Stir Crazy?

[stripperguy]

Toilet paper for us is non existent in the stores...c'mon, people!!
I don't have time to go stir crazy, MDB and I are working building our new house, wiring rough in at the moment. Then there's the 40 ft diesel pusher we bought wrecked that I'm repairing in prep for a big road trip this summer. And there's the ever present repairs on the Jeeps, I use them hard and they do break. Skiing not done yet, biking starts soon, followed by camping and paddling, there's always something.

As for isolation, I see an average of 9 people a week, so I think we're OK.
I just wish this hadn't trashed the market the way it did, who's knows how long before the market recovers.

 

[yknpdlr]

Couple of days ago still had over a foot of snow in the woods here, with several inches remaining in the meadows and clearings (NY Lake Effect snow country), but it is melting fast with bare patches appearing. Any garden work is still many weeks away. Below freezing nights leave a nice hard crust in the snow surface, so snowshoeing is good, though water holes and rivulets are appearing, making progress dicey. Still, I have been able to explore on foot the miles of woods behind my newly built camp. Today while I was out of town a friend in the area called to tell me the power had gone out, bad news for my sump pumps below grade in the basement. I rushed over to find it still dry down there, but that would not remain so I hauled my very heavy generator out of the shed and dragged it up the driveway to my hook up box. Water was just then beginning to rise up to the basement concrete floor level. A few minutes later my friend told me the power was back on so I disconnected the generator and pushed it back to the shed. No snowshoeing today. Tomorrow is a practice mock search with my SAR team, so I guess I can make that now, since the HS musical has been postponed. I run the back stage crew and tomorrow was scheduled as a dress rehearsal.

 

[Robin]

Spent the day finishing up the planking on this 16' Chestnut Cruiser, then added the decks and carry thwarts, a good day in the shop. A little more stripping of old varnish, some sanding and then ready for new varnish.

Hope to have it and the smaller 14' Fox hull in canvas soon.

The weather here in northwest Connecticut has been mild and we have all the flower beds raked and picked up, repaired the electric dog fence, been cruising around in my old Chevy truck, livin' large. Schools are closed for 2 weeks so I'll risk the Corona cooties to get some quality time with the grandkids.

 

[goonstroke]

Toilet paper for us is non existent in the stores...c'mon, people!! ...

Thanks to this site, I'm prepared. I've just made up a batch of hockey puck shaped snowballs with the last of our snow and stored them in the freezer.
http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...rips-the-deodorant-debate?p=102904#post102904

 

[Black_Fly]

This is how I take my morning coffee. All day energy, these two. Wet muddy weather will only last until June.

 

[LanceR]

Nancy and I have been doing more hiking/backpacking and if the weather is nice next week we'll do a 2-1/2 day loop backpacking trip in the Mount Rogers/Grayson Highlands area in southwest Virginia. She is a committed hammock sleeper while I'm usually in a lightweight silnylon tent with Rosie the Wonder-Hound. But two nights ago since we knew we were in for rougher weather Nancy joined Rosie and me in our former Marine Crops two-man "combat tent". It was Rosie's first night in a real downpour in a tent and she did just fine with the rain and wind spending the whole night either in or under a half length sleeping bag Nancy cut down for her for cold weather.. At 8 pounds I don't want to carry that tent very often but with its ground hugging fly and two small vestibules it fit the bill nicely for that kind of night.

I'm a BSA climbing instructor and work through the scout council during the spring and fall in a youth character development program for a number of school districts. In the last two days our entire spring schedule has been wiped clean with just two possible exceptions for a total of 3-4 days. It's a good thing I do this out of a love of working with youngsters and not to pay the bills....

On the other hand, with Nurse Nancy picking up just two night shifts every other weekend to keep here hand in it our opportunities for longer trips this spring just opened up dramatically. We were already planning a 90 mile backpacking stretch along the Mountains to Sea Trail and we can now fit in a few more backpacking and canoeing trips.

We've kind of considered loading up the camper, plunking the Wenonah Adirondack on the Expedition's roof rack and heading for one of the backcountry roads in the Washington and Jefferson National Forest and boondocking until all this virus stuff blows over.

Best regards to all,


Lance

 

[Black_Fly]

Lance brought up new opportunities due to the pandemic situation, but I'm looking at the financial impacts, and whether we can afford to hit the savings during a recession. A smaller trip may be in order. Looks like flyin Canadian or Alaskan trips are out. Might find a good deal on a cruise to Italy though.

 

[LanceR]

Gee, and we were thinking of a slow cruise to Disney Shanghai....

Seriously though, we also contemplated a month or longer trip out west to places we've never been like the Grand Canyon, Brice Canyon, Arches National Park etc and hitting some other places along the route.


Lance

 

[Guest]

Toilet paper for us is non existent in the stores.

When I went out to the local grocery this morning for newspapers I walked down the toilet paper aisle out of curiosity. Barren shelves, worse than before any blizzard apocalypse I remember. Even Kleenex and paper towels were in short supply. I passed one forlorn woman staring at an orphaned roll of Brawny and knew what she was thinking. (By the way, a really bad idea for your pipes and plumbing).

I would not want to maintain a public rest room these days. I guarantee you people will be stealing even that one-ply stuff, stuffing their pockets with it or breaking into the dispenser to steal the entire 16” wide roll of one-ply. SCORE!

As for isolation, I see an average of 9 people a week, so I think we're OK.
I just wish this hadn't trashed the market the way it did, who's knows how long before the market recovers.

Here as well. Other than going out for newspapers every two days (WAPO and NYT, 30 minute roundtrip, man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do) I make a great circle run through town every week to 10 days, hardware, groceries, beer, diner, library, post office. That takes several hours but I enjoy it; most of my regular social contact is with those same folks. I know them, they know me and there is always some conversation and laughter.

I am more concerned for some of them, working for an hourly wage or for tips, than for folks with money in the market. Something like 40% of families in the US don’t have $400 in savings for emergencies. I worry for anyone living paycheck to paycheck.

Some unforeseen complications. I heard from my sea kayak guide friend this morning. There is no toilet paper in south Florida. What’s he gonna do, stipulate clients bring their own? Same thing with disinfectant wipes and Purell for those tidal trips. Even Aloe gel to make your own is sold out.

TP hoarding may not be a problem; a lot of his clientele comes from Europe for a winter sea kayak adventure in south Florida. His next trip booked was with three Germans. Guess not.

On an even weirder note, he lives in an RV with a septic holding tank and needs to use the rapid-dissolving TP made for that purpose. Desperate homeowners have cleaned out the RV stores, dang the cost.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Toilet paper for us is non existent in the stores...c'mon, people!!
I don't have time to go stir crazy, MDB and I are working building our new house, wiring rough in at the moment. Then there's the 40 ft diesel pusher we bought wrecked that I'm repairing in prep for a big road trip this summer. And there's the ever present repairs on the Jeeps, I use them hard and they do break. Skiing not done yet, biking starts soon, followed by camping and paddling, there's always something.

As for isolation, I see an average of 9 people a week, so I think we're OK.
I just wish this hadn't trashed the market the way it did, who's knows how long before the market recovers.

stripperguy,

I told myself that I would not look at my accounts, but after your comment about the market, I succumbed. Big mistake on my part! But even though I am retired, I am still in it for the long term. Recovery will happen eventually, I hope. I feel sorry for people who might have to cash out now.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Mike, JB ought to be able to get ahold of wag bags. Cat litter will work too. Even some small double bagged garbage bags with cat litter work. The PVC pipe is of course more elegant for kayak storage and there is no risk of puncture. Those baby wipes are a No no.. Every blue potty in the Glades has warnings that the USS Stinky vacuum system clogs with them at pumpout.

Sea grapes fortunately are non toxic with large leathery leaves.And they are everywhere there. Not to be confused with cacti which are also there ( prickly pear)

Brawny works but it requires a dedicated bag and should never approach any plumbing other than your own.

Thinking of how you could alter a Camp Time stool to accommodate a hole of largish size. and attach a wag bag underneath. Five gallon buckets with a toilet lid work for canoes but don't fit through kayak hatches. Again you can use cat litter.

I can find TP. Its a secret that hardware stores have it at least locally.

The Germans of course would not bring TP. They would be used to bidets.

I thought we would start our RV trip this week. I could only get two ply. Interesting watching TV while separating TP plies and rolling each 1 ply thickness separately.

 

[alsg]

The Germans of course would not bring TP. They would be used to bidets.

When they go camping? They have camping bidets?

 

[Guest]

Those baby wipes are a No no.. Every blue potty in the Glades has warnings that the USS Stinky vacuum system clogs with them at pumpout.

JB has been guiding there for the last 25 years, he knows what goes in the Porta-pots. The wipes are for general hygiene client use on trips and get packed out it the trash. Some folks aren’t used to being sweaty and stinky.

Purell for hand sanitizer, washing dishes in Campsuds bucket, rinse bucket, bleach solution bucket; there are a lot of steps guides need to do to make sure clients don’t spread gastrointestinal flora.

Having clients with the squirts on an 8 day trip would likely not induce a good gratuity for the guide.

 

[coldfeet]

Wasn’t to sure about whether to post or not. NYC school teacher here. Very eerie feeling. Keeping this short but rumors can make you do crazy things when millions of people flock the stores and you watch wondering “what if quarantined?” So I also went to to the stores real early with plastic gloves on. It was like Black Friday shopping with people just grabbing anything. I too fell into that idea. Then I got upset with my wife for going to work at her accounting job. Guess I felt it wasn’t right. I’m trying to keep her safe but I worked with 400 kids this week which a few were wearing masks. First graders do what parents tell them. Allergy season is here and when one sneezes everyone jumps. Scary. Went back 3 times to supermarket yesterday. Spent way to much money but again rumor is NY will go into quarantine. I’m hoping not but I’ll do my part if it happens. My mom 91 lives in the city. Will play it by ear and see what happens. Back to school tomorrow? They want us to prepare 10 days of lessons in case we close. I don’t want to go back and probably won’t. Yea I’m babysitting. 9/11, hurricanes, snow storms, ok, this virus, scary. Paranoid me? Honestly yes I am. My downfall. I feel fine but not sure if allergy or the dust from finally cutting and installing Sheetrock in basement yesterday that was long overdue. Wife and I sleeping in separate rooms as I type. We just hope that everyone around the world is safe and doing their job to keep this virus from spreading. The video of the people in Italy singing all together brought a smile upon my face last night.
Health to all
Waterspyder, best wishes to you and your family.
CF

 

[lowangle al]

All of the cancelations have increased my paddling opportunities. So far it's been the Grandkids basketball games, cheerleading competition and soon to be baseball games. I do feel sorry for the kids. I just hope that the school closings doesn't affect it though.

 

[Waterspyder]

I guess I'm the odd ball here. My simple brain is telling me that there were 13 million influenza cases (common flu), 120,000 hospitalizations an 6,600 deaths so far in the 2019-2020 cycle according to the CDC. So again not being too bright I look at the number of Covid19 cases and wonder what the panic is all about. The swine flu had 22 million cases in the US and 4,000 deaths in 2009. That's not to say covid19 is something we should ignore and we should all be following the universal precautions but I'm trying to keep my life in perspective believing the world is not coming to an end during the next month or two.

 

[lowangle al]

I guess I'm the odd ball here. My simple brain is telling me that there were 13 million influenza cases (common flu), 120,000 hospitalizations an 6,600 deaths so far in the 2019-2020 cycle according to the CDC. So again not being too bright I look at the number of Covid19 cases and wonder what the panic is all about. The swine flu had 22 million cases in the US and 4,000 deaths in 2009. That's not to say covid19 is something we should ignore and we should all be following the universal precautions but I'm trying to keep my life in perspective believing the world is not coming to an end during the next month or two.

The way I'm looking at it, if 13 million got this flu, at the current mortality rate there would be over 400,000 deaths. Also without all of these precautions and cancellations we could end up with more than 13,000,000 cases due to how contagious this one is.

But really there is no need to worry as it's mostly those over 60 years old are croaking from it. Hey wait a minute here!!!

 

[Black_Fly]

I guess I'm the odd ball here. My simple brain is telling me that there were 13 million influenza cases (common flu), 120,000 hospitalizations an 6,600 deaths so far in the 2019-2020 cycle according to the CDC. So again not being too bright I look at the number of Covid19 cases and wonder what the panic is all about. The swine flu had 22 million cases in the US and 4,000 deaths in 2009. That's not to say covid19 is something we should ignore and we should all be following the universal precautions but I'm trying to keep my life in perspective believing the world is not coming to an end during the next month or two.

Yeah, your numbers don't jive. They mortality rate was 3% in China, somewhat lower in other countries with better healthcare systems. The mortality rate will likely settle at about 1% - or 10 times the rate of regular flu. If not for the extraordinary measures, given the virulence of this disease, we would expect hundreds of thousands of deaths, if not millions. The best case scenario is uninformed people keep thinking we overreacted and few people die.

The capacity of out healthcare system is another good reason to be cautious. Overwhelmed hospitals and clinics is not good for anyone.

 

[Waterdog]

I went to Ohiopyle and paddled Saturday and Sunday. One day in the SRT and the Rockstar today. Mid 30’s and spotty light snow. Social distancing as I was all alone except a couple people I passed during my bike shuttles. At home I’m tying flies, saltwater for my dad in Florida and steamers for the local trout for me. I was going to see my Dad in Naples and Everglades area starting the 23rd but cancelled.

I’ve been traveling to metro areas for work related meetings and such so I’ve decided to work from home for five calendar days after every trip so I don’t become ground zero at my office.

There’s plenty to do.

Cheers,
Barry

 

[LanceR]

First, if anyone believes for a second any report coming from China I have a nice bridge that I'll sell you cheap! Remember that the Chinese Communist Party forced the doctor who first warned of the virus to sign a false confession that he had lied and was spreading false rumors. And just yesterday a Chinese tycoon who criticized the government's virus response has "disappeared"

Second, one of the scariest parts of this virus is that the majority of folks carrying it, especially children, are asymptomatic (no symptoms) or experience very mild symptoms so they won't be sick enough to seek or require medical care or be tested but they will be shedding the virus for up to two weeks. Quarantines, closures, cancellations etc are not for those who are medically ill because we know who they are, they're for those who are either asymptomatic vectors (AKA spreaders) who won't show symptoms or those who haven't yet shown symptoms in order to slow the spread of the virus.

The best guess, and it is still a guess in every country, is that in the US at least 2% and likely more of those who actually present with symptoms and require some sort of medical intervention will die. That is of course, a moving number as things evolve. And as ample test kits and labs to perform the tests have not been available heath officials have already noted that the real North American death toll is almost certainly very much higher than currently counted as so many Covid-19 cases have gone unconfirmed to date.

Of note, Italy, with fairly well coordinated centralized medical care and more available beds per capita than the US has, is overwhelmed in some regions with doctors having to triage patients and decide who will not get care so that they can devote what are now inadequate limited resources to those with a better chance of recovering. That's a frightening thought. As there are so few empty hospital beds in the US it won't take very many seriously ill folks to send us off of the cliff too.

All in all, Nancy and I aren't in a panic but we will limit much of our exposure until this winds down.

Best wishes and best regards to all,


Lance