GlibFit 4.0 – Coronavirus Edition VIII: What’s deadlier Covid-19 or Obesity?

by | May 3, 2020 | Fitness, GlibFit | 184 comments

This is the end of my sixth week of shelter in place/cower in place/safer at home/whateverthefuckmyincompetentgovernorcallsit. The weather has stayed warm in California and we are getting a few days of real heat later this week. My fellow Californians seem about done with this stay at home crap.  We are getting so close to a good oldfashion riot.  Here is hoping for a heatwave in northern California.  I want to make sure Newsom sees the proles in the street.  The CHP has done their best to prevent any protests the Governor might see.  Anyone who clicked the link will be rewarded with one more reason to be disgusted with the ACLU.  I cannot believe I used to give them money.

Personally, this week has been mixed news.  I have experienced the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles of being at the government’s whim.  Every area court has extended their closures to at least the third week of May.  The reported numbers of backlogged cases are huge.  Every court will have a “phased reopening.”  I also got my PPP money.  So, I can stay solvent for another month while I lose sleep wondering what the government will do next to make it impossible for me to earn a living.

Part of what chafes (drink!) me about these overbroad measures is the unwillingness to consider secondary consequences. I’m no scientist, but the last time I checked, sitting on your ass all day for weeks on end can lead to weight gain. That led me to wonder which is deadlier, Covid-19 or obesity?

Let’s stipulate the number of Covid-19 deaths suffer from both overcounting and undercounting. But I must put a number on it somehow, so I’m turning to the same people the federal government appears to rely on. Current projections are about 73,000 deaths in the US.

I have heard plenty about the obesity “epidemic” but had no idea how many people it kills in the US each year. Turns out it kills about 300,000. More accurately, the fatties kill themselves by getting and staying obese but you get the point.

You medical and/or science types (I’m looking at you Gustave Lytton and C. Anacreon) will have to tell us how much we can expect the obesity death rate to increase when the entire US population is told to stay inside. It’s not like the chronic stress of not knowing what restrictions the government will impose next, widespread job loss, and the inability to gather with family and friends will exacerbate the problem, right?

This week’s music choice really is a choice. You can select a song that tells your local tyrant you are going to take your chances, you will fight back, or you don’t believe them.

About The Author

Chafed

Chafed

I'm looking California but feeling Minnesota

184 Comments

  1. PieInTheSky

    I’ve been shelterin since 9 march no idea ho many weeks that is.

    Obesity and lack of exercise are both agravating factors for covid.

    • PieInTheSky

      That being said this week is my that manyeth weeks when i will try to drink less. And maybe lose some of that 2 kilograms i added. I did exercise some but have no idea how much if any muscle mass i lost. I hope not much.

    • Chafed

      You are lucky to be a vampire. You are immune.

    • juris imprudent

      We rode our horses yesterday and today, so they are getting plenty of exercise. Today we found a trail with a downed tree, so after the ride is was hike down with a chainsaw and clear the trail. So we got our exercise in nice muggy high 70s weather.

      Ah spring! Good news is that our garden has some thriving carryovers from last year: sage, rosemary, cilantro, dill, oregano, swiss chard and bibb lettuce. We’ll start planting in another week or two (post Mother’s Day is the standard here).

  2. PieInTheSky

    Overall i think at the end of the year we can see total deathrates for the whole year to get an idea about various unexpected consequences

  3. Drake

    This is the first really nice spring weekend here. I see people out and about everywhere. More traffic than I’ve seen in 2 months. Murphy and his committee of cronies can do whatever they want, the lockdown is over.

    • Shirley Knott

      Yeah, I had to drive to the pharmacy yesterday. It was over 70, probably the first time this year. Traffic was way way up from previous excursions.

  4. kinnath

    Walked 18 for the first time yesterday. I am only mildly stiff and sore, so good news.

  5. DEG

    Anyone who clicked the link will be rewarded with one more reason to be disgusted with the ACLU.

    I clicked, but they didn’t like my ad blocker. I moved on. I have kept an eye on the push back to the Lil Rona Panic. All I’ve seen from the ACLU are lawsuits about immigrants, prisoners, and abortion. Nothing about the government shitting on the 1st amendment with shutdown orders.

    So, I can stay solvent for another month while I lose sleep wondering what the government will do next to make it impossible for me to earn a living.

    Best wishes.

    For GlibFit, I have continued more walks around the neighborhood and doing what work I can around the house. I think my weight loss has stopped. Gyms are not on Gauleiter Sununu’s “Stay At Home 2.0” list for reopening. I think I overdid the pull-up program Tejicano linked to as my right lat was in a good bit of pain last week. I stopped for a few days, and it is feeling better. I’ll ease back into the program and maybe I’ll be able to do a pull-up.

  6. l0b0t

    I am ABSOLUTELY sublimating my stress in carbohydrates and simple sugars. I hate myself for it, but I kinda hate my self for everything right now and am feeling so self-destructive I really don’t care about my BP and serum cholesterol. Both of which are very, very bad, but my GP’s office is closed, all of my appointments canceled, with a tentative opening of June 1st.

    • Nephilium

      #MeToo.

      Weight has gone up only about 10 pounds, weather was nice today, but I’m hanging out with some friends online right now instead of getting a bike ride in.

      • DEG

        I slept in until about 11 AM today. Then after eating, I mowed the lawn. “Only mad dogs and Englishman go out in the light of the midday Sun.” Now I’m inside bumming around.

    • Ayn Random Variation

      Same thing here. I’ve eaten more bagels and icecream in the past month than in the last…who knows but probably minimum of 2 years

  7. hayeksplosives

    It is still nigh impossible to get a straight story on the bans and guidelines, so feigning ignorance will likely do the trick.

    Might go for a drive in a bit…

    • l0b0t

      I just found out my favorite Chinese run Tex-Mex chain is open again. I’m about to eat my weight in tacos, sincronizadas, and (if I’m feeling fancy) chimichangas. HUZZAH for Yummy Taco; NYC’s best Tex-Mex!

  8. Crusty Juggler

    75 here today, starting the few weeks of the year where the outdoor weather is enjoyable in this area.

    Went to the local school track. Had me a good soft jog and then hard 300m full out sprints that were killer. Then went to another school and did 12 hill sprints. The legs are going to bark a little tomorrow but I feel like the knees.

    Much like others above have stated, a lot of people were out on the roads today. Traffic is a beautiful thing.

    • SUPREME OVERLORD trshmnstr

      Yesterday, there were cars parked along the side of the road all along the battlefield. It’s not like the battlefield is short on parking, or even overflow parking, but it was full to the spot and then some.

    • egould310

      Pulled a muscle in my calf on Monday morning during my run. Limped home. Haven’t run since. Leg very painful. Web MD says it’s leg cancer.

      I think it’s because although I run alot, my overall muscle strength in my legs, core, and especially glutes is pretty weak. This puts too much muscle stress on my calfs/lower leg muscles. I’m going to start yoga this week in an effort to gently build muscle/gain flexibility.

      Since I’ve resigned myself to not running for two weeks, I’ve been pretty strict about eating keto/low carb. That really helps.

      Spent alot of time on the sofa with my leg elevated, strumming my guitar. My guitar skills are improving quite well.

      I’m going on a nice long walk this afternoon to feed the ducks, and whatever squirrels I may encounter along the way.

  9. Hyperion

    In case anyone thinks my claim over the last week about The Atlantic being owned and operated by the CCP, here you go, today again:

    China Great Leader Not Asshoe!

  10. Hyperion

    And here’s your dem ticket for 2020, like I’ve been saying for months:

    Biden/Liawatha 2020!

    • Suthenboy

      “…a fund Trump could use to reward his political friends and punish his political enemies.”

      Always projection with these shitweasels. Notice that those are the exact words Barak Obumbles used to describe his own plans in 2012.

      • RAHeinlein

        The real irony is Dem Governors want to use CARES Act funds to fill budget gaps and Mnuchin won’t allow it – Murphy, Cuomo, and others have been open about their desires to use for non-Covid related purposes.

      • hayeksplosives

        “ others have been open about their desires to use for non-Covid related purposes.”

        It’s so blatant, we think, “Surely everyone can see they these guys are making a massive power grab—right?”

        You know who else helpfully put his political plans in writing publicly before his rise to power made it clear that he meant to do exactly as he promised?

      • Ted S.

        Barack Obama?

  11. Suthenboy

    Just got back from. the grocery. Traffic is normal. I had to wait in line for fried chicken at the drive-thru. Shelves in the grocery are all fully stocked (I found a wonderful blackberry merlot for making sauces)

    Yeah, I think people are fed up with the cower at home nonsense.

    • Hyperion

      Newsome is going to have to send the tanks down there.

      • Suthenboy

        Wife was just looking a a photo of a beach with thousands of people on it and mused “What are they gonna do? Start shooting people?”

        Me – “they might. They won’t like the response though”

    • Sean

      Yes. The general public is fed up with this nonsense.

      This will be an interesting week. The under the radar noncompliance is getting replaced with very public noncompliance. Stock up on popcorn and ammo.

  12. Naptown Bill

    I’ve lost 15 pounds since the ‘rona lockdown, believe it or not. I started really focusing on my diet since baby stuff has wrecked my schedule and made serious exercise difficult to do on a regular basis, and strangely the quarantine has helped. I think it’s having more time to cook, really. I got back to where I was before winter in terms of what I’m lifting, but I haven’t been able to make progress. Still, I’m counting no loss as a win.

    So, Maryland is tough to figure and I suspect it varies widely based on where you are, but the tendency towards Proggish bootlicking subservience in my fellow Annapolitans is starting to lose ground against their generational alcoholism and love of sitting outside with dogs and kids running wild while they get shitfaced. Plus, boat season is upon us. In a normal year, we’re about one month from the weekends being pretty much nothing but outside drinking and booze cruises in the Bay, and I don’t think any amount of government threats are going to keep that from happening. Especially not after months of being stuck at home with kids.

    • Anti Pro State

      If I remember right you’ve got a baby about a month older than my late December twins. It’s definitely tough. I’m spreading the excersises out and just fit a set in whenever I can. It trades some cardio intensity for more reps or sets since there is more recovery allowed.

      I’m doing all body weight exercises since I can’t dedicate blocks of time to be near weights or equipment.

      My regimen began in February, so I had a nice daily pattern established before the shutdowns. The “excersise every day, even a little” has done woners for keeping the momentum going.

      • Chafed

        Well done APS. Something is always better than nothing.

    • Nephilium

      Good for you man.

    • Chafed

      Good job NB.

  13. IRBE

    Hi Chafed, Thanks for the write-up and links. Weather here in NoCal is turning pretty springy..went from green hills to brown in a week. Got out for some nice hikes this week. A lot of n00bs on the trails with the recommended masks and harping about dogs on leash. Hell, my dog didn’t have a collar (got wet and stinks..so she has been going au naturel) and never approaches other people and dogs since she is working herding me and the misses on the hike. Why bother me, harpy…

    Anyway, speaking of chafe, I think I got a touch of the poison oak. Any recommendations would be appreciated for getting rid of it.

    • mikey

      Catching poison oak confers reverse immunity – the more often you get it the more easily you’ll get it. Got so I only had to see stuff and I’d break out.
      Not why I left California, but I’m glad I did. Grew up in the Bay Area and sad to see what has become of the place.

      • IRBE

        Yeah..I know what you mean about the Bay. I am pretty allergic and usually pretty careful. I think I got it from a spring-close cattle gate that hit the back of my leg. It doesn’t really itch, I just noticed it this morning on the back of my leg. I washed it with hot water and Dawn, then soaked it in IPA and topped it off with some cortisone cream. I think I will rinse and repeat a couple times for the next couple days.

      • mikey

        Just don’t scratch!
        Worst case I ended up home from school for two weeks. I was blind half that time with my eyes swollen shut.

      • Spudalicious

        There’s a liquid soap called Tecnu. If you think you’ve been exposed, wash the area with Tecnu. Even if you do get poison oak, it won’t be nearly as bad.

    • Suthenboy

      Poison oak is a real bitch.

      The active agent is an oil. Shower and use lots and lots of foamy soap. More soap and for longer than usual is better. If you dont completely get rid of the soap, even down in your pores, you will continue having the reaction and it will spread.

      Lots of soap.

      • Suthenboy

        correction: If you dont completely get rid of the OIL
        not the soap

      • IRBE

        Thanks. i have tried a number of some specialty detergents to get the oil out. It just seems to linger.

        This case seems pretty mild comparatively. It’s just sad that these fine middle-aged legs are temporarily disfigured by this hyper-immune response.

      • Suthenboy

        Reading above it looks like you are doing it right. That is about all you can do.
        That shit can be hard to get rid of because it gets down in your pores.

      • Hyperion

        Yeah, I get it mildly. I seem to be completely immune to Poison Ivy though. I bought a civil war era, brick Italianate style home once and when I first bought it, the house was covered with vines. It was early in the Spring and at the time, I didn’t notice it was mostly poison Ivy. A couple of weeks later, I went back to pull more of it off and it was starting to leave out and that’s when I noticed ‘oh shit, that’s poison Ivy’. I wasn’t even wearing gloves and I said to the guy helping me ‘hey man, you’re not susceptible to poison ivy are you?’. We’d been there for almost an hour. He says ‘Oh fuck, that’s poison ivy!?’. Poor guy, he got it all over his body. I got a couple of spots on my hand and that’s it. I got some gloves and finished the job.

        I remember when I was a kid me and a friend of mine were apparently playing in the stuff and didn’t know it. He had to be taken to the hospital for it. It was terrible. He was covered head to toe in that pink lotion for about a month and there were scabs all over him, I felt really bad for him. Again, I got a couple spots on my hands and it just went away.

      • Gustave Lytton

        What suthen said. Tecnu is the long-standing choice for poison oak, but I used to use Betadine surgical scrub. Wash like you’re decontaminating and wash as soon as possible. Wash hands and forearms, then wash from top of your head to toe, making sure to rinse soap down as you do. Throughly clean your shower afterwards. Wash your clothes (several times) and any surfaces you touched as much as possible (car, house). The oil is persistent and long lasting.

        Once the rash develops, use Benadryl or caladryl topical creams. If it’s excessively spread or on your face or genitals, or isn’t clearing up within a week, see a doc about getting prednisone tablets.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And wash your dog.

      • IRBE

        Don’t tell me what to do! And besides, she doesn’t get it. /sarc

        Thanks for the advice about the Tecnu.

    • Ted S.

      You have more than one miss with you? You shitlord!

  14. The Late P Brooks

    Okay, commie

    A progressive turn is certainly possible, but so is its antithesis: a further upsurge in right-wing populism, and the strengthening of antidemocratic forces. Last week’s edition of The Economist had an alarming piece about how, in many places, authoritarian leaders are exploiting the pandemic for their own ends. In countries such as Hungary, Turkey, and Cambodia, COVID-19 “is creating opportunities for autocrats and would-be autocrats to tighten their grip,” intimidate their opponents, and expand the surveillance state. China has arrested democracy activists in Hong Kong, The Economist reported, and Russia is considering a scheme in which everyone in the country would have to register on a government Web site and have all of their movements tracked.

    Fortunately, our own wannabe strongman is also a bumbling cable-television addict, whose claim to possess “absolute power” to order the reopening of the American economy was widely scoffed at. But even a bumbling demagogue can be dangerous. Two weeks ago, Trump tweeted, “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”—an apparent reference to the state’s stay-at-home orders. On Thursday, groups of protesters, some of them heavily armed, showed up at the state capitol building, in Lansing. On Friday, Trump, in another tweet, urged Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to talk with the protesters, and described them as “very good people.”

    The people out protesting are a small minority: opinion polls show that a majority of Americans still support the emergency measures that states have introduced. But the scenes from Michigan are a further indication that we can’t automatically assume things will turn out well after the virus is gone. Simply hoping that things will move in a progressive direction when the shutdowns end isn’t enough. Creating a fairer, more inclusive economy is hard work, and it will inevitably encounter resistance. Concentrations of economic power have to be confronted. Workers’ rights and bargaining power have to be extended. Democratic freedoms have to be protected. Demagogues have to be defeated, during pandemics more than ever.

    Seek professional help, Junior. Your hallucinations seem to be quite severe. Try to get out more.

    • Suthenboy

      The New Yorker.

      Wasn’t it a Dem Senator from NY that said this coronatardness is an opportunity to change the country in the left’s vision of what it should be?

      Always projection.

      • Hyperion

        The environazis have been saying as much for weeks now. The mask fell off a long time ago. Ever since Obama won the election and they were celebrating their coming thousand year reign and fundamentally transforming the USA, it started slipping. Then Trump came along and it just fell off.

    • Chafed

      I love the title. Our only two choices are more progressivism or dystopia? I’ll take what’s behind door number 3.

      • Shirley Knott

        Progressivism or dystopia is a distinction without a difference.

    • Grosspatzer

      Last week’s edition of The Economist had an alarming piece about how, in many places, authoritarian leaders are exploiting the pandemic for their own ends.

      Places like New York, Ohio, Michigan, California, New Jersey…

  15. Fourscore

    I noticed Podunkville started having a little more traffic bout last Wednesday. Friday/yesterday the village was busy/busy. Hardware store/liquor store/meat market/grocery. Coffee shop had about 8 cars in the parking lot, only a couple people outside so I’m guessing the rest were inside, round-tabling and solving world problems, as always in the country side. Not many masks but an occasional one. Fishermen on the lakes again.

    My daughter was here for a week, I added the 2 lbs I’d misplaced from winter so start doing more work. Somehow a yuuuuge pile of firewood (about 2 cords) accumulated that needs splitting, I’ll get on that as well as the garden. Looks like cool weather and freezing nights for the next 10 days so firewood, here I come.
    I have a splitter but I’m kinda tall so I have to bend over and that’s gets tiresome by the end of my very short work day.

    I have the time, thank god almighty, I have the time.

    • Suthenboy

      I split two cords last fall and have almost. all of one. left.
      I think I might be getting too old for that. After I got it done I could barely walk for a week.

      • Mojeaux

        Honest sweat.

      • Suthenboy

        Ha. Yes it is.

      • Fourscore

        It’ll take me a while, 45 minutes, take a break, 45 minutes, end of the day, do something else. A week or so and it’ll be done. I don’t need it, I’m hoping a grand daughter will haul it away. Amazing what an old guy will do for those tykes, that are all grown up and making serious money, but still, in my heart and head they need some firewood. If she doesn’t want it it’ll go in the shed, rainy day fund.

      • Suthenboy

        “…in my heart and head they need some firewood.”

        I know what you mean. No matter how old they get they are still your child.

  16. RAHeinlein

    Good exercise week – 3-5 mile walks every day plus additional exercise via yard work. Beautiful weather here today and seeing more traffic so a good sign.

  17. Ted S.

    I took walks each of the past three days, although Friday evening’s walk was short because I knew there would be a lot of standing water on the trails from all the rain.

    Today I saw three individual bikers out by themselves, and three or four pairs. That’s actually about normal for where I walk.

  18. Homple

    Are the 300,000 people who die from being fat counted with the same analytical precision the authorities count deaths from the Wuhan virus?

    • DEG

      There’s no money in it, so no.

    • Chafed

      I have no idea. My assumption is there is no emergency so there has been plenty of time to collect and check data. It has to be an approximation but you go with what you’ve got.

      • Ayn Random Variation

        I read that as : there has been plenty of time to collect the checks

  19. westernsloper

    I also got my PPP money. So, I can stay solvent for another month while I lose sleep wondering what the government will do next to make it impossible for me to earn a living.

    Good for you on the PPP and the rest of that, sorry man. I can’t imagine the rage I would feel if I was a small business right now.

    • Chafed

      Rage is an excellent choice of words.

    • Ayn Random Variation

      The company i work for just got their PPP cash. Does that mean they can’t fire anyone?

      • Chafed

        They can but then a portion of the loan won’t be forgivable. They have to maintain headcount if they want it all forgiven.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    Creating a fairer, more inclusive economy is hard work, and it will inevitably encounter resistance. Concentrations of economic power have to be confronted.

    Yeah, right. Who do you think keeps the New Yorker afloat, dummy? The impoverished underclasses?

    • Suthenboy

      Make a list of the richest people in the country and see how many of them are supporting lefty causes.

      • Ayn Random Variation

        And those rich lefties want no part of Bernie.

  21. Mojeaux

    I too, like l0b0t, am self-destructing on carbs and sugar and way too much of everything. My jeans slapped me in the face so I paid the piper and got on the scale. ????

    Chafed, hope you make out okay this month. I’m so sorry for everyone going through this.

    Naptown Bill, congrats on the weight loss!

    • Anti Pro State

      I try to get that out of my system with one binge per day, no more. Today’s victims were the remaining carrot cake oreos that my evil wife bought.

      • mikey

        Carrot Cake Oreos!?!?

        Why wasn’t I told of this?

      • Suthenboy

        I refuse to allow cookies in the house. I have no problem resisting until I wake up around midnight. Then I turn into the Cookie Monster with a huge glass of cold milk so it is just better that they never come into the house.

        Carrot cake Oreos you say? Hmmmmm…..

      • Anti Pro State

        I may be close to enacting that rule. I’m never tempted to buy sweets, but as long as they are there…

      • Mojeaux

        That is my witching hour too. I don’t eat that much until around 8:00 p.m. and then it’s nonstop till I fall asleep watching oddly satisfying videos on my iPad.

      • Fourscore

        Normally no sweets in the house but I broke down and bought some ice cream a few days ago. Even rationing it out it only lasted about 3 days.

        But, I never eat a snack after dinner or between meals. Biggest problem is not doing much physical work or exercise.

      • Suthenboy

        I have a root beer float every day. I am addicted.

        Diet rootbeer, no sugar added ice cream.

        I could do better but hey, what’s life without rootbeer floats? Not worth living, that’s what.

      • Hyperion

        I’m addicted to beer. Time to get on the wagon again for a while.

      • Suthenboy

        Aint nuthin’ easier than falling off of a wagon when you are under house arrest.

      • R C Dean

        No cookies, candy, cake, pie, pastry. A bag of chips or crackers for snacks on weekends.

        If it’s not in the house, I’m not going to eat it. If it is, I will.

      • Fourscore

        I have to do that too. Christmas is the worst, everyone wants to share and even just eating a single piece 2X a day the stuff will last into March. My wife doesn’t eat sweet stuff but she’ll grab a package of Cheetos at Walmart.

      • Spudalicious

        What RC said. The best method I’ve found is to just not have it in the house.

      • Mojeaux

        Today is my last binge for a while. Dr. Atkins is staring at me sternly. Of course I’m the one who put the book there, but still.

      • AlmightyJB

        Smoked pork butt BBQ sandwich, potato salad, baked beans on potato chips. I don’t even feel a little bad. Of course that is all I had all day. I’ll be eating that pork butt all week.

      • Mojeaux

        If I thought I had the cojones to do it, I’d be on a meat fast for the next 2 weeks (i.e., nothing to eat but meat and low-carb veggies).

  22. hayeksplosives

    Such powers, while rarely used, can be wielded during wildfires, with government agencies taking private land to build a fire break, for example. In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, lawyers from the county, city and state looked at whether commandeering hotels for a short time would be legal as well and determined that it would be.”

    Oh, well if lawyers said it’s legal to commander a hotel, that’s ok then.

    “Commandeering is very seldom used by government,” said David Howard, an assistant county executive officer who heads the negotiating team. “It’s only done in the event of disaster

    .

    Shouldn’t the burden of proof be on the govt to show that there is even a disaster ?

    • Suthenboy

      In a just world those lawyers would be disbarred.

    • Suthenboy

      The burden on the govt is due process before any taking of life, liberty or property. If they are taking in a civil case they are required to compensate. Disaster or no disaster.

      • hayeksplosives

        And they decide what is fair compensation.

        Can you imagine having a hotel that you’ve invested in with time, TLC, and money, and then having these pencil-necked govt bureaucrats tell you that you have to let in hundreds of homeless people?

      • Suthenboy

        I am not going to respond because I dont know what to say that wont get me on yet another list.

      • Hyperion

        You’re already on all the lists.

      • Suthenboy

        That’s probably true.

      • Chafed

        That’s not exactly right. The government can be sued for complete compensation for the taking.

      • Suthenboy

        ^Get a load of this guy^

        I just finished with such a suit. Guess what? Everybody but the state got a royal fucking. In fact I dont think they are quite finished with the fucking yet.

    • Hyperion

      There is because ‘experts’ said so. And they were completely vetted by CNN. So we know it’s true.

      • hayeksplosives

        This really boils the blood. The idea that our one recourse is facts and evidence to help us make our case, but since the Fed supplies the “experts”, any legal proceedings are unhelpful.

      • Hyperion

        Yeah, I still remember the good old days, when I would occasionally wake up in a cheerful mood, despite the fact that I am not a morning person. Now I’m automatically angry as soon as I wake up and have to drink copious amounts of alcohol to ward it off. Somebody had better have to pay dearly for this bullshit.

      • Urthona

        I’m not angry until I read the news.

      • Fourscore

        Way, way back, like 30 years ago, I’d watch the network news in the morning and swear at the TV or at least the people making the news.

        Now I am more selective and only swear at republicans and democrats and bureaucrats.

    • Fourscore

      “$3 million in federal grants from the Community Development Block Grant Program”

      For a state and country that’s broke there seems to be a lot of extraneous money to buys votes. It does however, take the sting out of the “drunken sailor”

      epitaph.

    • Grosspatzer

      We’re doing our best. Steel cage match for the ages: NJ councilwoman vs. Florida man.

    • AlmightyJB

      Wow. Yeah, those east coast elites really have it all over those flyover yokels.

  23. DenverJ

    I need a new prescription for my eyeglasses. But, if the government allowed the eyeglass place to be open, we’d all die. So I’ll just slowly go blind.

    • Hyperion

      Blind is not dead. /Cuomo

    • Chafed

      That seems fair.

    • Shirley Knott

      Yeah, me too. Very unhappy about this, to put it mildly.

      • Shirley Knott

        And let’s not even talk about sudden dental issues. Abscessed tooth that needs to come out. Hours on the phone trying to find anybody open. Finally got a real person who pointed me at an oral surgeon who’s open. They can see me in a week.

    • RAHeinlein

      Are you in a state that allows use of the Warby Parker app?

      • DenverJ

        Does it do prescriptions? That would be… untrustworthy?

      • DenverJ

        So it looks like it’s only good for prescriptions for far away, which is what I have now, but I need progressive lens now. Plus, I wanna keep my frames, so I probably have to go to where I got them.

      • RAHeinlein

        Yes, but regulations vary by state (I can’t use the prescription app in Iowa). Completely reliable and above board.

    • Sean

      https://www.glassesusa.com

      I’ve used them multiple times. 100% satisfaction guaranteed and they stand behind it.

    • Mojeaux

      #metoo

      XX and I were in the middle of getting her eyeballs scripted right but then the Children’s Mercy eye department shut down so we are in limbo. It’s time for XY’s eye appointment, but I can’t for the same reason.

      They both need to see the dentist and … that’s also on hold.

      I cannot get my kids the basic care they need when it’s time, and XX is right in the middle of her process. I am so angry about this and I can’t do anything about it.

    • Sean

      Are Wal-Mart eye centers open?

      • Tres Cool

        Ill let you know tomorrow.

  24. Nephilium

    OT, but for any other geeks here. MST3K is doing a live event starting in about half an hour.

    • Tres Cool

      Good find. *noted
      The Netflix thing on Waco and David Koresh is on- I wonder how well they stay to the facts of Janet Reno murdering everyone.

      • Suthenboy

        It wasn’t Reno, it was Bill Clinton. He personally gave the order. Well, Reno, one of the evilest AG’s in history, doesn’t get to escape her guilt, but it was Bill who gave the order.

      • Hyperion

        That administration is the evilest in political history. The damage they did to this country is irreversible short of civil war or mass secession.

      • Mojeaux

        Elian Gonzalez was almost as evil.

      • Mojeaux

        You know what I mean. Elian is not evil. Sending that child back to Cuba was evil.

  25. grrizzly

    I had a walk along South Boston beaches this afternoon. It’s a very nice day here, in the 70s. People were sunbathing, playing volleyball, kiteboarding, etc. It looked mostly normal. I’d probably estimate that less than a half of the people walking around were wearing face coverings. Unlike in my town, I wasn’t in a small minority without a mask.

  26. Ayn Random Variation

    Furst nice weekend in Philly. Something I’ve been noticing that especially evident today as i sit in the park. The generation after the millenials dgaf about the rona.
    They are behaving like normal young people: talking and sitting in grass and cavorting in their tiny tight clothes (ummm what was I saying….)
    Maybe there is hope for the far away future. Generally, every other age group I am around has gone all in on the panic.

    • Ayn Random Variation

      I meant to say that they’re maskless as well

      • AlmightyJB

        Doesn’t sound like you were looking at their faces:)

    • hayeksplosives

      I’d like to share your enthusiasm (and indeed do share it for the young’uns who might never have been unplugged before), but then I read comments (by my fellow Americans) on news articles praising the governors, mayors, etc, calling mask non-wearers ignorant Nazi pigs, etc.

      That’s quite a way to feel about half of one’s peers. Not sure what will become of the newly mobilized Karens when CoViD fades away…

    • RAHeinlein

      Mmmm, Philly – now I am having restaurant withdrawal.

    • DEG

      Normally I would be at Brauhaus Schmitz’s Maifest and Sly Fox’s Bockfest this weekend. Nope.

  27. prolefeed

    I’ve lost a bit of weight during the feardemic – lot of physical work in my yard, plus an ongoing 1 to 2 meals a day policy.

  28. KSuellington

    Here in SF we are back to at least close to normal for weekend traffic. I biked 20 miles across the Golden Gate with a buddy yesterday and there were plenty of people out biking, although the pedestrian side was considerably less traffic than normal. We live close to the beach and we were down there earlier to bike and let the kids play on the dunes and there were tons of people out. It’s well past time for socially proximating. I have a bunch of jobs lined up for the week, but as I am homeschooling three days so my wife can work, I won’t be making the kind of money I was a few weeks back. Man, I really hope Hyp is right and there is some sort of a political backlash from this horseshit.

  29. Suthenboy

    Speaking of takings….

    Now that the case has been ruled on I can talk about it. My family owns land on the shoreline of Catahoula lake. It is on the shore because when flood controls were put in a diversion canal and dam were constructed which created Catahoula lake and a large portion of ours and many others private property went permanently under water. The state then claimed that the land flooded was state property because the lake is navigable. There was quite a bit of strife at the. time, as you can imagine but in the end, despite all of the times the levees were dynamited, the state won.
    In the interim a lot of oil wells were drilled in and around Catahoula lake with the state taking the lion’s share of the royalties….because they claimed the property.

    Getting pissed off yet?

    The land owners recently filed a class action suit against the state. It went all the way up to the State SC. Our commie governor was ranting and raving over this suit on radio and TV but he never would reveal explicitly what he was talking about. I think it is because he knew if people knew what the state had done heads would roll. I also thought it doesn’t matter how the court rules….all of the oil runs from Catahoula lake for the last 150 years? Even the feds dont have the money to pay that. Win or lose We weren’t going to get our eleventy squillion dollars back.

    Sure enough…the SC ruled that it was a taking and we now own lake bed….still waiting to see how it will be divided up amongst the other landowners….but we are not due the oil runs. See how that works? I own lake bed I cant do anything with, not due any compensation for the lost oil money aaaaaaaand I now have the privilege of paying more property tax.

    Fuckers.

    • hayeksplosives

      Damn, dude.

      Land of the Free.

    • hayeksplosives

      I can’t imagine how you keep your cool dealing with such low life scum.

      And then they want to wear the mantle of “noble public servant.”

      Hate. Rising.

      • Suthenboy

        My Grandfather is spinning in his grave so hard he is going to alter the orbit of the earth.

    • Sean

      Yowza. Sorry dude.

    • Mojeaux

      I am so sorry about that, Suthen.

    • KSuellington

      Bastards. The state is the biggest mafia going.

    • Tres Cool

      That is completely fucked-up, but I wish I could say Im shocked on some level.

      Im not. Sorry, man.

      • Suthenboy

        I am not either. For the last year it was feeding frenzy behavior by all kinds of people trying to get in on the suit. The hatred and vitriol directed at myself and my family out of envy was….stunning. I never got excited about it because I knew it would end up like this and even if it didnt…what the hell was the state gonna do? They dont have the money to pay that. They can barely keep the lights on as it is.

        Everyone else was dreaming of having their own Scrooge McDuck swimming pool because….magic? Idiots.

    • Grosspatzer

      That sucks big time. Damn.

    • westernsloper

      but we are not due the oil runs.

      How the hell did they justify that? If they ruled it is in fact your and the other owners land seems they owe you past royalties. Fucking thieves. I hate thieves.

      • Suthenboy

        Dude…flip it over and put on the magic glasses

        FYTW

      • IRBE

        In this day and age do you think Jed Clampett would have been able to move to Beverly Hills…

    • DEG

      Fuck. Sorry.

    • Count Potato

      Damn. Sorry 🙁

    • Hyperion

      Sorry to hear that. That sucks.

      The government just keeps getting more and more intrusive with violating our rights.

      I knew a guy in Indiana who’d just bought some land and built a new home on it. He was over at my new place one day and he’s says ‘Some of your land is pretty low down there by that creek, did you know you can have some of that allocated as wetlands and get a big tax break?, that’s what I’m going to do!’.

      I said ‘Man, are you fucking nuts? I don’t want a tax break, I want to so what I want on my own property, I don’t even know what I’m going to do with that land down there yet’. He laughed, he thought I’m some sort of conspiracy theory nut.

      A few months later I was talking to the guy and he was irate as hell, Apparently, he woke up one morning and there’s a bunch of guys on his property with equipment like backhoes and chainsaws. So he gets his gun and goes out there and is yelling ‘Hey, who the fuck are you, what ware you doing!?’. One guy starts walking towards him and he notices that the guy is wearing some sort of uniform like jacket and the guy yells ‘Something something, put down your weapon, something US government officers’. At this point, the guy lays his gun on the ground and says ‘Easy man, what the fuck, what are you guys doing?’. He’d just planted a bunch of ornamental and fruit trees down near the creek and they’d ripped them all out and were doing a controlled burn along the creek. The guy tells him that he is not allowed to do anything within 30 feet of both sides of the stream, that land is government managed property as a wetland. He was upset as hell, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do.

      I said ‘I hate to tell you that I told you so, sorry man’.

    • DenverJ

      That was used as a plotline on Ozarks that I saw the other night. According to the show, the state did that when it created Lake of the Ozarks.

  30. hayeksplosives

    I lost weight for about the fist month. Now I’m gaining again, snacking on “DAMNIT I WANT ICE CREAM, APPLE DANISH, PASTA, EVERYTHING WITH CARBs!!!”

    I won’t be able to continue down that path…

    • Don Escaped Sarcasm

      #MeToo

      My dismissive “just lose a pound a year for the rest of your life” went off the rail with NewWife working from home and our cooking three meals a day. I’m not walking miles on a job site or so much as dragging a bag onto a 737. I’m going to start watching the gauges on everything until the ship is righted.

      • hayeksplosives

        I’m not going to beat myself up about gaining/ not losing over CoVID break.

        One change I will stick with is avoiding the work Cafeteria. Stuff is overpriced, underwhelming in taste/texture, and of unknown content (salt? Sugar? Fat? Who knows). So when we are back at work, I’ll either pack lunch or grab something at a local restaurant.

      • Mojeaux

        I’m not going to beat myself up either. With everything going on, it’s the first time in my life I have NEVER CARED that I was “cheating” on my “diet.” I’ve been self-medicating, I know I have been, and I’m okay with that. At this point, I need to be practical about my clothes and my huffing and puffing climbing a simple flight of stairs.

      • Nephilium

        I’ve only got so much self control. I’m using it to avoid shouting profanities on a regular basis. This leaves me none for my eating or drinking habits. It doesn’t help that the kitchen is always just a short walk away, and that I’m eating out more to try to help the local businesses.

      • Suthenboy

        “just lose a pound a year for the rest of your life”

        Depending on how old you are that sounds like a solution worse than the problem.

      • Don Escaped Sarcasm

        I think of it as a weight-to-age glide path: some will make it back to the airport; some will ditch in cotton patch.

      • hayeksplosives

        I’m not sure whether to feel cheered by this or not…

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      So the gov removes restrictions and the various municipalities keep restrictions in place. Effectively nothing has changed.

      • Hyperion

        Pretty soon the local dog catcher is going to be given authority to lock you in your house for months.

      • Count Potato

        I doubt the mayor of Branson is going to do that, as it was probably why the governor resumed concerts.

    • Count Potato

      “The plan dictates that “seating shall be spaced out according to social distancing requirements” and that concertgoers must remain at least six feet apart.”

      I have no idea how anyone could make money doing that.

      • Hyperion

        Who’s going to enforce that? They going to send out the cops to every concert with tape measures to make sure everyone is 6ft apart? Just send in the tanks.

      • Suthenboy

        Cop – ” You stood here…” *points at floor tile* “…instead of there” *points at adjacent floor tile* “You are going to jail, you criminal scum”

        There better be repercussions for this horseshit.

      • Nephilium

        The city and state will still get their taxes, right?

    • hayeksplosives

      Same reason they are still talking out their asses on anything.

      To control you and take your resources.

    • Suthenboy

      No one gives a shit about having respirators. What they care about is how many the state is going to buy and who gets the contracts. The respirators themselves will likely be tossed into a warehouse or a trash can.

      See: Solyndra

    • DEG

      “It will make us more competitive in the international marketplace and I believe it will save taxpayers money,” Cuomo said. “I also believe it will actually help us get the equipment, because we have trouble still getting the equipment.”

      Just like single payer right?

    • Count Potato

      I still can’t get that domain to work.

    • DEG

      #18. Suicide grip? Yikes!

      #26 intrigued me until I looked through her gallery. Bad tattoos.

      #34 looks good.

    • Hyperion

      He’s an idiot.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      You can’t call me a Nazi, now go home before I have you arrested.

      • Count Potato

        Maybe she can set up some sort of camp where people can focus their undivided attention on what she is doing.

    • Suthenboy

      “….not representative of who we are…”

      Uh…yeah, they are. That’s the point, dummy.

  31. DenverJ

    Well, silver linings: weput grass seed down right before spring break, and it’s coming in nicely. Without all the kids running on it until the fall (they fucking better open the schools this fall), the new grass might get established enough to become permanent, instead of just hard packed clay.

  32. IRBE

    Regarding the Atkins diet, keto and such. I was listening to this Doc and he said something interesting relative to eating frequencies. His claim that 3 meals a day is way too often. What was really interesting is that he said your first meal of the day comes from your liver. Somehow there is a cascade of hormones that kick in when you are about to wake and that those hormones tell the liver to start converting your fat to sugar and ketones for fuel since blood sugar drops when you sleep.

    Anyway the take home was breakfast isn’t such an important meal; eat OMAD or only eat when hungry; take care of your liver and sleep well.

  33. IRBE

    Re: Atkins and keto diet eating frequency: I was listening to this Doc. He said something interesting and that your first meal of the day comes from your liver. There are a cascade of hormones that kick in while you wake that tells the liver to convert fat to sugar and ketones since your blood sugar drops when you sleep.

    He recommends OMAD or 2MAD. My take: breakfast is not all important, eat only when you are hungry; take care of your liver and sleep well.

    Have a great week and thanks for the advice.