The big boys employ most people so any stimulus will obviously skew toward them. They also are the main customers for most small businesses. Always surprised how the companies that provide most of the jobs and wealth in America are characterized as the bad guys or distinct from the average person. There are always bad apples and excesses, but America's corporations are the envy of the world and should be a source of national pride. Hopefully they will continue to set aside short term considerations for the national good during a crisis.

Ha ha ha. You had me going, but the sheer stupidity of this statement gives your entire post away as a farce. No one can really be this dumb and still operate a keyboard.

Hmm...I've been reading a lot about COVID-19, and I've been listening to a lot of doctors with expertise on infectious diseases, and I am convinced that a lot of the measures taken are going overboard. People keep pointing to Italy and saying, "Look! That'll be us in 10 days!" but they seem to be forgetting about South Korea. South Korea's first confirmed case was around the same time as Italy's, and yet they've only had 56 deaths in Korea, not 1000+ like in Italy.

South Korea's COVID-19 mortality rate is, at current best estimates, about 0.6% on the upper end. With normal flu being about .1%. Scientists are still looking into why there is such a disparity between Italy and Korea. Given the current trends in America, there's no reason to think that we won't be more like Korea and less like Italy in severity. I mean at this point, we just don't know exactly what will happen, but I think it's lunacy to close all the schools in a state, when there are less than 10 confirmed cases of a disease in said state. Like in my state, our schools will be closed this entire week, yet we're in single digits of cases. It just doesn't make sense. At some point life has to go on. Nothing will change by next week. Given the numbers in SD for instance, it's entirely possible that not a single person has COVID in my child's school, and yet all the kids will be home. Parents still work, so it may very well be the vulnerable grandparents looking after the kids!

It makes far more sense, to me, for everyone to practice sensible social-distancing (no handshakes or hugs, extra hand-washing, no face-touching), and for vulnerable individuals and individuals with symptoms to self-isolate, than for everyone to never go out again. It's not a nice thing for all the vulnerable people to have to isolate, but it makes more sense than having everyone including them isolate. The economy is grinding to a halt over something that is essentially a bad flu. We are 12 months at best from a vaccine, and more likely 18+ months, according to every knowledgeable doctor I've heard. Anti-virals could come sooner, and I think people are mixing up the two. COVID is related to other corona viruses like the common cold, and so because of that, we all ready potentially have some drugs that may work to weaken the virus and reduce symptoms. And so, within weeks we may have some anti-virals, but make no mistake it will be a year or more for a vaccine, and like I said, at some point life must go on. Yes, there will be more cases, and potentially more deaths, with what I suggest. But there would also be fewer deaths if no one ever drove a car, but at some point you have to balance risk vs. reward. And in states like mine, with single-digit cases. What's the reward for closing the schools for a week (let alone 6 or more)? We don't have a curve to flatten. And how many businesses are going to be ruined and how many families hurt by no one going out?

Okay, sorry for the wall of text!

The question I am now asking people with this mindset is: What is the magic number that have to die before you think we should take this seriously. And whatever that number is, do you think you should probably try to prevent those deaths, or just let them die, and THEN react? You could be right, this could amount to nothing. I think places like Iran and Italy show that it isn't amounting to nothing.

The “normal” flu has killed over 20,000 this season already....to put things into perspective

0FD3A1EC-705C-4952-9652-34BA4ED58809 (resized).jpeg

Part of the difference is South Korea:

1) aggressively tested and quarantined people
2) flattened the curve far more effectively
3) has significantly more hospital beds per 1000 people.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/14/21179714/coronavirus-covid-19-hospital-beds-china

The following is speculation: it may be true that South Korea infected a higher ratio of younger healthier people than Italy. That would also skew the data.

So we need at least 20,001 to die first before we consider it an issue?

Look at the numbers of how many people die each day of various forms of death, and ask yourself “why is this one more important than others”.

I have, and common sense tells me that an unknown virus with unknown outcomes is something to look at pretty closely and stop before it does get bad. The majority of those 'other deaths' are not spread to others. I think where people are getting hung up on numbers is where the mistake lies. We don't want to wait until it is as bad as the flu or anything else.

Honest question: What's your number?

The Fed just made a major panic move. The CDC just banned groups over 50.Casinos in Vegas are shutting down. I worry more about the European banks. Lots of pinball being played at home while we hunker down. Back to my bunker. I plan to Rule the Universe this week.

A drunk driver killing someone “spreads” to others

Because of the math. A "do-nothing approach" could lead to +1million deaths over the next year. The article below is the "worst-case" possibility, but that is what could happen if we don't take precautions.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/487489-worst-case-coronavirus-models-show-massive-us-toll

I am still baffled why people think Italy, Spain, France, Singapore, and others decided to shut down their entire countries over media hyperbole. Do you think those were easy decisions? Are they playing some sort of game? How were they able to get freaking Newt Gingrich to write an article warning America to "act big" .

https://www.newsweek.com/newt-gingrich-i-am-italy-amid-coronavirus-crisis-america-must-act-now-act-big-opinion-1492270

I don't have a number. If the governments of other countries are freaking out about this...some of those who don't care about their citizens nearly as much as America supposedly cares about theirs, then I'm concerned.

So now we're comparing it to drunk driving. Got it. That's American school system logic there.

Travis Hintzel's Regeneration has pins and arcades as well.

I think ultimately it has less to do with what they are hearing and more to do with the little selfish 'me me me' mentality that is so prevalent these days. "I don't want to have to be inconvenienced", etc. Some of it is legitimate fear of the unknown..such as, job security, paying bills, their kids, their parents etc. It's how some people deal. America's 'can do' attitude has carried us through many a crisis. There is no denying that. I think we've mostly become numb to being told what the next thing we need to fear is...I am guilty of that as well, I stopped caring about the news many years ago. I would be much less concerned about what is going on now if it wasn't for what is unfolding in the rest of the world. That being said, I'm just concerned, not nearly panicked. I think it has to get a lot worse before that happens.

Thanks Zab, I liked your honest answer. I know it sounded like a loaded question. And in a way it was simply because it's almost impossible for anyone to answer. Hard to assign a number.

At this point it’s just silly. No one wants to be the statistic. If your odds are 0.6 percent of dying and 15 % chance of needing a ventilator, those odds are not good. -Pinside should ban this nonsense as it could get people killed. No one needs to die.

Plus look at the mass graves in Iran.

Medicare is planned to go bankrupt in 2026. Medicaid funds are drying up. Looking at the ledger sheets, a dead Medicare/Medicaid beneficiary means no future fiscal obligation. Millennials don’t care about boomers anyways. So why not spread a disease to extinguish the group causing the most expensive health care expense.

Washington Nursing Home lost what? 30 residents? Let’s call it that for easy numbers. Assuming they are all Medicaid (the vast majority generally are), and the average monthly cost to Medicaid per resident is $5,500. That’s $165,000 per month, and $1,980,000 per annum.

There are 233 nursing homes in Washington state. Let’s say the other 232 each lose 30 residents. That’s $459,360,000 per year. A half a billion dollars savings to the State of Washington Medicaid program. A half a billion dollars that can be used for millennials free stuff with socialism.

I wondered about this part. I haven't seen it yet. I have wondered if tech support calls will increase ?

LTG : )

If you don't mind me asking, how much of your business is house calls?

Yeah, we won't have any vaccines very soon, but we will, at the very least, have a decent amount of herd immunity in a couple months. The main point of social distancing is to slow the spread of the virus down, not stop it. Eradicating the virus isn't possible at this point, but at least we can try slowing down the spread enough to keep hospitals from overflowing. Once it sweeps through a significant portion of the population it won't spread as easily since many people will be immune and unable to transfer it. That's my understanding of the situation anyways. Once cases peak and start dropping, things will hopefully start opening up again.

I just saw an AP story that they will reportedly start testing a vaccine tomorrow. It’s still a year or so out, but still...

I’m playing more, and I’m playing different games. I reset for Classics League play, so the classic games all got flipped back onto legs. So mostly EM play, plus I also have a Volley being loaned to me. And I’ve learned that it’s a fantastic EM. But I didn’t realize I could call you for support on those Lloyd

Wow, I thought they would be too busy with Hot Wheels, good on them.

AP=Associated Press.

I am really sorry for you guys with arcades and the financial impact that this must be having on you. I volunteer teach martial arts at a couple of dojos ( I have been taking a break from a little before this situation escalated as I am getting ready to move). I was in contact with the Shihans today, and this situation is hitting those businesses hard as well. I think small businesses all over are really taking a beating.

Your use of that road death statistic is irresponsible and misleading, that is the number WORLDWIDE. In the US, 33,000 killed in a year.

Now compare to the Coronavirus projections, which are what, 700,000 to 1,000,000+ deaths in the US if we dont act? Even more than that if the hospitals go beyond capacity? Suddenly having 10x or 20x or 100x more road deaths is the equivalent here.
Screenshot_20200315-202231_Chrome (resized).jpg

No, I don't mind you asking.

None.

My arcade ( where I do tech support from ) is open 12 hours a day ( 10 on Sundays ) That is enough. Though some days I start earlier or run later. Telephone ( 4 phones ) and email ( two email addresses ) PM's here and on Facebook, and people stopping in. Is enough.

LTG : )

Ok, I stepping up here. I'm going to host a free webinar to help operators who want to work through this with me. I'm doing this for my love of arcades and operators.

Webinar: How to Make Money as an Arcade Operator When Everyone is Afraid to Come Out

Here is the problem: No one is coming out, people are afraid, no one wants to risk getting sick which means your business is not making any money.

On this call we will brainstorm creative solutions to deal with this historic challenge.

Your Host: Chris Frolic is an audacious entrepreneur, creative problem solver and a high school drop out and life-long rule breaker. Chris has created multi-million dollar businesses, been one of the worlds top DJs, and also owns his own private kick-ass arcade. He’s offering his one-of-a-kind background to help come up with outside-the-box solutions that are needed right now to help arcade ops get through this sudden unexpected storm.

When: Tuesday March 24th 4pm Eastern 1pm Pacific (60 minutes). Online via Zoom.

Register today at https://www.chrisfrolic.com/arcade-webinar/

I'm going to create a new thread for this, but want to say I was inspired to do this by the posts in this thread. Please pass on the link to anyone you think might benefit from this!

I started a new thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/webinar-how-to-make-money-as-an-arcade-operator-during-covid-19

I'm not sure what lessons you're suggesting be learned from 9/11 here. I see lots of people online saying stuff like "I'm not going to let it stop me!" as if this virus was a terrorist attack.
It's not.
It's a pandemic that needs everyone to treat it like a pandemic.

Notes from Ottawa:
Our two biggest arcades have closed for C-19. House of Targ and The Neighborhood Pub arcades are both shuttered for the time being.
When they reopen I swear I'm going to go into each and drop a stack of coins in and let all the kids have the free games.

Don't forget your Official Membership into the SS Billiards fan club can also gain you entry into the secret circle which makes you entitled to all honors and benefits occurring there too !

Signed : LTG : )
Counter Signed : Pierre Andre'

loa (resized).png

Is it in ink?

Pencil, ink, or blood. Depending which category your membership puts you in.

LTG : )

How do I buy a membership?

Tee shirts?

That's a good question.

LTG : )
Disclaimer : There is no Official SS Billiards fan club. It's been a running gag for about 40 years. One day I had a little kid come up to the counter, and looked at me. Usually they have money or something and tell you what they want. He just stood there. So I told him for $1200 dollars he could be an Official Member in the SS Billiards fan club. He went wide eyed and said "really ?". He was all excited. It's become part of the SS Billiards lore. Along with the tool fund, speaker fund, muffy fund, etc. etc.

No one is paying attention to his nonsense. Just ignore him.

Count me in too Lloyd!!

Cidercade in Dallas just announced they were closing voluntarily until further notice.

Well, any arcade/barcade in WA state will be closed for a least a month... Thats gonna hurt
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-and-washington-state-to-act-on-bars-restaurants-and-gatherings/

There's a problem with that logic however

It would take many years for today's youth to get socialisim in place.

By then today's youth wont be able to bill the dead boomers, or kill them off to steal from. Gen X will be ready for their free lunch soon afterward. Gen whatever is being born now will be ready for their free college just in time.

The socialist millennial will fund those before & after them but never get a dime in return because power will shift yet again as the next generation will tear down what the elders (millennials) did prior

It's the beauty of a 2 party system. No one gets shit done lol

Yeah...im disappointed. Free play is still open though.

The amount of rabid misinformation from internet denizens, medical doctors, "experts", actual experts, the criminal news media (MSM), Et cetera is exhausting. And especially what's coming out of communist countries that have zero obligation to tell us the truth and a lot to gain from lying (which they have an extensively long history of doing) ((Hong-Kong protest numbers and fatalities, Tienanmen Square had tens of thousands killed, now suggested to be hundreds of thousands, China still claims a few hundred died))!!

I had been holding my tongue from responding since nobody wants to hear news they disagree with. Funniest bit is when someone who is actually unqualified but considered knowledgeable is mistaken for an expert when they know the same as you or me. Just because someone is a mechanic doesn't mean they can tell you everything you need to know about the new Ferrari's rolling off the lot. We have specialists and even better we have epidemiologists and such, who are some of the only people you should be listening too and actually giving a shit over.

The amount of people on this site and in the real world who bitch and moan about exponential growth and then have no fucking clue how it works nor it's actual implications drives me through a wall.

You can't have it both ways, so from the data:

• If 100k+ people have it in states like Ohio and only ~30 people have died, mortality is well below even .1% more like .03% that's very very minimal.
• If truly only 2k+ have it then mortality is really high but we seem to be taking the right steps and this virus is getting under control, so extremely few people have the deadly disease.

To simplify, either it's super deadly but the numbers are accurate and very few people have it OR (extremely likely) it's hardly any worse than a cold and kills almost no one and tons of people have it and we just don't realize because it's so incredibly mild.

If it's the latter than this panic was overblown by the MSM but many precautions were warranted due to the unknown nature of this disease. Again the real issue is that China is a communist black hole of information so we really only can rely on this information from the resultant infections in Europe and cannot rely on the epicenter of the outbreak due to misinformation.

We are trying to diagnose what repairs a pinball machine will need from the broken parts someone brings us and not actually seeing the machine ourselves. So when we head on the service call we pack our bags with every part we can think of and hope that our experience taught us enough that we'll be properly repaired for this mystery repair.

https://www.julianagrant.com/blog/2020/3/3/covid-19-what-to-expect