COVID-19 in Boston

Here's an inspiring little fellow doing his part. And having some fun too.
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I saw one...single...12-pack of Charmin Ultra Soft sitting unmolested on the shelf of the Somerville Market Basket today. No one was in the aisle. When I passed by 5 minutes later it was still there.

Could it be we're finally adjusting and getting over this hoarding fever?


Nah...it was probably defective. :poop:
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
I saw one...single...12-pack of Charmin Ultra Soft sitting unmolested on the shelf of the Somerville Market Basket today. No one was in the aisle. When I passed by 5 minutes later it was still there.
Could it be we're finally adjusting and getting over this hoarding fever?
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Any day now, we're about the see the toilet paper equivalent of bus bunching:

After a long gap where there was none of [the thing],
there will suddenly be more of [the thing] than we can use.

In this case, the thing is toilet paper.

Bullwhip Effect *kinda* captures it. Also like coupled-chaotic traffic jam propagation

As soon as toilet paper is in overstock, I'd expect other odd stuff to run out where even a small change in customer behavior propagates up the whole supply chain. Stuff like
Paper towels
Meat / Frozen meat
Convenience foods

Also, good reason to suspect that hand sanitizer will be in oversupply at some moment before June 1. (I'm hoping that at the moment that everybody we know is sick, there'll be plenty of hand sanitizer, which, on some level, will be too late)
 
shmessy said:
In the short-term, they better turn that around fast with this virus sittuation.

It would be ridiculous to build new hospitals on high school football fields this week when all the bones of an infrastructure are already in place in downsized hospitals and motels.

But, yes, long-term there is no need to name this T stop after a hospital that won't be a major center for long.

.
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Army Corps. of engineers is working with governments on this. They're being smart and efficient, mostly looking at quickly retrofitting hotels to have negative pressure through simple alterations to ventilation. They're also looking at convention centers and other facilities that local governments suggest. Whatever fits their curve of cost vs. efficiency and timeliness is on the table. NYC is a test-run of sorts, and they're going quick: I believe they mentioned they're looking at 10,000 rooms in the first wave that have already been scouted by engineers and are in prep for retrofitting, and they're looking at adding far more capacity afterward. Critical cities are getting more attention first, followed by less-impacted.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Oh, FFS Seth!

www.huffpost.com

House Lawmakers Unveil Resolution Blaming China For The Coronavirus

At a time when Trump is fueling racist "Chinese virus" rhetoric and Asian Americans are being spit on and attacked, this seems like a terrible idea.
www.huffpost.com www.huffpost.com

Is anyone primarying this tool?
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Meanwhile, Pompeo is holding up a G7 resolution because no other country will call it the "Wuhan Virus". I'd say I'm surprised, but it's SOP for the US Government these days...
 
Arlington said:
Any day now, we're about the see the toilet paper equivalent of bus bunching:

After a long gap where there was none of [the thing],
there will suddenly be more of [the thing] than we can use.

In this case, the thing is toilet paper.

Bullwhip Effect *kinda* captures it. Also like coupled-chaotic traffic jam propagation

As soon as toilet paper is in overstock, I'd expect other odd stuff to run out where even a small change in customer behavior propagates up the whole supply chain. Stuff like
Paper towels
Meat / Frozen meat
Convenience foods

Also, good reason to suspect that hand sanitizer will be in oversupply at some moment before June 1. (I'm hoping that at the moment that everybody we know is sick, there'll be plenty of hand sanitizer, which, on some level, will be too late)
Click to expand...
I live in California where we started reacting the day the WHO declared it a pandemic so I'll say California is about 2 weeks ahead of Massachusetts. Here's what I've observed/experienced, just to give you guys a heads up:

At the supermarket:
  • Alcohol wipes/hand sanitizers, toilet paper, water bottle, water filter (ex. britta filters), rubber gloves, masks are the first to go
  • Then produce such as chicken, beef, pork, eggs, frozen vegetables and fruits
  • Then non perishable food like ramen, crackers, pasta, canned goods
  • High demand for flu/cold medicine (though it hasn't run out yet)
  • Limiting the amount of shoppers inside the supermarket to allow social distancing
  • Priority for the elderly
  • Fresh fruit and vegetable are generally abundant, no need to hoard these
  • No need to hoard milk either
  • Prepared meal like frozen pizza and etc might run out initially during the first week but generally are abundant the second week once people discovered they can still order delivery
One advice is to plan ahead to prevent the need to hoard. Buy what you need for 14 days and not anymore. Grocery shop once a week. And for the love of god don't buy 16 gallons of milk.
 
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KentXie said:
I live in California where we started reacting the day the WHO declared it a pandemic so I'll say California is about 2 weeks ahead of Massachusetts. Here's what I've observed/experienced, just to give you guys a heads up:

At the supermarket:
  • Alcohol wipes/hand sanitizers, toilet paper, water bottle, water filter (ex. britta filters), rubber gloves, masks are the first to go
  • Then produce such as chicken, beef, pork, eggs, frozen vegetables and fruits
  • Then non perishable food like ramen, crackers, pasta, canned goods
  • High demand for flu/cold medicine (though it hasn't run out yet)
  • Limiting the amount of shoppers inside the supermarket to allow social distancing
  • Priority for the elderly
  • Fresh fruit and vegetable are generally abundant, no need to hoard these
  • No need to hoard milk either
  • Prepared meal like frozen pizza and etc might run out initially during the first week but generally are abundant the second week once people discovered they can still order delivery
One advice is to plan ahead to prevent the need to hoard. Buy what you need for 14 days and not anymore. Grocery shop once a week. And for the love of god don't buy 16 gallons of milk.
Click to expand...

I work at a grocery store and I can attest to this being spot on.
 
I appreciate that the 3 Staties who've stopped by are practicing good social distancing while I'm sitting here stranded on 128N with a tire blowout waiting for AAA. Top-notch adherence.

Oh, yeah...it's still a workday at Dedham State Prison (I'm in the woods across). That paddywagon with emergency lights escort that just went up the driveway was definitely an incoming delivery.

Fucking car.🤬


EDIT: on the plus side, I got to pull a uey through the West Roxbury Trailer Park on my way to getting a permanent new tire. Sheer MAGNIFICENCE. Historic Landmark status now, please.
 
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The BSA is calling for collaborators from the AEC community to assist with identifying, evaluating, documenting, and retrofitting buildings and other facilities to accommodate the anticipated surge in acute inpatient care. If you or anyone at your firm has the interest and capacity to assist this effort, please submit the form below. Cross-discipline teams are being assembled now.

Link.
 
BeeLine said:
Causway Street 10AM Friday March 27th.

Quincy Market @ 11AM on Friday the 27th.

South Station around noon Friday the 27th of March
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I saw an awesome photo book a few years ago of Tokyo scenes, mostly of their elevated expressways, with no traffic or people. I wish I had bought it. These photos here are very similar.
 
The COVID-19 mortality rate has started to tick up in the US. At the beginning of this week, I remember seeing it at 1.3% but most recent data has it up to 1.8%. We might be starting to see the impact of local healthcare facilities beginning to be overwhelmed with the number of patients, in particular in the tri-state region. It took just 3 days to go from 1,000 deaths to 2,000 deaths (essentially doubling in 3 days).

We are probably entering the roughest stretch of this pandemic so brace yourself
 
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The increase in turkey sightings/reportings is amusing. The r/boston subreddit had posts about a turkey in 200 Clarendon, and a turkey at Harvard Ave in Allston (more common). Maybe they're confused.
 
Random wildlife taking over the city. It’s the beginning of 12 Monkeys 🐒
 
stefal said:
The increase in turkey sightings/reportings is amusing. The r/boston subreddit had posts about a turkey in 200 Clarendon, and a turkey at Harvard Ave in Allston (more common). Maybe they're confused.
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It's breeding season. Means they'll be more aggressive than usual, which should lead to lots more amusing r/ tales when social distancing humans run into not- social distancing groups of fowl.
 
stefal said:
The increase in turkey sightings/reportings is amusing. The r/boston subreddit had posts about a turkey in 200 Clarendon, and a turkey at Harvard Ave in Allston (more common). Maybe they're confused.
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Last week I had to ride my bike through a gang of turkey thugs that had taken over a section of the SW Corridor path. First time I've ever seen turkeys there, let alone a large quantity.
 
At least we don't freak out about urban wildlife sightings here like they did with the "OMG, coyotes are roaming the STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO" story last week. I mean, the Staties fish a trapped 'yote out of the Ted Williams Tunnel at least once a year, there's deer as far in as the South End, and the Attack Turkeys of Brookline have been a reliable internet meme for close to a decade. We're used to it here. I'm just wondering if the sparser human crowds are going to invite more predators in than usual. And not just the already-urban red tail hawks that will chow down a squirrel on a street corner oblivious to the crowds around them...but the great horned owls and other raptors that usually stick to the quiet leafy areas like the Arboretum or Alewife Reservation. Or maybe some bobcats from Neponset Reservation taking the same Amtrak route the coyotes and deer use to get into town.

Bears in Boston...that would be downright unusual. Packs of coyotes taking residence instead of the odd loner...unusual and unsettling.
 
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