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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years ago

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Okay so I wanted to make a seperate post about this because it’s got me like 🤔 but i didn’t wanna get too off topic with my answer. context? The wonderful @luxury-of-insanity asked me to take a look at a pic of Tyreen he took during the We are Mayhem trailer. Here is the screencap he took for reference (because it’s infinitely higher quality than any of the ones I would take aha)

The topic was Ty’s tattoos and I noticed something really, really interesting here that I didn’t pick up on from the cosplay guide (like they were deliberately not showing where her tattoos end)

her tattoos stop before her shirt

she is clipping thru her jacket a little bit here lol but the point is, that big tattoo bit just cuts off before it goes under her shirt. Just like Troy’s don’t go down his abdomen

Now as I understand it there are a couple reasons why this could be:

there is an awesome theory that Siren tattoos get bigger and more expansive the more powerful (and, usually, the older, im guessing) a Siren gets

Ty has unique tattoos like her brother, where they are different because they’re twins (? or something??)

Ty got her powers from a non-natural source- eg she isn’t a natural/normal Siren

The tattoos are fake and the source of her succ power is something else entirely

idk what the right answer is, but I'm gonna try to go through these 1 by 1. the first one has been talked about in depth a lot (on this blog) so i won’t be addressing it here, but the others i’ll try to talk more about!

minor commander lilith spoilers below the cut

so before we begin, i just want to point this out. All theories aside and looking at the facts: every Siren we know of at least has chest tattoos. Barring Angel, because we can’t see, every known Siren has tattoos that extend down her torso.

At the moment, Tyreen is super covered up. Unlike Troy, we never see anything except her arms/head/parts of her thigh. We don’t know if her tattoos extend beyond her shoulder/arm. Personally? I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t. Amara has her hip tattoos, but no leg tattoos, like Tyreen has no leg tattoos (you can see through the gaps in her pants)

it’s possible that Lilith is the exception (for any of the theories discussed) and the tattoos don’t normally extend down their left legs. We just don’t know for certain. I do think it’s interesting how covered up Ty is in general, considering every Siren we’ve met so far at the very least has shown off their chest/neck tattoos.

Ty has unique arm-only tattoos like her brother, where they are different because they’re twins

Sooo the unique arm-only tattoos one. Not really much to say about this tbh? We know Troy’s tattoos 100% do not go further down his abdomen.

Timeline wise, I really don’t think he gets the tattoos after Lily has her powers stolen, but I can’t say for certain.

If it’s the case that his tattoos are 100% based off Lilith’s powers then idk if Ty having only arm tattoos would make sense. Maybe it’s because they’re being filtered through her powers that he only gets arm tattoos and not full tattoos? Maybe bc they are twins, Ty’s powers got split in the womb (explaining the only-arm tattoos) or whatever and they needed other powers to awaken (or heal, cause apparently he’s sick- that could be the tattoos) Troy’s or some shit. idk, just spitballing here.

But yeah, looking at Troy’s tattoos and the way they don’t go down his abdomen, beyond his shoulder area, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ty’s don’t, either.

Moving on from that one mainly because I don’t have a lot to say due to lack of evidence/info on it lol

Ty got her powers from a non-natural source- eg she isn’t a natural/normal Siren

This theory i am a fan of and y’all know it lmao

There’s a bunch of ways this could have happened: they’re products of experimentation, maybe they met an alien that gave them the powers, it’s the product of a Vault (possibly the red Vault we see in the HBC).

For the first one, it’s possible it was a corporation, be it Maliwan/Atlas/Jakobs/Hyperion/etc. Maliwan and Atlas would be my first guesses, Atlas for reasons you guys already know and Maliwan because of their elemental focus (and for some reason being on Athenas/having Amara’s tattoos on a building in the Academic District?). Hyperion is also a strong contender because of their research with Angel, though I don’t know about this one... We know they’re under new ownership, and I can’t imagine Jack would’ve captured Lilith/been so protective of Angel if he knew he had another Siren. So I guess it’s possible they were created within the 7 years between bl2 and bl3... Jakobs I threw in cause they’re apparently having a hold on the story of Eden-6. Doubt it’s them, though. If it is i’m gonna be questioning everything i know lol

It could’ve also been Tannis, as we know she’s experimenting on Lilith and [Spoilers!] now has all of Jack’s research on Angel. I have been looking all throughout the Backburner but can’t figure out where she had been staying, so it’s possible she is staying somewhere off base until her and the other Crimson Raiders take to space. That would definitely give her some room to start some funky experiments. Though I am curious where she’d get the test subjects. Also, I just realized it’s possible she could set up a room like control core angel in order to capture the twins/Tyreen. I’ve seen it being discussed that she could also create the collar Jack made which has me like 👀. She could’ve also done her experiments between bl1 and bl2, which leaves her with 3ish years iirc. Though I don’t think she has a lot of info on Lilith before bl2.

It ALSO could’ve been a totally new outside force. Kinda would suck cause all the theories haha, but hey, it might happen.

Oh part 2. It could’ve been some alien bullshit giving Ty Siren powers (not that... siren powers AREN’T alien bullshit already, but you know what I mean). We still don’t know what the Seraphs are, yet we’re supposed to fear their return. Well we know they’re able to create the Seraph Guardians (that drop Seraph Crystals), so maybe those were them experimenting with creating their own version of Sirens? Or maybe a rogue Eridian/Guardian (a smart one like the Watcher) giving out Siren powers to offset the balance of the universe (6 Sirens) for some reason (war is coming? maybe it’s a civil war between the Eridians). Or some new type of alien. We’ve seen so many new flora/fauna in bl3, I wouldn’t be surprised if they introduced a new race of aliens as well. (in this context I mean alien like... intelligent ones. at least on the rank of human. probably more tho, let’s be real). I also am looking at those demon dragon looking things, idk they seem really unique and I’m super curious to see how they come to play in the story. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were a product of an experiment as well. They seem to be inside an Eridian temple tho (I will make a post on this later prob)

part 3. kind of a play off part 2 but whatever. The tattoos came from a Vault. we see in the HBC wall art that looks like the twins opening a red Vault. I think this may be propaganda art and that it’s just part of the believer’s stuff, like “join our cause and this will happen!” as it shows the twins with boxes of food and guns and shit, but it’s possible that they’ve already opened it. Maybe Tyreen wants to absorb the powers of the other Vault Monsters because she thinks that will help her Vault-gifted powers grow stronger. We know as outsiders that all the Vaults lead to a huge power (Hector and also the website used to say “Universe-destroying power”), so maybe that power is super strong Siren powers? (full body tattoos hell yeah) Or can only be opened by all the Siren powers as a failsafe and that’s why Ty absorbed Lily’s... idk lol

Okay and my favorite one of all of the options we have:

The tattoos are fake and the source of her succ power is something else entirely

so. okay hear me out. I know her tattoos look like they’re glowing under the surface, but they’re super ‘perfect’ looking compared to the other Siren tattoos we’ve seen. Could also be a reason they’re products of an experiment, maybe these two theories tie together. (lol) My friend (@bonelesspotter) also pointed out that it’s possible to use jellyfish to make cats glow in the dark. anyway. They also don’t seem to glow when she’s using her powers (which are black and red/orange instead of the normal purple/blue??) (also thank you for allowing me to see this @luxury-of-insanity)

I made a post about the tattoos being fake as sort of a joke, where they saw how Lilith had a cult as the Firehawk (Ty does tell us to thank Lily for the ‘Firehawk’ powers) and decided to masquerade as Siren(s?) in order to build their cult up.

and it is slowly, slowly, looking more and more like the truth the more we learn about Ty lmao

I am gonna posit the idea that it’s not her tattoos that give her powers, but some other sort of technology.

possibly? hidden inside her glove??? idk

idk it just seems to clunky and BIG

seriously, this thing is thicc, i could totally see some sort of drainage tech being hidden inside. I know Moxxi’s weapons have a lifesteal component, as do transfusion grenades, so it could be based off that. I point this out mainly bc Troy is a smart boy, it’s possible he built her something so they could pretend they were twin gods. Maybe his sword/mechanical arm will do something similar/give him his own set of ‘powers’? Or maybe those screws in his left arm could also do it, too.

idk, this is all me just speculating. I will not be surprised if she is an actual Siren, I just like being extra when it comes to theorycrafting. don’t have much to do for uhhh 90 more days, sooooo

i am also curious if her powers have something to do with the tablets with the crystals coming out of them considering her lifeforce suck makes statues with eridium-like crystals coming out of them

... maybe not. different shapes and all.

are they even the same ones as the ones on promethea?

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

i do think there’s something on that tablet(?) on eden-6 that we gotta uncover by breaking the purple crystals cause when moze does it she uses a special melee tool and breaking them doesn’t add anything to her inventory.

“let’s free you up”

but that’s getting wayyyy off topic. that’s all i got for tyreen today

byeeee

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #tyreen calypso #the calypso twins #commander lilith and the fight for sanctuary #spoilers i think

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meg2md · 6 years ago

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Wow I am v tired, as always. We just started our neuro block, we are 3 days in, and I am already drowning. For the first time we have a crap ton of mandatory classes which is ass but I guess the bright side is I can be really productive on campus! But I have to pack my lunch now which is annoying bc I am v poor after spending money to book AirBnBs for spring break in April

Anyway also I fucked up my knee bc it was hurting and then I ran a 5K on it, and now it is just PAIN whenever I walk/sit too long/stand/etc. Which is annoying bc I am feeling fat AF and I can’t exercise, and I stress ate tonight, and I ate a lot last weekend when my parents came to visit. But at least I saw my dog <3 I miss her so much. Miss Bella :(

My friends are all going thru rough times but I am so stressed and tired that it is hard for me to deal with so I noticed I’ve been shutting off a bit. I act normal around ppl but at home I am tired and fatigued and irritable. Hoping that and my overeating is PMS, it’s about that time

I’m worried about my bf because he really wants to go on a vacation before his residency starts, but I have to be in town for the 2 wks after school end for a research crash course (stats/study design/etc etc). And he needs to be in town ~1 wk before he starts to get settled... so it might not happen... even after I promised him we’d be able to. That’s before I knew how late our semester goes and that the 2 weeks was mandatory :( If I go out of town they might make me choose a different project with a different mentor but I REAALLLYYY like the one I have :( :( And the mentor is awesome with a really good track record for getting med students published. So like ahhh what do I do. I figure I won’t bring it up until he officially matches on 3/15 and I know his schedule haha :( And he’s been worried about me not prioritizing him and he’s been lonely back at school since his off-campus rotations ended and he’s back for his capstone. He doesn’t like his school or the area and doesn’t have many friends up there :( so things are just shitty for him and i feel bad especially bc this vacation news is going to make him really upset. Like he talked about this vacation thing MONTHS and MONTHS ago like before I started med school

lol

but this is the project I want :( and idk what to do. ugh i need guidance. I’m meeting with my AMWA mentor sometime and maybe she will have advice. I literally don’t know anyone else who can give me advice bc I am one of the oldest ones in my class (top 6% of the age bracket ayyyy) even tho I’m only 27. Almost all my friends are either too young to have to worry about long-term/long-distance relationships or are in non-LDRs. and idk I don’t want to talk to them about it anyway bc I don’t want them to just take my side bc they are my friends. I care about peter so much, and idk if there is some way to compromise. probably not but idk.

anyway

I’m trying to catch up on zanki (like I am literally every time I write a post) & go thru our pre-made BMB cards. it’s ass, i hate it, but i did this to myself when I got drunk last night and watched arrested development instead of doing anything productive lol

pretty sure i’m in the pms blues but damn i wish i wasnt & that my knee wasnt FUCKED so that i could exercise it off instead of stress eating

#medblr #studyblr #pms #ldr #advice #relationships

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flavorweight-blog · 6 years ago

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Become A WEIGHT TRAINING EXERCISE Lion

This may be the hardest article I've ever had to write, it really is the very first time I've admitted, that I might be getting older. ROB! Yes, we are receiving older but, remember the rest of the sentence...AND BETTER! Most of us remember Mufasa! The solid, brave, protecting, heroic lion from the Lion King. Make without doubt about it Mufasa was The King!! That's right just like Elvis (showing my age group). Mufasa died fighting heroically to safeguard his satisfaction now. I'm not saying it had been age group that was his undoing. BUT who knows, if he had changed his training strategy during the last few years-trained just a little smarter......probably he wouldn't have gone his battle in the gym and had even more in the tank on game time. Could the results have been different??? Ok! back again to real life or at least my edition of it. Tammy Renee my Mufasa (boss, greatest friend, blah blah blah) provides approached me more than once about writing an article designed to help the ageing athlete. That is right, us siblings in Iron are sportsmen. My thoughts were....why would I end up being asked by her? What perform I understand about aging athletes?? I train as i have always.......I'm a global champion! Hello there!! earth to rob..you're 51 years outdated!! You are a mature athlete!!!! WOW!! It dawned on me then ..the things I i did so all night take me forever to accomplish now...BUT that is clearly a different story. We can save that for a different content. GINA - Aging sportsmen? Oh my....Can't we come up with a more correct term politically? lol Rob, haven't you noticed 40 is the new 30, 50 is the new 40? I actually injured my shoulder winning the W.A.B.D.L. Masters Bench Press Globe Championship in 2005. I competed in Bodybuilding in 2006 coming in 4th place in the W.B.F.A Team USA vs the World competition. I thought that easily actually got my conditioning right down to a research and came in shredded I could do some harm in 07. I thought then...am I a bodybuilder really? Is normally that where my interest is? My pal, occasional training partner and incredible powerlifter Phil Davi was in the fitness center working out. He talked me into seeing what I got on the bench that day time. Now I hadn't benched weighty in a long time. To say my initiatives were sloppy would be an understatement. However I did so max out in the 455lb range somewhere. For those of you at home and especially us Mufasa types....PLEASE don't get a max out from the crystal clear blue and wonder why you obtain injured. Some people are slow learners just. Phil checked out the existing world records in the alphabet soup of powerlifting agencies and discovered with some schooling, I would be right there and perhaps able to break a global record or 2 in the bench press for my generation and weight course. I actually asked my good friend, fellow article writer, fitness model, fitness competitor, amount competitor, fitness center owner, fitness expert of the entire year, one of the hottest Mothers and hottest women on the planet........drum roll.......... Gina Ostarly what she thought which was her response: "I am 99.9 % sure you ALREADY 'know" the answer...so this is just a 2nd thumbs up...I think.....I always go with my interest....whats in my heart...sounds like yours is in power lifting....always has been...As long as your 2005 injury is healed and can not hinder you...go for the record! The only reason I've not made it back to fitness .....is because my body won't allow it all...We keep getting harm...hell getting old...haha...but, I have not given up....in the suggest time I will be the very best figure competitor I could be.... From the source want Gina how may i not listen. Okay...that I understand now, I am growing older let's implement a few of our fresh found knowledge, in my own quest to set the 50 to 54 age course 220 lb pounds class bench press world record. My recuperative skills are not what they were in the past. I've had to create this concession to age group already. So over-teaching is a large issue around babyboomers. I have been guilty of the especially, In my over zealousness to earn championships, break information, play soccer or what have you I want to go obtain it and throw caution to the wind just. Well, after a torn hamstring, torn bicep, ligament harm in both ankles, sore knees and over all everyday aches and pains. Training: Okay hear we go. People talk to me on a regular basis if I reside in the fitness center or how many hours a day time do I workout?? There is a period when I would train with weights 6 days weekly and do cardio 6 or seven days a week. that was a couple of years ago. The cardio part especially, that was more for sports activities than for appearances. once I used powerlifting I think my just cardio was operating from the couch to the refrigerator. (Gina) Rob, people talk to me the same issue or make the assumption, " all day long must be educated by you, everyday." Well, my secret is CONSISTENCY, as time passes. Its not really about how much you do "this week" or "this month" Getting and residing in form is a prolonged dedication. Its doesn't imply killing yourself all night in the gym, it about creating stability and living realistically. Training 2-3 days weekly CONSISTENTLY will yield a better result in a calendar year than somebody who works out everyday for a week skips 3, functions how hard direct for 3 weeks.....drops off the true face of the planet earth for 2 months....etc....You get my point. My teaching had remained the same for several years basically. Pushes on Mon & Wed - ie.. chest, shoulders, tri's & abs Pulls on Tues & Fri - ie.. back again, bi's and obliques Legs & lower back again on Wed & Sat - Wed will be more squat oriented . Sat will be more deadlift oriented Based on what We was training designed for my weights might vary but also for the the majority of part the scheme was the same. As I stated cardio was as required. EASILY was trying to accomplish something where I needed to move actually. I would run or play basketball. EASILY was training for something where movement wasn't a concern...believe me I wouldn't move. The heaviest I've ever weighed was 277 in 2003. Breathing was a problem, my ex said during the night I snored like a rhino in high temperature. When breathing becomes a nagging problem it may be time to go back to the drawing board. That is while you are still able to draw.....My blood pressure I'm sure was sky high....never had it checked. I was the epitome of the ostrich strategy. Keep my head in the sand and what I don't know won't harm me. Training Mufasa: Ok! For us old lions...what can be done? Get yourself a physical: That's right! First factor head to your Doctor get a complete check-up and make sure that finely tuned or at least soon to be finely tuned machine is ready to go. Shed a few pounds: For the majority of us that is probably the first plan of action. Help to make it less complicated on those muscle tissues and joints (not to mention your mate) and drop a few. In case you are still fighting trim you get yourself a gold star here but I'd like a notice from your own significant other, just in case you're filled with it. Do cardio: I've dropped from an average fat of approx. 265 to now even more in the 225lb range. My heart, my joints, my blood pressure and my puppy Hank (the rhino in heat noises musta taken there toll) are thankful. Although I significantly changed my diet to get right down to 215 for the BB contest. I have since been eating a complete lot more but daily cardio sessions have kept my weight down. Not to mention again the primary muscle, my center (yes I have one) is appreciative. So for all of us Mufasa's cardio is crucial. Listen to the body: Train together with your mind, not over it. No, that can be done over head presses still. Just use common sense in your workout routines. Pass feel whether it's there and you feel like lifting a little heavier go for it. If not. listen to your body. Cool off the heavier weights for a good work out or 2. Don't pressure it! Consider shorter rest periods and go just a little lighter. There are way's of keeping your workout strength without setting world or also personal records. Go for QUALITY not Volume, and yes Rob, always pay attention to your body! Great suggestions. There are therefore many variants of you skill when exercising. Hardly ever feel like you need to "force thru it." Dealing with the big headed attitude could have you pushing for the LAST TIME! Don't overtrain: As I mentioned earlier. I was and at times am still, a habitual overtrainer. This correlates with the above directly. Listen to the body. Over teaching at this stage of the overall game, is more detrimental than when we are younger. As a young child we can get away with a little more. Today all we're gonna obtain is a severe limp and some catabolism on top of that. Seriously, this is not a joke. DO NOT OVERTRAIN. For the majority of us, three resistance training sessions weekly should fill up the bill. Use the K.We.S.S. (keep it basic stupid) in your workouts. Work each muscle mass group once a week. Nutrition: Nourishment is up to 80% of the battle. Breakfast is either the most or second most important meal of the full day. Your post workout meal is definitely it's competition. Be sure to eat protein with each meal. Start your day a good hearty breakfast. This gets the machine which is certainly you in movement. Look at the body as a furnace, you should gasoline it to maintain it burning properly. Obtain it started very first thing each morning (breakfast) and maintain fueling it every 3 hours. Look at a fire, you don't throw all of the logs on simultaneously. Throw a log in at even intervals and it will burn efficiently. Throw them all in simultaneously (supper) and it'll smother and fail. Avoid the All-American meal program. The coffee is known by you and a doughnut for breakfast, more espresso and a Hostess cake off the roach trainer for break period. Deli sandwich, coke and a handbag of chips for lunch. Then devour what ever the heck you may get your hands on for dinner not to mention our 2 Vermont buddies Ben and Jerry or Krispy Kreme (right Gina??) before bed. Post workout beverage: This along with breakfast is very important. Your post workout drink should contain a quality protein drink with some simple carbs (dextrose). More hints You need to take advantage of the window of opportunity right here 30 to 45 min. after your exercise. You body is in an emergency state right here and is preparing to make use of these crucial nutrients. Glucosamine and chondroitin: This have already been a miracle treat for me. Remember they take up to 30 day's to get into your system and don't stop acquiring them once you start to experience better......or back to painsville!!! As you can see a little modification here and there and some common sense is all that is needed!! As Gina so aptly put it " we are getting older but remember all of those other sentence..... AND BETTER"

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picardonhealth · 4 years ago

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‘Who do masks protect: the wearer or other people?’

André Picard answers your questions on face masks and more

7345 Words

Thursday, July 02, 2020

The Globe and Mail

We’ve tried to provide answers to some of the most common (and occasionally obscure) questions.

Face masks

Navigate to a question: Who do masks protect? • How do I make a face mask at home? • Are masks with valves better? • Do face shields offer better protection? • Where do I buy a mask? • What do experts think about mandatory universal masking? • Why don’t governments provide masks for everyone?

Who do masks protect: the wearer or other people?

Masks principally protect other people, not the wearer. Coronavirus is spread by respiratory droplets from an infected person. If you wear a mask, you are less likely to spread the virus when you cough, sneeze or talk, and less likely to leave germs on surfaces. As the saying goes: “Your mask protects me, my mask protects you.”

How do I make a face mask at home? Has the Canadian government provided instructions?

Do-it-yourself cloth face masks can be made fairly simply. You don’t need to be a couturier. The Public Health Agency provides instructions for making three variety of masks: One that requires fabric and sewing; using an old T-shirt and no sewing; and a bandana-style mask.

Are masks with valves better?

While valves make a mask look more sophisticated, they are actually worse than a cloth mask. The filter – which often isn’t medical grade – filters air coming in but usually allows you to exhale unfiltered air. In other words, it doesn’t protect those around you. If you’re doing renovations and don’t want to breathe in sawdust, wear a filtered mask; if you’re going shopping, wear a cloth mask.

Because there are so many variations of homemade fabric masks, do face shields offer better protection?

There are advantages and disadvantages to face shields. They tend to be more comfortable, and are more easily cleaned, but are more expensive than masks. Shields also allow us to see a person’s facial expressions and lip movements, which is particularly important for people who are hearing-impaired. Cloth masks do not filter 100 per cent of the virus so, theoretically, a hard shield would be more effective. However, there is no definitive research demonstrating superiority. Like masks, face shields must be worn properly to be effective. A mask needs to cover the mouth and nose completely, and be snug. A shield needs to extend from the forehead to below the chin. And whatever face covering you use, it must be cleaned regularly.

Where do I buy a mask?

It is virtually impossible to go on social media and not be bombarded by advertisements for companies selling masks, everything from designer brands on down. Because you can’t try them on, you risk purchasing something that’s uncomfortable or ill-fitting. Masks can also be expensive - $25 or more for piece of cloth with an elastic. The DIY ones work just as well and, with some fiddling you can custom fit your mask(s).

What do experts think about mandatory universal masking in public places?

There is a growing scientific and political consensus that wearing a mask is desirable in health care settings, on public transit, grocery stores, restaurants, shopping centres and other crowded places with poor ventilation. Doing so is recommended by public health officials and, as the economy opens up, many stores are making face-covering a condition of entering. Masks are mandatory in 31 U.S. states and a number of European and Asian countries. So far, there is no indication the federal or provincial governments intend to make masks mandatory. It is seen more an act of civic engagement than a legal obligation.

How can masks be required when they just aren’t available and why does the government not provide masks for everyone?

Well, businesses can require you to wear shoes and a shirt, and they don’t have to provide those. Increasingly, masks are becoming a standard part of our wardrobe. We can expect workplaces to supply them to employees if they are mandatory. Governments are also getting in on the act. Alberta, for example, is going to make 20 million masks available free in a partnership with fast-food stores that have drive-thrus.

The second wave and reopening

Navigate to a question: When do nail salons open back up? • What is the expected source of the second wave?

When do nail salons open back up? When do churches reopen? (What guidelines are needed, what criteria must be met?)

Nail salons, hairdressers, barbers and other esthetic services are beginning to re-open in some provinces, but the exact timing varies widely across the country. The experience is likely going to be very different than pre-pandemic.

Obviously, maintaining a two-metre distance is impossible if you are getting your nails done or hair styled. So masks will be de rigeur, for employees and customers. Appointment times will be more precise to avoid congregation in waiting areas. Larger gatherings like church are a whole other matter. Most provinces still have rules and regulations that limit gathers to anywhere between five and 50 people, and they have to maintain physical distancing of two metres. So, in theory, a small religious service with congregants may be possible in the coming weeks but probably won’t be allowed until after summer. And remember, public health officials are looking to the fall with trepidation; if there is a second wave of Covid-19 infections, even smaller gathering will likely be off-limits again.

Now that housekeepers are allowed in our homes in Ontario, is it safe for a cleaner to come if she takes public transportation?

The over-arching philosophy of physical distancing is that you want to minimize your contact with other people �� especially those who interact with many others. Ideally, with your cleaner, whether they take the bus or not, you should try and get out of the house or isolate in one room.

What is the expected source of the second wave of the virus as we open things up?

The public health measures taken to date are designed to slow the spread of coronavirus and they are working. However, there are still an unknown number of people in the community who are infected. The more we open up the economy, the greater the risk of those people infecting others. The analogy that is often used is that there are embers in the forest and, with the right conditions, they could grow into a fire.

The fear is that, in the fall, when we start spending more time indoors, and the regular soup of respiratory viruses like colds and flu take hold, it will create ideal conditions for the coronavirus to spread widely again. Historians warn that, during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, the second wave was much more deadly than the first, in large part because people were more complacent.

Testing and coronavirus antibodies

Navigate to a question: Who can get tested and where? • Once you’ve had, are you immune? • When will we have a comprehensive testing strategy? • When will we see routine testing for antibodies?

Who can get tested? And where?

Most provinces have assessment and testing centres and some even have mobile clinics. (The locations are on public health websites, or you can call 811.) The rules about who can be tested differ a bit depending on which province you live in but, essentially, anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 can and should be tested. In the hardest hit provinces, Quebec and Ontario, there are also “targeted campaigns” in community hot spots, and among high-risk groups like frontline health care workers, residents of long-term care homes, shelter residents, jail guards and inmates, farm workers and some retail workers. While there are calls for “everyone” to be tested it’s worth remembering that current tests do a poor job of detecting asymptomatic cases (people who are infected but have few symptoms.)

Once you’ve had coronavirus, are you immune?

In theory, once a person is infected and recovers, they should develop antibodies that make them immune to reinfection. However, with coronavirus, there are many unanswered questions about how immunity develops, how strong it is and how long it lasts.

When can Canada expect to have a comprehensive antibody testing strategy?

Canada has created a COVID-19 Immunity Task Force to develop a testing strategy. One of the priorities will be trying to figure out how many people in the general population have actually been infected because, in theory, everyone without immunity is at risk of infection.

When can we expect to see routine testing of people for COVID-19 antibodies or the virus itself?

In some jurisdictions – for example in German schools – testing for coronavirus is are already being done broadly to try and ensure the infected are caught quickly. At this point, antibodies testing done largely to get a sense of how widely the virus has circulated in the community. But the technology is not good enough yet to, for example, grant ‘immunity passports’ to some knowing they will not be reinfected. (There are also legal/ethical issue with the passport approach.)

What is coronavirus?

Navigate to a question: What is coronavirus? • What are the symptoms? • Can someone without symptoms spread the virus?• Can you be infected more than once? • What is the coronavirus recovery rate? • When will we be able to say coronavirus is “over”?

What is coronavirus?

The new illness that emerged last December in China – officially called COVID-19 – is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. The coronavirus that is making global headlines, SARS-CoV-2, is “novel” because it has never been seen in humans, meaning everyone is susceptible to infection.

COVID-19 has a higher mortality rate than the flu: About 3.4 per cent by recent estimates, which is lower than SARS (10 per cent) but much higher than seasonal influenza (0.1 per cent).

On average, it takes about five days for people infected with COVID-19 to show symptoms, according to a U.S.-based team’s estimates published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The incubation period for SARS was much longer, about 10 days.

In recent years, we have seen two other novel coronaviruses emerge – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012. There are four other coronaviruses that circulate routinely – OC43, 229E, HKU1, NL63 – which generally cause colds.

How is it different from other viruses?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. The coronavirus that is making global headlines, SARS-CoV-2, is “novel” because it has never been seen in humans, meaning everyone is susceptible to infection. In recent years, we have seen two other novel coronaviruses emerge – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012. There are four other coronaviruses that circulate routinely – OC43, 229E, HKU1, NL63 – which generally cause colds.

What are the symptoms?

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 can cause an illness known as COVID-19. The symptoms include fever and dry cough.

Unlike a common cold, people with COVID-19 generally do not have a runny nose or a sore throat.

According to a large study in China, the vast majority of those infected with the novel coronavirus:

81 per cent of patients have mild symptoms

14 per cent of patients had severe symptoms, including trouble breathing

Just under 5 per cent of patients suffered critical illness, meaning they needed to be on a respirator

It is not yet clear how deadly COVID-19 is because many mild cases have likely gone undetected. The treatment is the same – you treat the symptoms with fever-reducing medication such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and bed rest. You should not treat fever with ASA-based painkillers such as Aspirin, especially in children. Antibiotics do not help; they only work for bacterial illnesses.

How long can an asymptomatic carrier spread the virus?

An asymptomatic carrier is someone who is infected with coronavirus but has no obvious symptoms. It’s not clear how long they are infectious, but likely 2-14 days, which is the incubation period for the virus. Remember though is that the sicker someone is, the more likely they are to spread the illness to others. An asymptomatic carrier can infect others, but there is far less virus in their body to shed. So, most important, is to avoid those who are sick and for sick people to stay home and out of the public.

What is the coronavirus recovery rate?

There are a couple of ways of answering that question. In Canada, a little under one per cent of people known to have been infected with coronavirus have died of COVID-19, so you can say that 99 per cent have survived. Of the roughly 90,000 confirmed cases, almost 50,000 have officially been declared “recovered” – meaning they have undergone treatment and/or isolation and no longer test positive for the virus. That’s a 55 per cent recovery rate. Beyond the statistics, it is important to remember that recovery varies tremendously. Some people have a mild illness and are fine afterwards, as if they had a cold. But a significant minority of those infected with coronavirus – even young, healthy people - have severe and long-lasting symptoms. Some may suffer permanent damage to their lungs, hearts and kidneys. Furthermore, it’s not clear why some patients get so much sicker than others.

When will we be able to say coronavirus is “over”?

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus to be a pandemic on March 15. At some point – and that could be a couple of years from now – it will be declared “over.” This happens essentially when a disease has run its course and there are only sporadic cases or no cases, or when the disease becomes endemic.

How does it spread?

Navigate to a question: Can you catch coronavirus from a fart • Where has coronavirus been reported? • Can you contract it Antarctica? • Is food delivery safe? • Is money a risk? • Do landlords have to inform tenants when there is a case of coronavirus in the building? • What is being done to trace/track where and how the disease is spreading?

Ontario’s data does not identify where cases are from - congregate vs. community settings. What is being done to trace/track where and how the disease is spreading?

You’re quite right, getting detailed data from some provinces (like Ontario) is like pulling teeth but, increasingly, researchers and the media are collecting and analyzing data independently. A recent Globe and Mail analysis found that 32 per cent of cases are currently occurring in congregate settings and the balance, 68 per cent, are happening in the community. Where exactly, we’re not sure, but it looks like they are mostly happening in low-income neighborhoods (where people tend to live in crowded conditions in high-rises that make physical distancing near-impossible) and in workplaces like warehouses and manufacturing plants where employees toil in close proximity. Ontario, to its credit, has now shifted its testing strategy to focus on these “hot zones.”

Do landlords have to inform tenants when there is a case of coronavirus in the building?

Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), landlords are allowed to ask tenants if they have an infectious disease like COVID-19. However, tenants have no obligation to disclose and, even if they do, the landlord must have explicit consent to disclose that information to others.

Can you catch coronavirus from a fart?

Who knew that six-year-old boys read The Globe and Mail?

The short answer is: No, it’s highly unlikely that coronavirus infection could be transmitted via flatulence. If you want to get more technical, while virus has been found in feces, shedding virus via droplets in a cough is much easier than via a fart, especially if you’re wearing a butt mask (read: underwear and pants). But here’s an interested related point: If you can smell ‘it,’ you are likely too close to someone to be respecting physical distancing rules, unless, of course, you dealt it.

Where has coronavirus been reported? How many cases are in each province, country and region?

The number of reported and confirmed cases changes rapidly. Consult the Globe’s guide to to provincial, national, and worldwide numbers for updates.

Each province and territory has a different website where they list how many cases they’ve detected or tests they’ve performed:

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

Newfoundland and Labrador

Can you contract coronavirus in Antarctica?

Oddly, several people have asked this question.

Coronavirus needs a human host, so it can spread person-to-person anywhere in the world. However, Antarctica has not permanent settlements; the only residents are in scientific bases so there is little opportunity for large gatherings.

Also implied in the question is whether coronavirus can spread where it’s cold. It can, in fact. Respiratory viruses spread more easily in winter conditions because people tend to huddle outdoors. But, so, far, Antarctica is the only continent where there are no COVID-19 cases.

I’m trying to stay inside but I need to eat. Is food delivery safe?

Coronavirus can live on surfaces, including the packaging used by food delivery surfaces but, again, the risk is relatively small. Some people wipe down the outer layer of packaging, like the pizza box.

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Companies such as Foodora and Door Dash are also experimenting with “contactless delivery” – where they leave your order at a set spot so you don’t interact with the delivery person (some apps allow you to send a photo of the precise location).

Remember that food-delivery people are low-wage workers who are being run off their feet during the pandemic. Tip generously.

Is money a risk?

Coronavirus is spread by droplets - the spittle when you cough. It can live on surfaces like money but, relatively speaking, the risk is low.

You should probably be more worried about all the germs left behind by people who punch the keys on the card reader. Use tap if you can. And, hopefully, the café wipes down its card reader regularly.

What can be done to stay safe?

Navigate to a question: Are public washrooms safe? • How can I protect myself? • I’ve close contact someone infected; what do I do? • Is expired hand sanitizer effective? • How often should I wash my hands? • Should I carry anti-bacterial wipes? • Should I be taking extra precaution around pregnant women? • Should I be stocking up?

Are public washrooms safe?

The safety of bathrooms depends largely on how well and how often they are cleaned. Bathrooms tend to have a lot of “high-touch” surfaces but the good news is that they are already designed to reduce disease spread – with handwashing and ventilation. But not all washrooms are created equal and public bathrooms are – how should we put this delicately? – not always known for being pristine. They are, however, essential, and probably more so now because of the importance of handwashing and because the old stand-bys, Tim Horton’s and McDonald’s, have social distancing restrictions. In other words, instead of debating the safety of public washrooms, we have to make accessibility and safety a priority.

How can I protect myself against the virus?

The best way to protect yourself against coronavirus infection is to follow the age-old advice of mothers around the world: Keep your fingers out of your mouth and nose, your hands off your face and cover your mouth when you cough. And, of course, wash your hands, frequently and thoroughly.

This is the single most effective way to stop the spread of disease

You can also practice physical distancing – keeping at least two metres from someone with a cough. The “Wuhan shake” (tapping feet) and the elbow bump are also displacing handshakes and cheek kisses.

What should I do if I had close contact with someone who has been infected?

If you have had close contact with someone who has been infected with coronavirus, public health officials urge you to limit your contact with others by self-isolating, and to get tested.

If you have symptoms (dry cough, fever, but not a runny nose or sneezing) and think you may be infected you should seek medical assistance. However, don’t go directly to the emergency room or a medical clinic, because you risk infecting others.

Call public health authorities by dialing 8-1-1 in most provinces (1-866-797-0000 in Ontario). Depending on the severity of your symptoms, they will send a nurse to your home to do testing, or an ambulance to bring you to hospital. The test is simple – a cotton swab in your nose, and the results will come back quickly. Several provinces are also creating testing facilities that will be off-site from hospitals.

There’s no hand sanitizer anywhere! I have a bottle from 2012—is it still effective?

There is nothing in sanitizer that can go bad, so it won’t harm you. The important ingredient is alcohol and it can lose its potency a bit over time. So old sanitizer is better than no sanitizer.

You can also easily make your own sanitizer with rubbing alcohol and aloe vera gel.

But avoid the expensive “essential oil” products. They may smell good, but don’t contain anything that kills viruses so they don’t work. Soap and water is still your best bet.

Small-batch distillers are using their alcohol to make disinfectant and sanitizer

How often should I wash my hands? Do I really need to wash them for 20 seconds?

There is no set number of times you should wash your hands. Rather, it depends on your activities.

You should wash your hands after:

blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing;

after using the bathroom;

before eating and cooking;

after cleaning around the house;

after social or work activities that include lots of interaction or touching of public surfaces (i.e. taking the subway);

after touching animals, including family pets;

before and after visiting or taking care of any sick friends or relatives.

The 20-second hand-washing rule is to ensure you have time to adequately scrub surfaces, and under the nails, where germs accumulate. There are many videos online that demonstrate proper technique.

A common trick is to sing a song while you wash your hands, to make it less tedious, like Happy Birthday or the chorus of Another Brick In The Wall.

Should I carry anti-bacterial wipes everywhere?

Wiping down surfaces is useful for minimizing the spread of germs. But coronavirus is a virus, not a bacterium, so you don’t need anti-bacterial products. Look for alcohol-based products. Baby wipes don’t contain alcohol. Neither do popular products such as Wet Ones. Lysol and Clorox wipes do contain alcohol.

Should I be taking extra precaution around pregnant women?

Pregnant women experience changes to their immune systems that can make them more susceptible to viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19. Women who have been infected with other coronaviruses, like SARS and MERS, have slightly higher rates of miscarriage and stillbirth. It is not clear if the fetus is at greater risk if a woman is infected with COVID-19 but it is established that high fevers during the first trimester of pregnancy can increase the risk of certain birth defects. There is no evidence that coronavirus can be transmitted via breast milk.

In short, it is always a good idea to not expose pregnant women (and other with compromised immune systems) to infectious illnesses, and this is especially true during flu (and coronavirus) season.

Is flying safe right now? When will we be able to travel internationally again?

Contrary to popular belief, flying itself is not that risky. There are few documented cases of passenger-to-passenger coronavirus infections. The air on planes is filtered, passengers sit facing forward with barriers (seat backs) between them, and don’t circulate that much. Most airlines have sharply increased cleaning and made masks mandatory. Some have stopped selling middle seats, and suspended food service, though those measures are unlikely to last.

Navigating the airport is the challenging part of the journey because you encounter a lot of people and, unlike your fellow passengers, they can’t easily be tracked down. Airports are re-jigging to try and minimize contacts between people but that won’t make travelling any more pleasant. For example, some airports have already removed seats at gates.

As for international travel, it’s still happening, but most airlines have dramatically cut back flights. For the most part, travel is not banned but it is strongly advised that you don’t travel unless it’s “essential” – which means different things to different people. Perhaps the biggest barrier to international travel is that you will be quarantined for two weeks most anywhere you travel, and that could put quite a crimp in your business trip or holiday. What we are seeing develop are travel “bubbles,” where you can travel between countries like Australia and New Zealand or Finland and Norway. A lot of people are going to be staying a lot closer to home for the foreseeable future.

Testing and coronavirus antibodies?

Navigate to a question: How long does the test for coronavirus take? • Can I know if I have the virus without being tested? • Why don’t we test everyone?

I got tested for coronavirus but I never got results. How long does it take?

The test is simple – a swab in the nose – and it takes only a few hours to get results, in theory. However, despite operating seven days a week, labs are slammed, especially as provinces try to ramp up testing dramatically.

While awaiting results you should act as if you are infected, meaning remain in isolation – no contact with other people. In most provinces, you will only get a call if you have positive test result, and it will come within 24-48 hours.

The “don’t call us, we’ll call you” approach is not ideal. Some provinces have established a “negative results line” to confirm your test is negative, but you have to wait at least 72 hours because the paperwork takes time.

Can I know if I have coronavirus without being tested?

If you are infected, you will likely develop symptoms such as dry cough, fever and shortness of breath, two to 14 days after exposure.

Public-health officials recommend that you call 811 (or 1-866-797-0000 in Ontario) where you will be asked some screening questions and told if you should be tested or not.

Keep in mind, however, that the testing guidelines are changing rapidly, especially now that tests are running low. 811 lines are overwhelmed. You may get a busy signal or wait hours for a call back.

Use self-assessment tools to avoid making unnecessary calls. Some provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, have online self-assessments to help you determine your next steps.

Depending on your answers to a series of questions, these assessments can tell you whether you require emergency medical care (this is only if you experience any of the following: severe difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, a very difficult time waking up, confusion, loss of consciousness).

Online self-assessments tool can also tell you whether to call 811 (or 1-866-797-0000 in Ontario, 1-888-315-9257 in Manitoba, 867-975-5771 in Nunavut) and wait until someone is available to answer, or whether you need to be tested at all.

I think I have symptoms of COVID-19. What should I do?

If you have symptoms such as serious shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion, the inability to be aroused, or bluish lips or face (signs of oxygen deprivation), you should call 911 immediately.

Emergency numbers to call:

Here are the local numbers for public-health authorities across Canada.

British Columbia: 811

Alberta: 811

Saskatchewan: 811

Manitoba: 1-888-315-9257

Ontario: 1-866-797-0000

Quebec: 811

New Brunswick: 811

Nova Scotia: 811

Prince Edward Island: 811

Newfoundland and Labrador: 811 or 1-888-709-2929

Nunavut: 867-975-5771

Northwest Territories: 911

Yukon: 811

Why don’t we just test everyone?

Two reasons: We don’t have an unlimited number of tests or laboratory capacity, and secondly the test is not effective in people who don’t have symptoms. For now, public-health officials are concentrating on testing those at greatest risk of suffering harm, people with symptoms, especially if they are in high-risk groups such as the frail elderly or those with chronic health conditions.

How does coronavirus affect children?

Navigate to a question: What do I tell my kids? • Can I arrange playdates? • My kids are home: how do I keep them busy? • Can I drop my child off at daycare? • Are kids immune? Are they carriers?

My children are asking about coronavirus. What should I tell them?

The virus can be scary or confusing for young children, so it’s important to keep it simple.

Explain to them that the coronavirus is a germ, and because it is a new germ people are trying to learn more about it and are taking it seriously.

Let them know what the symptoms are and what to look out for: coughing, fevers and breathing trouble.

Explain that children are less vulnerable to the virus, but they still can get it – so the best thing they can do to is to wash their hands properly.

Finally, tell them that anyone can get the coronavirus. It has nothing to do with a person’s background or what they look like.

With school out, my kids are going stir crazy. Can I arrange playdates?

Sorry beleaguered parents, your snotty, noisy housemates may be distracting, especially if you’re working from home, but that’s still a hard no. Children are very hands-on when they play. You have to do the physical distancing for them. Obviously, if you have more than one child they will interact, but minimize contact with the outside world.

So how can I keep my kids entertained? Can I take them to the park?

If you are physical distancing but not in isolation, you can go outside. A visit to the park might be okay, put keep your kid away from other kids. And be aware that a lot of germs accumulate on playground equipment.

Globe staff compiled suggestions for keeping kids busy. They include:

For kids 4-9: Implement school structure as much as possible, with outdoor time, free choice (playdough, drawing, Lego), homework, and inevitable screen time. Create obstacle course. Pull out “old” digital cameras, and give kids a scavenger hunt (a list of photos to shoot).

For kids 10-15: Baking or learning how to make an easy meal or two from a recipe. Check the free online resources of your local public library, and use your library card to register for Kanopy or Hoopla. Start a family jigsaw puzzle.

What experts say:

Create some structure to your day, with an hour of quiet time and time for physical activity

Ask your children to put together a performance (play or dance routine)

Create assignments (like planning future road trips or meal planning)

Families turn to schedules to maintain children’s routines during coronavirus outbreak

This photo scavenger hunt is helping keep kids active and engaged while schools are closed

Obviously, it’s hard to work in these circumstances so you have to make alternative work arrangements. (Telecommuting is also physical distancing measure.) In some countries, child care has been provided for parents who work in essential services.

Kim Brooks: To take care of children during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents must take care of themselves

Can I drop my child off at daycare?

This is a tough one because the recommendations are all over the map. Some provinces have closed daycares, some have closed only public daycare and some not at all. Also, families who work in essential services need daycare. If a child is going to be in care, the groups should be kept as small as possible and the children should be monitored closely (taking their temperature at least a couple of times a day).

Are children immune? Are they carriers and do they put people with compromised immune systems at risk?

Children do not seem to be getting seriously ill from coronavirus; however, that doesn’t mean they are immune – in Calgary, a child at a daycare centre tested positive for COVID-19. When children do get sick, they’ve generally experienced mild, cold-like symptoms, according to public health officials.

However, children are likely carriers and, as such, could put people with compromised immune systems at risk.

How do I care for my children during a new coronavirus outbreak?

What about older or immuno-compromised people?

Navigate to a question: Can I visit my elderly parents at home? • I’m young and immuno-compromised. Should I stay inside? • I’m 75 and healthy • My mom is 75. How do I keep her safe?

Can I visit my elderly parents at home?

No. It is also recommended that people older than 70, even if living independently, self-isolate. Visitors should be kept to a strict minimum, for example delivering food and medicine. It is, however, important to stay in touch – but by phone, Skype and other means.

I’m 34 and immuno-compromised. Should I just not leave the house?

Individuals have to make personal choices based on their own risk tolerance. But people who are immune-compromised – because of chronic illnesses, medical treatments or medications – are at much greater risk of both contracting and suffering more severe symptoms from infections, including COVID-19. Aggressive physical distancing is wise and total isolation probably a good idea, if you can tolerate it.

My mom is 75 and lives alone. She insists on going shopping even though it’s recommended that people over 70 not leave the house. How can I keep her safe?

Some people will not heed the public health pleas to practice physical distancing. If that is the case, like your mom, try and preach harm reduction. If she’s going to shop do it when the risk is lesser, when stores are less crowded – morning rather than just before dinner. Some stores, like Shopper’s Drug Mart, have set aside special hours for high-risk people, such as seniors. Finally, there are a lot of Good Samaritans offering to shop for their cooped-up neighbors, and maybe your mom would accept one of those offers.

How is coronavirus treated?

Navigate to a question: How is coronavirus treated? • Why is quarantine set at 14 days? • Can it be cured with chloroquine? • What’s the state of a vaccine? • Will the coronavirus vaccine be mandatory?

How is coronavirus treated?

There is no specific treatment for COVID-19. Only the symptoms can be treated. If you have mild symptoms such as a cough and fever, then you need rest, plenty of fluids and maybe Bubbe’s chicken soup. Fever can be treated with medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or NSAIDs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), but you should not treat fever with ASA-based painkillers such as Aspirin, especially in children. The French health minister (who is also doctor) has said that NSAIDs can worsen symptoms but, according to pharmacologist Dr. David Juurlink that claim “is not based on very much.”

Antibiotics do not help; they only work for bacterial illnesses. There are no licensed antivirals for COVID-19 but one drug, Remdesivir, is being studied and used experimentally. In more serious cases, COVID-19 patients may develop pneumonia (inflammation or fluid build-up in the lungs) and a physician may prescribe steroids. In the most severe cases, people can develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and require breathing support, a ventilator or ECMO (extracorporeal machine oxygenation). ARDS is what kills.

Why is quarantine set at 14 days?

That numbers is based on the incubation period of the virus – the time between catching the virus and beginning to have symptoms of the disease. Most estimates of the incubation period for COVID-19 range from one to 14 days, most commonly around five. In other words, if you don’t have symptoms in that two-week period, it’s highly unlikely you have COVID-19.

Can coronavirus be cured with chloroquine?

There reports of COVID-19 being treated successfully with the anti-malaria drug chloroquine as well as with the HIV drug combo lopinavir/ritonavir (sold under the brand name Kaletra).

But anecdote is not evidence and we should always be leery of people who claim to have miracle cures, especially when their “evidence” is published in the tabloid Daily Mail and not a reputable scientific journal.

What’s the state of a vaccine for the disease?

Developing a vaccine is one of the top priorities in the coronavirus response. However, creating a vaccine is a complex, time-consuming process. There are currently no coronavirus vaccines (efforts to create vaccines against SARS and MERS have stalled) so, best-case scenario, is that a vaccine will take at least 18-24 months to be on the market.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it would take at least a year to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and at least 18 months before it would become “deployable.”

In other words, while multiple companies have vaccine candidates under study, a vaccine is not going to stop the pandemic spread of the disease – a least not in 2020. The best approach in the short-term is tried and true public health measures to try and limit spread and developing better treatments for those who are sick. One drug, remdesivir, has shown promise against other coronaviruses and, anecdotally, has worked well for some COVID-19 patients. Drug-maker Gilead is ramping up testing.

Will the coronavirus vaccine be mandatory?

A vaccine is a long way off – probably a year or two if scientists are able to develop one so there is a lot of time to have this discussion/debate. In Canada, there are no vaccines that are universally mandatory and that is unlikely to change. However, vaccines are sometimes obligatory in congregate settings like schools and nursing homes and that’s likely to be the case with coronavirus vaccine.

A glossary of coronavirus terms

Common terms: Physical distancing • Temporal distancing • Self-isolation • Self-monitoring • Flattening the curve • Community spread • Pandemic • Endemic • Social “bubbles”

What is physical distancing?

Stated simply, physical distancing means maintaining a distance between you and other people – one metre to two metres – and minimizing contact with people. In other words, assume everyone around you could be infected.

The rules on physical isolation are changing. André Picard has the answers to your latest questions

What is temporal distancing?

Physical distancing – keeping two metres apart – is now a part of our daily lexicon. Temporal distancing means spreading out contact over time rather than space. For example, a school could have half its students attend in the morning and the other half in the afternoon or in an office, instead of everyone working 9 to 5, half could work 7 to 2 and the rest 2 to 9.

What is a family “bubble”?

For a couple of months now, people have been urged to stay at home, with only their immediate family contacts. Some jurisdictions, as they loosen restrictions, have urged the creation of “bubbles” – expanding your social circle to include another family, like your sister’s or your neighbor’s. That way you can see more people, but always see the same ones, minimizing your risk of infection. For the most part, there are no precise numerical rules but the guiding principle is always the same, to try and minimize your social contacts.

What does self-isolation mean?

Self-isolation requires you to stay at home, monitor for symptoms, and avoid contact with other people for 14 days, according to the Government of Canada website.

Expectations for those who are self-isolating include:

Staying home from work and school;

Avoiding public transportation;

Arranging to have supplies, such as groceries, dropped off at their doors;

Especially avoiding elderly people and anyone with compromised immune systems or chronic conditions;

Keeping any unavoidable interactions with other people brief, maintaining at least two metres’ distance from them and wearing a mask.

Advice for

enhanced hygiene measures

for those self-isolating at home include:

frequent hand-washing, avoid touching their faces;

coughing and sneezing only into the bend of their arm;

and disinfecting surfaces at least once daily.

Those in self-isolation are advised to get lots of rest and eat a balanced diet. They are to monitor themselves for symptoms and immediately get in touch with their health-care provider or with public-health authorities if those symptoms worsen.

And some tips to maintain your health and wellness:

Give your days some structure: Shower and put on jeans, says Lia Grainger. If you work from home, make a separate space for work. Try meditation.

Don’t just binge Netflix; lift a little: Paul Landini suggests body-weight exercises, or skipping rope to get in some cardio.

When you do need a break, try one of these 10 books that offer lessons from past pandemics or consult Barry Hertz’s guide to the best Canadian streaming options.

What is self-monitoring?

According to the Government of Canada website, self-monitoring is for people who do not have symptoms but have possible exposure to someone with COVID-19 in the last 14 days. Self-monitoring means to monitor for one or more symptoms, but to go about your normal day while increasing space from others and avoiding crowded places.

What does “flattening the curve” mean?

When diseases reach uninfected populations, a graph of the new infections will generally follow a curve: Infections rise, then peak, then fall.

Officials talk about “flattening the curve,” or preventing the peak infections from exceeding their health systems’ ability to handle them.

Who’s ‘flattening the curve’ on the coronavirus, and who isn’t? A global graphic comparison

What is community How does it spread??

Community spread is when a sick person transmits the coronavirus to someone in the community. Community spread is more problematic than “imported” cases – meaning a traveller contracted the illness in another country and returned home sick – because cases can multiply quickly.

What is a pandemic?

On March 11, the World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared coronavirus a pandemic, by which point the coronavirus was in more than 110 countries.

The WHO says the new coronavirus is a pandemic. Here’s what that means

When the WHO last revised its guidelines for pandemics, it didn’t include a single, quotable definition of what a pandemic is. Instead, it described six phases from initial infections to pandemic, each giving national health authorities advice about what to do as the urgency increased:

Later revisions to the influenza guidelines simplified and blended these stages. First there’s an interpandemic phase between outbreaks of a disease; then an alert phase, when a new disease type is observed in humans; then a pandemic phase, when the disease has spread globally; and finally a transition phase, when the global risk subsides. WHO risk-management documents acknowledge that the situation can quickly change between the stages.

Ultimately, the declaration of a pandemic is up to the WHO director-general.

What does endemic mean?

An “endemic” disease is one that is present in the community at all times but in relatively low frequency. For example, chicken pox is endemic, but very few people are infected (and they are almost all unvaccinated). Coronavirus could, theoretically, because endemic, just hang around like a number of other less harmful coronaviruses.

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Content Marketing & Content Creation

Content Marketing & Content Creation is the procedure of developing helpful, useful posts to draw, purchase, and take part your target market. customers and Buyers presently are overloaded by a great deal more marketing and advertising signals than any other time-even more than 2,900 daily, by existing estimations. This creates an setting of recognition lack, daunting advertisers together with the project of making getting subject matter that will not get lost inside the stationary. A properly-crafted articles web marketing strategy destinations your corporation during the spot associated with a believed leader, generating brand desire because you educate and instruct shoppers. Rendering very helpful and amusing content can type a solid bond between brand and customers that carries on to strengthen and grow with time.

Historically, vendors have experienced to “rent attention” off their people’s marketing by means of screen ads on webpages, booths at industry events, or messages transferred to 3 rd-person records. To illustrate, anytime a trademark makes sense out huge amounts of money to get a Really Bowl advert, they are simply getting the eye which the Television for computer marketing networks have established. Article content internet marketing, however, provides sellers being web publishers by building ones own audiences and appealing to their own individual focus. Marketers increase their brand awareness and preference by establishing a relationship of trust with consumers as they move through the sales funnel, by distributing and creating content that buyers find useful. At the same time, material marketing and advertising is known a less costly tactic than some other individuals. It could have somewhat of a slower beginning despite the fact that your articles library reaches and grows a greater target market.

Immediately, 41Per cent of B2B internet marketers target website content associated with the selecting trip of an buyer, yet still many organisations fail to yield custom made written content specializing in each one period of a selecting spiral. Custom made online messaging does not just imply directed at by demographic or filmographic standards, it implies proactively producing information that has been ideal for every time of a buyer’s path. Eighty-five percent of clients have faith in techniques that make time to walk around the block them by way of diverse ways towards steps as opposed to just attempting make that option for them. This particular information exhibits buyers which you acknowledge and importance remarkable ability to make and evaluate judgments on their own.

“Successful information entrepreneurs strike all steps of this shopper pursuit-from beginning to end. Most brands are severely well over-weighted towards the bottom belonging to the funnel. And so they pass up enormous opportunities to encounter new clients at the point of will need.”

- MichaelCEO and Brenner, Advertising Insider Crew

Frequent conditions that information promotion can clear up

Material promotional is really a definitely completely unique strategy for captivating with potential prospects that circumvents a number today’s major painfulness areas, specifically in the digital spot.

•Concern: I need to raise the volume of my all-natural explore. If they can’t find you, and today up to 93% of buying cycles start from a search engine, your audience can’t buy from you. Additionally, according to Kuno Creative, 51% of content consumption derives from organic search, so content marketing is a great way to build organic awareness. Whenever your helpful material rates very on major search engines, or perhaps shared broadly on social networks, you’re building make knowledge at no cost, and because your content will only be shared when it is important, your listeners can be a smaller amount inclined to tune it all out.

•Difficulty: I have to generate company personal preference. Engaging content marketing creates desire thru figured leadership by developing you a trustworthy origin of education and information. You can even make taste via relationships, that happen to be strengthened once your content material entertains or supports your shoppers. Men and women will probably buy from companies with that they provide interactions.

•Condition: It’s not engaging my customers, even though i have a content marketing plan. Material internet marketing will support your prospects, not sell to them. As soon as you widely give your audience one thing so important that they’d be willing to buy it, you establish believe in, which, actually, is usually the strongest marketing technique.

•Dilemma: I need to reach additional purchasers, while keeping my bills lowered. According to Forrester research, today’s customers distrust and resent marketing that interrupts or intercepts them. Engaging content material marketing and advertising have to be portion of a healthy talking with potential and current purchasers, be highly relevant to their pursuits and behaviors, and build a continual experience eventually. Content material promoting makes sense benefits for a very long time, and that effect increases since you create out your website content catalogue.

•Condition: I’m unsure methods to indicate the roi (Return) of my content and articles marketing plan. In most cases, website content promoting will help to enhance on-line traffic, help lead qualification (specially when content articles are created by time), and, actually, contribute sales into product sales.

Now you know what trouble articles selling can clear up, learn about the issues to prevent yourself from when starting your posts advertising and marketing organize inside our information 8 Number one Mistakes Website content Sellers Make and the way Prevent Them.

Elements of content and articles advertising and marketing

In order to do it right, you’ll need to determine what type of content your potential buyers prefer to consume, content marketing can take various forms, and.

•Blog articles. Distill your posts marketing strategy towards your webpage time frame or strategy. The manufacturer weblog should and can be utilized to go across-publicize other material, that will help retain articles for the constant schedule. For those who never get a internet marketing teams new member that is informed about search marketing (Seo optimisation), this really is one area wherever you might like to speak with a reliable.

•Books. E-book information have to implement some type of narrative format, and can include a lot of great, vision develop. The goal of an ebook is to educate, but it’s important to keep language consistent with your brand voice.

•Video clip. The secret to successfully by means of video as an element of a content approach is maintaining it stunning as they possibly can therefore you aren’t compelled to continuously pay money and time building alot more. Big-top quality video clip written content may also be used to show your manufacturer to YouTube’s large and active clients.

•Infographics. Use very little sms as is feasible and enable the images see the storyplot. If you don’t have a killer in-house graphics artist, find a talented freelancer who can make something beautiful and informative.

•Cheat linens. These are definitely shorter-a few pages at most. It means there won’t be numerous bedroom for big illustrations, so you’ll desire to use text formatting to make them possible for a readers to rather quickly scan because of. Connect or examine other resources for far more in-depth knowing.

templates and •Workbooks. These means are efficient ways to keep make before purchasers even though continuous to inform. They ought to be meant for print and produced as interactive and practical as feasible.

•Whitened papers and reports. White papers and reports are generally less graphically designed and use language that is a little more professional, even though these materials are similar to an ebook in that they are primarily educational. They could also generate chances to boyfriend or girlfriend for some other institutions.

•Slip decks. Slide decks are a wonderful formatting for deteriorating challenging guidelines into easy steps or chew-size pieces. Maintain your slides very simple: Use marginal word a single font and big illustrations through.

•Case experiments. Develop scenario research studies with tremendous statistics and finished reports. This will aid retain the articles focused entirely on the results and value, not the logo.

•Demos. This is where a freeassessment and evaluation, or trial works nicely to start the dialogue and to begin to fully qualify your most interested leads. You can leverage a discount code to use at the time of the transaction to establish some urgency around making the purchase if you have an e-commerce-based product.

•Syndication routes.

•Possessed: Spreading your posts at the brand’s individual social media marketing routes-like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter or Pinterest-is usually a swift, tailor-made, and 100 % free chance to make contact with your market.

•All natural: Weaving some Search engine optimizing perfect methods into the content and articles helps have a fine feeling with Search engines like google and move your site within the ranks number. The potency of a really good information internet marketing strategy is providing the information and answers that projected audience is looking for, so make sure they will discover it.

•Paid back: Most social networks permit some sort of paid back promoting and advertising, which includes subsidized material, pay out-in each-then click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEM), present, and retargeting. Harmonizing a network’s demographics together with your brand’s personas will assist you to ascertain the best place to put in.

•Won: This is the most valuable, but hardest to create. Acquired social network marketing and advertising happens when your target audience decides to express your articles together with their community.

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love-rock-blog1 · 6 years ago

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Your Market Research Questions Answered

Have you ever felt overwhelmed or confused when you are trying to do market research for a new campaign. I know I have. I have went thru several programs on doing internet research, and they all seem pretty easy. The problem that I hear from most people having problems with this important task is that they don't know what they are looking for, or how to use the information that they find. I find this to be true, and sometimes when I'm done doing all of my investigative work, I feel like I am just walking thru the motions and still don't have enough information about my competition or target markets. There were a lot of questions without answers...

Market research Market research is any organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. In a sense, You are investigating for 2 things. The crowd of people that are already spending money on offers that are similar to yours. You are also trying to help those people solve a problem, and get very specific on what your customer avatar will look like. Today, I am going to cover some of the big questions people have when it comes to market research. To make this even more valuable, I am including some questions that you should be asking. When Doing research, it's easy to get on google or some of these other sites like semrush and similarweb.com and see what other businesses like yours are doing. This is only a small part of why you want to do your research. There are several reason you want to do a good job when doing your research. If you know the reasons why, then it makes it more fun and productive when doing it. The top 5 reasons that I want to point out for doing market research include: To see what you competition is doing. To see what groups of people are buying already. To see what your individual customer avatars look like. Get great insights for demographics and psychographics. To Help you gather the correct information to position you as a better choice than your competition. Find out if you can make any offers or premiums that people are wanting but can't find. Knowing why you are doing the research is probably just as important as the research itself. If you are not clear on why you are looking for something, it may be harder to find... and you will be less motivated to keep looking. Trust me. I've been there... Because when you have your reasons for looking and you know the benefits, you will be more motivated to keep looking and may even spend some money on your search because you will see the value in the returns it will bring... That being said, Here are some questions that you may have regarding your marketing research, and some questions that you may need to be asking. Things like: What am I suppose to be looking for when doing market research? What information am I looking for? Why am I looking for the information that I am looking for, what is it helping me with? How can I use this information to give me a competitive advantage over my competitors? Who is the people that I should be Serving with my offer? What do they Look Like? What problems or pains do they have? How do they currently feel? What are the Benefits of my services to them? How will they feel after they make a purchase What is the typical buying process for products or services like mine? What groups of people are already buying these products or services? Where do the groups of people that are already buying my stuff spend their time and money? Who are my Competitors? What are their Strengths and Weaknesses? How Can I position my Company as a Better option for what they are looking for? How can I justify my Pricing compared to other products? Now, this is my short list, and we could add plenty more, but for the sake of trying to make this quick and easy, this is a good start. Now, lets dissect these questions one by one.... What are you looking for when you are doing market research?

The first thing you want to look for is that there is a market or group of people that are already using or buying what you have to offer. If there isn't a large group of people already buying it, you will have an even more uphill battle trying to design marketing and sales campaigns. It is always easier to win over a customer than it is to educate and get a large group of people up to speed on what it is that you do, and why they should by something they have never bought before. If you do have a product like this, I'm not saying it is impossible, I'm saying you will have more work on the marketing and sales side, and you will also be running more tests to see what will work. What information am I looking for? There are 3 things you will be looking for when performing Market Research. The main thing is like we were just discussing, you want to make sure there is a large group of people already buying. After you confirm this, you want to get really freaky and get very descriptive about the people. If you can actually go out in public, and talk with them, shake their hands, that is even better. This will give you valuable insight when you start to design your customer avatars and structure your Copy for your ads, your lead pages, sales pages, emails and other communications so the prospects feel as if you are talking directly to them. Second thing, You will also be looking for your competition. What makes you and your company better than the rest. You want to get enough information to design and construct your USP, unique selling proposition, an/or their value statements. Once you get enough of this information, you will want to start crafting your Main Message in a very short, descriptive and laser focused way that crushes your competition. The 3rd thing you will be looking for is how the competition is communicating already with your market. What ads are they using? Get on a Mailing list and study their offers. Research their websites and see what back-links they have and where is their traffic coming from. Why Am I looking for the information that I am Looking for, what is it helping me with? Well, If you made it this far, I hope you are starting to see the picture...

You are looking for the information for insight.

You need to have insight to make good choices. Its called Wisdom. You are looking for this information for wisdom to design a business that will already have a market to serve. This helps you avoid mistakes and wasting time and money on doing the wrong things. The problem with some people/entrepreneurs is they design a business around a product or service that they think people need. Then when they can't find clients or make sales, they wonder why their product or service don't work. Do you research, the right way. Gain Insight. Acquire Knowledge. Plan your campaigns strategically and not blindly. How can I use this information to give me a competitive advantage over my competitors? When you gain the knowledge of where your market is, what they are doing, and what your competition is doing, and what their offers are.. You are in a Great position. You will know what people are looking for, and what your competition is offering. You will then see gaps or areas that you may be able to give them a better offer, a packaged deal, or a better warranty or guarantee. When you have the information, you will then see the ways that you can put yourself in a better position than your competition. Who is the people that I should be Serving with my offer? When you do your research right, you will know exactly who you should be serving. I will go as far to say this, this is a deep question. Very Deep. When I started my business career many years ago, I just wanted to make money. I'd sale anything to anyone. This is not the path or thinking that will lead you to freedom. You must find yourself, and find your purpose first. Then find your dream. IF you do these two steps, and then focus on building a business around that, you will be serving the right crowd. Your prospects and clients will excite you, because you will share the same passions. This is a Huge step, took me 2 decades, over 20 years to figure this out. Don't just create a product or service to make money. Do it for your purpose, passion and dreams, and you won't have to find people to serve. They will Find You! What do they look like, or what problems do they have? You follow your purpose, passion, dreams, and do your research, you will know exactly how they look and what problems they have. Usually they will be just like you. You will be very relatable to them, and that will give you a Very Competitive advantage. You can't fake this.. your competition may have to, but you won't have to.. because you will be serving your people... your tribe. How do they currently feel? This is a really great question, because if you don't have a relationship with your audience yet, you can use this to your advantage. It's always best to start headlines or copy with facts. If you put some type of feeling or emotion that they are currently feeling in a headline, they will be more attracted and motivated to stop what they are doing and listen to what you have to say. You can do some great research on reviews, good and bad, from your competition. When you know their emotions, good or bad, this will give you great information to write great communications and copy What are the benefits of the services/products I offer? If you don't do the research correctly, this is a tough one. How will you know the benefits that you can offer unless you study your market, and study your competition? You have to do the right research and then you will have a 3D view of everything. It gives you the awareness to know how to structure your offer in a way that will benefit others. How will they feel after a purchase?

Again, learning what emotions your prospects and markets have are Powerful! If you can make them feel the emotions of success or glory before the purchase, your job is half way done. You want to have this information so you can craft your messages and materials around that. It pays to find these emotions and repeat them back to the prospective markets over and over again. Many people buy with their emotions, and justify with logic. So make sure you have a descriptive list of the emotions that they will experience after they buy. It will be worth it. What is the typical buying process for products or services like mine?

This is what we asked in the old days. The new trend term for this is Funnel Hacking, Or I like to use, Customer Value Journey... You want to know the process that people buy in. It doesn't matter if its a click funnel, sales funnel, or sales process, you need to know what the process your target market is taking. You will find this in your market research. If you don't find it, Start buying from your competition, start getting quotes from your competition, get on the phone and start asking questions to the right people. You need to find this out. This will give you great information that you can use to structure your offer and USP. What groups of people are already buying these products or services? You will start finding things that people have in common in the forms of problems of pains with products/services. There are ways to find the groups of people, and usually it is thru the marketing that you find. If you see ads or articles online, you can usually trace those sources back to a group of people. Facebook insights is also a great tool for finding a group of people that is focused on a specific topic or certain pages on Facebook. Where do the groups of people that are already buying my stuff spend their time and money?

This takes a little more digging. It is always a good idea to try and get out and actually meet some of the people in the market you are researching. When you try and make some friends and find out some of their hobbies and other activities that they do, it helps you with planning your campaigns. It always helps to know where people are and what they are already spending money on. You will have least resistance in placing offers to those type of people than doing it the other way. Who are my Competitors?

Finding competitors are probably the easiest thing to search for and find. Just Google It. You can make a list of Domain names and then find out more information about them with SEMRush or SimilarWeb. Using these sites, you can get an idea of where the competition is getting their traffic on their websites, is it organic or ads? What is their back links? Back links will either tell you where they are posting content, or placing their ads, or what other companies are referring them business. Either way, you can tap into these sources... What are their Strengths and Weaknesses? You will want to do some digging on their websites. The good news is, just by going to their website, you will be able to see their retargeting ads (if they are using them). These will be their ads that keep popping up on other sites that you see After you go to their sites. Retargeting ads are a good strategy, and we will cover that later. You will want to take notes on their USP if it is obvious, or if its not, what type of lead magnets they use, or opt-in offers. Do they have a Newsletter? If so, sign up for it. Also, make notes of their different offers, what their about page says, and any other information that will help you designing your offers, ads, and other marketing strategy. How Can I position my Company as a Better option for what they are looking for? If you do the research right, this question should answer itself. You want to make sure your offers are a better choice. However,, let me say this. You don't want to be all things to all people. You want to make sure your offers are not focused on everyone, but your target market and customer avatar. If you scare some people off, this is normal, but your core offers and lead magnets should be more appealing than your compition for the same target market. How can I justify my Pricing compared to other product? You can't justify your pricing. You have to let the market justify the pricing. Some strategies suggest starting low price, and working out your details in the sales process first. After some time, you will want to start raising your prices until you are comfortable with the amount of sales and types of clients you are getting. One point I want to make clear. Market Research27 is not a one time thing. It is a periodical thing. You should probably plan on doing research28 at a minimum of 1 or 2 times per year to stay ahead of your competition and be aware of any changes that are possibly coming to market. This also helps you keep a better relationship with your audience and they will feel like you have a better understanding of them.

Nobody like a friend that doesn't know a lot about them right? Prospects and your audience are no different. They love it when you write to them like you are best friends, and when you have offers, it is sometimes just what they were looking for,, like you have known them your entire life! lol If you are currently working on doing research29 and have any questions, I encourage you to sign up for a free strategy call. We can discuss what you are doing, what your plans are for the future and how you can get there. Most of the upfront work is in the planning stages and if you do that right, looking for gold becomes easy. Read the full article

#Competitiveedge #MarketResearch #research

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hollygopossumlovesj2 · 8 years ago

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Dean Winchester’s Lyrics, Part 2

Warnings: Adult language, violence, mentions of death

Summary: Y/N takes charge of the situation and helps Dean as much as she can. But will it be enough?

Tagging: @perpetualabsurdity, @maileann, @daydreamingintheimpala, @gecko9596, @gemini75eeyore, @jotink78, @dancingalone21, @winchesterprincessbride, @sandlee44, @exploratiionist, @arryn-nyx, @littledarlinhavefaithinme, @tiffanycaruso, @boredoutofmymindstuff, @feelmyroarrrr, @raeganr99, @ruprecht0420, @anokhi07, @letsgetyourdeanon, @sis-tafics, @jensen-gal, @theoneandonlysaucymo, @27bmm, @callmesatansprincess

a/n- This is the second part of my addition to @creatively-charlie‘s Anniversary Writing Challenge. I hope this is entertaining and please let me know what ya think!

Part 1

In a very uncoordinated fashion, you slowly guided Dean to sit into the closest chair. Which was no easy task considering Dean had been hunting most of his life. The man was a 38 year old wall of solid muscle, skin and bone. He was hot to the touch despite the chill of the rain on his skin. “Do you remember the words to the hex, Dean? Maybe we can look it up?” His head lolled back like he lacked the strength to hold it up any more, making his voice croak. “I ‘member s'me.”

Pretty soon Dean would be completely useless, but you couldn’t deal with it here. Casey wouldn’t understand and your life here would be blown. “Hey Case!” You yelled, stepping a few feet away from Dean so your voice carried into the kitchen. You startled a little when Dean’s chair scraped loudly against the floor as he tried to stand up. “Dean, stay put.” You pointed at him sternly before walking a few feet closer to the kitchen door. “Casey!” Dean struggled to stand, and when he finally succeeded he nearly brained himself on the counter. When you caught him against you just in time you could hear him muttering but you couldn’t make out the words. “Dean, seriously. What the hell?” You muttered back at him, half worried and half scared out of your mind. You were out of practice for this shit. You weren’t used to living by the seat of your pants in life or death situations anymore! You’d guided him the short distance back to the chair to sit down before you tilted his face up with a few fingers beneath his chin. “D'ne leave me. D'n go.” You’d seen Sam’s puppy eyes, but right now Dean was giving him a run for his money. “Pl’s?” The look was familiar, and you knew why. It was the look Dean always got when he was at the end of his rope, struggling to put one foot in front of the other. He never shed this many walls without a huge disaster and nearly lethal amounts of social lubricant. You studied him a moment longer, trying to wrap your head around this. If Dean hadn’t been hexed he probably would have died trying to get his brother back rather than coming to find you. Whatever hex this witch had used was turning out to be rather catastrophic. “Yeah, okay, Dean. I won’t leave you.” He took your hand and kissed the top of it, leaving it there and leaning into it. “Umm, I guess you need to get his drunk ass home, huh?” Casey’s voice startled you out of the puddle you’d become but you tamped it down. If you showed any weakness Casey would be all over this and you’d have to tell him everything. “Yeah, I’m sorry.” You turned your attention to Casey, hoping that you were looking as sincere as you felt. “I can manage the trash when I get here in the morning.” You offered, but Casey just shook his head. “No worries. Lord knows you’ve bailed me out more than once. Just get him outta here. He’s messing up the floor.” And with a dismissive wave, Casey disappeared behind the door again. That left you to wrangle an increasingly uncooperative Dean into your compact car. He’d only mustered up enough energy to grumble a few times as his knees still dug into the dash board even though the seat was back as far as it could go. “You try living on coffee house tips, see what kind of car you can afford.” You grumbled back before throwing your car into reverse and then maneuvering out of the parking lot. Somewhere along the way, Dean had slipped his hand over yours. ———-—— If you had thought getting Dean into the car had been rough, getting him out and up the stairs to your second story apartment was a whole new level. But, now he was sitting on your covered toilet seat while you pulled out your first aid kit, dripping muddy water every where. It surprised you to see that you’d actually still kept it well stocked. What a little obsessive compulsive former hunter you were. “Okay, we’re gonna kill two birds with one stone.” You were more or less talking to yourself now. Dean would only acknowledge your existence if you made direct eye contact or tried to leave the room. You were not looking forward to a time that you needed to use the bathroom. You got an absurd picture of when you’d had a cat and it had pawed and meowed at the bathroom door until you’d reappeared. Surely Dean wouldn’t be that neurotic? You’d grabbed paper and a pen, resting them on the bathroom counter within reach. Dean had given you an open eyed, innocent look full of worry. “We’re not actually killing birds.” You amended and he seemed satisfied with that. Oh God it was going to be a long night. You’d cleaned him up the best you could, stuffing him into your ex’s t shirt and sweat pants since his clothes had been shredded. You’d been able to write down a few of the words that Dean recalled in the hex while you’d cleaned him up, but there weren’t very many words to go by. His injuries were gone by the time you’d wrangled his shirt from him. Only morbid splashes of blood here and there remained. Oh the things you would give just to be able to call up Bobby to brainstorm with. Or even Sam to help you think this thru. Maybe there was a chance that he might have gotten away? You made a mental note to check Dean’s pockets for his phone. Dean had obediently taken the thermometer into his mouth, shocking the hell out of you. The last time you’d battled Dean to check his temperature the thermometer had been broken, sending the toxic mercury all over the counter. You huffed out a sigh, trying to expel some of the worry getting trapped in your chest. You were feeling wound tight with stress. After you helped Dean figure this thing out and got Sam back, you still had work tomorrow. You still had a 5,000 word essay due in two days that you’d planned on starting tonight. Obviously hunting didn’t mix with going to college. The thermometer beeped and as you took it from him to read he sagged against the wall. His expression was absolutely pitiful. His eyes glassy as they looked up to you like he was begging you to fix it. You ran your fingers through his hair and he practically purred, pushing up a little into your hand. “101.5… Not terrible, but enough to make you miserable.” Dean nodded his head in agreement, the pout on his lips making him look all of five instead of a hardened hunter. He’d dutifully taken the Tylenol you’d offered him and took charge of the ice pack when you handed it to him. After a little persuasion you managed to coax him into bed. You tucked him in beneath the duvet, and sat up next to him while you searched the for the right spell with your laptop. An hour in and you were getting desperate and talking to yourself. “I can’t find anything… this could take weeks and what if-” Dean’s sleep roughened voice cut you off, still slurring a little… But maybe it was getting a little better? “S'not really gonna kill me.” You swallowed, letting a chill of fear run its course before asking your question. “What do you mean it’s not 'really’ going to kill you?” But he never answered. You assumed that he’d gratefully fallen asleep and that’s when you finally got up to clean up the mess he’d made in your bathroom and search for clues in his still soaking clothes. There was no phone and no clues. At a loss, you picked up your own phone and dialed a familiar number. They’d probably trashed their phones a million times over in the past couple of years you’d been away. You knew it was a long shot, but with only a few words from a spell and no real references to research into, you were a lot desperate. There was no telling what an angry witch would have hit him with. “Hello?” Even tense and suspicious, Sam’s voice was a balm. “Oh thank fucking Christ, Sam!” You took a much needed breath, “Its Y/N, I have Dean.” You heard him let out a breath of relief, and probably a few muffled curses too. “Okay, I’m headed towards you.” He confirmed and you heard the familiar growl of the Impala. It hadn’t occurred to you to ask Dean where his car was. He must have walked from where he’d been hexed. “How is he?” “Sleeping. He showed up at the coffee house soaking wet and covered in cuts. He’s acting like he’s drunk and he won’t let me out of his sight!” As you spoke to Sam you peeped in the doorway to make sure Dean was still asleep. “Makes sense. He’s been hit with a pretty nasty curse, but I don’t think it’s gonna kill him. The coven we came to investigate turned out to be white witches. They just want him to suffer like they did over their friend. They were bating hunters in the area and hexing them.” “Well that’s good to know. Wait, how the hell are you gonna find me without the address?” “Uh, gps on your phone? You didn’t think Dean was going to let you go quietly, did you? There’s also the LoJack on your car that I’m probably not supposed to mention…” You plopped down on the closest surface that just happened to be your kitchen counter. "What?“ Last time you’d been around Dean hadn’t exactly been a happy moment. So, the fact that he might still give two shits about you was a shock. Then, you heard a loud thud and an inhuman scream. "Shit. Dean’s awake!” “Okay, don’t panic.” “Don’t panic? Are you kidding me? His chest is in shreds! He’s gonna… Dean? Dean?!” “Y/N it’s okay! It’s just the spell.” “I don’t care if it’s just a fucking spell! It’s…” “…” “…” “…” “Did it stop?” “…” “Y/N, did it stop?!” “Yeah, there’s just blood now. He’s… The cuts are mostly gone already… How..?” “Good. Good. I think the spell is just making him relive his death. All of his deaths.” When Sam magically found his way to your apartment door, you were a wreck. You’d given Dean a cursory clean up, glad that it was just the shirt that was ruined, still baffled that his skin wasn’t in shreds like it had been twenty minutes earlier. You’d contemplated putting plastic down on your bed, but there was no point. The sheets and duvet were ruined anyway. So, you helped a mostly unconscious Dean into the clean side of the bed and hoped for the best. Now, in front of Sam for the first time in a couple of years, you must have looked like you’d just come back from taking out a nest of vamps on a Friday night. You were spattered with blood, your hair was a mess and your eyes must have been glowing with the amount of adrenaline you had pumping through your veins. You let him scoop you in for a quick hug, his strong arms holding you up for a brief moment, before pulling away. He looked like he could use some sleep, but beneath the dark circles that pooled underneath his eyes, he looked the same. He followed you back into your bedroom, but didn’t make an effort to wake Dean. You supposed death could take a toll on a person. Even if it wasn’t real. So, you let him sleep. “How many times did Dean die while I was gone?” You asked, leaning against the door way, not taking your eyes off of Dean’s slumbering face. You didn’t want him to go through this alone and you thought maybe this is what he’d meant at the coffee shop. He’d said not to leave. He’d said please. Then the second you leave something horrible happens. “Uh, just once actually. Stabbed in the chest after having his ass handed to him by a scribe of God. That was the last. You missed out on demon Dean. He was a lot of fun.” Sam leaned against the wall just inside the room, speaking quietly. “But if that was the hellhounds then next will be the bullet to the chest.” He ran his long fingers through his tangled hair. He must have been searching for Dean when you called, driving himself crazy. It was now around 1 am and you were already starting to feel the effects of tonight. Not to mention you’d had a full day of classes and work under your belt. However, the evening seemed like it was just beginning. “He must’ve died a hundred times before he found you. Freakin asshole Trickster.” “He looked terrible. Like he’d run into Edward Scissorhands on the way over.” The image must have been amusing because a small smile made its way momentarily onto Sam’s lips. It always made you glow a little with pride when you made a Winchester smile. “The spell has to run its course? There’s nothing we can do?” “Yeah, I called Rowena, repeated the incantation to her. She said it was a nasty spell but 'not particularly life threatening.’ So, we’ll just do our best to keep him hydrated and comfortable.” He watched his brother fondly for a moment, seeming to catalog every breath and twitch Dean made. “Ya know, I’m not looking forward to doing this a second time. I mean, once was really enough.” You nodded in agreement, even though you had no idea who Rowena was. Now certainly wasn’t the time to catch up. “I bet.” “I hate to do this to you, I remember what it was like to be in school, but I gotta get back to the station to wipe their files. That was the deal. They’ll stop hurting people and I’ll get rid of the evidence. Do you mind..?” “Do I mind watching your brother die a couple of times until you get back?” You asked with all the seriousness in the world before you couldn’t keep up the charade. “Of course, Sam, I got this.”

#Creatively-Charlie's Anniversary Writing Challenge #CCAWC #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fan fic #dean winchester fic #dean winchester smut #dean winchester drabble #dean winchester series #Dean winchester one shot #dean winchester's lyrics

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rwep2014blog · 5 years ago

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The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy

New Post From The Franchise King®

(Valvoline® Image courtesy of jeepersmedia on Flickr)

I know what you’re asking yourself.

“Should I really be looking for a franchise to buy right now? In the middle of the pandemic?”

Guess what? If I was thinking about becoming my own boss I’d be asking myself the same thing. And I probably wouldn’t be sharing that thought with others because they would think I was nuts.

It’s clearly a crazy idea, right? Too risky.

You’re going to buy a franchise right now?

During the End Times?

(It’s not the End Times. This will pass.)

So, stay with me. The things I’m going to share with you will make sense. I promise.

The Pandemic: I Have Good News And Bad News

First, the good news: pandemics don’t last forever. The latest prediction is that this one may last anywhere from 18 to 24 months. And believe it or not, that is good news. It is going to pass.

The bad news: the world economy is being hit hard. And no one knows when things will return back to normal.

In light of that, you should probably hunker down. Wait things out for a bit. It’s the safer thing to do. And I can’t blame you.

Except playing it safe won’t get you very far.

“We really only have two choices. Play it safe or take a chance. For me, pulling back because of fear has always made me feel worse.”

– Gail Sheehy

Now, in a moment, I’m going to get to the heart of the matter…how to find Coronavirus-proof franchise opportunities.

Royal Hint: Every franchise can be grouped into one very, very, very, very specific business sector. One.

But before I reveal what it is, you first need to look inside yourself a bit, because going into business is a big step. Let’s make sure you’re ready.

Look At Your Life

This is a great time for you to evaluate your life up to now. Especially if you’re thinking of going into a franchise business now.

This 3-minute video may help you get in the mood to do it.

Great song. Anyway…

I encourage you to take some “me time.”

That means taking stock of your life.

Are you happy where you’re at, or do you have more to do?

And remember…

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

– Jim Rohn

Finally, it’s not as if you’re alone in this. A lot of your fellow travelers are at a crossroads. But I only want to talk about you now. About a road you can take. One that’s proven.

Franchising

When it comes to going into business for yourself, there are 3 ways to do it. You can:

Come up with an idea for a business and launch it

Purchase someone else’s existing business

Buy a franchise

I’m going with the last one.

Because when you own a franchise, you get:

A proven business model

A business system that’s been tested

Support

Technology that helps drive revenue

Turnkey marketing programs

Name recognition

Vetted suppliers

A built-in network of fellow franchisees to talk to

That’s good stuff, right? And I’ve only scratched the surface. Now for the easy part.

Choosing the right franchise opportunity to own.

Picking one franchise.

One out of 3500.

In fact, there are currently over 3500 different franchise opportunities being offered in the U.S. But don’t let that number worry you, because I’m going to show you how to quickly narrow your search down to only a few.

The Franchise Segments You Need To Focus On

This pandemic has rocked the franchise world.

Every franchise business has been affected one way or another.

However, some have fared better than others. And those are the ones I want you to focus on.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it’s not.

Case in point: fast food franchises.

To be sure, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that fast food franchises that offer drive-thru service, curbside pickup, and delivery are doing pretty well.

(Pictured: NASA rocket scientists.)

It’s as if fast food restaurants were designed for pandemics.

Maybe McDonald’s entrepreneur, Ray Kroc, more of a visionary than previously thought.

With that in mind, it would behoove you to take a look at the fast food segment of franchising. It’s a segment that can be a very profitable venture (as long as you choose the right concept).

Of course you need to have adequate capital, a lot of energy, and good management skills to qualify for today’s food franchise opportunities.

But what if you don’t see yourself working 14 hours a day in a hectic, fast-paced environment? (Not that there’s anything wrong with it.)

In other words, what if you’re not at all interested in owning a food franchise?

What if you want to find other types of franchises to learn more about?

I’m referring to other franchises that can do well in times like these.

If that’s the case, give me a second. I need to get out of my chair and peel back the curtain.

There we go.

The Hot, New Way To Find The Right Franchise To Buy

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

If you want to find profitable franchise opportunities that make sense to pursue during this pandemic, I’m talking about bullet-proof franchises, you need to focus on these two words: essential businesses.

Now, I’m not going to jump into a debate about what businesses are deemed “essential” and which ones are not. It’s a waste of time. But you need to key in on essential businesses.

That said, I have been able to identify essential businesses within the franchise industry. Like:

Healthcare Services

This Pet-Related Franchise

Automotive Franchises

Cleaning Franchises

Plus a lot of other franchise opportunities you need to know about. The essential ones.

As a matter of fact, I put together a massive list of pandemic-proof franchise opportunities you can start learning about right now.

List Of Pandemic-Proof Franchises

Just make sure you head back here after you look at the list.

But only if you want to learn how to make a smart choice in a franchise to buy.

What To Do When You Find A Franchise That May Makes Sense To Buy In Times Like These

Finding franchises you think have potential is one thing. Doing the work needed to make sure they’re winners is quite another.

The best thing you can do (right now) is to read and bookmark my step-by-step guide on how to buy a franchise. Everything you need to know about buying a franchise in a really smart way is included in it.

Next, if you’ve found a couple of franchises that look promising, you need to grab “The Definitive Guide To Franchise Research.” Click the link to see why you need my all-encompassing guide.

Third, if you start getting close to buying a specific franchise, hire a competent franchise attorney to go over the FDD and the franchise agreement. That way you’ll be able to sleep at night.

To conclude, the hot, new way to search for the right franchise to buy is pretty simple.

Only look at franchises that must stay open during a pandemic, or that can adapt (with proof) their business model to the current conditions.

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The post The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy appeared first on Best Franchise To Own | The Franchise King®.

Originally posted on The Hot New Way To Find A Profitable, Pandemic-Proof Franchise To Buy via Fitness Franchise Opportunities in the UK

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#RWEP 2014 #franchise expert #franchising #fit body boot camp franchise opportunity #top rated franchise

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ldsfitnessnetworks · 5 years ago