Corona virus, what's different for you.

That's all you needed to say. Without that assistance, you'd have died.

While creating another thread, I remembered something else that I haven't been able to do since the pandemic started. I haven't been able to take my dog to the dog park. He loved going there, and now, whenever he goes in the care he thinks he's going to the dog park. He gets excited, then gets sad when he realized he isn't going there. There's enough idiots out that I know going there I'll run into people who don't know what six feet are and feel wearing a mask violates their rights.

Here's how happy he gets at the dog park.

Thanks for your reply.

I think though you were affected more by not having premium health insurance, not affordable to your father than by having to avail yourself of medicaide. True national health insurance is a leveler in terms of people getting the same quality health care.

Today, on the best policy offered by my employer I must use in-network doctors and hospitals or pay much more out of pocket. These restrictions apply whether you're using a government sponsored policy or not.

If you're rich, you'll always be able to afford a private hospital and "special" care, just like today. It might be in another country. A lot of americans who can afford to pay out of pocket are going to India, Mexico and other countries for surgery that is unaffordable here.

Also, the only government involvement in a UHC would be paying the bill. The government would not be replacing doctors.

The government would have large sway in negotiating fees and prices, as insurance companies do now. Also a national insurer would decide what procedures are experimental and not covered, as well as medications. As insurance companies do now.

I'm not sure why people think government having this control is worse than your insurer, in league with your employer if you have employee based health insurance now. I'd much rather have govt in charge than my gorram employer who can't get their shit together.

That was the big in the lead-up to the ACA - people who either just didn't get it or who were being deliberately misleading.

Wait for FF or whatever he's calling himself to post that YouTube vid quoting Obama's "you can keep your doctor" statement.

Tried to get tested last night (sore throat, don't feel like going to work) and the pop-up test center run by a local hospital closed when I got there on account of lightning.


Rescheduled for this morning at the county fairground site run by FEMA. No waiting but it was like something from a disaster movie. Up my nose with a 10 foot hose (it didn't hurt). Results in 3 to 5 days.

good luck

Had a big fight with an old friend on FB. I occasionally post a 'wear your mask' meme, and he invariably rebutts with some deep-state tin-foil-hat conspiracy shit, that I'm being controlled by my fear. Yesterday I posted a simple medical article, with a discussion on what a certain symptom may mean and how it may help treatment. He gave me his biggest "Stop Spreading Fear™" conspiracy rant ever. There was nothing in the article except medical analysis! So I blew up at him and asked WTF was wrong with him. I then emailed a mutual friend to tell him what was going on, and said a bunch of exasperated, not-nice stuff about the first friend. Right after I hit send I realized I used my general "reply to all" of friends, including him.
Whoops.
Welp, so much for THAT old friendship.

I feel your chagrin. I've got some old friends that I'm having to keep at arms length for that very reason.

Wife suddenly developed a sore throat and major congestion / runny nose yesterday. No fever. Says she "feels absolutely fine" except for the two symptoms mentioned. She's going to get tested here in the next hour.

So now I am back to working from home 100%. I hate working from home, would rather be in the office (I feel more "connected" there), but I am glad I have the option to work from home rather than not work at all.

It's absolutely crazy, isn't it? I think I mentioned before that one of my best friends, an otherwise reasonable and intelligent fellow, has gone full bore nuts over this stuff insisting that it's just some sort of government control conspiracy and I'm still getting daily text screeds from him about that. So completely annoying.

Hope she's gonna be okay, man. And you too.

I eat at restaurants outside instead of in, I work mostly from home, I have a mask on when I'm not in my house, my car, or in a distanced public area, I visit friends and family less often, and my vacation plans got scuttled. Other than that, not a lot.

I did hear that a great guy who I worked with at my old company in L.A. has died of CoViD-19. That's the first person I've known (that I'm aware of) who has died of it. He wasn't very old, either (40s, I think).

My neighbor across the street is a nurse in a private care facility, with a few COVID patients. She says her brother is a mask conspiracy nut, and she's had to tell him to just stop talking to her about it.

COVID means my replica of Kanan Jarrus' lightsaber from Rebels is delayed 11-13 weeks. They offered some alternatives but apart from a replica of Obi-Wan's hilt from the prequels none are that ornate. Well, possibly the "Monarch" but that looks like it should be being used on an 18-year old on ExCoGi...

Same here. Exactly.

Got the grandmother today. She refuses to put a mask in her purse and leave it there. It is because she felt if she forgot it we would just go along with her not wearing it in to lunch. Up until now we have been reminding her at her house about it, and she got grumpy because we know she wanted to forget it. Today we forgot to remind her and got all the way to the restaurant and then she did not have it because she takes it out of her purse every single time she gets home. So then the argument starts because she thinks they will let her in without it, and we are not even going to ask the workers to refuse her service. She insisted she would go in anyway and we told her we would come back in an hour and find out what happened to her eating her lunch alone because we were not going to risk getting the place fined.

Oh my did she stew on her way back to the house. Then we took her to another place she does not care for that was closer because she complained about the long car ride back. The woman gets free masks in the mail from where she lives. We have gotten at least 20 from her because she won't keep extra ones. She could easily put one in her purse, car, and m0st of her pockets just to have one when she walks out of the house. Next time I am alone with her going to the golden coral I know she is going to try the same crap. The good news is I have already planned for such an occasion and since she insists we drive her car to keep it running I have stragically already hidden one of the masks she gave us in her own car for that day.

I think my dad secretly enjoyed making his anal retentive mother who always obeys her rules go back home like a child because she forget her mask. Maybe he should have beaten her for forgetting it like she would have had his father do had he ever pulled some shit like that as a child.

Moar grammar, T.

Perhaps you would mark it up with a red sharpie for us, Mr. Thunter? It's eminently readable.

What bothers me is T taking care of her grandfather while grandmother is such hell on wheels. Or are they on different sides of the family?

Selfie pics from the golden trough or it didn't happen.

I'm flashing on Hedwig at Bilgewaters.

In a stream-of-consciousness kinda way, sure.

Take the paddle you're using to navigate that stream and stick it up your fucking arseshole, there's a good chap.

Different sides of the family, and they do not get along. They are both on the don't have the other one around when I go out with them. It actually keeps my grandmother out of my hair because they are both in the same development. This means I won't have her coming over every day and nosing around. She does not swim in public pools so she won't come when he goes. Going out to eat is stressful for him because he has no idea what is happening, so he won't want to go when I take her out.

Quick results. Email last night. Negative. Still have a sore throat and congestion. Maybe I shouldn't be licking the cats.

Yeah, probably should let them clean themselves...

I'm genuinely glad to see that you are doing well. I attributed the the sudden exodus of the more conservative WF members to the exhaustion of feeling the need to defend the President at every turn but then I remembered a lot of you guys are in states that are being ravaged by COVID-19. California, Florida, Georgia... I hope all of you guys are doing OK.

Forgot to mention, she was negative. Got the results on Saturday (one day turnaround)! She's basically all better now too. Our little girl got the sniffles for several days too, but I haven't had anything yet.

Seems like it was just a cold.

Amen.

That said, Paladin is a hateful cunt who supports fascism because he loves guns and fuck him up the arse with a pineapple.

a pineapple?

Sideways.

Spiky fucker, innit?