I have to agree, what was the point of locking the other threads? I was enjoying some of them. I get that this is a pinball forum....are you going to lock all other non-pinball threads?

I’m not even sure what you are trying to say. Whatever you are trying to say, perhaps you should use proper grammar before attempting to insult people?

This shit stresses me out.

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Yeah, that’s better. I guess your state is helping fund a better education system in my state. Thanks! Maybe we can send your state some tents for the mass population of homeless people?

And for what it’s worth, I pay more than my fair share in taxes.

KFC is garbage. Note that China has more KFC locations than the US. There’s a “Claudia Sanders” restaurant in Louisville...it’s good. KFC is more like deformed chicken garbage. Yuck. But honestly, most fast food is absolute garbage. We don’t eat it. Haven’t for years...

Type 1 diabetes surprises me a bit. I would think type 2 would be an equal or higher risk, since a lot of that group is also obese. My wife is type 1 and honestly, she’ll handle it better than me (or that’s my prediction anyhow). Historically illnesses hit me much harder. But to be fair, I’m 10 years older than her and smoked until 3 weeks ago. The virus scared me into cold turkey.

I’m sure we’ll get it at some point so I’ll post the results. Both of us should survive given our age and overall health (my wife is obsessed with exercise).

Off topic, but my wife can maintain damn near normal blood sugars, even with a non-functional pancreas. We’ve been on a virtually zero carb diet for 6 months. It’s absolutely amazing what it has done for her blood sugars, A1C is 5.5 (non-diabetic range).

Is there any way on pinside to see the rate of successful pinball sales? I would think it has to be down. Glad I sold a machine a while back. Not buying anymore anytime soon. We were quadrupling our mortgage payment. Stopped that too...

We get virtually zero lows on a severely carb restricted diet. She dialed in her basal rates and usually hovers around 100, maybe spikes to 140 after a meal. Protein converts to glucose, just slowly. She has to bolus for protein. But overall, it’s an amazing approach to a autoimmune disease that’s very difficult to manage. Dr Bernstein wrote the Bible on the approach.

No way on the olympics. Depression is a real possibility...

That’s funny! My mom has late stage Alzheimer’s. A few moths ago I was visiting her and the staff had set up an inflatable goal post. The residents were taking turns trying to throw a foam ball through it. Great place, I’m so glad my mom is somewhere like that. Of course, should the virus find its way into there, it’s game over for many of them.

I’ve often joked that I’ll be buried in my TZ. I’ve owned it for well over 20 years and it’s still my go to game. Didn’t see much arcade time.

That’s disturbing and wholly irresponsible of the partakers and govt officials.

We have a beach vacation scheduled in July. Hopefully things are back to normal by then.

I got moderated for politics, but it seems to me this whole thread is highly political. Whatever, I’m enjoying it. And I don’t own this forum. I do however vote with my wallet, and will act accordingly.

I cleaned my guns and took inventory of my ammo this weekend. Guns locked and loaded. I sure as hell hope I don’t need them.

Mainly to protect my family. I assume your comment was laced with sarcasm.

Go stick your head in the sand somewhere. Have you tried to find ammo lately? I’m not alone in my sentiments. And to be honest, your opinion is worth as much to me as used TP.

There are going to be a lot of people out of work. There is serious potential for people to loot, riot, etc. While I do not live in an area where I think that will occur - it’s not outside the realm of possibility. If people get desperate, crazy shit can happen. I’ll leave it at that.

Right, but right now I’m still employed. Others aren’t so lucky. As others said, if things go seriously south, gangs of robbers aren’t out of the question. I lived through the Cincinnati riots. This has potential to be worse. So yeah, the virus. But it’s what may come after that worries me. Messed up to even think about, but if it goes there, I’m prepared.

I can’t even imagine. God help us if it comes to that.

Call it panic if you want. I think it’s a matter of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. I sure as hell hope in a month everything is back to normal. I hope the market recovers, jobs are reinstated and the virus dies off. I think that’s a real potential. But, I’m not taking a chance. And no, we did not buy a year supply of TP. But I am worried, as are a lot of people. Hard to believe really, a month ago the wife and I were working on starting a business. That has been side burnered at the moment for various reasons all related to the virus...

The governor of KY announced that someone who went to a coronavirus party now has....the coronavirus.

Hang on for a wild ride for the next month...

I’m with you on this one. Beshear has a very calming mannerism. Kinda a model for other leaders, at least in that regard. And he’s realistic on other key issues. Bevin....ugh. Glad he’s gone.

I'll be interested to learn the details of the stimulus package. I wonder if I'll see a dime of it. Probably not; I worked my ass off to get where I am, so I'm sure that means I'll be excluded from it. Irony is, I'd spend the damn money in the name of boosting the economy. Uncle Sam likes me, always has....

And that Mexico video is frightening. With that attitude, they will be worse than Italy. Keep the border closed...

I assume that'll double for a household? I make more than $75k per year. We are a single income household with two young children. I pay through the nose on taxes. So in short, I pay more than my fair share, but probably will get "phased out". I wonder if Robinhood helped author this thing? I'm not bitter; the whole thing sucks, really. Let's add some more to our national deficit...

I feel bad for the kids family. In private, I would make a joke about it. Publicly, maybe not, depends on my audience.

Maybe I just have a twisted sense of humor. Hell, I make jokes about my own family getting it. For instance, my mom has advanced dementia. I wish they'd give her a coronapop. See, funny. Not that I want my mom to die some horrible death - hell, she's my mom and all I want is the best for her (which honestly would be for her to pass so she doesn't suffer any more than she has - what an awful disease). But I try to keep a sense of humor about things.

I'm sure Levi doesn't find pleasure in the death of a 17 year old kid.

No offense, but what's the basis of your statement?

So Outback should fail because of this?
Cedar Fair should fail?
Name your favorite hotel chain. They should fail?
Automakers should fold?

It could be an extensive list of companies. I think people assume that big companies are sitting on giant piles of cash. Many of them operate on razor thin margins. And what about all of their workers that will be unemployed - and nobody is hiring since a large percentage of companies folded?

I know it's not popular, but I understand why there is a push to re-open the economy. Say we don't re-open it. What did you accomplish? Saved lives? Ya think? The virus isn't going to magically disappear, no matter how long we socially distance. The only hope is wait for a cure or effective treatment. In the mean time, half the country is out of work. I'm all for trying to control it via distancing, but to remain shut down will have an immediate and long lasting impact.

I don't want to see a single person die. I have a lot of family members that most likely won't survive this. It sucks. I'm not sure that there's a good outcome, again, short of a vaccine or treatment within the next week (unlikely).

They didn't have a crystal ball. Imagine a 75% revenue loss. What company could survive that?

<Insert any business name here> would fail with a 75% revenue loss. And a lot of companies do re-invest their profits. It's growth.

Tranquilize yourself.

I can buy into that. Hopefully those provisions made it into the package.

I worked for a company that slashed salaries by 10% during tough times. While we didn't like it, the alternative was much more frightening. And, they made it back up when things improved.

Scary, uncertain times...

My company relocated us last year. It shows up as income for 2019, to the tune of over $50k. Crap....

I agree. I’ve gotten sick in the past from that crap, I always assumed from someone not washing their hands. We don’t eat it anymore. I can imagine them coughing, rubbing their nose, etc. and then serving up some hot snot on your burger. No thanks.

Some big companies have shuttered operation, if just temporarily. But I see that as a trend. A company local to my area ceased production for a week due to some people being sick. No confirmation of it being the coronavirus, but they ceased operation out of an abundance of caution.

I see that as a trend, and most likely will effect Amazon and the delivery companies. My point being: us relying on delivery service for stuff will most likely not be a good short term strategy. A local Amazon center already closed for a day or two this week. I think facilities will close as soon as a person tests positive for it, and stay closed for a day or two. Maybe longer.

Crazy times we are living in.

That’s flippin awesome!

I guess I have my sensitive panties on. I contributed in the past and was honest about a game sale on here. The moderation did not sit well with me given that so much of this thread is political and I found my comment to be benign. I figure someone takes offense, flags the post, and you get moderated. Whatever though, lot bigger fish to fry right now. Being moderated on here is very low on my list of worries.

My mother has late stage Alzheimer’s. She hasn’t recognized me for years. She doesn’t know herself, her family, etc. Hell, if my family had a choice, we’d have euthanized her already. Don’t prioritize her over someone that has potential for useful life. Of course, every situation is different, but that’s my situation.

If I were 80 and had it, and a 30 year old also had it - prioritize them over me.

I had the same thought. How do they even do it? Converting a car factory to a ventilator factory with the snap of a finger? Seems impossible. Maybe I’m just not up to speed on how quickly you can convert a machine from making plastic part for a car to plastic parts for something else. Same applies to motors, electronics, etc. Not to mention setting up assembly lines. I guess they’d just forgo QA?

I’m not sure I buy it.

Meanwhile, in my hometown...

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/03/28/coronavirus-louisville-mayor-says-hundreds-gathered-13-th-broadway/2932713001/

Agreed, get your own thread and play your Canadian made pinball machines.

Caution, adult language in this one...

The bickering in this thread has seriously taken away from its intent.

I’ve been reading about the EMT and fire department personnel in NYC and how many of them are ending up sick. What happens when their numbers fall off? Same with hospital personnel. This has the potential to become a much bigger tragedy than what we are already seeing.

I officially know someone with the virus. Owner of the company I worked at for 20 years has in, in ICU and on a ventilator.

I figured it’d make its way around to someone I knew eventually, and I suspect it will get much more personal down the road.

https://www.wlky.com/article/ge-employees-protest-return-to-work-during-covid-19-pandemic/31967438?src=app

So sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, I know someone who is in a cinci hospital, ventilated. It sounds like they will make it. Crazy when it hits close to home...

Thanks for the pic. I am smoke free for one month now. Sure miss my cigars.

Does anyone find this math to be funny?

US population = 330 million people
Two percent of US population = 6.6 million people

So, if 2% of the US population dies, that’s 6.6M deaths. If 50% of the population get the virus, we are still at 3.3M deaths at a 2% death rate.

Why are they predicting 100K US deaths? Is it just me, or does that seem like a sugarcoated estimate? That’s roughly .03% of the US population. I must be missing something, or the govt is trying to control panic....

What are lockdowns doing their than slowing down the spread? I don’t see it stopping the spread, just slowing it down. I think the numbers are being grossly underestimated, just to control the panic. Until there is a vaccine or deterrent...

You do realize this is contagious? The current infection rate is 570 per million. I wholly understand that distancing is slowing it down. But distancing won’t go on forever. We will go back to work and it will spread.

Misinformation? I don’t think so. Numbers don’t lie. And my 2% is an estimated kill rate. Maybe it’s half that, maybe it’s twice that. The jury is out on the kill rate.

I love math, and I’m failing to see their 100k number, short of a vaccine.

I guess I can see that, but eventually I think we’ll just accept the consequence of returning to normal. A few weeks into this and people are stir crazy. A few more weeks and people will be onboard with returning to normal, knowing the price. And Uncle Sam understands that shutting down until June will have a lasting impact on the US as we know it.

I bet the US death toll we’ll exceeds 1 million.

Agreed. I guess I’m a realist, maybe a pessimist. I foresee our potential saving grace being summer. Hopefully the virus dies off like the flu, and maybe we can find some treatments over the summer.

But I still say 100k is bullshit and lies. Control the panic.

No offense, but I don’t buy it.

First, what PPE? It’ll be months before it’s available to the general public, at best. And even when it is, I don’t see people wearing it to work, the store, etc.

Second, it’s not who we are. Humans are social animals. We will eventually accept that people will get sick so we can go to the mall, have parties, head to the amusement park, etc. I’m not very social, in fact, I’m an introvert. But even I want to get out. And it’s been a few weeks.

A lot of people will die. That’s my prediction. And eventually it’ll work it’s way through society, and we’ll gain resistance. Sucks being an animal. But we are, and it’s not a perfect world.

Anyone who says 100,000 dead is not being truthful. Sorry, not buying it. Million, millions. I’m sorry for those older people in our communities. I’ll do my part to distance and hope a solution comes forth....

Well I guessing gambling isn’t approved here. If it was, I’d put $50 on > 1 million dead from coronavirus in the US before the end of 2021.

The math for less doesn’t make sense to me, short of a vaccine.

Good point. Make it $1k. If I’m dead, call the debt collectors. If I live, I, coming for my money.

One of my team members told me his wife (a nurse) was offered $100/hr to head to NYC to help. Nothing to see here folks, it’s all under control. Only 100,000 will die, nothing to worry about. Right.

Look, my math may not be popular. I’m just saying this: I’m not buying the advertised numbers. It’s to control the masses. Do the math. It doesn’t add up. Gonna be a lot of dead people, mostly our older population. It sucks, my parents are old. My wife’s parents are old.

We aren’t shutting down past June 1st, and even that is a pipe dream. The lower class will riot and loot - they’ll be out of work and their kids need to eat. What would you do in their positions? Anyone want civil unrest? Keep the economy shut down.

People I’ll die. We’ll survive as a race. My kids I’ll make it. My parents will not. It may repeat and I’ll die. Better than the Spanish flu which killed young adults....

Data source for .66% kill rate? I haven’t seen anything with a kill rate that low.

You are saying 90% of the population won’t get it? Why? Immune? Distancing?

Sorry, what kind of answer is that?

If we need 60% infection rate to achieve herd immunity, how do you achieve that with a 10% infection rate?

Are you saying 90% of people are immune?

Exactly. Even an optimistic outlook is well in excess of 100k. We are being misled to control the masses.

Most people. Sorry, it’s the truth.

I’ll run the math tomorrow.

Like the rest of the sheep?

Some numbers. I'm not bothering with the world population for the moment. You can see that if you believe the latest 0.66% kill rate prediction, we'd need a 4.59% infection rate to get to 100,000 deaths. Maybe that's how they came to their 100k number? Maybe they are basing things on the flu infection rates (which are 5% to 20% annually)? So they think the rate of infection will be less than the flu? Huh. Note that the initial estimates said that 70% percent of the population would get CV.

I think their 100k number is wishful thinking. A way to control the panic.

I know people will lean on social distancing as a way to keep the infection rates down. Again, it just slows it down. People will still get infected. And in a month from now, "the show must go on". Uncle Sam isn't going to let society collapse over this. And people aren't smart enough to "sit on their couches", as someone here suggested. Sorry, I don't give the general populous that much credit. Hell, even in my town, people are out in large gatherings that the cops have to break up. Mostly in the lower socioeconomic areas of town, where I think there is a general mis-trust of authority anyhow. Which coincidentally are the areas that most likely will be hardest hit by this, for a variety of factors...
CV.jpg

Actually, the 0.66% death rate does account for those people.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/health/coronavirus-lower-death-rate/index.html

Right, it's all estimates. It's impossible to predict the outcome with 100% accuracy, short of a time machine. And Data East sucks, so I don't have a time machine (I did once, sold it).

My charts show numerous scenarios. My point was, I think the govt numbers are very optimistic. I think a lot of their statements are simply made to control panic. But we shall find out....

Maybe this is more realistic. Everything is speculation. Nobody can predict the future....

CV (resized).jpg

Wow....sorry for all of the difficulties you are experiencing. Tough times, sounds like especially rough for you.

I'm not sure why politics are so restricted on pinside. In my humble opinion, this thread was much more active, and frankly more interesting, before the restrictions were put in place (or maybe better said, enforced). But it's hard to deny that your link was political. Sorry, not trying to be mean...I think politics add a lot of color to this thread in particular. It almost drove me away from pinside for CV reading...

But yet, we aren't supposed to discuss them on a thread about coronavirus.

How do you explain this?

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak

I’m 4 weeks and 1 day smoke free. Damn I miss cigars...

I mean, we weren’t there. So who’s to really say how much direct contact they had with each other?

How much does a virus weigh, exactly? I think your argument is that cigarette smoke travels between distances that the virus cannot. Why? Does the virus weigh more and simply falls to the ground? Or the virus dies during travel? I’m meerily curious, as my simpleton mind thinks smoke transmission would also permit virus transmission.

I’m just trying to understand the hard facts. People recommend six feet distance. Based on what? Or maybe we just don’t know? That’s ok too, just trying to u defat and the facts.

I have to wonder, how many people are truly out of work? I'm working from home. People at my old company got furloughed for 2 weeks. At my current company, we are moving at 100 mph since we serve the parcel industry (FedEx, UPS, Amazon).

Are you out of work? With or without pay? Temporary or permanent?

Could beat the alternative.

I get the feeling that some of my team members would prefer to be laid off or furloughed. Some seem to think the US should just shut down, like they are entitled to some sort of break due to this crap. Ugh, it's so short sighted. I'd take a pay cut over a work stoppage. At least I *think* my company would make it right when things improve.

To be clear, my teams are working from home. And I know that's tough for some of them. I have offered to help any way I can - better home setups. But, for the most part, the show must go on. I know that's hard for some. It's hard for me. I'm putting in more hours now than I have in a long time....

The local Kroger (Louisville, KY) had brisket and pork ribs on sale for $2/pound last week. I’m still kicking myself for not buying brisket. Our damn freezers are full. I did buy and make some ribs, yum yum...

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My Smoke Vault is a damn nice smoker. My father in law gave me a masterbuilt and it doesn’t compare. I added the steel braided hose and a needle valve to the Smoke Fault. It’s an awesome smoker. I’ll probably sell the masterbuilt...

Justified. Sounds like the guy was ignoring their orders. And even besides that, letting him continue is a slippery slope. It’s like telling people they can go to parks, but need to distance. Clearly that didn’t work. People were letting their kids play on the playground toys.

Isn’t that a political statement?

All while our economy totally crashes.

I know this is pessimistic, but I think we are fucked. We won’t do a hard shutdown. And we won’t do a hard re-open. Instead, we’ll do some half assed stay at home BS while our economy takes a dump, and really we just drew out how long it took for people to get it. Sure, we may have saved some lives and kept the healthcare system from getting overwhelmed. We also destroyed millions of jobs, created looting and riots, and stayed locked up in our houses.

I just got back from grocery shopping. I tried to stock up for at least a week, nothing crazy. Still no TP or paper towels.

I’d say 50% of the people had some form of mask. I did not, and don’t intend to in the future. But I couldn’t help but wonder: will people get pissed at those who choose to go mask free? As if we are putting others at risk? I think the cloth masks really keep people from spreading their own germs more than keeping them from breathing them in?

Well, people can get pissed. I’m not wearing a mask to go grocery shopping. Next thing you know, they’ll be taking body temp scans at the door.

I get that people are dying. It’s a shitty virus. But I think it’s starting to get blown out of proportion...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White

Just saying.

Right. Just stay 6’ away from me. I won’t cough on you. Promise. I take strong precautions to not get the virus or pass it on. I’m low risk to others. So stay the f away from me, please.

I was doing a work function this week and a guy shook my hand. I was not ok with it, and immediately washed and sanitized. I’m not suggesting that we don’t take precautions, but I think maybe we are taking it to a new level of paranoia.

Can you answer your own question? What’s you line? Would you sit at home, out of work, for 2 years to save a life? Or out of work for 1 day to save 1 million lives? I suspect I know the answer to both questions. But what’s the tipping point between the two?

I’ve accepted that people will die from this, and frankly, have to die so we can sustain “life as we know it”. My own father would die before accepting that he *might* live for 5 more years, only to devastate the lives of his children and grandchildren. I’m 43, and I feel the same. I’d sacrifice myself so my kids can have a better life.

I know that could be interpreted as “f your grandma, your parents, etc.”. I could interpret the opposite position as “f me and my kids”. Halting the economy for 2 months to save the lives of people who may live another few years is foolish. The end result is devastating to me financially, and thus will hurt my offspring too. It’s a shit sandwhich, I know. My parents are old. My in-laws are not in good health. It sucks. I will lose family members.

We go to war to fight for our beliefs systems, to sustain our way of life. In war we send kids in to do our “dirty work”. And yet we want to destroy our economy and way of life so we can maybe save our elderly and vulnerable? I know what I’m say is blunt. It may not be popular. But it’s what I see as reality.

And even if we distance and pause, there’s no stopping the virus. Short of a vaccine. We may slow it down and save some lives. And destroy a lot more in the process. Don’t let the cure be worse than the disease...

Look, I don’t like it. I’m absolutely, 100% doing what I can to stop it. I’m working from home and only leave to get food. I cancelled a camping trip with my father. We haven’t seen my inlaws for weeks.

But it can’t go on forever. We have to open up business. Eventually, the US as we know it will collapse if we don’t start bringing in tax revenue. Businesses will go under. We literally could be in a mad max society.

I’m not trying to disrespect you. I think there’s some middle ground. I just suspect that shutting down society is a short term solution. Six months of shut down will have serious, long term consequences. I don’t know how long we can remain shut down. I’m guessing nobody does...not even our leadership. It’s too complex of an equation.

Sorry, but that’s a very short sighted view of the situation. Would you be ok with a complete collapse of the US? Government ceases to exist? Food is obtained via bartering? Medicine is gone. He who has the best weapons rules, and those who lack protection get shot and killed for their goods? I could go on. And it could be reality.

It’s a lot deeper than what’s in my 401k. It’s about providing stability for myself and my family.

You’re damn right about that. I may get moderated for this statement, but it may effect how I vote this year. What a f’ing mess they created by turning a blind eye to the tragedy that was about to unfold before them. And it continues to this day. Look at South Carolina. They are “different”. Smh....

And that’s what scares the hell out of me. Mad max. Killing for the next meal. A complete collapse of society as we know it. Honestly, in context, I could give two shits about my own life. I’ve had my fun and frankly have gotten more than my fair share. It’s my kids that make it such a devastating thought. If I had to pick my parents living for another 5 years, or my kids having a prosperous life. It’s a no brainer.

Like I said, my mind is malleable. Maybe after some thought I’ll change my mind. Just seems extreme right now.

I miss the days of being 16 with a cute girl in the passenger seat, driving along, smoking doobies, listening to music without a care in the world...

Point well taken. I’m guessing herd immunity would lead the three options, at a price. Sucks...

I enjoy the mental volley here. It’s great to hear other perspectives. I learned a long time ago: there are a lot of people in this world who are a lot smarter than me. In work, I hire them and listen to what they say. In my personal life, I listen. Let’s not take this personal. Lots of opinions out there. ...

Lol, you’re a bengals fan. I lived in Cincinnati for 20 years. Damn I loved Cincinnati, but that damn football team...

I will admit though, i miss Cincinnati. Best big town I’ve lived in.

Have you been to Pins Mechanical in Cincinnati? Been wanting to check it out. The Columbus one was excellent.