Coronavirus prep

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

Yeah. I honestly dont know how different having uber here would be

I suspect it would be different. Here's it's usually cheaper (although depends on demand). Their rates aren't set by the city the way cab companies are.

I've found Lyft/Uber (I usually take Lyft) really helpful when traveling to cities or areas where it's not so easy to get cabs as where I live. In the past I would have to rent a car, but typically can avoid it now. However, without exception all the Lyft drivers I've interacted with in Jackson, MS, for whatever reason, have been very weird (I have not had this experience at all in any other city, where they are usually pretty nice and normal and often interesting if you talk to them which I often do). This one guy said he was from Atlanta and asked me if I was, and when I said Chicago, he said "well, then, you understand about the strip club scene" and started telling me about all the money he made driving strippers around Atlanta and the stripper vs. stripper fights he overheard. (For the record, I don't have a clue about strip clubs here or in Atlanta.) ;-)

Surge pricing is pretty wild. Some friends went to a Packers game in Green Bay and stayed about 20 miles away in Appleton. They found out it is typically a $20 or so Uber to GB non-event days. They got an Uber several hours before the game and it was $100 for the normally $20 trip. After the game the app was telling them it was $400 for the trip back. They had the driver's number from earlier in the day in their phone. Called and offered him $150 cash. Everyone was happy except Uber.

Yeah -- in my old place I reserved the night before for a ride to O'Hare for $18. The morning of it was raining and hard to get a ride, and the one I was supposed to have accidentally picked up someone else (I would be skeptical but they showed someone near me getting in and getting off a few blocks away as if they'd realized they were going the wrong direction). When I tried to call again given time and conditions the cost was $100, which I refused to pay. No cabs were available (normally an area it's easy to get cabs in) so I broke down and decided to just drive. I tried to get them to credit me for the screwed up reservation, but no luck.

rheddmobile wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

There've been a bunch of no-sew masks posted (from cut-down t-shirts or socks, or the ones with folded scarves or socks with stretchy hair ties or rubber bands to go over the ears). While I admit that I haven't tried these, the things I have tried, plus a reasonable number of decades' experience as a sewing/fabrics person, make me think that many of these designs will stretch or loosen during wear, creating spaces around the mask that might degrade their protectiveness (for oneself or others).

I haven't seen this design posted much - apologies if I missed it on this thread - but the link below is one I've seen that looks like it could be both non-stretch/less-loosening, and no-sew, FWIW.

https://www.maskbuilders.com/make

If I person wanted, they could incorporate other features from sewn masks, like pleats (horizontal folds) for better fit over the nose, and just staple or pin those at right/left edges, too. Ribbons, shoelaces, or something like paracord would work for ties, too, and might be sturdier in washing. Ties that tend to ravel, but are made of polyester-type fabrics (such as paracord), can be melted (carefully) with a match or lighter, to prevent raveling out with wear/washing. Don't touch the melted bit until it cools! (Paracord is a synthetic material cord with a synthetic fabric covering that kids often use for knotted jewelry or other crafts.)

Another thing I'd point out, for non-sewing people who may not know, is that fabric glue is a thing that exists. I'm doubtful that it would be strong enough to attach ties to mask, but probably would work to create a top casing (folded-over tube) for the nose-piece, if one used a flat piece of fabric rather than a sheet as in the example linked above.

It might be important to know that testing has found stretchy knit material is bad at filtering viruses. Tightly woven material is better. T-shirts or socks are not the ideal thing to make masks from, and neither are buffs.

Cotton is fine, from my research (many or most t-shirts are cotton), and silk is even better supposedly (my lame impromptu bandannas are from silk scarfs).

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

I think people take out their thoughts on the wrong people.. which is unfortunate.

In times like that people often hear bad news like that and are instantly overcome by the problems they have in their own lives, debt, cost of kids, insurance, etc.. it often leaves people thinking that the burden is solely put on them only and not anyone else in a higher position.

The fear and anger and sudden-ness of the news doesnt leave much room for stopping and wondering if higher ups are also going to have to deal with the same thing.

People also often think that because they make more money they would have it easier, but honestly, people often live on the edge of or outside their means.. and as upper management, Its often deemed inappropriate for them to discuss their pay, their Bill's, their home life with the people they are managing.. I know some do it, but it can often back fire on them also..

So were blind to their struggles and consumed by the problem in front of us, that we criticize them for what's happening and are even more harsh behind their backs..

I'm guilty of it too sometimes.. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with that.

I'm mostly frustrated right now because my proposal has most employees missing the total of a pay check spread across the year, which sucks...but the alternative is just canning people. Do you want a job but you'll miss a paycheck over a year or have no job, no insurance, etc? But apparently that doesn't translate...I can only do one or the other. Hopefully it will all become clear for my peeps over the weekend. I'm quite literally trying to find a way not to have to fire you for something that's not your fault...

Yeah, that's where the newness of bad news can often cloud peoples abilities to understand the bigger picture.

It makes sense to me, and to me your proposal sounds like the much better option, hopefully this weekend people will have had time to process, and can be ready for taking in the bigger picture on Monday

janejellyroll wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

As of yesterday we're officially homeschooling with google classroom. It's pretty sucky. When the teachers were initially talking to us about this it sounded like it would be a couple of hours per day, but they've rolled out entire daily assignments as if they were back in the classroom. Very difficult to keep up as both my wife and are are working from home most of the time and we still have to work and meet our deadlines, etc. We're doing the best we can, but there's no way we can keep up with what is actually being sent out while working full time.

I feel like these expectations are so unfair to parents.

Our school's goal is to make each assignment doable within 30 min. Not sure how it is elsewhere. And only grade one assignment per week. The grading policy is also more lenient at this time. I'm really hoping schools open again in August/September because we need personal interaction.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

That's true, no one does know what it's like to be in that position. Personally I dont know what ns power is like at all as a company, I pay $80 every 2 months for my power and that is the extent of my interaction with them

I've submitted a proposal that every employee will furlough 10 days over July 1 2020 through June 30 of next year. We have 26 pay periods in a year, so my suggestion is to stagger that personnel wise and also have individuals stagger those days over months so they aren't missing entire pay checks. My proposal also has administrative and executive staff furlough 20 days the same way. Projections always change, but my current has this staying barely above water without having layoffs.

It is currently being met with some criticism, especially from staff...but the alternative is, who's expendable then and who do we just lay off altogether? Also, some administrative staff aren't happy with me having administration doubling down...but *kitten* that, we're not the one's making a few bucks more than minimum wage...pretty sure we can manage.

People think it's all nice and cozy in administration...it's not. A lot of people don't realize that we have to think about these things and go home at night and try to sleep...my insomnia is very real. Sadly, things are also out of my hands ultimately...I can only lay out a financial plan and I think the one I laid out is as fair as something can be right now...but there are powers much higher than mine that ultimately decide...but I'll still be a bad guy in the end regardless.

@cwolfman13 It's hard to manage. I work for a multi-billion dollar international company. Our industry was in a downturn a few years ago. We had layoffs in manufacturing and our salaried and management employees were required to take a week unpaid leave every quarter during the year. I'm in finance and after the year was over the CFO said never again (at least under that management group's watch). It was too hard to make sure people that were working on projects were available.

Maybe if people were able to take their time a day or 2 at a time during a quarter would have been better from a workflow standpoint. Maybe a bit harder from a payroll standpoint (most of our "office employees" are management and get a monthly salary).

whoami67 wrote: »

Has anyone been to Costco recently? I know when the Safer at Home order first came down, Costco was reportedly a nightmare. I'm thinking to go there next week, probably looking for canned tuna and a few other things I like to buy in bulk. Has anyone braved it lately? In your town, have the lines outside and the supplies inside normalized like they have at the grocery store?

One data point: I went yesterday, to one on the outskirts of a maybe-medium metro area (Lansing, MI). It was early afternoon, Friday. The crowd wasn't much different from what I'd normally see on a weekday, during the day. There was no waiting line to enter, but the signage suggested there would be a line if the store were at some certain capacity already.

They had some areas blocked off (furniture stuff, mostly - part of Michigan shutdown rules for big-box stores), there were lots of signs asking people to keep a 6 foot difference, and many areas had marks on the floor illustrating 6 foot distancing. The cashier area for sure had markings, and a couple of traffic guys before the individual check-out lines were directing people to a line where there was room for them to be distanced properly.

Most things seemed to be in stock, but I didn't shop around for things I didn't personally need. I noticed that there were quite a few pallets of TP, though, and noticed facial tissue as well.

The other shoppers were a big mix. Some were distancing well, some were barging into any gap between carts and getting close to others even when (if they'd look) it was obvious that people were waiting to get into that area while maintaining proper spacing. (I'd observe that it's difficult to glare meaningfully at people when one is wearing a mask oneself.) Among the shoppers, many were wearing masks, but far from all - maybe half or somewhat more? Some of the staff had masks, some didn't, and the restocker kind of people were mostly barging everywhere irrespective of 6-foot spacing. The cashiers had tall plastic shields between them and the customer, and the cart unloader guy who gets closer to customer had a mask and gloves (at least in my lane, and I think in all of them.) The cashier scanned my Costco card through the plastic, didn't need to touch it.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible experience. Better than Kroger a week ago, not as good as my local full-line health-food-ish grocery (think Whole Foods without the flourishes, and a little smaller). The latter has been about the best, as to polite/careful customers and staff, though not perfect either. We're all human, I guess.

FWIW.

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

That's true, no one does know what it's like to be in that position. Personally I dont know what ns power is like at all as a company, I pay $80 every 2 months for my power and that is the extent of my interaction with them

I've submitted a proposal that every employee will furlough 10 days over July 1 2020 through June 30 of next year. We have 26 pay periods in a year, so my suggestion is to stagger that personnel wise and also have individuals stagger those days over months so they aren't missing entire pay checks. My proposal also has administrative and executive staff furlough 20 days the same way. Projections always change, but my current has this staying barely above water without having layoffs.

It is currently being met with some criticism, especially from staff...but the alternative is, who's expendable then and who do we just lay off altogether? Also, some administrative staff aren't happy with me having administration doubling down...but *kitten* that, we're not the one's making a few bucks more than minimum wage...pretty sure we can manage.

People think it's all nice and cozy in administration...it's not. A lot of people don't realize that we have to think about these things and go home at night and try to sleep...my insomnia is very real. Sadly, things are also out of my hands ultimately...I can only lay out a financial plan and I think the one I laid out is as fair as something can be right now...but there are powers much higher than mine that ultimately decide...but I'll still be a bad guy in the end regardless.

@cwolfman13 It's hard to manage. I work for a multi-billion dollar international company. Our industry was in a downturn a few years ago. We had layoffs in manufacturing and our salaried and management employees were required to take a week unpaid leave every quarter during the year. I'm in finance and after the year was over the CFO said never again (at least under that management group's watch). It was too hard to make sure people that were working on projects were available.

Maybe if people were able to take their time a day or 2 at a time during a quarter would have been better from a workflow standpoint. Maybe a bit harder from a payroll standpoint (most of our "office employees" are management and get a monthly salary).

I work with several multinationals, large US based corporations and even some Fortune 500s. I can't imagine things back to "business as usual" anytime soon. One good client was in rapid expansion mode. They did facades for some of the highest end condos in the US -- they did the residential facades at Hudson Yards in NYC. That high end market was starting to slow down. Now, it will be mostly gone. Instantly killed.

Around 70% of my work is with highly specialized contractors that build facades of the highest end buildings in the US (the ones you see all the time on the news or on TV). Construction/real estate is always a clear indicator of the rest of the economy. Usually I see recessions 6 months before everyone else. I was seeing signs 2 or 3 months ago already. Now, it's a flood of applicants for few jobs.

The worst part of my job will now be "upgrading" personnel -- the inevitable replacement of high cost employees with lower paid options. Usually less experienced and many times younger, though that term will NEVER come up. But when you let someone go that makes 100K and the new salary is 50K, who do you think I'll find??

missysippy930 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

KrissCanDoThis wrote: »

I think people take out their thoughts on the wrong people.. which is unfortunate.

In times like that people often hear bad news like that and are instantly overcome by the problems they have in their own lives, debt, cost of kids, insurance, etc.. it often leaves people thinking that the burden is solely put on them only and not anyone else in a higher position.

The fear and anger and sudden-ness of the news doesnt leave much room for stopping and wondering if higher ups are also going to have to deal with the same thing.

People also often think that because they make more money they would have it easier, but honestly, people often live on the edge of or outside their means.. and as upper management, Its often deemed inappropriate for them to discuss their pay, their Bill's, their home life with the people they are managing.. I know some do it, but it can often back fire on them also..

So were blind to their struggles and consumed by the problem in front of us, that we criticize them for what's happening and are even more harsh behind their backs..

I'm guilty of it too sometimes.. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with that.

I'm mostly frustrated right now because my proposal has most employees missing the total of a pay check spread across the year, which sucks...but the alternative is just canning people. Do you want a job but you'll miss a paycheck over a year or have no job, no insurance, etc? But apparently that doesn't translate...I can only do one or the other. Hopefully it will all become clear for my peeps over the weekend. I'm quite literally trying to find a way not to have to fire you for something that's not your fault...

I’m curious. Isn’t laying off, a better term? What are the grounds for firing?
Back in 2008, we had to take a 20% pay cut, and a cut back of hours, and some people were laid off. Many people did. Through no fault of our own, because of mismanagement by businesses. Time will tell, but universal health care may become critical during this crisis. Affordable health care is a joke for most people in the US. A friend that has been furloughed during this, will have to pay just under $1600/month for Cobra starting in May. Not many people can afford that.

Yes, I think terminology is important. Here, "fire" is different than "lay off." However "furlough" is often used regardless of fault. "Temporary lay off" is used exclusively in a no-fault situation, but many are using "furlough" in a no fault situation now also despite that furlough has a historical use that can also mean there is potential fault on the employee's side.

I've not been given the option... some employees at my company were temporary layoff and the rest of us had temporary pay cuts. Originally when this was announced, I am losing 2 weeks of pay spread over 90 days. Compared to those laid off for 2 weeks, I am worse off because we lose the same amount of income from the company directly and yet the laid off employees can get some of that back through unemployment. Now, as lay off continues (as does my pay cut), the unemployment amount becomes more relevant. In my state, starting unemployment was so small that even adding $600 per week doesn't replace an entire paycheck for most workers. The extension causes many who were previously laid off the go from a better situation than my pay cut to a worse situation than mine when total situation is considered.