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Covid-19 #3: It's More Personal Than Ever


Zorral

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8 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Where you see bunnies, the coyotes will be there! Luckily if they have plenty of buns they are almost certainly going to run away from you. It sounds like a really nice place, despite the spooky coyotes

The cemetery is in the north end of the city, just south of the major highway that runs across the top of Toronto. Someone told me it was created, or expanded, when graves had to be moved from other cemeteries when the highway was widened. The area was still farmland when I was a child. What's kind of neat is that it was the family farm of a Victoria Cross winner from WW 2, there's a plaque at the entry and there's a war memorial as well. The creek on the west side flows into a river to the east, and there's a lot of parkland in the area because of the river, including a golf course just north of the cemetery. It's a real roadway for wildlife, I've seen foxes and deer in other parts. It's a lovely, peaceful spot.

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WFH 2 days a week has made me realise that my wife has the most annoying typing style on earth, I have to work elsewhere.  She bashes the fuck out of those keys like its an old fashioned keyboard.  Also her work persona is so different to how I imagined, she is proper powerful.  Gives me the horn.

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Ormond: It sounds as though you are able to be safe on your trip. Again, I am so sorry to hear of your mother's passing. I am glad you were able to to to her ceremony. 

The kids and I went to our bubble friends'  camp near Lake Placid in the Adirondacks this weekend.  We felt ok going since these are the only people we have socialized with other than our immediate family of  4 since March.  The camp is very remote and we saw nobody (except passing a few kayakers on the lake while we were there.) Essex  County, NY has only had 65 total COVID cases. It was a 4 hour drive. I stopped once to use the toilet in Saranac Lake.  Everyone in the convenience store we stopped in was properly masked. We drove through lots of tourist town in the Adirondacks, which were very crowded and not all the people on the streets had masks on.  We usually opt to visit Lake Placid to shop and eat when we go to camp but we decided not to take the side trip this time. We did stop for ice cream shop on the way home. There was a big sign stating "no mask, no ice cream." One one party at a time in the shop and no more than 3 in a party.

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I am so pleased I am not an animal person, there have been a few things recently on here and in general about the lengths people will go to for their animals, its sounds like a right pain (especially during the current situation). 

The costs are insane, a girl at work recently spent £12,000 on vet bills for her horse, I just can't get my head around that. 

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1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

I am so pleased I am not an animal person, there have been a few things recently on here and in general about the lengths people will go to for their animals, its sounds like a right pain (especially during the current situation). 

The costs are insane, a girl at work recently spent £12,000 on vet bills for her horse, I just can't get my head around that. 

What a strange way to view it. I would look at something like that and assume that person experienced a tremendous amount of value from that relationship.

In my case, I know that my cats are responsible for a large portion of my emotional quality of life and having pets as a child was a huge contributor to learning responsibility and empathy. Especially while I was off work for three months due to COVID, they were absolutely a lifeline to my mental health.

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43 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

What a strange way to view it. I would look at something like that and assume that person experienced a tremendous amount of value from that relationship.

In my case, I know that my cats are responsible for a large portion of my emotional quality of life and having pets as a child was a huge contributor to learning responsibility and empathy. Especially while I was off work for three months due to COVID, they were absolutely a lifeline to my mental health.

Its not strange, just different.  Some people love their animals in a way that I can't understand, its not a judgement, just an acknowledgement that people have different ideas about pets.  

A girl at work took the death of her cat far far harder than the death of her father, she was a mess for months.  it blew my mind, and I don't even get on with my dad that well.

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13 hours ago, Whitestripe said:

Ormond: It sounds as though you are able to be safe on your trip. Again, I am so sorry to hear of your mother's passing. I am glad you were able to to to her ceremony. 

 

Thank you. I am very glad I was able to be there also. I am now safely back in Omaha. Most people were masked and socially distanced inside the rest area buildings on the way home. Both Ohio and Illinois were using the electronic signs over their Interstate highways to promote social distancing and mask wearing. 

Since I mentioned the Country Inn and Suites in Roanoke's rule about no guest from within 50 miles I should add that I asked about that when I checked out. It turns out to have nothing to do with the pandemic and was a rule they've had in place for a long time. The desk clerk did not say why so I can only guess they are trying to prevent anyone from using their hotel for prostitution.

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26 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Its not strange, just different.  Some people love their animals in a way that I can't understand, its not a judgement, just an acknowledgement that people have different ideas about pets.  

A girl at work took the death of her cat far far harder than the death of her father, she was a mess for months.  it blew my mind, and I don't even get on with my dad that well.

It makes sense to me. Your pet is a big part of your day so it’s just a constant reminder. Most people don’t live with their parents anymore (or if they do it’s often because there’s some reason to be prepared for the worst), but your pet is there to greet you when you get home and often sleeps in your bed. It’s just harder to deal with something you’re constantly hit in the face with.

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3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

I am so pleased I am not an animal person, there have been a few things recently on here and in general about the lengths people will go to for their animals, its sounds like a right pain (especially during the current situation). 

The costs are insane, a girl at work recently spent £12,000 on vet bills for her horse, I just can't get my head around that. 

Horses are crazy expensive to keep. Vet bills for other animals can be high but nowhere near that much. Pretty sure most procedures our dogs have had have been covered by insurance. The package we have also includes their check ups and booster shots in the cost.

I have a friend who has a horse (plus two sheep, some geese, a dog, two cats, and a Shetland pony someone housed in her fields before dickying off into the ether.. The costs to keep the horse are just wild (as you can probably guess from the above descriptor though, she is well off and can afford it)

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1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

some geese

Now this is where I get BFC and have to ask why?

21 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I wouldn't be happy about spending 12 Grand on a humans medical bills either. 

 

It's almost like some industries shouldn't be for profit......

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2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Horses are crazy expensive to keep. Vet bills for other animals can be high but nowhere near that much. Pretty sure most procedures our dogs have had have been covered by insurance. The package we have also includes their check ups and booster shots in the cost.

I have a friend who has a horse (plus two sheep, some geese, a dog, two cats, and a Shetland pony someone housed in her fields before dickying off into the ether.. The costs to keep the horse are just wild (as you can probably guess from the above descriptor though, she is well off and can afford it)

I mean, horses are and aren’t expensive (I have two). I generally spend WAY more on vet bills for my cats than the horses. My spending on feeding them is comparable (my cats are on a prescription diet). Maintenance veterinary care is pretty cheap for a horse. It’s when something goes wrong that it can get crazy expensive, and horses don’t get sick very often. On average, an annual physical with vaccinations for one of My horses is $150-250. The average vet visit for one of my cats is $400. But, if my cat broke a leg, it’d be a couple thousand dollar affair and worst case scenario is amputation. If a horse breaks a leg survival rate is very very bad and on the other side of about $20,000 because a horse cant lay down too long and survive because their body weight stops their digestion, so recovery involves essentially a small crane. But, I did have to have an extremely dangerous mare ultrasounded once to check on her pregnancy, the vet had to give her an injection to sedate while she was rearing up threatening to stomp him to death, and then had to go shoulder deep in her anus with the ultrasound wand while a vet tech operated the machine, all of which they brought to my house. With the drugs, the tech, the vet, and the equipment- it cost me $180. I was shocked it was that cheap. With horses you can also vaccinate them yourself for about $30 if you don’t want to do an exam, and they’ll just let you pick up the vaccines. With the danger and travel involved, I am always shocked my routine care on the horses doesn’t cost as much as easier things with the cats.

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32 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Now this is where I get BFC and have to ask why?

It's almost like some industries shouldn't be for profit......

Because she loves animals and loves them?

29 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

I mean, horses are and aren’t expensive (I have two). I generally spend WAY more on vet bills for my cats than the horses. My spending on feeding them is comparable (my cats are on a prescription diet). Maintenance veterinary care is pretty cheap for a horse. It’s when something goes wrong that it can get crazy expensive, and horses don’t get sick very often. On average, an annual physical with vaccinations for one of My horses is $150-250. The average vet visit for one of my cats is $400. But, if my cat broke a leg, it’d be a couple thousand dollar affair and worst case scenario is amputation. If a horse breaks a leg survival rate is very very bad and on the other side of about $20,000 because a horse cant lay down too long and survive because their body weight stops their digestion, so recovery involves essentially a small crane. But, I did have to have an extremely dangerous mare ultrasounded once to check on her pregnancy, the vet had to give her an injection to sedate while she was rearing up threatening to stomp him to death, and then had to go shoulder deep in her anus with the ultrasound wand while a vet tech operated the machine, all of which they brought to my house. With the drugs, the tech, the vet, and the equipment- it cost me $180. I was shocked it was that cheap. With horses you can also vaccinate them yourself for about $30 if you don’t want to do an exam, and they’ll just let you pick up the vaccines. With the danger and travel involved, I am always shocked my routine care on the horses doesn’t cost as much as easier things with the cats.

Interesting, thanks. I think in my mind I am possibly conflating vet bills/maintenance bills for horses with, for example, equestrian costs. The equipment etc she had for those was hard to swallow for me.

On your cats, do you have the option to cover them under some kind of insurance in the U.S? It's been invaluable for us and others in my family. We've been fortunate with my current two dogs that they mostly just need checkups and boosters, but my aunty's labs are plagued with so many problems which have all been covered. Not sure how it works in the U.S

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2 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Because she loves animals and loves them?

That's fine, but just not something I'm used to hearing people "have" in the sense that people have a chicken coop or even a beehive. Perhaps it's more common in your neck of the woods to own geese. :dunno:

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6 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Because she loves animals and loves them?

Interesting, thanks. I think in my mind I am possibly conflating vet bills/maintenance bills for horses with, for example, equestrian costs. The equipment etc she had for those was hard to swallow for me.

On your cats, do you have the option to cover them under some kind of insurance in the U.S? It's been invaluable for us and others in my family. We've been fortunate with my current two dogs that they mostly just need checkups and boosters, but my aunty's labs are plagued with so many problems which have all been covered. Not sure how it works in the U.S

You can, but usually that kind of insurance here reimburses you at some point afterward and isn’t accepted everywhere and just isn’t that stellar an option. Also, my oldest cat is 16, and the other two are Persians, so they would be u likely to be accepted by insurance companies anyway because they are predictably expensive

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

That's fine, but just not something I'm used to hearing people "have" in the sense that people have a chicken coop or even a beehive. Perhaps it's more common in your neck of the woods to own geese. :dunno:

Geese also produce eggs just like ducks or chickens and they look a hell of a lot cooler and are less vulnerable to predation than chickens

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1 minute ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Geese also produce eggs just like ducks or chickens and they look a hell of a lot cooler and are less vulnerable to predation than chickens

Sure, but aren't they a lot harder to work with while also not yielding as much? 

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