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This has been one heck of a year.
I would like to wish everyone on here a very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy ,Prosperous and healthy New Year!
? ? ?
---Travis

Thanks and the same to you and yours!

Same to ya! Wishing 2021 is a better year.

2021 will be a better year, I am sure. We all have endured enough problems for one year. So Merry Christmas to all & in 2021, may your grass be greener, Happy New Year!!!!!

Just got an email from the north pole telling me Santa has covid-19 and will be in quarantine till after Christmas so i won't be getting anything for christmas this year. Bummer.

Hammermechanicman said:

Just got an email from the north pole telling me Santa has covid-19 and will be in quarantine till after Christmas so i won't be getting anything for christmas this year. Bummer.

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Don't worry, PM me your mailing address and i'll make sure your lump of coal gets delivered!

Send me a few lumps too. I can use it for heating.

But seriously I don't celebrate the holidays any more since all my family is now gone; just me and the chickens.

I do however wish every one a good and safe Christmas or what ever holiday you celebrate.

Scrubcadet10 said:

Don't worry, PM me your mailing address and i'll make sure your lump of coal gets delivered!

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What? Coal? I was hoping for a new CNC for wood carving. Of course, in my other business i screwed up and ordered some equipment that was wrong and i can't return as it was considered special order so i get to eat $2600 so going to lose some on that job so no new toys for now.

Hammermechanicman said:

What? Coal? I was hoping for a new CNC for wood carving. Of course, in my other business i screwed up and ordered some equipment that was wrong and i can't return as it was considered special order so i get to eat $2600 so going to lose some on that job so no new toys for now.

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He's been watching you

Well I haven't spent that much yet. I did get my new Oregon 410 Saturday and got to go and get set of tires for my truck. But everything else I had plan to get is off the table for now here too since the government haven't even bother to send me that $1200 stimilus check they promised to send. I should have known the government lies. Oh well at least I didn't borrow the funds.

I didn't get mine for a long time. Went online to check on it. Website said i was entitled but needed information. Had to put in some stuff from the previous years tax return. A few weeks later i got the check. Might be worth checking on.

Scrubcadet10 said:

He's been watching you

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Creepy little guy.

StarTech said:

Well I haven't spent that much yet. I did get my new Oregon 410 Saturday and got to go and get set of tires for my truck. But everything else I had plan to get is off the table for now here too since the government haven't even bother to send me that $1200 stimilus check they promised to send. I should have known the government lies. Oh well at least I didn't borrow the funds.

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I upgraded to the 620-120 with the hydraulic chain clamp. Really like it. Speeds up sharpening time. Got tired of changing wheels to do rakers so i got a second one. The CBN wheels from Diamond Wheel are the way to go.

I see you are just as cramp for space as I am. But go that route I would three units. But the few chains I do each year changing discs should be to much problem for a couple years. When I brought my place back in 2014 I thought I was going to have a storage room but some idiot had put the tin roof on backwards there was unseen water damage. Now I am storing some my parts in the home instead. Glad I don't have a wife or I wouldn't hear the end of it.

Scrubcadet10 said:

This has been one heck of a year.
I would like to wish everyone on here a very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy ,Prosperous and healthy New Year!
? ? ?
---Travis

Click to expand...

Thank you, scrubbsy, ole boy. I hear the Covid vaccine is about to be in full swing. I haven't decided if I'm gonna get stuck yet. But they say it's 94% affective. So I probably will, considering my surroundings. My ex got Covid and she said it was very bad. She almost had to go to the ER a couple of times. I think from the day she tested positive, to the day she tested negative, it was 24 days total. Noting that she was just starting to feel better when she was finally tested negative. Besides all that, I'd hate to get it and have to stay away from everyone for that many days.

Here's to everyone having at least a happy new year. And a prosperous one.

Hammermechanicman said:

View attachment 55083
I upgraded to the 620-120 with the hydraulic chain clamp. Really like it. Speeds up sharpening time. Got tired of changing wheels to do rakers so i got a second one. The CBN wheels from Diamond Wheel are the way to go.

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LOL.. Did the government say they sent it to you? You might check your ex if you have one. Mine turned up at her house, for some reason.

StarTech said:

I see you are just as cramp for space as I am. But go that route I would three units. But the few chains I do each year changing discs should be to much problem for a couple years. When I brought my place back in 2014 I thought I was going to have a storage room but some idiot had put the tin roof on backwards there was unseen water damage. Now I am storing some my parts in the home instead. Glad I don't have a wife or I wouldn't hear the end of it.

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My shop is a 24x24 building. I could use double the space. I don't have much room to stock parts. I want a sand blast cabinet but no room for it. Every inch of wall space is used. Told the wife i need to build an "annex". That got a pretty emphatic No.

Hammermechanicman said:

My shop is a 24x24 building. I could use double the space. I don't have much room to stock parts. I want a sand blast cabinet but no room for it. Every inch of wall space is used. Told the wife i need to build an "annex". That got a pretty emphatic No.

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build a larger shop, say, twice the size of what you have now, and divide it with a wall, one side can be your extra space, the other side, your wife's She Shed.

Hammermechanicman said:

My shop is a 24x24 building. I could use double the space. I don't have much room to stock parts. I want a sand blast cabinet but no room for it. Every inch of wall space is used. Told the wife i need to build an "annex". That got a pretty emphatic No.

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Funny are you using my shop? Same size. Or in my case the great outdoors for repairs and building for tools and parts storage. Boy it makes it hard on cold or rainy days and in the asphalt hot to fry eggs. I checked a few time and it hit 145f; no wonder I got blisters those days. Plenty of area to expand but the funds are non-existent.

Scrubcadet10 said:

build a larger shop, say, twice the size of what you have now, and divide it with a wall, one side can be your extra space, the other side, your wife's She Shed.

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I have a 60x72 barn LOL and my wife has decided she needs to keep everything. Every time i clean out a spot she finds stuff to save. Of course i suffer from a slight case of packratitis too. When i built it i put a 20x60 upper level in part of it. 1800 sq ft that is FULL of crap. Then 4200 sq ft of floor space and you can't see the floor. Trying to clear out enough space to get the wood shop back in action. Maybe this spring. I need a 20 yard dumpster.

Hammermechanicman said:

My shop is a 24x24 building. I could use double the space. I don't have much room to stock parts. I want a sand blast cabinet but no room for it. Every inch of wall space is used. Told the wife i need to build an "annex". That got a pretty emphatic No.

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And how much room do you have in your clothes closet?

Ain't no room there either.

Hammermechanicman said:

Ain't no room there either.

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Back when I was married, I got maybe 1/8th to a 1/4 of the closet.

You should known that as that's his wife's shoe box. <lol>.

Mine not that full yet but the master bath has 12 ea 18 gal storage bins full of parts in it.

Hammermechanicman said:

Ain't no room there either.

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You and every one else
My blasting cabinet & parts washers ( 3 ) all live outside along the wall under the upstairs verandah .
Inside I have 3 working bays that are under Dexion pallet racking so the space above is storage and the divisions are my shelves.
The lathes , small mill, pedistal drill & press all live in alcoves under shelving.
I unbolted the braces on the Dexion and narrowed the end frames to about 2 foot because I put shelves on them not pallets .
It was very cheap to do.
The Dexion was all bought second hand from factories that were closing down and the shelving was the shipping sheets from a kitchen cabinet company.
These are thick , around 1.5" but not as tightly compressed as normal MDF and go on the top & bottom of MDF stacks to protect the MDF from damage in transit.
Only downside is they have to be painted all over before fitting or they adsorb water then fluff up and of course there are grooves where the strapping was .
My workshop is only 10 foot to the upstairs bearers but an amazing amount of stuff goes up there.
In the landlords shed where he has a hip roof and 20 foot of height we installed a full mezzanine using Dexion then one shelf for storage over another shelf which became a work bench.
and naturally more storage underneath the bench,
This allowed strong downlighting over the work benches but they were made from old hardwood fence rails then soaked with old engine oil so they smelled "right"

Wishing 2021 is a better year for all.

I don't know about getting stuck yet either. We'll see how the first shots work on those. I'm reading many are having some side effects..

My Cousin & his wife up in PA both have the Covid & are in the hospital. Learned that the wife just passed away..

Sorry to hear that buddy. Prayers for the family.

7394 said:

Wishing 2021 is a better year for all.

I don't know about getting stuck yet either. We'll see how the first shots work on those. I'm reading many are having some side effects..

My Cousin & his wife up in PA both have the Covid & are in the hospital. Learned that the wife just passed away..

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Sorry to hear that as well.
With over 300,000 deaths to date and up to 1,000,000 expected before it is under control there will be very few Americans who will be more than 3 steps of separation between themselves and a victim of Covid 19 .

Thanks Guys.

Bert, you are correct sir.

7394 said:

Thanks Guys.

Bert, you are correct sir.

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One time I really do not want to be .
Fortunately we have universal free health care and a small health budget so the government acted quickly and we have all but eliminated Covid-19 and if they get the quarrentine right we will be done with it all together.

I don't know what to believe anymore. I just decided screw it, if I get it, i get it. Take as much of my plasma for other patients to get Well. . I'm in excellent health and no conditions that affect my lungs. And I've been taking extra Vitamins that are beneficial to my immune system.
I keep hearing masks work, masks work. Yet i know at least 15 people who've gotten the virus, wore the mask, washed their hands and all that, like their life depended on it. I haven't done any of that and im fine 10 months later.
Im just taking my chance with 98.2% survival rate.

While none of my friends have passed from covid complications some of my older friends have had relatives and friends pass. What is ironic is i am not a germaphobe type but i do follow reasonable precautions. Many of my friends have gotten the virus and they are the ones who are the most diligent with all the precautions. It is all just kind of crazy. A very close friend is having long term covid complications for 6 months that look like a cross between MS and Parkinson's disease. She has been in and out of the hospital. Last trip was 200 miles to the Cleveland clinic. And with 5 kids too. Some folks are asymptomatic, some are messed up for life and some die. Sad situation.

Well since I am a loner I will still use precautions but at work one of the best hand sanitizers is the gasoline and oils that I deal with constantly. I do wear a mask when dealing with the public. Maybe it is because I had pneumonia and nearly died from it being not able to breathe. It is the first year I ever gotten a flu shot and I am 61.

Anyway I have limited contact with the public. One neighbor had the virus. Got it at work where a fool brought it into the work place knowing very well he had the virus just to spread it around. It took the guy three weeks to recover then a week afterwards ended up in the horsepital with pneumonia with erratic heartbeats. Same thing just happen to another customer where his wife got the virus at work. Same thing a co-worker intentionally brought the virus into the work place.

All I know I have been a lot healthier since I became a loner and avoid the public especially during the winter months where no one wears to prevent spreading the colds and flu around. Boy did I stay sick a lot attending public schools.

For 40 years i was a service rep going into 3 or 4 different offices every day. In 40 years i called in sick once. Wife says i am too mean to get sick. Not sure what she meant by that.

Scrubcadet10 said:

I don't know what to believe anymore. I just decided screw it, if I get it, i get it. Take as much of my plasma for other patients to get Well. . I'm in excellent health and no conditions that affect my lungs. And I've been taking extra Vitamins that are beneficial to my immune system.
I keep hearing masks work, masks work. Yet i know at least 15 people who've gotten the virus, wore the mask, washed their hands and all that, like their life depended on it. I haven't done any of that and im fine 10 months later.
Im just taking my chance with 98.2% survival rate.

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Ever thought you could be one of the people who have it , that show no symptoms but pass it on to others ?
masks are a precaution but they must be properly fitted and very few are that I see on the street.
What I find very annoying is it is a virus that can not liver for very long outside a host
As such it could be eliminated if every one stayed at home for 2 to 3 weeks, did a home test & only go outside if they test negative.

We got a prime example of just how contageous it is
1 man came up here with no symptoms , carrying covid.
He had a meeting and passed it on to 4 of his co workers
They went to dinner at a popular pub where he infected 27 more people
This ended up with over 30 people dead and around 4,000 infections
Of those infected several hundred are still too sick to return to work 3 months latter.
Like most viruses it affects different people differently.
Some don't know they have it, some end up in intensive care

New Zealand erradicated it by having a full shut down for a month.
After that all they had had was the odd case that jumped quarrintine from people entering from overseas.
All it takes is will power & some co-operation and we could erradicate completely from the planet.
Why some governments decided that dividends to shareholder was more important that the lives of their fellow countrymen is beyond me

2 days ago they found a couple with covid down here, first case in around 30 days.
Considering the suburb, it will have come from flight crew, as a lot live in this area & it is a USA strain that no one else in NSW has.
For some idiot reason we allow flight crew to get off their planes, get into their cars, drive home & supposedly "self-isolate" which of course only works if you live alone.

Some folks are quarantining with a few close friends. Johnnie walker, Jim Beam, Captain Morgan, jack Daniels. They read on the internet that alcohol kills the virus.

So my ex's aunt is in a nursing home from dementia. She's also been diagnosed with Covid, As well as many other residents there. She doesn't know anyone or anything at this point. Totally bed ridden, and fading fast. Rarely moves.. You get the picture.
Well, the other night about 13:30pm, she starts sliding off the bed. it took about 20 minutes for her to actually get tot he floor. In the video, you can see her griping the covers. But she was just too weak.
Long story short, the nurses finally came in to check on her 5 hours later. She had a big bruise on the side of her face. In less than 24hours later, she dies.
Cause of death listed on the death cert., Covid 19. Not falling from the bed. Not dementia. But Covid.

I'm sorry to hear that PT.
There are probably quite a few people who died WITH Covid, but not BECAUSE of covid. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying Covid has not killed people. it's just so weird how it effects people. some like a mild cold as my sister and her husband described it. and others it knocks them flat on their back.
i hope 2021 is a lot better for all of us.

PTmowerMech- Sorry to hear. But agree no matter what, it gets tagged as covid.. But that is how states try & get more funding.. Rotten crooks.

Sorry to hear it PT.

7394 said:

PTmowerMech- Sorry to hear. But agree no matter what, it gets tagged as covid.. But that is how states try & get more funding.. Rotten crooks.

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Our wacko governor shut us down hard for as long and as much as possible to be sure "we" got funding. He still has 3.5 billion left to spend by January 1. He ought to distribute it to small businesses he hurt or put out of business shutting down the state.
I haven't been a huge fan of him this year and he's lost my vote.Especially after he said to even wear a mask in your own back yard. Now in public around folks, i get it. But at your home. Oh please.

Yes nursing home nurses do let patients suffer. They claims they care but they don't really a lot of the times. My mother was put in one because a fracture pelvis while I was being investigated for assault at the hospital just because young nurse didn't like it that I got up everytime to help with my mother at the hospital which had dementia and would fight anyone but me.

When they released my mother back to me after three weeks later after the DHR investigation she had two massive bed sores which took me and the RN a month to get healed.

Yes dementia patients do revert to their childhood or at least my mother did and near the end she became a stripper, just couldn't keep cloths on her. I was lucky that she didn't take to her bed until a couple days before she died, Still it was over six months of 24/7 care and I was totally exhausted at the end. No help from from the family at all.

I spent nearly a year after her death getting up everytime I heard the slightest noise as I did during my mother final days as she get hurt if I didn't watch her.

And yes dementia is a terminal condition much faster than the other version of metal decline. It is not kind to either the patient or the family. IN PT case they should listed multiple causes with a primary cause noted.

Get it people don't like being told what to do but...

When it comes to this Covid virus if people would just do the sensible thing by just staying out of work or the public when they know they got it, sure would help. I got several customers that are now quarantining because some fellow co-worker knowingly spread the virus just because they caught it. At one company the co-worker got fired for knowingly bringing in virus. He knew he tested positive yet went to work for three days before his doctor called his employer contact tracing. Half of the company's work force ended up with the virus and they are just getting back to work.

But of course there are people that want to catch it by having Covid-19 parties like a few I heard of in Alabama.

Even when we got the common cold it makes sense to avoid others then why not do the same with a more vicious virus. Being asked to wear a mask and distance ourselves isn't as bad what they do when a few chickens in rearing house gets the bird-flu. The government just goes in and kills every bird in the place. Now how long would take to get people to cooperate if the government went to a place and slaughter everyone there just to control the virus because someone can't follow some simple guidelines?

This why I treat my birds every few weeks if they need or not this time of year. I got put under a quarantine last Spring because of a local farm had found it and they only killed 120,000 birds because a few had it instead giving the antibiotics that could have cured them within usually 24hrs. With the flu it takes nearly a week on antibiotics to see results. The government made it even harder for me to get the antibiotics that works by forcing me to get a prescription at the local vet's office for an item that once was an over the counter med.

BTW you may think the chicken houses are completely disease free I got news for you they are not as I have seen cases of the Macaw's disease in the flocks and even seen cancerous growths on some the chickens yet they still process these birds. I reckon out of sight, out of mind approach works well.

Anyway take care and have a good Christmas and hopefully see everyone next year.

Wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands.... this is not a political statement, it's an IQ test.

I was probably out of line for doing this. But I contacted a news station in Dallas and reported it to them. Especially the part about how when the state gets called on them, their investigation never leads to any sort of punishment. And that's because this nursing home accepts parolee's.
And how the owners of this facility allows staff to return to work 10 days after testing positive for Covid, WITHOUT getting retested.

I may be a little more conspiratorial about this, but according to the CDC, COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease 2019), is a new disease. How could this thing just pop up one year, and about 1 year later, there's a vaccine for it? The conspiracy part of it was the governments need to squelch the rioting & protesting going on. Including China and the US.

Things that make you go hmmmm

PTmowerMech said:

I may be a little more conspiratorial about this, but according to the CDC, COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease 2019), is a new disease. How could this thing just pop up one year, and about 1 year later, there's a vaccine for it? The conspiracy part of it was the governments need to squelch the rioting & protesting going on. Including China and the US.

Things that make you go hmmmm

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Considering the technological advances over just the last decade things are a lot easier to gene sequence which was one of the hardest parts developing vaccines. Just think they just discovered that the flu virus can be attack at the stalk of the virus instead of the head. The stalk rarely changes year to year so they may be able to develop an one time flu shot vaccine in the near future.

Plus they are using a completely new way of developing the vaccines now which also speeds development. Sometime all it take is the tweaking of an already develop vaccine.

Plus if the governments would actual resolve some the problems rioting wouldn't happen. Or in recent history having someone to egg it on just to get his way.

Look at the latest reports where the president is thinking about just declaring martial law so he can stay in office. If that happens boy my customers are going to be pissed as I will double my rates just I can put with the hassles of getting anything done.

PT,
Technology gets faster all the time
When Mr Briggs &Mr Stratton started to make engines the only way to test a new engine design was to make a set of drawings , send then down to the foundry & machine shop hen 10 days latter you had a test machine.
Now days I can sit at my computer , design an engine, build it virtually and run it on the desktop .
I can change the bore, stroke, piston ring width, ring placement , gudgeon pin placement even the size & position of the cooling fins, all on the computer without touching a single piece of metal .
The same technology exists for medacines.
W can thank Thalidomide and in particularly AIDS for that where they made softwear to check what almost every combination of currently available drugs in every doseage levels before they gave it to a single patient .
Microscopy has gone leaps & bounds so researchers can see what they are looking at and watch what happens to virus packets when expose to various drugs in real time .
So before they even think of doing trials the pharmacology companies have a list of rugs that will work.
Some will kill the virus packets, some will envelope the packet and render it useless, some will stop it reproducing some will stop your immune system attacking it ( which is why you actually die ) and some will stop you spreading it .
Then the hard slog starts because if a drug has no side effects then it is not working and there are a lot of things you can not model for so that is where the clinical trials come in.
Ideally you would do this for several years to cover all of the variables ( remember those known unknowns ) and that is the bit they have short cuted .

Remember every year the flu virus changes so last years vaccine will not be as effective or might not work at all.
So in the space of a few weeks the vaccine companies come up with a new vaccine for the current flue and that vaccine some times will change several times in a single season.
The vaccine that the north should have finished taking will be different to the one we will get in the south in a few months time .

bertsmobile1 said:

PT,
Technology gets faster all the time
When Mr Briggs &Mr Stratton started to make engines the only way to test a new engine design was to make a set of drawings , send then down to the foundry & machine shop hen 10 days latter you had a test machine.
Now days I can sit at my computer , design an engine, build it virtually and run it on the desktop .
I can change the bore, stroke, piston ring width, ring placement , gudgeon pin placement even the size & position of the cooling fins, all on the computer without touching a single piece of metal .
The same technology exists for medacines.
W can thank Thalidomide and in particularly AIDS for that where they made softwear to check what almost every combination of currently available drugs in every doseage levels before they gave it to a single patient .
Microscopy has gone leaps & bounds so researchers can see what they are looking at and watch what happens to virus packets when expose to various drugs in real time .
So before they even think of doing trials the pharmacology companies have a list of rugs that will work.
Some will kill the virus packets, some will envelope the packet and render it useless, some will stop it reproducing some will stop your immune system attacking it ( which is why you actually die ) and some will stop you spreading it .
Then the hard slog starts because if a drug has no side effects then it is not working and there are a lot of things you can not model for so that is where the clinical trials come in.
Ideally you would do this for several years to cover all of the variables ( remember those known unknowns ) and that is the bit they have short cuted .

Remember every year the flu virus changes so last years vaccine will not be as effective or might not work at all.
So in the space of a few weeks the vaccine companies come up with a new vaccine for the current flue and that vaccine some times will change several times in a single season.
The vaccine that the north should have finished taking will be different to the one we will get in the south in a few months time .

Click to expand...

I have a friend who got paid to be a test subject for a possible vaccine. I'm not sure if it was the same vaccine that's coming available.

It was just the timing of this exact sort of epidemic, that forced people to use social distancing and masks.

On a side note My hearing being what it is, at least when everyone finally gets to take their masks off, I'll be able to hear them. Simply because when wearing a mask, you have to talk louder. And everyone will be use to it.

StarTech said:

Considering the technological advances over just the last decade things are a lot easier to gene sequence which was one of the hardest parts developing vaccines. Just think they just discovered that the flu virus can be attack at the stalk of the virus instead of the head. The stalk rarely changes year to year so they may be able to develop an one time flu shot vaccine in the near future.

Plus they are using a completely new way of developing the vaccines now which also speeds development. Sometime all it take is the tweaking of an already develop vaccine.

Plus if the governments would actual resolve some the problems rioting wouldn't happen. Or in recent history having someone to egg it on just to get his way.

Look at the latest reports where the president is thinking about just declaring martial law so he can stay in office. If that happens boy my customers are going to be pissed as I will double my rates just I can put with the hassles of getting anything done.

Click to expand...

I doubt Trump will call marshal law. Since Barr's resignation, and the supreme court knocking his feet out from under him, he doesn't have a leg to stand on now. If he even tries it, the GOP will kick him to the curb.
I don't think the president has near as much power as people make out. Luckily for us.

But like I was saying, the riots, protests and what looked like a civil war coming, is all gone now. Nothing like a good ole fashion epidemic to shut people up. In fact, it almost seemed like marshal law, when you think about it. Orders to do just about everything a certain way. With the exception of being force to do it, just because the government said so. In this case, if you didn't, you got covid.

I'm ready for Texas to start over and be it's own Republic again..

Scrubcadet10 said:

I'm ready for Texas to start over and be it's own Republic again..

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And close the borders to those coming in from California. I don't mind those from Mexico and South America. But those from California are...........

Well, let's just say they are. lol

PTmowerMech said:

And close the borders to those coming in from California. I don't mind those from Mexico and South America. But those from California are...........

Well, let's just say they are. lol

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Crazyfornia.

Well most of it is common sense
Apparently the number of cases of normal flu this season are down by near 80%
The boffins attribute this to Covid -19 making people more careful with their personal hygine and it becoming socially unacceptable to turn up to work with cold or flu symptoms so the flu virus dies out rather than being spread to another 1/2 dozen people..

Don't believe anything you hear or read on the internet. Especially from someone with Hammer in his name

PTmowerMech said:

I have a friend who got paid to be a test subject for a possible vaccine. I'm not sure if it was the same vaccine that's coming available.

It was just the timing of this exact sort of epidemic, that forced people to use social distancing and masks.

On a side note My hearing being what it is, at least when everyone finally gets to take their masks off, I'll be able to hear them. Simply because when wearing a mask, you have to talk louder. And everyone will be use to it.

Click to expand...

Huh?

bertsmobile1 said:

Remember every year the flu virus changes so last years vaccine will not be as effective or might not work at all.
So in the space of a few weeks the vaccine companies come up with a new vaccine for the current flue and that vaccine some times will change several times in a single season.
The vaccine that the north should have finished taking will be different to the one we will get in the south in a few months time .

Click to expand...

This why they now think they can attack the stalk of the virus instead the head. The stalk don't change much but the head is constantly changing. Or that is the latest theory. If works then we can have a more universal flu vaccine plus it will be much more effective than the current average 50%.

Back when I was trucking, I delivered a partial load of flu shots to a Rx CVS warehouse, the guy on the dock was upset about getting the wrong vaccine. And even more upset that what they got, was what CVS ordered. He said it was not for the kind of flu that was going around their area. Apparently they already knew this and didn't care. They were going to give people a flu shot, regardless.
People would think they were getting the right one. But all they were doing was wasting their money.

PTmowerMech said:

Back when I was trucking, I delivered a partial load of flu shots to a Rx CVS warehouse, the guy on the dock was upset about getting the wrong vaccine. And even more upset that what they got, was what CVS ordered. He said it was not for the kind of flu that was going around their area. Apparently they already knew this and didn't care. They were going to give people a flu shot, regardless.
People would think they were getting the right one. But all they were doing was wasting their money.

Click to expand...

I can see you have never raised livestock in a paddock.
The reason why the locals were coming down with a different flu was because they were not coming down with variants that the vaccine was effective against.
There is never only a single flu virus circulation it is always a cluster of them so the one that the shot was not effective for .
That is exactly how they work out that a new mutation is spreading .
Which is the same as the cattle in a paddock, they eat what they like and leave behind the weeds.
If you don't attack those weeds they take over the paddock.

Now I understand that warehouse was annoyed that they got the wrong vaccine but it was not a waste of time & money, it was just not as good as it could have been.
Having immunity to 4 out of 5flue viriii is better than none at all

PTmowerMech said:

I doubt Trump will call marshal law. Since Barr's resignation, and the supreme court knocking his feet out from under him, he doesn't have a leg to stand on now. If he even tries it, the GOP will kick him to the curb.
I don't think the president has near as much power as people make out. Luckily for us.

But like I was saying, the riots, protests and what looked like a civil war coming, is all gone now. Nothing like a good ole fashion epidemic to shut people up. In fact, it almost seemed like marshal law, when you think about it. Orders to do just about everything a certain way. With the exception of being force to do it, just because the government said so. In this case, if you didn't, you got covid.

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PT- Keep your eyes open on Jan 6th, You might see something surprising. Are you familiar wit the Constitution ?

From what has been reported down here President Trump has a pile of outstanding warrants that apparently can not be issued on a sitting president.
Thus the reason for not wanting to go.
Also the reason for palling up to Russia & China just in case he has to bail out to avoid prosecution.
Apparently there are a few big big loans that also fall due very shortly that his companies do not have the funds to meet.

What do you guys expect. Trump has been running for re-election on Day One of his presidency. He is only out for one person that is himself; screw the rest of us anytime we don't agree fully with him..

To honest here I haven't seen a functioning federal government since he became president. No one in Washington, DC can get anything done; unless, they kiss his backside. He is just acting like a dictator. We got to get back to at least a functioning Federal government.

If tries to leave the country to avoid prosecution he have to find a country without extradition agreement with the US. Most are Muslin countries that he has already pissed off.

Neither China nor Russia have treaties and he has been sucking up to both.
Could be he wants to build a lot of resorts in those countries and perhaps he wants to reside in one permanently .
As for ineffective government I had assumed that is why he got elected in the first place.
People down here are fed up with partisan politics paralysing the country and we appear to be a pale shadow of the ultra divisive partisan politics happening in the USA .
Good thing is we have some largish alternatives so it is never a 2 horse race but the major parties spent a fortune trying to destroy all of the minor parties .

managers tend to have a God complex.
I am the manager, I make the rules and everything I say will happen because I said it would .

To quote Abraham Lincoln "Don't believe everything you read on the internet "

Yea, becoming a Socialist country would be better, right ?

7394 said:

Yea, becoming a Socialist country would be better, right ?

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Oh, come on buddy, doesn't no toilet paper sound enticing to you?
any person who wants socialism, go live in Venezuela. they got it good down there, what's on the menu tonight? probably your pet cat.
You notice, alot of Cuban americans/central americans in Florida vote Republican. know why? They fled socialism. they know what it causes.
I'm telling you if thing don't work out in the next few weeks, the Republic of Texas is sounding good. I'd rather stay an American, but don't offer me socialist ideas from Karl. that have never worked.
so what if someone doesn't like the president "cause he said this" or that. One hand you got the death of a nation on the doorstep, the other hand, law, order, and a strong nation full of toilet paper and plenty of food to eat, and food for your pets.

Both systems have their good & bad points and neither is any better than the other when practiced properly .
Problem neither is.
Socialism ends up with a dictorial class of party officials diverting the countries wealth into their pockets.
Capitalism ends up with an executive class that diverts the peoples money into their pockets .

For either to succeed for the bottom of the wealth pyramid you need strong regulations impartially applied .
Neither does this.

The Scandanivan countries come as close to socialism as I would care to venture with free top class health care, free education that is worth having , and a government with a social conscious .
I really can not think of a capitalist country that has anything like good system that is fair , & rewards all levels of labour in a fair way so people doing low value jobs can live a dignified life and management gets pait what they are worth, not how much they can extort from shareholders .
Lack of legislation perverts the fundamentials that the system is dependent upon.
How can an average person make a decision as to which mower to buy if that mower is not clearly labeled with it's expected service life and typical running / maintenance costs over that period ?

All I can do now is hang of head in shame as what is going on in the USA. We have become the laughing stock of the world. Look just what happen overnight with the so called great law and order president just pardon a lot of his closest crooks and liars. All found guilty by juries, sentence by judges, and jailed. Then veto our military funding bill even he claims be for the military just he pissed off at Twitter and Facebook flagging his posts. On top that he ruins everyone hopes for after Christmas help during this pandemic by simply refusing to do anything until the last second. Hopefully Congress will have the guts to override his vetos but probably will just kiss his backside.

I go bad feeling with his comments lately he is planning a coup next month if he don't get his way. I pray it don't come to that.

Texas you are not alone in thinking about succeeding from the union. California has given it thought too. We here in the South tried but the starving and cold Northerners over ran us. AMny on both got killed over stupidity.

And we still get those snowbirds here every winter.

Merry Christmas everyone....

Hammermechanicman said:

To quote Abraham Lincoln "Don't believe everything you read on the internet "

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He also said that the income tax would be temporary. lol

bertsmobile1 said:

Capitalism ends up with an executive class that diverts the peoples money into their pockets .

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What you're describing is "crony" capitalism. Which isn't capitalism at all. It just has the name. Sort of like todays republican calling themselves "conservatives." There's nothing conservative about them. That is not until there's a democrat in the White House. Then suddenly they start caring about the deficit and national debt again.

And here I thought it was the Mob was in charge.

Crony capitalism, crony socialism, the results are he same
Then bulk of the population gets poorer and the top 10 % suck up all the money for themselves.

The USA led the world with your anti-trust laws which have been watered down to a point now days that they are a joke.
Microsoft is the perfect example of this.
A company that stole an idea from one compeditor ( apple ) then stole a product from another one ( IBM ) then was allowed to become a virtual monopoly which stiffelled all emerging softwear developeres .
The USA auto industry went from a healthy competition to a cosy duopoly to the detriment of all Americans .
All because the government would not enforce the rules that keeps the system honest.
The instant a new industry is established, all of the parties instantly form cartels to subvert the rules , we call them "chambers of commerse" or "industry associations" but in reality they are there to protect the position of the established players to the detriment of new entrants thus subverting true competition .
If the USA was a true capitalist system they would embrace unionism but instead the management did everything they could to destroy them, the opposite of what Germans did which is why Benz took over Chrysler & VW became the worlds biggest car maker .
A workforce that works with management is a very very powerful entity a management that is at war with it's workforce is on a path of self destruction.

Then we have the sick perversion of capitalism,,,, consolodated capitalism where a very small number of shareholders gain control of a company sucking it dry like a leach then going on to do the same to other businezsses. And we won't mention banks , millions of hard working people world wide sent into poverty by a greedy few that the government refused to reign in.
And on the same subject, what do you call a system where the government uses borrowed money to bail out the richest people on the planet because "the banks are too big to be allowed to fail"
In real capitalism, those who had invested in a badly run business lost their money when the business failed and hopefully a better team picks up the assets ( loans in the case of a bank ) at bargan basement prices and runs the business better .
What happened, the innocent ( loan holders ) got shafted & sent broke despite the fact they had not defaulted on their commitments and those who had broke the rules, committed crimes got bailed out .
Have a good loo at the board of Boeing & explain why the bunch of losers who sent McDonald Douglass broke ended up on the board & seniour managements positions of Boeing, replacing the board that had been running Boeing at a healthy profit and in the space of no time had Boeing on it's knees

StarTech said:

And here I thought it was the Mob was in charge.

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Which mob are you talking about? "We the people" mob? Or the capital mob?

bertsmobile1 said:

Crony capitalism, crony socialism, the results are he same
Then bulk of the population gets poorer and the top 10 % suck up all the money for themselves.

The USA led the world with your anti-trust laws which have been watered down to a point now days that they are a joke.
Microsoft is the perfect example of this.
A company that stole an idea from one compeditor ( apple ) then stole a product from another one ( IBM ) then was allowed to become a virtual monopoly which stiffelled all emerging softwear developeres .
The USA auto industry went from a healthy competition to a cosy duopoly to the detriment of all Americans .
All because the government would not enforce the rules that keeps the system honest.
The instant a new industry is established, all of the parties instantly form cartels to subvert the rules , we call them "chambers of commerse" or "industry associations" but in reality they are there to protect the position of the established players to the detriment of new entrants thus subverting true competition .
If the USA was a true capitalist system they would embrace unionism but instead the management did everything they could to destroy them, the opposite of what Germans did which is why Benz took over Chrysler & VW became the worlds biggest car maker .
A workforce that works with management is a very very powerful entity a management that is at war with it's workforce is on a path of self destruction.

Then we have the sick perversion of capitalism,,,, consolodated capitalism where a very small number of shareholders gain control of a company sucking it dry like a leach then going on to do the same to other businezsses. And we won't mention banks , millions of hard working people world wide sent into poverty by a greedy few that the government refused to reign in.
And on the same subject, what do you call a system where the government uses borrowed money to bail out the richest people on the planet because "the banks are too big to be allowed to fail"
In real capitalism, those who had invested in a badly run business lost their money when the business failed and hopefully a better team picks up the assets ( loans in the case of a bank ) at bargan basement prices and runs the business better .
What happened, the innocent ( loan holders ) got shafted & sent broke despite the fact they had not defaulted on their commitments and those who had broke the rules, committed crimes got bailed out .
Have a good loo at the board of Boeing & explain why the bunch of losers who sent McDonald Douglass broke ended up on the board & seniour managements positions of Boeing, replacing the board that had been running Boeing at a healthy profit and in the space of no time had Boeing on it's knees

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There's a HUGE difference between plain old fashion capitalism and crony capitalism. Most of us small business owners practice plain old fashion capitalism.

A good example of Crony capitalism is pipeline and oil companies having the "authority" to exercise eminent domain. The crony part of this is the government giving them the authority to do so. Even though gas & oil is not for public use. It's a private company selling a private product to the public. The 5th Amendment to the US Constitution is all about the governments authority over suspected criminals. But for some reason, the government was bought and forced to say that the last line was meant for corporations with enough money to do so.

The 5th Amendment:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Notice the last line? From a common sense stand point, this would mean that the justice system can't confiscate a suspected criminals property without paying them for it. Example: Someone's house get raided for drugs. Drugs are found, the person is found guilty and goes to jail for 90 days. The government can't take that persons house without paying him a fair market value. So sayeth the US Constitution. No one, including me, cares what happens to druggies. Whether they lose their homes, cars or even their lives really. But I do care about the interpretation of the US constitution and the way they allow their biggest donors to interpret it the way it suits them.
Another example of Crony capitalism was in Mayflower Arkansas, when an oil filled pipeline burst and flooded a neighborhood. Oil companies having the backing of the politicians, paid the homeowners for their houses. BUT, they paid them the market valve of the property AFTER the ground was polluted with the oil. Not what it was worth before. Which would've been at least quadruple.

Crony capitalism reeks of government intervention. Plain ole capitalism doesn't want government interference, because it doesn't need it.

PTmowerMech said:

Crony capitalism reeks of government intervention. Plain ole capitalism doesn't want government interference, because it doesn't need it.

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Personally i think i fall in line more with the Libertarian politics. Republican/conservatives is the next best thing, i feel there isn't enough support nationally yet with the libertarian parties (as far as senate,house and the Presidency) so i support the republican ticket since i don't want what the left is offering. and telling me what i need.

Scrubcadet10 said:

Personally i think i fall in line more with the Libertarian politics. Republican/conservatives is the next best thing, i feel there isn't enough support nationally yet with the libertarian parties (as far as senate,house and the Presidency) so i support the republican ticket since i don't want what the left is offering. and telling me what i need.

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I used to exactly like that. But when the GOP threw Ron Paul under the bus, when John Boehner kicked Justin Amash off the Congressional Budget committee (for trying to actually balance the budget), that was it for me. Now when a republican says anything about the budget, the deficit or spending, I just SMH.
The only real difference between the R & D's in their rhetoric. At least the democrats are honest about being spend freaks. The GOP will spend trillion$ of the same BS the democrats spend on. But they'll find a way to blame the democrats.
Justin Amash is the new Ron Paul. Plus he had the nads to switch to the LP during his term. So we actually have a libertarian congressman, for now. He's not running for re-election. I think he's about to take over some leadership role in the LP help bring some sanity and some decency back to it.
A LOT of weird people have infiltrated the LP in the last decade.
I'd like to see the leadership bring some professionalism into the party. Maybe that'll cut out all the radical libertarians from running for office.

One can only hope. BTW, I tore up my LP card several years ago. So I don't have much hope for them. BUT, I do have my eyes open and ready to join back in if the right changes are made. Justin Amash, I believe, is the Constitutional Conservative to do just that.

PTmowerMech said:

There's a HUGE difference between plain old fashion capitalism and crony capitalism. Most of us small business owners practice plain old fashion capitalism.

Crony capitalism reeks of government intervention. Plain ole capitalism doesn't want government interference, because it doesn't need it.

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I would argue that point .
For capitalism to work there has to be rules and these rules must be enforced with neither fear nor favour.
And that can only be done by governments
If left unregulated you get things like the GFC which was the direct result of deregulating the banks .
Look at the suicide rate immediately post the GFC in the USA, it came close to doubling over the next 3 years and it was not the Wall St bankers ( the guilty party ) jumping off the World Trade towers .

What has happened with consolidated capital is the majority of shareholders are financial institutions be they pension funds , hedge funds or cash management funds and they will not accept a loss and in particular will not accept a reduction in dividends and if one is heralded then they use their voting power ( which they should never have been allowed to acquire ) to demand one on threat of voting each & every member off the board. Thus in a situation of self preservation boards divert too much profit or in some cases actually borrow money to satisfy the insacable greed of the consolidated share holders .
Company law needs a drastic overhaul both over there and also over here but it will not happen because those who acquire more money every second than the average worker makes in a year will not allow it because it slows down the rate that they can get everything .
Thus Ford & GM buy up every innovative automotive start up and close them down because it is always more profitable to sell you last years car with a bigger motor this year than build a new production line to make the new ( electric for example ) design .
Thus the capital market has failed miserably to deliver for the vast majority of the public.

We have what the USA would call socalist medacine
We are alarmed because today there were 14 new covid cases .
You have capitalist medacine so the big providers make a fortune covid cases regardless of if they live or die thus you have 30,000 new cases daily & increasing.
The last estimate I heard down here was around 1,000,000,000 Americans will die from covid before the seasons turn and you get the upper hand.
16,000 died in the world trade attack and the USA was united in taking action at any cost .
heads rolled in government departments. laws were changed and unlimited funds became available to track down the perps.
350,000 Americans have died from Covid and the politicians are still argueing about the cost of the only effective treatment, a shut down nation wide because of the financial damage to the economy.
Thus some one in capital hill is exercising the capitalist approach to the nations health care, what is the cheapest , let them die or close down & loose dividends for the people whop don't need them to live on ?

This is what a pure capitalist system does.
Take the path of least cost or highest profits regardless of the consequences to others.

True capitalism relies on a non bias court system to protect the innocent. Crony capitalist have judges and DA's bought off to sway the judgement in their favor, regardless of the evidence against them. Note the police unions of the USA who "persuade" those in the right position to allow a criminal cop to get off scott free.
If fracing contaminates your drinking water, and you get sick from it, and you don't have any money. Then your just screwed. Oil companies have the money and influence to postpone any actual court date for as long as you may live.
In an actual free market capitalist society, the court system isn't bought & paid for. It's not influenced by anything other than the law. Politicians who create the laws, also aren't influenced by high financed lobbyist.
In the US, there are laws that protect the innocent. Then there are rich people and corporations who have enough money and influence to not be bothered by the law.
Someone once said "Give me control of the money, and I care not what laws are created." Or something to that effect.

As far as the healthcare in our country goes, I couldn't agree with you more. Being a fiscal conservative myself (not a neo-conservative), I see your point. And our healthcare system is a direct result of crony capitalism. Not plain old fashion capitalism.
Insurance companies in the USA have to go before congress to get a premium increase. The same politicians that complain about the high cost of health insurance for "we the people," are the same ones that give the insurance companies their increases. All the while their healthcare is tax payer funded.
But as a fiscal conservative, I can see a better way for healthcare to become an actual free market, with laws to protect the innocent. And still have very little government influence. That would be for the healthcare professionals to take over the healthcare insurance industry and provide their own health insurance. That way premiums are paid directly to the medical professionals, cutting out the health insurance companies all together. Health insurance (like all of them) are just money brokers. You pay them. They pay the doctors what they want to pay them, and keep the rest for themselves. My idea would put all the money into the medical profession, cutting out the billions the health insurance companies make, and puts it right into the hands of the people who actually treat & cure us.
This would drive the cost of everything in the medical profession down. Everything from basic check ups, to heart transplants and cancer treatment. If it was one single insurance, then employers who provide health benefits to their employers could deduct the money from the employee's pay, just as they do now. Self employed, you'd send your check to the same place.
And the best part of it is, there'd be no "milking" of the insurance companies. For example: Someone has something wrong, so they go to the doctor. The doctor knows exactly what's wrong the first time he see's you. With my idea, you're seen, diagnosed and treated for what's wrong. With what we have now, because doctors get stiffed with every claim they turn in to the insurance companies, they'll run tests and treatments that they know won't fix your problem, because it's the ONLY way to make a profit from the insurance companies. After 4 or 5 visits, several different kinds of medication, the doctor finally treats and cures you for the problem he knew about to begin with.
Example: My knee surgery 4 or 5 years ago, was billed to the insurance company for close to $1,000,000. After all the "insurance discounts," the money received back to the hospital (including the doctor) was about $1,500.
This is why my ex doctor stopped taking my health insurance. She said Medicare paid better than Blue Cross.

I think you are letting the conspiracy side of you get the better of your reasoning.
You also are crediting doctors for being a LOT better than they really are.
There are a lot of really nice people out there practicing medicine who should have been struck off decades ago , there are some who are in it just for the money and again should have been struck off and there are some who genuinely want to help people. It is really no different to any other profession.
The slack doctors just give every one the treatment for whatever is currently going around because as we have seen with Covid, virus spread within a community as do parasites ,

The big killer with unregulated capitalism is again brought home by the current covid crisis.
Ambulances are in high demand, so under an uncontrolled capitalist system there is nothing stopping them jacking up their prices 10, 20, 50 200 times the normal rate.
Same thing for hospital beds and particularly beds with ventilators so because demand is high they could up the price from $ 2000 / day to $ 20,000 / day and people will still pay the price and end up well but homeless & potentially jobless .

Now I am not a communist & believe in free market THEORIES but the market must be regulated to avoid profiteering in times of high demand or crisis.
So labour must have a minimum set fee & prices must have a maximum capped fee so the market find it's own levels within those boundaries .
And those who set these feed must be allowed to do it without fear or favour .
Imagine your granny / parents got covid & died then you find you have inherited a $ 5,000 bill from the ambulance company, a $ 500,000 bill from the hospital , a $ 10,000 bill from the mortuary & a $ 50,000 bill from the funeral home , and these are all the amounts over & above what your insurance covers .
And this is what consolidated capital does because it has one & one only plan and that is to screw the highest possible profit from every situation.

The small government people always overlook the little things like the roads that are needed for their goods to be moved on.
The police that are needed to make sure what is despatched actually arrives.
Corperate regulators are needed to prevent the freight companies adding massive fees after their goods have been loaded
The street lights so their staff can leave after dark without getting mugged in the dark.
The defence force so that South American drug lords don't just march in and take over .
A standards association so they know the quality of things they buy and their staff don't get electrocuted when they turn on a machine
It goes on & on & on

Doctors are only practicing medicine. They haven't gotten to professional level yet. Mine just changed my blood pressure meds the first of December and now my blood pressure even higher.than before with the other meds.

What it is easy to overlook is bodies are not lawnmowers.
The religious nutters maintain we are all made in the image of their particular diety so are there fore all the same & perfect .
However unlike mowers no 2 people are identical, no 2 have identical diets , do the same exercises or have the same geans .
So what works for one person might not work for the next person.
The past year I have gone through 3 cycles of RA . Now the steroids work perfectly for short term reversion when the long term plan fails, but we are now on the 3rd long term management plan.
I have customers who are on a single Metho a week and doing fine while others are on 6 + injections + up to 4 other medications to control the RA and then others to alleviate the side effects of the control meds.
The truth of it is we are just another animal and once we have lived past peak reproduction age we are supposed to die like every other animal on the planet living in it's natural environment.

StarTech said:

Doctors are only practicing medicine. They haven't gotten to professional level yet. Mine just changed my blood pressure meds the first of December and now my blood pressure even higher.than before with the other meds.

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That's why it's called a medical practice. lol.

A LOT of the problems we have with doctors now a days, like most things, boils down to money. Insurance companies ripping the doctors off is just part of the problem. Imagine doing a 4 hour knee surgery, and the hospital only getting about $1,500 for it.
Insurance companies are one huge reason why a doctor can't spend more than a few minutes per office visit. He/She has to get patients in and out as fast as possible, just to pay the rest of the office staff and bring home a decent wage.

Our hospital here is a good place to either go and die. Or catch a helicopter to a real hospital. I could tell you some horror stories about that place. From a friend of mine losing his leg to an ex sister in law dying.

Speaking of medical practices. I heard that alcohol kills the covid. I may have been exposed today and ingested some of the virus so to combat it i plan to ingest large quantifies of alcohol.



Why yes officer, as a matter a fact speeding to the liquor store is a medical emergency. I need a bottle of covid vaccine. Dr. Fouci said so.

bertsmobile1 said:

What it is easy to overlook is bodies are not lawnmowers.
The religious nutters maintain we are all made in the image of their particular diety so are there fore all the same & perfect .
However unlike mowers no 2 people are identical, no 2 have identical diets , do the same exercises or have the same geans .
So what works for one person might not work for the next person.
The past year I have gone through 3 cycles of RA . Now the steroids work perfectly for short term reversion when the long term plan fails, but we are now on the 3rd long term management plan.
I have customers who are on a single Metho a week and doing fine while others are on 6 + injections + up to 4 other medications to control the RA and then others to alleviate the side effects of the control meds.
The truth of it is we are just another animal and once we have lived past peak reproduction age we are supposed to die like every other animal on the planet living in it's natural environment.

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Just minutes after getting the covid vaccine, a nurse was standing at the podium doing an press statement, bragging about the vaccine and how important it was for everyone to get it. Then suddenly passed out.

Had a lot of folks saying "Screw that."

Hammermechanicman said:

Speaking of medical practices. I heard that alcohol kills the covid. I may have been exposed today and ingested some of the virus so to combat it i plan to ingest large quantifies of alcohol.



Why yes officer, as a matter a fact speeding to the liquor store is a medical emergency. I need a bottle of covid vaccine. Dr. Fouci said so.

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There's no way they could argue with that.

Right?