I did not see the cumulative total deaths for the yearly normal flu (influenza);
in the History of Pandemics.
I guess since the yearly (seasonal) flu,
which still kills 100s of thousands of people every year (Globally)
(Tens of Thousands deaths every year nationally)
has never been called a pandemic with exception of the Spanish flu (post WWI era).

All the money is in the hands of the 1% and chances are it will be staying there.

I do not know if it has been discussed yet, but since Stern and others are halting pinball production, I think the pinball manufacturing industry probably has the right equipment and skills set for manufacturing ventilators and respirators. Obviously they will need some help from federal gov't to retool and get set up, but figure it can happen fairly quick.

Just like GTB and the rest of the old pinball industry did during WW II making parachute harness etc.

Any Stooges fans out there?
Moe is here with the facts that you need to know
about Covid-19 in a PSA.

When have you ever been anything but skinny,
at least thin by todays standards.
A better way for you to stay skinny is maybe cut back on the booze intake,
but that would probably kill you, faster than the virus.

Safeway up here in the NW has 3 lb package of bacon for sale at $2.99/lb, if you are a safeway card club carrying member.
Buy and freeze it!

I am still surprized that there are some people in this country
that still do not get it and try to wish the virus away or are just oblivious
and ignore the obvious precautions to take.
Common sense people, come on, do the right thing.

My wife left the house for the first time in 8 weeks yesterday.
We decided to take a 2 hour car excursion around town and into
a couple nearby towns in the next county across the Willamette River.
One thing we noticed was that the homeless downtown
(normally with belongings piled up along the sidewalks were now all gone)
and the activity on the streets and neighborhoods was fairly heavy
with more people jogging or walking than what one would see normally,
and most disappointedly is that most of them were not wearing masks.
Driving around town, one might never have been aware of a virus epidemic or lockdown going on.

My wife is normally a homebody who rarely leaves the house
maybe once or twice a week to go thrift shopping.
These past 8 weeks the only time she had been outdoors was to pee the dog
with her staying on the porch. But the isolation was finally getting to her
and she was getting depressed and even crying about the whole situation.
I, being retired, have not been too affected, as I have been able to get out a bit more often
to see the real world, like going to the post office to drop off ebay packages my wife has had listed (&sold)
and maybe going shopping once maybe twice a week or maybe once in a while picking up some take out.
It has affect my wife's niece and family in San Diego, as they have lost their regular stream of income.
Her husband is a process server working for a lawyer and 95% of his jobs were to serve eviction notices,
so that stream of income is gone for at least 3-4 months and he is unlikely to get unemployment,
as he was basically an independent contractor and paid by the job (notices delivered).
What the end result is going to be for them is that they will be giving (30 days) notice to their landlord
and vacate to leave and move up here to Salem ORegon. They will move into the house we just bought late last year
that was to be our future downsize home. We had planned on renting it out for a few years prior to the time we actually downsize,
as we have so much stuff, that is why the wife is selling our junk on ebay or craigslist.
But with the virus situation we were reluctant to rent to a stranger
who (in weeks) might turn around and say they could not pay the rent and become legal squatters.
Now the plan is to let the niece's family (husband and kid) move in.
They can stay rent free except to pay their own utilities.
Once they get on their feet and find jobs maybe at "freddie krueger's" (Fred Meyers Kroger Market),
Or government job, as Salem is capitol of Oregon, or Amazon warehouse nearby;
we will let them pay some minimal rent to help us cover property taxes and insurance, ( we already paid off the mortgage),
thus allowing them to save up for down payment to buy a home here;
which was impossible in the more expensive housing environment in California.
What we will get out of it is having family near by to help out in our old age and
maybe babysit our nine cats and dog, if we decide to go on vacation or weekend getaway.

I got one also,
So proud to be an American!

Or did i not need to tell you that.

And the feds could maybe have also included some useful information about Covid -19 and social distancing and other info
that might actually be helpful and informative to people, in the same mailing,
so as to not just be a waste of self congratulatory statements
and info that the people already having received funds by direct deposit already knew.

Just my two cents.

Kaiser Permanente (in Oregon) is now giving Covid-19 anti-body tests (w/ blood draw) for those who ask,
so went and got one while i was at lab clinic for other basic metabolic blood work tests.
Mine came back negative. Kinda mixed feelings about that.
I had a bad cold/flu? like symptoms that had me flat on my back for 4-5 days
back in mid-late FEB , shortly after a trip flying to/back San Jose via PDX;
so was curious if I by chance was already exposed.

Up until a couple weeks ago, my circle of friends and family was untouched by the virus.
But recently found out that pinball historian and great EM pin player and pin collector, and friend,
Sam Harvey, has tested positive while currently housed at the rehab center he has been living at for the past year.
He is diabetic, overweight and >70 yrs old, so he only has his stubbornness to beat this thing.
I also recently found out my mom's sole surviving sibling, (she had 4 brothers and 4 sisters)
my uncle Leroy has tested positive.
He is 92 yr old, was sent to the hospital and after a few days sent home to hospice care as they said there was nothing
they could do for him. But latest news is that he is getting better, eating and talking and was recently allowed visitors,
so he may beat it, as they took him off hospice care.

Well this thread is bound to blow up now. Hope everyone involved survives. Hope the others at the recent debate did not get infected. Hope we all learn a hard lesson from this.

To get completely off topic, the podcast Ridiculous History 2 days ago released an hourlong podcast about the history of how the government battled pinball. The US waged war on Pinball for decades.

In the last hour the Prez physician walked back the 72 hr timeline, saying he really meant to say day 3 with Thursday being Day 1.
Still not sure what time on Thursday he was positively diagnosed,
Still an unwise choice to go to fund raiser in NJ, after knowing he was exposed to Hope Hicks and his team obviously knowing she tested positive.

Do not let it take you down. There is hope.
My 93 yr old uncle contracted the virus several months ago,
he and about a dozen residents at his retirement home in Minn
were all positive and went to hospital.
He and 6 others were then sent back home after a few days because the staff felt
there was nothing more they could do for them.
He went home into hospice care.
But 3-4 weeks later he was off hospice care and celebrated his birthday and doing relatively well.
The unfortunate thing about it, is that all the others sent home with him, have perished.

been posted elsewhere on pinside
but thought it could lighten things up here a bit

I am kinda proud that Oregon probably has the best record fighting back the virus
compared to most states particularly the states with moderate population.
Consistently in the bottom 5 to10 in deaths and confirmed cases and rates per 100K of populations
Only states doing better, have no one living there to begin with (i.e. WYO or AK, states with lower pop. density etc )

Oregon's average thruout the past 6 months is about 300 new virus cases per day for population of 4.3 million.
They must be doing something right. Like wearing masks.

Somewhat Covid related.
Finally got my federal income tax refund, direct deposited today.
I filed my return manually hardcopy, and mailed it into IRS on March 11 2020.
Just before the shutdown.
IRS offices did not open up again until Aug 1st.
They did pay me some accrued interest though on what i was expecting,
I guess for holding my refund for so long.

Very glad I got it, as my property taxes are due in 3 weeks.
In one hand and out the other.

Finally got my J&J vax shot yesterday, arm a little sore as expected, but did have slight headache and feeling a little blah and tired this morning. Feeling better now.

My wife and I had J&J vax on Firday.
She had absolutely no side effects, I had sore arm and fatigue after 24hrs, then fine.
But now just hope my wife does not read about the blood clot issue with J&J, as she is such a worrier.
She said she moved her shot arm around for about an hour after receiving her shot
and that may have helped relieve/prevent the soreness i experienced.

Just got an email from my mom.
She is 89yrs old and now lives with my Sister and her husband in Calif.
Mom got vaxed two shots (late Jan plus early March).
My sis (61yrs) got her first shot April 1st, her husband (60yrs with COPD) got his 1st shot April 8th.
Then about April 15th, my brother-in-law, comes home from work weak and tired.
He goes straight to bed, thinking he is having side effects/ bad reaction from his 1st shot.
Next morning feeling bad enough they go to urgent care to get checked out,
turns out he has covid, went home to isolate in his bedroom while my sis leaves food etc outside by closed bedroom door.
Mom lives on other side of house, fortunately has not had much contact with him recently since he works a swing shift.
After one night his coughing got so bad, he calls ambulance at 2AM, to take him to hospital.
He is now on Oxygen (not ventilator), taking steroids and other anti-covid drugs, using inhaler,
but seems to have stabilized.
Obviously probably had covid when he got his 1st shot or contracted it soon after.
Likely from work on job (assembly plant), that he just started the week or two prior.
To top it off my sister contracted pink eye.
First medication she was given was for bacterial infection, when what she needed was virial type of pink eye.
Her eye is final getting better now with correct medication.
Feel fairly confident that mom is protected since it has been weeks since her 2nd shot, so should be fully protected,
as much as one can be when vaxed.

IF you did not believe Covid was real and does not affect you or the Pinball community,
then maybe understanding that Chris Walsh (organizer of the NW Pinball show)
Died this week, in the hospital for nearly 3 months with complications from Covid,
he was about to get released at the end of this month, but unfortunately had a sudden heart attack,
I am sure brought on by complications from covid.

RIP Chris Walsh krunch

Just got a phone call from my mother (in tears), that my sister's husband (my brother-in-law) died in the hospital
after 2 weeks since contracting and battling covid.
Technically he may have had a heart attack, but was on Oxygen and had pneumonia
and other complications due to the Covid virus. Still do not have all the details. I will probably be driving down to Calif,
to help out with things once the dust settles a bit.
I know this will be very hard on my sister, as she already has her hands full taking care of our mother.
fortunately my sis recently got back her 2nd covid test result, as negative
(10-11 days after her first test when they discovered her husband tested positive.)

Just when it looked like we were about to come out of the pandemic, reality slams you in the face.
RIP Albert Bueche!

Went out to eat at a restaurant (indoors) yesterday for first time since start of covid.
Wife and myself are both vaxed, since April.
Place was only allowing 50% capacity and wait staff wore masks whole time.
Tables were >6-10ft apart.
Still felt a little uneasy, but with time may get used to mingling with general public again unmasked.

Today is first day Oregon no longer has a mask or distancing mandate.
(Though individual stores can still require it, like no shirt, no shoes, no service)
Instantly when going out today to run errands, I saw far far fewer masks outside and even inside stores and Post office etc.
I will still wear a mask when out and about until I see dramatic downturn of infection rates.
I am J&J vaxed which has slightly worse protection and with new Delta variant being more prevalent, will continue to mask,
so better safe than sorry, plus my wife has compromised health issues.
Maybe when 75% of adults in my county are fully vaxed I may loosen up a bit, but wearing a mask is not a big deal to me,
and I figure will provide a better chance of staying healthy and avoid other cold and flu viruses.

I just got moderated and my post below was deleted
because it was Off Topic, (posted in one of the recent topics about the PHOF reopening)
I posted it in response to someone bitching about having to wear a mask again at the PHOF (by state mandate);
and the poster stating that he/she did not give a sh#t about Covid.

So I guess I need to re-post it here instead to stay on topic.

"Masking hurts no one, I do not see the big deal. Its easy cheap insurance. Its just being kind and courteous and conscientious.
If it was only about protecting yourself, I can see maybe not caring about protecting yourself;
but masking protects not only your self but others and innocents, as well.
My brother-in-law did not care about Covid either, up until he caught it in mid April 2021, 2 weeks later, my sister is a widow.
Sorry for the OT rant."

Again truly sorry I broke the Pinside Posting rules

Bet you anything come Monday there will be a spike in cases reported.

Now that the booster has been approved for all the 3 types of vaccines, and nearly everyone (over 65 or or high risk),
I will be getting my booster (gladly).
I got a Doctors appt for 1st week of Nov (already scheduled for my yearly routine physical)
so will get vax boosted then.
Since I was vaxed with J&J back in April, I will probably go with the mix & match option
taking a mRNA booster. I already got my flu vaccine 2 weeks ago.

Still amazed why some are so afraid to get vaxed or
even more amazed that some believe that getting vaxed will make them more likely to get sick or make others sick.

Got some disturbing news today. My wife's niece and her 6 yr old son both have covid. The niece was vaxed, but not yet boosted and the kid had only his 1st shot 3 weeks ago, both were scheduled to get next shot this coming week. They both currently have milder symptoms. Slight fever running nose and headaches and fatigue, hope it does not escalate. Her husband has so far tested negative, and trying to isolate from them while still taking care of them. My wife and I have not had recent contact with the neice and kid in over 10 days, but the husband was over to our home doing some yard work on Tuesday, so hoping we are both ok and in the clear and while we are both boosted, we will steer clear of the neice and familly for at least another week. I went to walgreens today and bought some covid test kits for me and some for them also. 10 bucks per test. Seems like test supply has increased this week as there were none to be found in last couple weeks.
My wife had bad sinus infection and headaches, just before xmas and for next 2 weeks. No fever or other symptoms. I went to get tested even though i had no symptoms and was negative, wife was afraid to get tested, but is doing ok now.

I just went to covidtests.gov and was able to place an order for 4 covid tests to be shipped out by USPS.

The feds only allowing 4 tests per valid physical address.

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Just heard today on the news that Unca Joe is going to get everyone who wants them N95 masks ( 3 free per person)
available at most any Pharmacy or clinic.
Not 100% sure when this take effect.
I already bought the KN95 masks online about 3 weeks ago and have switched over to using them exclusively
from cloth masks or normal surgical masks or gaiters.