The Random Thought Thread

[wolfson]

sorry trash 80 , i went a bit overboard . we talk **** to our Prime Minister all the time . we don`t stand when he walks in a room , and we abuse the crap out of them straight to their face .

 

[shutyertrap]

No, I get it Wolfson. Both sides here like ripping into each other, but it's gotten to a particular kind of nasty where people all but stop listening to what the other is saying and instead it becomes a who can shout loudest and get the best ding in. You see it on Twitter, Facebook, any Yahoo comment section, but I like our pinball community here having a certain level of civility. Throw facts, quotes, and opinions at each other all you want. It's just the names and labeling that drive me up a wall as it shuts down conversations in their tracks.

 

[wolfson]

got it , i`ll behave myself .

 

[Pete]

people are starting to go crazy. regardless of any political stance we are screwed. this isnt that time we all had to stay in playing video games and watching tv... this is that time they shut down all businesses and everyone i know just lost their jobs overnight. people havnt prepaired we dont have savings we dont know where money is going to come from. i have about 3k right now and two weeks of food. me and my girlfriend dont know how many months this is going to go on for or when our jobs will come back. this is terrifying. im not even afraid of getting sick but im afraid of what people are going to go through and how long this shut down will last. clearly when the first comes we wont be paying the 1,500 rent our landlord expects. when people run out of money and food they are going to riot.

 

[trash80]

people are starting to go crazy. regardless of any political stance we are screwed. this isnt that time we all had to stay in playing video games and watching tv... this is that time they shut down all businesses and everyone i know just lost their jobs overnight. people havnt prepaired we dont have savings we dont know where money is going to come from. i have about 3k right now and two weeks of food. me and my girlfriend dont know how many months this is going to go on for or when our jobs will come back. this is terrifying. im not even afraid of getting sick but im afraid of what people are going to go through and how long this shut down will last. clearly when the first comes we wont be paying the 1,500 rent our landlord expects. when people run out of money and food they are going to riot.

Immediately file for unemployment benefits, you can do this online. Be proactive and call your landlord ASAP and explain your situation. These lockdowns are preemptive to full on martial law, and hopefully it doesn't actually need to get to that. Be aware and prepared for this to last a couple months.

 

[wolfson]

trash80 and Pete , over here they have given to pensioners , carers ,disability and health card people 2 lots of $750 , small business $100,000 to keep workers on , guarantied loans for to $250,000 for 3 years . banks , you don`t have to pay loans for up to 6 months . if you lose your job they have doubled centre link payments , so now you will get $1,100 a fortnight . pubs , clubs casinos all closed . any place selling food coffee , will be takeaways only . they told us this is on for at least 6 months . schools , up to you if you want to pull your kids . there are more benefits , sorry i can`t remember them all . stay safe everyone , this is going to be horrible .

 

[wolfson]

i forgot , any handouts the Australian Government gives is tax free .

 

[wolfson]

 

[wolfson]

this was the 1st stimulus .

 

[wolfson]

2nd stimulus and looks like there will more coming as things get worse . stay safe .

 

[wolfson]

how are you all going ? are you in lock down ?well i can`t see my kids and grand kids , looks like at least 6 months . that`s the hardest part , the rest i can put up with . nearly every State is in lock down . today was sad watching all the people lining up at centrelink after losing their jobs . looks like plenty of face time for us

 

[meanpinball]

I'm trying to do some guesswork as to when supply chains will return to "normal." They have to normalize as the average person's storage space is limited.

Toilet paper for example, takes up a lot of space in cabinets and bins. Refrigerators can only stock so much food.

Some very calorie dense foods such as dry rice and pasta can be stored in very large quantities without taking up much space, but even canned vegetables and other goods take up quite a bit of space in kitchen cabinets.

This is a just long way of saying supplies will have to normalize as credit cards get maxed out, storage space maxed out. Even with people staying home far more, this means businesses and public facilities will require far less of those same resources.

My guess is that the purchase glut and hoarding has already ended and supplies will be back to reasonable stock in about a months' time. Just a guess. If anyone has solid information to the contrary, I'd like to read up on it.

 

[Naildriver74]

Unfortunately we’ve never been in this situation before in modern times. The closest would have been in 1918. Back then we were a lot more self reliant than today. I agree with a month’s time as long as people quarantine to keep the spread and deaths to a minimum. My opinion may not mean much. I’m just a 63 year old trim carpenter who has prepared for something like this to happen.
There’s one more thing that needs to be done. Term limits for our Senate and House of Rep’s some of these people have been in office for so long they have lost touch with reality. They have no idea how the average American lives or what we really care about.

 

[trash80]

Unfortunately we’ve never been in this situation before in modern times. The closest would have been in 1918. Back then we were a lot more self reliant than today. I agree with a month’s time as long as people quarantine to keep the spread and deaths to a minimum. My opinion may not mean much. I’m just a 63 year old trim carpenter who has prepared for something like this to happen.

The 40's to 50's polio epidemics may be more familiar to the current situation than the "Spanish Flu" outbreak with Theaters, Parks, Swimming Pools, and basically any summertime outdoor activity prohibited for months. It was a very scary time for many people and it hit a lot of communities, not just with death, but with permanent disabilities that disproportionately impacted children.

From a hospital and medical care standpoint, the 2009 "Bird Flu" pandemic saw From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC numbers indicate there were 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (range: 8868-18,306) in the United States due to the (H1N1)pdm09 virus.

But when looking at personal liberty and global economics, this current pandemic will likely not be eclipsed in damage done for many decades.

 

[wolfson]

fellas looks like we delving into the unknown , i`ve never seen anything like this worldwide . i`m glad our football codes have called off there seasons . well it`s so hard for me to say this , i cancelled my sports package from Kayo , i never ever thought i would cancel . i`m glad because peoples lives are more important . most of these footballers have young kids , parents and grand parents , we expect everyone else to follow the rules . all that`s left is the dipsticks at the IOC , i beleive they`ll suspend the Olympics .stuff me , the the lines for unemployment at centrelink is not easing today .unemployment all round the world must be staggering . stay safe everyone .

 

[wolfson]

Unfortunately we’ve never been in this situation before in modern times. The closest would have been in 1918. Back then we were a lot more self reliant than today. I agree with a month’s time as long as people quarantine to keep the spread and deaths to a minimum. My opinion may not mean much. I’m just a 63 year old trim carpenter who has prepared for something like this to happen.
There’s one more thing that needs to be done. Term limits for our Senate and House of Rep’s some of these people have been in office for so long they have lost touch with reality. They have no idea how the average American lives or what we really care about.

Naildriver , totally agree about the pollies , there bloody clueless , yours and mine . one thing about our boofheads , when there`s an emergency they are all in together we`ve had 2 stimulus packages , they were passed the next day straight away .

 

[meanpinball]

The two grocery stores I shop most frequently at can't give me a firm answer as to when supplies will normalize. As of now, their information is as such:

store 1: right now, they are getting as low as 1/5th of normal inventory (I assume for certain products or classes of products and not overall)

store 2: estimate is that low stock items will be (more) readily available in approximately two weeks.

store 3 (based on news article): everything's coming in, but you have to show up during morning stocking to guarantee your ration.

From the few articles I've read, supply chains in the US are in pretty good shape. Obviously not ideal, but not a state of disaster.

I have a few months supplies of what I need, but it's annoying not being able to grab a few products here and there when I run out: pasta for example.

 

[meanpinball]

The level of emergency preparedness in the US is an absolute joke. It's almost as if you couldn't do any worse. The only concrete step I've seen taken to help anyone here in the US is to eliminate the 1 week wait for those collecting unemployment insurance.

Otherwise, nothing. There is no relief or stimulus package (Dems are blocking for political reasons). Individuals are hoarding and then price gouging. State and county governments are doing absolutely nothing to help us except to quarantine and isolate us. So basically we are getting screwed with absolutely zero support system anywhere from the government top to bottom.

Somebody fill me in on whatever it is that I'm missing. I don't see any productive steps being taken to help anyone concretely except to institute quarantine. Even the quarantine isn't especially effective as the public parks from reports are completely swamped.

The walking and biking trails are busier than I've ever seen them. Basically instead of people working with a limited number of co-workers in offices, people are gathering by the hundreds and thousands in parks and on trails. Marginally safer according to germ theory since more people are outdoors, but the social and economic cost is exorbitant.

The cure is 10x worse than the problem.

 

[wolfson]

meanpinball , we had dipsicks on friday at the beaches , was quickly solved , police brought in . i didn`t do my walk this morning , went shopping instead . more empty aisles than ever. just went for my walk, finished at 2-00 pm . yesterday morning everything was open until midday . today Southbank was dead . from Melbourne street going up Grey st to Vulture street , wow ghost town , shops closed just a few open . feel sorry for all who lost their jobs . haven`t a clue where we`re going from here . our Government told us might like this for at least 6 months .our boofhead pollies act as one only when there`s an emergency , thank God . they shoved the 2 stimulus packages through within 24 hours . they already told us if things get worse , more stimulus packages will be coming , stay safe .my pea brain head is spinning like a spinning top .

 

[meanpinball]

This is way off topic, but how similar are Aussie and New Zealand culture? If I could immigrate to NZ now, I think I'd do it immediately. I don't think it's a paradise or anything, but come on, Americans' response from citizenry to the very top has been completely pathetic.

At the very least, one person in the country could've gotten riled up about our civil rights been stolen from us overnight, but it hasn't happened. Not a single person! Not even Alex Jones is complaining about it. There is literally not a single person anywhere in the country who is upset or protesting about it.

This is how demoralized we are as a country. The only modest positive sign I see is massive overwhelming opposition to shelter in place. It's more of a passive aggressive, F this, I'm going out kind of an instinctive response rather than anything even remotely political or principled, but perhaps it's a start.

Otherwise, it's mass hoarding of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and dry pasta.

I'm concerned our pathetic lack of a response will embolden whoever's truly in power to pursue even more of a power and civil rights grab.

In the meantime, all I want is to be able grab a handful of items without waiting a month.

There are rumors however, that the other shoe is about to drop and I hope they're wrong.