Pilgrim

Sure, I went to sealed gel mat batteries years ago. No venting required with the right models. https://northeastbattery.com/battery-101-pros-cons-gel-mat-battery/

Contrary to the comments from DC, our testing capacity is still extremely inadequate to assess the actual reach of the CO-19 virus. Over the next 30-60 days my educated guess is that we should gain the capacity to test whoever needs it. What will tests cost? I don't know, but do not assume they will be free unless you're being tested at your workplace.

I heard a radio commentator say today that he was amazed how politicized the CO-19 situation has become. People are ignoring science and choosing what to believe based on political inclination as well as their own convenience. Personally, I'm on the side of science. Maybe it's having earned a PhD, but to me politics and my personal convenience make no difference. Health and survival first. Even if I were of a different political persuasion, I wouldn't be running around in public without a mask. And when I shop, I wear nitrile gloves and clean them before re-use. This weekend I saw pictures of people jamming a few restaurants that have opened. Not a single one is wearing a mask. I wonder what in the hell they are thinking and wondering whether they are not very bright, making a political statement, too stir-crazy, or a mixture of all three. I know the virus is out there, and in reality, nothing has changed over the past two months except that we have taken enough precautions to spread out the peak and save people from dying in hospital corridors due to lack of ventilators. As soon as we start mixing together, it's clear that the infections and deaths will increase in number. I don't plan to be among them. Not this summer, not this fall, and not until we find ways to provide more protection than a mask.

Good point. In today's world these cars are old enough that none of the original equipment should be discarded. It affects resale.

The world is a global marketplace at this point. If US consumers insist on buying as cheap as possible, China and other countries will continue to take over market. I'm as guilty as anyone, but I don't apologize for buying products made in other countries when the US no longer makes them. There are no US TV manufacturers, and the same goes for most consumer electronics. Hopefully the current situation points out some of the shortcomings of shipping stuff halfway around the world to have it assembled or finished because it's cheaper than assembling it in the US.

There is this thing called: EVIDENCE. It is notable by its absence in that post.

This is a very odd position to be in. Trump is making it a point to put more focus and pressure in China. Unfortunately we know that he will do anything or tell any lie to blame someone else for whatever goes bad. Therefore I find myself reluctant to trust anything that has been touched by the US at this point. I'd rather hear clear reports from the UK.

True enough, but I think we all recognize the political reason for that action. At least under the current administration, I think pigs would fly at orbital speed before money would be transferred from the military budget to any humanitarian function.

That reminds me...I discovered that the silver metallic wheel paint one of the local auto parts stores is a perfect match to the paint on my 2008 BMW wheels. I need to go over them this summer, clean up a lot of curb rash, and re-paint them. Doggone it, you're setting a good example for the rest of us....

I have mixed feelings about it. It's a great morale booster for the cities where they fly, and right now is a good time to boost public morale. The downside is indeed that it is expensive, but in the wider perspective, it's a flyspeck in the military budget. Money just doesn't move from the military budget to the public service functions named. I am also pleasantly surprised that so far, I haven't heard any members of the current administration claiming credit for it as a PR device. In that regard, they deserve my compliments.

I'm perfectly happy to stay home for now. I have tickets for The Who this Saturday in Denver, and a mini-plan of tickets for the Colorado Rockies, but my health matters a lot more. Those tickets will get sorted out. I also had two ski passes to Snowy Range in Wyoming that they just carried over to next season, which is fine with me. It's great to see that the peaks are getting smoothed out and moved to the future. We just need to keep up the good work, which will be VERY difficult when the mouth-breathers decide the pandemic is over and they can go back to everything the way it was before. Hint: it won't be the way it was before.

Somehow it just represents their continual denials of reality about the danger of the pandemic. I can't say I was surprised at all. Don't expect an apology from Pence, either.

I believe that continuing to flatten the curve helps us. Yes, to some degree it's moving infections and mortality into the future, because of course more cases will appear when more people associate. BUT - buying time also buys us the opportunity to improve the situation when that new peak develops. How? - The potential for building toward herd immunity, even if immunity is not confirmed yet as a result of having had the disease. - More time to get test kits in place and build our reserves of critical care equipment such as ventilators and emergency care beds. - We will get closer to a vaccine, which won't be created as soon as we want, but it's reasonable to assume we will have one, since we have them for closely related diseases. - More time to resolve questions about how widespread the infection is, improve the reliability of testing, and resolve questions about possible post-infection immunity, as well as explore the potential and effectiveness of sharing plasma antibodies (something that's available NOW, not waiting on a vaccine.) Those are plenty of good reasons to keep flattening the curve and push the new curve of infections as far into the future as possible.

There are people all over who either dodn't pay attention or take the first sign of relaxing any restraints as permission to cancel all cautions. In today's society, Darwin's penalties on those folks are not as harsh as they would have been 100 years ago.

Some of them may "meet Jesus" sooner than they planned.

Latest report from the WHO indicates that immunity from CO-19 after having had it is NOT assured. This isn't the news we want, but reports on this topic are still inconsistent. I think most people are assuming that if they've had CO-19 they will be immune to it afterward. This belief is clearly not justified at this time. I am making no assumptions about this...nor will I risk my health by assumptions. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/25/844939777/no-evidence-that-recovered-covid-19-patients-are-immune-who-says?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR2W_YINMD4BHYFYSyGoZA7YDiS1cjft9gXGN3xL10fJQ197ig-2u_OUHzQ&fbclid=IwAR0EqEddpncI7FAZcevMitOuSd6wMtCS-hAyAGu6wAsnsVmbXgTuOllqE-Q&fbclid=IwAR3lVdmzofVG4j1qlpazNMSUym427-B6jOErF80wWLOIWDLk4i8PU-My3bE

I believe that pork production is currently about 25% below normal levels, and some midwest hog farmers are slaughtering stock because they can't sell them and can't afford to keep them. Meat packing plants in general are low wage jobs with a heavy proportion of foreign-born and ESL workers. They tend to be elbow-to-elbow workplaces that wait for major problems before taking action about anything. I've gone through both beef and chicken processing plants and have seen the work.

It staggers me to think what a monumental moron someone has to be to suggest this. I applaud Bryan's restraint in his answer - he probably wanted to go into a two or three minute tirade about the defective brain that suggested such a thing.

I heard the CO governor's press conference today. He's an excellent speaker who covers the issues pointedly and in detail. His risk assessment specialist covered 7 different scenario options in how they could approach the next step, and the governor explained each. It was absolutely great to hear a coherent, scientific, strategic and well-explained approach to next steps in this pandemic. There are now more than 420 deaths, but the curve has been dropping for the last few days. It's encouraging and they are going to loosen the lockdown just a bit within some fairly strict parameters starting at the end of this week. The governor wants people who are low risk to increase their direct contacts with others by no more than 1/3 of normal - so if in an average day you contact 30 people, he wants you to try and keep it to no more than 10 per day. They are also cautioning seniors and high risk people not to change anything about their behavior for another month. His metaphor was that we've all been running a sprint for the past month, and now we have to settle into a marathon so work our way through the rest of the process. In contrast, I was watching tonight when CNN spoke with the mayor of Atlanta. For some unknown reason, the governor of Georgia is basically opening the doors at the end of the week, even though their death count is still climbing! If you're in Atlanta, this would be a good time to get the hell out of there for a couple of months. I suspect they're about to have overloaded hospitals and unnecessary deaths.

I have to wonder how many different agendas are at work there.......

This shows what a ridiculous situation we have. Hospitals having to essentially search the black market for PPE and then both compete with and negotiate with the feds to keep them. This is theater of the absurd.

Mine as well. But Trump is hastening the process with his actions and tweets. I personally have no use for Twitter. It's a place where people display their worst impulses and most poorly formulated thoughts. It fits that a man with the attention span of a fruit fly uses it all the time.

I have no words for the idiocy and treachery going on at the federal level any more. The president is actively advocating uprisings in states with coronavirus lockdowns. In 69 years I have never seen anything like it. This looks like an excuse for a political demonstration that will intentionally result in CO-19 death for some of the demonstrators. Health, science and logic have been thrown out by the white house. Mods, feel free to delete this post if it's out of line. I just couldn't avoid a comment about this.

I like that chart from Roy Cooper. It makes sense and is a nice, easy to read piece. An article in the NY Times today is anecdotal, but directs attention to obesity as an increasingly suspect factor in severe effects of CO-19: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/health/coronavirus-obesity-higher-risk.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200417&instance_id=17720&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=98007743&section=topNews&segment_id=25374&te=1&user_id=24a82f8909cbcf7c9e1ba3e99a598f8d

Sorry to hear it. Teachers are special people. Sounds like a man who was greatly appreciated in his community.