Divemedic

I want to post an open letter from the Saint Cloud, Florida firefighters’ union. The way that rescue professionals are being treated in this pandemic is a shame.

On behalf of St. Cloud Professional firefighters Local 4153 we would like to thank all the citizens of Osceola County and especially the residents of St. Cloud for supporting your fire and Police department during this current, stressful and challenging time. We all also want to thank everyone who is trying to do their part in keeping exposures to a minimum as this helps us get through this in a timely manner.
We are also writing this post to inform you of some challenges that we are facing in the midst of this pandemic.
As firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement officers we accept the hazards that come with our job and understand and accept the fact that we chose to enter a career which will inevitably put us in harms way in order to help those whom we have taken an oath to serve. But recently, one of our own firefighters became ill while performing his duties serving the citizens, was sent home as per our infectious control protocols and as such cannot return to work until he’s given a clean bill of health.
As of this moment our firefighter is being forced to use his own sick time, not covered by the city meanwhile the current policy states that if we become sick we must have no symptoms before returning to duty. He has also been unsuccessful in attempting to get tested for COVID19 as these procedures are being rolled out in real time.
Currently, the city manager has sent all administrative, non essential personnel, home on paid administrative leave. But it is our position that if we become ill or exposed during the performance of our duties we should be covered under paid administrative leave and/or workman’s comp which, of this posting, the city’s position is that becoming sick on duty, during a pandemic, is not covered under workman’s comp.
In conclusion, we reiterate that we understand and accept our roles and responsibilities as first responders, and stand in solidarity with residents of our great cities and county as we navigate these stormy pandemic waters. As prudent and conscientious citizens, understanding our choice of career, we would not expect the city to cover us if we become sick off duty. We are only asking that the city do what is right as we continue to protect and serve the community.

Sincerely,
St. Cloud Professional Firefighters
Local 4153

The city’s bureaucrats are at home with full pay whether sick or not, but the responders who are forced to treat the sick and wind up catching the disease are not permitted to work and must use their own sick leave. Disgusting.

Let me start by saying that I am not a stockbroker or any other kind of financial expert, I am just a guy who is looking for a way for my savings to make more than what my savings accounts are paying. With that being said, I see in this economy a once in a lifetime opportunity to make money.

The stock market has lost billions or perhaps even trillions in value this month, all because of a situation that is temporary: a government shutdown caused by a virus. The President says that he wants to lift that shutdown within the next three weeks. Once that happens, many of the stocks that have taken a huge hit will rebound in a big way. Since stocks need to be held for a year in order to pay the long term capital gains tax rates, this timeline works to my advantage.

Last Tuesday, I bought $7500 worth of stock in restaurants and cruise lines. The particular stocks that I grabbed were ones that had good numbers and were healthy companies up until the end of February. Since then, each of these companies had seen their stock price drop by more than 50%. In one case, this company lost 65% of its price.

Since this price drop is not due to anything that the company has done, nor is it due to any ssytemic problem, there is no reason why the stock shouldn’t increase to its previous price within a year of the government imposed shutdown being lifted. Here we are, eight days later, and that initial $7500 investment is now worth $12,000. After discussing it with the Mrs, we are going to buy another $15,000 in stock. I don’t think that the market is going to go any lower, and I also think that the odds are good that we will see a doubling of these stocks within a year’s time.

If I could afford more, I would do it.

It isn’t working. We have ordered every bar and business to be closed with the intention that we stop the human interaction that makes transmission of the Wuhan virus possible. People are interacting anyway.  Anecdotal example:

My in-laws are members of a drinking club. You know the ones- clubs like the Moose Lodge, VFW, American Legion, etc. that are all established to allow people to congregate and imbibe in inexpensive booze. Now this particular club has a liquor license and has been shut down by order of the governor, so they followed the order and stopped selling booze. So far, so good, right?

Not so fast. There is a core of members who are still going every day to do “maintenance” on the building, which is allowed under the order. While they are working, they are helping themselves to the booze from the bar, and spending all day there, drinking and “working” on the building. They have been doing so for the past two weeks. When my wife told them that they should stay home, their reply was “No one here is sick. We are all fine, so I don’t think it’s a problem. We’ve been doing this for two weeks, and no one has gotten sick yet.”

More than anything, this is why I don’t think that shutting down all of the businesses can work. I have said all along that this is not going to work– because the only answer is to stop all interaction between the infected and the uninfected. Since there is no way to know which is which until it is too late, because once you are showing symptoms, you have been contagious for days.

The proposed answers to the shutdown are to throw money at it. Why not just declare this war lost, and let the disease run its course? If we do not, we still lose the war against the virus, and then we destroy our economy as well.

We have been watching stock prices, and saw Royal Caribbean Cruise Line go from $120 a share to less than $25 a share in about 45 days. A similar drop from companies like Darden Restaurants, Hilton, and Marriott. We bought about $5K worth.

I am hoping that this announcement comes sooner rather than later. My prediction is that I will double my money as soon as the quarantine is lifted. The quarantine isn’t working because people are still interacting, it’s just the businesses that are closed. So we take a big financial hit while 10,000 people a day are catching this, destroying the economy for little to no gain.

My wife went back to work this morning. They are micromanaging so much, it is incredible. Even though teachers are salaried employees, the ones at her school are being forced to punch a time clock to make sure that they are working the prescribed number of hours.

The students will be working online. Here are the rules:
– teachers must set up a system of one way communication where students receive communications once per day from teachers
– another one way line of communication for students to submit work
– Teachers are also required to set up a system of two way communication between students and themselves, and ensure that each student communicates one on one with them each day. Administrators are to have access to this line of communication, so they can monitor what teachers are saying to students. (chat sessions?)

Once this is accomplished, teachers may work from home, subject to the following restrictions:
– teachers are to spend 7:30am to 3:30 pm at least in front of computer, doing school related work.
– electronic time clock will be installed on their computer to confirm this
– teachers are subject to home visits from administrators to ensure compliance
– All costs for utilities, Internet, electronic devices, and other expenses are to be the responsibility of the teacher. If any software needs to be purchased that is not already provided by the school, that is also the responsibility of the teacher.

I am glad that I don’t work there. I also assure you that I will not permit some administrator into my house for an inspection, unless they want to pay me a stipend for renting office space from me at the prevailing local rate, which is $3.75 per square foot per month. Of course, they will just claim that she will have to work on campus once that comes to a head.

For weeks, we have been told that the symptoms of Wuhan virus infection are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In fact, for weeks you weren’t even tested for the virus unless you presented with those symptoms AND had recently traveled overseas or had contact with another person who was a known positive.

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine who lives in Miami claims to have had a mild case of Wuhan that had been confirmed by lab testing, but states his only symptoms were fatigue and loss of taste and smell. I am going to be honest here, I thought he was full of crap.

Then this article come across my feed.

In South Korea, China, and Italy, about a third of patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 have also reported a loss of smell 

The prevention of the spread of this virus is an order of magnitude more difficult than even the most pessimistic among us dreamed it was. Preventing the spread of this is now, in my opinion, impossible. Perhaps it was never possible. We are destroying our nation’s, and even the world’s, economy for a fool’s errand.

Free COVID testing for rich old people who have retired to Florida from up north. Fuck everyone else. I don’t want to be tested, but this is beyond the pale.