Corona - what does help you? Your fears, thoughts, everything

[CellarDweller]

Thank you all for your thoughts on Tina and my son (I know it's the wrong thread here).


Re my contact to a Covid-positive coworker: I'm through with that. I tested every other day for a week and am now in the clear.

Good to hear!!!!!

[CellarDweller]

Incidentally, I did a home test a few hours ago, and the result was negative. (My God, that sounds like talking about an HIV test. ...)

more good news, but the connection to HIV is sobering.

[Front-Ranger]

I've been thinking about BetterMostian friends a lot lately with the wrapping up of disappointing holidays, the brushes with COVID and our beloved pets struggling. Hoping this place is a haven where we can let our hair down (is that a Brokieism?) 

[CellarDweller]

if you have it to let it down.   

[Jeff Wrangler]

Yesterday I had a talk with my financial adviser. He asked to postpone a meeting because he needed to be with a friend who had just lost his father to Covid. I'm not sure I remember the deceased's age correctly; I think he was in his 70s. He was also so fit he led cross-fit classes and was fully vaccinated and boostered. And he still died of it. He was receiving 2 L of oxygen per minute, and they still couldn't get his oxygen saturation above 80%.

Are we being lied to?

[southendmd]

You mean about the vax + booster? 

People in their 70s are still at very high risk of serious illness, even if it's a breakthrough infection. 

(BTW, 2L/min is a very low oxygen dose.)

[Front-Ranger]

I've been seeing bare shelves at the grocery store again, only in different areas. The toilet paper situation is just fine, but the produce is iffy and the meat section is really awful. Yesterday I had the choice of icky looking pork roasts, whole chickens, poorly wrapped beef and fish. In the bread section, the toasting bread was half as tall as it usually is. Oddly, the sushi section was completely stocked and there were rows of colorful decorated birthday cakes.

I was assigned to get some children's laxative by my daughter and despite going to three places, I only found huge containers of Miralax for adults. The pharmacist told me I could just cut the adult dose in half. No way!

[serious crayons]

At this point it might be less a supply chain problems than employee shortages. Everywhere is short on employees. When I encounter a long line in a grocery store or pharmacy, normally I get annoyed that they don't call in more cashiers. But right now I think many places just don't have the help.

I realize some of this is caused by omicron -- people getting it themselves or having to care for kids because schools and daycares are closed with people getting omicron.

But part of it is apparently that employers are leaving their jobs. The question is, where are they going? How are they getting by? I've seen a lot of stories about the employees leaving part, but only one about how they're supporting themselves, and that one didn't really answer the question. It said some are retiring early, filing for social security, or are just broke. But what about all the people too young to retire? And when they're broke, why don't they get another job? I don't get it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

But part of it is apparently that employers are leaving their jobs. The question is, where are they going? How are they getting by? I've seen a lot of stories about the employees leaving part, but only one about how they're supporting themselves, and that one didn't really answer the question. It said some are retiring early, filing for social security, or are just broke. But what about all the people too young to retire? And when they're broke, why don't they get another job? I don't get it.

I don't get it either. Everywhere you go, from Dunkin Donuts to the bank branch my dad uses, you see help-wanted signs. How are these people who quit their jobs living? 

I wonder if anybody has any statistics on people leaving their jobs in the service sector? (Maybe that's not the right term. I'm thinking of people like grocery store cashiers, fast-food worker, and so forth.)

[CellarDweller]

It's my own belief that people during the pandemic realized how much of their time they were losing to work.  I work daily, then had a commute, and spent the weekend doing chores.

Working from home, when it was slow, I was able to do chores while I worked from home, giving me free time on the weekends.

People worked on budgets or on 'side-hustles' as a way to make money, and weren't so eager to come back and loose that free time, so they left their jobs, especially if they were getting just minimum wage.