So, if there’s nothing to get grumpy about, you’ve had a good day! My yesterday qualifies, even if it was nothing special. Even the rain couldn’t dampen my spirits! Some street strollin’ and some beer drinking made the day go down the way I like it. It’s nice to be so easily pleased!
Photos from our Wednesday walk (most of these are courtesy of Scott’s camera):
Then at beer o’clock, we headed for town. Carried our umbrellas, but didn’t need them. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
I needed to hit the ATM, so we popped into It Doesn’t Matter and used the one located there. Had a free beer card, so I used it before we departed. Finished our evening out at The Jungle and had the usual chillaxin’ experience, but this time with dancers and pool games for distractions.
Yeah, that’s the life I’ve chosen. But it beats living in a nursing home.
Moving on to May 2020 in the LTG archives, and I’m still grousing about the ill effects of the COVID quarantine on the people around me. At least in this post, I mention one unexpected benefit. A female acquaintance asked for some financial assistance. I helped her with her needs, and she took care of mine. That’s either a win-win or a quid pro quo if I ever saw one! Regular commenter Brian made some arguments in support of the lockdowns. I’m curious if he still feels that way given all that has been revealed since then.
Today’s YouTube video features a cute Filipina discussing what makes you rich in the Philippines. She makes some valid points that it is not always about the money. I know I’m living a rich life here, although some might argue I’m wasting it on a frivolous lifestyle. Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy things that make you happy. Like beer.
Smile for me:
Suffered enough? Okay, until tomorrow then.
Hello again John
Sorry but I must say as a Canadian I found your previous replies and comments directed towards me highly offensive. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; you bigoted Trump lovers are a crotchety and rude bunch of undesirables, but I still don’t don’t understand lashing out at strangers on the internet. It just makes me wonder how bad you actually are in real life. After all, your temper tantrums are legendary in the ‘hood (and no, me using ebonics are not racist so don’t bother trying to high five ME, sir).
And the Gary I mentioned was the one who always wore the same clothes that talk strolls with you. Claiming you know no Garys just tells everyone how little you respect your acquaintances, and you wonder why you have no friends? Please, try acting your age not your head circumference size.
Again, apologies if I came across as rude. It was not my intention. Hope you and Christine manage to have a good day, and try eating something resembling actual food for a change (coz that Ozempic doesn’t seem to be working).
Keep on carrying on, dude man.
Barrett, apology accepted.
Re:COVID and lockdowns
From looking at a variety of sources from both sides of the political spectrum, the consensus seems to be that between 10-15MM (or more) people died of COVID with millions more having lingering effects. So to dismiss COVID as another flu or just another sickness doesn’t make sense to me. Just look at life expectancy in the US. 2019 = 78.9. 2020 = 76.4. That is a HUGE drop in just one year, and 99% of it can be attributed to COVID.
I do think that the lockdowns were a step too far, and somewhat of a knee jerk reaction when we just didn’t know what we didn’t know. It is very easy in hindsight for me to say that and it is impossible to say with any certainty what the alternative would have looked like.
On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “shouldn’t have done anything” and 10 being “people should have been chained inside their houses”, I would probably fall somewhere in the middle. I believed then, and still do, that there needed to be some sort of restrictions in place. I said it from the beginning that the idea of restrictions was to “flatten the curve”, and spread out the death/illness/hospitalization over a longer period. In my mind, I knew from the beginning that lockdowns in and of itself were not going to prevent the disease.
If you talk with anybody in the US (or other countries) who worked in frontline healthcare during the first few months, it is pretty harrowing in terms of the number of patients, number of deaths, etc..
The economic impact of the lockdowns sucked and did a lot of damage that we are still recovering from. Not only economically, but I think almost worse is that kids suffered a lot and it put their social development back a few years. But again, impossible to say if the alternative would have been better.
The “what if” game is fun to play, but impossible to prove a definitive result that backs any particular bias a person had. I remember Saturday Night Live ran a “what if” segment one time, and the topic, was “What if Napoleon had a B-52 bomber at Waterloo? Would that have changed the battle?” LOL
Didn’t mean to ramble, but to summarize; I think we went too far with restrictions and lockdowns, but I believe that some sort of restrictions/lockdowns were necessary to slow (but certainly not stop) COVID and spread things out.
And, I see nothing with six years of hindsight that refutes what was in the Rand report that I had linked to in your post from long ago. 😛
Related but not directly – not sure if you like to read, but a dystopian novel about a worldwide pandemic that circles the world is a book called “Station Eleven”. Actually written pre-COVID, I thought it was a good book. Not too deep and a fairly quick read.
Whew!!!!
Re:Video
I think the commentator nails it. It is lifestyle, not money which probably matters more. When I was working in Indonesia, I was in company housing. The big wigs, who didn’t make a lot salary wise, had nice housing provided to them, a car/driver, multiple domestic staff, etc. So, they may not have been money rich, but they were pretty lifestyle rich.
Brian, what has impressed me in reading my old posts is that I knew from Day 1 the COVID restrictions, even if the intentions were good, were bullshit. I mean, facemasks were mandated, but a handkerchief tied over your face was acceptable. Social distancing meant limiting the number of people allowed inside the store, but created crowded lines as people waited their turn outside. The lockdown, keeping people confined in close quarters instead of outside breathing fresh air, was counter-productive.
Anyway, I guess this issue is almost like religion; folks are gonna believe whatever their faith tells them. Me, I’m going to hell.
As for the deadliness of the virus itself, I know the numbers were skewed, at least here in the Philippines. Hospitals had a financial incentive to declare deaths as COVID-related. I know of one case here in Subic involving a foreigner who had a heart attack, was brought to the hospital where he died, and the next day it was called a COVID fatality. I also found it strange that during the scamdemic there were no deaths from the flu or other common illnesses here like dengue. So, I guess COVID was a cure for those.
Fauci told so many lies he had to be granted a pardon. The medical community lost its credibility forever with the claim that people had to stay indoors UNLESS they were attending a George Floyd protest; then it was okay. Sorry, I’m not disputing that COVID was dangerous, but the reaction to it was worse.
I agree with your assessment of the video. Folks living the high life in places like Makati, but to me that’s not living in the Philippines. I’ll take my free-spending small-town lifestyle any day.
McCrappy
You hit the nail right on the head with your assessment of the scamdemic, mate!
I guess there exists a form of Stockholm Syndrome for many that they would rather side with those who hate and attempted to crush them than those trying to open their eyes and help them.
Ironically those who pride themselves on being intelligent and open minded fell straight in line with the brainwashing.
A shameful event all around just used to transfer wealth, crush the middle class and allow the elites to push through various unpopular regulations.
It blows my mind that 5 years later some people still believe that the whole thing was in our best interests.
the moral nonce!
millions of peopl3 died from what? I had it, my par3nts had it, so what did we have? you girlie bar doctors are hilarious and pathetic.
maybe stick to what you know best, you know, soliciting sex from people asking for your help, being a sex tourist, oh and talking about dildos and other sex stuff in front of 12 year old girls! – all this proudly written dowh while you have the balls to judge others!
knew about your baby tantrums in Korea, didnt know about this other horrible sex stuff. disgusting. dont bother blocking me, gona do it myself now.
Nice to hear from you again, John. Hope all is going well for you in the UK.
John, On the fact that the restrictions were overdone, I agree wholeheartedly. Six feet distancing…………. Bandana over the face, but pulled down enough to breathe through the nose………
But, you can’t ignore the life expectancy. A 2.5 year decrease in life expectancy (year on year) in the US is unheard of. I think the last time something like that happened was during WWII. A shitload more people died in 2020 vs. other years, regardless of how the deaths were classified.
>Anyway, I guess this issue is almost like religion; folks are gonna believe whatever their faith tells them.
Very true. Confirmation bias is definitely a thing. I am guilty of it as much as the next person.
Brian, live and learn. I got the COVID and survived it, but in the end we all die of something.