What about physical therapy for the elderly to help keep them strong and independent? There are so many new discoveries that just aren't being utilized. With your science background and ability to scrutinize information, I bet you could do well. Also, if I recall, you have an interest in neurology so maybe study ways to optimize that as well?

I do love painting. After it’s all done and I can sit back and admire it. 😄 Almost every home we’ve bought (a lot), have been dumps that we’ve (meaning me!) have fixed up. Painting is usually the easiest part, the end of the line. After four years, I’m almost done with this place. It was full of roaches, bed bugs, silver fish and was just disgusting overall. But good bones, great location, very low property taxes and really cheap. Score! I’m designing a van conversion project right now which I plan to do myself. It’ll be our hippy home on wheels!

I would sand first, wipe down, feel the edges of the dots to make sure they’re sanded down enough, and then prime. Start with a coarser grit sandpaper, maybe 80, very lightly sand and then try a 100-120 grit. If the coarser sand paper is leaving scratches, try a less coarse sandpaper like 100-120. After sanding, wipe away all of the dust. I also like to lightly run a tack cloth over the area right before painting to get the little bits that the initial wipe down missed.

Here in Illinois, CVS, Walgreen’s, Hy-Vee Pharmacies, Jewel/Osco and Walmart are beginning to offer the vaccines. Some will offer it sooner than others. https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/vaccination-location The CVS website has done a good job answering frequently asked questions: https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine Who will be administering the vaccines at these clinics? Pharmacists? Pharmacy technicians? Other health care providers? CVS Health immunizers may include pharmacists, pharmacy interns and trained pharmacy technicians, as well as other qualified health care professionals depending on the state's specific regulations. All CVS Health immunizers will be certified according to company regulations, trained in the administration of immunizations and hold an active CPR certification. Is CVS Health set up to be able to provide appropriate temperature-controlled storage of the vaccine, even if the approved vaccine requires extreme cold storage and cold-chain standards? Yes, CVS Health is able to appropriately store vaccines at the required temperature range. CVS Health already maintains standard refrigeration and freezing capabilities at every one of our nearly 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations, and we are putting in place essential logistics to maintain the cold chain, such as transporting vaccines in dry ice packs and ensuring facilities have appropriate freezer capacity.

I shall be walking around our local hospital every day now around dinnertime. Just in case I get lucky, I will also have cookies to entice the vaccine givers over to me.

I’m relaying my son’s opinion, but he believes they should not have halted the buying of GME. He’s been checking numbers and trying to figure out what’s going on and thinks they’re concerned with delivery. Regardless, I don't think a lawsuit will get too far with them either. True, ERISA does not protect the value of investments made but the standards are designed to prevent reckless investments which should help prevent losses from reckless investing. As a result of the standards, the fund managers tend to invest more conservatively. They have to follow rules and regulations and many are scrutinized by outside parties. My husband managed a retirement fund and said shorting stocks is not something that’s done. It’s extremely risky. I’m just saying this to ease posters’ fears about the possibility of someone shorting their retirement contributions. I think Bootsie is familiar with ERISA but for anyone who is curious, here is a short article that explains more about the funding of retirement plans as well as a brief summary of your rights. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/erisa.asp

If I were your key, I’d be hiding in someone’s luggage on my way to Hawaii. ETA: My kids when young used to love dropping anything down hvac floor vents. Maybe there?

Did you ever think you’d be so thrilled to get vaccinated for something? 😁

According to my son, who is a trader, they might try but are in murky water. It’s hard to say at this point what will happen. Robin Hood, otoh, is manipulating the market but will probably not be affected due to their affiliations with high frequency traders (HFTs) some of whom now sit on the board of the SEC. Other things are going on but we’ll have to wait to see what transpires. Pensions and 401Ks are very unlikely to be affected. ERISA protects participants’ investments and works well. This is likely to blow over but will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

The affected hedge funds almost certainly have their lawyers already looking into what can be done. SEC possibly, too. RobinHood might also be investigated. Hard to say how it will play out.

Pension funds began to die out largely as a result of unforeseen consequences of legal standards meant to protect participants.

Although J&J’s one-dose vaccine efficacy was not as high as Moderna’s or Pfizer’s after two doses, for some, the one dose might be fine and for others, two doses might do the trick. It seems their vaccine takes awhile to make antibodies. About 90% of participants had a good antibody response by one month out and at two months out, 100% had a good antibody response. For one dose, that response is pretty good. As for the new variants, some might need a booster. The companies are already tweaking the vaccines to do this and, iirc, at least one is in phase 1 trials. I believe Pfizer said it does not need to tweak theirs but not sure. Supposedly, the tweaks will be approved more quickly because enough is known about the vaccines already.

It’s very unlikely this will affect 401ks or pension funds. I’m not sure about the details of who’s doing what but I can ask my son, who is a trader at a market-making firm, to explain this weekend when I see him. He can look up all of the details immediately and is doing so when time permits. He is also being trained as a risk manager as well so I can ask him about that. He does not agree that they should have halted the buying of GameStop stocks yesterday. Trading halts and circuit breakers are unusual. In the past year, the market was halted for an hour several times. Last week or so, certain commodities went limit up and limit down, also unusual. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tradinghalt.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/limitdown.asp

I agree. I used to know some old-timers who bought and sold penny stocks when they were younger. One of them was an old lady named Rose who came here from Italy, learned about penny stocks and made a mint. She was a hoot even in her old age. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the key players behind this but they are definitely poking the bear.

I have family members who are traders and fund managers. Halting the legal buying of securities is questionable in this situation. The squeeze was put on Robinhood almost certainly. It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

George should be their spokesperson. Well, I guess he is now. 😄

Oh, yes, I can relate. LOL I told my boys after their cuts not to worry because they have curly hair and it’s okay if it looks chunky and uneven when wet. There were a few angry tears.

Haha! Hmmm. I dunno. The Flowbee makes very...unique...haircuts. Not quite like what George usually sports unless perhaps he went into hiding after using his. I see they have a version for pets now and reviewers either rave or rant about it. There’s not much middle ground.

The truth is, some of the big hedge fund managers wield a lot of clout and they can do things to people who irk them. Unjust things. If you want to read about some of the craziness, check out Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.

Haha. Oh, that would be a Flowbee. All of my victims might still be traumatized.

Des Plaines to me is ... Boston Fish Market. :: heavens part, angels sing:: I hope you have eaten there. Dang they're good! Now I’m going to have to get me some fish. 😄

Hedge fund bigwigs give a lot of money to politicians. I just hope the Reddit masterminds can remain safe.

Ugh is right. The rollout sure has been frustrating. I’m in Evanston, just north of Chicago, and heard we recently received a big batch of vaccines. Not sure exactly how many, though. I do know people in the burbs have been calling around and finding spots here and there for their elderly parents. It means driving all over to different towns but if that’s what it takes. I hope you, your dad and sister can get vaccinated soon. Crossing fingers for you.

The Manaus variant, P.1, is very similar to the SA variant but needs to be studied more thoroughly which researchers are doing. We will have to wait and see what happens. *** Pfizer/Biontech say their vaccine is slightly less effective but would still work against the UK and SA variants; however, they can and will tweak the vaccine if necessary. https://pfe-pfizercom-d8-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/2021-01/Preprint_UK_SA_Key_Mutations_Statement.pdf Consistent with recent reports of the neutralization of variant SARS-CoV-2 or corresponding pseudoviruses by convalescent or post-immunization sera,i,ii neutralization against the virus with the three key mutations present in the South African variant (E484K+N501Y+D614G) was slightly lower when compared to neutralization of virus containing the other mutations that were evaluated. However, the Companies [Pfizer and Biontech] believe the small differences in viral neutralization observed in these studies are unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech are encouraged by these early in vitro study findings and are currently evaluating the full set of mutations in the spike protein of the South African variant. While these findings do not indicate the need for a new vaccine to address the emerging variants, the Companies are prepared to respond if a variant of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates evidence of escaping immunity by the COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech will continue to monitor emerging SAR-CoV-2 strains and continue to conduct studies to monitor the vaccine’s real-world effectiveness. Pfizer and BioNTech believe that the flexibility of BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine platform is well suited to develop new vaccine variants if required. *** Moderna Finds COVID-19 Vaccine Still Protects Against Emerging Strains: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/25/960341384/moderna-finds-covid-19-vaccine-less-effective-against-variant-found-in-south-afr Moderna is already tweaking their vaccine so it will be more effective against the new variants. https://www.newsweek.com/dr-anthony-fauci-applauds-modernas-program-create-covid-19-booster-south-african-variant-1564215

It does! And J&J will be able to make A LOT. It might not get immediate approval, though. I don't know why. Did you get your shot yet, @MissLemon? Chicago is starting to give out vaccines at Walmart, Walgreen’s and a grocery/drugstore chain. They’re moving into the next phase. Yay!