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His was a name I knew even before I knew about motor racing. One of the three greatest drivers ever. RIP.

Sorry to hear that...I feel your pain!

Mitch, I've been curious about those drill attachments. How well do they work, and can they cut tight curves?

Some interesting things I've found out while researching stuff. Apparently, people are only being tested for the virus if they show symptoms or have been in contact with those who have been tested positive. So far, Oregon has tested 11,426 people, with 548 testing positive for the virus, a positive rate of 4.7%. That means that of the tested people (those with symptoms or who have had contact), only 5% are testing positive; 95% of the people tested DO NOT HAVE the virus. This might mean a couple of things: the virus is less contagious than previously believed, or that "social distancing" is helping to slow the spread, which is the whole idea behind all of this quarantine stuff. Another possibility is that a LOT of people have the virus, but either have symptoms too mild to warrant testing, or are asymptomatic themselves. Either way, that is encouraging.

Another encouraging note is that a clinical study in France of 80 infected people, in which they were treated with the combination of hydroxychloroquine (the anti-malaria drug) and azithromycin (antibiotic), 78 of those in the trial recovered, 1 passed away (was too far gone at the beginning of the trial) and one remains in intensive care. This is a small sample, but the results are very promising, as it builds on another trial in which similar results were obtained. They're also experimenting with this same drug combo in New York.

We will beat this, and probably sooner than later.

My wife has been saving her Barbies and Troll Dolls for our nonexistent "grandchildren" for 20 years. They are in boxes in the giant shipping container we've purchased to store all the stuff that was in the shop while we prepare for the renovation. My gut has always said that "if you haven't opened the box for more than 2 years you can throw it all away," but that somehow doesn't seem to make any difference to SWMBO.

Bill, I measured the "sections" on my track as to where the lane lengths were equal per section; i.e., where you placed your tape markers. Each section is the same length, so there's no advantage per lane, other than the imputed difficulty of the particular curve relative to each section. It's the same as the measured distance for a lane in a track meet; you know how a start is staggered to equalize the actual distance a runner travels per lane.

Just watching my stock go down ($200+K) and wondering now how I'll pay for the renovation of my shop/Airbnb that we had planned for this year. Finally got the plans approved (after 2 years of fighting with the county) and now there's no money to build it. So the slot track is covered up, all the cars are packed away (except those for a couple of classes in my box) and I'm stuck at home with no way to test my new DiFalco controller.

But...nobody's sick, and we're all still pretty healthy. Daughters are "sheltering in place." My mother-in-law is confined to her room in her "senior living center" where 3 have tested positive; she's feeling fine. They deliver meals to her room and disinfect everything several times a day, so she's probably going to be okay, but at 88, is wondering what's going to happen...

And our lousy government can't agree on how to get things going again.

We appreciate the general idea of "social distancing," but it's really only necessary for those in at-risk demographics. If you have family and friends that are susceptible, by all means avoid visiting them until this passes, perhaps for months. But the rest of the country, especially younger folks and those in southern (warmer) climates are in very little danger. And as I've said above, we risk having a repeat of all of this later after the lockdowns are lifted, because the virus isn't going away, it will always be around, and if we haven't got people developing immunities to it, BOOM—the same s**t happens all over again.

Unless you are in the "at-risk" demographic (elderly, immuno-compromised, diabetes, etc.), you probably won't get anything worse than a case of what would look like the "regular" flu. The hysteria is loony. In fact, the more healthy people who interact with others (who are not compromised), the better for the more rapid end of the pandemic, as they will develop the necessary immunity. All we are doing with this craziness about keeping "socially distant" is creating the conditions for a massive later infection as those who are "healthy" (but infected) now venture out into the environment. It does not hurt to be cognizant of the effects on the at-risk folks, and to be extra careful with personal and business hygiene, but to avoid everything and destroy the economy in the process is worse than the disease itself. My $.02

I mean, come on...we have 150 companies in America producing toilet paper. Do we REALLY think we're going to run out?

Yes, Tom, I actually got mine in a couple of days! Can't complain at all about the service, in fact can't say anything but good words for Jim DiFalco! I won't have a chance to use my controller until we get back from vacation, so I'll have to wait until 3/5 to see how it affects my driving. Can't make it any worse...

The 1/24 cars that need different networks would be the high-powered wing cars. Not necessary for the 1/24s we run (BRMs) or I think for the ones they run at Rapid Raceway. I have not received my DD304 yet because it's taking my bank AGES to transfer to PayPal to pay Jim. I have used Zack's DiFalco (I think it's a DD304) and I really liked it. I have been using a DS controller that worked fine, but it's a little unreliable (solder joints come loose every now and then). There's a good explanation on the DiFalco site of how all the controllers compare; you can also e-mail Jim for info. He will ship free to Oregon, so it's best if you order directly from him.