WWTBAM Bored

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:46 am

There have been anecdotal reports of bodies being dumped in mass graves in Iran.

What really surprises me (in a good way) so far is the extremely small number of cases from India. The last figures I saw were 5000 cases and 150 deaths. Considering the crowded living conditions there, I would think that effective social distancing would be difficult and that mass outbreaks could easily occur. There has been a shutdown order, but as the picture shows, there is still way too much crowding.



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/worl ... rants.html

There's a story in today's Los Angeles Times stating that, at least in some parts of India, patients (of any sort) who are older than 70 are being turned away from hospitals. So I don't have much confidence in the official Indian figures. Particularly since my understanding of its current national leadership suggests to me that they wouldn't hesitate to mangle the truth to make themselves look better. --Bob

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:07 am

As the death toll resulting from the novel coronavirus continues to rise, some New York cemeteries are facing difficulties despite the ability to operate 24 hours a day. New York City has begun to store bodies in freezer trucks to accommodate the number of victims the pandemic has claimed.

My previous job was an accountant in a company with a series of refrigerated warehouses, the oldest (and the one which housed my office) dating back to 1910. The fourth floor (of six) in the main warehouse was called "the morgue" because that's where the bodies from the 1917 influenza pandemic were stored while awaiting processing and burial. That might have been just a yarn, but I heard about it often, even before the book on the subject came out in 2005.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:46 am

There have been anecdotal reports of bodies being dumped in mass graves in Iran.

What really surprises me (in a good way) so far is the extremely small number of cases from India. The last figures I saw were 5000 cases and 150 deaths. Considering the crowded living conditions there, I would think that effective social distancing would be difficult and that mass outbreaks could easily occur. There has been a shutdown order, but as the picture shows, there is still way too much crowding.

They're talking about burying the victims in NYC in mass graves with the intent of giving them a proper burial when the crisis is over.

Good news - my company has just been approved for our SBA PPP loan.

Fortunately, we use a community bank, and they were on top of things from the get-go. I had sent them a prototype proposal on Thursday for a review, and they gave me some quick instructions on how to improve it. The online portal opened up at 6:30 pm Friday evening, and we had the application in there by 7:45 (damn thing did blow up on the first try at the very end, but it worked the second time).

Compare and contrast this to the stories from the big banks that were having trouble getting their platforms off of the ground.

SpacemanSpiff wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 9:51 am

Good news - my company has just been approved for our SBA PPP loan.

Fortunately, we use a community bank, and they were on top of things from the get-go. I had sent them a prototype proposal on Thursday for a review, and they gave me some quick instructions on how to improve it. The online portal opened up at 6:30 pm Friday evening, and we had the application in there by 7:45 (damn thing did blow up on the first try at the very end, but it worked the second time).

Compare and contrast this to the stories from the big banks that were having trouble getting their platforms off of the ground.

Community banks are good for most things. Now that I'm not traveling all over the country, I'm considering switching to one, even though it will be painful to change everything over.

GEICO is rebating approximately $2.5 billion to its customers as well as not canceling policies for non-payment.

Big J and his wife have both been off work for about three weeks, due to the COVID-19. Big J applied for the benefit which is $500.00 per week last week, got paid yesterday, retroactive, and his wife applied today, was approved and will get her money by Friday.

The XFL, which suspended its season like virtually the entire rest of the sports world, is apparently out of business for good. They have laid off almost all their staff and have no plans to return in 2021.

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:45 pm

The XFL, which suspended its season like virtually the entire rest of the sports world, is apparently out of business for good. They have laid off almost all their staff and have no plans to return in 2021.

This actually gives Vince McMahon a chance to bow out and save face. In reality, the attendances (notwithstanding St. Louis and Seattle) were collectively less than the previous incarnation of the XFL; a quick online look had this version with an average attendance of 18,125, vs the 2001 version's 23,410. Had that continued, he would have had to make a decision to come back next year, or punt. This way he can just blame the circumstances and save money.

Let's also remember his primary source of revenue -- the 'rassling shows and PPVs - are kind of diminished as well. Considering this was about five days removed from the closed-house two-nighter Wrestlemania, I suspect he saw what the PPV numbers were and they weren't as good as he had hoped.

The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, SD, has closed. Over half the reported coronavirus cases in the state were employees at the plant. This plant processes approximately 4% of the entire pork production in the country.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/business ... index.html

SpacemanSpiff wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 1:07 pm

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:45 pm

The XFL, which suspended its season like virtually the entire rest of the sports world, is apparently out of business for good. They have laid off almost all their staff and have no plans to return in 2021.

This actually gives Vince McMahon a chance to bow out and save face. In reality, the attendances (notwithstanding St. Louis and Seattle) were collectively less than the previous incarnation of the XFL; a quick online look had this version with an average attendance of 18,125, vs the 2001 version's 23,410. Had that continued, he would have had to make a decision to come back next year, or punt. This way he can just blame the circumstances and save money.

Let's also remember his primary source of revenue -- the 'rassling shows and PPVs - are kind of diminished as well. Considering this was about five days removed from the closed-house two-nighter Wrestlemania, I suspect he saw what the PPV numbers were and they weren't as good as he had hoped.

And oddly enough, it was a pretty decent show considering the circumstances. For instance, the Undertaker/AJ Styles match, filmed in cinematic style, was outstanding. It allowed 'Taker to do stuff he never could've pulled off in a live setting, given his age and the tremendous wear and tear on his 55 year-old body. I mean, the dude is only 7 1/2 years younger than me!

And now the XFL has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/vin ... 17218.html

I wish they had actually made the sign that way. Great Photoshop, though.

Bob Juch wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:03 pm

I wish they had actually made the sign that way. Great Photoshop, though.

The creator says it was a 10-minute "hack job."

To the surprise of absolutely no one, ACBL has now cancelled the Summer Nationals, which had been scheduled for late July in Montreal. --Bob

From a friend:

In an effort to be helpful, I've distilled over the past few days information to help you cope with COVID-19. I hope this helps straighten out some of the confusion and misinformation out there!
The Rules:
1. Basically, you can't leave the house for any reason, but if you have to, then you can.
2. Masks are useless, but maybe you have to wear one, it can save you, it is useless, but maybe it is mandatory as well. You must use the appropriate mask, i.e., those you cannot find.
3. Stores are closed, except those that are open.
4. You should not go to hospitals unless you have to go there.
5. This virus is deadly but still not too scary, except that sometimes it actually leads to a global disaster.
6. Gloves won't help, but they can still help.
7. There is no shortage of groceries, but there are many things missing when you go there in the evening, but not in the morning. Sometimes.
8. The virus has no effect on children except those it affects.
9. Animals are not affected, but there is still a cat that tested positive in Belgium in February when no one had been tested, plus a few tigers here and there…
10. You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you can also get sick without symptoms, have symptoms without being sick, or be contagious without having symptoms.
11. You can get restaurant food delivered to the house, which may have been prepared by people who didn't wear masks or gloves. But you have to have your groceries decontaminated outside for 3 hours.
12. You are safe if you maintain the appropriate social distance, but you can’t go out with friends or strangers at the safe social distance.
13. The virus remains active on different surfaces for two hours, no, four, no, six, no, we didn't say hours, maybe days? But it takes a damp environment. Oh no, not necessarily.
14. You should be safe if you stay at the recommended social distance. That distance is six feet, except when it is 10 or 27. YMMV.
15. We count the number of deaths but we don't know how many people are infected as we have only tested so far those who were "almost dead" to find out if that's what they will die of…
16. We have no treatment, except that there may be one that apparently is not dangerous unless you take too much (which is the case with all medications).
17. We should stay locked up until the virus disappears, but it will only disappear if we achieve collective immunity, so when it circulates… but we must no longer be locked up for that?
18 Your best source for accurate information is the president and his staff of advisors. Except when they disagree with each other or go on Meet the Press. Then, you must go by the information provided by your state's governor unless, of course, your governor is of a different political party than you. In the latter case, you're screwed. Just like the rest of us.

Looks like the other shoe has dropped from Vince McMahon's empire. On the heels of canceling/bankrupting the XFL, he has let go a bunch of 'rasslers from the WWE.

https://www.al.com/life/2020/04/wwe-rel ... thers.html

Just what we don't need. From the World Health Organization (I know, I know):

Drinking alcohol may heighten risk of getting coronavirus, WHO suggests

I also read yesterday that liquor stores in Ohio and West Virginia that are near the Pennsylvania border are requiring buyers to show in-state ID. Pennsyvania closed its liquor stores as part of the lockdown, so people have been going to the adjacent states to stock up on booze (overall, liquor sales are up considerably during the crisis).

silverscreenselect wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:13 am

Just what we don't need. From the World Health Organization (I know, I know):

Drinking alcohol may heighten risk of getting coronavirus, WHO suggests

I also read yesterday that liquor stores in Ohio and West Virginia that are near the Pennsylvania border are requiring buyers to show in-state ID. Pennsyvania closed its liquor stores as part of the lockdown, so people have been going to the adjacent states to stock up on booze (overall, liquor sales are up considerably during the crisis).

Damn, and here I went and bought fixings for mai tais!

Good news - we literally just got our funding for the SBA PPP loan about half an hour ago.

Everyone here is doing a happy dance.

SpacemanSpiff wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:46 am

Good news - we literally just got our funding for the SBA PPP loan about half an hour ago.

Everyone here is doing a happy dance.

Just in time!

More good news. We just found out that one of our employees who had self-isolated based upon her doctor's advice last Thursday came back with a negative COVID test.