NON_POLITICAL China Coronavirus THREAD

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FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
29,103
2,016
126
I have checking accounts with two of the largest banks in the country. Over the years I have had the accounts Ive only paid a fee once. One account is for deposits the other account is for spending.

Fees are easy to avoid, just follow the rules. The benefit is no fee atms are everywhere.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
I have checking accounts with two of the largest banks in the country. Over the years I have had the accounts Ive only paid a fee once. One account is for deposits the other account is for spending.

Fees are easy to avoid, just follow the rules. The benefit is no fee atms are everywhere.

Even if they do charge you a fee, call them up and tell them to remove it or your taking out all your cash right now and closing the account.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
Ya know, I'm extra careful in washing my produce now. Never used to be. I'd kind of rinse them, not really wash them. I'm thinking even after all this is over (hoping!) I'm going to keep washing stuff good. It isn't that hard. The way I'm living now, I'm not apt to catch ANYTHING!
 

brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,203
5,608
136
Ya know, I'm extra careful in washing my produce now. Never used to be. I'd kind of rinse them, not really wash them. I'm thinking even after all this is over (hoping!) I'm going to keep washing stuff good. It isn't that hard. The way I'm living now, I'm not apt to catch ANYTHING!

same here. i never used to, but got a produce scrubber for christmas so i've been making good use of it lately
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,201
12,029
126
www.anyf.ca
I never really bothered either but I did wash last time I did groceries, what I find annoying about washing produce is that it's all wet after. You go to eat an apple or grapes or anything and it's just dripping all over. What do you normally do to deal with that, lot of paper towels? Just seems so wasteful.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,048
5,043
146
You don't need to go crazy with washing produce. I just rinse my lettuce and wash my fruit with water as I've always done.


Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.
...
In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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You don't need to go crazy with washing produce. I just rinse my lettuce and wash my fruit with water as I've always done.


That and unless you're using soap.... as far as spreading of COVID-19 is concerned... does scrubbing it extra hard even do anything? Initial thought would say no...
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
I never really bothered either but I did wash last time I did groceries, what I find annoying about washing produce is that it's all wet after. You go to eat an apple or grapes or anything and it's just dripping all over. What do you normally do to deal with that, lot of paper towels? Just seems so wasteful.
Here's what I did yesterday:

I have a double sink with a partition in the middle (porcelain). I put a big deep pan in one side, it's probably a 4 quart pan. I squirt in about a teaspoon of Dawn dishwashing detergent. I open the tap for about 3/4 cup water and put in one of those cheap 3" paint brushes and swirl a bit. I dump a bunch of apples in (neighbor did my shopping for me). It was total a dozen apples, I put in maybe 6 at a time. I take that 3" brush and brush all over each apple in turn and set it in the other side of the sink. Do this to all the apples. Then I have a colander sitting in the dish strainer. I rinse each apple thoroughly and add it to the colander until it's got all 12 apples. I have a giant plate (I have 3, I bought at local Chinatown, they are plastic) sitting nearby (on my stove), and I take apples one at a time and using two dish towels (terry cloth) I dry them and place on the big plate (I had two such plates on the stove). When all apples are dried, I put them in one of the crisper drawers in my refrigerator.

I did the same thing with around 18 bananas. I love bananas, and I keep them in the fridge and put them out to ripen maybe 2-3 at a time, sometimes in the oven, which when off remains at around 80-85F due to the pilot light. They ripen faster in that warm oven.

I did the same thing with a dozen navel oranges, but I didn't refrigerate them, I left them out in a cardboard box. They seem to keep really well that way (as long as you don't stack them and they have good ventilation... otherwise they will succumb to fungus), for at least the 2 weeks when I have more shopping done for me.

It's probably overkill, but I feel better doing this stuff. Once I found out that a tiny dose is very unlikely to infect you I figure I don't need to be so careful, but you can't see any dose, so I am opting to clean well. Even before this pandemic I've seen it said that you should clean your produce really well, just to get rid of bacteria.
 
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CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
856
126
Stepped into Captain D's today (seafood place) which put me right behind a waist-high partition with a bench on the other side where some older people were sitting as they waited for their carry-out order. Literally as soon as we stepped through the door the older lady started coughing at her fist (uncovered). We pulled a grandpa Sinpson and instantly spun around to leave.

Imagine Bart coughing as soon as Abe steps through the door:
 
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K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
45,896
32,696
136
US moves to secure supply of Oxford vaccine from AstraZeneca.

U.S. to invest $1.2 billion to secure potential coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca, Oxford University

The U.S. government has agreed to hand AstraZeneca PLC up to $1.2 billion to secure the supply of a potential coronavirus vaccine that could be ready as early as October.

Under the deal, the government will bankroll a 30,000-person vaccine trial in the U.S. starting in the summer, plus the ramp-up of manufacturing capacity to make at least 300 million doses. The first doses will be ready in the fall should the vaccine prove effective, it said.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u...razeneca-oxford-university-2020-05-21-8103313
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
45,896
32,696
136
Is that Oxford/Astrozenica vaccine working out? I saw a one sentence blurb yesterday to the effect that it is a fail. What's the scoop?

AFAIK the claim it doesn't work stemmed from a round of macaque testing where one dose did not prevent infection but did control illness. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in the inoculated animals. Any vaccine for human use is likely to be a two stick affair to get the body to generate a sufficiently powerful immunity to resist infection and there is still the question of dosage level. Also, from what I read, the macaques were challenged with a very high amount of virus that a person would not encounter.
 
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kn51

Senior member
Aug 16, 2012
695
111
106
I have checking accounts with two of the largest banks in the country. Over the years I have had the accounts Ive only paid a fee once. One account is for deposits the other account is for spending.

Fees are easy to avoid, just follow the rules. The benefit is no fee atms are everywhere.

Basically boils down to one thing: money. Of course.

Would I recommend a bank like Chase to someone with limited funds? Hell no. Find a CU.

If you have a fair amount of liquidity, then yes you get some extra level of care.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,135
2,445
126

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
Basically boils down to one thing: money. Of course.

Would I recommend a bank like Chase to someone with limited funds? Hell no. Find a CU.

If you have a fair amount of liquidity, then yes you get some extra level of care.
Chase took over my bank, Washington Mutual. I don't know why I still do business with them. I applied for a mortgage with them when I bought my house. I dealt with the branch manager and he assured me that the approval was assured. When escrow was almost complete he tells me they were axing my approval, WTF! I scraped together the cash to buy outright, but was 100% broke (but not in debt!). I have free checking with Chase, but I have another free checking account, so could abandon Chase, it would take some work switching all my autopays from Chase to my other bank. Only reason I haven't is it's just a low priority project that would take some care to do it right. I can't think of a single great thing that Chase has done for me. They tried to get me to invest with their JP Morgan system, they really kept after me, but I wasn't comfortable with the system.
 

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
10,914
2,061
126
Chase took over my bank, Washington Mutual. I don't know why I still do business with them. I applied for a mortgage with them when I bought my house. I dealt with the branch manager and he assured me that the approval was assured. When escrow was almost complete he tells me they were axing my approval, WTF! I scraped together the cash to buy outright, but was 100% broke (but not in debt!). I have free checking with Chase, but I have another free checking account, so could abandon Chase, it would take some work switching all my autopays from Chase to my other bank. Only reason I haven't is it's just a low priority project that would take some care to do it right. I can't think of a single great thing that Chase has done for me. They tried to get me to invest with their JP Morgan system, they really kept after me, but I wasn't comfortable with the system.
The bar is admittedly very low, but Chase is arguably the best and best-run of all the U.S. mega banks.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
29,103
2,016
126
Basically boils down to one thing: money. Of course.

Would I recommend a bank like Chase to someone with limited funds? Hell no. Find a CU.

If you have a fair amount of liquidity, then yes you get some extra level of care.

You dont need a lot of money or have high income to have two accounts. Just have your paycheck deposited to one account (Chase only requires $500 payroll or SS deposit), then with the other account make sure you have the necessary amount of debit card purchases (Wells only requires 10 debit card purchases per month to avoid the fee). Being that nobody uses cash, thats not hard to do. Boom - no monthly fees for either account.

One account is for paying bills and saving the larger balance, the other is budgeted spending. My trading account also has checking as well as the HSAs.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
You dont need a lot of money or have high income to have two accounts. Just have your paycheck deposited to one account (Chase only requires $500 payroll or SS deposit), then with the other account make sure you have the necessary amount of debit card purchases (Wells only requires 10 debit card purchases per month to avoid the fee). Being that nobody uses cash, thats not hard to do. Boom - no monthly fees for either account.

One account is for paying bills and saving the larger balance, the other is budgeted spending. My trading account also has checking as well as the HSAs.
My favorite place to park money if I'm not comfortable in the stock market is in online savings accounts. They have around 1.6% APR last I checked. It's something. A B&M bank is going to give you very very nearly zero interest rate. I keep enough money in my checking accounts to avoid monthly fees and cover expenses, the rest is either invested or in online savings accounts. A CD would give a little more interest but would lack liquidity.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
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The bar is admittedly very low, but Chase is arguably the best and best-run of all the U.S. mega banks.

Wut? Really?

Their branches suck - not that I ever need a branch... but they charge fees for anything you do at the branch, so whats the point....

On top of that, their website and general online system is something out of 1990s. Shit that hasn't been updated in forever.

Did I mention fees? fees fees fees. I walked into Chase a few years back because it was one of those rare times I needed a refill of personal checks. They told me the process for ordering online something something... $25 minimum fee or something and I laughed my ass off.... Seriously... a fee more than 10cents to give me literally paper with printed words/numbers on them.

Online banks are where its at. Even goldman sachs has Marcus online. Personally I got a bonus from Discover Bank and have been using it ever since. Has everything I could need.
 

Tweak155

Lifer
Sep 23, 2003
11,447
262
126
Wut? Really?

Their branches suck - not that I ever need a branch... but they charge fees for anything you do at the branch, so whats the point....

On top of that, their website and general online system is something out of 1990s. Shit that hasn't been updated in forever.

Did I mention fees? fees fees fees. I walked into Chase a few years back because it was one of those rare times I needed a refill of personal checks. They told me the process for ordering online something something... $25 minimum fee or something and I laughed my ass off.... Seriously... a fee more than 10cents to give me literally paper with printed words/numbers on them.

Online banks are where its at. Even goldman sachs has Marcus online. Personally I got a bonus from Discover Bank and have been using it ever since. Has everything I could need.

I've been to Chase branches many many times with no fees. I've gone there even to get notary services because it's free for customers. Also never paid for checks (and have had new ones issued).

Granted, I also have online only banks for other stuff they're better for, but I don't get charged for anything I use Chase for either... at some point you gotta quit blaming the company.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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I've been to Chase branches many many times with no fees. I've gone there even to get notary services because it's free for customers. Also never paid for checks (and have had new ones issued).

Granted, I also have online only banks for other stuff they're better for, but I don't get charged for anything I use Chase for either... at some point you gotta quit blaming the company.

How much money do you have with Chase? They treat their investment level bankers much better, but obviously typically requires you keep a lot more money with them. I've also heard they treat folks who have mortgages better as well.

If you just have a standard checking/savings account, they will charge you for checks. They will charge you for stuff like a money order. They will charge you for pretty much anything that isn't depositing money into your account.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
Online banks are where its at. Even goldman sachs has Marcus online. Personally I got a bonus from Discover Bank and have been using it ever since. Has everything I could need.
I have a Goldman Sachs Marcus account, one of the highest APR's around. Don't remember a problem. AFAIK, never charges. I have ACH set up to my checking accounts, brokerage account.
 

Artorias

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
2,106
1,380
136