peejman

I'm an engineer, I fix broken jet engines. Part of my job does require that I be there to see and touch things and direct work. Part of my job is simply pushing paper that I could do from nearly anywhere as long as I had network access. I'd also wager the paperwork part could get more efficiently at a location where I don't get interrupted every 10 minutes. And as you've said above, there's a huge difference between a machinist and a machine operator. The difference is apparent when dealing with parts that cost more than your house. A number of the machinists, mechanics, and inspectors make more than the engineers do with overtime, so yes I also agree that not everyone needs to go to college. You've got to have more Indians than chiefs, though corporate America doesn't seem to get that.

And still weird. Must have done something strange with my phone.

Ok, that's weird.

True. If I had the ability, I could do some of my job online, but not all of it. I could easily envision a rotating schedule in our group where at least one of us is in the shop all the time while another works from home. We've proposed that very thing several times and have been rebuffed every time without any discussion or explanation. And my above post should be "becoming" rather than "become". We're not at the end yet, but it won't be long.

So a nurse is obligated to help, but a police officer isn't? That's messed up.

I agree that it's quickly becoming time to turn the economy back on. I also think this may fundamentally change business. Thousands of businesses have gone 100% virtual in the last month, and continued to function normally. How many of those won't go back? Why pay rent on office space that you've been forced to learn you didn't really need? How many will realize their employees are happier now? Significant potential for the other side of this to look quite different.

Yep, both our dentist and the kids' dentist are emergencies only for the time being. Eye doctor too.

Revoke their license for not working for free? Good luck with that.

I have kids and my wife finally succumbed and subscribed to Disney+. Yay. She's on a vintage movie kick so it's been The Sound of Music, The Swiss Family Robinson, and The Absent Minded Professor of late. The up side is I've finally gotten to see what all buzz was about on The Manadalorian, and yes, we're hooked. I'll be curious to see what happens with our wifi data quota.

I have to work M-F. My wife has ordered groceries online and I've picked them up. We sanitize everything (including me) in the garage before bringing it into the house. My family has left the house once in 2 weeks. We got take out for supper last Saturday, ate it while sitting in the van at a scenic spot, and drove the long way home.

My first thought was it looked like a military bayonet training pose.

And here.

We generally keep about a months worth of food around. Meals would get boring about half way through, but I don't think we'd starve. I also keep 21 gallons of water stored plus the 50 gallons in my water heater. I have a couple water filtration options. We were fortunate in that we took delivery of our annual beef supply (about 150 lbs) around march 1st. That plus the usual chicken and pork means our freezer is packed. We also usually have a small vegetable garden and try to can what we don't eat. The garden yield hasn't been great the last couple years so we're down to a few jars of relish, pickles, and jam. We'd already decided that if the garden doesn't produce enough this year, we'll hit the farmers market and get a few bushels to can. A friend at work grows and cans lots of green beans. In the past, we've traded maters and relish for beans. We've got camp stoves and plenty of fuel. We've also got a fire pit and firewood, so cooking should be covered. With that, I think we've got the fundamentals covered. It's just extending the length of time we could go at this point.

The guys have said most of what I had in mind. I also recall seeing an article with a democratic senator saying the stimulus bill was an opportunity for them to remake the laws in their vision. This isn't the same source I saw, but it covers it. https://nypost.com/2020/03/23/republicans-want-a-lifeline-democrats-want-to-remake-the-country/

If you think the Patriot Act was bad, just look at all the stuff they tried to piggyback into the stimulus bill.

That stinks. Hope they both recover quickly. So far, the positive test rate is about 15%, so clearly there's more than just covid going around.

I recommend you go to a range with a bunch of rentals. Try them all and see which one you like best.

My Cub Scouts are working on the same requirement. Well, we were a few weeks ago... Brim and bluegill are easy to catch and fight just enough to be fun for kids. My best advice is KISS.... live worms, small hooks, a bobber, and go find a local fishing pier or just stand on the bank where the water isn't moving fast and there isn't much debris to get hung up on. Go when it's warm and the fish will be more active near the surface. We've caught bunches of them standing on the bank near any of the multitude of boat ramps. If you've got more than one kid, don't plan to do much fishing yourself. You'll be busy helping them the whole time. Edit... this is a great way to teach kids patience in a world of instant gratification. If you're not having luck, change your depth, move 100 yds down the bank... or just wait longer. You can spend an hour with without a nibble, and then all of a sudden you can't bait the hooks fast enough. That's just how it is.

I've talked with several people who were mildly sick and have been tested. 10-14 days seems to be the typical turn-around time. Which means that all this data people keep throwing around and drawing unsubstantiated conclusions against is at least 2 weeks old. I saw a graph the other day that suggested the positive test rate is only 15%. So 85% of sick people test negative. Interesting.

GIGO as we used to call it. Or there's lies, damn lies, and statistics. Using numerical models requires a fairly well developed BS filter. If you don't already know the answer, it's impossible to validate the output. And Occam's razor tends to hold true.

Fair enough. I'll amend my statement with "practically no one outside the medical community...".

To be fair, practically no one in the US knew Covid-19 existed until late February, testing for it only became widespread here a couple weeks ago (was only available where I live a few days ago), and it takes a week to get the results. The rate of tests administered is increasing at an exponential rate, so of course the rate of positives is also increasing exponentially. I don't discount how dangerous the virus is and how fast it spreads (Italy has made that pretty clear), but the data here is woefully incomplete at this point. I think the data could/should be normalized by the total number of tests administered and/or the population of the general area to give a better representation of how widespread it is.

My screened porch is a peaceful place. It overlooks the flower bed, the bird feeders, bath, and houses. I try to enjoy a few minutes of peace when I get the chance. Sometimes that's interrupted by the screaming horde playing on the swing set, but that's ok too. Most of time.

So that "no penalty for minor crimes" thing is working out well.