Coronavirus

[sighyoung]

Right when I get a book contract, it looks like there will be nobody alive to read it.

[Michael]

The world is about to go dark. It's about to get weird, y'all.

It really feels like the last 24 hours has been an inflection point in terms of public consciousness/concern.

[wart57]

The world is about to go dark. It's about to get weird, y'all.

It really feels like the last 24 hours has been an inflection point in terms of public consciousness/concern.

When Tom Hanks gets it - we know we are all doomed....

[Radbird]

How the hell can I successfully self-quarantine with no sports to watch?

Wonder if I talk Mrs. Wart in to letting me get a new video game....

Maybe the Zombie Apocalypse isn’t a hoax after all. I’m going to binge watch The Walking Dead for some survival tips just in case.

[sighyoung]

[expletive] just got real.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

We had a case yesterday confirmed about an hour away and then a few more today. All schools in the area have been shut down until at a minimum march 30th. All kids sports/activities have been cancelled (never thought I'd say it, but thank goodness). I went to a meeting today that had been scheduled a week or so ago, and it was so odd. No one shaking hands, everyone keeping distance. Just such an odd couple days.

It is, indeed, about to go dark. And, that's probably for the best.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Here's where I'm at. No judgement to anyone that feels differently, but I think we're at that point.

I don't worry about myself, my wife, or my kids so much as I worry about preventing the spread, in a broader term, of this virus. If I get it, whatever. But, if I get it, that means I'll give it to other people. If other people get it, they'll give it to other people. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

How do people prevent getting it. Well, avoid unnecessary exposure. Our family met another family tonight for dinner and talked about it afterward and, basically, just said [expletive] it. That was nice. But, let's not do it again. Let's just limit our trips to what is necessary. Work for the time being. And the grocery store. And the gas station.

There's no getting around the grocery store. We'll maximize food as necessary and rely on amazon for the rest. Ditto the gas station. Though, we can avoid going inside. So....that leaves work.

At work, we basically told everyone there's no symptom too small to miss work. We don't have sick time, just a general paid time off. But, we're not requiring people to take PTO if they're sick. If they're sick, though, we'd like them to contact their primary care provider and seek advice. Miss more than a week and that's going to require a note of some sort. Working from home is encouraged. Basically, just don't come to work sick. And by sick I mean anything from allergies to hungover to a fever to the scarlett fever. Just don't.

Regarding meetings. Unnecessary face to face is discouraged if avoidable. If unavoidable, it's a judgement call. No one is going to be punished or expected to meet face to face no matter what. I'll call anyone's client and defend our policy if required. I'm kind of curious how this goes. I don't anticipate much pushback from clients, but if there is some. Fine. I mean, almost everything can be done with a phone call and webex that can be done face to face. So....there's that. The one exception is planning commission, City Boards, etc which as of yet aren't being cancelled. I've volunteered to go as required.

Regarding coming into the office, no one is required to come in. However, if staying home for no reason other than a general uncomfort with being in public, we expect that to apply universally. In other words, we're trying to do what's right. If employee q doesn't want to come to work for fear of a virus, we expect employee q to not be going to the western sizzlin for lunch or the garth brooks concert thursday night. This is just common sense. Further, we expect people to work from home and actually get [expletive] done if that's what they say they're going to do. Ditto allergies or a hangover.

Regarding school closings, pretty much the same thing. Employees are free to work from home so staying home with kids is also fine. It's going to be tough to get [expletive] done with a 6 year old running around, understood. Schools should be subscribed to online learning curriculum which could help keep the kid occupied. If not we're looking into subscriptions.....but i don't know this is a tough one. And, we fully anticipate a large loss of revenue in this venture. But, in the end, we don't want financial concerns to be more important than health of the employee and by extension the overall community/nation.

We're not limiting what employees can do outside of work. But, we tried to stress this is a pandemic. America is in the early stages of an outbreak. There are dire repercussions for this becoming a full blown epidemic. Live your life, don't worry, we're going to be there.

But then there are more difficult questions to answer. My parents are coming in town this weekend. Is that too much exposure? What about kids sports games? Practices? Recitals? School? Where's the line? And, I don't have an answer for that one.

This seems reasonable. How many people are at your workplace and do they seem like the kind of people who would understand and abide by that advice? It's never good to panic but the issue should be taken seriously and precautions should be implemented.

Unfortunately, I don't have an option to work from home. And there's always a risk by working in healthcare. But at least I don't have to deal directly with patients. Still I'll need to be vigilant about hand washing and staying healthy.

20ish in our office. Do I think they will abide by the advice? Absolutely. They're good people. And, if they abuse it, then so be it.

[sighyoung]

[BottenFieldofDreams]

You would post this! Team Jacob: monsters.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

There are worse fates, obviously. But we've already missed the Monster Jam, and a big Lego event. I'm going to miss Nas performing Illmatic with the Oregon Symphony. Hope it gets made up. That was going to be special.

What will you miss?