catesta

Is it accurate to assume death tolls will continue to climb at such high rates? At what point do we acknowledge most people will be okay? It cannot be disputed that some people have it or had it and never knew, while for others it was just a mild sickness. Did I get it? I have no idea, but if I did, than I automatically gave it to my wife and she too showed no symptoms and never got sick. That worldometer map indicates 50,000 patients worldwide are at a serious level, and shows 98% mild. Yes, it's sad to see people died but will we ever know how many died actually from Covid-19? Is the death toll under counted or has it been over counted? Covid-19 should go on the death certificate right along congestive heart failure, but what will we recognize as the cause now? It might be true some deaths were not reported when this whole mess started for lack of understanding, but there is certainly no reason they would not be counted now, at least not here. China on the other hand. The navy hospital ship left NYC, the FEMA 2500 bed hospital at Javitz didn't see all that many people and is set to close. With all the elective surgeries cancelled and people staying home, hospitals in this country are empty. How many deaths outside of Covid19 because people skipped appointments or surgeries, or just could not see their physicians? I understand this may be with us for a while. Hell, maybe it will be a year or two, or more as some believe. We see new cases being reported every day. Is anyone tracking whether or not these cases involve people that were observing stay at home orders, working from home or not at all or can every new case be attributed to people out and about everyday? Because, here is a news flash, going to the grocery store, riding your bike, grabbing take out, getting your mail and having home improvements done, is not the same as a real quarantine. So, has any of this shutdown actually helped on any meaningful level? Besides of course, some reduction in traffic. I wonder, what do the models show for increases in domestic violence and child abuse while shit is all closed up and we are being asked to stay home? How about just the mental well being of people in general? How about business owners that may not be able to re-open, ever? There is big $ to be made. I have faith the pharmaceutical companies and science will figure out how to get all the money. P.S. I wouldn't put too much trust in Konyndyk's opinions, considering he is associated with WHO.

Oh shit, thanks for pointing that out Lon, I totally missed it.

That's good to hear. I don't use facebook and lost contact with him some years ago after I disappeared for a while. Since he doesn't seem to check in here anymore I was curious if he was still out there.

Does anybody here have any contact with Son-of-a-Weizen (Rolf)?

I can't deny, not being able to do a proper send off, does suck.

The ability to stock toilet paper in large quantities is the main problem. It's bulky and takes up a lot of space, therefore most stores just can't bring too much in at any one time. Same with paper towels.

Wasn't that always the plan? Sure, they can't re-open to do a final sale and all but they were already moving.

I've always had the thought, that the best case scenario is you can slow a few things down, but that the earth will reclaim itself no matter what we do. There is a mad dash for all renewable, but yeah, nobody talks about the amount of space it consumes. Those little 12 acre sites you see in Indiana are cute, but those fuckers aren't going to power a city. A 300 MW utility scale solar plant is likely to be around 2000 acres in size for the panel portion and at full production will power 60,000 homes. Today we all think they build the big ones on the middle of nowhere but what will it look like 10-20 years from now? Traditional/old school power generation has a much smaller foot print. By comparison, the Bowen plant in Georgia is around 2000 acres but can power almost 2 million homes.

Multiple shifts would indicate paying most on a part time basis, which is a way of avoiding overtime and other benefits. The owners like to say 80% of their employees are full time, of course only if you base it on 32 hours per week. Overtime in California is time and a half based on exceeding 8 hours, which is pretty generous. I'm sure most employees wouldn't mind picking up a few extra hours per week at time and a half. So while you are patting them on the back for being so good to the society, you are also laying out just how they avoid paying their people more money. Isn't Amoeba one of those companies that passes on a surcharge to customers to go towards off setting minimum wage requirements? I read an interview with Mark Weinstein and he confirmed they have furloughed all employees (no pay), except maybe a few working online orders. They seem most interested in constructing a new store more so than a society.

Good point. Yeah, I seriously doubt they employ anywhere near that many. The $400k from gofundme would only be enough to cover a little more than a week of payroll. 40 full time employees would seem more realistic.

It sounds like these guys are just not good businessmen. They sold a building in 2015 for around $34 million.The story I read suggested the proceeds of that sale which was a "great deal" were used to pay off old debts. Now, they are moving forward with construction plans on a new building. At the same time, they're in need of a go fund me campaign? If they were able to get a construction loan, that suggests assets beyond living month to month and the flip side is, if they're not using a lender they have the cash on hand to build.

If Cohen decides he is interested again, as I assume he will be since he already owns a percentage, I have no doubts he can outbid Rodriguez and the large pool of investors he will have to bring with him.

Absolutely.

The hand is still out though.

With a little splash of dry vermouth and two olives.

His role in Silverado was perfect. RIP

I just closed a major transaction on April 10th which pretty much involved a complete buyout of my business partners. I'm in the office every day, but the lawyers, accountants, bank reps, and advisor firm people all working from home made it very excruciating. I've never been though anything else like this before, but I'd have to think it would have been a little smoother if not for the current circumstances.

I have no doubts the bookstore has applied for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program and with the Go Fund Me money, they will be more than okay. In fact, it's probably more money has been generated than if they were open. They own the building, so.... Others will not be so lucky, even with the PPP money, (which will run out soon) plenty will not survive this. People better start thinking real hard about how and when (which will need to be sooner than later) to start the country up again.

D, that shit is pretty hardcore. Most of the grocery stores I go to in Phoenix have been able to level food stock back pretty good. Some canned good, frozen veggies and pasta are still in high demand but it's mainly paper products and home cleaning supplies that are still scarce. I'm still holding off my return to NY for at least another 30-45 days.

Arizona added barber shops to the non-essential list effective April 4th at 5pm. I was in the chair that morning and had my barber take everything down extra short. Still see short or no stock on items such as TP and paper towels, but we are not running short at the office or home. PPE equipment/supplies is a major cluster fuck though. We are having trouble with all kinds of stuff including safety glasses.

I'll see your Kitty and raise you.

My mother lives alone. Her only company now is her West Highland Terrier, Bonnie. Two of my sisters that live close are making sure she remains stocked up and sure, we can all talk by phone, but this not being able to be around family is really taking it's toll on her. Seeing her adult children, grandchildren and great grandchildren has always been important to her. She also misses silver sneakers with her pals. All this would be much easier for her if she still had my father, so it really bums me out.

Man, I get that about going into a store. I was in Whole Foods Saturday morning and then to Total Wine to pick up an online order my wife placed. It just keeps getting more and more uncomfortable with the tape on the floor, signs everywhere and people avoiding getting close to each other.

I'm curious and have a question for those working from home that otherwise would not be. If say in 30 days, things appear to resume back to a somewhat normal situation and your employer/place of business recalls you to the office/store/shop, do you think there will be some separation anxiety? I mean in the sense of leaving home, not being around pets all day, kids, significant other, etc. Will you be freaked out some or looking forward to it? I can't truly speak to it since I am still going out everyday but I'm obviously spending more time at home at night and on the weekends.

Plus, the cashiers work right and left side of registers translating to little or no lines whatsoever. Felser, right on. Wawa are also good.