How are you dealing with life now with the Covid-19 virus situation? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

I admit I’m spoiled, Mark. I live near some great fast casual places (not fast food, not fine dining, in between and of many ethnic cuisines) which have done yeoman’s work in delivery, to go, and outdoor dining services. While I too would love an indoor fine dining experience, I consider myself fortunate to have these restaurants nearby.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I admit I’m spoiled, Mark. I live near some great fast casual places (not fast food, not fine dining, in between and of many ethnic cuisines) which have done yeoman’s work in delivery, to go, and outdoor dining services. While I too would love an indoor fine dining experience, I consider myself fortunate to have these restaurants nearby.

Kinda the same for me over here near downtown Brooklyn... although I'm finally breaking out the Instant Pot for some beef stew and soups -- feels almost too easy after trying my hand at beef stew for very first time... so much so I don't think I can ever go back to paying someone else for that, LOL...

IF only it were easier to procure some pigs feet or the like in my neighborhood supermarkets...

Too bad I don't live close enough to Junior's (or the Katz in same downtown area) or I'd get some delish beef tongue much more often, haha... Hmmm, I should remember to swing by there next time I go to either the nearby Alamo Drafthouse or the Regal UA a bit further away for a movie w/ friends -- didn't think to do so when we went to see Black Widow...

I do live somewhat near this Texas BBQ place that serves some awesome fatty brisket (that literally melts in your mouth) though, mmmm...

_Man_

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I feel very fortunate in that the little village I’m currently living in has really upped its dinner scene since I was a kid growing up here. There’s an Italian restaurant and an Indian gastropub with a hint of Italian fusion both in walking distance from my house, and all summer, the village has allowed them to close the street Friday and Saturday evenings to set up tables for outdoor dining. Once or twice a month I can get a grandparent to stay with the sleeping kids and my wife and I go to one of those two places. On the days we didn’t have babysitting, we’ve occasionally splurged and brought in a restaurant meal for pickup.

It’s been really nice doing that this summer and I’ll be sad when the outdoor dining goes away in the fall/winter. It’s been great to have that treat and nice to support local businesses. I walk by these places nearly every day when I take the boys on a stroller ride so they know me now and I know them, and it’s nice to have a small feeling of community at a time when that’s harder to come by.

 

[TonyD]

You live in a village?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

You live in a village?

At the moment, yeah!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Are these masks reusable? The first link is broken.

To a certain extent - I think during the earlier part of the pandemic, the FDA said they could be used in hospital settings for something like 100 hours or maybe it was a week.

I generally will keep one in my pocket and use it until it gets too bent out of shape and won’t make a good seal anymore. But I’m not indoors in spaces where I need it often - maybe one half hour trip to the supermarket each week, and then maybe one to five minutes in a store or restaurant grabbing takeout. I don’t use it enough to really wear it out.

If I was going to be in a higher risk/more packed area like seeing a concert or movie I might consider it single use and dispose after out of an abundance of caution.

Sorry for the bad link. The N95s came from a company called Demetech, and the KN95s were imported by a company called Bonafide Masks.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Due to financial constraints, we mostly get the one time use disposable surgical masks. One of our area grocery stores actually sells them at around $13 for a box of one hundred.

When in our apartment building, I'm back to just wearing a cloth mask, but I always wear the disposables whenever I venture anywhere outside of our building. I've also taken to keeping a cloth mask inside my bag, in case I feel the need for a little bit of extra protection.

CHEERS!

 

[Bryan^H]

I truly think my friend is losing jobs opportunities because he refuses to take his mask off in interviews (no other person in any of them has had them on he told me, even though there are signs posted throughout each college, and schools that masks are required). He has his Master's degree, and all the interviews he has had went perfect (according to him, but I know him well, and believe him). I really feel bad for him because he needs a good teaching job, and between COVID, and him following his "stay masked" ideal, he is sort of digging his own grave in the interviews (he told me this himself). HE said the last interview he got dirty looks from two of the staff after about 5 minutes of the interview. Sucks.

So my friend asked my advice on how to proceed going forward--- two upcoming interviews---...I honestly could not answer him with a "stay masked" , or "unmasked" answer, as I feel that wearing a mask during a group interview might be detrimental to his goal, but I also don't want him to sacrifice his safety.

Tough call for sure


What do you guys think?

 

[Malcolm R]

If he needs the job to pay for necessities of life, he may need to take a chance and remove the mask if he thinks that's making a difference. If he's fully vaccinated, the risk is minimal and even if he should become infected the symptoms should be minor, if any. He'll have to balance risk of a minor infection with possibly being hungry and homeless.

If people are still looking for masks and such, I was recently in a Home Depot where they were practically giving away masks, sanitizer, and those infrared thermometers. Not completely sure of my recall of prices, but I think the basic disposable masks were $5 for a box of 50 or 100, the thermometers were $14 (marked down from like $45), and they also had other reusable masks and sanitizer for clearance prices. Also saw some of the same thermometers in the "clearance" section at Walmart yesterday. I didn't buy any of these as I stocked up on masks last year and still have nearly 200 that I'm barely using (I have reusable masks I use most of the time, if I need them) and I have a thermometer that's never yet been out of the box.

I did recently place an order for some KN95 masks that I'll probably use while on vacation later this fall.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This isn’t an answer per se but…

An interview in a sense is a trial run for what the employer’s culture is like. If your friend prefers to wear a mask, he should wear a mask. Otherwise what is he going to do if he gets the job, starts reporting for duty, and finds that the culture is such that the people around him are always making a thing of mask wearing?

In a perfect world obviously no one should be discriminated against for wearing a mask during a respiratory virus pandemic. But unfortunately it’s a not a perfect world. Wearing a mask, in addition to making your friend feel safer and protecting his health, will also give a hint pretty quickly about whether those potential employers are on the same page. And the question is, does your friend really want a job where mask wearing is frowned upon if that’s the thing he prefers to do?

 

[Bryan^H]

Yeah it is a catch-22 alright. I told him three or four people interviewing (6-8' apart around a big table) me assuming they are vaccinated like me I'd go the "when in Rome" route.

But my friend (who is employed, just not his dream job) has been masked, and gloved since the pandemic started, taking zero chances. I don't think he will adjust because others are unmasked.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

But my friend (who is employed, just not his dream job) has been masked, and gloved since the pandemic started, taking zero chances. I don't think he will adjust because others are unmasked.

And I think that’s probably the most important factor here - if these companies are looking to hire in-person employees and have an existing culture of not wearing masks and not distancing / opening windows / working remotely when possible, it’s just going to be a culture clash for him and the perks of being in a better job may be outweighed by the discomfort of taking more risks on a regular basis than he’s comfortable with.

 

[TJPC]

We generally use cloth masks here. My wife launched herself into sewing during the pandemic and she made dozens and dozens, with holiday appropriate material.

When I go to the movies and have to wear a mask for a couple of hours I wear disposables. Unlike the cloth ones, the cheap ones do not give me elf ears or a big bend in my beard.

 

[Mark Booth]

A friend that has been in the hospital (plus a short time at a rehab facility) since the end of January finally got to go home today. A little over 7 months away from home due to Covid.

But he's finally home!

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Learned today that the 11-year-old daughter of a friend is home with COVID. She most likely got it at school. A classmate that was next to her during band practice was coughing a lot one day and then suddenly stopped coming to class. They haven't confirmed if that student has COVID, but it seems likely.

Of course, the 11-year-old isn't vaccinated, neither is her younger sister. Everyone else in the house is vaccinated. They've all been tested and all tested negative (except for the 11-year-old).

The 11-year-old's only symptoms so far are loss of taste and smell. It's been a few days and the senses seem to be returning already, so (fingers crossed), not going to be a serious case.

It will be interesting if anyone else in the home comes down with the virus. They are particularly concerned about their youngest daughter.

School is going to be a super spreader, for sure!

Mark

 

[ChristopherG]

Went to Hall & Oates concert Saturday night at an outdoor venue with what seemed like a capacity crowd. The venue required proof of vax as a condition of admittance. Concert was awesome (opening act was Squeeze). Felt nice to be doing something normal. The Maverick's concert I have tickets to got moved to April.

 

[TJPC]

We finally have indoor dining. We hope this lasts for a couple more weeks at least, in order to celebrate some ones 70th birthday. Starting Wednesday you have to show proof of vaccination, and a month after that there will be an app on our phones.

 

[DaveF]

I’ve done my second self-attestation of vaccination at corporate sites. Got a third one coming in near future. Hoping this helps in the coming months.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Acquaintances of my wife’s who are fully vaccinated went to a Garth Brook’s concert and were infected but have recovered. No hospitalizations. Are they still a possibility for long-haul symptoms?

This is why we handle the pandemic by by social distancing, masking, and vaccination, all as much as we can. No theater, no concerts, and we got the booster. Of course we don’t like doing it.

 

[Carlo_M]

Unknown, Johnny. COVID is still too "new" to know of long-haul for vaccinated breakthrough cases. I'd wager they're less likely, but that's just a total guess. For most of the long-haul sufferers I've known/read about (admittedly very few) they seemed to never fully get "back to normal" even after the worst was over. If your acquaintances are feeling normal again, I'd say that's a positive sign that they may not get long-haul symptoms.