Coronavirus/COVID in the U. S. & Elsewhere

[Greg.D.]

I don’t personally know anybody who needs to be persuaded about physical distancing.

 

But, I am surprised that Colorado - of which I’m a resident - has the lowest vaccination rate in the country.

I see a lot of reckonings to come after this. As in, what kind of country are we that we can’t _______ (fill in the blank)?

[tsap seui]

Tsap - as long as you were hoarding them with no intent to sell, you're ok. I'm sure your donation was greatly appreciated. Unlike this tool:

 

 

 

LOL....heck yeah, I'm okay, eseum, and thank you for high lightin' that fact. besides , I am a "schemer" not a "scammer" and I don't need no stinkin' bad juju followin' my tracks.

[Randy W]

Andrew Cuomo thanks AliBaba cofounder for donation of 1000 whistleblowers oops, I mean ventilators

 

[Greg.D.]

Husband of Florida woman who bought all the masks and “left none for the Americans” contacts Winston/SerpentZA to explain their side of the story:

https://youtu.be/ImmRjT74i-c

 

You can judge. Poor guy.

[Martin B]

Husband of Florida woman who bought all the masks and “left none for the Americans” contacts Winston/SerpentZA to explain their side of the story:

https://youtu.be/ImmRjT74i-c

 

You can judge. Poor guy.

 

Apparently she got arrested for domestic assault a few years back. A domestic situation is usually pretty damn serious if it results in a police call and arrest, at least in our state. She was probably beating the s**t out of him, and unable/unwilling to fight back, he called the cops. Poor guy is probably stuck between a rock and hard place. If he tells her she shouldn't hoard masks and gloat about it on video, he'll probably catch hell. Given that they have a kid together, his has little ability to walk away unless he's willing to risk having zero say in how his child is raised (or worse, kidnapped to China). Given this woman's mental condition that'd be a very tough pill to swallow.

[Randy W]

from the US Department of State: Consular Affairs on Facebook

 

https://www.facebook.com/9229303148/posts/10158128234783149/?substory_index=0

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/9229303148/posts/10158128234783149/

 

International commercial flight options remain in:

#Malaysia

#Bulgaria

#Phillipines

#Japan

Book directly with the airlines. None or limited repatriation flights are currently planned in these countries.

 

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

from Al Jazeera on Facebook

 

 

A look at the most eextreme lockdown measures worldwide

 

https://www.facebook.com/7382473689/posts/10158730959188690/

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/7382473689/posts/10158730959188690/

[Bert]

My wife said when she first came here that Chinese people can not live without rice and I had to buy a 25-pound bag of rice. Then she saw on some nutritional site how much starch and calories that rice had in it and she has never eaten a grain of it since. Gave the rest of the bag to a friend of mine. That was 20 years ago.

That's pretty much where my wife is at. I bought a bag nearly 4 years ago. We used half, mainly to grind up and use to make pancakes for our son. But, we still buy the yellow rice with saffron from Sam's, but, even that, we don't eat much anymore. My son's stable is circle noodles and corn. The circle noodles and corn is actually an english peas, carrots, corn, and green beans mixture, in case you are wondering.

[eseum]

Since we were starting to run low on fresh vegetables and fruit, I made a trip to a local Mexican Supermarket that my wife and I shop at. They typically have the lowest prices on fruits and vegetables, although we also have to go to markets in Chinatown to find what my wife wants. As a sop to my wife, read to keep from being nagged, I told her that I would wear a mask while there. They have special hours, 6 a.m to 8 a.m., for seniors every day. I got there at 6:20 a.m. and expected to just go into the store. However, their computer system had a glitch and they were waiting for it to do a reboot. The doors finally opened at 6:45, with most people trying to keep a healthy distance from each other. I did have one guy get so close to me that I thought he was going to push me out of the way, while I was getting some peppers.He actually bumped me so I moved over a little. I did find everything I was looking for including 4 pounds of Mexican rice.

 

The government has been making sure that I am not bored. I went online and filled out my census information. Not before receiving 3 requests from Uncle Sam in the mail to do so. I finished my federal taxes today and filed. I would have done them earlier, but discovered I owed, so I delayed until now. Looks like I will get back what I paid in a couple of weeks when they send out the stimulus checks.

[Greg.D.]

My wife did our Costco run at 7 AM. Even though we were only running out of eggs and half and half, she still spent over $100, which is good news because they were stocked up on meat again.

 

Nearly all people and staff were wearing masks and/or gloves.

 

The coffee grinder was missing. She asked and they said they got rid of it (temporarily) because of the pandemic. Might be an excuse for us to buy a better coffee grinder off of Amazon.

Hardest thing so far is keeping our 3.3 year old on the good track he was on from 2.5 months of pre-school. We’re having great weather in Denver and can’t enjoy much of it, though we do have smallish back and front yards. The kid is getting plenty of (too much) IPAD time. There are the regular weChat vid sessions to China but he is forgetting the Chinese grandma pounded into him.

 

Working from home.

[Martin B]

We're starting to run critically low on beer/wine. We had a lot a month ago, but 2-3 beers a day (for me) and two or so glasses of wine a day (for Mrs. Barf) has put a swift end to the supply. I'm down to a six pack of Tsingtao and my wife has 1.5 bottles of wine left. The liquor store 2 blocks away from our house has shut down until next week, so we'll probably have to do without for some time

[Greg.D.]

I really like Tsingtao: it’s an old German recipe and I really prefer lagers. We’ve kind of settled on Corona for our house beer. If you can recommend a domestic that is similar to Tsingtao or Corona, please suggest it.

[Martin B]

I really like Tsingtao: it’s an old German recipe and I really prefer lagers. We’ve kind of settled on Corona for our house beer. If you can recommend a domestic that is similar to Tsingtao or Corona, please suggest it.

 

I'm a big fan of Tsingtao as well. However, the stuff that's sold here in the US is different than Tsingtao in China. In China, it's around 3% ABV and super gassy, but here it's around 4.5% ABV and pretty flat. A six-pack is $9 in my area, which is kind of insane, given that the same amount of beer would be like $2-3 in China. And $9 is pretty pricey for what is - basically the Chinese equivalent of Bud Light at the end of the day. I've found that even Budweiser and PBR in China taste different than their US equivalents. Not sure what the story is there.

 

One thing I miss about China are the low ABV lagers - I could buy a bunch of tall boys in the morning, drink all day, never feel anything more than a slight buzz, and still feel great the next day.

 

Anyways, the closest beer I've found to Tsingtao in the US is Heineken from the green bottle.

 

I'm seriously starting to look into homebrewing...

[Greg.D.]

Yeah, Budweiser in China is a weird, sweet fizz thing. Randy posted a video showing locals, who had scavenged used cans and bottles from KTVs and the like, refilling them with knockoff beer and resealing them. I mean, an incredibly tricky thing to re-seal a can.

Agree re Heineken and a few others (Stella Artois, etc). Making a lager at home is hard. That’s why the bearded ones here make Ales - and primarily IPAs - it’s just easier.

It wasn’t long ago that contract brewers in Wisconsin could make anything in the style of a european lager. Almost don’t want to know if that has died.

[Martin B]

Yeah, Budweiser in China is a weird, sweet fizz thing. Randy posted a video showing locals, who had scavenged used cans and bottles from KTVs and the like, refilling them with knockoff beer and resealing them. I mean, an incredibly tricky thing to re-seal a can.

 

Agree re Heineken and a few others (Stella Artois, etc). Making a lager at home is hard. That’s why the bearded ones here make Ales - and primarily IPAs - it’s just easier.

 

It wasn’t long ago that contract brewers in Wisconsin could make anything in the style of a european lager. Almost don’t want to know if that has died.

 

I believe it, but talk about low ROI. A tall boy of PBR or Budweiser is like 4-5rmb. The time spent searching for a good condition can, refilling, and sealing it... perhaps bottles are a bit easier? I guess that's why they suggest crushing cans before throwing them away.

 

Anyways this is why I only buy alcohol from the local Walmart or the huge liquor store near the in-law's place. No way I'm buying booze from a street vendor or hole in the wall store. Even if it's not toxic there's a good chance it's old or has been sitting out in the heat forever.