COVID and Soft tops

[Notorious]

Here’s an article from a decade ago that found something very interesting. I bring up the age because in the last ten years if you’ve had a soda from an either self serve or behind the counter dispenser, you’ve probably already been exposed to this.... and you’re still alive.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs...t-fecal-bacteria-study-finds/story?id=9506583

Children don’t always have good personal hygiene and those bad hygiene practices can continue into adulthood.

There is surveillance footage out there of an otherwise attractive woman in a public place adjusting her thong underwear, then reaching inside her jeans, pulling out a small butt nugget, rolling it between her fingers and then bringing it up to her nose and mouth for a quick taste and smell. Have a look.



These are the kinds of people that exist in this world. We can teach them how to have good hygiene and to care enough about themselves to practice it but at the end of the day, we can only control ourselves.

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[BrntWS6]

Yea, what they have done to the economy and civil liberties is unbelievable, and then you have people like the OP who are afraid to open their front door without a N95 mask.

Just a terrible situation, and worse of all, we are going to mentally fuck the kids up if schools adopt the guidelines recommended by the CDC.

A lot of sheep!

 

[Hattrick017]

Testing tells us that your best chance of an infection is when your immune system can't fight off the high virus content parts per million. Well being outside dramatically lowers the virus content in the average parts per million. Now add a moving vehicle and constant air flow and the virus content in the average parts per million is almost nil.
NY Times
Vox

Take the top off, take the doors off, take the jeep out. Get that natural Vitamin D (persons with deficient Vitamin D are suspected of having a worse Covid response) and let your body release some endorphins.
CNN - more of a fluff piece but talks about the correlation between Covid and Vitamin D

 

[Gee-pah]

Your biggest risk for infection from driving with your top down is if a sick bird or a bat craps on your head, and gives you bird flu or some other, weird disease.

Certain news outlets are cherry-picking facts, and not reporting ALL of the facts. For instance, there are multiple models that account statistically for the asymptomatic infected folks who have tested positive, either active infection or antibodies from a previous infection. Extrapolating that data for the entire population in this model shows a 0.02% fatality rate. Again, it’s just a model, but that model is mysteriously not being reported much.

Quest Diagnostics has COVID tests for anyone who wants to be tested. It cost me $75, all out of pocket because I’m a VA patient and wanted to get tested on my own. The VA is not yet set up for testing. I was negative for antibodies, in spite of running almost daily errands into town to the grocery store, gas station, takeout, etc. I’m always maskless; none of the places I shop at in the Sarasota-Bradenton area require masks. Nobody has berated or criticized me for not wearing a mask. But, I use tons of hand sanitizer and I keep my grubby fingers off of my face, until I get home and wash up. I’ve always done this, and it’s been decades since I’ve even had the flu.

Because of the shutdown, the unintended consequences are now out of control. The suicide rate as risen astronomically; people with treatable conditions are dying at home because they are afraid to go to the doctor or hospital - because they are watching the news outlets that are purposely spreading fear. Alcohol and tobacco sales are up 400%. People are dealing with financial ruin, with no hope, and are committing suicide.

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. Contamination as a result of the top being down was never on my radar and I'd suggest for those that concern themselves with that that they seek professional help simply because it makes no sense. The very vehicle they drive in has orders a magnitude greater risk being in it, than what may fall into it from above to infect occupants with.

My angle was, "why bother," given I already have the Bestop Sunrider on, to switch to the soft top this summer, and given how infrequently I'm taking the rig off the driveway these days: but that's me: driving the rig itself not being the destination for me.

Maybe it should be, particularly since the pandemic has reminded us all that we need to try to live while we can--as much as I believe personal risk from COVID mortality being, on average, extremely low, plus the free time.

But for me, it's not just about me, or my death. Staying home for me is also about not getting sick and risking infecting others. It's about doing my part to not tax the health care system and stay healthy, while trying to control spread and allow us to reopen localities as safely and quickly as possible. As you point out, treatable non-COVID illness is taking its toll in people fearing infection in hospitals, and staying home.

As for testing: too many manufacturers came out with tests in a rush and they are inconsistent with each other and all (too) far from perfect. Certainly they're useful as a means for governments to monitor spread, but for the individual, where antibody presence, duration, and effectiveness at not getting re-infected remain an unknown, short on symptoms and long on curiosity as to whether you were already infected, I'd say isn't worth it: but that's me right now. That opinion is subject to change as more is known.

Clearly masks aren't mandatory where you are and thanks for your good hygiene, really. The best way to not infect others is to not yourself get sick.

And you're absolutely right Jeff on their being drastic costs associated with not opening the economy. This is not a "black or white" (color, not race) issue--there are shades of grey that have to balance the costs of infection to society with the costs of being able to financially take care of oneself by working.

...and for those who want to say that it is a "black or white" issue (race, not color), the math doesn't lie, they're in large part right.

Peace my friend.

 

[Gee-pah]

The fact you even wear a N95 mask (which should have been donated to first responders) shows your high level of paranoia.

Why are you comparing the worst hit state some 3,000 miles away from you, to your local county? BTW, those tractor trailers arrived in NY during the early stages of the pandemic with the expectation of massive deaths, and left NY empty.

San Francisco county has had 2,358 CASES with close to 900,000 residents, that is a fraction of a % that has tested positive, and FORTY deaths, which would require you to use 3 decimals to get anything other than 0.

The entire state of CA reported 2,175 cases and 19 deaths on 5/25, and you are worried about the top being down in your Jeep? Can't be serious.

You probably have a higher chance of dying on your way to the grocery store than from covid.

The N95 masks came from the Orange Box store to support my woodworking hobby and were purchased long before COVID-19. My local hospital won't take used masks. I tried to offer them.

I brought up NY Ed to counter your claims that, at least in CA, deaths were in large part among elderly. As a humanitarian I'd care even if this were, say, heart disease, that can't be transmitted between people. But since we're all effected by others being sick here, despite distance and reduced travel, self interest also applies. The notion that those makeshift morgue trucks left empty when many, optimized for space, were forced to remain filled with corpses until burials could be arranged is a far better reflection of what happened.

That you continue to label me a germaphobe: I can't help you. I've already said I wear a mask only when I can't social distance. I've already said in my original post that my considering not taking the top down had nothing to do with infection, and everything to do with "why bother" when I take the rig out so infrequently lately due to social distancing, and my already having the Bestop Sunrider installed.

Maybe its your disdain for the CDC, and my simply following their guidelines that's your beef.

Do you understand that wearing a mask isn't about me dying, as it's there to protect others? So vehicular fatality being a greater risk than infection death isn't the issue.

Ed: your liberties, mine, and individual's aren't as important as those of society to be freer (another liberty) from contagion. What negative effects CDC guidelines may have on schoolkids must be counterbalanced with keeping this population healthy not so much to prevent their death, but their spreading the illness to others with comorbity issues.

 

[Fusilli Jerry]

I think Gov. Whitmer just ruled that anyone using a sunrider wants people to die and that they're White Supremacists and misogynists and she may have to extend the lockdown until July 2021.

Stay Safe. Stay Home.
Unless you have a boat, MAN THOSE BOATS ARE FUN!

 

[Wabujitsu]

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. Contamination as a result of the top being down was never on my radar and I'd suggest for those that concern themselves with that that they seek professional help simply because it makes no sense. The very vehicle they drive in has orders a magnitude greater risk being in it, than what may fall into it from above to infect occupants with.

My angle was, "why bother," given I already have the Bestop Sunrider on, to switch to the soft top this summer, and given how infrequently I'm taking the rig off the driveway these days: but that's me: driving the rig itself not being the destination for me.

Maybe it should be, particularly since the pandemic has reminded us all that we need to try to live while we can--as much as I believe personal risk from COVID mortality being, on average, extremely low, plus the free time.

But for me, it's not just about me, or my death. Staying home for me is also about not getting sick and risking infecting others. It's about doing my part to not tax the health care system and stay healthy, while trying to control spread and allow us to reopen localities as safely and quickly as possible. As you point out, treatable non-COVID illness is taking its toll in people fearing infection in hospitals, and staying home.

As for testing: too many manufacturers came out with tests in a rush and they are inconsistent with each other and all (too) far from perfect. Certainly they're useful as a means for governments to monitor spread, but for the individual, where antibody presence, duration, and effectiveness at not getting re-infected remain an unknown, short on symptoms and long on curiosity as to whether you were already infected, I'd say isn't worth it: but that's me right now. That opinion is subject to change as more is known.

Clearly masks aren't mandatory where you are and thanks for your good hygiene, really. The best way to not infect others is to not yourself get sick.

And you're absolutely right Jeff on their being drastic costs associated with not opening the economy. This is not a "black or white" (color, not race) issue--there are shades of grey that have to balance the costs of infection to society with the costs of being able to financially take care of oneself by working.

...and for those who want to say that it is a "black or white" issue (race, not color), the math doesn't lie, they're in large part right.

Peace my friend.

Andy, excellent post!

About 10-15% of all common colds are not caused by rinoviruses; they are caused by six various coronaviruses. I wonder if there is some partial cross-immunity to COVID if one has been infected.

My wife and I have a small hobby farm. Coronavirus (not SARS) is in the soil and all around us, along with a whole slew of pathogens. My wife has been exposed repeatedly to canine coronavirus, having worked in vet clinics for years. Living the farm/animal life for decades, I’ve always wondered in what positive ways that affects our immune response to somewhat similar pathogens. I came down with e.coli once while on military duty. It was only an inconvenience and didn’t slow me down much. It’s prevalent in our environment, along with MRSA. Most of us, the vast majority, have a colony of MRSA living in our nostrils. It only makes us sick if we are immune compromised in some way. That is why it’s routine to receive a nose swab test before any surgery. Most come out positive, and if you are, you have to scrub down in the shower the night before surgery, and stick antibiotic ointment in your nose for a few days before.

MRSA, by the way, has a far higher mortality rate than COVID.

Hopefully one day we will have a far better grasp of this topic.

Peace, brother.

 

[JeepU4IA]

quit picking your nose

I'm not sure I'm up to the task.

 

[oceanblue2019]

Wouldn’t say its a hoax, but I will agree that the media and one side of the political isle has not let a good pandemic go to waste.

WAG THE DOG.

 

[agpthng]

I've got Dual tops and a Bestop Sunrider. Right now, and for the past winter, I put the Freedom Panels in storage and used the Bestop Sunrider for the front seats, and the hard top behind. It worked great.

So, in light of already having the Sunrider product I'm contemplating not changing to the full soft top this summer. My rationale is that I take the rig out so infrequently during the pandemic anyway that why am I bothering switching tops.

Is anyone in the same boat? Am I just being a "gloomy gus" or is failing to change the top on a vehicle that barely gets off the driveway and trickle charger, and out on the road right now because of COVID just something that makes sense?

Thanks.

Was thinking the same thing. Mine is a 2019 JLU and never got a chance to swap the tops last summer and this summer isn't looking too good either. I'm working from home and it just sits in the driveway.

 

[MNWrangx2]

For the whole summer (all 3-4 months that we get in MN) since I'm not going to the office, I just took the whole top and doors off and will use my JL on sunny days. My JKU with a Sunrider will be my rainy day ride.

 

[B-man]

On the OP’s original question, I Think it’s worthwhile to change it out. I just changed to my soft top on Saturday. I don’t drive it as much now but I figure 1. I have it so let’s use it (even less frequently) 2. Not many other vehicles offer it 3. I can take some joy rides on nice days to get out.
I use a Top lift Pro so it’s not too difficult to change out.

 

[Spearmin]

I asked a similar question about 2 months ago. Its getting a little warmer here in NY, so now I leave the doors and top off and generally garaged all the time. I take my Jeep out for a drive almost daily to help releave my stress. I keep an N95 mask with me at all times. This way When I pass through any kind of town where people are walking around the mask goes on. The way I see it, if your passing through a town there is likely to be a cloud of covid floating through the air. Basically, your passing through a covid cloud with no windows and doors to protect you. When I get home, I change my clothes and take a shower. You may think of my practices as extreme, bu this is what I do to feel safe. Just once I want to hear from one of these "no mask patriot believers" who actually catches covid and see if they still think wearing a simple mask is so unnecessary and stupid. If your out there and still alive please, I'd like to see what you think after surviving covid. Apologies for the rant.

 

[Somnium]

Montana has been practicing "Social Distancing" since the mid-1800's - owning a Jeep makes that MUCH easier, since you can get further up the mountain, away from the 'Out-of-State' plates flooding in as they try and escape the Big City.

 

[RUSTYS]

Dude seriously you should probably just stay in the house the next 3 years and you should be fine. Me? Hell I've had my top off for a month and a half and it won't be going back on until October.

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