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Corona Virus and the Trail

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    • max.patch wrote:

      roadrunner wrote:

      And I'll only get the J&J vaccine -- one and done :)
      Don't be so sure about that -- Pfizer and Moderna are already testing a 3rd "booster shot." And if that proves to be necessary then I'm sure J&J will have to do the same.
      Booster shots for Pfizer and Moderna to start Sept 20 pending approvals 8 months after the initial vaccination. No word as of yet for J&J.

      It'd be nice if the anti-vaxxers would grow a brain.
      2,000 miler
    • But in their defense, how many more years till we know the side effects? Remember athletes (and I believe perhaps even doctors, or maybe it was just an actor who played a doctor ;) ) used to advertise cigarettes.

      All my children were vaccinated for it when it became available for them (except one who waited until he needed it to be able to fly out of the country), but being 32 to 40 years younger than me I would have a hard time making that decision if I was them. Of course at my age it was much easier (even carried a copy of vaccination card when hiking this summer, but no one asked to see it). It is a balance of risk that we should have the personal freedom to weigh for ourselves.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • My wife's only living family is her sister in Ontario. We haven't seen her in two years, about the time she was diagnosed with MS. So going for a visit ASAP not really optional. It only became possible last week. We are off tomorrow. We may or may not make it across the border. There are lots of hoops to jump through. In addition to being fully vaccinated, we have to pre register for the time and date we arrive at the border, have a negative PCR test in the last 72 hrs, and submit a quarantine plan in case we get sick. In our case, we will stay in my sister-in-law's basement while she throws food down for us (the paragraph I wrote makes it sound better). I also suggested that we could stay in our car with the windows up for the 2 hrs it take to drive back to the US. We shall see what happens.
    • odd man out wrote:

      My wife's only living family is her sister in Ontario. We haven't seen her in two years, about the time she was diagnosed with MS. So going for a visit ASAP not really optional. It only became possible last week. We are off tomorrow. We may or may not make it across the border. There are lots of hoops to jump through. In addition to being fully vaccinated, we have to pre register for the time and date we arrive at the border, have a negative PCR test in the last 72 hrs, and submit a quarantine plan in case we get sick. In our case, we will stay in my sister-in-law's basement while she throws food down for us (the paragraph I wrote makes it sound better). I also suggested that we could stay in our car with the windows up for the 2 hrs it take to drive back to the US. We shall see what happens.
      Wish you well on your trip, hopefully everything goes as planned with no issues.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • odd man out wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      Wish you well on your trip, hopefully everything goes as planned with no issues.
      Canada is really going downhill. They let us in.
      Tomorrow we will find out if the US will let us back in...
      My sister-in-law lives in Kincardine Ontario. This little town on Lake Huron has a nice network of trails running all over town tucked away in ravines between the housing subdivisions. I walked a mile on the trails from the house to the marina to watch the sunset and hear the bagpiper play from the top of the lighthouse.
    • J&J announced three significant workplace policies in the last few weeks.

      • Vaccination proof for all employees / contractors is required as of 10/4. No vaccination requires daily testing before reporting to work.
      • Back to work in the office for three days per week has been delayed until 10/4.
      • Masks are required at workspaces, conference rooms, hallways unless you are eating and /or drinking.


      My takeaways: One more month of shorts and slippers while working from home. And when in the office, carry a coffee mug everywhere like Wally in the Dilbert cartoon.

      On a brighter note, the 'in the office for three days per week' is now the standard work arrangement. I will be working from home on Mondays & Fridays until my retirement.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • Pre-COVID, outsourced twice (2014 and again from the FIRST outsource, in 2017), I worked my last 9 months of FTE doing WFH 5 days a week. Even before that, I was WFH 2 or 3 days a week. Happily retired at 58. COVID showed many companies that their employees can, for the most part, WFH and get a great deal accomplished.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • rhjanes wrote:

      Pre-COVID, outsourced twice (2014 and again from the FIRST outsource, in 2017), I worked my last 9 months of FTE doing WFH 5 days a week. Even before that, I was WFH 2 or 3 days a week. Happily retired at 58. COVID showed many companies that their employees can, for the most part, WFH and get a great deal accomplished.
      I agree. We launched quite a few products over the last 17 months while working from home. Folks came into the office when required for testing or other hands-on activities.

      I think that's why J&J made the decision to move forward with the 3-day schedule as the standard. Friday + one other day WFH. And I'm sure they looked at the cost benefit of reducing support staff on Fridays.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • I'd love to be able to work from home but my suburban back yard has too many trees for helicopters to land there. :D
      Meanwhile I'm stuck at home for 2 weeks while I quarantine due to having come down with Covid, despite being vaccinated in March. I don't know where or when I was exposed but I felt terrible last Friday evening , Saturday and Sunday. It let up some starting Monday, the day I was tested, and today I don't feel too bad. I'll call the symptoms mild at this point. I'll need a negative test to be able to go back to my job. I don't have the energy to get anything useful done at home so I'm just taking it easy. I haven't watched this much TV in years.
    • LIhikers wrote:

      I'd love to be able to work from home but my suburban back yard has too many trees for helicopters to land there. :D
      Meanwhile I'm stuck at home for 2 weeks while I quarantine due to having come down with Covid, despite being vaccinated in March. I don't know where or when I was exposed but I felt terrible last Friday evening , Saturday and Sunday. It let up some starting Monday, the day I was tested, and today I don't feel too bad. I'll call the symptoms mild at this point. I'll need a negative test to be able to go back to my job. I don't have the energy to get anything useful done at home so I'm just taking it easy. I haven't watched this much TV in years.
      Sorry to hear!
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • max.patch wrote:

      It depends on the type of job and the integrity of the person.
      And sadly, the boss. Our daughter was working at a small Design company for something like 5 years. They were all working hard pre covid and then WFH when COVID hit. The boss/owner got Covid! Then recovered and demanded they all return to the office. Because "no one is working". Our daughter about fell over. She tried to point out that if "no one is working", just how did they do some 5 client presentation in the prior 8 weeks? There were lots of other issues being caused by the owner. She wound up quitting and is loving the new place. When she was interviewing and asked about WFH due to Covid, she got strange looks and the main guy said "Wait....you mean you are being told to be in an office? We have sublet our old lease and are doing Hotel style working now as our team is getting MORE done than we expect of them!!". Yeah, the (old) boss can cause the Integrity issues.
      She can do lots of design and art work WFH. I was a computer guy so Have-High-Speed-Internet, VPN connect and it's like being in the office.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • rhjanes wrote:

      LIhikers wrote:

      I'd love to be able to work from home but my suburban back yard has too many trees for helicopters to land there. :D
      Meanwhile I'm stuck at home for 2 weeks while I quarantine due to having come down with Covid, despite being vaccinated in March. I don't know where or when I was exposed but I felt terrible last Friday evening , Saturday and Sunday. It let up some starting Monday, the day I was tested, and today I don't feel too bad. I'll call the symptoms mild at this point. I'll need a negative test to be able to go back to my job. I don't have the energy to get anything useful done at home so I'm just taking it easy. I haven't watched this much TV in years.
      Sorry to hear!
      +1 on the sorry to hear. But glad to hear that the vaccination kept you out of the hospital.

      If you're looking for good wholesome TV entertainment, I'd recommend binge-watching Drunk History.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • LIhikers wrote:

      I'd love to be able to work from home but my suburban back yard has too many trees for helicopters to land there. :D
      Meanwhile I'm stuck at home for 2 weeks while I quarantine due to having come down with Covid, despite being vaccinated in March. I don't know where or when I was exposed but I felt terrible last Friday evening , Saturday and Sunday. It let up some starting Monday, the day I was tested, and today I don't feel too bad. I'll call the symptoms mild at this point. I'll need a negative test to be able to go back to my job. I don't have the energy to get anything useful done at home so I'm just taking it easy. I haven't watched this much TV in years.
      Sorry to hear that; hope the worst is over and you can continue to ride it out at home.
      2,000 miler
    • ^ Yep lots of photo's looking like that after this first weekend of college fooseball. I saw one out of Arkansas, packed house. Sadly here in TX, the numbers for the elementary and middle schools are skyrocketing. Some districts have had to close some schools down because 20 percent of the kids have COVID. Sadly our gobernment also has outlawed any "required" mandates. The high school numbers are not showing up on the evening news. Probably because many of those kids are 12+ so at least could be vaccinated.
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • It was hell, I can’t even describe it. People who are sick and need care aren’t getting it because there is truly no space or equipment left for anyone. Hallways, alcoves, waiting rooms, every available space has patients. I treated and d/c’d people straight from the lobby, there ain’t no privacy. One of the nurses I worked with put in her notice yesterday. Hug a healthcare worker today, they need it.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Traffic Jam wrote:

      It was hell, I can’t even describe it. People who are sick and need care aren’t getting it because there is truly no space or equipment left for anyone. Hallways, alcoves, waiting rooms, every available space has patients. I treated and d/c’d people straight from the lobby, there ain’t no privacy. One of the nurses I worked with put in her notice yesterday. Hug a healthcare worker today, they need it.
      Truly appreciate you and others being there when we really need you! :thumbup:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Traffic Jam wrote:




      The situation we’re in now is why we had the original quarantine…to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. Believe what you want but hospitals are overwhelmed by the unvaccinated, not the vaccinated. And the reality is that many of those are young and healthy. It’s a damn shame.
      The major hospital system in my community updates the stats regularly...89% of all covid patients hospitalized are unvaccinated, 91% of all covid patients in the ICU are unvaccinated, and 89% of all covid patients that are ventilated are unvaccinated. In the past I've seen numbers in those categories as high as 95%. I think thats pretty much the way it is everywhere.
      2,000 miler
    • J&J put out a new release yesterday. The main point was that the single dose vaccine still offers excellent protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death, regardless of the Covid-19 virus variant. The secondary point was that testing of a booster showed that it resulted in a robust increase in antibody production.

      What did the national news outlets report on? The latter. For some reason, the media is trying to scare the population into thinking that everyone needs to run out and get a booster shot tomorrow. The vaccination goal is to prime the body's defense system to be prepared to fight a new intruder, not to create a steady supply of antibodies.

      And here's a anecdotal story for y'all. My sister (who lives in Italy), her Italian boyfriend, and a mutual friend (all vaccinated) jumped into a car and drove 15 minutes to a restaurant. Driver and boyfriend in the from seats, sister in the back. Driver and boyfriend repeatedly share a cigarette lighter throughout the meal. Driver comes down with symptoms and tests positive for Coronavirus. Boyfriend comes down with symptoms a couple of days later and tests positive for Coronavirus. Sister tests negative. Here's the important part: Boyfriend is an elderly gentleman, chain smoker, and has COPD. He never got anything worse than a runny nose and mild fever. So while he shows up in the statistics as a positive case, the Pfizer vaccine successfully prevented him from being hospitalized. 18 months ago, the hospitals would have given him a poor chance of survival and placed him last on the ventilator list. All hail Big Pharma!
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • StalkingTortoise wrote:

      J&J put out a new release yesterday. The main point was that the single dose vaccine still offers excellent protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death, regardless of the Covid-19 virus variant. The secondary point was that testing of a booster showed that it resulted in a robust increase in antibody production.

      What did the national news outlets report on? The latter. For some reason, the media is trying to scare the population into thinking that everyone needs to run out and get a booster shot tomorrow. The vaccination goal is to prime the body's defense system to be prepared to fight a new intruder, not to create a steady supply of antibodies.

      And here's a anecdotal story for y'all. My sister (who lives in Italy), her Italian boyfriend, and a mutual friend (all vaccinated) jumped into a car and drove 15 minutes to a restaurant. Driver and boyfriend in the from seats, sister in the back. Driver and boyfriend repeatedly share a cigarette lighter throughout the meal. Driver comes down with symptoms and tests positive for Coronavirus. Boyfriend comes down with symptoms a couple of days later and tests positive for Coronavirus. Sister tests negative. Here's the important part: Boyfriend is an elderly gentleman, chain smoker, and has COPD. He never got anything worse than a runny nose and mild fever. So while he shows up in the statistics as a positive case, the Pfizer vaccine successfully prevented him from being hospitalized. 18 months ago, the hospitals would have given him a poor chance of survival and placed him last on the ventilator list. All hail Big Pharma!
      The medical expert I saw interviewed (I think ABC news) made those exact points (both of them).

      The post was edited 1 time, last by odd man out ().

    • max.patch wrote:

      Just booked my booster for tomorrow afternoon at the Walgreens less than a mile from home.
      I'm not eligible until mid Oct, and then only if they say that "teacher" includes university professor. Different people interpret it differently, but as I teach lots of people who want to be doctors and nurses, I don't think it's out of line.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by odd man out ().

    • max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Just booked my booster for tomorrow afternoon at the Walgreens less than a mile from home.
      I'm not eligible until mid Oct, and then only if they say that "teacher" includes university professor. Different people interpret it differently.
      That's odd. Don't see how professors could be excluded under any defintion of the term.
      Sometimes "teachers" is defined as K-12. That happened last spring. They said teachers were eligible but when I went to fill out the reservation form the question asked if I was a K-12 teacher. The computer spite out as ineligible. I think it is applied variably.
    • odd man out wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Just booked my booster for tomorrow afternoon at the Walgreens less than a mile from home.
      I'm not eligible until mid Oct, and then only if they say that "teacher" includes university professor. Different people interpret it differently.
      That's odd. Don't see how professors could be excluded under any defintion of the term.
      Sometimes "teachers" is defined as K-12. That happened last spring. They said teachers were eligible but when I went to fill out the reservation form the question asked if I was a K-12 teacher. The computer spite out as ineligible. I think it is applied variably.
      Fortunately the Pharmacy College of our university is the one's giving our vaccines. Got both of mine Jan/Feb, so hopefully Oct I will be able to get the booster.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General