Octopus Overlords

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:12 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:28 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:14 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:09 pm Not about chicken sandwiches, but due to the impacts of COVID my employer is allowing us to roll an extra week of vacation over to next year. Normally we can roll 40 hours over, this year we can roll 80.

I have a hard enough time taking 4 weeks off, now you want me to take 5 next year (6 if I actually use that one week I've been rolling over since 2002)? Maybe I should buy an extra week and just take a couple months off.

It's not healthy. I'm at 227.2 hours and I have to scramble every time I approach the cap.

My wife has lost time to the cap this year. She is permitted to sell it at 90% and she complains about losing that 10%. It's hard to convince her that 90% is way better than 0%. She has been at the same hospital for 22 years and works part time. She earns almost as much vacation time as she works (not really, but it can feel that way) and has almost no need to take a vacation and with the workload few opportunities these days.

When I left my previous job at 19 years I had 350 sick days that went poof. They were legacies from before PTO and could only be used for short term disability (100% paid) in the PTO.era. I had 230+ PTO that I cashed but losing those sick days was kind of annoying. I was getting something like 1 PTO day for every 8 days worked.

Starting back at 0 put me in conservation mode. Unnecessary, it turns out.

Freyland wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:15 am And kiddie pools.
And washing the dog with the hose.
Hell, and kids drinking from the hose. And water balloons in your face. Etc.

TCEQ is currently testing the chlorine levels in the City of Lake Jackson's water source and has determined it will take approximately three days to clear the system. Local residents can receive a free case of water from the city in the interim.
...
According to the CDC, 145 people were infected from 1962 to 2018 and only four survived.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:53 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:12 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:28 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:14 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:09 pm Not about chicken sandwiches, but due to the impacts of COVID my employer is allowing us to roll an extra week of vacation over to next year. Normally we can roll 40 hours over, this year we can roll 80.

I have a hard enough time taking 4 weeks off, now you want me to take 5 next year (6 if I actually use that one week I've been rolling over since 2002)? Maybe I should buy an extra week and just take a couple months off.

It's not healthy. I'm at 227.2 hours and I have to scramble every time I approach the cap.

My wife has lost time to the cap this year. She is permitted to sell it at 90% and she complains about losing that 10%. It's hard to convince her that 90% is way better than 0%. She has been at the same hospital for 22 years and works part time. She earns almost as much vacation time as she works (not really, but it can feel that way) and has almost no need to take a vacation and with the workload few opportunities these days.

When I left my previous job at 19 years I had 350 sick days that went poof. They were legacies from before PTO and could only be used for short term disability (100% paid) in the PTO.era. I had 230+ PTO that I cashed but losing those sick days was kind of annoying. I was getting something like 1 PTO day for every 8 days worked.

Starting back at 0 put me in conservation mode. Unnecessary, it turns out.

You had 350 days of sick leave saved after 19 years? How fast did you accumulate sick leave? I thought the 4 hours of sick leave I earned every pay period was generous, and it would take me 27 years where I work, without using ANY sick leave, to get 350 days of it.

I currently have 27 days of annual leave and 132.5 days of sick leave. I can carry over 30 days of annual leave and unlimited sick leave every year.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 2:11 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:53 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:12 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:28 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:14 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:09 pm Not about chicken sandwiches, but due to the impacts of COVID my employer is allowing us to roll an extra week of vacation over to next year. Normally we can roll 40 hours over, this year we can roll 80.

I have a hard enough time taking 4 weeks off, now you want me to take 5 next year (6 if I actually use that one week I've been rolling over since 2002)? Maybe I should buy an extra week and just take a couple months off.

It's not healthy. I'm at 227.2 hours and I have to scramble every time I approach the cap.

My wife has lost time to the cap this year. She is permitted to sell it at 90% and she complains about losing that 10%. It's hard to convince her that 90% is way better than 0%. She has been at the same hospital for 22 years and works part time. She earns almost as much vacation time as she works (not really, but it can feel that way) and has almost no need to take a vacation and with the workload few opportunities these days.

When I left my previous job at 19 years I had 350 sick days that went poof. They were legacies from before PTO and could only be used for short term disability (100% paid) in the PTO.era. I had 230+ PTO that I cashed but losing those sick days was kind of annoying. I was getting something like 1 PTO day for every 8 days worked.

Starting back at 0 put me in conservation mode. Unnecessary, it turns out.

You had 350 days of sick leave saved after 19 years? How fast did you accumulate sick leave? I thought the 4 hours of sick leave I earned every pay period was generous, and it would take me 27 years where I work, without using ANY sick leave, to get 350 days of it.

I currently have 27 days of annual leave and 132.5 days of sick leave. I can carry over 30 days of annual leave and unlimited sick leave every year.

That's supposed to be 350 hours, my bad. About 9 weeks.

Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc's MRNA.O coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday.
...
The study was an extension of Moderna’s Phase I safety trial, first conducted in individuals aged 18-55. It tested two doses of Moderna’s vaccine - 25 micrograms and 100 micrograms - in 40 adults aged 56 to 70 and 71 and older.

Overall, the team found that in older adults who received two injections of the 100 microgram dose 28 days apart, the vaccine produced immune responses roughly in line with those seen in younger adults.

Moderna is already testing the higher dose in a large Phase III trial, the final stage before seeking emergency authorization or approval.

Side effects, which included headache, fatigue, body aches, chills and injection site pain, were deemed mainly mild to moderate.

Kraken wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:14 pm Neanderthal DNA makes some of us more susceptible to Covid-19.

Tony Capra, a geneticist at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the study, thought it was plausible that the Neanderthal chunk of DNA originally provided a benefit — perhaps even against other viruses. “But that was 40,000 years ago, and here we are now,” he said.

It’s possible that an immune response that worked against ancient viruses has ended up overreacting against the new coronavirus. People who develop severe cases of Covid-19 typically do so because their immune systems launch uncontrolled attacks that end up scarring their lungs and causing inflammation.

When they compared the genetic profiles of about 3,200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and nearly 900,000 people from the general population, they found that a cluster of genes on chromosome 3 inherited from Neanderthals who lived more than 50,000 years ago is linked with 60% higher odds of needing hospitalization.

Years ago, the anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about clay pots, tools for hunting, grinding-stones, or religious artifacts.

But no. Mead said that the first evidence of civilization was a 15,000 years old fractured femur found in an archaeological site. A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal. This particular bone had been broken and had healed.
...
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that another person has taken time to stay with the fallen, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended them through recovery. A healed femur indicates that someone has helped a fellow human, rather than abandoning them to save their own life.

The numbers of confirmed cases are partly dependent on the number of tests administered, which is why the state tracks positivity rate as one of its key indicators.

The state's weekly positivity rate hit a record high of 24% as of Aug. 11 and has recently come down closer to 7%. The rate is averaged over the previous seven days and calculates the ratio of positive new cases compared with the number of tests conducted.

Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said that a rate of 10% or more is cause for concern. Here is a look at the rate since early April.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:20 am My wife's nurse who comes out here a few days a week to take care of her has been assigned a Covid patient too.
I must admit it makes us a little nervous having her come here after that. We've been wondering if we should have her wear a mask while she's here.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:28 am

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:20 am My wife's nurse who comes out here a few days a week to take care of her has been assigned a Covid patient too.
I must admit it makes us a little nervous having her come here after that. We've been wondering if we should have her wear a mask while she's here.

Absolutely, 100% yes. You guys should also be wearing masks while she's there.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:20 am My wife's nurse who comes out here a few days a week to take care of her has been assigned a Covid patient too.
I must admit it makes us a little nervous having her come here after that. We've been wondering if we should have her wear a mask while she's here.

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:21 pm

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:20 am My wife's nurse who comes out here a few days a week to take care of her has been assigned a Covid patient too.
I must admit it makes us a little nervous having her come here after that. We've been wondering if we should have her wear a mask while she's here.

Why is there even a possibility that she doesn't? She should even if she didn't have a COVID patient.

wonderpug wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 2:13 pm

Alefroth wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 1:21 pm

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:20 am My wife's nurse who comes out here a few days a week to take care of her has been assigned a Covid patient too.
I must admit it makes us a little nervous having her come here after that. We've been wondering if we should have her wear a mask while she's here.

Why is there even a possibility that she doesn't? She should even if she didn't have a COVID patient.

The nurse shouldn't even be assigned both COVID and non-COVID patients. You shouldn't be in this position at all. A few different doctor and nurse friends I have say that their hospitals strictly keep COVID and non-COVID interacting staff away from each other, but I guess that's not a universal policy.

Ottawa's medical officer of health issued a dire warning to residents Friday, saying the entire health-care system is on the verge of collapse if individuals don't take personal responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"Our health system is in crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic," Dr. Vera Etches said during a video teleconference Friday morning.

"As Ottawa's medical officer of health, I'm sounding the alarm. This is our warning bell. With this spike, we've entered crisis territory, and if we do not slow the transmission it will lead to stricter lockdown, closure of businesses, public venues, even schools."

Her comments came the same day Ottawa saw 142 new cases of COVID-19, setting a new daily record. The previous high was 105. Hospitalizations have also doubled over the last 10 days, Etches said.

Etches described a testing and contact tracing system that's "nearly broken" under the current demand, and said the city's hospitals and long-term care homes are stretched to capacity.

The only way to immediately prevent the situation from getting worse, Etches said, is for individuals to limit their close contacts to their households and one or two other "essential supports" such as caregivers. With everyone else, they should wear masks and maintain a two-metre distance.

Otherwise, she said the city could soon see more than 200 new cases a day, and could face another lockdown.

"What can be done quickly is changing our behaviour," Etches said. "Prevention is the only way now, today, that we can slow the crisis in the rest of the health system."

Kraken wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:30 pm 142 cases is a daily record? That's adorable. MA had 708 yesterday -- the highest since early May, but nowhere near our record.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 4:17 pm The state of MA has about 6 or 7 times the population of the city of Ottawa, so the per capita rates are fairly comparable.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 7:11 pm I was standing in Walmart today looking at the empty shelf where Lysol should be when a woman and her grown daughter walked past me to something that was in stock. I didn't see what it was but it was a limited buy item. The exchange went like this...

woman - grab some of those
daughter - but they say only .......
woman - I dont care your grandmother is on dialysis and can use them
daughter - But you're only supposed....
woman - just grab a bunch we're getting them.

My first thought was I guess they need them. My next was wait a sec what about the NEXT customer whose grandmother or someone needs them and you've grabbed too many.

Asshats.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:17 am At least I didn't poke myself in the eye.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 1:02 am Those flashes of light are worrying. I think thats a sign of a detached retina.