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Official COVID-19 thread 2020


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#1 gotboostedvr6

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Posted 28 February 2020 - 09:55 PM

How long before the shutdown in China effects our ability to slot race?

Has COVID-19 effected your business?

I have five new projects that are on hold because factories are closed. The employees I've been communicating with reply to my messages quickly enough but they are responding from home.

I'm currently working to move two projects to Mexico and one to Canada with some success.

So far I've heard directly from Chinese sales people they are being paid a reduced rate to stay at home. They have great difficulty traveling even within their own cities.


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#2 Cheater

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Posted 28 February 2020 - 09:59 PM

Here's a really good non-political Coronavirus info site by Johns Hopkins.

Coronavirus global cases


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Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#3 bbr

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Posted 28 February 2020 - 10:15 PM

Went to Target, they ran out of hand sanitizer. Bought the last two bottles at CVS.

 

Be cautious, sanitizer your hands before touching your face.


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#4 Ramcatlarry

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Posted 28 February 2020 - 11:18 PM

Parts shipments are on hold/delay also.


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Larry D. Kelley, MA
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#5 Dave Crevie

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Posted 29 February 2020 - 09:28 AM

Just think, folks. If we had kept all those manufacturing jobs here at home, this wouldn't be an issue.


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#6 gatormark

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 06:20 AM

Isnt it great doing business with communists? Manufacturers here would rather send their widgets to China to be built with child slave labor to save a few bucks... we should be ashamed.


Mark Conner

#7 old & gray

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 08:38 AM

These are larger economic discussions which need to be considered when making manufacturing and purchasing decisions.
 
They are now global, instead of regional. Remember when factories left the rust belt for the south or when the thread mills left the northeast for the Carolinas?
 
Just think where slot racing would be if we hadn’t taken advantage of low cost, high volume manufacturing by Mabuchi.
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#8 Cheater

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 11:36 AM

This thread is headed toward a place I'd rather us not go here at Slotblog. Please get it back on topic.


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Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#9 old & gray

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 01:18 PM

My question is not about the social or political plan for the slot car supply chain.

 

My experience in industry is: lower cost comes from using products made in quantity; if not in their direct application then in an adapted use. A case I had, we needed a low cost compressor for an aerospace cooling system. A product search found an automotive unit which would serve the purpose. The problem was: our need for an 18 month contract was 30 units, but the manufacturer’s minimum order was 75 units.

 

My point is can the hobby be built around a specialty-built product in limited quantity or do we use something adapted from a volume supplier and suffer the variations in performance which are not critical to the original application?


Bob Schlain

#10 Cheater

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 02:25 PM

My point is can the hobby be built around a specialty-built product in limited quantity or do we use something adapted from a volume supplier and suffer the variations in performance which are not critical to the original application?


Your very question presumes there is an entity or entities actually planning a direction or directions for the model car racing hobby, industry, however you wish to label it. There has never been such an entity in slot racing and history indicates there will almost certainly never be one.

In fact, one of them most notable aspects of the slot racing genre over its history is an almost complete lack of cooperative planning and leadership focused on the health and growth of the overall hobby itself.
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Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#11 jimht

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 05:05 PM

Hey, Greg, speaking of topics you'd rather not discuss... sometimes there are other topics that have been beaten to death, like how it hasn't all worked out the way you would like.

 

LOL


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Jim Honeycutt

 

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#12 Matt Sheldon

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Posted 05 March 2020 - 05:20 PM

This thread is headed toward a place I'd rather us not go here at Slotblog. Please get it back on topic.

 

We're going to die, we're all going to die... LOL.


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#13 Phil Smith

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Posted 06 March 2020 - 06:10 PM

It's not much of a problem in Texas. And compared to influenza, not much of a problem anywhere.

 

As of early March, the coronavirus outbreak had infected more than 90,000 people and killed more than 3,000 people globally, the majority of whom live in China, where the illness was first detected in December. More than 100 people in the United States have been diagnosed, including at least nine people who have died.

By comparison, influenza — known as the common flu — has infected as many as 45 million Americans since October and killed as many as 46,000, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

https://www.washingt...flu-comparison/

 

It makes me wonder. Do we have a coronavirus epidemic, or a panic epidemic?

 


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#14 Sean Harrison

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Posted 06 March 2020 - 07:49 PM

Using your quoted figures, that makes the flu 0.1% of affected people dying, and Covid19 3% of affected people dying (though the numbers are rubbery by all admissions). With both viruses being transmitted in similar fashions and not all flus are reported beause people self disgnose and treat so flu cases are potentially higher and ergo death rate lower, Covid19 because of the "panic" most cases are potentially diganosed (but not all). As a result even if we rely on the stated figures as being absolute, Covid19 is 30 times more likely to be fatal, and since those fatalities are typically limited to aged, infirm and immuno compromised, that is even more alarming. So for people like me who are immuno compromised, it is scary. It alreadys takes me 3 months to recover from a flu or cold, Covid19 if not fatal, would probaly cause me to spend 12 months sidelined. I am rational though, I take sesnsible precautions, no public transport, wash hands regularly, stay away from public areas, very cautious when flying, no communal foods. Yes there are some really stupid things happening out there, but Covid19 has a potential R0 factor that is higher than many other viruses including the flu, so it is worth being cautious, but not panicky. The link below is a good examination of the situation.

https://seths.blog/2...hts-on-a-virus/
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#15 MattD

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Posted 06 March 2020 - 11:38 PM

It is a serious problem to the health of  Americans and the health of the world economy.    How it will compare to other similar virus' is yet to be seen, but the economic mess has already happened.    If this gets settled quick we may bounce back quick.    

 

There is also a great financial loss for events like the  NCAA basketball tournament and the Summer Olympics.      Just a lot of uncertainty and we should all be wary and cautious.    If your health is pretty good, you can probably weather an infection.   

 

We have added a little more food on storage to cut down trips we make out if it spreads in this area.  We seem to have little solid info to go by, I don't trust the info from China, Iran and  a few other countries.  Our government has censored all the gov't officials and won't let them  talk without clearing what they say with  the White House.. They make some claims it is contained and then others say it isn't, so who knows where it will end up.    It seems to spread more every day and if you can't see it, I don't see how you contain it.

 

I did hear some med people interviewed on TV and they say probably  when it's figured out, prevention will probably be part of the annual flu  shot.   I believe we are a smart enough group to  weather this without long term issues.    We are slot racers!

 

As much as we don't like imports, we are a global economy now and there is no turning back the clock on that.    We will never undo cell phones and the internet. 

 

Just to be safe, stay away from those cruise ships!   Feel sorry for those people. I was stuck on a cruise ship for 5 days on a regular cruise and that was enough for me!


Matt Bishop

 


#16 Phil Smith

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 01:05 AM

I googled for a list of past US epidemics. I find plenty on world epidemic history but not on the US. The epidemics during our lifetime: There's been plenty of scares. Did any of them actaully kill a bunch of people? I ask because I truly don't know.

 

Edit: I guess the swine flu did. As of mid-March 2010, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that about 59 million Americans contracted the H1N1 virus, 265,000 were hospitalized as a result, and 12,000 died


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#17 bbr

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 01:42 AM

Mainly older people are dying (us slot car racer should be concerned...)
 
Practice good hygiene. 
 
Don't touch your face if your hands are not sanitized.


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Mike Low
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Give me enough rope and I'll build a fast car... or hang myself?

#18 usadar

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 03:27 AM

Many slot car products are produced in China.
Retro Hawks motors are typical examples.
I hope there will be no negative effect on their supply.
Haruki Kan
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Where do we go from here: chaos or community?

#19 MSwiss

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 08:04 AM

It's not much of a problem in Texas.

 

???

The mayor of Austin canceled the SXSW event.


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Mike Swiss
 
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#20 Lou E

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 08:28 AM

Everyone regardless of age should be concerned about this, just as you should be concerned about the flu. Become a germophobe for the next couple of months and if you have a compromised immune system, or know someone who does, take extra care of yourself and them.

In my 20’s I never understood why people would line up for the flu shot at work, until I had the flu in my 30’s and was home for 5 days, 3 of which I needed help just getting to the bathroom. It knocked me on my *** to the point that I literally thought I was dying, even with my doctor assuring me I wasn’t. I hope to never be that sick again so now in my 40’s, I’m a lot more careful about what is around me that can make me sick.

The CDC has released pretty good info you can share with your family and coworkers.
https://www.cdc.gov/...factsheets.html
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#21 Phil Smith

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 10:37 AM

??????

The mayor of Austin canceled the SXSW event.

 

??????????
 

Maybe because bands/people come from all over the world to play/attend that?


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#22 MSwiss

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 10:42 AM

You said it's not much of a problem in Texas.

 

It brought in $356 million dollars last year.

 

That sounds like a problem to me.

 

Especially to all the small business owners that rely on that to make their year.


Mike Swiss
 
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#23 Phil Smith

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 11:59 AM

When I originally said it wasn't much of a problem in Texas I meant health-wise.


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#24 Phil Smith

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 12:12 PM

This is a great dashboard. You can zoom in and click the red dots to access info about that spot.
 
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases
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#25 Steve Deiters

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Posted 07 March 2020 - 12:30 PM

Oil of wintergreen. The slot racers solution for decades for almost everything.
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