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Post by quincannon on Mar 3, 2021 17:07:17 GMT
You know Mike, getting a COVID shot(s) should me no more difficult or time consuming than going to your local pharmacy to get your annual flu shot. There is absolutely no reason that in the year 2021, anyone would have to travel the distances Dave describes. I don't know what the conditions are in the UK as far as supply and distribution goes, but from all the reports I get from Ian, and ten or fifteen other UK citizens, naval model friends of mine, the UK is taking protection of their people very seriously. Hell they got through the Blitz and came out stronger as a nation, and some of us are whining about having to wear a mask, and not being able to go to our favorite beer joint. We have become a nation of pu**ies. Make no mistake, those that wish us ill are watching our vulnerabilities. Next time instead of New York, and DC, they will hit Oxford, Mississippi, and Austin, Texas, the places where we are the most vulnerable, and are less likely to be able to recover quickly.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2021 17:43:44 GMT
I agree. But there are some differences.
The disease is new to humans, so we have not spent the previous year preparing the vaccine for the present year. These things take time to produce and only so much is available at a given time, thus there is more demand than supply (even if with all the people who decide they are not going to get the virus (my 2nd daughter and her family for one). "They" have established a priority or people and therefore the eligible compete against one another to get it, resulting in Having to schedule the shot.
After my wife was cleared, I enrolled us on the state list and when Publix supermarket got its supply for the period, I got one scheduled there. (The state list and Puplix, and several other companies, apparently all compete and the response is not coordinated.
It is also notable, the flu campaign during the Gerald Ford Administratin was a fiasco and one of the leaders was Fauci. (The Uses of History).
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Post by yanmacca on Mar 3, 2021 19:50:53 GMT
We are taking it seriously over here; the cops are busting illegal parties every weekend and just travelling over six miles to walk on a beach can bring you a £50 fine. The police are trawling car parks of beauty spots like beaches and scenic walks and scanning number plates in an effort to see who have travelled out of their area to take advantage on the open spaces. These are the guide lines given to us by the government, pretty clear to me;
If you need to travel you should stay local. This means you should avoid travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live. You should reduce the number of journeys you make overall.
The waring of face masks is tough too, you can’t go into a building and not ware one. But these things are there for our own protection and we should try and comply with the rules and not try to be difficult by complaining about it.
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Post by quincannon on Mar 3, 2021 20:20:22 GMT
I generally agree with both of you, but I maintain the time for planning was in 2020 before any vaccine was developed and available, thus before it could be distributed. We should have identified places to get vaccinated, made sure we had enough supplies (other than the vaccine), worked out routes to, and central locations for supply depots, made sure we had the required transportation and people to operate those transportation means.
Had we done this everything would be in place and ready when the vaccine itself came on line. Goddammit we are Americans, we can fix these problems and get the job done.
Ian, I am not so sure that face masks completely prevent infection. You would know much more about that than I do, given your present employment. What they are though is an outward sign that we care about our fellow man, and are doing all we can to insure their security and safety.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2021 20:32:17 GMT
I generally agree with both of you, but I maintain the time for planning was in 2020 before any vaccine was developed and available, thus before it could be distributed. We should have identified places to get vaccinated, made sure we had enough supplies (other than the vaccine), worked out routes to, and central locations for supply depots, made sure we had the required transportation and people to operate those transportation means. Had we done this everything would be in place and ready when the vaccine itself came on line. Goddammit we are Americans, we can fix these problems and get the job done. Ian, I am not so sure that face masks completely prevent infection. You would know much more about that than I do, given your present employment. What they are though is an outward sign that we care about our fellow man, and are doing all we can to insure their security and safety. I agree with the planning, but Hurricane, Forest Fire, Flooding, and Earthquake planning for the US seems to have atrophied in the US Government (to say nothing of conducting war) since the Bush II Administration. Those are well known things that normally have a sanctuary zone which planners can utilize to prestock equipment. The epidemic has no such zone and the last times we ran a response for that was in 1918 and again in the 1970's for Swine Flu. On the other hand, since we do prepare for the annual Flu vaccine campaign, you would think they could modify the plans in advance in order to take advantage of existing TTP. But no. We were flat on our ass and are suffering more deaths than India!
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Post by quincannon on Mar 3, 2021 20:55:44 GMT
I would suggest that our planning for these home grown events stopped long before George W. Bush was in office. It stopped sometime around when we were kids and told to hide under our desks in grade school as a means of mitigating an atomic blast. We have never been very good at it, no matter what the potential crisis might be. I think democracies in general are all like that, and I'll be damned if I know why. What this nation needs is what my mother always said will prevent everything, a good healthy dose of cod liver oil. Of course my mother's remedy for drowning was - don't ever swim. If any of you think I am kidding about these two matriarchal dictums - I'm not
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Post by yanmacca on Mar 3, 2021 21:02:08 GMT
When we first started to ware face masks, I asked one of the doctors if this will do me any good and he said, it wouldn't protect you if someone next to you had covid and didn't have a mask on, but if you had covid and displayed no symptoms but you had a mask on, it would rescrict you from passing it on, but he finished by saying "don't quote me, because no real evidence available".
But I have gotten used to it now and I can can work in a warm room [believe me, doctors surgeries are alway hot] with a mask and gloves for 2+ hours.
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Post by Beth on Mar 3, 2021 21:13:39 GMT
Beth I am not familiar with Texas' guidelines on who is eligiable for shots but here in Mississppi you would have qualified to recive your COVID as soon as the program began on December 15. We started with those 75 and older and those who qualified under a medical condition. We have been fortunte to have had a smooth distribution program operated by the Mississippi National Guard and except for the winter storm 2 weeks ago which threw all of us for a loop. We are a much smaller state, 3 million citizens, but we are moving so far without any major problems and no scandals. Have y'all been able to have your plumbing issues resolved yet? I have a young friend who is really in a mess. He has a leaking pipe under his slab house and facing a major investment to have it corrected! Regards Dave Texas is a state by itself--as our recent crisis highlighted and now the the Gov. latest mandate lifted all mask restrictions show. You can expect to see a drop in TX cases but it will be because no one could get out because of the storm. You can expect to see the cases to go up though after that because people are having to go and forage for food, water and heat. The grocery stores STILL aren't stocked so it has become a problem. We can't get milk, eggs. canned soups and other basics but for some reason they subbed out my order for 2 1 lb packages of hamburger to 2 3lb chubs of burger so we have enough burger to last us for several weeks. We also have a stock of tuna, spam, rice and pasta that will last us for at least another few weeks. As my kid's kindergarten teacher used to say "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Other relatives of mine in Houston, Dallas and SA already have their shots but the Austin area seem to be having trouble getting both the shots and then getting them in people's arm. The storm has also put the effort behind of course. To give you an idea what it's been like, we were first told that it would have to come from our primary care clinic so we signed up there. After a number of weeks, it was decided that going through Primary care locations wouldn't work, and that you had to go by your county (Austin area is more than one county) . We had to reregister with Williamson Co and they assigned us to a site in Georgetown which isn't far from here though the site is on the other side so it would be around 20 miles away. Heck we would drive to SA or Dallas if we had to. Yesterday I got an email saying to schedule but now I am scheduled to go to a large sports arena where I have learned they are just having you drive up or as I have been calling it a drive by shotting. I was talking to the home health nurse today and she said that they might just give Steven's his at the same time since he is my main care provider. I have also learned that one of the grocery store pharmacies in the area are also offering shots and that if you call at the end of the day you might just get a shot. They have to use the vaccines they have for the day and if anyone misses an appointment they will allow you to get a shot. I knew that the chain was offering the shots elsewhere in the state but no one had ever said that they were doing it in the Austin market. We do have our water problem solved though I know that there are people who are still waiting for a plumber. We were lucky it turned out that we just needed to replace the water heater and we had no leaks. I suspect since we had our taps open that when the water was able to drain after the power outage. We had our toilet tanks slowly fill a couple of times even though the water was off. We are so lucky that we got a plumber in when we did, I have heard that people are still 2 weeks out before the plumber arrives. Believe me we feel our luck and are very thankful. I feel for your friend. Having a leak under your slab is a nightmare as Mike has been telling us. Our pipes are buried about 4 or 5 feet deep down. I wish I could find better pictures because we documented our build but unfortunately they are on Steve's computer and he is working. I know some people aren't familiar with how slabs are built (at least in our part of Texas--I am unsure how our slab was built in Florida and it was different in Idaho because we had a bit crawl space between the floor joist and ground where the pipes rain). The water lines are laid in between the bunkers which is a sand mix they bring in to build up the fondation. I'm sorry that I can't find a better picture. The house just beyond is behind us with the pipes in and a layer of sand. They will get more sand in a day or two when they build the bunker. They raise the foundation even higher then the concrete is then poured burying the pipes under a lot of concrete. Getting to those pipes will be a nightmare! I am sad though because I lost all of my flowers. We have to wait to see about the Crepe myrtles, the Yaupon holly, the Texas laurel and my rose bush. The holly I won't mind replacing but the rest I hope survive. The live oak in back and the two oaks in the front seem to be fine. The flowers are for my enjoyment now but those trees are planted for some future family who will live here when I am gone. I would like to think that some day a family with young kids will live here and those kids will play in the shade the trees provide. Sorry this is so rambling. I seem to be unable to sit at the computer without being called away. Note to Mike. We still miss Publix, it is one of the best grocery store chains we have every dealt with. I still miss their Cuban sandwiches even though they pale compared to the ones we had in Key West.
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Post by Beth on Mar 3, 2021 21:22:25 GMT
I would suggest that our planning for these home grown events stopped long before George W. Bush was in office. It stopped sometime around when we were kids and told to hide under our desks in grade school as a means of mitigating an atomic blast. We have never been very good at it, no matter what the potential crisis might be. I think democracies in general are all like that, and I'll be damned if I know why. What this nation needs is what my mother always said will prevent everything, a good healthy dose of cod liver oil. Of course my mother's remedy for drowning was - don't ever swim. If any of you think I am kidding about these two matriarchal dictums - I'm not I would suggest that getting all Americans to do something for the welfare off all is like herding cat or teaching a pig to sing.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2021 22:15:53 GMT
I would suggest that our planning for these home grown events stopped long before George W. Bush was in office. It stopped sometime around when we were kids and told to hide under our desks in grade school as a means of mitigating an atomic blast. We have never been very good at it, no matter what the potential crisis might be. I think democracies in general are all like that, and I'll be damned if I know why. What this nation needs is what my mother always said will prevent everything, a good healthy dose of cod liver oil. Of course my mother's remedy for drowning was - don't ever swim. If any of you think I am kidding about these two matriarchal dictums - I'm not The issue with democracies is easy. The representatives are incapable of planning anything beyond their next election. Also, they seem to lack common sense about somethings. For example: In a car, we have to wear a seatbelt, but on a motorcycle you don't have to wear a helmet (or a seat belt). The point is both are meant to protect you and do little or nothing to protect others. I would say I am in much less danger not wearing a seatbelt than I would be without a helmet. And neither prevents you from hurting someone else. Better yet, seatbelts and helmets for everybody. In FL, you have to slow down and move to the next lane over when a police car is on the shoulder doing police stuff. But if you are just say, Mike Robel, on the side of the road, changing the traffic side tire, then you are a fair target. I used to have a list with about five other things in it, but I've forgotten where on my computer it was. Edit: On face masks, in the history of the 1918 flu I read, the author stated masks don't protect you very much (with some citation). However, they do prevent sneezes, coughs, spit spitting from hitting you. I quite going to my wargaming meeting (M & W, 0900-1530) because the host sneezed and didn't even cover his mouth or turn his head and I felt the impact all over my face. When I was a child in Denver, I was walking with my Mom, and I saw some guy spit on the sidewalk. I decided to emulate him, and my mother quickly slapped me once on the head and said "Don't do that. It can spread disease. I don't spit very much as a result and I almost always duck when I do. America has no sense of self-sacrifice or discipline anymore and little sense of service to the nation. Sometimes when people get my goat about serving the country, I sing a little ditty: "When freedom called we answered ... you weren't there ......"
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Post by yanmacca on Mar 4, 2021 6:30:40 GMT
Looking at the slab in Beth's photo, why would the designer's actually want to bury pipes in that much concrete. I don't know why your floor boards can't be sprung over the slab and give an area of say eight inches to run your pipes and cable's.
No matter where you live, pipes will and can get blocked, they can crack and split too. To bury them is just asking for trouble in the long term.
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Post by yanmacca on Mar 4, 2021 6:55:12 GMT
Mike, are you still an active table top wargamer, or have you moved to computer gaming.
I started developing a series of rules back in 1998, for ww2 table top wargaming. I took my favourite sections from a number if old wargaming rules books and complied then together, once I had the basics done, I tweaked them to suite around 20 nations and added some extra stuff to freshen things up.
I still have the rules in rough form on a disc, my goal was to write a different rule book for each nation, when I mean book, I actually mean a small 15 to 20 page pamphlets containing everything you need to wargame with that particular nation. I even did one for the Baltic states to allow them to fight against any Russian aggression in the inter war period. I was thinking on a box type set with a master rule book and 20 pamphlet with one for each nation, to allow for a rule book each when wargaming, each pamphlet was to have its own picture cover with art work from war poster from that country.
I shelved the project when I saw how people had gone to computer wargaming instead of moving units on a table top.
Ian
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 14:59:54 GMT
Manual wargaming, examples of which are Hex and Counter and miniature wargaming is alive and well. I have a few computer wargames, but after 25 years providing computer simulation to soliders and computer game development in the commercial and defense industry, I went back to manual wargaming. I predominantly play hex and counter in the ancient era and then the modern and hypothetical era. I typically vault right over everything after the Byzantine empire (notably Belisarius) to World War II, with three minor exceptions. Corps level treatments of Waterloo and Gettysburg (with very few counters), a game on the first day of Gettysburg, and four games on the Little Big Horn, Rosebud, and Adobe Walls. To get a good feel for the games, you can go to boardgamegeek.com. I have published one full game and three scenarios for a game called MBT (main battle tank) which is very "minaturey" www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/202698/alien-invasion-defense-coronawww.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/260148/mind-gap-fan-expansion-mbt-second-editionwww.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/275629/plug-gap-fan-expansion-mbt-second-editionwww.boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/291640/ambush-rannungen-1985-mbt-scenarioIn addition, I helped with the development of a game covering the British Action at Arras: www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254384/death-ride-arrasAnd I am currently extremely stalled in year 7 of an effort to develop a game covering the 11th ACRs hypothetical covering force battle against the 8th Guards Army which you can read about here (as well as other musings). www.boardgamegeek.com/blog/7211/fog-wargamesPrinting has become very expensive and with all the other going's on, it has made me put further development on hold while I work through other minor issues like plumbing and Covid 19 and helping out my first daughter since this mess has stuck her in the unemployment line. If you wish to get out there, you can attempt to sell them yourself (I currently sell mine on e-bay), or sell them as a print and play in pdf format. Wargame Vault has a service in which they host our product and then send you money when stuff sells. www.wargamevault.com/index.php
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dave
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Post by dave on Mar 8, 2021 22:55:19 GMT
Beth I am surprised that the grocery shelves have not been restocked in Austin. Stores here were resupplied with bottled water within days of the thaw. Though the governor has repelled the mandatory mask edict, at the Ole Miss Baseball game you have to wear a mask while getting to your seats and moving about. A friend who is an MD said the mask is good for morale only. You can get the virus through your eyes but I still wear one even though I got my second dose of Phizer vaccine last Thursday.
I must say that now that we have baseball again with hot dogs, peanuts and a cold beer on a sun shinny day of 65 degrees, life is good! Plus we won all 2 games this weekend!!!! Regards Dave
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Post by quincannon on Mar 9, 2021 2:31:50 GMT
I would love to see the reference that your friend in Maryland is using, for what I, as a complete novice, find a rather incredible statement.
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