Covid-19 (not gnr related)

[cineater]

I guess it is to be expected that there will be variants.  Japan found a new one that they say comes from Brazil.

Yeah. I read about that too.


Brazil is second, behind the USA in the charts.


They didn't even start vaccinations yet. Other countries in the region have started. Shows you how leaders who downplay the pandemic have little interest in protecting the public.





/jarmo

You know how we are, it's hard to get news about the rest of the world from US TV.  I did hear something about New Zealand had eradicated the virus and I think they were well on the way with the vaccines.

[tim_m]

Biden released his covid-19 relief package that he wants congress to pass tonight, including 20 billion for vaccine rollout and to get kids safely back in school.

[jarmo]

The EU got the request for the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. If all goes well it'll be approved before the end of the month.




/jarmo

[cineater]

Biden released his covid-19 relief package that he wants congress to pass tonight, including 20 billion for vaccine rollout and to get kids safely back in school.

I wonder about that phrasing of the $1400 stimulus check to the "needy".  If you ask me, I'll tell you I'm not needy.  But if you send some money my way I will stimulate the economy with it.  

The news is reporting a baby boom is starting to be realized.  Apparently on the plus side of this pandemic, a lot of folks found the time to have sex. 

[cineater]

My county public health department is having you register for the vaccine.  When your group comes up they are setting an appointment to go in and get the vaccine.  At least they are doing that with the priority groups.  The general population group is way bigger and I would expect they might change that.  I fully expect I'm going to end up in a long, socially distanced line at some stadium.  At least I will be out of the house. 

[tim_m]

My county public health department is having you register for the vaccine.  When your group comes up they are setting an appointment to go in and get the vaccine.  At least they are doing that with the priority groups.  The general population group is way bigger and I would expect they might change that.  I fully expect I'm going to end up in a long, socially distanced line at some stadium.  At least I will be out of the house. 

My county has a wait list you can sign up for. Right now its frontline workers in 1A and 1B has people over 65 and or with certain health conditions.

[cineater]

Wow, my daughter got her W2.  Between the overtime and the covid bonuses she's out of the stimulus checks group.  We won't be doing her taxes early this year. 

That's great, put her life on the line and got paid for it.  I'd like to say she made money but then there was all that extra laundry, too tired to cook, wear and tear on the car, neglect on the home front and things to try to make yourself feel better.  Shit I don't even know about and shit money just can't address.  That W2 don't look so great when you think about what it cost.

[tim_m]

Wow, my daughter got her W2.  Between the overtime and the covid bonuses she's out of the stimulus checks group.  We won't be doing her taxes early this year. 

That's great, put her life on the line and got paid for it.  I'd like to say she made money but then there was all that extra laundry, too tired to cook, wear and tear on the car, neglect on the home front and things to try to make yourself feel better.  Shit I don't even know about and shit money just can't address.  That W2 don't look so great when you think about what it cost.

That really sucks!

[cineater]

Wow, my daughter got her W2.  Between the overtime and the covid bonuses she's out of the stimulus checks group.  We won't be doing her taxes early this year. 

That's great, put her life on the line and got paid for it.  I'd like to say she made money but then there was all that extra laundry, too tired to cook, wear and tear on the car, neglect on the home front and things to try to make yourself feel better.  Shit I don't even know about and shit money just can't address.  That W2 don't look so great when you think about what it cost.

That really sucks!

Just sucks.    People dealing with the "really" sucks and the just plain that's fucked.  Guess we could add in totally fucked.  As Slash's shirt says, unfuck the world. 

[tim_m]

Wow, my daughter got her W2.  Between the overtime and the covid bonuses she's out of the stimulus checks group.  We won't be doing her taxes early this year. 

That's great, put her life on the line and got paid for it.  I'd like to say she made money but then there was all that extra laundry, too tired to cook, wear and tear on the car, neglect on the home front and things to try to make yourself feel better.  Shit I don't even know about and shit money just can't address.  That W2 don't look so great when you think about what it cost.

That really sucks!

Just sucks.    People dealing with the "really" sucks and the just plain that's fucked.  Guess we could add in totally fucked.  As Slash's shirt says, unfuck the world. 

I hope her bonuses were at least decent.

[cineater]

Wow, my daughter got her W2.  Between the overtime and the covid bonuses she's out of the stimulus checks group.  We won't be doing her taxes early this year. 

That's great, put her life on the line and got paid for it.  I'd like to say she made money but then there was all that extra laundry, too tired to cook, wear and tear on the car, neglect on the home front and things to try to make yourself feel better.  Shit I don't even know about and shit money just can't address.  That W2 don't look so great when you think about what it cost.

That really sucks!

Just sucks.    People dealing with the "really" sucks and the just plain that's fucked.  Guess we could add in totally fucked.  As Slash's shirt says, unfuck the world. 

I hope her bonuses were at least decent.

Looks good on paper, doesn't translate over very well to happy life.  She's young, she's got time.  Makes her feel good she's helping out.  Why she went in in the first place.  But let me tell you, the kid is cranky.  Some of that gets released on me.  Social distancing can be a good thing. 

[jarmo]

Brazil has started vaccinations. 





/jarmo

[cineater]

The news has that more highly contagious, possibly more dangerous, UK variant taking hold in the US in March and the vaccine still on slow roll out. 

I guess I could paint all the doors in my house.  Last year we got stuck with about 5000 plants we couldn't move due to lock down.  Most of which passed across my driveway, staying for varying lengths of time.  I can totally see that happening again.  And hey the construction crew was fun, I'm almost due for a new roof.  Looks like the wedding is going to stay on hold.  Guess I could add another cat to the household.  Okay, I can do this, again. 

[cineater]

   When I retired I gave them a vision of how the office could work remotely and what it might look like in the future.  They fought me on it.  I had embraced all the new technology and had been fighting with people for years to get them to use it.  I understand, we were too busy doing the work to talk about how to change how we were doing it.  I got a lot of shit while being called a dinosaur.  But with the pandemic they were forced to go that way.  And they like it!  You guys are going straight into that vision.  Yeah, dinosaur going out the door but I wasn't off my rocker.  Not yet anyway. 

I see this for lots of businesses coming out of the pandemic.  The traditional office building is gone.  The home is going to need office space.  These are changes that are probably here to stay.

[jarmo]

I see this for lots of businesses coming out of the pandemic.  The traditional office building is gone.  The home is going to need office space.  These are changes that are probably here to stay.

When the first lockdowns started, that's what I thought. Some things won't go back to the way there were before. One of those things is how we see working from home.

Why travel to sit in an office with other people every day if you can do the same things from home? Makes no sense.

On the other hand, if your home becomes your workplace as well, it's not gonna be as easy to draw the line between home life and work.






/jarmo

[cineater]

I see this for lots of businesses coming out of the pandemic.  The traditional office building is gone.  The home is going to need office space.  These are changes that are probably here to stay.

When the first lockdowns started, that's what I thought. Some things won't go back to the way there were before. One of those things is how we see working from home.

Why travel to sit in an office with other people every day if you can do the same things from home? Makes no sense.

On the other hand, if your home becomes your workplace as well, it's not gonna be as easy to draw the line between home life and work.






/jarmo

We're idiots in the US when it comes to drawing that line.  Some employers think nothing of contacting/working you after hours, sending work home with you, taking your weekend.  There are still people who have to work up to the standard 2 week vacation.  And if your a woman, you're expected to work a full time job, be a full time parent and go to college to further your career and don't forget to exercise.

My state is coming in dead last for the number of vaccines distributed.  We were one of the first to get the roll out plan approved by the CDC.  And the poverty, minority area that has the most cases is not getting the vaccine.  Not sure if they don't qualify or it's like the news says they don't trust the medical community.

[Bridge]

Why travel to sit in an office with other people every day if you can do the same things from home? Makes no sense.

On the other hand, if your home becomes your workplace as well, it's not gonna be as easy to draw the line between home life and work.

Yep, the second answer is what makes the first answer make sense.  I admire people who make it work, but I couldn't imagine working from home.  There are FAR too many distractions and living by your own hours can be a detriment to meeting deadlines, and as you say, create extreme difficulty distinguishing between home life and work.

Case in point: I have a cousin in real estate.  She USED to work weekdays in an office and some weekends as needed to show houses.  Now she works from home, and she's basically on her phone/computer 24/7 doing her job, getting up in the middle of dinner to take someone's call.

We're idiots in the US when it comes to drawing that line.  Some employers think nothing of contacting/working you after hours, sending work home with you, taking your weekend.  There are still people who have to work up to the standard 2 week vacation.

And the millions who work in retail or food service get no paid vacation at all.  They are also long accustomed to receiving phone calls from management on every single day off asking them to come to work because the shift got busy, or because someone else called out sick.

This leads to one of two things:

1. You work at their beck and call, thus becoming a "reliable" employee.... meaning you allow them to "rely" on you to throw your life away whenever they want you to work.  You will then receive phone calls more frequently than other employees, because you are the "reliable" one.

2. You can refuse (they will actually say "Why didn't you answer the phone??"), and receive the standard lecture about how YOU need to understand the way the business works, that it demands a more "flexible" commitment from you.  The word "flexible" is another cute word that management will use with a completely straight face to manipulate you into thinking that they are indeed entitled to your entire life, all for the measly $7.25/hour they pay you.

[cineater]

I hear you Bridget.  I was looking at the rules for successful zoom participation.  Excuse me, you're coming into my house now.  This is not your house.  I am not locking my pets in another room.  No, I'm not printing all this shit out with my printer, my ink, my electricity.  I pay for this space.

  I got shamed today because I don't have a mic or webcam on my computer.  Personally, I don't need it.  When my equipment wears out I will upgrade then.  I can see them on the computer.  I'm attending by phone only using voice.  I'm really over at the stove smoking under the fan.     Yeah I know I could get my face in that meeting using the phone but they haven't figured that out yet.  I'm all over this house and they don't know it.  Multitasking that meeting.

[tim_m]

You don't have a webcam? 

[cineater]

You don't have a webcam? 

No    And when people find out they rush to try to help me get one.  Thanks, I have Amazon prime, I could have one on the door step in a few days.  You're very helpful but I'm not looking for another technology chain to my computer chair.