How are your workplaces coping?

[gormag38]

10 hours ago, Islandboy said:

I don’t even want to think of how much worse the world would be right now if the vaccine hadn’t been developed. Perhaps it should be renamed the Covid shot, like the Flu shot,  which needs to be administered on a regular interval to be effective at keeping influenza from becoming a pandemic, but does not eliminate it.

I couldn't have said it better myself. In the USA I know one of the biggest issues we've faced is how this virus (and the vaccine) has been presented to the public. IMO it has dramatically increased the 'hyper partisanship' and division that we're seeing everyday in communities. Sometime a simple rephrasing of a word (eg. vaccine to COVID shot) would help everyone's understanding quite a bit. 

[tuff]

https://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/profile/36371-nevrknow/

16 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

Hey Tuff, construction here too. Materials and labor MAJOR problems. I have to schedule dumpsters a month in advance. I think I’m about ready to offer my “services” to Sarah the dumpster lady on the phone if I can get an extra pull this week!

Whatever it takes... 😳

Chas, I hear you on dumpsters and I also would offer my "services" in desperation. Problem is my company will not even answer phone anymore. You have to leave a message and hope in a week or so they do a switch. No telling who would hear my "offer of service". 😯

 

16 hours ago, Nevrknow said:

That begs the question I have been asking @tuff. What exactly are these young ones doing? Mine are grown or my grandkids ( no laughing from the peanut gallery. I don't FEEL old 🤣 ) are to young to work. So I have no "real" reference point.

They can't all go to college. My laborers make a hell of a lot more than some burger flipper. Mom and Dad footing the bills and ruining them? If so, I feel sorry for them God forbid something happens and they're on their own. 

 

A few extra minutes on the phone selling yourself helps alot in those situations. Or the girl at the inspection scheduling desk. If you can get them on a first name basis, and NEVER complain. ( He's so nice 😁).

Been doing this awhile too. They ask me how I get stuff done and I just smile.

Doesn't always work. But sometimes it pushes me to the top of the list. 👍

But if you HAVE to service her, remember, sweet voice on the phone means she has a " nice personality". Just saying.....

NeverKnow and Greenhorn2,

I don't know what the answer is on getting people to learn a trade, or for that matter just wanting to work period. Maybe there is so much easy money in our economy right now they can get by? If so, I think they are in for a rude awakening at some point. As I know you guys are, I am learning to cope, do the best I can, and just move forward a day at a time.

John

 

 

 

[Corylax18]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:56 PM, Shrimpchips said:

we have a vaccine that helps to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality.  But enough people need to be immunized first. It took centuries to control and eliminate small pox.  We’ve only been at COVID and other coronavirae for a short time.  

No. WE DONT.

We have a TREATMENT that lowers morbidity and mortality. Oxygen, IV fluids and rest at hospital lower Covid's Morbidity and Mortality too.(better than the vaccines depending on variant)

Is Oxygen now a "vaccine" too? Is sleeping now a Vaccine? Can we just wash down a handful of sleeping pills with a gallon of Gatorade and call our selves "vaccinated" now? 

The definition of a vaccine from the Oxford dictionary is below. The Bold, Underline on the important part, you know, the immunity part, was added by me. 

The crap they've been pumping into us FAILS the below definition, completely and totally. People are Catching and Spreading the virus at RECORD rates, regardless of vaccination rates. 

Insisting these things are vaccines is akin to antivaxxers insisting horse medicine will cure this thing. 

I got my two jabs of the Moderna soup, but I'll be holding off on any of the booster shots until there's more evidence they do more than sugar water.

vac·cine

/vakˈsēn/

Learn to pronounce

 

noun

 

1. a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease.

   "every year the flu vaccine is modified to deal with new strains of the virus"

   • COMPUTING

     a program designed to detect computer viruses and inactivate them.

 

Choose languageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBanglaBasqueBelarusianBosnianBulgarianBurmeseCatalanCebuanoChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKinyarwandaKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMāoriMarathiMongolianNepaliNorwegianNyanjaOdiaPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScottish GaelicSerbianShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSouthern SothoSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTatarTeluguThaiTurkishTurkmenUkrainianUrduUyghurUzbekVietnameseWelshWestern FrisianXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu

 

Definitions from Oxford Languages

 

On 1/7/2022 at 12:10 AM, gormag38 said:

 Sometime a simple rephrasing of a word (eg. vaccine to COVID shot) would help everyone's understanding quite a bit. 

Simple rephrasing? That's all it would be?

A year plus of Empty Guarantees these shots would get us back to normal. And we just need to "rephrase" what we call them? 

They've been a complete and total failure for everyone except the people getting rich from them. Great, less morbidly obese people are dying after their long, expensive hospital stays.

We're no closer to being past this today, then we were before they introduced these shots. You can fly your "moral victory" flags all day, but moral victories don't do us a damn bit of good when the entire planet is still in a tail spin. 

[patrickamory]

I agree it would have been considerably worse without the vaccines though!

There's also the rather obvious point that if more people had gotten vaccinated sooner, that leaves less room and time for the virus to mutate, necessitating new vaccines.

[CaptainQuintero]

4 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

No. WE DONT.

We have a TREATMENT that lowers morbidity and mortality. Oxygen, IV fluids and rest at hospital lower Covid's Morbidity and Mortality too.(better than the vaccines depending on variant)

Is Oxygen now a "vaccine" too? Is sleeping now a Vaccine? Can we just wash down a handful of sleeping pills with a gallon of Gatorade and call our selves "vaccinated" now? 

  What frame of reference would you use to say the vaccines don't work? Not a dig at all just wondering why you say they don't. Unless it's a semantics thing?

  By any definition used they work: they prevent the virus from replicating in all but those with severely compromised immune systems or with significant co-morbidities. They give you as close to a guarantee that medical science can give you that you won't die from covid if you catch it if you would have otherwise without it. Oxygen, IV fluids and rest do nothing if you're admitted with a serious case because the virus stop the body from being able to complete gaseous exchange. The new theraputics help a lot but don't come close to what the vaccines provide. My wife's ED has only admitted unvaccinated people for the last few weeks, 30+ in age. Most haven't left through the front door if you get my meaning. She sent me this a few days ago to try and put across what it's like every shift because she can't out it into words.

 It's not a scaremongering post, it's how it is for those coming in who haven't been jabbed. Yes it's massively effecting those 50+ and those with heart, weight, lung issues etc. But on the other hand she's seen people in their 30s with no health issues come in and leave their kids with no parents.

 The vaccines work, better than anyone could have hoped for

[Bijan]

3 minutes ago, CaptainQuintero said:

The vaccines work, better than anyone could have hoped for

Well I'll give you that they worked. But people were hoping it would stop transmission and end covid. And it didn't do that. It's 0-16% at stopping infection from omicron (vs no vaccine). I think originally it was like 85-90% against original variant. It went from vaccines will give us herd imnunity, to vaccines will keep you out of the hospital and ICU. Still good but not better than anyone could or did hope for.

[CaptainQuintero]

5 minutes ago, Bijan said:

Well I'll give you that they worked. But people were hoping it would stop transmission and end covid. And it didn't do that. It's 0-16% at stopping infection from omicron (vs no vaccine). I think originally it was like 85-90% against original variant. It went from vaccines will give us herd imnunity, to vaccines will keep you out of the hospital and ICU. Still good but not better than anyone could or did hope for.

  To be fair they were never designed to either stop infection or prevent transmission, they aimed to prevent serious illness and death and still do. The reduction in transmission and symptomatic disease was a welcome by-product of the design.

  The vaccines will still give us herd immunity. The way out of any pandemic is herd immunity it's just that normally that's done with huge amounts of deaths as only those who survive the virus naturally carry on. This time the vast majority of those who would otherwise had died will survive.

 There was a brilliant talk I saw a few weeks ago, can't remember where, could have been TED? Basically covid has mirrored the 1918 Spanish Flu exactly, but the difference is that this time we have vaccines, theraputic antivirals, working healthcare system etc. Without that we'd have the same number of deaths currently. I'll see if I can find the link

  

[Foulhook]

On 1/4/2022 at 9:43 PM, Corylax18 said:

Just get the Vaccine!!

Everything will go back to normal!! 

You can trust me!! 

😉

Lol! 🤣.., the folks with common sense knew all along that you couldn’t vaccine us out of this. The vaccine nazis are even starting to realize they can’t push crazy anymore. The term conspiracy theory should now called spoiler alerts 😏… I was tempted to bring Ken’s covid thread back up but restrained myself. I offered up two aristocrat humidor cabinets fully loaded with nothing but CCs to anyone with similar that would bet vaccines would rid the world of Covid. No takers. Guess they don’t have as much confidence as they claim. 

Folks just need to go back to living their lives. No more shutdowns and silly mandates. It’s like racism. The only reason it’s still around is that people keep talking about it. Covid, in some form, will be with us for a long long time. Live your lives! 

[Hammer Smokin']

The only reason racism is around is because people keep talking about it? 

Strange comment. 

[HarveyBoulevard]

Before this thing gets derailed...

How are your workplaces coping?

...discuss...

[El Presidente]

23 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

The only reason racism is around is because people keep talking about it? 

Strange comment. 

The clear leader to date in the "Dumbest Comment of 2022" 

It is only January 8 however 

[El Presidente]

Just now, HarveyBoulevard said:

Before this thing gets derailed...

How are your workplaces coping?

...discuss...

Thank you 

[Chas.Alpha]

2 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

The clear leader to date in the "Dumbest Comment of 2022" 

It is only January 8 however 

I’m just gettin’ my 2022 legs! Let me know... 😳

[Cigar Surgeon]

10 minutes ago, Chas.Alpha said:

I’m just gettin’ my 2022 legs! Let me know... 😳

[Foulhook]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

The clear leader to date in the "Dumbest Comment of 2022" 

It is only January 8 however 

tell that to Morgan freeman. It was a direct quote. 😂…. And he is correct. 

 

2 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

The only reason racism is around is because people keep talking about it? 

Strange comment. 

I know. It’s weird when someone actually tells the truth isn’t it? Political correctness is simply lying to people to not hurt their feelings. Lots of the population has become blatant liars and they virtue signal constantly. I’m a amazed how many of them are on here. 

[Chibearsv]

Omicron has run rampant through our office and everywhere else around my neighborhood. We are coping though through video conferencing and the ability to function from home. I feel especially bad for the younger families around us. Schools are open then closed then open, then they send some kids home, etc etc. Must suck. And nothing but guesses from our local leaders on best practices.  Makes it very hard to know how to function for sure. 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Foulhook said:

tell that to Morgan freeman. It was a direct quote. 😂…. And he is correct. 

 

 

It never ceases to amaze me how many people take their moral compass from actors.

You will be quoting a Kardashian next  

 

 

[DaBoot]

Rural California mountain town. 80% people at work have no thought of covid protocol. Company can’t enforce any rules as we are about 20% understaffed. 

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, Foulhook said:

tell that to Morgan freeman. It was a direct quote. 😂…. And he is correct. 

Well I don't think it's a direct quote, though he said a lot of similar things along those lines.

1 hour ago, Foulhook said:

I know. It’s weird when someone actually tells the truth isn’t it? Political correctness is simply lying to people to not hurt their feelings. Lots of the population has become blatant liars and they virtue signal constantly. I’m a amazed how many of them are on here. 

Yeah political correctness is a problem. It's one of the reasons a lot of people don't think there's any racism around. It's not acceptable to say what you think directly. I'm not accusing you or anyone else of anything just to be clear. I'm also telling like it is. Most of the people virtue signaling are racist themselves. Minorities discriminated against are racist against other groups. Society is basically racist. Maybe toddlers and younger kids aren't there yet.

Anyways racism is worst when not discussed and taken for granted. There are a lot of societies and countries around the world where overt racism is acceptable and taken for granted, and that's probably worse than political correctness. You talk to people there and they say I live in a nice neighborhood, it's a bit expensive, I can only afford a small apartment but at least there's no blacks or Arabs here. We don't hear that so much.

[El Presidente]

The question is on workplaces and not red and blue teams.

Don't feed.those who only seek to inflame.

[Bijan]

On the workplace front, I'm in computer hardware on the software side. Working from home since I joined in July. I go in once or twice a month, due to having to fiddle with some of the hardware. They kept pushing back the start time until it's now permanently TBD. I had to go into the office during the holidays, Sunday and Monday after New Year's. On the Sunday besides security I think I was the only one in the office (building with about 1,000 person capacity). Probably any given day in November or December there would be 50-100 people in I think.

[RichG]

While I am working remotely due to the nature of my current project, and now have my own personal office so not applicable to me, my company currently allows workers who are vaccinated to go unmasked in company facilities. That being said, we are currently issuing guidance for Omicron that it is suggested for vaccinated folks to mask up and socially distance as an additional precaution to reduce transmission.

So far so good for us, full steam ahead. 

It’s interesting that Omicron seems to spread much more rapidly, but at least for the vaccinated, it seems to be like a bad cold. I read a NY Times article a few days ago that mentioned how Omicron presents mostly in sinus type symptoms, rather than the severe lung issues associated with the earlier variants. 

I wonder when we will reach the tipping point as these variants progress, where we eventually say…this is a similar level of risk as a common cold or the flu. Any guesses as to how long it takes for the world to say screw it, we are ready to live with Covid as if it were a common cold, and get back to normal life?

[Bijan]

1 minute ago, RichG said:

I wonder when we will reach the tipping point as these variants progress, where we eventually say…this is a similar level of risk as a common cold or the flu. Any guesses as to how long it takes for the world to say screw it, we are ready to live with Covid as if it were a common cold, and get back to normal life?

My guess is 2 months given how harmless and contagious omicron has been.

I went from only knowing one person third hand who got it and died early on, to what seems like half the people I know all getting it at the same time in the past 2-3 weeks.

I'm entirely ready to be proven wrong but that's my feeling for now.

[RichG]

1 minute ago, Bijan said:

y guess is 2 months given how harmless and contagious omicron has been.

I suppose we still deal with the challenge that the original strain (is it a strain?) and Delta are still kicking around. My father in law and his wife got it in Florida last month and both ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. 

I don’t recall seeing anything on that…how does the development of new variants impact the existence of the prior variants, or does it at all?

[Bijan]

2 minutes ago, RichG said:

I suppose we still deal with the challenge that the original strain (is it a strain?) and Delta are still kicking around

Thankfully not. We were at pretty much 100% delta before omicron and are quickly headed to 100% omicron now (Canada a bit more than the US due to higher vaccination rate and it being more effective against older variants). This is since each new strain is more contagious. The UK has some really good data over time and they have data for a lot of countries at 6 (or maybe 12) month intervals so showing original, delta and beginning of omicron prevalence.