The Covid19 thread

[Falcon Horus]

meh....home ownership ain't all it's cracked up to be

don't know how it works over there but here in the states for a stand-alone house you got property taxes, homeowner's liability insurance (required to have, other property insurance might be required depending on where your house is too, such as flood insurance in flood-prone areas), and then you have to also spend money to pay contractors to maintain and/or upgrade the house

We're renting an apartment so that's just money lost... Now, we'll have to pay off a loan but at least it will be worth it in the end.

Sidenote: I already own half a house. The other half is owned by my sister. It was gifted to us by our grandfather. Cheaper than inheriting after he dies.

We have mandatory fire insurance. Property taxes. Then there's the insurance you have to take on the loan (in case you expire before having paid off the loan so that the other party doesn't have to also pay off your half of it).

The owner of our appartment has been steadily increasing our rent beyond what is worth. He once made us pay extra for the maintenance fees of the building which, at the time, we didn't even have to pay for. That was all on him. When our neighbor found out he got really mad with the owner of the place and ever since then, the owner made sure never to dock us for those costs again.

[mad_gater]

We're renting an apartment so that's just money lost... Now, we'll have to pay off a loan but at least it will be worth it in the end.

Sidenote: I already own half a house. The other half is owned by my sister. It was gifted to us by our grandfather. Cheaper than inheriting after he dies.

We have mandatory fire insurance. Property taxes. Then there's the insurance you have to take on the loan (in case you expire before having paid off the loan so that the other party doesn't have to also pay off your half of it).

The owner of our appartment has been steadily increasing our rent beyond what is worth. He once made us pay extra for the maintenance fees of the building which, at the time, we didn't even have to pay for. That was all on him. When our neighbor found out he got really mad with the owner of the place and ever since then, the owner made sure never to dock us for those costs again.

unfortunately as I said above here in the states many people my generation and younger can't afford not only the money but also the time it takes to keep up a house....due largely to crippling student loan debt but also to bad career choices...our generation here in the states will probably be the "renter's generation"

[mad_gater]

That ad runs constantly around here. That lady with the chain saw had better not come around here or she's going to find that chainsaw protruding from where the sun don't shine. And I may not shut it off before inserting it.

Oh, and keep your mitts off my cars, too. I'm far too old for that kind of crap these days, and you can't do fun stuff like engine swaps anymore, 'cause the annual safety inspection is in reality an emissions inspection these days, but I've done more than my share of project cars in the past.

not to mention that on modern cars these days, parts that could easily be swapped out in the past yourself are now buried so deeply you'd practically have to dismantle the whole car to get to it...and then there's all the electrical gizmos nowadays that make modern cars look like the Starship Enterprise inside...just about need to be a computer scientist to work with those components

[Annoyed]

not to mention that on modern cars these days, parts that could easily be swapped out in the past yourself are now buried so deeply you'd practically have to dismantle the whole car to get to it...and then there's all the electrical gizmos nowadays that make modern cars look like the Starship Enterprise inside...just about need to be a computer scientist to work with those components

I can deal with the engine controls well enough, it's still an internal combustion engine, and it still needs the same basic things to work.

But I really pity the kids growing up today. Back when I was a kid, one of if not the most important steps in growing up was getting your license and a car. And it was so much more affordable to build something really nice back then. Most high schoolers could afford to buy and or put together a decent ride from the used market and do-it-yourself. These days, regulations and insurance mandates have driven the cost of ownership so high, a kid is lucky to afford a tricycle.

I used to prefer Dodge/Chrysler products until they turned to crap in the mid-70's and then went to GM mid-size cars. Something like a Chevy Malibu or an Olds Cutlass. Buy one used for dirt cheap and drop a 454 or 455 engine in it and away you go. They were easy to work on, and more importantly, if you could build it, it was legal to put it on the road.

On the other hand... I've seen engine swaps go horribly wrong, too. Buddy of mine in high school thought it would be a good idea to put a built Chevy 454 big block (roughly 450 HP and 500 Ft/Lb of torque out of the box, significantly higher when built) into a Chevy Vega.

I told the guy all winter long while he was working on it it would be an epic fail, and why.

Sure 'nuff, first time he rolled it out of the driveway, he never got it past 1/2 throttle before the entire body twisted up like a candy cane, sprung the doors, windows, everything. There was simply no way a crappy unibody chassis designed for a 90 HP P.O.S. engine was going to stand up to the power that engine could put out. To this day, it's still one of the best "I told you so" moments of my life.

[Annoyed]

unfortunately as I said above here in the states many people my generation and younger can't afford not only the money but also the time it takes to keep up a house....due largely to crippling student loan debt but also to bad career choices...our generation here in the states will probably be the "renter's generation"

I'm sorry, but I have another term for them. And it ain't exactly complementary.

[mad_gater]

I'm sorry, but I have another term for them. And it ain't exactly complementary.

well unfortunately I'll probably be one of the perpetual "renter's generation" as I'm one of the people in that boat....lots of debt and not much to show for it

can probably thank the disappearance of all the old reliable middle-class jobs for that (ones where you only needed basic high school education but were still paid decently enough to be able to support yourself, a family, and a house, like the old manufacturing jobs)

I was unfortunately a slow-learner.....stubbornly stuck it out in college till one day finally realized I just wasn't cut out for university education and by then it was too late....already amassed quite a backlog of student loan debt :/

[Annoyed]

well unfortunately I'll probably be one of the perpetual "renter's generation" as I'm one of the people in that boat....lots of debt and not much to show for it

can probably thank the disappearance of all the old reliable middle-class jobs for that (ones where you only needed basic high school education but were still paid decently enough to be able to support yourself, a family, and a house, like the old manufacturing jobs)

I was unfortunately a slow-learner.....stubbornly stuck it out in college till one day finally realized I just wasn't cut out for university education and by then it was too late....already amassed quite a backlog of student loan debt :/

That is a big problem, has been for a long time, caused by money, but that discussion is far beyond what we are allowed to discuss here. But you seem to be a reasonably intelligent sort, it's not that hard to figure out the details.

[Annoyed]

God save us, I agree with these guys...

The US, Brazil and others lifted lockdowns early. These charts show just how deadly that decision was

[Falcon Horus]

Raise your hand if you had Bubonic Plague on your 2020 Bingo card. -- a herdsman in the Mongolian region of China

Anywho... I see Israel is locking down some more. Nightclubs, cafes, ... have to close up shop.

[Annoyed]

Raise your hand if you had Bubonic Plague on your 2020 Bingo card. -- a herdsman in the Mongolian region of China

Anywho... I see Israel is locking down some more. Nightclubs, cafes, ... have to close up shop.

Good for them. I wish we had the brains to follow suit. Maybe we wouldn't have let CV explode again.

[Annoyed]

And, just in case anyone is still thinking the CV stats are accurate,...

https://www.facebook.com/lesa.fisher...1129788277372/

[Falcon Horus]

Finally...

...Belgian federal government has just made facemasks mandatory in all stores, cinemas, theaters, concert- and conference halls, auditorias, churches, temples, mosques and other religious indoor gathering places, museums and libraries.

There's also a mandatory quarantine and testing for people who return from areas which have been designated code red, like a region in Spain and Lisbon in Portugal.

Code red: regions where the infection rate has gone up again and lockdown restrictions are going back into effect.

There's also orange and green.

People are being asked to immediately leave the area when it goes red. The travel insurance company has already made it known that they will assist people within the first 48 hours of the code-change. If they decide against leaving the affected area, they loose coverage and will have to get back on their own costs.

[Womble]

Anywho... I see Israel is locking down some more. Nightclubs, cafes, ... have to close up shop.

Argh, yes. It's a growing mess over here. We've got ten neighborhoods under full lockdown. Renewed nationwide restrictions on restaurants, hotels, public transport, event halls, public swimming pools, summer camps etc. The government backed off from the demand to turn off aircon in buses because it's 30+ degree summer and people did not take it well.

If localized lockdowns won't cut it and the rate of new infections exceeds 2000 per day, in two weeks there may be a second full-blown national lockdown. We're currently at 1464 per day, so it's pretty much a given that we'll reach 2000.

The big problem, of course, is the "haredi" public (ultra-Orthodox). All educational institutions have been shut down - but synagogues and yeshivas weren't because religious politicians threatened to crash the government coalition. Some ultra-Orthodox rabbis are preaching that there is no need to wash your hands with soap or alcohol gel because traditional "netilat yadayim: (pouring water 3 times on each hand out of a dipper) is clean enough. The level of public ire at the ultra-Orthodox and at the government is hard to describe.

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a good speech yesterday outlining an economic support strategy. Most important for me was extending unemployment benefits for people furloughed or fired due to coronavirus impact until June 2021 or until unemployment rate goes below 10% instead of currently approaching 25% (my wife only got 50 days of unemployment benefits and they're pretty much already used up, and her company isn't likely to recall her from unpaid leave in the next few months, and VERY likely to eventually fire her). Problem is, there is a huge trust crisis and not even the people who will directly benefit from the new strategy are willing to take him at his word. Especially since on the same day he delayed the meeting about benefits for self-employed in order to hold a meeting to launch an investigation into Supreme Court judges who threaten him politically.

Also, there's a rising anger at the police enforcing the mandatory mask wearing. I'm all in favor of mandatory mask wearing, and I regularly tell people off for not wearing masks on a bus and in indoor spaces like shops. But police have been recorded screaming at a 13 year old girl who forgot her mask, and one man who refused to comply with the demand to wear a mask got tasered. People have begun sending advanced warnings through Facebook groups about police patrols. The fine for not wearing a mask is NIS 500 ($150 or so).

Oh and I'm in a Facebook war with the local bus company because they promised to sanitize their buses daily and instead they aren't even wiping away the mold from aircon vents. Every time I have to take a bus instead of the scooter, I document the state of the bus and tag them on Facebook, until victory.

[Annoyed]

Argh, yes. It's a growing mess over here. We've got ten neighborhoods under full lockdown. Renewed nationwide restrictions on restaurants, hotels, public transport, event halls, public swimming pools, summer camps etc. The government backed off from the demand to turn off aircon in buses because it's 30+ degree summer and people did not take it well.

If localized lockdowns won't cut it and the rate of new infections exceeds 2000 per day, in two weeks there may be a second full-blown national lockdown. We're currently at 1464 per day, so it's pretty much a given that we'll reach 2000.

The big problem, of course, is the "haredi" public (ultra-Orthodox). All educational institutions have been shut down - but synagogues and yeshivas weren't because religious politicians threatened to crash the government coalition. Some ultra-Orthodox rabbis are preaching that there is no need to wash your hands with soap or alcohol gel because traditional "netilat yadayim: (pouring water 3 times on each hand out of a dipper) is clean enough. The level of public ire at the ultra-Orthodox and at the government is hard to describe.

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a good speech yesterday outlining an economic support strategy. Most important for me was extending unemployment benefits for people furloughed or fired due to coronavirus impact until June 2021 or until unemployment rate goes below 10% instead of currently approaching 25% (my wife only got 50 days of unemployment benefits and they're pretty much already used up, and her company isn't likely to recall her from unpaid leave in the next few months, and VERY likely to eventually fire her). Problem is, there is a huge trust crisis and not even the people who will directly benefit from the new strategy are willing to take him at his word. Especially since on the same day he delayed the meeting about benefits for self-employed in order to hold a meeting to launch an investigation into Supreme Court judges who threaten him politically.

Also, there's a rising anger at the police enforcing the mandatory mask wearing. I'm all in favor of mandatory mask wearing, and I regularly tell people off for not wearing masks on a bus and in indoor spaces like shops. But police have been recorded screaming at a 13 year old girl who forgot her mask, and one man who refused to comply with the demand to wear a mask got tasered. People have begun sending advanced warnings through Facebook groups about police patrols. The fine for not wearing a mask is NIS 500 ($150 or so).

Oh and I'm in a Facebook war with the local bus company because they promised to sanitize their buses daily and instead they aren't even wiping away the mold from aircon vents. Every time I have to take a bus instead of the scooter, I document the state of the bus and tag them on Facebook, until victory.

Sounds like you're in pretty much the same mess we are. Our and your leaders acquiesced to the demands of the moneymen and re-opened everything far too soon, ignoring some easily predictable facts.

Now, we're gonna have to close down again. And yes, the govt.(s) should provide financial support for their people as they do this. Myself, I saw this resurgence happening as soon as it was clear that the moneymen were going to be successful, and I've been stocking up on supplies for some time now. I've got about a year's worth of toilet paper and paper towel stashed in the basement, several months worth of water, similar for canned food.

We should not be re-opening until we are to the point that masks, distancing and all that crap is no longer recommended. The reason is simple: Our population, and it sounds like yours too will not behave intelligently. Given the chance, they will do stupid things like going to bars, restaurants and in general socializing. We have seen this; it is why the current resurgence is largely youngsters who engage in such things.

Oh, and there has been a lot of noise about this being airborne of the past few weeks, not just spread by breathing out droplets and such. This is quite possibly an engineered virus, and we have no business whatsoever predicting its behavior so soon.

Yes, this is going to be expensive. As far as the cost, I don't know ho much your country's debt to China is, but the U.S. owes a crapload of debt to them. We should place the blame for this squarely at the proper feet, China's and nationalize that debt in order to pay the costs of this.

But we can't even be honest with ourselves about who caused this mess, so I really doubt that will happen,

[jelgate]

See a lot of elderly people not wearing masks