On 12/21/2020 6:26 PM, Bryan Simmons wrote:
> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 9:06:35 AM UTC-6, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2020-12-21 6:36 a.m., Janet wrote:
>>> In article >,
>>> says...
>>>>
>>>> Our Christmas Eve plans just got kiboshed. We have been invited my
>>>> nephew for years because he is estranged from his family. I was not
>>>> going to invite him this year because of the pandemic but a couple weeks
>>>> ago he told my brother that he was looking forward to Christmas Eve at
>>>> our place. The government is about to announce a 28 day lockdown
>>>> starting Christmas Eve. He called tonight to cancel. That is weight off
>>>> our shoulders but we are going to miss him and his family.
>>>>
>>>> Meanwhile, we still have my son, his finacee, brother and SiL coming
>>>> Christmas Day. We will be serving from the kitchen so there will be no
>>>> common utensils, we will maintain distance and wear masks when we have
>>>> to go near each other.
>>>
>>> Good luck eating and drinking with masks on :-)
>>>
>>>
>> ;-) Only when walking past others. We will take them off when at a
>> distance and when eating and drinking.
>
> Because the virus can't be transmitted when you're "eating and drinking,"
> right?
>
> --Bryan
>
There is no rule that says people have to sit right next to each other
when they are eating and drinking. They can do that, distanced, masks
off, then put the masks on to sit around and talk later.

Jill

On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
>>
>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
>>
> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
> sans mask?
>
No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.

Jill

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:24:38 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

>On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
>> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
>>>
>> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
>> sans mask?
>>
>No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
>
>Jill

We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
since tested positive. Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
rib here including a lonely soul from this building.

On Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 6:24:45 PM UTC-6, wrote:
> On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
> > On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
> >>
> >> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
> >>
> > Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
> > sans mask?
> >
> No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
>
That is both the smart and ethical thing to do. My family got the virus, and it
luckily didn't turn out to be awful, but it could have. It's also lucky that the two
people I care most about other than my wife and son, my wife's parents, have
the wherewithal to isolate, and have done so from the earliest days.
>
> Jill

--Bryan

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:17 -0400, Lucretia Borgia
> wrote:

>On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:24:38 -0500, jmcquown >
>wrote:
>
>>On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
>>> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
>>>>
>>> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
>>> sans mask?
>>>
>>No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
>>
>>Jill
>
>We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>since tested positive. Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
>SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
>rib here including a lonely soul from this building.

Cases are down in Canada? You might want to check your facts:
<https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/>

On Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 6:57:23 PM UTC-6, Lucretia Borgia wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:24:38 -0500, jmcquown >
> wrote:
> >On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
> >> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
> >>>
> >> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
> >> sans mask?
> >>
> >No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
> >
> >Jill
> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
> since tested positive. Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
> SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
> rib here including a lonely soul from this building.

We haven't had a working kitchen sink for several weeks. The guy who is
replacing the faucet is in the business of kitchen and bathroom remodeling,
and doesn't typically do simple faucet replacement, but their business is
slow this week because of the holiday, so they are doing the job for less than
50% of the price I got from the plumbers I got bids from.

--Bryan

On 2020-12-22 7:57 p.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:

> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
> since tested positive.

Don't put too much faith in the app. My friend and I have it on our
phones. A couple weeks ago another friend delivered a pancake breakfast
to him. The guy was sick. My buddy was a little upset because the guy
had all the symptoms. A day or two later the other guy was diagnosed
with Covid19. He also had the app, but there was no notice. My buddy
made arrangements for a test which he got about a week and a half later.
It came back negative, but still no alert.


> Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
> SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
> rib here including a lonely soul from this building.
>

I wish I could get away with doing roast beef on Christmas instead of
turkey.

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:03 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2020-12-22 7:57 p.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:
>
>> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>> since tested positive.
>
>Don't put too much faith in the app. My friend and I have it on our
>phones. A couple weeks ago another friend delivered a pancake breakfast
>to him. The guy was sick. My buddy was a little upset because the guy
>had all the symptoms. A day or two later the other guy was diagnosed
>with Covid19. He also had the app, but there was no notice. My buddy
>made arrangements for a test which he got about a week and a half later.
>It came back negative, but still no alert.

Why would anybody be alerted if the test came back negative?

"Master Bruce" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 14:19:57 -0500, songbird >
wrote:

>Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>...
>> I'm gathering with my husband, just like every other Christmas for the
>> last 15 years. We stopped going to his parents' house after the year
>> the smokers gave him such a bad asthma attack I thought we might
>> be eating Christmas dinner in the hospital.
>>
>> Best decision we ever made. Neither of us likes our families, and
>> nothing beats a quiet Christmas morning in the hot tub with my sweetie.
>
> sounds very nice. yeah, i would avoid heavy smokers
>again too if i had the choice. as a kid we had no choice
>at all.

No, especially since I was one.

===

Same here.

On Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:33:28 +1100, Master Bruce
> wrote:

>On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:17 -0400, Lucretia Borgia
> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:24:38 -0500, jmcquown >
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
>>>> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
>>>>>
>>>> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
>>>> sans mask?
>>>>
>>>No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
>>>
>>>Jill
>>
>>We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>>Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>>Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>>also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>>since tested positive. Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
>>SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
>>rib here including a lonely soul from this building.
>
>Cases are down in Canada? You might want to check your facts:
><https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/>

I was referring to specifically Nova Scotia. We had a second spike of
sorts due to some uni students being crazy partiers, that brought in a
$1000 each fine for those type of parties. I think we had 2 cases
last week, if you wish to check, we are NOT Alberta or P.Q, we tend to
do the right thing and not say it violates our rights blah blah blah
to wear masks.

It's actually quite interesting that the provinces with conservative
governments have had real problems (a reflection of the world
scenario) whereas the rest have simply done the sensible thing.

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:03 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2020-12-22 7:57 p.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:
>
>> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>> since tested positive.
>
>Don't put too much faith in the app. My friend and I have it on our
>phones. A couple weeks ago another friend delivered a pancake breakfast
>to him. The guy was sick. My buddy was a little upset because the guy
>had all the symptoms. A day or two later the other guy was diagnosed
>with Covid19. He also had the app, but there was no notice. My buddy
>made arrangements for a test which he got about a week and a half later.
>It came back negative, but still no alert.

I don't but really I am not in harms way except perhaps when I shop
for groceries.
>
>
>> Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
>> SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
>> rib here including a lonely soul from this building.
>>
>
>I wish I could get away with doing roast beef on Christmas instead of
>turkey.

That was my condition, I would do it here so long as nobody wanted
bloody turkey. As a child my grandmother cooked goose for Xmas and I
love it to this day, however $70 odd covered the 3 rib prime roast cut
the way I want it and a goose would have been $80+ and would not have
given 3 other people take homes for later.

On 12/22/2020 8:29 PM, Bryan Simmons wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 6:24:45 PM UTC-6, wrote:
>> On 12/22/2020 12:41 AM, wrote:
>>> On Monday, December 21, 2020 at 11:13:07 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I'm just surprised at the lemming attitude.
>>>>
>>> Oh? Is everybody here also gathering with their families for Christmas
>>> sans mask?
>>>
>> No. I wouldn't even if my family were nearby and I loved them to pieces.
>>
> That is both the smart and ethical thing to do. My family got the virus, and it
> luckily didn't turn out to be awful, but it could have. It's also lucky that the two
> people I care most about other than my wife and son, my wife's parents, have
> the wherewithal to isolate, and have done so from the earliest days.
>
> --Bryan
>
I've got friends who live in the neighborhood, no plans to get together
with any of them, either. I have no way of knowing who they might have
come in contact with and vice versa. Better to stay isolated and safe.

Jill

Ophelia wrote:
....smoking/smokers...
> Same here.

i smoked as a kid, but when i started smoking weed i told
myself i had to give up cigs. so glad i did - my lungs have
never been that good to begin with. as a later teen i stopped
smoking weed too. don't miss it, but once in a while i still
dream of smoking cigs.

i have always liked the smell of the first few puffs of cigs,
cigars and pipe smoke, but after that it gets icky now. and
best of all for me to avoid all of them as i get reactive to
the smoke and start wheezing. really cold air or other things
can set me off too now.

many relatives and step-relatives are (or were as they are
dead from it now) heavy smokers. just visiting them for a
few days would mean i'd be coughing up brown gunk for some
time after.


songbird

Lucretia Borgia wrote:
....roast beast for Christmas...
> That was my condition, I would do it here so long as nobody wanted
> bloody turkey. As a child my grandmother cooked goose for Xmas and I
> love it to this day, however $70 odd covered the 3 rib prime roast cut
> the way I want it and a goose would have been $80+ and would not have
> given 3 other people take homes for later.

i wish my brother liked it as it would be a nice change
from ham or turkey. maybe i can talk him into doing ribs
for Easter instead of ham.


songbird

On 2020-12-23 7:24 a.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:03 -0500, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
>> On 2020-12-22 7:57 p.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:
>>
>>> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>>> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>>> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>>> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>>> since tested positive.
>>
>> Don't put too much faith in the app. My friend and I have it on our
>> phones. A couple weeks ago another friend delivered a pancake breakfast
>> to him. The guy was sick. My buddy was a little upset because the guy
>> had all the symptoms. A day or two later the other guy was diagnosed
>> with Covid19. He also had the app, but there was no notice. My buddy
>> made arrangements for a test which he got about a week and a half later.
>> It came back negative, but still no alert.
>
> I don't but really I am not in harms way except perhaps when I shop
> for groceries.

Let's hope. You never know. We were pretty save down here in Niagara and
had low numbers of infections. When larger centres with higher infection
rates were hit with restrictions they came down here, and it was no
surprise that the rates started to climb quickly. I am watching for
today's numbers. Last week the numbers doubled, but then yesterday it
suddenly dropped in half. I am hoping that is a sign and not just a blip.



> That was my condition, I would do it here so long as nobody wanted
> bloody turkey. As a child my grandmother cooked goose for Xmas and I
> love it to this day, however $70 odd covered the 3 rib prime roast cut
> the way I want it and a goose would have been $80+ and would not have
> given 3 other people take homes for later.

I don't like goose enough to pay that much for it, but a prime rib would
be a much nicer treat than turkey.

On 2020-12-23 10:38 a.m., songbird wrote:

> i have always liked the smell of the first few puffs of cigs,
> cigars and pipe smoke, but after that it gets icky now. and
> best of all for me to avoid all of them as i get reactive to
> the smoke and start wheezing. really cold air or other things
> can set me off too now.

I used to love the smell of a freshly lit cigarette. I think they have
started adding something to make them stink. These days the first puff
of smoke smells just as horrible as the last.

One of the best tips I had to help people to quit smoking is to keep an
ash tray full of cigarette butts. When you feel like having a cigarette
take a whiff of those old butts.



> many relatives and step-relatives are (or were as they are
> dead from it now) heavy smokers. just visiting them for a
> few days would mean i'd be coughing up brown gunk for some
> time after.


I have a brother and a nephew who still smoke, but they don't so it in
the house. Unfortunately, they go out and power smoke and come back in
with that special stench you get from power smoking.

On Wed, 23 Dec 2020 08:20:09 -0400, Lucretia Borgia
> wrote:

>On Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:33:28 +1100, Master Bruce
> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:17 -0400, Lucretia Borgia
> wrote:
>>
>>>We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>>>Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>>>Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>>>also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>>>since tested positive. Xmas Day rather than going to my daughter and
>>>SIL's since they are redoing their kitchen, we will have roast prime
>>>rib here including a lonely soul from this building.
>>
>>Cases are down in Canada? You might want to check your facts:
>><https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/canada/>
>
>I was referring to specifically Nova Scotia. We had a second spike of
>sorts due to some uni students being crazy partiers, that brought in a
>$1000 each fine for those type of parties. I think we had 2 cases
>last week, if you wish to check, we are NOT Alberta or P.Q, we tend to
>do the right thing and not say it violates our rights blah blah blah
>to wear masks.
>
>It's actually quite interesting that the provinces with conservative
>governments have had real problems (a reflection of the world
>scenario) whereas the rest have simply done the sensible thing.

Here, it doesn't seem to matter whether conservatives or Labor are in
power. They all pretty much do the same reasonable thing with Covid,
apart from the occasional blatant mistake, that has nothing to with
politics, but everything with stupidity.

On Wed, 23 Dec 2020 08:24:26 -0400, Lucretia Borgia
> wrote:

>On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 20:57:03 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:
>
>>On 2020-12-22 7:57 p.m., Lucretia Borgia wrote:
>>
>>> We are allowed a gathering of up to 10 + the hosts. So we shall do
>>> Xmas Eve as usual but masks will have to come off in order to eat.
>>> Then again, we have behaved well and cases from second spike are down,
>>> also my national Covid app says I have not been near a person who
>>> since tested positive.
>>
>>Don't put too much faith in the app. My friend and I have it on our
>>phones. A couple weeks ago another friend delivered a pancake breakfast
>>to him. The guy was sick. My buddy was a little upset because the guy
>>had all the symptoms. A day or two later the other guy was diagnosed
>>with Covid19. He also had the app, but there was no notice. My buddy
>>made arrangements for a test which he got about a week and a half later.
>>It came back negative, but still no alert.
>
>I don't but really I am not in harms way except perhaps when I shop
>for groceries.

And when you have your parties.

Dave Smith wrote:
....
> I have a brother and a nephew who still smoke, but they don't so it in
> the house. Unfortunately, they go out and power smoke and come back in
> with that special stench you get from power smoking.

if my brother and SIL would do that i could actually
stand to visit them other than during the summer when
i can be outside. this time of the year it is way too
thick in their house for me to go in there for longer
than a moment.


songbird