perception by me, or weird behavior by others: I go for walks out through my non-dense suburb, shoulder of a a moderate-traffic paved road, has one of those narrow strips for bikes/peds beyond the lane's side-line, but not an actual bike lane. It's always been common (not universal) for drivers to pull out wide around me, just as a kind gesture, when there's no one coming from the other way. I usually give them a smile, a friendly salute, and mouth "thanks!".

    Since this social distancing thing, it seems like more people are doing the pull-out, and it seems like a wider pull-out is happening, on average. Could just be me being deluded in my perceptions, could be some unconscious extra distancing by drivers (?), could be people just being more conscious about being thoughtful/protective of others? Dunno.

    I live right outside of a vary rural, small town, and have to walk along the moderate-traffic highway for about 1/4 mile before I hit town and the sidewalks. There is no bike lane and a narrow strip between the highway and the guardrail on one side and the highway and a ditch on the other. I try to get over as far as I can, and thankfully, its a pretty straight stretch so people have time to see me and I have time to see them, but there haven't been that many to get over away from me as I'm walking along the guardrail (that side has a wee bit more space than the other). It's really disconcerting when a tractor trailer is coming because there is nowhere to go but to squeeze up against the guardrail as its a steep drop immediately on the other side.

    But this is the only place I have to walk when I'm at home, so I brave it. Once I get to town, its not bad - there is a wide parking area between the main street and the sidewalks until I get to the other side of town, and the side streets are still fairly wide.

    I've been walking this for the last week since work at home started, but after a week's worth of walks, I can count on 1 hand the number of people I've passed, and there is plenty of room to get the needed 6 ft or more apart. Except that 1st 1/4 mile, anyway.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,197 Member
    I mentioned a couple days ago that Washington is testing people from home using a mail-in self-administered test that is obtained through a website affiliated with King County and the Seattle Flu project. https://publichealthinsider.com/2020/03/23/introducing-scan-the-greater-seattle-coronavirus-assessment-network/

    I don't know how they are choosing who to test. It does appear from DOH reporting that there are more tests being done on older people - I'm going to presume that's either because more are presenting to hospital in significant distress OR they are choosing to test more older people to get a handle on the coming tsunami. A representative sampling would make me feel better, but I suspect a lot of this is about testing the waters, so to speak. To prepare the infrastructure.

    Either way. There are a lot of younger people testing positive in the population.

    We're gonna be locked down for a while.

    Stay safe everyone.

    I wouldn't think they would be using mail-in self-administered tests on people who present to a hospital. I would think that they would be more for people who call or video chat with their doctors and are deemed to be possibly infected but not sick enough to come to the hospital, so they tell them to stay home and mail them the test, and they mail it back. Maybe I'm missing something.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,197 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    COGypsy wrote: »
    @AnnPT77 my pastor just put out a call saying his wife is asking church members to help her make masks based upon a few patterns she's found online. Are these masks considered disposable, or can they be washed and re-used, or bleached or something?
    That’s my question... because, I admit quite selfishly, I don’t want to use my pretty fabric if they are just going to be tossed :neutral: I have a resource for quite a bit of older fabric I was told I could have, though!

    ETA: thanks for the added info! I was posting and hubby came in from work so there was a few minutes lag, enough time for others to chime in!

    My mother and I were just laughing yesterday about people making fabric masks. We're pretty sure every quilter on the planet of Earth is probably chortling about how this is the time they've been waiting for all their lives--a deep societal need for items made from all the fabric remnants they've been stashing for years! :D

    I know the introverts thought this was their time to shine, but it looks like it's the quilters that are going to save the world!

    Being a crafter myself, I feel like the Venn diagram of quilters and introverts has a pretty decent-sized overlap.

    There are a bunch of introverts who don't quilt . . . but my experience suggests that quite a fraction of quilters are introverts. ;)

    My mother quilted at home alone, but for my grandmother, aunt, and sister, it is at least in part a social pursuit. Of course they work on stuff at home alone, but they also work together on projects with other people, sometimes quilting a single quilt together (what used to be called a quilting bee), other times getting together for classes on new techniques for making blocks, or going on trips together to various quilting destinations, gathering for quilt shows, etc.

    Respectfully, I don't think socializing (or not) is the measure of introversion.

    I'm extremely very introverted, and I socialize - I'm kind of OK at it, actually, happily talking to strangers, being assertive when needful, have plenty friends of various cognitive styles, all that stuff. Yes, most crafters have gatherings available to them, and they're well-attended. I attend some (local and statewide versions), plus regional/national shows and whatnot for my crafts. That's fun.

    In my understanding, and oversimplifying, introversion vs. extroversion is more about mental orientation toward one's own thoughts and perceptions, vs. orientation to external interactions. Still overgeneralizing, introverts tend to spend energy while socializing, while extroverts gain energy while socializng. On that same cartoonish kind of continuum, introverts are more likely to feel contented in solo activity, and extroverts more likely to become bored more rapidly. Most people are at no particular extreme of these, but are on some kind of continuum, sometimes in different spots at different times/situations.

    I'm not saying that no extrovert quilts/crafts. They do. But, based on the pretty large number of crafters I know - including quilters, which I have in the past been one of myself - the percentage of introverts is higher in the crafts-hobby world than in the overall population. (Yes, this is not a scientific sample.) This is the case even among the crafters I know who are quite social, i.e., pursue lots of group crafting activities.

    Bringing this whole tiresome ramble back to the thread: I'm at home alone, watching local friends through Facebook, phone calls, text messages, etc.

    Those more introverted are sometimes very anxious about the virus and what will happen, but otherwise kind of "it's a pain that I don't get to see my friends for crafting except on Skype/Zoom, but at least I have plenty of supplies, so meh". The extroverts are much more clearly under stress from isolation, even those who don't live alone. They're posting things like (real quote) "I miss hugs from everyone. Sorry just feeling so isolated." And that's someone who's more self aware: Some of my friends are obviously working out distress through things like unfocused anger, over-drinking, etc.

    I don't understand in my gut how it feels to be an extrovert, but I sympathize with (and am concerned for) my more extroverted friends, in a different way than I'm concerned for my more introverted friends.

    Point taken on introvert/extrovert being an internal state. I made my judgment based on what I saw in people seeking out social situations and appearing to genuinely enjoy them, and assuming that was a reflection of genuine desire for social interaction, which to me seems like an odd desire to have on a fairly regular basis (typically the quilters I know have gone to at least one weekly quilt-related social event, on top of other social things in their life) if it's a draining experience. But I don't think most of us know that many people well enough to really know what's going on inside their heads. I don't doubt some of them are faking enjoyment in social situations. I fake it sometimes myself. But I don't usually seek out on a repeating basis situations in which I have to fake enjoyment and disguise the fact that it's a draining experience.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,823 Member
    I mentioned a couple days ago that Washington is testing people from home using a mail-in self-administered test that is obtained through a website affiliated with King County and the Seattle Flu project. https://publichealthinsider.com/2020/03/23/introducing-scan-the-greater-seattle-coronavirus-assessment-network/

    I don't know how they are choosing who to test. It does appear from DOH reporting that there are more tests being done on older people - I'm going to presume that's either because more are presenting to hospital in significant distress OR they are choosing to test more older people to get a handle on the coming tsunami. A representative sampling would make me feel better, but I suspect a lot of this is about testing the waters, so to speak. To prepare the infrastructure.

    Either way. There are a lot of younger people testing positive in the population.

    We're gonna be locked down for a while.

    Stay safe everyone.

    I wouldn't think they would be using mail-in self-administered tests on people who present to a hospital. I would think that they would be more for people who call or video chat with their doctors and are deemed to be possibly infected but not sick enough to come to the hospital, so they tell them to stay home and mail them the test, and they mail it back. Maybe I'm missing something.

    That's not what I said. It appears these are neither, though I'm not sure what the requirements are, they are taking the applications by web only and so far every morning when I've tried to become involved it has said, "We have taken the available test members for today, please try again tomorrow." I linked the site, you can look at it.

    I'm just saying that it would be a good thing to try to get a representative sample of random people.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I look at introversion as being on a spectrum. I personally am an introvert, but what I call an extroverted-introvert. On a scale of 1 to 100 with 1 being extremely introverted, I'm probably around 30-40 on the score, depending on the day. I can enjoy social situations just fine, but I do get tired after a while and just need some peace. And for me, it very much has to do with the size of the crowd - I am much easier and comfortable in 1 on 1 or small group sessions; the larger the group, the quieter I become, and it also depends on who I'm with - some people, I am much more comfortable around while others just seem to have this vibe about them that makes me uncomfortable or intimidated.

    But I am way better now as an adult than I was as a kid. I moved back to my hometown after being away for 15 years, having left after graduating college to take a job in another state. In that time, I had grown up a lot, learned to take care of myself and to come out of my mother's shadow and be my own person. So I am much more comfortable in carrying a conversation and will initiate one as well and can talk a lot - people in my church were shocked :) So when I tell some people that I am really introverted, they look at me like I'm crazy because I just spent 45 minutes talking their ears off; what they don't get is 1) I am comfortable around them personally and 2)it was a 1 to 1 situation. Even in social situations that I enjoy, I am still hovering on the edges, where I can encounter people 1 or 2 at a time; I'm not putting myself in the middle of the group, nor do I want any attention on myself.

    I can spend days by myself, and I do routinely as I'm single with a tiny network of acquaintances that I interact with during twice a week church services, and my immediate family who is introverted like I am. My mother lives right across the street from me, and I still only sometimes speak to her 2 or 3 times in a week's period. My best friend and I talk every other week or so on the phone, though those conversations tend to be several hours long. And I am fine with that as I do really need time to myself to recharge. but if I spend too much time to myself and don't connect with other people periodically, I start to withdraw into myself and start to feel isolated and my head space gets dark and depressive - I am my own worst enemy.

    My best friend, on the other hand, is very introverted - down to around 10 on that scale. She prefers to go days and weeks without social interaction and her dream is to find a cabin in the woods far, far away from people and live out her days as a hermit. While I think the cabin in the woods far away from society sounds like a wonderful retreat, I don't want to live there as a hermit all my life, either!


    So to be on topic: some people here are starting to be more aware of the need for social distancing, but I was in the grocery store yesterday and was still shaking my head at the number of people clustering together. The local stores have stickers put on the floor to help people stay apart in the checkout lines, and while some people were being mindful of them, others were not.

    I find myself much more conscious of it, though. For instance: when needing to move from the back of the store to the front of the store, I consciously looked for aisles that had no one standing in them to make the cut, and if I needed something from a particular aisle and someone was standing at one end, I went around to the other, or waited a few feet back away from them until they moved.

    I do wonder if, once this gets under control and the country gets back to being open, how long it will take until things go back to the old normal, or if this will make an impact on folks to create a new normal.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I look at introversion as being on a spectrum. I personally am an introvert, but what I call an extroverted-introvert.

    I understand exactly what this means, but then again I describe myself as a depressed optimist (my PsyD thought that was both the funniest and most apt description she heard). My brain chemistry sends me into depression but my general thinking patterns always see the best.

    Anyway, to get the thread back on track: My state is up over 1000 confirmed cases and is still rising sharply. I have a feeling this upcoming week is going to be really hard on everyone. The novelty of staying at home is wearing off. People are going to feel the need for social interaction but the rise in the number of new cases shows why we can't. Just like anything else (like weight loss), the initial enthusiasm is wearing off and we are entering into the keep on keeping on stage.

    Personally, I have a craft project to work on and I started my bulbs for summer patio pots. I also got a sourdough starter going which is ready so I will bake some bread later today.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    bearly63 wrote: »
    bearly63 wrote: »
    @snowflake954 Lol! The mask is going to be the fashion accessory to have in 2020 and beyond.

    Can't you just see the fashion models walking the catwalk next year in masks? We'll all be wearing them. :D

    That is precisely what I pictured....."I'm too sexy for this mask.....too sexy for this mask....so sexy it hurts"
    - Right Said Fred

    I'm in the middle of my second book about the 1918 flu epidemic, and both talk about people starting to wear masks anytime they went out, and the first had photos of some US city (I forget which) in which everyone is wearing masks.
    Dummy me left both my homemade mask and hat at home yesterday when I finally ventured out to the grocery store for the first time in two weeks - if it weren’t 20 minutes from home, and needing to get in and out ASAP because kids were home alone, I would have gone back for them. (The hat because my germaphobe mind imagines cooties crawling around in my hair much like lice I guess). I sat in the car and seriously pondered what to do... ended up just taking a deep breath and headed in, strategically holding my breath when I passed people. Probably a feeble attempt at protecting myself but better than nothing (thankfully it wasn’t a madhouse).

    My sister took her dh shopping the other day, they both wore masks(you're not seeing it much here....yet). Somebody yelled across the aisle at her, telling her she's not supposed to be using them, they're for other people. :/ She's 75 and her dh is 80, has Alzheimer's. Seriously??? And I've offered to stay with him or get food for them countless times. But until Friday, when her dd sent her a couple more masks for extra caregivers to wear, she wouldn't allow me in their home.

    If you read the CDC website, they do not recommend wearing masks...they are of little to no value to the general public in coronavirus protection. This is not an airborne virus and masks only really serve as a false sense of security. They are necessary for medical workers as they can obviously not socially distance themselves from their patients and there is more aerosol transfer in a hospital setting.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    I look at introversion as being on a spectrum. I personally am an introvert, but what I call an extroverted-introvert.

    I understand exactly what this means, but then again I describe myself as a depressed optimist (my PsyD thought that was both the funniest and most apt description she heard). My brain chemistry sends me into depression but my general thinking patterns always see the best.

    Anyway, to get the thread back on track: My state is up over 1000 confirmed cases and is still rising sharply. I have a feeling this upcoming week is going to be really hard on everyone. The novelty of staying at home is wearing off. People are going to feel the need for social interaction but the rise in the number of new cases shows why we can't. Just like anything else (like weight loss), the initial enthusiasm is wearing off and we are entering into the keep on keeping on stage.

    Personally, I have a craft project to work on and I started my bulbs for summer patio pots. I also got a sourdough starter going which is ready so I will bake some bread later today.

    Lol, I can totally relate to being a depressed optimist!

    I've been getting a good amount of gardening in lately and yesterday did hours of socially distanced yardwork at my Mom's.

    I've been bringing her groceries and we discussed me just dropping them off at the door and leaving but mutually agreed that would make us both unhappy. (Sure, better alive and unhappy than dead, but as mentioned, my prolonged interaction with other people is almost non-existent.)

    Today is raining and I'm going to push away from the computer and start focaccia dough.