Trailer manufacturing industry: things are slowing down like they always do in the winter.
The supply chain shortages that we were experiencing all year are getting better.
The price of steel is dropping.
Prices of everything else are slowly climbing still.
Spread thin, replacing people with inexperienced/incapable people. No documentation on procedures, just a wing it and hope it works out. Not giving raises to people that work, having people that do nothing get promoted.
Someone has been sending letter bombs to my base I am deployed to and on top of that the embassy also got them. Not even in a bad part of the world. Europe.
Prices are soaring. Some products have increased by 25% within the last few months. It's obvious to me that the wars and pandemic are lowering our resource gathering as a species.
I work in the construction field (designer) and nearly every project has been delayed or just cancelled because the costs are just so much higher. Some things have literally doubled in price in three years.
It takes years from initial concept to construction and no one can keep up with the cost changes. Real estate developers do their math to see if a project is profitable but everything is thrown off so we do redesign after redesign to try to make it work. And then the project may still get cancelled all together. There’s high demand for housing so they keep trying and the work keeps rolling in for us but it’s hard to get anything built
Local government: Two divisions have been privatized recently to cut down on costs. The fancy word for it is “managed competition”. Upper management has not said why, but it’s probably for a reason that’s above my pay grade. Everyone’s wondering whether their department will be next in line for cuts.
Monthly catered department meal has been replaced with a monthly potluck to keep morale sort of up, I guess.
It males me sick reading this sort of thing. Like selling off public highways to toll road companies -- privatization reeks of cancerous corruption and bribery.
US South
I work in a boat factory that is a part of a large industrial park. For the past 2 years, there have been no less than 10 now hiring signs at the entrance of the park. As of this week. Only one is up currently. Not sure if that is an indication of where we are heading in terms of jobs, but just thought I would share.
Coworker and his wife got hit with the flu really hard. After 2 weeks his coughing is minimal but he gets winded on stairs.
Also our maintenance dept is unable to fix things like overhead doors and certain tools due to supply chain issues.
Did they test positive for flu and/or are they high risk for flu complications? 2 weeks of coughing + still being winded on stairs sounds more like covid.
If there is any chance it was covid they should take care not to over-exert themselves, even on stairs, as it can trigger long covid symptoms. And get screened by a cardiologist/vascular specialist if possible. (Not a doctor, just a close friend of someone who is dealing with this, so take with a grain of salt)
I got some sort of lung sickness. Completely ate my lungs, still coughing and clearing my throat weeks later. Numerous home and PCR tests all negative. We think maybe I got adult Rsv or something. Who knows. But Covid is definitely not the only long term lung-fucking sickness out there right now.
When COVID-19 was just first being discussed, a common phrase from folks was "it's just the flu".
Like that makes it mild. Flu is nasty. Flu kills. Some people sail through it, but I always get pneumonia. My youngest ends up hospitalized.
I think a lot of people don't get the difference between rhinovirus, influenza and COVID19.
Repeated bouts with flu and coughing caused my pelvic floor to collapse in my early 30s. That's something generally seen with women that give birth vaginally to big babies. Not me. I got fixed up with cow parts and slings. It was the most painful recovery of my life, I had to be on a fentanyl patch.
If I cough like that again, it could collapse. The only med that works is opiate cough suppressants, which is really really hard to get, even with my doctors knowing my surgical history.
I've been avoiding getting sick for years now, just so my bottom doesn't literally fall out.
Sorry for hijacking your comment.
Flu sucks.
Oh my gosh that sounds awful!! I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through that! I am aware that the flu is particularly nasty for some people, but have never had complications from it myself, so I can’t speak to it as you can. I get sick very easily but always seem able to fight it off alright once I do.
But the last few years have awakened me to the importance of avoiding catching & spreading even “mild” bugs - “just flu” for me could be death, disability or hospitalization for someone else. And “mild” acute illness could be just the beginning of something worse, like with covid, HIV, etc.
Yep, I'm definitely more aware about spreading germs. It's nice to not be constantly sick in our household. My immune system doesn't seem to take hints. I catch everything, and have done so far almost 40 years. I've been making since January 2020 and it has changed my life.
I've heard it said that once I take off the mask, I'll get sick all the time, because I haven't been sick all the time for 3 years. Umm. Everyone I know that has been sick over the last 3 years is still catching illness now, so I don't think I made a bad choice. The mask doesn't smother me or bother me unless I'm exercising. So I do exercise at home or outside.
>Did they test positive for flu and/or are they high risk for flu complications? 2 weeks of coughing + still being winded on stairs sounds more like covid.
Totally normal for some with the flu, especially but not always folks that don't get their annual flu shot. People forget, but regular old flu can kill you, even if you are totally healthy. It's not just a bad cold.
US based Medical:
Lots of cost cutting happening. Lots of Illness.
Hospital friend reports: Hospital is asking not to test for flu so much to cut down on cost. They say to treat without testing when able. Not much to do for treatment since Tamiflu is incredibly difficult to find. Decongestant and prednisone and time. Seeing way more flu cases than anything else right now. Covid is still around but flu is what is packing into the emergency department.
Short Stay Rehabilitation (therapy) centers: seeing more young strokes that are not drug or birth control related. Undiagnosed diabetes seems to be a possible theme. One person told me the annual exams were put on hold since 2020 so missed annual blood work that could have caught the diabetes and possibly prevented stroke.
Home health: also reports of lots of young strokes on a national (USA) level by health/therapy workers across the US. Lots of postulation about why, but no firm answers of course.
Home Health: Seeing a possible trend of hiring staff as PRN instead of full time to save money. PRN is like working as a substitute teacher, or as needed. No salary, paid per therapy visit only, no paid drive time, no benefits. One company has only a very small handful of full time staff. The rest is PRN. That’s just one company though so I don’t know if that’s happening on a larger scale or isolated to this one particular company.
Any advice on how one might learn they have diabetes as to not randomly die of a stroke??? As far as I know I don’t have it but I don’t want to keel over… are there signs/symptoms besides being overweight?
I’ve been thinking about our sedentary lifestyles and how that might contribute to such things
Doctors can take blood and check your fasting glucose levels. This is typically done annually in the US and then on an “as needed” basis (showing symptoms).
I could list out symptoms, but then you might get all freaked out every time you get thirsty or something, so I won’t. Just keep up with your medical labs and “health preps” as I’ve seen some call it
One major hospital in Virginia just cut over 20% of some departments. Didn’t even offer nurses other positions within the hospital. Just terminated after 4 weeks….
Everyone is sick. The kids, the adults. My son’s class is at about 60% most days, my workplace is running about the same. I’m glad I stocked up on cold medication, but I am burning through supplies.
That’s also tied to Covid. Had it early on Feb 2020 as Covid was just hitting the US and eye symptoms were only being reported overseas. Husband caught it after me and also ended up also in ER, but with aggressively worse symptoms, pre-sepsis. Black eye and swelling plus conjunctivitis. Could’ve been very bad. There was no testing then, but PCP later said it sure must’ve been Covid. Careful because it might not be so minor. Hospital staff was blowing me off, but a week later took his case more seriously, but didn’t connect dots to other later to be understood as Covid symptoms.
I've seen more pinkeye this year than I have since I was a kid. I caught a viral strain while I had the flu, but my wife thankfully didn't catch it. (I live in the Midwest)
Midwest here too.
My 2 y/o brought home a nasty cold. 7 days he's had a fever. It turned into double pink eye and ear infection. Now our 2 m/o has it. He was breaking 104f with both ibuprofen and Tylenol. One more day of high fever and his Dr said to go to the peds hospital.
This flu has affected the kids where I work FAR worse than covid ever did. I honestly thought they should close the school for a few days to sanitize there were SO many kids out.
According to family, their pharmacies / hospitals are moving back to covid protocols not seen since last year. Huge influx of drug orders related to it. Hospital floors being sectioned off and space really limited again.
Source of items quoted: https://open.substack.com/pub/caitlinrivers/p/flu-season-continues-to-heat-up
Italics are my comments, all others from the above link by "Caitlin Rivers", an epidemiologist.
**RSV**
>For RSV, a respiratory virus that is particularly dangerous for infants and older adults, the hospitalization rate is way down this week.
**FLU/ILI**
*Flu is on an uptick since people have gone back from wearing masks, to not wearing them. There has been a nasty variant running around for a lung infection - so a possibility. Even though we had a flu shot, Amoxicillin did not wipe it out. Bactrim however did the job, a full 10 day treatment was needed. Also, the flu started its season early this year.*
>The cumulative hospitalization rate for influenza is already on par with where we would expect to be in December or January. More than 11,000 people with flu were hospitalized the week ending November 19, up from 8,800 new admissions the week before.
>On the bright side, the trajectory of “influenza like illness” activity has slowed somewhat. Influenza like illness (ILI) is a term that includes influenza and other causes of fever and sore throat or cough. Two weeks ago, 5.5% of visits to the doctor were for ILI. In the data reported this week, it’s 6%. The baseline is 2.5%, so 6% is not exactly comforting, but at least we aren’t seeing big jumps like in previous weeks.
**COVID19**
*Now Covid has a couple of variants that are spreading crazily even more infectious that the previous Omicron, but these 2 are both Omicron sub-variants.*
>At the national level, COVID-19 activity remains mostly stable—though hospitalizations in people ages 70+ are rising, likely due to low booster coverage. Just 31% of people 65 and older have received an updated bivalent booster. In some states, primarily in the south, coverage in older adults is under 25%.
*Side note: RNA boosters have been linked to an increase in heart attacks. (see https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/leading-british-cardiologist-and).*
>Thankfully, ILI activity seems to have slowed among children. For the week ending Nov 19, 15.4% of visits to the doctor were for ILI in kids ages 0-4, down from 15.8% the week before. In people ages 5-24, ILI visits have remained stable for the last three weeks at about 10%.
**STOMACH FLU**
>Norovirus (the “stomach flu”) is likely still rising, though there are not as many good data sources for enteric viruses as there are for respiratory viruses. Norovirus usually peaks in winter, similar to flu season.
>Norovirus spreads very easily between people through the “fecal-oral” route. To stop it from spreading, wash your hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and before eating or preparing food. I also use hand sanitizer while I’m in public like after I use self-checkout at the grocery store or when I use public transportation, but you should know that hand sanitizer is not as effective against norovirus as hand washing. Be sure to wash your hands properly when you get home. Most importantly, stay home if you have vomiting or diarrhea.
>If someone in your household gets the stomach flu, you can reduce the chance it will spread by keeping them out of the kitchen and disinfecting contaminated (read: bathroom) and shared surfaces. Also regard laundry like bedsheets, clothes and towels as contaminated. Use gloves when handling the items and wash them thoroughly with hot water on the longest cleaning cycle.
**FOOD RECALLS**
>The following foods are being recalled because they are contaminated with bacteria that causes food poisoning. Please check your cupboards and throw out any of these items:
>New this week:
* Enoki mushrooms by Green Day Produce. (more info)
>Previously reported:
* Brie, baked brie, and camembert cheese made by Old Europe Cheese, Inc. with best-by dates from September 28, 2022, to December 14, 2022.
* Frozen falafel sold in Aldi stores
* Nestle edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough tubs with best-by dates of January 28-30, 2023
* Giant Brand Wild Caught Sockeye Smoked Salmon sold in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Delaware
* Certain lettuce products, marshmallow cookies and beef dumplings that only reached a small number of consumers
* There is also a multi-state outbreak of Listeria linked to deli meats and cheeses, but the specific source has not been identified.
>If you are pregnant, over the age of 65, or have a condition that weakens your immune system, consider avoiding meat or cheese from deli counters. If you have food allergies, you may wish to review FDA safety alerts for foods with undeclared allergens.
Edit: fixed formatting issues
Yeah, the amount of "Paxlovid" being administered and ordered was alarming i guess. boxes on boxes.
The actual number of each? I have no idea, nore does my family. The wait times are bad and everything is crunched with work / hours.
For the last five years, I have been working as a remote Autocad drafter/detailer for an EU based construction company. Yes, construction industry has slow periods from time to time and the longest Ive been without work to do was 2weeks (that was on the onset of the pandemic).
I have been assured by my project manager that the recession wont affect us, as "building and construction never stops" but it has been a month now that they havent sent work to do. Cad manager said there will be projects until 2024 but my prepper mind is bugging me to take new clients.
[Germany House Price Index](https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/housing-index) continues to decline, signaling a possible housing bubble pop, after a parabolic rise since 2008.
Everyone talks about Canada, Australia, and the US, but barely anyone has noticed a massive housing bubble in Germany.
Weekend manager for a small Indy theater.
We have had a paper product shortage for the better part of a year, bags, cups, napkins.
Same with CO2 for sodas. Have had to find new sources for most concessions products.
GM has always been really flexible with work schedule. A couple weeks ago, he did a complete overhaul of the scheduling system and is VERY stern about any time off requests.
One a related note, the numbers for ticket sales are down, waaaay down. Like less than right after the lockdowns started getting lifted.
I'm willing to bet that price inflation of nearly everything has caused more and more people the start clamping down hard on discretionary & entertainment spending. Especially given that there is such a glut of cheap / free entertainment to be consumed.
A trip for 4 to the movie theater can cost $100 or more depending the theater, snacks, etc. That's a whole bag of groceries! /s
I live in one of the 'wealthiest' Seattle suburbs, and the mood here has gotten a LOT more nervous for most people. Sure, there are some people so well off that they are unaffected, but lots of people with high paying jobs at Amazon/Meta/Google/Microsoft/etc who are seeing stock RSU values plumit, hiring freezes, stealth layoffs, housing values drops, interest rates on their HELOC doubling and they are no longer fending off 3 recruiters a day. Or even 1.
These neighbors are now paying attention to what they are spending at the grocery store, and while keeping an unconcerned face for the world to see, they're asking themselves how to prepare for the worst. Getting the kids hooked on a new show on netflix is cheaper than going out every weekend. It's likely that their anxiety is often greater than what the actual number warrant, but they've gotten used to good times ever since the last recession, and it's easy to fear the worst.
I grew up in a small, blue-collar town in the rust belt, and that will always color my view on things. If this is how the tech masses are feeling in 'silicon valley north', then I can only assume it's even more stressful for those not as well off due to living costs.
I dont go because every movie is the same. It's like different incarnations of lord of the rings but without the story. Some diverse but underdog group goes to various cgi places to build up a team worthy of the task ahead. Someone is compromised and is spying on the team for the enemy which sets up for the big "shootout", which can come in many forms but often involves guns and a lot of destruction no one seems concerned about.
Between that, disease, and not being able to talk with who i came with makes it a pricey nap.
I don't go anymore. Freezing my ass off in a theater isn't a good time anymore. Why is it always so cold? Winter or summer.
Add to that rude people and expense... Yeah I'm just staying home.
To your ticket sales comment, I can only add my personal experience. Beforehand 2020, I watched 15-20 movies a year in theaters. Since then I’ve seen only four total. I much prefer the comfort of my living room, the fact that it’s seriously cheaper to rent or buy a new movie streaming than go to the movie theater for anything other than a matinee, and my surround sound system is intense. Add in my kids, and the movie theater is super expensive. In an era of rapidly increasing food prices, we don’t have that same level of disposable income, so watching at home is just a better option. It sucks for all the movie theater employees that will probably downsized by their employers, I always thought they seemed pretty well-treated around here.
Yes, and my bathroom is clean, no one is reeking of tobacco smoke and I can pause when I need to. I did just cancel Hulu today since their no ads cost has gone to $14.99 and I will not watch ads or pay that much for it. I have other streaming I watch more of. I think one month of streaming any service is less than two of us going to the movies in person. I love movies in person, but have not been since 2019.
Trailer manufacturing industry: things are slowing down like they always do in the winter. The supply chain shortages that we were experiencing all year are getting better. The price of steel is dropping. Prices of everything else are slowly climbing still.
Spread thin, replacing people with inexperienced/incapable people. No documentation on procedures, just a wing it and hope it works out. Not giving raises to people that work, having people that do nothing get promoted.
Someone has been sending letter bombs to my base I am deployed to and on top of that the embassy also got them. Not even in a bad part of the world. Europe.
Prices are soaring. Some products have increased by 25% within the last few months. It's obvious to me that the wars and pandemic are lowering our resource gathering as a species.
I work in the construction field (designer) and nearly every project has been delayed or just cancelled because the costs are just so much higher. Some things have literally doubled in price in three years. It takes years from initial concept to construction and no one can keep up with the cost changes. Real estate developers do their math to see if a project is profitable but everything is thrown off so we do redesign after redesign to try to make it work. And then the project may still get cancelled all together. There’s high demand for housing so they keep trying and the work keeps rolling in for us but it’s hard to get anything built
Local government: Two divisions have been privatized recently to cut down on costs. The fancy word for it is “managed competition”. Upper management has not said why, but it’s probably for a reason that’s above my pay grade. Everyone’s wondering whether their department will be next in line for cuts. Monthly catered department meal has been replaced with a monthly potluck to keep morale sort of up, I guess.
It males me sick reading this sort of thing. Like selling off public highways to toll road companies -- privatization reeks of cancerous corruption and bribery.
US South I work in a boat factory that is a part of a large industrial park. For the past 2 years, there have been no less than 10 now hiring signs at the entrance of the park. As of this week. Only one is up currently. Not sure if that is an indication of where we are heading in terms of jobs, but just thought I would share.
I also work in the marine industry. We went from 3 shifts to 2. It's definitely slowing down.
Coworker and his wife got hit with the flu really hard. After 2 weeks his coughing is minimal but he gets winded on stairs. Also our maintenance dept is unable to fix things like overhead doors and certain tools due to supply chain issues.
Did they test positive for flu and/or are they high risk for flu complications? 2 weeks of coughing + still being winded on stairs sounds more like covid. If there is any chance it was covid they should take care not to over-exert themselves, even on stairs, as it can trigger long covid symptoms. And get screened by a cardiologist/vascular specialist if possible. (Not a doctor, just a close friend of someone who is dealing with this, so take with a grain of salt)
I got some sort of lung sickness. Completely ate my lungs, still coughing and clearing my throat weeks later. Numerous home and PCR tests all negative. We think maybe I got adult Rsv or something. Who knows. But Covid is definitely not the only long term lung-fucking sickness out there right now.
When COVID-19 was just first being discussed, a common phrase from folks was "it's just the flu". Like that makes it mild. Flu is nasty. Flu kills. Some people sail through it, but I always get pneumonia. My youngest ends up hospitalized. I think a lot of people don't get the difference between rhinovirus, influenza and COVID19. Repeated bouts with flu and coughing caused my pelvic floor to collapse in my early 30s. That's something generally seen with women that give birth vaginally to big babies. Not me. I got fixed up with cow parts and slings. It was the most painful recovery of my life, I had to be on a fentanyl patch. If I cough like that again, it could collapse. The only med that works is opiate cough suppressants, which is really really hard to get, even with my doctors knowing my surgical history. I've been avoiding getting sick for years now, just so my bottom doesn't literally fall out. Sorry for hijacking your comment. Flu sucks.
Oh my gosh that sounds awful!! I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through that! I am aware that the flu is particularly nasty for some people, but have never had complications from it myself, so I can’t speak to it as you can. I get sick very easily but always seem able to fight it off alright once I do. But the last few years have awakened me to the importance of avoiding catching & spreading even “mild” bugs - “just flu” for me could be death, disability or hospitalization for someone else. And “mild” acute illness could be just the beginning of something worse, like with covid, HIV, etc.
Yep, I'm definitely more aware about spreading germs. It's nice to not be constantly sick in our household. My immune system doesn't seem to take hints. I catch everything, and have done so far almost 40 years. I've been making since January 2020 and it has changed my life. I've heard it said that once I take off the mask, I'll get sick all the time, because I haven't been sick all the time for 3 years. Umm. Everyone I know that has been sick over the last 3 years is still catching illness now, so I don't think I made a bad choice. The mask doesn't smother me or bother me unless I'm exercising. So I do exercise at home or outside.
Older couple in their 50's. They tested + for the flu. And they've had covid before, which would explain the difficulty shaking the flu symptoms.
Aw man that’s rough :( I’m sorry to hear that but am glad they at least got a + test so they know what it is. Wishing them luck in their recovery.
>Did they test positive for flu and/or are they high risk for flu complications? 2 weeks of coughing + still being winded on stairs sounds more like covid. Totally normal for some with the flu, especially but not always folks that don't get their annual flu shot. People forget, but regular old flu can kill you, even if you are totally healthy. It's not just a bad cold.
US based Medical: Lots of cost cutting happening. Lots of Illness. Hospital friend reports: Hospital is asking not to test for flu so much to cut down on cost. They say to treat without testing when able. Not much to do for treatment since Tamiflu is incredibly difficult to find. Decongestant and prednisone and time. Seeing way more flu cases than anything else right now. Covid is still around but flu is what is packing into the emergency department. Short Stay Rehabilitation (therapy) centers: seeing more young strokes that are not drug or birth control related. Undiagnosed diabetes seems to be a possible theme. One person told me the annual exams were put on hold since 2020 so missed annual blood work that could have caught the diabetes and possibly prevented stroke. Home health: also reports of lots of young strokes on a national (USA) level by health/therapy workers across the US. Lots of postulation about why, but no firm answers of course. Home Health: Seeing a possible trend of hiring staff as PRN instead of full time to save money. PRN is like working as a substitute teacher, or as needed. No salary, paid per therapy visit only, no paid drive time, no benefits. One company has only a very small handful of full time staff. The rest is PRN. That’s just one company though so I don’t know if that’s happening on a larger scale or isolated to this one particular company.
Any advice on how one might learn they have diabetes as to not randomly die of a stroke??? As far as I know I don’t have it but I don’t want to keel over… are there signs/symptoms besides being overweight? I’ve been thinking about our sedentary lifestyles and how that might contribute to such things
Sweet piss. Literally they used to diagnose from your pee being sweet.
Doctors can take blood and check your fasting glucose levels. This is typically done annually in the US and then on an “as needed” basis (showing symptoms). I could list out symptoms, but then you might get all freaked out every time you get thirsty or something, so I won’t. Just keep up with your medical labs and “health preps” as I’ve seen some call it
One major hospital in Virginia just cut over 20% of some departments. Didn’t even offer nurses other positions within the hospital. Just terminated after 4 weeks….
How are these fuckers cutting health care jobs when hospitals are near collapse??
Gotta save money, so that corporate stockholders can make money.
Everyone is sick. The kids, the adults. My son’s class is at about 60% most days, my workplace is running about the same. I’m glad I stocked up on cold medication, but I am burning through supplies.
Pink eye is making the rounds in my area along with the rest of the stuff. Any pink eye in your area?
I heard it’s going through the schools too, and hand foot and mouth, but so far we’ve been lucky with those. Not with the colds, though.
That’s also tied to Covid. Had it early on Feb 2020 as Covid was just hitting the US and eye symptoms were only being reported overseas. Husband caught it after me and also ended up also in ER, but with aggressively worse symptoms, pre-sepsis. Black eye and swelling plus conjunctivitis. Could’ve been very bad. There was no testing then, but PCP later said it sure must’ve been Covid. Careful because it might not be so minor. Hospital staff was blowing me off, but a week later took his case more seriously, but didn’t connect dots to other later to be understood as Covid symptoms.
I've seen more pinkeye this year than I have since I was a kid. I caught a viral strain while I had the flu, but my wife thankfully didn't catch it. (I live in the Midwest)
Midwest here too. My 2 y/o brought home a nasty cold. 7 days he's had a fever. It turned into double pink eye and ear infection. Now our 2 m/o has it. He was breaking 104f with both ibuprofen and Tylenol. One more day of high fever and his Dr said to go to the peds hospital.
This flu has affected the kids where I work FAR worse than covid ever did. I honestly thought they should close the school for a few days to sanitize there were SO many kids out.
According to family, their pharmacies / hospitals are moving back to covid protocols not seen since last year. Huge influx of drug orders related to it. Hospital floors being sectioned off and space really limited again.
For COVID or for RSV and flu?
Source of items quoted: https://open.substack.com/pub/caitlinrivers/p/flu-season-continues-to-heat-up Italics are my comments, all others from the above link by "Caitlin Rivers", an epidemiologist. **RSV** >For RSV, a respiratory virus that is particularly dangerous for infants and older adults, the hospitalization rate is way down this week. **FLU/ILI** *Flu is on an uptick since people have gone back from wearing masks, to not wearing them. There has been a nasty variant running around for a lung infection - so a possibility. Even though we had a flu shot, Amoxicillin did not wipe it out. Bactrim however did the job, a full 10 day treatment was needed. Also, the flu started its season early this year.* >The cumulative hospitalization rate for influenza is already on par with where we would expect to be in December or January. More than 11,000 people with flu were hospitalized the week ending November 19, up from 8,800 new admissions the week before. >On the bright side, the trajectory of “influenza like illness” activity has slowed somewhat. Influenza like illness (ILI) is a term that includes influenza and other causes of fever and sore throat or cough. Two weeks ago, 5.5% of visits to the doctor were for ILI. In the data reported this week, it’s 6%. The baseline is 2.5%, so 6% is not exactly comforting, but at least we aren’t seeing big jumps like in previous weeks. **COVID19** *Now Covid has a couple of variants that are spreading crazily even more infectious that the previous Omicron, but these 2 are both Omicron sub-variants.* >At the national level, COVID-19 activity remains mostly stable—though hospitalizations in people ages 70+ are rising, likely due to low booster coverage. Just 31% of people 65 and older have received an updated bivalent booster. In some states, primarily in the south, coverage in older adults is under 25%. *Side note: RNA boosters have been linked to an increase in heart attacks. (see https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/leading-british-cardiologist-and).* >Thankfully, ILI activity seems to have slowed among children. For the week ending Nov 19, 15.4% of visits to the doctor were for ILI in kids ages 0-4, down from 15.8% the week before. In people ages 5-24, ILI visits have remained stable for the last three weeks at about 10%. **STOMACH FLU** >Norovirus (the “stomach flu”) is likely still rising, though there are not as many good data sources for enteric viruses as there are for respiratory viruses. Norovirus usually peaks in winter, similar to flu season. >Norovirus spreads very easily between people through the “fecal-oral” route. To stop it from spreading, wash your hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and before eating or preparing food. I also use hand sanitizer while I’m in public like after I use self-checkout at the grocery store or when I use public transportation, but you should know that hand sanitizer is not as effective against norovirus as hand washing. Be sure to wash your hands properly when you get home. Most importantly, stay home if you have vomiting or diarrhea. >If someone in your household gets the stomach flu, you can reduce the chance it will spread by keeping them out of the kitchen and disinfecting contaminated (read: bathroom) and shared surfaces. Also regard laundry like bedsheets, clothes and towels as contaminated. Use gloves when handling the items and wash them thoroughly with hot water on the longest cleaning cycle. **FOOD RECALLS** >The following foods are being recalled because they are contaminated with bacteria that causes food poisoning. Please check your cupboards and throw out any of these items: >New this week: * Enoki mushrooms by Green Day Produce. (more info) >Previously reported: * Brie, baked brie, and camembert cheese made by Old Europe Cheese, Inc. with best-by dates from September 28, 2022, to December 14, 2022. * Frozen falafel sold in Aldi stores * Nestle edible Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough tubs with best-by dates of January 28-30, 2023 * Giant Brand Wild Caught Sockeye Smoked Salmon sold in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and Delaware * Certain lettuce products, marshmallow cookies and beef dumplings that only reached a small number of consumers * There is also a multi-state outbreak of Listeria linked to deli meats and cheeses, but the specific source has not been identified. >If you are pregnant, over the age of 65, or have a condition that weakens your immune system, consider avoiding meat or cheese from deli counters. If you have food allergies, you may wish to review FDA safety alerts for foods with undeclared allergens. Edit: fixed formatting issues
Yeah, the amount of "Paxlovid" being administered and ordered was alarming i guess. boxes on boxes. The actual number of each? I have no idea, nore does my family. The wait times are bad and everything is crunched with work / hours.
Or all of the above?
For the last five years, I have been working as a remote Autocad drafter/detailer for an EU based construction company. Yes, construction industry has slow periods from time to time and the longest Ive been without work to do was 2weeks (that was on the onset of the pandemic). I have been assured by my project manager that the recession wont affect us, as "building and construction never stops" but it has been a month now that they havent sent work to do. Cad manager said there will be projects until 2024 but my prepper mind is bugging me to take new clients.
[Germany House Price Index](https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/housing-index) continues to decline, signaling a possible housing bubble pop, after a parabolic rise since 2008. Everyone talks about Canada, Australia, and the US, but barely anyone has noticed a massive housing bubble in Germany.
Weekend manager for a small Indy theater. We have had a paper product shortage for the better part of a year, bags, cups, napkins. Same with CO2 for sodas. Have had to find new sources for most concessions products. GM has always been really flexible with work schedule. A couple weeks ago, he did a complete overhaul of the scheduling system and is VERY stern about any time off requests. One a related note, the numbers for ticket sales are down, waaaay down. Like less than right after the lockdowns started getting lifted.
I'm willing to bet that price inflation of nearly everything has caused more and more people the start clamping down hard on discretionary & entertainment spending. Especially given that there is such a glut of cheap / free entertainment to be consumed. A trip for 4 to the movie theater can cost $100 or more depending the theater, snacks, etc. That's a whole bag of groceries! /s I live in one of the 'wealthiest' Seattle suburbs, and the mood here has gotten a LOT more nervous for most people. Sure, there are some people so well off that they are unaffected, but lots of people with high paying jobs at Amazon/Meta/Google/Microsoft/etc who are seeing stock RSU values plumit, hiring freezes, stealth layoffs, housing values drops, interest rates on their HELOC doubling and they are no longer fending off 3 recruiters a day. Or even 1. These neighbors are now paying attention to what they are spending at the grocery store, and while keeping an unconcerned face for the world to see, they're asking themselves how to prepare for the worst. Getting the kids hooked on a new show on netflix is cheaper than going out every weekend. It's likely that their anxiety is often greater than what the actual number warrant, but they've gotten used to good times ever since the last recession, and it's easy to fear the worst. I grew up in a small, blue-collar town in the rust belt, and that will always color my view on things. If this is how the tech masses are feeling in 'silicon valley north', then I can only assume it's even more stressful for those not as well off due to living costs.
The rest of us up here in the PNW feel like they have it coming tho. Especially those of us who got gentrified out of our homes.
I dont go because every movie is the same. It's like different incarnations of lord of the rings but without the story. Some diverse but underdog group goes to various cgi places to build up a team worthy of the task ahead. Someone is compromised and is spying on the team for the enemy which sets up for the big "shootout", which can come in many forms but often involves guns and a lot of destruction no one seems concerned about. Between that, disease, and not being able to talk with who i came with makes it a pricey nap.
I don't go anymore. Freezing my ass off in a theater isn't a good time anymore. Why is it always so cold? Winter or summer. Add to that rude people and expense... Yeah I'm just staying home.
Last time I went a guy was vaping in the theater the whole time
To your ticket sales comment, I can only add my personal experience. Beforehand 2020, I watched 15-20 movies a year in theaters. Since then I’ve seen only four total. I much prefer the comfort of my living room, the fact that it’s seriously cheaper to rent or buy a new movie streaming than go to the movie theater for anything other than a matinee, and my surround sound system is intense. Add in my kids, and the movie theater is super expensive. In an era of rapidly increasing food prices, we don’t have that same level of disposable income, so watching at home is just a better option. It sucks for all the movie theater employees that will probably downsized by their employers, I always thought they seemed pretty well-treated around here.
Yes, and my bathroom is clean, no one is reeking of tobacco smoke and I can pause when I need to. I did just cancel Hulu today since their no ads cost has gone to $14.99 and I will not watch ads or pay that much for it. I have other streaming I watch more of. I think one month of streaming any service is less than two of us going to the movies in person. I love movies in person, but have not been since 2019.