AVB-AMG

@Mrs. Peel: Some here would question whether or not I was sane before the COVID-19 virus pandemic hit us all. At this point, my wife and I are holding up fine on the homefront, all things considered. Working from home is both an inconvenience for some work-required tasks, yet has also been a keen revelation. The time previously spent (wasted), commuting is now our added 1-2 hours, to be spent as we please, whether sleeping a bit later or doing whatever else we want with bonus time. The new routine of always cooking all meals at home has been a true enjoyable communal time, as well as being healthier. Once we, (meaning me), devoured all of the junk food in the house, I did not replace it. As a result, over the past 4 weeks, I have lost 9 lbs. If I cut out my alcohol consumption, I would definitely lose even more weight, but I enjoy my daily cocktail and wine with dinner, all in moderation, (usually…..). While we have experienced the similar discovery of deplenished supplies of various foods and paper products at the various local grocery stores, luckily we had stocked up on most items starting is early March so we are in good shape, including our liquor supply. The weekly purchases are primarily for dairy, produce, fruit and baked products, along with some meats. Thankfully, I have found most of what is on our shopping list. Since the middle of March, we have been taking all of the recommended safety precautions to avoid catching the COVID-19 virus, specifically when going out grocery and/or pharmaceutical shopping, where I am the designated shopper for us. This includes wearing protective disposable/re-useable face masks, (3M respirators), nitrile gloves, along with using alcohol wipes to wipe down, car door handles, steering wheel, gear selector, as well as grocery cart handles, C.C. payment keypads and where necessary, door knobs/levers. This is all followed by washing hands immediately upon returning home, as well as using a 1.5% hydrogen peroxide mouthwash for approx. 60 seconds as an added precaution to kill any lingering virus pathogens. We also are doing more frequent loads of laundry to ensure that our clothes and jackets are disinfected regularly. I find that I am also taking showers more frequently. Thankfully, so far, all of this has kept us from catching the COVID-19 virus, as far as we know, since neither of us displays any of the documented symptoms. With almost everything closed and any planned vacation trips having to be cancelled, we have more time at home than we have had in quite some time, if ever.... So aside from income-generating work from home, we are: - Getting a solid 7-8 hours of sleep. - Using video conferencing apps weekly to communicate with family members and have a video cocktail hour with friends - Taking long walks around the neighborhood, maintaining social distancing from neighbors. - Exercising at home with free weights and yoga. - Did our 2019 income taxes. - Polished various silver and brass items throughout the house. - Catching up on my reading of my stack of periodicals and books. - Binge watching various television series from Season 1 / Episode 1, as well as movies. - Cleaning out and re-organizing closets, bureau drawers, attic/basement storage and the garage. - Tried on old clothes and took items that either no longer fit or that I do not wear, to donate to The American Red Cross. - Washed, polished and applied protective coatings to the finishes of our automobiles. - Performed a thorough Spring clean-up of our yard and doing some new landscaping. - Washed windows and window Venetian blinds. - Painting or staining exterior wood trim and stairs. - Cleaning and lubricating all of our firearms. - Re-arranging wall-mounted framed artwork to different rooms and walls, as a cost-free way to redecorate the interior of the house. Another thing I am doing as well during this time of concern and uncertainty, is buying different flowers on a weekly basis to give to my wife as a gesture of my appreciation for her and to provide a refreshing dose of nature and color for the interior of our house. AVB-AMG

@AlDente67: Thanks.... but keep in mind that cheap vodkas kills one's taste for higher quality alcohol..... Cheers... AVB-AMG

@ChrisJM981: Yes, I am aware that for maximum effectiveness for ANY face mask, a man should preferably be clean shaven, which is what I am. Enjoy, your 6000 series face mask and try not to perspire too much after wearing it for over 60 minutes.... @JackDaWack: Yes, I do know what the 95 stands for.... I will be on the look out for you in the store next week when I am grocery shopping..... You will be the guy who is taking this to the extreme. That is not a criticism, but just an observation and expression of my opinion. Do what you are comfortable doing to stay safe and healthy.... AVB-AMG

@JackDaWack The point of all that research was to educate myself on what makes the most sense and is within reason, based on what we all knew about the likelihood of the spreading COVID-19 virus, back in February. The P95 respirator face mask is far from "the bare minimum" as you assert and actually, if fitted propertly, provides very good protection, as well as longer use life than the more common, medical grade N95 masks, and were very affordable, even with the mark up that I agreed to pay to buy them on ebay. Understanding the best method of disinfecting these masks to further prolong their useful life was also very important to me as well and I have now learned what that is and am sharing that with others on this forum. Also, lets get real.... Who really wants to go to the grocery store wearing the 3M 6 or 7 series half face respirator that you consider to be a "much better option"? (See image below....). Not me, nor my wife. We all have to decide for ourselves what level of precautions we are willing to make, while abiding by the state-imposed restrictions and regulations, without looking like a bio-hazmat worker... I am perfectly comfortable with my choices. If I see someone wearing what you propose, I will just assume that it is you. Stay healthy and safe.... AVB-AMG

Back in mid-Feb. I decided to research and educate myself on the differences of the various disposable respirator masks, with the intention on purchasing some for us. As many of us discovered, the recommended N95 face masks had already been sold out on Amazon and other retailers. Upon further research and online searching, I decided to purchase a number of 3M P95 Particulate Respirators, (Model 8577). It is a universally-sized, molded, disposable latex-free, respirator with an exhalation valve and nose clip and dual head strap. I learned that compared to N95 respirator masks, the P95 masks have a broader spectrum of protection that surpasses that of N95 masks, to include oily-based particles. Also, as an added benefit, the P95 masks have a rated 40-hour service life, as opposed to only and 8-hour rating for the N95 masks. Amazon was already sold out of the P95’s, but I was able to find them on eBay. They ordinarily sell for $9.00 for a 2-pack. Of course, the sellers had already started to greedily mark up the price. I ended up paying $24.00/each for two 2-packs. Now, it is almost impossible to find these respirators anywhere for any remotely reasonable price. Now in mid-April in NJ, we are required by State mandate to wear some form of protective face masks when we are going grocery shopping. It is also strongly recommended by healthcare experts that people wear face masks when they go to other places where other people will be congregating. So the whole face mask issue of material type, filtration, re-usability and disinfection, has now become important topics. As has been stated earlier, due to the acute shortages and unavailability of new replacement N95/P95 face masks, those of us who have a small number of them are forced to re-use these protective face masks. Therefore, figuring out the best way to disinfect these N95 and P95 face masks is very important in order to prolong their usability and filtering effectiveness, while also regularly disinfecting any pathogens that may have landed on them. After discussing various face mask disinfecting/sterilizing approaches and options with my regular medical doctor and my dentist, their consensus was that using ultra violet light, specifically Ultra Violet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), was the most effective method to kill germs and bacteria, including the COVID-19 pathogen. They recommended this method because it was also considered to be the least detrimental method that would diminish the protective filtration quality of the mask, in its task of preventing penetration of the harmful particles in the air. They cautioned that while this method is not perfect, in that repeated use of this method of exposure to the UVGI will very slightly degrade the filtering quality against aerosol penetration. But they said that it was far better than using 70% isopropyl alcohol or soap & water, since those methods would seriously reduce the masks effectiveness and longevity. To verify their opinion, both doctors referred me to a published report on a study that was performed in January 2016 by the National Institute of Health, titled: “Effects of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) on N95 Respirator Filtration Performance and Structural Integrity”. If you are interested in reading this document it can be found online in the archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. NIH, National Library of Medicine’s (NLM), PubMed Central (PMC). Here is a general link: https://search.nih.gov/search?utf8=✓&affiliate=nih&query=UVGI&commit=Search My dentist also had referred me to a disinfecting device that his patients who have Sleep Apnea and use CPAP machines to help them get a good night’s sleep, in addition to not snoring. The device is the 3B Medical Lumin CPAP Mask and Accessories Cleaner. That device, the size of a large toaster oven with a large drawer, is used on a regular basis to disinfect CPAP face masks, water reservoirs and hoses, by using ultra violet light. It uses a strong UV light to kill 99% of bacteria, pathogens and fungi present on items placed inside the device. He said I can use that same device to also effectively disinfect and sterilize our P95 face masks, as well as our cell phones. I purchased this device and now I put the mask into the drawer, face up and start the automatic timed disinfecting process of the entire outside surface of the mask. Once finished, I turn the mask over 180 degs. and start the process again, in order to disinfect the inside surfaces as well. I do the same for our cell phones. Here is a link to that device: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/3B-medical-lumin-uv-cpap-sanitizer So far, using these face masks (respirators) and UVGI disinfecting method with this device has been working well for us and we will continue to use them as long as necessary. AVB-AMG

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@fishnut: or at least a graphic news story tomorrow morning of a really bad automobile accident...... AVB-AMG @9X19: Well, it has turned into a.....

@voyager9" I immediately was thinking about that same horrific accident.... you beat me to it! AVB-AMG

@USRifle30Cal: ABV = Alcohol By Volume..... AVB-AMG

@USRifle30Cal: Bravo Sir.....! AVB-AMG

@JHZR2 and @JackDaWack: I do not know where you two are getting your information from, but the current facts are that the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), derive most of their GDP from tourism, trade and rum production. While the government is the single largest employer, approx. 80% of the USVI residents are employed in service industries. The most recent statistics show that approximately 2,400,000 – 2,900,000 tourists visit the USVI annually, primarily from cruise ships. While it has been a number of years since I was in St. Thomas or the British Virgin Islands, I fondly remember the beauty of their white sand beaches and light aqua blue water. The Zica virus, was big news in the second half of 2018 and did negatively affect tourism somewhat, but tourism was rebounding in 2019. Also, the USVI are quite vulnerable to damage from storms, as evidenced by the destruction from two major Category 5 hurricanes, (Irma and Maria), back in Sept. 2017. The heavy winds and flooding rains inflicted severe damage to building structures, roads, the airport, as well as communications and electricity. While the rebuilding and recovery have continued, the estimated cost to fully rebuild is almost $8 billion. How can anyone think that the temporary ceasing of operations by the cruise ship industry will not dramatically hurt, not just the USVI, but other Bahamian and Caribbean islands. That, followed by the natural fear of the general public regarding cruising anywhere, based on recent horror stories of passengers being quarantined on ships, which in turn become incubators for the spread of viruses, will greatly reduce the number of people choosing to go on a cruise for their vacation for quite some time. The main point here is that the COVID-19 virus pandemic is going to have a major negative impact on almost all countries, corporations, large and small businesses, in addition to adversely affecting our daily lives and should not be dismissed in a ignorant and cavalier manner. AVB-AMG

Go ahead and keep sipping your Planter’s Punch on your vacation trip, sounding like an “Ugly American”, speculating like an ignorant pompous ass.... Or you could try feeling and having some empathy and compassion for the very real and valid concerns expressed by both the island residents and other tourists, regarding the fall-our of the COVID-19 virus... The Bahamas and other Caribbean islands all depend on much of there income from the tourists industry, followed by exporting sugar cane and rum. The COVID-19 virus is the second of a nasty one-two punch they have received after the devastation of recent hurricanes. The short term elimination of arriving passengers from cruise ships and spending their tourist dollars, will hit then very hard financially. The residents of these islands know they are screwed for the foreseeable future! AVB-AMG

Back in mid-Feb. I decided to research and educate myself on the differences of the various disposable respirator masks, with the intention on purchasing some for us. I decide upon getting a number of 3M P95 Particulate Respirators, (Model 8577). Compared to N95 respirator masks, the P95 masks have a broader spectrum of protection that surpasses that of N95 masks, to include oily-based particles. Also, the P95 masks have a 40-hour service life, as opposed to only 8-hours for the N95 masks. While I hope we will not need to use them, I can envision us wearing these masks when we have to fly on an airplane or use other mass transportation. Amazon was already sold out, but I was able to find them on eBay. They ordinarily sell for $9.00 for a 2-pack. Of course, the sellers had already started to greedily mark up the price. I ended up paying $24.00/each for two 2-packs. Now, it is almost impossible to find these respirators anywhere for any remotely reasonable price. AVB-AMG

@Sniper and @raz-0: Of course, Trump did not “single handedly create the virus”, but his inaction and decisions regarding it have exacerbated the spread of the virus in our country. No, I do not think that Trump and his administration took the COVID-19 virus seriously when it was first revealed in China and then in subsequent weeks as it was spreading. Yes, I do think that most other politicians would have had a much different and more careful approach towards addressing the COVID-19 virus, than Trump’s initial dismissive approach. Being the self-centered person, he is, Trump did not want to raise concern about an impending health crisis that could most likely cause the stock market to puke, which in turn could put our country’s economy into recession and therefore seriously jeopardize his chances for re-election. He and his administration did not push to have COVID-19 test kits manufactured and distributed in large quantities because, without testing there would be no way to verify how many U.S. citizens have this virus, so he could continue to downplay it. FYI, many U.S. hospitals requested diagnostic tests back in January, or the right to create their own tests. But the Trump administration ignored those requests until late February and that is part of the reason the U.S. is currently behind in testing. Also, had the CDC's office for pandemic response not been de-funded by Trump in 2018, it is reasonable to believe the U.S. response would have been much prompter. Are you aware that Trump's fiscal year 2021 budget proposal included a 16% reduction in CDC funding from the 2020 spending levels? So yes, anyone else would have responded better that Trump did. Trump of course has abandoned his attempt to call the COVID-19 virus a “hoax” and is now forced to admit that it's a serious threat, but his earlier message has already done its damage, along with his devoted propagandists like Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs who even now continue to downplay the dangers. The NIH's Dr Fauci had to correct Hannity on the air last night when Hannity, determined to downplay the danger in order to buff Trump's image, was spinning that the virus was no more dangerous than the flu. Trump himself can certainly be held responsible for his contradictory and self-congratulatory advice to the public, and for his general inability to consult American and world experts who don't bow and scrape before his "very stable genius." Is this what you mean when you say that this pandemic “is not being taken seriously by this administration…”? If so, you and others who agree with your incorrect statements are the blind idiots. Politics should not be an issue when a health crisis arises that affects all of us, but unfortunately, this president and his administration and his enablers at Fox News have made their choices based on pure self-serving political motivations and not on the general welfare of all Americans. Because of the current incompetent occupant of the White House, I will focus on reading and listening to others within our government to obtain factual information about the growing COVID-19 pandemic. So aside from taking care of myself and following all of the now published and promoted safety precautions, the people who I will look to and trust to provide honest, truthful factual information are the educated experts, such as Senior Doctors and Medical Researchers; CDC and NIH spokespersons: State and local public health officials and finally, my Doctor. AVB-AMG

@Malsua: Thank you for your informative descriptive post with very sobering graphic images. It is not very hard to know what is going on if one is proactively paying attention and seeking out by reading/watching a variety of international news sources reporting the facts in their regions and countries. All of us U.S. citizens should be very concerned about this rapidly spreading pandemic and take all of the recommended safety precautions. While the canceling of various large group events is unfortunate, it is prudent to be safe. Over a week and a half ago, I said that from the day Donald Trump was elected, some of us stated how concerned we were(are), on how he and his administration would deal with a real crisis, not of his own making. Remarkably, we have survived 3 years without finding out….until now. Prior to this, every serious problem facing the Trump administration, from trade wars to confrontation with North Korea and Iran, has been self-created. But the coronavirus is looking as if it might be the test we’ve been fearing. Those who perpetuate the coronavirus (COVID-19) denial or dismissive of its lethality, is just the latest battle in a long-term war on truth in this country and the very idea that there exists an inconvenient objective reality. We should be able to trust that some matters, especially public health, are so important that they would transcend political party affiliation. Yet Republican leaders, led by President Trump, are treating coronavirus more like a political controversy than a potentially deadly pathogen. However lethal the illness proves to be in the long run, our nation has been infected by Republican cynicism that is putting Trump’s re-election bid above our well-being. I watched/listened to Trump’s Wed. evening address and was grateful that he finally had the appropriate tone and finally taking the COVID-19 virus seriously. But, alas, I was disappointed by his proposed actions. His main response was to end travel from Europe. But at this point epidemiologists believe we may well have tens of thousands of infected people already in the United States, yet no one has any idea because of the catastrophic failure of testing. So, stopping additional arrivals from Europe is much less significant than the steps we take here in the U.S. to end public events and encourage people to work from home. One thing we learned from the AIDS epidemic is that you can't deal with a health crisis if no one knows who's infected. Yet America still has no idea how many people have the virus. There is a valid argument that one of the most glaring failures our country’s handling of this pandemic is our mishandling of testing. The World Health Organization offered the U.S. diagnostic tests, and our government refused. Meanwhile, the U.S. bungled the development of tests so that we have much less testing than in other countries. I am relieved to learn that Johns Hopkins Medicine, Stanford University and University of Washington are all moving forward in developing their own tests for the COVID-19 virus, but the government has limited them in how and where they can be used. And the government says it is against drive-through testing, (which is critical to avoid contaminating clinics), because it wants to preserve the doctor-patient relationship. I'm not making this up…. This pandemic is a long-overdue, huge slap-in-the-face, wake-up call for ALL of us. The coronavirus has us finally understanding and accepting that we are all in the same boat together and we are taking on water. It is time for everyone to start bailing or start swimming. BTW, our proverbial boat is called planet Earth. Now just a month and a half away from Earth Day 2020, we might look up from our cache of prepper supplies, put down the Purell and think a bit about fixing the leaking boat carrying us all through space. There is no Planet B….. AVB-AMG

@W2MC: and this is your and many other Trump supporters view of the world:

@GRIZ: No I cannot, since I agree with your key point that the building should somehow relate to its function. Where many folks disagree is predicated by their learned visual associations for those building functions, based on historical precedent as well as their willingness/openness to consider new approaches, forms and materials to be used in the design of new buildings. For some of the general public, they are most comfortable with the established image(s) they have for specific building functions, (you, @Mrs. Peel, and some others here on NJGF), while others are not absolutely married to the just basing the design of a new, contemporary building on historical images and preconceptions of what a building "should look like". The advances made in materials, communications, power, interior air temperature and quality control, sustainability and of course, initial construction cost, as well as life-cycle maintenance costs, are all factors that today's architects and design teams have to and do take into consideration when designing both privately and publicly funded buildings. Speaking of motorcycles, back in the summer of 2017, I went on a two-week road trip through 7 U.S. states, east of the Mississippi River, visiting 17 different automobile/motorcycle museums. You, and some others here may find these images interesting, that I took, (except that the first photo is a cut&paste from the Wikipedia site for this museum). For motorcycle enthusiasts, if you have the chance, I highly recommend visiting the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: AVB-AMG

@Handyman: You may be surprised to learn that most of my family, friends and work colleagues in the commercial, large-scale A/E/C industry, are basically politically moderate centrists, ranging from center-left to center-right. They are either Independents, Democrats or (pre-Trump) Republicans. Interestingly, just about all of my friends and professional colleagues who are foreign- born and not U.S. citizens, do not care for our current POTUS. AVB-AMG

@CMJeepster: Woah..... Hold on there! Let’s not get carried away..... IMHO, the MCA has some of the most passionate and interesting automobile aficionados in American car culture, centering around an important iconic vehicle. Don’t sour on one of the most active car clubs and its enthusiastic members. AVB-AMG P.S. - You and your wife may want to consider test driving a new or used BMW X5, as a possible replacement for your Ford Explorer....

@Downtownv: Thank you. I appreciate your kind compliment, as I am sure Mrs. Peel does as well. We all have our artistic and aesthetic biases and preferences on this subjective topic. I think you should start a new thread on the surgical implantation of amniotic tissue. My "brief" posts put some folks to sleep here and maybe yours will help me get to sleep and not be such a night owl.... AVB-AMG @Handyman You would be very surprised.... BTW, I "hang out" with all of you crazy right-wingers here on NJGF..... AVB-AMG

Like so many of FLW's buildings, this one also had/has numerous roof leaks...... AVB-AMG

@1LtCAP Due to the clean rectilinear seems of the failure, I would speculate that some sort of massive point force was applied uniformly and perpendicularly around the outside edges, while the casting was fastened tightly to its adjacent member with six bolts, causing the metal to break as neatly as it did. Also, was it extremely heated at the point of failure? Can you tell us what the cause was? AVB-AMG

@GRIZ: I find it interesting that you mention that you feel that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum “looks like an art museum”. Back in the early 1940’s when Frank Lloyd Wright’s final building design was presented publicly, there was much shock and criticism by the general public that it did NOT look like a museum. (Thank you for helping to illustrate my point on the acceptance of current architectural designs for Federal Courthouses…..). FYI, prior to designing the Guggenheim Museum, FLW designed the Mercedes-Benz automobile showroom on Park Avenue, (now demolished), which featured a much shorter, curved spiral ramp on which the automobiles were displayed. FLW wanted his museum to stand out and apart from the neighboring rectilinear masonry residential apartment buildings that lined Fifth Avenue and were built up to the sidewalk property line. That is also why he insisted that the exterior stucco finish be painted an off-white color, to further differentiate it from the colors of the natural limestone, granite and brick masonry buildings to the north, south and east of the museum. His massing concept for an inverted cylindrical ziggurat with a spiral ramp around an open atrium was quite unique at that time. Personally, I do not think that his Guggenheim museum works all that well for the public to view traditional two-dimensional artwork of framed paintings or photographs hung on the walls. I find it rather disconcerting to view this type of artwork while walking down the spiral ramp and standing on a slopping surface. IMHO, the two most successful art exhibits I have seen at the Guggenheim museum were these: 1. Back in the mid-1960’s when I was a child, seeing the massive free-floating metal mobiles created by the artist Alexander Calder, where the mobiles were suspended from the roof skylight over the rotunda and afforded different perspective views of the mobiles from different angles and daylight exposures. 2. The second one, and my favorite, was the 1998 exhibition called: “The Art of the Motorcycle”, designed by the architect Frank Gehry, where 114 historically important motorcycles were positioned on the spiral ramp around the curved rotunda. While a static display, the image was very appropriately, one of dynamic motion. The effect was heightened by Gehry’s placing mirrors all along the outside of the knee wall of the spiral walkway, facing into the atrium and reflecting images of the motorcycles, as this photo illustrates: AVB-AMG