Covid 19 and Your Life #2: It's Personal

[RhaenysBee]

Pffffffffff. 
 

it was my sister’s birthday this week and she wanted to go to this rooftop bar that reopened after quarantine restrictions were eased in the city. The event description and the booking confirmation state that they reopen as a “terrace” (only outdoor Areas of restaurants and bars were allowed to open so far), not serve food yet and not reserve all tables so customers may sit at the suggested distance from each other.
We arrive at this place at 7:30. It’s F.U.L.L. As in five people standing around a bar table and two-person tables 40 cms from each other are filled. They did serve appetizers and snacks as a “surprise”, so having dinner before was a waste of time and money. The “terrace” function means that roof panels covering the glass walls were half open. 

In the first thirty minutes I went through all five stages of dying and even though three glasses offensively expensive champagne stopped my urge to angry-cry and have an anxiety attack, I still believe that it’s immoral and disgusting to shit on coronavirus safety recommendations for the sake of revenue. Lying about keeping safety measures is even worse and absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable, especially for such a fancy and top rated place. 

We did get a better table with time and servers wore masks and gloves but the overall concept about “restricted” reopening makes me regret that I’m not a more assertive/brave/agile person. If I had been, I would surely have called the police on them. Then again, it wasn’t my birthday celebration and it would have felt inexcusably rude to leave or openly confront the bar about this ridiculous arrangement. Instead we rewarded this disgusting Eastern European attitude of worming out of rules through whatever loophole there is with a €950 bill, because we are eastern Europeans. The government will reopen indoor facilities on Friday. Would it have killed anybody to wait another week or be truthful for what they promised in the event description? I hate everything. 

On a Lighter note, putting on make up and wearing heels for the first time in two and a half months did feel nice. Almost as though getting back that twenty-something part of myself that’s supposed to enjoy life instead of biting her nails in fear for her and her loved ones’ health.

 

[Zorral]

t's beyond ... there is NO way to observe Distance. Too many people, too many bicyclists, too many family groups, too many joggers, just too many for any Distance at all. The amount of vehicular traffic is even higher than yesterday with everybody putting up construction to move their business onto the sidewalk and into the street. But there are all these vehicles. Plus people are clustering without masks right up close already, up and down the blocks.

Then there is this -- I'm walking carefully. Suddenly I hear approaching from behind this very loud male voice. It turns out a youngish guy on his bluetooth or whatever saying, "Ya they called me immediately to say I tested positive. My roommate though hasn't gotten any calls." And he continues in this vein -- I'm across a wide street by now and behind him, the wind is blowing from him -- and I can hear distinctly every word he's shouting to the world. NOT WEARING A MASK.

WTF.

On another block, a guy w/o a mask is futzing with his motorcycle, coughing his lungs out. While all around me are people walking , or sitting together, without masks and up close and personal.

I have no idea what we're going to do this summer. Though surely a lot of these people are going to get really sick?

Wine Wednesday.  I am partaking myself.  Because what else?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

That’s crazy.  When my dad got tested last week (in Ireland), he received his result in less than 24 hours.

Do you know that your test is still active in the system, and not just lost?

That's because the Motherland is very effective, er, when behaving well!
 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

22 minutes ago, Zorral said:

t's beyond ... there is NO way to observe Distance. Too many people, too many bicyclists, too many family groups, too many joggers, just too many for any Distance at all. The amount of vehicular traffic is even higher than yesterday with everybody putting up construction to move their business onto the sidewalk and into the street. But there are all these vehicles. Plus people are clustering without masks right up close already, up and down the blocks.

Then there is this -- I'm walking carefully. Suddenly I hear approaching from behind this very loud male voice. It turns out a youngish guy on his bluetooth or whatever saying, "Ya they called me immediately to say I tested positive. My roommate though hasn't gotten any calls." And he continues in this vein -- I'm across a wide street by now and behind him, the wind is blowing from him -- and I can hear distinctly every word he's shouting to the world. NOT WEARING A MASK.

WTF.

On another block, a guy w/o a mask is futzing with his motorcycle, coughing his lungs out. While all around me are people walking , or sitting together, without masks and up close and personal.

I have no idea what we're going to do this summer. Though surely a lot of these people are going to get really sick?

Wine Wednesday.  I am partaking myself.  Because what else?

Hate to hit you with an "I told you so."

Most people are simply not going to be respectful of others, even if you train the shit out of them. 

[Guest]

Has anyone tried getting a re-fi on their mortgage or a new mortgage lately? My siblings I have been getting our mother's house ready to sell and I'm wondering if it might be better to put it up for rent for a while instead.

[Fury Resurrected]

15 minutes ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Has anyone tried getting a re-fi on their mortgage or a new mortgage lately? My siblings I have been getting our mother's house ready to sell and I'm wondering if it might be better to put it up for rent for a while instead.

I’ve heard the interest rates are insane low.

 

I got tested on Saturday (I haven’t had symptoms t the local health dept and national guard had free testing for anyone who wanted it. No results yet on that. Yesterday I got the antibody test and the results today came back negative. I’m supposed to go back to work Monday, which I’m not super comfortable about but since I won’t be able to get UI if I don’t go I don’t have much choice.

Young Boring Danzig has been complying with distancing and mask wear so we are getting along great again.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

I’ve heard the interest rates are insane low.

 

I got tested on Saturday (I haven’t had symptoms t the local health dept and national guard had free testing for anyone who wanted it. No results yet on that. Yesterday I got the antibody test and the results today came back negative. I’m supposed to go back to work Monday, which I’m not super comfortable about but since I won’t be able to get UI if I don’t go I don’t have much choice.

Young Boring Danzig has been complying with distancing and mask wear so we are getting along great again.

Yeah, the prime rate is rock bottom, but I'm worried that the banks might have cut way back on lending. Although I see applications are up, so maybe we'd be able to unload it at a decent price over the summer and get out before everything tanks again.

They're supposedly doing free no-symptom testing around here, so I've thought about going to get tested. Just an FYI, but I wouldn't put too much stock in the antibody test; the CDC came out and said that those tests are inaccurate up to 50% of the time.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

Hate to hit you with an "I told you so."

WTF is this supposed to mean? Really wtf are you saying here? That you're immune and you think this is a great joke on the libtards?

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, The Great Unwashed said:

Has anyone tried getting a re-fi on their mortgage or a new mortgage lately? My siblings I have been getting our mother's house ready to sell and I'm wondering if it might be better to put it up for rent for a while instead.

Rates are very low if you meet the criteria for a “conforming” loan.  That means: single family home, reasonably high credit score, verified income, loan is no more than 80% of appraised value, and maximum loan value of $510k in most counties in the US.

If you want anything other than a conforming loan, e.g. sub-prime (lower credit score), jumbo (more than $510k) or high LTV (loan greater than 80% of appraised value), then you’ll be very lucky to get a mortgage at all right now, and it’ll be at a much higher rate than a conforming loan.  But if you wait a few months, the mortgage market might relax again.  At the moment, lenders are only issuing loans they can sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

It’s definitely worth talking to a mortgage broker to start getting informed, assessing options, and preparing documentation.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Rates are very low if you meet the criteria for a “conforming” loan.  That means: single family home, reasonably high credit score, verified income, loan is no more than 80% of appraised value, and maximum loan value of $510k in most counties in the US.

If you want anything other than a conforming loan, e.g. sub-prime (lower credit score), jumbo (more than $510k) or high LTV (loan greater than 80% of appraised value), then you’ll be very lucky to get a mortgage at all right now, and it’ll be at a much higher rate than a conforming loan.  But if you wait a few months, the mortgage market might relax again.  At the moment, lenders are only issuing loans they can sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

It’s definitely worth talking to a mortgage broker to start getting informed, assessing options, and preparing documentation.

Yeah, I'm hoping that there are some people out looking for investment properties right now. We're mainly looking at just getting it off our hands, but didn't want to go too far below market.

On another topic, it looks like we'll be working from home indefinitely. Does anyone have suggestions on a good home office chair to invest in? Mainly looking for good ergonomic support and to hopefully not spend an arm and leg.

[Fury Resurrected]

3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Rates are very low if you meet the criteria for a “conforming” loan.  That means: single family home, reasonably high credit score, verified income, loan is no more than 80% of appraised value, and maximum loan value of $510k in most counties in the US.

If you want anything other than a conforming loan, e.g. sub-prime (lower credit score), jumbo (more than $510k) or high LTV (loan greater than 80% of appraised value), then you’ll be very lucky to get a mortgage at all right now, and it’ll be at a much higher rate than a conforming loan.  But if you wait a few months, the mortgage market might relax again.  At the moment, lenders are only issuing loans they can sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

It’s definitely worth talking to a mortgage broker to start getting informed, assessing options, and preparing documentation.

I’d assume they’re still doing SBA loans, which can go to Fannie and Freddie

[BigFatCoward]

So I've had 2 suicides in the last week that are pretty close to me. Both did have other issues going on in their lives which were pretty serious. But I do wonder if the whole uncertainty/lockdown might have been the thing that tipped them over the edge. 

[Fury Resurrected]

There’s a pandemic. My city is burning. The looting is just 4 or 5 blocks from me right now. It’s heartbreaking.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

7 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said:

There’s a pandemic. My city is burning. The looting is just 4 or 5 blocks from me right now. It’s heartbreaking.

I'm not much of a social media person, but I've never seen anything like this. The fury, sorry for the pun, is so overwhelming. Our city is indeed burning.

I am getting a good laugh at all my friends who are outing racists though. 

 

[Zorral]

It's really heartbreaking that the Minneapolis cops whose chief wears Cops for Trump tshirt murdered an innocent black man out of their racism.  How long, Lord, how long? How many, Lord, how many?

How many more years can African Americans live within such a terrorist state, during a pandemic that is killing them in vastly greater numbers than white people, and not rebel finally, how long?

 

[Fury Resurrected]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm not much of a social media person, but I've never seen anything like this. The fury, sorry for the pun, is so overwhelming. Our city is indeed burning.

I am getting a good laugh at all my friends who are outing racists though. 

 

Last night all the businesses on my block got hit. Had to go to sleep to breaking glass. Nobody even tried my car door handle, surprisingly.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Last night all the businesses on my block got hit. Had to go to sleep to breaking glass. Nobody even tried my car door handle, surprisingly.

Some of the photos are hard to process. I can't imagine being that close to everything, and I'm only a couple miles away and struggling with how I feel.

Stay safe, Kay. Uptown has its pros and cons, god I love the place, but things look like they could be ugly for at least a few more days before the tension cools. 

[Fury Resurrected]

42 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Some of the photos are hard to process. I can't imagine being that close to everything, and I'm only a couple miles away and struggling with how I feel.

Stay safe, Kay. Uptown has its pros and cons, god I love the place, but things look like they could be ugly for at least a few more days before the tension cools. 

I think everything attractive to looting (Every gas station, liquor store, and pharmacy was hit. The loon grocery, famous Dave’s, sunny’s wigs, Bondesque, Thurston jewelers, all the cell phone stores, all of Calhoun square, Penzey’s, urban outfitters, tcf bank, stella’s, cvs, both Walgreens, kowalskis, GameStop, familia skateboard shop, etc- this is all from just walking from franklin down Lyndale then lyndale to Hennepin on Lake and up Hennepin back to Franklin )got it last night and it’ll continue but not here. Right now it’s in Saint Paul midway. I think it will continue unabated until the officers are in custody. The city really missed their chance on this one. You can’t spend two days teargassing peaceful protests and hailing them with marker rounds and rubber bullets and flash bangs and think this is not where it ends up.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

12 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

I think everything attractive to looting (Every gas station, liquor store, and pharmacy was hit. The loon grocery, famous Dave’s, sunny’s wigs, Bondesque, Thurston jewelers, all the cell phone stores, all of Calhoun square, Penzey’s, urban outfitters, tcf bank, stella’s, cvs, both Walgreens, kowalskis, GameStop, familia skateboard shop, etc- this is all from just walking from franklin down Lyndale then lyndale to Hennepin on Lake and up Hennepin back to Franklin )got it last night and it’ll continue but not here. Right now it’s in Saint Paul midway. I think it will continue unabated until the officers are in custody. The city really missed their chance on this one. You can’t spend two days teargassing peaceful protests and hailing them with marker rounds and rubber bullets and flash bangs and think this is not where it ends up.

Stella's was always my favorite place to party in younger years. I never liked the food, but after hours were great, even if I can't dance at all.

Midway is basically where I grew up until I was 10. The Target there is where my mom always took me. We lived just West of Snelling, once you crossed the freeway South into the residential areas. There's a library at the corner a block or two off of where our place was. I'm sure you can find it if you want.  

Is that weird green building still there, at the center of Midway? I have not gone back there in a long time. The only thing I know is that the restaurant that was there when I was a little kid in the 90's is gone. Frankly I've gone out of my way to ignore the place (the neighbored, not the building).   

As to Minneapolis, I have not been to the protests, so I can only speak to what I've seen. It does seem like the Mayor is horrified by what happened, and leaders send messages, but everything is a mess. Walz could have done more, and needs to be better, and I say that as someone who really likes him. 

The murderers should be in jail, days ago. 



 

[Fury Resurrected]

10 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Stella's was always my favorite place to party in younger years. I never liked the food, but after hours were great, even if I can't dance at all.

Midway is basically where I grew up until I was 10. The Target there is where my mom always took me. We lived just West of Snelling, once you crossed the freeway South into the residential areas. There's a library at the corner a block or two off of where our place was. I'm sure you can find it if you want.  

Is that weird green building still there, at the center of Midway? I have not gone back there in a long time. The only thing I know is that the restaurant that was there when I was a little kid in the 90's is gone. Frankly I've gone out of my way to ignore the place (the neighbored, not the building).   

As to Minneapolis, I have not been to the protests, so I can only speak to what I've seen. It does seem like the Mayor is horrified by what happened, and leaders send messages, but everything is a mess. Walz could have done more, and needs to be better, and I say that as someone who really likes him. 

The murderers should be in jail, days ago. 



 

Mayor Frey and Chief Rondo authorized the tear gassing and the rubber bullets and pepper spray and marker rounds. Now Walz has activated the Guard. These are very bad choices that have escalated it.
 

 The green tile building is still on Midway and the big used and rare bookstore still is too