The Really Swell News Thread

[Technico Support]

Buddy, people here don't even know the difference between socialism and communism.  We're so dumb we take them to be synonyms.  We know that both mean "not 'murican" and therefore bad.  Don't get me started on the "rugged individualism" myth this place was built on and how we're still hung up on that bullshit today.  People don't even understand that "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" was a metaphor for an impossible task instead of something literal we should all aspire to.

[tbarrie]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

People don't even understand that "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" was a metaphor for an impossible task instead of something literal we should all aspire to.

What, really? Well that ruins my plan for how to fly in an emergency.

[christopher.annino]

It's kinda like how lots of people are defending bad cops saying they're just a few "bad apples," completely forgetting the rest of that saying...

[BrianS81177]

Got my 1st shot (Moderna) a week ago. Second one is scheduled for June 1st. 

Edited May 13 by BrianS81177

[Dolfan in NYC]

The CDC is announcing that Americans who have been vaccinated do not need to wear masks and do not have to social distance in almost all situations.

 

(The big exception appears to be flying in airplanes.)   

To wit...  

LFG! 

[BrianS81177]

I'm still wearing my mask after. I don't trust other people. 

[Pete]

9 minutes ago, BrianS81177 said:

I'm still wearing my mask after. I don't trust other people. 

Me too. Still way too many assholes in this country whose quote-unquote patriotism stops at helping prevent a pandemic.

[Zimbra]

Yeah, Dane county is like barely at 50% vaccinated so I'll probably be wearing it in the grocery store for a while.

Plus whatever jawline I may or may not have isn't anybody else's business.

[Doc Townsend]

Say an article this morning where an epidemiologist said that, if you're wearing a mask post-vaccination, you're doing it out of solidarity or symbolism (his words, not mine).  Not doing you a lot of good medically.  

I'm not really expecting every business to drop mandates immediately (but I can hope).  It'll be interesting to see what our governor does.  He's been rather proactive on erring on the side of public health, but he already promised to drop the mask mandate next month. 

[Matt D]

Just in general, I'd feel more confident taking my kids places if mask mandates were still in place until they approve things for 2-11 year olds.

[BrianS81177]

I eagerly await people freaking out when they realize that the CDC doesn't actually make laws and that mask mandates are still in effect in lots of areas. 

[christopher.annino]

All in all I'm still planning on rocking the mask inside most places because people are gross and it's not like there's a way to tell who's been vaxxed and who hasn't - and you KNOW the anti-mask/vax/science folks are gonna be the first ones breathing and sneezing all over fuckin everything...

BUT if it means I can have more work days unmasked, that's rad. 

(I haul boxes of records in and out of buildings on the regular, when I'm not driving all over creation to the next office/storage space)

[Control]

3 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

I'm still wearing my mask after. I don't trust other people. 

Also my face has aged six years in the last 14 months.

[Eoae]

1 hour ago, BrianS81177 said:

I eagerly await people freaking out when they realize that the CDC doesn't actually make laws and that mask mandates are still in effect in lots of areas. 

True, but what's the rationale for ignoring the CDC?  For that matter, mask mandates and shutdowns were originally put in place out of fear the healthcare system would be overwhelmed and collapse.  We seem to be well past that point.  My state has approx. 200 people hospitalized with Covid in the entire state (they could all fit on one floor of our hometown University hospital, basically).

I'm guessing it will take some time, but things will slowly go back to almost normal and masks will all but disappear by... the end of the year, maybe?

[NikoBaltimore]

Ironically the thought of unvaccinated people lying so they can be gross might get me to stay home more.

[JLSigman]

I've probably said it before here, but in the last year Mom and I have had zero colds, and I have had many fewer sinus migraines. I may be wearing masks in enclosed spaces (especially grocery stores/department stores) for the rest of my life.

[Shartnado]

12 minutes ago, JLSigman said:

I've probably said it before here, but in the last year Mom and I have had zero colds, and I have had many fewer sinus migraines. I may be wearing masks in enclosed spaces (especially grocery stores/department stores) for the rest of my life.

I'm not exactly sure what a sinus migrane is, in all it's glory, but if wearing a mask seems to help lessen their frequency, then yeah, absolutely!

[Robert C]

I might just wear em to piss people off. 

[Technico Support]

18 hours ago, Eoae said:

True, but what's the rationale for ignoring the CDC? 

 

I took @BrianS81177's post to mean the opposite.  I think he meant, and I had the same thought this morning, he could see people who have been vaccinated (or at least claiming to be) getting indignant when a store or some other place refuses to let them in unmasked.  To clarify: your local laws mean more than the CDC's guidelines.  And private businesses' rules mean more than your local laws. 

Edited May 14 by Technico Support

[CSC]

24 minutes ago, Technico Support said:

I took @BrianS81177's post to mean the opposite.  I think he meant, and I had the same thought this morning, he could see people who have been vaccinated (or at least claiming to be) getting indignant when a store or some other place refuses to let them in unmasked.  To clarify: your local laws mean more than the CDC's guidelines.  And private businesses' rules mean more than your local laws. 

This is already happening today at the museum I work at - security has had to deal with a couple people refusing to wear masks because of what the CDC said and having to explain to them that we are waiting for actual new museum guidelines to be released before making any major changes. 

 

[Eoae]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

I took @BrianS81177's post to mean the opposite.  I think he meant, and I had the same thought this morning, he could see people who have been vaccinated (or at least claiming to be) getting indignant when a store or some other place refuses to let them in unmasked.  To clarify: your local laws mean more than the CDC's guidelines.  And private businesses' rules mean more than your local laws. 

That's the way I took it too.  But, if the CDC and Fauci and the like are telling states the vaccinated don't need to wear masks, shouldn't states start winding down mask mandates?  Most states are around 60% and rising steadily, so the majority of eligible adults are probably vaccinated.  

This does have some issues - the ones pointed out above.  Our governor is taking a "split the baby" approach.  Lol, probably should have expected this from a guy that got elected as a democrat, them promptly switched parties (though the real question is why the state Democratic Party believed he was one of them in the first place and funded his campaign).    Vaccinated can stop wearing masks, unvaccinated wear masks for a few more weeks.  Yeah.... I have no idea how that's supposed to work.  I've been vaccinated for quite a while, but, if I weren't, I'd probably just lie if a store clerk asked.  Lol, I may lie anyway just for the heck of it.  

I'm guessing businesses and whatnot will be slow to lift mask rules.  Though a lot of them may not want to turn away business at this point.  Hopefully it doesn't take too long to return to some semblance of normal.  Fauci predicted it would take about a year, which seems reasonable-ish.

Edited May 14 by Eoae

[Gordberg]

One of my high-level private students is working her way through a historical text in English, and she brings it to her lesson sometimes, so that we can go over some of the interesting grammar and vocabulary that she has found. There was a sentence she asked me about where the writer used "that" as a relative pronoun twice when using it once would have sufficed.

So, and I swear this really happened, I got to say, in context, without any set-up, "I think that that that, that that author used there, is unnecessary."

I was so happy I damn near cried.

[Shartnado]

53 minutes ago, El Gran Gordi said:

One of my high-level private students is working her way through a historical text in English, and she brings it to her lesson sometimes, so that we can go over some of the interesting grammar and vocabulary that she has found. There was a sentence she asked me about where the writer used "that" as a relative pronoun twice when using it once would have sufficed.

So, and I swear this really happened, I got to say, in context, without any set-up, "I think that that that, that that author used there, is unnecessary."

I was so happy I damn near cried.

You don't get to hear THAT every day, that's for sure!

[Tabe]

On 5/14/2021 at 5:15 AM, JLSigman said:

I've probably said it before here, but in the last year Mom and I have had zero colds, and I have had many fewer sinus migraines. I may be wearing masks in enclosed spaces (especially grocery stores/department stores) for the rest of my life.

Working from home and wearing masks has done wonders for me as well. Only time I haven't felt good was from the vaccine making me tired. 

[paintedbynumbers]

The vaccine (2nd 0ne)  had me more tired than I'd been in my life. It gave me a pretty bad headache also but it was worth it.  Hope everyone is out there staying safe. 

 

I normally pay for gas with my card but for some reason I didn't have my wallet on me so I went to pay with cash and some guy came in without a mask and was asked to put one on. The guy tried to start shit with the old lady working. I decided to stick around in case things got rough. He was yelling and finally he just left. I waited until he drove off. The lady looked scared to death.  People can be fools.