Still in California. Working hard enough that I'm definitely glad we're around grandparents. My office didn't time things well, we've got half the team on vacation this week and some major deadlines on the 30th. I wish the in-laws were being better about social distancing.
Amazon just made me change my password, for the first time since 2006, when I opened my Amazon account and placed my first Amazon order. It was still literally my name. No symbols, no nothing. It's been an amazing run.
I've used the same Amazon password since I started, back in the 90s.
Oh, that bookstore where you have to put your credit card online? I don't get how this thing thinks it'll make any money.
3: Me, too!
Since my last check-in, I turned 57.
It's been useful when I need to complete a background check because it knows my old addresses.
Unless you're saying you've turned into sauce.
4: I don't know if I've said this here, but it occurred to me a while back in the category of "Things that would be incomprehensible to a listener from the recent past", and I've been bringing it up a lot. Imagine saying to someone in 1993 that in 2020, the American economy is dominated by a very small number of huge corporations with inconceivable amounts of power over the flow of information and even physical goods. And possibly the largest and most frightening of these corporations is a mail-order bookstore.
It's like the final scene in Ghostbusters: "The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man couldn't possibly hurt us!"
That scene, by the way, shows how not-assholey New Yorkers are. It's really uplifting.
It's our turn to host my son's friend for a play-date-day, since we've decided to let them play together, so I'm taking the day off as "Carer's Leave", which is one of those things that is (a) good that my reasonably generous employer is providing (b) maddening that it's up to the corporate sense of charity.
I am being treated for bronchitis again, got another virus test. This one went so deep that I was nauseous and woozy and had to sit in my car for five or ten minutes to feel safe to drive. I think it's probably still just bronchitis, but also who gets bronchitis three times in a row after not having had it in years? But I'm okay and Nia just finished her last math assignment, so we're getting fancy breakfast delivered to celebrate. That will be significantly less stress for me, though she's still having problems with her foot and Mara's abdominal pain is up to a 9 by her standards. I think we'll have a quiet weekend and I'm looking forward to it. Yesterday I wrote a Black Lives Matter statement for the Celtic music school because the board decided to endorse one but then nobody could figure out what to say, so that was a weird first task for me in some respects but I hope effective.
There's a lot of press locally about how we've hit five years since the Obergefell ruling legalized same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs I know best announced their divorce a few weeks ago, I suspect to head off people congratulating them about the anniversary. I remember the day it arrived was after I'd decided to break up with Lee but before the children knew, so I was actually happy we were out of town for Pride and they didn't have to bother me constantly about when Lee and I would get married. We're missing Pride because it's postponed this year, but the world our family lives in is definitely different in a lot of ways than five years ago.
It's so wild that the two ideas for internet companies at D.E. Shaw in the early 90s were Amazon and... Juno. And Juno was considered more promising.
10 is a very good point. Put like that, it sounds like rather a hopeful sort of dystopia. They will stop at NOTHING to get people to buy as many books as possible!
Still fine in Fresno. The plums have slowed raining down, and the peaches are nearing ripe. Locally Covid cases are steadily marching upward, though fortunately not at a sprint -- still, I wouldn't be surprised to see Stage 3 business openings rolled back relatively soon. Rolling back Stage 2 would send my wife home again, which would not be good -- though if they roll businesses back to curbside, that seems to be a good straddling of low risk but still economically viable for some. (Not preferred, but at least viable.)
I've been diligent about masking up, even for morning walks. I am one of less than 10% in my leafy suburban neighborhood; it feels somewhat performative, since it really is easy to maintain 6' clear at all times, but I figure that every bit of "masks are normal" norm erection that I can do is helpful.
Abbott has closed down the bars. That is an unexpectedly good move. And he's moved the restaurants back to 50%.
So my beloved local, the Arrakis Rugby Club, has a new location, right near the marina I've been going to for my regular morning walks. I may move there though it will take them a long time to build the facilities.
By then this thing should be over. One hopes.
Not much new to report. My sister is in terrible pain with her bedsores, but it sounds like everything has been straightened out with her insurance, so she has been getting a lot of care from various clinics. No worsening of the underlying conditions at least, but she still has to have paracentesis on a regular basis.
I am going to set up my new home office situation this weekend and probably order a new air conditioner, since the old one is so loud.
I should really be reading more and internetting less.
I'm also trying to read books. My son is pushing Eragon, so I bought try it.
Don't do it, Moby. It's tedious and even though he wrote the first when he was a kid they got worse as he got older.
I mean, if you want to do it in solidarity with your kid and teach him how to hate pop culture, go for it.
The Atlantic provinces have opened their borders to each other as of 03 July. I almost cried when I found out. My parents were besides themselves with excitement; my husband said he'd never heard them so happy. They want to visit asap which would be great although they're not really able to babysit but at least they could see the hydrobaby again.
After being excited to see family the reality of moving has hit. We need buy or rent a place so I can start back at work in September. There's so few houses and everything is an Airbnb. Ugh. And the only daycare in town only takes kids at 18 months. I have no idea what to do. Everyone is currently working from home so maybe I can swing it if I don't have to go in often? But holy cow, I'm so freaking excited to go to work again.
I started relapsing, so the doctor decided to put me on a feeding tube. My basic problem is that eating is bad for me, so the treatment is for me to not eat for the next month. I have a pump, and a nurse comes twice a day to change the bag on the pump. I feel like a piece of machinery.
Good christ Walt. Hope you derelapse soon.
Oh jesus, Walt, that's no good. I'm sorry.
27. Oh no, sympathies on 27, that sounds really tough, hoping you improve soon.
Sorry to hear that. It doesn't sound pleasant.
Sorry to hear that. There's a lot of difficult treatments out there for various conditions, but no eating for a month just sounds awful.
That sounds grim, Walt. Sorry to hear it.
Oh wow, that sucks, Walt. Sorry to hear it.
10: Amazon has made technical progress on seizing the means production from whoever has some of those now. Principal first application is blocking sales of fakes on their site, but the technology can do a lot more, eg block amazon third-party resale of anything made in a selected country or by a selected competitor. https://www.coindesk.com/amazon-patents-blockchain-based-product-authenticator
There's this as well, damaging software vendors' ability to provide services to support use of their complex software. https://onezero.medium.com/open-source-betrayed-industry-leaders-accuse-amazon-of-playing-a-rigged-game-with-aws-67177bc748b7 I have not been keeping up with the business of selling useful machine learning models as a service; potentially a big business, and a lot of the training is done on AWS servers, as is implementation of the platform that customers will use to run their data against the model. There are lots of competitors here, not least Google who also has a platform (which I personally like better) and of course a ton of ML expertise, some of which is succesfully sold as a product.
I think my right ear drum is sucked in, because it hurts a lot, but if I hold my nose and blow it feels a bit better, but it isn't unpopping.
I put some Debrox drops in a couple fo days ago, because I thought there was wax in there. I got quite a lot of bubbling, so I think there was, but I guess I didn't flush it out properly. I have a big rhino spray thing that I use on Tim's ear, but I could not find the bulb, so I just left it.
Tim used our Dr. Mom-brand otoscope and said that he could not see wax. I think there's some kind of liquid in my Eustachian tube. I sprayed some Afrin which helped a bit, but I bought the kind with camphor and menthol, so I need to go get some of the normal stuff.
But it hurts so much - except briefly after I do the thing where you pinch your nose, hold your breath and try to breathe out through your nose. Maybe I should do telemedicine when Tim is home. He can use the otoscope, and we can stick the phone against my ear.
I was on swim team as a child. I have some kind of liquid in my Eustachian tube for most of the Reagan years. Now I clean out ear wax with a Q-tip. You just need to have big enough ears that you aren't just packing in the wax as you force the Q-tip in.
Anyway, swimmer's ear drops turn out to be expensive, so I just started putting in a couple of drops of rubbing alcohol.
When we had babies I was really tempted to buy one and see if the internet could teach me how to diagnose an ear infection. But my dad convinced me that it was a bit more subtle to diagnose than I was hoping. Then the kids all learned to talk and it wasn't an issue anymore.
37: Yeah. Tim gets a lot of ear wax build-up, and it was a hassle to go into the city to his doctor's office to get it flushed out, so we got this Ear Washer which is basically the same as the one they use at the doctor's office. Most doctors seem to prefer the elephant one.
https://doctor-easy.com/collections/all/products/rhino-ear-washer
But then I was never sure if it was completely cleaned out, so we wanted to be able to look inside, and we bought one of these.
2-3 saved office visits, and we covered the cost. Plus, going to his doctor requires a trip into the city.
Also, since this is the update thread:
We are very close to having four kids who all know how to swim, and who are all out of 5 point harnesses, and so can get themselves in and out of the car without assistance. These are both huge personal milestones for me, in terms of leveling up on ease of parenting. Huge luxuries are around the corner and I can't wait.
38: I don't have big enough ear tubes, and Q tips in the ear are considered a big No-No.
More specifically, we have four kids who can safely get themselves to the side of the pool if they fall in the deep end. Just only two of them know how to come up for air along the way.
The real treasure is the air pocket next to your shoulder that you meet along the way.
If Q-tips aren't supposed to go in your ear, how come there's a big warning on the box saying not to put Q-tips in your ear?
Once again woke up at 1 am, slept again till 2 am and now up. Going for another walk around the marina with Pola, then lunch and a movie in the afternoon.
Commenting on the ear thing, I had a severe ear infection in my right ear 15 years ago and ever since then it has produced excessive ear wax. My morning routine every day now is comb my hair, brush my teeth, and squirt warm water in my ear with one of those plastic squeeze bulb things. Haven't had a problem since.
I feel like a piece of machinery.
Jesus Christ, Walt, that sounds truly awful. Thinking of you; and seriously hating the year 2020 with the white-hot heat of a thousand suns...
We were sitting last night in a friends' garden drinking wine and they complained about the noisy neighbours. "All murderers and rapists" said J. She pointed at the screaming peregrine falcon that had just left its nest for a bite to eat. The appearance of the hawk throws the pigeons into a frenzy, and they fuck with percussive wing claps while they cling fluttering to their ledges.
The evening drew on. We drank more wine and talked about youth. I suggested a T shirt slogan: "We are the people we warned our contemporaries against".
All sorts of shit are happening in our lives and those of our friends (both the imaginary and the merely complex ones) but still there are delicious moments.
50: I tried to get Tim to put a single drop of Debrox in his ear and use the bulb thing weekly, and I even bagged him about it for a while, but he won't do that, so when it gets clogged, it's a couple of days of debrox and the rhino power washer thing. Even if he does nothing, small chunks come out after showering. I realize this is gross and TMI, but once a cm-long piece the diameter of my pinky finger came out.
I'm so sorry, Walt. That sounds really unpleasant. Hoping your body can return to feeling like "yours" instead of a machine sooner rather than later.
56: He will catch on after a while. It took me a while to admit I was gradually falling apart and needed more extensive maintenance.
750 new cases reported here today. Yesterday was 879. Definitely trending downwards.
A single bar in East Lansing, Michigan (where Michigan State is) is responsible for 85 cases and counting plus spread to two other cities. People have been asking if AJ and I are eating out, and this is going to serve as an example of why we aren't.
Yep. We're doing lots of take out, because I'm so sick of eating what we can cook, but not going anywhere to eat.
Aaargh. We just last week negotiated for a couple of playdates between my kid and a friend of his, whose parents we know. They were pretty good, and the kids needed the socialization. Just now the other family tells us that their other, younger kid has suddenly realized they they need more socialization too, so they're putting her back in preschool, and now we have to figure out if we're OK with the level of uncontrolled, if indirect, exposure that that opens us up to if our kids keep seeing each other. I thought we had just solved something and now I'm almost wishing we hadn't started.
Thanks for the well wishes, everybody.
re: 64
Yeah, we are sort of there at the moment. Primary schools in England are open again for 4 - 6 year olds. Since the lockdown rules were changed to permit it, we've been getting together with another couple of families* -- supervised playdates outdoors only -- and now the youngest kids in one of those two families are back at school. The adults in both of those families are teachers, who are occasionally in school for shifts, but they are following strict and very carefully monitored social distancing rules at work. The six year olds, not so much.
I think we are OK with that level of exposure. But it's certainly something we've talked about.
New cases in London are low. Something like 15-20 new cases per day, in a city of 8 million people, and have been pretty consistently around that level for the past month. So if we can't increase social contact within reasonable limits now, when? I don't imagine that something like that underlying level of infection is going to go away until/if we get a vaccine.
* the two families and us are pretty much only arranging playdates with each other.
Down to 750 new cases here today.
ttaM, where do you find your daily number for London?
This is pretty good for Germany:
https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Fallzahlen.html
Though today it looks like not much got reported over the weekend, considering Berlin was like 50 on Friday and had more than 100 one day last week. Nothing like US numbers, but still.
We went for a day trip to the Berkshires yesterday which was nice. I went in to a McDonalds to use the bathroom, because the bathrooms were closed at all the historic gardens and parks and otherwise avoided restaurants. The staff there were wearing masks, but the shift supervisor had hers pulled down.
We picked up a prepackaged picnic at a wine and cheese shop. Good bread, smoked chicken, pate, cheese, lentil and pasta salads, with chocolate tarte for dessert, and we were all set. More than enough food for dinner once we got back home.
Summer seems tolerable. The fall and winter will be harder, because most recreation then is indoor stuff.
re: 68
https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/coronavirus--covid-19--cases
It's quite rich. You can get per borough data, and also access other kinds of stats. My borough has basically been flat for at least 4 weeks. I would be very surprised if we don't start seeing an increase over the next few weeks, but would be pleasantly surprised if we don't.
Your dissected plateau brings all the boroughs to your yard.
That and assholes who throw fast food wrappers out of the car window.
64: That's infuriating. It's terrible that your kid got a taste of socializing, and now you have to reassess and reconsider.
70: Latest info is five days ago, am I reading that right?
67 is incorrect, that was yesterday's data. Today is 693 new cases. The curve is bending down.
The arc of epidemiology is long and bends toward down.
re: 76
I guess so. Some data is from the 26th, some from the 25th, and some from the 22nd. It's collating from various sources so it's only as up to date as those sources. So, the newest data is 3 days old, but some data is as much as 7 days old. There's always a lag anyway, and data immediately after the weekend is often subject to revision. So, I'd probably wait a couple of days to see exactly what the incidence was, as of today, but it has generally been flat for quite a while. Most of the new relaxation measures haven't kicked in yet, so I'd not really expect to see much of a shift this week* but would expect to see it climbing in mid July. But, I don't know anything.
* might be wrong, of course, big protests etc in London a week or more ago.
79: Thanks! I guess I'm a tiny bit spoiled by the RKI's tidiness of daily information (by state, and maybe at layers below that, too) for midnight of each day and updated by 8:30am. There may be weaknesses in the underlying data, but it at least looks like German efficiency.
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I'm supposed to see the ENT doc Wednesday as a follow up to the septoplasty at the end of February. I saw him 1 week later to get the splints removed, and then I was supposed to have a 2-3 week follow up that was postponed a month by the hospital and then cancelled because of the surge. He cancelled last week's appointment, because his wife gave birth the day before. His secretary said he wasn't taking paternity leave because of al the leave he had to take during COVID, so it was rescheduled for this Wednesday.
I have to fill out a questionnaire attesting to a lack of COVID symptoms before I go. I had a slightly dry, scratchy throat yesterday as did Tim. During most primary care appointments, you stay masked the whole time, but obviously, my nose will be uncovered if he's going to examine it. And he'll wear PPE.
I'd kind of love to ask him about my ears too.
But I would feel horrible if it turned out that I had COVID and went in. I don't go inside other than the drug store and supermarket, but there are still some people outside who don't wear masks.so I could have been exposed.
Should I say that I have a new sore throat? I was unusually tired Friday and Saturday - though I was dealing with my annoying waxy ears.
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81: Can't you get tested instead of guessing?
In Somerville, anybody can get tested. My health system is not that liberal, but they have expanded testing somewhat, and maybe I could get an order for a test. I don't fall under one of the criteria for asymptomatic testing, since I'm not getting a procedure. I don't really have it now. I do have to answer a symptom-based questionnaire.
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All the news is going to be about abortion, but I agree with Lederman that the CFPB case is way more broadly significant in terms of danger to the democratic project. And Justice Kagan, dissenting in the latter, demonstrates conclusively the complete fiction of conservative adherence to either principle or history.
OK, the abortion case is significant too, but CJ Roberts concurrence -- I don't like it, he says, but we decided this very same case just a few years ago; I know we've had some personnel changes, but come the fuck on -- isn't exactly confidence inspiring.
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Well, I took a Zyrtec, and if the itchiness seems to go away, I'll chalk it up to allergies.
Oof. MA is doing well by US standards, and the UK is supposed to be doing poorly by world standards, but the gap between those is quite something.
London - 15-20 new cases per day, in a population of 8 million.
Massachusetts - ~200 new cases per day, in a population of 7 million.
If Massachusetts is doing so poorly, why isn't Cam Newton moving to London?
re: 86
My first reply was going to be: I think London was a fair bit ahead in the curve compared to MA, though? The big peak here was early April.
But then I looked at the cumulative death stats, and MA is already a fair bit more than London. So yeah, you are right. MA isn't doing that well compared to London.
Right, a "successful" response in the US has been equivalent to "the least possible that could be expected without gross negligence" in most countries barring Brazil, Russia, etc.
I think the UK is doing very badly by the standards of most EU countries, and quite a bit of Asia. We'll see how it pans out over the summer as entertainment venues (pubs, restaurants, etc) start to partially reopen.
Greetings from the second wave: 56 new cases today, beating our previous high (March 26) of 35. 9 of the new cases are in Glacier County, which is mostly Blackfeet Nation. They have 12 active cases -- having had a total of 18. Of the 18, 14 were women, only 4 men. Of the 18 total cases, 8 were under 20. In contrast, only 4 of the 66 cases we've had here have been under 20. So, are we doing a better job of isolating kids, or are they doing a better job of testing kids? Our gender ratio is 32 women 34 men.
I'm coming to accept that we'll bail on that July 11 wedding. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, though. My brother and s-i-l are planning to stop by on their drive from San Jose to Columbus Ohio in 3 weeks. (Their son lives in Bozeman, so while visiting us is out-of-the-way, it's not shockingly so). Do we let them in the house? Meet outdoors somewhere?
Meet outdoors and bail on the wedding (unless it's outdoors too). Don't take any chances with this Charley.
The wedding is outdoors. Which, in Montana, can mean about a 40 degree swing. (The wife suggested this morning that we maybe go skiing this afternoon, but I think we've missed our shot. Here's what the NWS says about Chief Joseph Pass today Snow showers before 11am, then rain showers. The snow could be heavy at times. Some thunder is also possible. High near 43. North northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.)
The UK is doing the worst in terms of reported deaths per capita, excepting Belgium (which is probably counting better) and some small nations. So far, six US states--five in the Northeast and Louisiana--and DC are worse than it. In terms of cases/capita there are many more states worse than the UK, but I have a not entirely rational suspicion that cases are unreported relative to other jurisdictions.
Yesterday I went to the high street to go into a non-essential store for the first time. Sidewalks were packed, people stopping and gawking and chatting, and in the store itself hardly anyone else was wearing masks. The environment is there for a rebound, even more so when the pubs reopen, if the virus is at all present. ttam's page is heartening, but I feel like the right time to go out is approximately three weeks after restrictions are lifted.
In going Lowe's often now, because I'm home so much that broken things started to bother me. I also went to the liquor store because I decided liquor was essential.
I bought fancy tonic water to go with gin, but it turns out that fancy tonic water tastes like medicine.
95: Can you get the liquor store to deliver? I don't know what the regular rules here are, but when I got married, I placed a big order with the recommended liquor store, and they delivered it to the caterer.
I can, and have, gotten wine delivered but not liquor. There was also beer delivery but I never used it. I don't think liquor delivery was possible.
The wine comes by FedEx. There's this big deal in the email about all the steps to verify age, but what happens is they take one look at my aging face and hand it over.
Record number of new statewide cases here yesterday, so the second wave is continuing to build. Our mayor ordered masks in public indoor spaces starting today, so we'll see what effect that has.
The leading cause of death in your state for those aged 18 to 25 was trying to find an abandoned bus.
Things still look OK in Maryland so far. Hospitaliztions and deaths continue to drop and the positive rate dropped below 5% last week. If the protests at the beginning of June were going to result in a spike, I think we would have begun to see it by now. It's probably too soon to tell regarding the partial reopening.
101: They finally moved the bus, so now it's coronavirus.
Unless it becomes trying to find the shoot l spot where the bus used to be.
My London borough has had some 16 cases in June, and 40 in May. That said, Leicester has just been told to shut down again.
Texas is a nightmare and I loathe these Republican death cult asshats who are still planning to hold their no-mask state convention IN HOUSTON FFS.
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Do the fancy science people here have thoughts about whether pharmacogenomic testing for psych meds is worthwhile? My newish psychiatrist, whom I generally like, is recommending it since my depression seems to be treatment resistant. This article seems to summarize the state of things: potentially promising but no great evidence yet.
Pro: The results could help rule in or rule out certain meds more quickly than the current trial-and-error. Sample report.
Con: $330 bucks and privacy concerns. (I'm probably kidding myself that I have any privacy left to be concerned about.)
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106: If it were me I'd do it, mostly because it sounds like an interesting thing to learn about. How often do you get to try out new science? I feel like I'd easily get $330 of value out of that even if it didn't end up helping.
Treatment-resistant depression sounds awful. I'd give it a whirl.
Up at 3 am for another walk with Pola, Corniche this time to mix it up. I'm so hungover.
I've never had a drink with Corniche.
106.2: They do it as a standard part of inpatient treatment at our children's hospital, so I've had some indirect experience. I think the pros of not having to play medicine roulette way outweigh the cons, assuming the cost isn't too big a sacrifice.
107: That's definitely not worth $330 to me, especially now that my other medical costs have gone up considerably since I got kicked off COBRA and onto the Marketplace (including total fucking bait-and-switch two-tier coverage for generics; not that I'm bitter).
111: Thanks, that's helpful to know.
106.last: Can't hurt, might help. I think privacy concerns in this case seem low-stakes (unless the lab gets to store samples for "future research" in which case, I'd argue against). The system already knows you have depression. The fast-metabolism findings seem legit, an uncommon but known issue with some other unrelated classes of drugs. I think it's less likely to identify stuff that would work well than eliminate drugs that might not be as effective. Any meds would still be trial and error, but maybe you can have fewer errors in your trials.
And I hope you find something soon that helps. It sounds hard and tiring, particularly right now.
Thanks, ydnew. I was hoping you would weigh in.
re: 94
I was joking with friends -- when we were doing our socially distancing outdoor pints in an orchard -- that the right time is week 1, day 1 of the pubs opening. When the conditions are ripe for everyone to spread the virus, but only a tiny percentage of people actually have the virus. Whereas by about week 3 or 4, a lot more people will be spreading it.
So we're reopening the library in stages. HR sent out timetables and other information to all staff and this is what was written for one of them for my subunit of my department:
"More flexibility for staff with health issues (including being pathologically scared)"
That comes from our acting director who is an asshole but that should never have gotten past HR. I'm over 50, an ex-smoker with asthma who gets respiratory infections at the drop of a hat. I'm really pissed off.