[ScoJo]

Remember its April fools day Scojo. Don't trust anything today.

I'd love to go with that, @static, but this was a few days ago...

(but hey, isn't every day April Fools right now?)

[ScoJo]

Screen shot 2020-04-01 at 11.16.55.png (528.87 KiB) Viewed 6512 times

[static14]

:(

[inksb]

That does not surprise me unfortunately. My friend works for the National Park Service and they are still open he's seeing thousands of people a day come through the park. People just don't get it.

[ScoJo]

I'm really sorry guys, I feel for my US brothers and sisters. It's just going to mean a lot more deaths and prolong the fight, sadly. Not that it's going brilliantly here either, tbh. Seems like this is all a field day for the Social Darwinists.

As a complete aside - it's funny, but this conversation has been weirdly in my life since around Christmas. A nephew of mine who I love, but who has been, shall we say, 'going a bit London' since he moved there a few years ago, fell out with me over the holidays. This is not unheard of in my hillbilly family, but it's unheard of for me as I try not to fall out with people (or just leave them the hell alone...) The reason for the bust up was a pretty heated convo we had, where he was giving it the whole 'well, I have to agree with Thanos' plan to be honest, it makes sense' kindof crap that those movies seem to have stirred in people. What with everything happening in the world just now, in terms of 'wrong ass' opinions being given their platform way more than I am comfortable with, I'll admit that I gave him a pretty rough ride over it. But weirdly, that argument is now echoing down through my mind right now since we're actually facing the reality of powers that be showing their hands, in terms of which nations respect and value their elderly/vulnerable, and which have always seen them as expendable and 'worth losing so that I can still go to the office/football/pub'.

My reaction to all this is, I'm ashamed to admit, a mixture of moral philosophy and 80s action hero - as in, I want to run through crowded streets with an AK shouting 'okay, I'll show you some fucking social darwinism, you selfish motherfuckers!'

I just hope Statham plays me in the film, after my heroic and spectacular demise.

[Jimmy_Mike]

@scoj - I have a Malthusian buddy as well and I find their views horrific. His position comes not from the MCU but from old sci-fi novels.

Here in Missourah we’re still not on lockdown. Kansas City is a border town and the Kansas side is locked down. I live on other side.

[ScoJo]

@scoj - I have a Malthusian buddy as well and I find their views horrific. His position comes not from the MCU but from old sci-fi novels.

Here in Missourah we’re still not on lockdown. Kansas City is a border town and the Kansas side is locked down. I live on other side.

A steady diet of Heinlein, Niven and Ayn Rand will get you there double quick time. And uninvited from any dinner parties that I'm currently hosting ;)

[havershaw]

Here in AZ they’ve given a “stay at home order” which went into effect last night.
However, parks, “outdoor recreations” and - I shit you not - *golf courses* are all being considered essential businesses.

Nothing has been ordered to close, so basically, this state isn’t taking it seriously at all.
I’m lucky in that no one has been in my recording studio since March 5, so I’ve just been working alone, doing mixing projects where there’s no artist in attendance, and I have plenty of that work to keep me busy, so I’m definitely fortunate (though I feel like I’m missing out on the whole “stay at home and be bored” phenomenon that everyone else is experiencing).

And yes, @texas, I saw that about USPS yesterday and I just about spit out my coffee. I don’t know how I’d get by without postal service (I do not care for FedEx or UPS).
I thought it was weird that they were saying that people are mailing things less with this whole thing going on. I would think mail order stuff is way way up, wouldn’t you?

[havershaw]

Also, I have a close friend who is a flight attendant who is infuriated about how much they’re flying, and his airline isn’t even providing PPE (they were advised to bring their own from home).
He feels that no one needs to be flying right now. They could still be flying mail and packages but that doesn’t require flight attendants.
Hotels that the flight crew usually stay at are out of food and supplies - he’s having to bring his own TP with him, even.

[Steve Powder]

Well, I live in Finland so we are not in quarantine right now, only recommended quarantine. We don't have that many people with the virus, two thousand ish. I also heard that we don't have many problems with influensa in this country, so we must be doing something right. Sorry to hear about US though, I have some friends in New York and they have it not so good :( . But about the coping thing, I suck at doing studies at home so I have it hard studying here.

I listen to a lot of music though! That's my coping and will always will be. I also love that the summer has come here at last. We will see though how this pans out, some countries have their rates going down right now. I have also posted this series of "hazard suits" to social media and friends, escalating each day. Like I have made a turban one day, another day completely wrapped in a scarf. I have also shared these funny pictures of people inventing their own masks from plastic jugs etc, pretty funny

[bpwlogan]

The state of Minnesota has extended their shelter in place order until May 1st. I work for the state and considered essential so I'm still working. I really feel for the many service industry workers that I know and associate with that have been laid off or lost their jobs outright.

I've been staying at home on my days off for the last three weeks and it's the first time I've done that in over a year. I started playing in pool leagues around 18 months ago around the metro area and I've been out doing that on nights off and evenings after work ever since. I can deal with sitting at home because I did it for so many years in the past but at this point in my life I would rather be out and about with friends.

Well that's about it for me. The state finally did issue us masks at work yesterday because we're in a high risk situation and 30% of our department is out sick. They probably should have given us masks about two weeks ago. Hope you guys are safe and well especially any members in NYC.

[chiefbrody]

Good evening friends.

I'm glad so many of you are doing OK, but sorry that there are some with job and no doubt family and health anxieties too.

I'm in the UK like some others here. I'm lucky (in this sense at least) that I work for a pretty big company and my role will be required, unless they collapse completely. I work in the finance dept (booooooring), so the numbers need crunched either way. Also lucky that I can work from home, though I can't say I enjoy it.

We have two young children so are trying to juggle both jobs, looking after and schooling the kids, etc. It's pretty full on. I'm a pretty anxious guy, so this kind of thing can give me sleepless nights, but I just try to focus on the positives - so far my family are healthy, and I'm getting to see the kids more than I did working in the office, etc. We're all coping OK with being largely housebound (what does that say about us? Ha). Outside my immediate circle though, it's pretty depressing watching this all develop. I get pretty angry about the way it's been handled here, but again need to remind myself there's little I can do other than try to control my own risk and that of my family.

I've been getting to spin some more vinyl than usual, and listen to a lot of music during the working day (today, Prince 1999 outtakes, 2 vols of Watchmen and Fennesz 'Agora'). Due to tightening our belts, I've not been buying any music recently. I bought some records on the Invada sale, and yesterday was the first records I've bought since then - Tales of Halloween and Repeated Viewing/Fife from Burning Witches' sale).

Hope everyone is hanging in there, and we get through the other side of this quicker than my pessistic mindset tells me!!

[static14]

Thought those of you zooming a lot might enjoy this. :)

https://youtu.be/bZ2MOePZuRg

[bpwlogan]

Oh Gawd, it reminds me of Max Headroom, please don't tell me it's come to this!

[deafmetal]

Doing what I can over here in Cascadia...

---------------------------
April 17, 2020

Dear Mr. -------,

Thank you for contacting me about emergency funding for the United States Postal Service (USPS) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. I appreciate hearing from you about this important and concerning issue.

Fighting the coronavirus in Oregon and across our country requires swift action and all of us working together. The USPS keeps us connected and offers universal services that are critical to the communities and businesses of Northwest Oregon. Its work is even more important during times of crisis. Mail carriers and other essential employees at the USPS are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States and we must make sure they can continue to work safely to serve our communities.

In Oregon we are fortunate to have a vote-by-mail system that increases access and voter participation. The USPS plays a major role in our elections running smoothly and securely. Our democracy is stronger when voting is accessible for everyone. Unfortunately, outside of our state too many people face long lines and other barriers when they go to cast their ballots. We should be expanding the option to vote-by-mail across the country during this global pandemic and a strong USPS is key to that goal.

Congress has passed three bills to safeguard public health and bolster the economic security of our communities during this pandemic; however, there is still much more work to be done. I am a cosponsor of the Protect Our Post Offices Act, which would provide $25 billion in emergency funding to USPS. I also joined my colleagues in urging Speaker Pelosi and House Leadership to include emergency funding for USPS in upcoming relief legislation. Please know that I will continue fighting for additional funding for the USPS as Congress considers the next COVID-19 response bill.

Thank you again for writing to me. If you would like to know more about my work in Congress, please sign up for my newsletter at http://bonamici.house.gov or visit my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CongresswomanBonamici.



Sincerely,

Suzanne Bonamici
Member of Congress

[Jimmy_Mike]

@deaf - fine work. After seeing this, I called my rep too.

Take care.

[static14]

Keep fighting the good fight @deaf!

The USPS absolutely deserves emergency funding.

If everyone who can would even jump online and buy some stamps they’d get a huge influx of cash in the short term. I did last weekend. Bought a shit ton of Marvin Gaye forever stamps. :)

[ScoJo]

Good luck with the fight guys. Nothing is impossible.

[Bezulsqy]

So, how long has it already been? 4 or 5 weeks? I hope everyone is doing fine. Sorry to hear about the loss of jobs or work for some. I can only imagine the stress that brings.

Today I started working from home again after having two and a half weeks off. During that time my girlfriend and I helped moving her son from his old place to his new. Thankfully that all went very smoothly. It was just us three so we took our time. Because of the 'intelligent' lockdown (as it is called in the Netherlands) we are able to do most things relatively normally, however we cannot be in groups larger than 2 (unless you are all belonging to one home) and need to keep a distance of 1,5 meters.

I enjoy working from home although I notice some colleagues have a more difficult time. Especially the ones with smaller children. I am very fortunate to have my own place to work and listen to records and my girlfriend her place. When we try to do our jobs in the same room it sometimes results in some irritation back and forth :-)

I do love seeing all those spinning records! Keep it up!

[static14]

Trump finally got his wall. American tax payers footed the bill, and it’s to keep Americans away from him. Wonder if he’ll inspect the bunker again tonight?

[inksb]

He's got his federal CO's out there helping "keep the peace" as well. Just what we need, racist fuck prison guards acting like "peace keepers"

[texasvinyl]

Checking in! Even though this was a covid thread. It took 5 years but my post covid sort of PTSD or whatever might finally be going away.

Thought of you guys this weekend, I did the Austin record show & ran into Walter, and we reminisced about waiting in lines, blowing up our F5 keys on soundtrack drops, Mondocon. Chad I thought about you- the very last text request I got thru their text system was for Night of Demons "Sour Balls edition"! Hope you guys are all doing well.

[inksb]

Checking in! Even though this was a covid thread. It took 5 years but my post covid sort of PTSD or whatever might finally be going away.

Thought of you guys this weekend, I did the Austin record show & ran into Walter, and we reminisced about waiting in lines, blowing up our F5 keys on soundtrack drops, Mondocon. Chad I thought about you- the very last text request I got thru their text system was for Night of Demons "Sour Balls edition"! Hope you guys are all doing well.

I only know you're alive bc of IG lol. Looked like a good time this weekend. Wish I had a local show that big, the one that we have is much smaller and just a bunch of crazy vendors marking shit up to absurd prices on stuff that's super common. I think there was one maybe two vendors with interesting stock last time I went

[deafmetal]

@texas - Good to see ya! Hope the fam is doing well there. Kind of wild to see this thead updated again five years later with some of the same isht going on though. I appreciate this space and friends here.

[ScoJo]

Good check-in @tex, welcome back. I know a number of folks who’ve been hit very hard in ways both similar and otherwise to what you describe. The road is long….