On eBay, there are active auctions for selling toilet paper.
Here’s one, the starting price was 10 bucks. 67 bids, and now it’s already at $992. Ends in two and a half hours.
That’s it, the auction has ended and the link no longer works. Found another one, but this time let’s just have a screenshot. Closes in 20 minutes. Initial bid – a buck, already at $510 and 55 bids.
And you say there’s no remote work for those staying at home
They write “No GMO” on a salt packet, “No Cholesterol” on an oil bottle, but for some reason, they don’t write “No vitamins!” on a berry packet
Why do berries have zero percent vitamins? There should be at least 20 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.
I’ve been devouring them like a horse these last few days (because they’re tasty), but I thought I was also getting plenty of vitamins. Turns out the label says no
Russia announced a week of holidays to combat the coronavirus. Idiots.
To defeat the virus, we actually need to increase work, not decrease it. We should offer “work from home” positions to those who are idling without any holidays. Give tax discounts to companies that manage to open such vacancies during the quarantine. After the quarantine is over, the country will have a million new jobs and employers who have better figured out how to handle remote work.
This is beneficial from all sides. So that there’s no time to even walk to the fridge, let alone stroll through empty cities. So that a typical company, already suffering losses, doesn’t shut down completely in a month.
Otherwise, not only will the economy suffer (since employers will have to pay from reserves for such a forced holiday), but people will either overdrink or relax. And try telling them that they should drink alone while in self-isolation.
Today we were ordered:
– close all schools until the end of the school year (= switch to distance learning)
– close all dining areas of all restaurants and cafes (some may continue to operate, but only for takeout and delivery),
– no gatherings of more than ten people anywhere (including childcare, but excluding police and hospitals).
In Madrid, the ice rink at a shopping center is now operating as a morgue
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/madrid-ice-rink-turned-into-morgue-due-to-coronavirus-1.4864644
Tried ordering groceries online for delivery or pickup. Three stores – Wholefoods (akin to Azbuka Vkusa), Walmart (akin to Auchan), Harris Teeter (a bit simpler than Wholefoods). All had advanced online stores.
Results: nobody can deliver or organize pickup.
Wholefoods (Amazon) offers delivery only. They are located 10 minutes away from me, and usually can deliver within 30 minutes. Now, when choosing delivery, everything ends at the date selection page. There are no slots available today or tomorrow.
Harris Teeter is 5 minutes away from me. They offer both delivery and pickup. Pickup costs about $5, delivery about $12. Neither is available. For pickup, all stores ask you to choose a time slot. So, slots are all taken until the end of the week. For delivery, they simply don’t let you choose a date because no dates are available.
That leaves Walmart. They also offer pickup and delivery. For pickup, you need to select a slot, but there are none available today or tomorrow, and no more options. Walmart refuses to deliver to me, although the store itself is a 15-minute walk straight. Apparently, not all Walmarts organize delivery.
In the end, Nadya is going to Trader’s Joe tomorrow to buy all the stuff personally in the store. Online shops are failing.
We have Used toilet paper for sale on Amazon
I figured out why heat and low humidity reduce flu (and presumably Covid-19) infections almost to zero.
The virus’s capsid (shell) is destroyed by ultraviolet light, which is part of solar radiation. However, when the virus is in an aerosol droplet, it reduces the effect of ultraviolet light, and the virus remains active longer. Low humidity and temperature cause the droplet to evaporate faster, and heat carries the fine dispersed particles into the air (though someone’s nose might be in the way), while larger particles are pulled to the ground by gravity. Indeed, high humidity is also good – small particles are enveloped in moisture droplets and stop flying in front of one’s nose. In short, a certain level of humidity, uncomfortable for the virus, is important. However, the hotter it is, the more people prefer air conditioning and avoid going out into the sun.
Also, many think that soap simply washes the virus off, so if hands squeak after 5 seconds of lathering and rinsing, the virus is washed away. In fact, the main function of soap is to destroy the virus and reduce its ability to penetrate the cell. This function requires soap to be active for a longer time, which is why everyone writes about 20-30 seconds.
Thus, summer is better than winter, the sun is better than light bulbs, the south is better than the north, open spaces are better than closed ones, washing hands frequently is better than gloves, and a mask and glasses are better than no mask (but the point about the mask is most controversial. Simply, if someone sneezes in your face, you can throw away the mask, wash up with soap and perhaps be spared. It also prevents touching your mouth and nose)
Very interesting material, but Facebook and Medium consider it misleading. Indeed, the conclusions there are quite politicized, and it’s better not to read them. But the beginning and middle are quite reasonable. Look up “evidence over hysteria”
At night — that’s when I get the most work done. I will try to fly back to the USA tomorrow.
– Mexico, Guadalajara.
One of my first books in English, right after King’s The Mist.
“The main characters—an father and his young son, born after a global catastrophe—try to cross the territory of the former USA on foot to reach the distant and longed-for sea. They suffer from diseases, hunger, and fear of other people—bandits and cannibals. The boy’s mother, having lost all hope, took her own life long before the events of the book, the father is sick, coughing blood, and realizes that he will soon die. His last hopes for his son’s future are pinned on their journey to the sea; he repeats to his son ‘we are the good guys’ and ‘we carry the fire’ in contrast to the dehumanized bandits.”
A good book. Symbolically, The Mist, the predecessor, ended with a father and son driving deep into a country plagued by a global catastrophe involving alien creatures that ate people (and they encountered them there). In the movie, it ends well (almost), but in the book—it ends indeterminately.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 