OT: Coronavirus 2, the No Politics Version

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I love the Atlanta Braves but I don't miss baseball or anything else. The plan if baseball returns is to add all kinds of oddities that will render it unappealing to me, so I doubt I'll tune in even if they do come back. The only downside to this is it means I'm stuck with last October's 7th game between the Cardinals and Braves as my final hurrah. That was the ugliest Braves game I've ever seen. The Cards scored 10 runs in the 1st inning - with nothing longer than a double. Drip, drip, drip.

The Covid situation hasn't affected my main pursuits, one of which is outdoors activities like hiking. I've done far more this spring than ever. And it's been the most beautiful spring I've seen here, to boot.

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

ORIGINAL: fcooke

I believe most fans (and all the ones I have spoken to) are tired of the petulant children antics. The owners want fewer regular season games and more playoff games. The players want more games for the pro-rated salary. They need some grown-ups in the room. I used to run a large contracts negotiations team. Just split the difference already. The alienation of fans will cost both sides far more in the long run if they don't sort it out.

Rant off.

edited to clarify owners wanting fewer 'regular season' games and some other silly typos.

If there is one thing I found out about myself in the last 4 months is sports are nice to have, but I can certainly live without them. I miss baseball, but not really. I know there are rabid fans everywhere than live and die by their team. Nothing wrong with that, but with whats going on in the world it seems silly to care too much if sports come back or not. I'm sure this is just me.

If you really want to watch some good games, see if you can find the 1991 World Series. Especially game 7 which had a GREAT ending. [:D]

[Canoerebel]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

...If you really want to watch some good games, see if you can find the 1991 World Series. Especially game 7 which had a GREAT ending. [:D]

[Canoerebel]

I'm not familiar with the "masks as a political statement" referred to in here by several folks (bear in mind, no television here). We went to dinner tonight, eating on a covered porch with fans providing the air. Not a single employee or patron wore a mask during the 2.5 hours we were there. To my knowledge, none of them were making a political statement. They were saying, "We live in a place where fortunately the risk is small, we're outdoors, and we're acting accordingly."

[Canoerebel]

Mortality continues its long decline in the US, which you wouldn't surmise from the news media reports.

Positive tests/active cases continue to rise, so perhaps things are destined to change.

As I posted here yesterday, hospitalizations in my area and in the state as a whole continue to decline, even as positive tests go up. I don't know if this is consistent with other states, but it suggests that there are a lot of fairly mild cases that aren't transitioning into serious ones (not yet, anyway). In my county, total mortality is 15, the same number for the past 29 days.

[Kull]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
I'm sure this is just me.

No, it's definitely not.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'm not familiar with the "masks as a political statement" referred to in here by several folks (bear in mind, no television here). We went to dinner tonight, eating on a covered porch with fans providing the air. Not a single employee or patron wore a mask during the 2.5 hours we were there. To my knowledge, none of them were making a political statement. They were saying, "We live in a place where fortunately the risk is small, we're outdoors, and we're acting accordingly."

Apparently some folks get in other folks face if they are or are not wearing masks because they see it as support for one party or the other. It isn't the masks that are politicized, it's the people raising their objections. Certain workers who have to get close to their clients should be able to ask the client to put on a mask, but otherwise it's just a personal choice.

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'm not familiar with the "masks as a political statement" referred to in here by several folks (bear in mind, no television here). We went to dinner tonight, eating on a covered porch with fans providing the air. Not a single employee or patron wore a mask during the 2.5 hours we were there. To my knowledge, none of them were making a political statement. They were saying, "We live in a place where fortunately the risk is small, we're outdoors, and we're acting accordingly."

My town and county is about 50/50 (my village is mostly blue and is derisively know locally as "the Peoples Republic of Northport"). It is also one of the prettiest little villages in the State of New York and is also sometimes referred to as "Mayberry". Point is we get lots of visitors from the surrounding area in the summer. Masks are ABSOLUTISTLY a politician thing. The law is you can stroll the streets without a mask but business are allowed to require them. Most do and we have had many confrontations because store owners want people to were masks. NYC is much better and most people were masks when in a crowd of any size but there are plenty of confrontations when people don't. If the hats and t-shirts worn, and the declarations of "my Constitutional Rights", are any indication, masks are a political thing. Don't watch much TV but it's not great secret that masks are absolutely political statement. Poke around on-line for a bit if we want to irate yourself a bit more on a nice Sunday morning.
I'm about to make an observation, not a political statement. When I grew up political parties were not really know for a particular color. How can one politicize color? It's actually fairly new phenomena that derived from how network news showed who had won a State in an election. Affiliations by color are nothing new. Bloods vs Crips, Orange vs. Green in Ireland, Scarlet vs. Black in France and my favorite. Blue vs. Green in Byzantine Chariot racing. This is fascinating stuff and the colors the chariots teams wore were just the manifestation of class differences in the Byzantine empire. I'd have to agree, right now Americans could politicize anything. In this case they might reconsider. At least in my neck of the woods masks do seem to have stopped the virus spread

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'm not familiar with the "masks as a political statement" referred to in here by several folks (bear in mind, no television here). We went to dinner tonight, eating on a covered porch with fans providing the air. Not a single employee or patron wore a mask during the 2.5 hours we were there. To my knowledge, none of them were making a political statement. They were saying, "We live in a place where fortunately the risk is small, we're outdoors, and we're acting accordingly."

My town and county is about 50/50 (my village is mostly blue and is derisively know locally as "the Peoples Republic of Northport"). It is also one of the prettiest little villages in the State of New York and is also sometimes referred to as "Mayberry". Point is we get lots of visitors from the surrounding area in the summer. Masks are ABSOLUTISTLY a politician thing. The law is you can stroll the streets without a mask but business are allowed to require them. Most do and we have had many confrontations because store owners want people to were masks. NYC is much better and most people were masks when in a crowd of any size but there are plenty of confrontations when people don't. If the hats and t-shirts worn, and the declarations of "my Constitutional Rights", are any indication, masks are a political thing. Don't watch much TV but it's not great secret that masks are absolutely political statement. Poke around on-line for a bit if we want to irate yourself a bit more on a nice Sunday morning.
I'm about to make an observation, not a political statement. When I grew up political parties were not really know for a particular color. How can one politicize color? It's actually fairly new phenomena that derived from how network news showed who had won a State in an election. Affiliations by color are nothing new. Bloods vs Crips, Orange vs. Green in Ireland, Scarlet vs. Black in France and my favorite. Blue vs. Green in Byzantine Chariot racing. This is fascinating stuff and the colors the chariots teams wore were just the manifestation of class differences in the Byzantine empire. I'd have to agree, right now Americans could politicize anything. In this case they might reconsider. At least in my neck of the woods masks do seem to have stopped the virus spread

Ah, we have stolen that one here in Glasgow sadly.

[fcooke]

Far too nice a day to poke around and get irate. Rather pull out the chainsaw and chop up some trees that have down since December. And certainly don't want to watch TV news - that will send me to drinks before noon.

And sadly it does seem like everything is politicized in the US these days. I hope that starts to swing back the other way in my lifetime.

[JohnDillworth]

ORIGINAL: fcooke

Far too nice a day to poke around and get irate. Rather pull out the chainsaw and chop up some trees that have down since December. And certainly don't want to watch TV news - that will send me to drinks before noon.

And sadly it does seem like everything is politicized in the US these days. I hope that starts to swing back the other way in my lifetime.

My wife and I were apartment dwellers in Queens, NYC when we bought our house. Best thing we ever did but much like becoming a parent home ownership provides some entertaining lessons that you learn on the job. Anyway, being a city kid I was not well versed in power tools. First year a tree comes down and crushes my fence. I went and bought my first chainsaw. I bring it home, start to read the directions and the first thing it said was "Do not use a chainsaw when you are upset or angry". Well of course I'm upset and angry! A giant tree just crushed my fence! I'm fairly well versed in power tools and small engines these days but one defiantly learns by doing. When I hear someone say "pull out the chainsaw and chop up some trees" my first thought is "DO NOT THREATEN ME WITH A GOOD TIME! Sounds like fun. enjoy

[Canoerebel]

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005,a group of us went to Pass Christian, Mississippi, to help with clean-up efforts. The devastation was utterly remarkable, as most of you know.

I took my chainsaw and did good work for most of a day. When the chain needed sharpening, I took a break and used a file for the sharpening. Took awhile. When the cutting resumed, the saw was even slower than before. Had I filed in the wrong direction?

Nope, I'd put the chain on backwards.

[fcooke]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

ORIGINAL: fcooke

Far too nice a day to poke around and get irate. Rather pull out the chainsaw and chop up some trees that have down since December. And certainly don't want to watch TV news - that will send me to drinks before noon.

And sadly it does seem like everything is politicized in the US these days. I hope that starts to swing back the other way in my lifetime.

My wife and I were apartment dwellers in Queens, NYC when we bought our house. Best thing we ever did but much like becoming a parent home ownership provides some entertaining lessons that you learn on the job. Anyway, being a city kid I was not well versed in power tools. First year a tree comes down and crushes my fence. I went and bought my first chainsaw. I bring it home, start to read the directions and the first thing it said was "Do not use a chainsaw when you are upset or angry". Well of course I'm upset and angry! A giant tree just crushed my fence! I'm fairly well versed in power tools and small engines these days but one defiantly learns by doing. When I hear someone say "pull out the chainsaw and chop up some trees" my first thought is "DO NOT THREATEN ME WITH A GOOD TIME! Sounds like fun. enjoy

I like my power tools. My Dad was handy and eventually owned a roofing company so I had the opportunity to learn a lot of 'handy' skills. I just shake my head when someone doesn't know how to untrip a tripped breaker or fix the running toilet that has a flapper that needs to be replaced.

Did some painting yesterday - which I like in limited doses. Thankfully the stuff that came down in Dec didn't take out any fencing or other infrastructure. But never too early to replenish the firewood pile before next winter.

I have some friends who don't even own a power drill.....

[fcooke]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005,a group of us went to Pass Christian, Mississippi, to help with clean-up efforts. The devastation was utterly remarkable, as most of you know.

I took my chainsaw and did good work for most of a day. When the chain needed sharpening, I took a break and used a file for the sharpening. Took awhile. When the cutting resumed, the saw was even slower than before. Had I filed in the wrong direction?

Nope, I'd put the chain on backwards.

Reminds me some assembly projects I have done in the past. Some kit comes in and I look at the instructions and cannot make heads or tails of it - then go looking for a 4 year old. I am also guilty of putting things on backwards....sometimes even my clothing (not much excuse for that!)

[JohnDillworth]

I was recently in a discussion about what people did during lock-down. I did made my self better at 2 things. I'm a photographer and I took the time to learn how to retouch portraits in Photoshop. I have raised my game considerably. I also learned to sharpen things. Really did a great job on all the tools in the shed, Axes, mauls, branch trimmers, garden shears, mower blades, hedge clippers ect, ect. But I also got a good whetstone and learned how to sharpen knives. Hour after hour of YouTube videos of Master Sushi Chefs sharpening knives. The kitchen knives are now extraordinarily, dangerous sharp. I have a boning knife I could take your spleen out with and it would take you a day to notice 😃. sharpening things is a good life skill to have. As Lincoln said, "If I had 8 hours to cut down a tree I'd spend 7 hours sharpening my ax".

[RangerJoe]

I used to use firewood when I lived with my dad and stepmother. Later it was just me and my stepmother. I never did cut down tree but I just went to where the loggers left a lot on the ground. It sure beats carrying green wood like when I was younger. I would rather get a load of tree trunks, bring them home, cut them up, and split them than lifting weights - unless it is a 12 ounce curls or something like that.

I was nervous about using the chainsaw at first since my uncle cut himself on the hand pretty bad with one. I had to keep telling my stepmother to stay out of the way and not to do anything when I was cutting the logs on the pile. She would keep reaching in and out of my sight grabbing a lot which would distract me. Not a good thing.

As far as sharpening one goes, there are sharpeners that you can hook up to a car battery and sharpen the chain saws.

Getting back to shopping, only one store actually required masks. It was a small craft place that had temporarily shut down. They also took a person's temperature before you did any shopping.

[fcooke]

I've never taken down a tree either....but a lot of old growth near the house needed to come down when we were putting in our pool. Required cranes - the biggest piece of gear I have is a gator (fun tool). Anyway we milled a bunch of that wood and used it in some of our renovations. But also ended up with an impressive woodpile but the guys did not place it well and it is approaching 'use it or lose it status'

The newer chainsaws are pretty safe but some people just don't understand the maxim of 'don't distract people using power tools'.....used to work with a guy who shortened his fingers with a circular saw. Not a good look.

[RangerJoe]

Well, I do know how to take trees down without using a chainsaw. Smaller ones can be pushed over. Larger ones . . .

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

I was recently in a discussion about what people did during lock-down. I did made my self better at 2 things. I'm a photographer and I took the time to learn how to retouch portraits in Photoshop. I have raised my game considerably. I also learned to sharpen things. Really did a great job on all the tools in the shed, Axes, mauls, branch trimmers, garden shears, mower blades, hedge clippers ect, ect. But I also got a good whetstone and learned how to sharpen knives. Hour after hour of YouTube videos of Master Sushi Chefs sharpening knives. The kitchen knives are now extraordinarily, dangerous sharp. I have a boning knife I could take your spleen out with and it would take you a day to notice ��. sharpening things is a good life skill to have. As Lincoln said, "If I had 8 hours to cut down a tree I'd spend 7 hours sharpening my ax".

First thing I learned about axe safety is "a dull axe is more dangerous than a sharp one" (because a dull one can glance off the wood more easily). As kids growing up in the Canadian Shield, most of our play was in the bush, building forts and cooking things over campfires (on day hikes). No adults were present - we were with friends and we taught each other. We felled lots of trees to build our forts, all with axes and hatchets.

We quickly learned how to deeply notch the tree on the side facing the direction you want it to fall, then chop the back just a tad higher than that notch so the tree would break in the middle and fall in the direction of the first notch. We also learned to remove branches by cutting from the outside of the V formed by the branch - cutting the inside of the V would force your axe into the trunk and get it jammed there.

We learned to sharpen our knives too - starting fires often involved making shavings thin enough to ignite from a match. Fires were always built on bedrock, with a circle of stones to keep the wood from rolling out. We made billy pails out of large orange juice tins, cutting out the top and poking holes on the side for a wire handle. Fill with water (the lake water up there was extremely clean) and hang from a stick over the fire to boil water for tea, or make a stew.

On moving south into the city I was shocked that most kids had no clue about how to cut wood or build a fire. One reason I became a Boy Scouts leader I guess.

[Canoerebel]

Regarding chainsaw safety:

‘Out, Out—’

By Robert Frost

The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside him in her apron
To tell them ‘Supper.’ At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

[Canoerebel]

Today's US mortality total was the lowest since March 24. (The Sunday totals are always low, but this one particularly so. More tellingly, the 7-day rolling average continues its steady decline.)