# COVID Damage Assessment So Far?



## erikmannie (May 29, 2020)

I just got an email that said my next 3 classes (MIG, Metal Shaping, Turning & Milling) have been cancelled. They were to be held in June.

Less than 3 months ago, both my Oxyacetylene and Stick Welding classes were cancelled.

This is a total of 38 full days of instruction that was cancelled.

I will be able to take these classes later, but I was hoping to get these classes under my belt because I started school at age 50.

I’m sure others have had their plans cancelled or delayed due to coronavirus. How has this pandemic affected your life?


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## Aukai (May 29, 2020)

I got reassigned in retirement to temperature screen people who feel they need to fly to Kauai. Not only commercial flights which are down, but the rich who see us as a safe place to hide, but what are they bringing here? There is a mandatory 14 day quarantine to stay in lodging, food must be brought in, there are check points, and there are spot checks at the residence checking for infractions. I'm sure they are very obedient, and follow the rules, right?


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## mmcmdl (May 29, 2020)

Aukai said:


> but the rich who see us as a safe place to hide, but what are they bringing here?



Vidmar cabinets ?


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## Aukai (May 29, 2020)

One could sucking hope(insert the appropriate letter). They come with kids, golf bags for all, and surf boards...
My daughter property manages a vacation rental that is 4000.00, I'm not sure if it's a week, or month, but the owner has two penthouse condos on central park.


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## mmcmdl (May 29, 2020)

I'd come with a big cooler ! 










( and one big 9 drawer cabinet )


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## Aukai (May 29, 2020)

I got coolers....I sold my 2872.5 qt cooler(s)(96ft'3) when I sold the boat, but I still have 80, 90, 150, and a couple misc beverage coolers(Pelicans etc). So come on down...


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## benmychree (May 29, 2020)

Waiting for in person medical appointments -------- for months now.


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## benmychree (May 29, 2020)

erikmannie said:


> I just got an email that said my next 3 classes (MIG, Metal Shaping, Turning & Milling) have been cancelled. They were to be held in June.
> 
> Less than 3 months ago, both my Oxyacetylene and Stick Welding classes were cancelled.
> 
> ...


Are you back to work yet?


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## matthewsx (May 29, 2020)

Well, I'm still out of work but have been getting some interviews and can start with the post office next month if nothing else comes up. Lucky I had a little money saved up and a couple of trailers out here that I needed to sell anyway. Just sold the second one yesterday so I've got a little breathing room.

Other than that I've been getting lots of projects done around here. Raised bed garden built, 8x10 shed rotated 90 deg in the backyard, and of course machines....

John


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## Aukai (May 30, 2020)

Glad people are surviving, my whole family is blessed, nobody is out of work, ether essential, or computer from home.


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## JimDawson (May 30, 2020)

I have been particularly lucky.  No real effect at all, and I don't know anyone who has gotten sick.  I'm retired so no interruption of base income, and have been keeping pretty busy in the shop.  No noticeable effect on our product sales or supply chain except for one small glitch.

I'm pretty much a hermit anyway with very little social interaction normally, so no real changes to lifestyle in that regard.  Not interested in traveling, or recreating so those aspects have had no effect.  I guess the only minor inconvenience I have experienced is that my local pub was closed for several weeks so I kinda missed my fish & chips on Friday nights.  But even they are back open again.


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## Aukai (May 30, 2020)

By the time we can go back, and drink in a bar Captain Morgan will be an Admiral


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## BGHansen (May 30, 2020)

Got a lot of stuff done around the house and shop. Was stay-at-home on a 75% paycheck. One of the few advantages of getting old is you get your debt paid off. We paid off our house around 8 years ago. Daughter finished up law school a couple of years ago. We owe nothing, so no financial impact at all.

No family members have caught it so far (confirmed case. . .).  Our daughter flew out to Seattle to take the bar exam in late February.  She came back with the flu, had a 103 F fever for 3 or 4 days and recovered.  She's 26 and has been training to run a marathon, great cardio with no underlying health issues.  At the time, there were no confirmed cases in Michigan (she lives in the Detroit area).  However, the situation reminds me of the Skynyrd song, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies".  We asked her to get tested before coming home to visit.  She called her local Ready-care who referred her to the hospital ER.  The ER referred her to the county Health Department.  Health Department referred her to her local Ready-care. . .

One co-worker at work caught it in late April.  Went on oxygen, no ventilator.  He's re-tested negative and is feeling 95% and is back to work.  He's 62 and exercises regularly.

Covid has been a bit of a windfall for us.  I was pretty conservatively invested with the Dow at a peak of around 30K.  It tanked because of unwarranted fear to 20K, so I jumped back in pretty heavily.  It's up to over 25K and will continue to rise back to normal when people finally realize that Covid is not the end of the world.  Then I'll get back out of the Dow and wait for the next big fluctuation.

Goggle "Hong Kong flu 1968". Killed over a million around the world, something like 40,000 in the US. Things got so bad in West Germany that they were storing bodies in subway tunnels. Garbage collectors were burying bodies because undertakers were overwhelmed. Unfortunately, Covid deaths are not a new thing. This is a regular cyclic occurrence. At risk people like the elderly and those with other health issues will be devastated, again. Pretty much all you can do is take the best precautions possible to minimize your risk of catching it and passing it on.

I work at a car assembly plant in Lansing, MI and we've been back to work for a couple of weeks.  Everyone wears a company-issued mask, frequent hand washing and social distancing as much as possible.  Our senior leadership has done a great job in my opinion of taking measures to keep us safe and get life back to normal.  Current thinking is the Covid virus is passed through human to human contact with the entry points being the eyes, nose and mouth.  A mask keeps people who we used to sarcastically tell to "say it, don't spray it" from transmitting or receiving the virus.  We inadvertently touch our face with potentially infected hands.  The virus has a fatty outside layer that is washed off with soap or alcohol.  That helps minimize your chances too.

We'll get through this, just a matter of trying to minimize the suffering until they develop a vaccine.

Bruce


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## NCjeeper (May 30, 2020)

MIL died in March. Havent been able to settle her estate because the court house is closed and we need to file the probate paperwork so we can start doing what needs to be done. Thank goodness we get her in the ground before the funeral homes stopped operating.


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## ThinWoodsman (May 30, 2020)

Pandemic has been great. No trips to the office, and the missus is not away teaching. As Jim Dawson mentioned, no Sunday meal at the tavern, and trips for groceries/hardware/lumber are greatly reduced. Expanded the vegetable garden, built a makeshift trellis (fromf felled saplings) where some wild grapes appeared last year.

Work has not been negatively impacted, and some research projects I've been wanting to do got pushed to the front burner because people are inexplicably interested in medical research all of a sudden 



BGHansen said:


> I was pretty conservatively invested with the Dow at a peak of around 30K. It tanked because of unwarranted fear to 20K, so I jumped back in pretty heavily. It's up to over 25K and will continue to rise back to normal when people finally realize that Covid is not the end of the world.



Same. Saw that the market was vastly overvalued in Jan, sold a bunch of stuff. Put in good-til-cancel limit orders with lowball prices, and about half of them fired in March. Took a look around, bought some more, and prices rose enough that now some of the GTC sell orders are firing.

So yeah, I certainly can't complain.

The death tolls may sound horrific as absolute numbers (hundreds of thousands! millions!) but they are a small fraction of the population, and are still smaller than "normal" causes of death (heart disease 647K per year, cancer 600K, accidents 169K, even "chronic respiratory diseases" ranks at 160K, figures for the US and from CDC). So there's no reason to panic, just keep your head down and make it through. Try to avoid places where lots of people are hanging around with their mouths open (restaurants, bars, gymnasiums, math classes).



> with the entry points being the eyes, nose and mouth.


Long ago, I heard this area described as "the triangle of death", in regards to disease propagation. Yeah, don't let anything get in there.


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## matthewsx (May 30, 2020)

Math classes

I was planning on taking a couple of those this spring to complete my long suffering BS degree. Will just have to wait....

We also were blessed with having sold a bunch of stock last year to purchase our home in CA. 

Hope everyone here stays healthy and financially solvent, and hopefully our favorite local businesses are able to return to full service soon.

John


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## Buffalo21 (May 30, 2020)

As a boiler service tech, my work is essential, I’ve been working roughly 60 hrs a week, the wife is a certified NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit) nurse (sick newborns), she has been extra busy, so we’re no worse off than before. The daughter, who has sold cars for the last 7 years, lost her job, the dealership owner, decided, with the shut down, why reopen, so their gone permanently, the 2 grand-daughters, lost their jobs as waitresses, the restaurant owner has decide to stay closed, he is in the process of building/equipment sell off. The grandson, who works in a deli, is down to 15-20 hrs a week and the daughters boyfriend is working about 75 hrs a week, running underground fiber-optic cable.

as a boiler company, we have lost about 30 customers, that have closed and have decided, to either relocate down south or close up completely, it seems the shut down has give plenty of the owners time to think and no pressing need to stay put, apparently a bad combination for some of the workers.


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## Aukai (May 30, 2020)

We need to do this right, not over, in my opinion.
I'll be at the airport today, and tomorrow 12 hr shifts.....


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## Ulma Doctor (May 30, 2020)

Covid has created more service calls for me.
the grocery stores are still very busy and production facilities have had higher volume of calls too
it has made me busier than usual


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## ddickey (May 30, 2020)

Biggest social experiment ever on the American people.


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## ThinWoodsman (May 30, 2020)

...and on the effects of having most of the nation's job growth for a decade or two be in the service sector! non-essential services are going to take a long time to recover from this.


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