COVID-19 2nd wave - Texas only - Stats and such

[dcbc 14645]

8 minutes ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

This has been theorized pretty widely since the beginning. IIRC it was one of the suggested reasons why kids did so much better, or were less likely to even contract it. 

Yeah, I remember this theory from pretty early on as well.  I had a nasty cold/sinus infection earlier this year, which according to the UT Cares study, was not COVID.  Still hoping  to avoid Omicron (my wife is at the doctor's office being tested now---achy with a low key cough over the weekend).  But with 3x vax and a cold, we shall see.

[Bevo 13923]

9 minutes ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

This has been theorized pretty widely since the beginning. IIRC it was one of the suggested reasons why kids did so much better, or were less likely to even contract it. 

The initial thought was that other coronviruses help protect from this coronavirus. This article states that the common cold may help. Without reading the article, I assume it is talking about other viruses besides coronaviruses.

[BERT 4499]

12 hours ago, dcbc said:

Computer viruses are just like the common cold.  No need.  Once your computer gets infected, it has natural immunity.

 

That's what i tell myself when watching porn. 

[troph 25247]

33 minutes ago, Bevo said:

The initial thought was that other coronviruses help protect from this coronavirus. This article states that the common cold may help. Without reading the article, I assume it is talking about other viruses besides coronaviruses.

pretty sure the common cold is a coronavirus.

[Celery Man 21103]

1 hour ago, Immaculate Vibes said:

This is the big issue. Does government change definition of fully vaccinated? Currently boosters recommended at 5 months out, but not mandated. 

disagree that booster schedule is the big issue right now, which should be fairly obvious

1 hour ago, Skipper said:

As much as we all like to dunk on the unvaxed, and as a boosted individual I think being unvaxed is an incredibly poor decision from a risk optimization standpoint, there is meaningful data that natural immunity also provides material protection from severe disease.  Which is why a lot of people are optimistic that on the back end of this wave we're looking at an endemic virus.  It's going to infect so many people we aren't going to have many left that don't have either vax immunity or natural immunity (with a lot of people that have both).  

I don't think anyone has ever held that prior infection does not provide material protection. Most people just think that antivaxxers and people with anti vax tendencies should stop being pussies about it and get the vaccination. Since it seems fairly clear that vaccination is better than prior infection alone, and this is the largest mass death event in American history.

[utee94 16091]

Just now, troph said:

pretty sure the common cold is a coronavirus.

There are something like 200 different viruses that can cause what we call "the common cold."  Some are coronaviruses and some are not.

[Dontshootrude 374]

3 minutes ago, troph said:

pretty sure the common cold is a coronavirus.

The common cold is caused by a number of viruses.  There are 4 coronaviruses that circulate, but in my experience rhinoviruses and adenoviruses are more prevalent.

[Bevo 13923]

1 minute ago, troph said:

pretty sure the common cold is a coronavirus.

Might be. Like I said, I didn't read the article. Rhinovirus cause about 20% of colds. Coronavirus cause about 20% of colds. RSV and parainfluenza also cause about 20% of colds. And about 20% of colds are caused by unknown bugs.

 

[troph 25247]

Just now, utee94 said:

There are something like 200 different viruses that can cause what we call "the common cold."  Some are coronaviruses and some are not.

cool, didn't realize.

[utee94 16091]

 

7 minutes ago, utee94 said:

There are something like 200 different viruses that can cause what we call "the common cold."  Some are coronaviruses and some are not.

 

6 minutes ago, Dontshootrude said:

The common cold is caused by a number of viruses.  There are 4 coronaviruses that circulate, but in my experience rhinoviruses and adenoviruses are more prevalent.

 

5 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Might be. Like I said, I didn't read the article. Rhinovirus cause about 20% of colds. Coronavirus cause about 20% of colds. RSV and parainfluenza also cause about 20% of colds. And about 20% of colds are caused by unknown bugs.

 

 

5 minutes ago, troph said:

cool, didn't realize.

 

Heh, I guess we ALL know a little more, now.

Intuitively it makes sense, at least for anyone getting colds from the handful of coronaviruses that cause it, that this would provide some extra immunity protection from the new novel coronavirus.  I have no idea if it would make sense that infection from the rhino or adeno would also help out, I'm certainly no doctor or virologist.

Edited January 10, 2022 by utee94

[Bevo 13923]

1 minute ago, utee94 said:

 

 

 

 

 

Heh, I guess we ALL know a little more, now.

Intuitively it makes sense, at least for anyone getting colds from the handful of coronaviruses that cause it, that this would provide some extra immunity protection from the new novel coronavirus.  I have no idea if it would make sense that infection from the rhino or adeno would also help out, I'm certainly no doctor or virologist.

From an immunology standpoint, there would need to be homology between organisms. There are a finite number of ways for viruses to enter the cell and for the virus to make copies of itself. Typically there would at least be some similarities between reverse transcriptase, helicase, and other enzymes.

[troph 25247]

my only serious remaining concern about omicron is likelihood of long covid.  that's a bitch I definitely don't want to sleep with.  my best friend has it.... and it suuuuuuucks. I'm all for natural immunity as a kind of booster, vaccines too, I'll be getting boosted for as long as they keep offering them. knock on wood still haven't had it, or at least not a symptomatic case - and we are actually rather surprised we didn't get it flying to miami and hanging out in key west for 2 weeks.  the flight back was filled with real covid spreading lookers.  somewhat resigned to the fact I will get it, and that takes me back to my primary concern, long covid.  to me this whole thing has been a game of delay.  the longer I delay getting it the better.

Edited January 10, 2022 by troph

[dcbc 14645]

1 minute ago, troph said:

o me this whole thing has been a game of delay.  the longer I delay getting it the better.

Me too.  Hide-and-seek champion.

 

[Bevo 13923]

2 minutes ago, troph said:

my only serious remaining concern about omicron is likelihood of long covid.  that's a bitch I definitely don't want to sleep with.  my best friend has it.... and it suuuuuuucks. I'm all for natural immunity as a kind of booster, vaccines too, I'll be getting boosted for as long as they keep offering them. knock on wood still haven't had it, or at least not a symptomatic case - and we are actually rather surprised we didn't get it flying to miami and hanging out in key west for 2 weeks.  the flight back was filled with real covid spreading lookers.  somewhat resigned to the fact I will get it, and that takes me back to my primary concern, long covid.  to me this whole thing has been a game of delay.  the longer I delay getting it the better.

Yeah, we got boosted 2 weeks before our trip. Madeira had people from all over the world on vacation. Stockholm was pretty quiet. Iceland was a lot of indoor eating. To me though, the most dangerous part was at the airports. In most of the countries that we visited, we had to take a bus from the terminal to the plane. People were packed into those buses and even though masks were required half the people didn't wear them right and very, very few of the kids were wearing them at all. On the plane, it was suppose to be that kids over 2 were required to wear masks, but I didn't see it being enforced.

[Anastasis 23717]

17 minutes ago, troph said:

my only serious remaining concern about omicron is likelihood of long covid.  that's a bitch I definitely don't want to sleep with.  my best friend has it....

What is "it".  Fatigue, lingering respiratory symptoms, cognitive impairment, or other?  Long COVID means so many different things to different people.  Everything from coagulopathies to feeling chronically fatigued. 

[troph 25247]

Just now, Anastasis said:

What is "it".  Fatigue, lingering respiratory symptoms, cognitive impairment, or other?  Long COVID means so many different things to different people.  Everything from coagulopathies to feeling chronically fatigued. 

any of "it" but in her case, brain fog, chronic fatigue, covid induced asthma. 

[troph 25247]

14 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Yeah, we got boosted 2 weeks before our trip. Madeira had people from all over the world on vacation. Stockholm was pretty quiet. Iceland was a lot of indoor eating. To me though, the most dangerous part was at the airports. In most of the countries that we visited, we had to take a bus from the terminal to the plane. People were packed into those buses and even though masks were required half the people didn't wear them right and very, very few of the kids were wearing them at all. On the plane, it was suppose to be that kids over 2 were required to wear masks, but I didn't see it being enforced.

today is our 5th day back so we are technically still in the incubation window, and I don't buy 5 days, I still think it's up to 14 but every day that goes by reduces the chances.

[StruggleBus 3922]

18 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Yeah, we got boosted 2 weeks before our trip. Madeira had people from all over the world on vacation. Stockholm was pretty quiet. Iceland was a lot of indoor eating. To me though, the most dangerous part was at the airports. In most of the countries that we visited, we had to take a bus from the terminal to the plane. People were packed into those buses and even though masks were required half the people didn't wear them right and very, very few of the kids were wearing them at all. On the plane, it was suppose to be that kids over 2 were required to wear masks, but I didn't see it being enforced.

Try making a three year old wear a mask correctly for 5 hours and get back to me

[Bevo 13923]

6 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

Try making a three year old wear a mask correctly for 5 hours and get back to me

I did. The brat 5 year old behind me kept kicking my seat so I asked the steward if masks were required and then looked back at the kid. The steward said yes and then walked away.

[South Austin 53261]

39 minutes ago, dcbc said:

Me too.  Hide-and-seek champion.

 

I oscillate between hoping I get it so I and my kids can just get it over with, and continuing the hide-and-seek game.  But I'm still out and about (masked) and going to the occasional restaurant, so I may be eliminated from the hide-and-seek tournament in the near future.

[Don Johnson 4852]

2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I oscillate between hoping I get it so I and my kids can just get it over with, and continuing the hide-and-seek game.  But I'm still out and about (masked) and going to the occasional restaurant, so I may be eliminated from the hide-and-seek tournament in the near future.

There is value in just getting it over with. I’m day 6. Days 2-3 I was tired. Days 2-4 I had a very sore throat.  No congestion. No fever. 

I wasn’t really sweating it much before now. My Dec - early Jan were admittedly pretty Covid irresponsible. But it’s a weight off my shoulders to really not worry about it when I re-enter society soon  

Unfortunately my wife and 2 of 3 kids just wouldn’t test positive. One kid did and he’s asymptomatic and back at school today. 

The unexpected quarantine was the worst part for me. Well maybe not too unexpected as it’s been lingering over everyone for months just waiting to pull the rug out from under normal life. 

[Leeroy Jenkins 2498]

54 minutes ago, troph said:

my only serious remaining concern about omicron is likelihood of long covid.  that's a bitch I definitely don't want to sleep with.  my best friend has it.... and it suuuuuuucks. I'm all for natural immunity as a kind of booster, vaccines too, I'll be getting boosted for as long as they keep offering them. knock on wood still haven't had it, or at least not a symptomatic case - and we are actually rather surprised we didn't get it flying to miami and hanging out in key west for 2 weeks.  the flight back was filled with real covid spreading lookers.  somewhat resigned to the fact I will get it, and that takes me back to my primary concern, long covid.  to me this whole thing has been a game of delay.  the longer I delay getting it the better.

My wife and I flew back from KW on the 30th.  I tested positive on the 2nd.  Pretty sure I got it at the KW airport.  Way too many people in that little fucking place.  

Edited January 10, 2022 by Leeroy Jenkins

[South Austin 53261]

16 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

The unexpected quarantine was the worst part for me. Well maybe not too unexpected as it’s been lingering over everyone for months just waiting to pull the rug out from under normal life. 

That's the bitch of it.  Not for me.  I can just work from home, and my hearings, depositions, etc. these days are still mostly virtual.  But I have two kids in school and both playing basketball, and I'd hate to interrupt that.

Hopefully if the next variant is even less virulent all of us -- government, schools, employers, private business, etc. -- will do away with the quarantine requirements (with exceptions that might be required for particular areas like healthcare) and treat it like we did the common cold pre-pandemic.

Edited January 10, 2022 by South Austin

[Don Johnson 4852]

7 minutes ago, South Austin said:

That's the bitch of it.  Not for me.  I can just work from home, and my hearings, depositions, etc. these days are still mostly virtual.  But I have two kids in school and both playing basketball, and I'd hate to interrupt that.

Hopefully if the next variant is even less virulent we'll all -- government, schools, employers, private business, etc. -- will do away with the quarantine requirements (with exceptions that might be required for particular areas like healthcare) and treat it like we did the common cold pre-pandemic.

All three of my kids were just in 5 day quarantine. 2 for exposure. 1 for infection. 

One of the exposure boys has a basketball game tonight. Letting him play. The infected one has a baseball practice today I’m keeping him out of. It’s been 5 days, he’s back in school, and has tested negative but I’d be annoyed if another parent sent their kid back that soon. 

[troph 25247]

19 minutes ago, Leeroy Jenkins said:

My wife and I flew back from KW on the 30th.  I tested positive on the 2nd.  Pretty sure I got it at the KW airport.  Way too many people in that little fucking place.  

we drove to and from Miami for our flights.  we found an unused gate and hung out there for 90 minutes waiting for our boarding with no one there, that seemed like a genius move.  our direct non-stop from Miami to Austin which is typically well behaved was cancelled and we rebooked to a Miami to NOLA to Dallas, 1 plane change to Austin flight and it was a minefield of covid waiting to happen. 

20 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

There is value in just getting it over with. I’m day 6. Days 2-3 I was tired. Days 2-4 I had a very sore throat.  No congestion. No fever. 

I wasn’t really sweating it much before now. My Dec - early Jan were admittedly pretty Covid irresponsible. But it’s a weight off my shoulders to really not worry about it when I re-enter society soon  

Unfortunately my wife and 2 of 3 kids just wouldn’t test positive. One kid did and he’s asymptomatic and back at school today. 

The unexpected quarantine was the worst part for me. Well maybe not too unexpected as it’s been lingering over everyone for months just waiting to pull the rug out from under normal life. 

My sons now have it so it seems.  they are at my ex, test tomorrow.  They've been back since 12/30 and I haven't seen them since. I was assuming they'd catch it at school. looks like they caught it from friends when they got back or on their flight back from Miami.  It could work out well for the adults since they will go back to school with vaccine and natural immunity.  we had assumed we would get it because of school.

I'm not really up for changing our life, but we work from home, she works outside, I work exclusively from home now. Our fun time activities are almost all outside except for restaurants and the occasional movie.  we haven't been to but 2 movies since covid hit and we do miss sitting at the bar for dinner.  flights (and kids at school) are probably our biggest risk.  not willing to change our life anymore, just trying to be smart about when we got our booster, masking properly, N95 and skipping stupid snacks on the plane, etc. if we get it, so be it. 

[BabaYaga 15631]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

I oscillate between hoping I get it so I and my kids can just get it over with, and continuing the hide-and-seek game.  But I'm still out and about (masked) and going to the occasional restaurant, so I may be eliminated from the hide-and-seek tournament in the near future.

Popped hot.  Only symptoms are sniffles, little tiredness,  but got a bunch of tests from work, so figured why not. 

[South Austin 53261]

14 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Popped hot.  Only symptoms are sniffles, little tiredness,  but got a bunch of tests from work, so figured why not. 

Wanna hang out?

[BabaYaga 15631]

Just now, South Austin said:

Wanna hang out?

Your mom in town?

[South Austin 53261]

1 minute ago, BabaYaga said:

Your mom in town?

What if I say yes?

[dcbc 14645]

3 hours ago, South Austin said:

I oscillate between hoping I get it so I and my kids can just get it over with, and continuing the hide-and-seek game.  But I'm still out and about (masked) and going to the occasional restaurant, so I may be eliminated from the hide-and-seek tournament in the near future.

Me too.  Out and about.  Mask (cloth with N95 filters over paper lately) in crowded, indoor settings, but not at the table with family and vaxxed friends.  Not worrying about it much, but I work out at home and don't have any real desire to go to the movies.

Remember, the h&s champion eventually gets caught, he just is the last to get caught.

 

Wife's rapid test came back negative.  PCR should come in as early as tomorrow.  I think it's about 80% chance she has it, 15% chance it's flu, and 5% it's something else.  But with heavy body aches and dry cough, my money is on a very mild 'cron-rona infection.  If it is, I'll find out on my last TXCares draw if I got it. 

Edited January 10, 2022 by dcbc

[BabaYaga 15631]

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

What if I say yes?

[BabaYaga 15631]

1 minute ago, dcbc said:

but I work out at home

Going to have to do this for the next week as the gym by the office is me and all the gray-hairs who are retired.  

[Helobious 9825]

So I’ve now had 3 prolonged, close-quarter maskless exposures to people with the virus in the past month. Haven’t caught it. Or if I did I was symptomless. Im vaxxed & boosted but still.
 

Basically I’m saying I believe the cure is in my DNA sequence.

[utee94 16091]

Cool.  Then we know it's now time to harvest @Helobious.  

Pay no attention to the black-uniformed soldiers outside your front door...

[BabaYaga 15631]

Just now, utee94 said:

Cool.  Then we know it's now time to harvest @Helobious.  

Pay no attention to the black-uniformed soldiers outside your front door...

Just get samples off @South Austin's moms back

[babysdaddy 2731]

Was in the car for 2 hours on 1/4 with someone that tested positive on 1/5.  Nothing for me and no symptoms yet.

[Surly Bevo 25778]

I've sometimes wondered if long Covid is the new fibromyalgia.  Which is to say that there is definitely a part of of the population that has it but much smaller than those who claim they have it just because they feel fatigued, have a foggy brain etc which can be caused by a shitload of things (for me most notably after I have spent a weekend doing way too much drinking)

[MonkeyDoughnut 10810]

Houston back to level Red... Marathon this weekend is still a GO as local health chief signed off on their covid related changes and that is mainly an outdoor event. Hidalgo was a little vague on the rodeo but said hospitalizations would have to be trending downward within the next month for it to be on, citing the indoor vs outdoor distinction.

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by MonkeyDoughnut

[mchookem 16783]

On 1/7/2022 at 1:20 PM, mchookem said:

welp...my sister and her bff spent new year's up at dad's ranch in NE TX and apparently had a big ol' covid party cuz they all have it now 😕

mild so far for sister and friend, both vaxxed but not boostered. friend lost taste and smell for two days but that's coming back as of this morning. sister had fever on the way home Wednesday but this morning she's feeling mild allergy-like symptoms. they did at home tests to confirm. 

dad was fine yesterday...and was serving lunch at the local soup kitchen up there 😐 started getting a scratchy throat and dry cough this morning. congratulations dad, you served more than turkey sandwiches to the great unwashed masses in Anderson county 🙄

thank god he got his booster just before thanksgiving! i mean those salt-of-the-earth folks up there basically never acknowledged there even WAS a pandemic. dad was embarrassed about me wearing a mask in Kroger a year ago 😒

anyways...hoping it all pans out okay.

a friend and her family in Nashville also got it over New Year's, also all vaxxed...but they all almost exclusively had stomach issues. no fever or respiratory issues, just massive fatigue and stomach problems.

just so weird!

 

sister pretty much back to normal as of yesterday, she went back to work today (remote). and just hung up with dad, today was his first day of feeling improved since 1/6, although he said it never got worse than a head cold or bad allergies. i think they are all on the mend. so five days being symptomatic seems about right. 

dad said he 'sure was glad' he got the vax/booster, he feels like it would have been a lot worse...i told him me too, so grateful he wasn't one of those crazy anti-vax nuts. like all his friends. 🙄

[bschoolprof 6352]

More "with/for" fun. From here:

One month ago (12/10/21), there were 46 "covid" patients in the ICU in the Austin area, which was about 9% of total (open + occupied) ICU beds.  

As of today (1/10/22), these numbers have tripled: 137 covid patients in the ICU, for about 28% of the total.

However, over that time period, the total number of people in the ICU in the Austin area hasn't budged at all.  It's gone from 447 total patients to 446. ICUs are as full now as they were before this surge started, at least locally. So that's nice and we have that going for us.  

Edited January 10, 2022 by bschoolprof

[XYZ 2154]

6 hours ago, South Austin said:

I oscillate between hoping I get it so I and my kids can just get it over with, and continuing the hide-and-seek game.  But I'm still out and about (masked) and going to the occasional restaurant, so I may be eliminated from the hide-and-seek tournament in the near future.

Back in October I chose option 1. I caught it (not intentionally, but also I wasn’t hiding at all). Spent a few days with mild flu symptoms. I’ve been living a normal life since then, other than putting a face mask on when I enter a business that says “mask required”. Otherwise same lifestyle as before covid. I don’t know if I will catch it again but if I do, so be it.

[dcbc 14645]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

Back in October I chose option 1. I caught it (not intentionally, but also I wasn’t hiding at all). Spent a few days with mild flu symptoms. I’ve been living a normal life since then, other than putting a face mask on when I enter a business that says “mask required”. Otherwise same lifestyle as before covid. I don’t know if I will catch it again but if I do, so be it.

So "hide and seek" champion may not have been the best analogy.   No hiding as of late.  Been living the good life with some mildly inconvenient things like masking when the rate of transmission gets really high, since I was "fully" vaxxed in mid January 2021.

Shooting for "last guy in the dodgeball game," I guess

Edited January 11, 2022 by dcbc

[Axle Hongsnort 211]

What is "it".  Fatigue, lingering respiratory symptoms, cognitive impairment, or other?  Long COVID means so many different things to different people.  Everything from coagulopathies to feeling chronically fatigued. 

Tested positive 12/26. I was not prepared for the brain fog and fatigue hanging around as long as it did. Had zero panicky breathing symptoms, but felt like I was on a steady diet of dummy sandwiches.

[StruggleBus 3922]

21 minutes ago, Axle Hongsnort said:

Tested positive 12/26. I was not prepared for the brain fog and fatigue hanging around as long as it did. Had zero panicky breathing symptoms, but felt like I was on a steady diet of dummy sandwiches.

Sounds like everything was normal for you. We’ll count you as asymptomatic.

[justhookit 4207]

4 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Houston back to level Red... Marathon this weekend is still a GO as local health chief signed off on their covid related changes and that is mainly an outdoor event. Hidalgo was a little vague on the rodeo but said hospitalizations would have to be trending downward within the next month for it to be on, citing the indoor vs outdoor distinction.

 

Got to be kidding me. I guess I’m calling the passport office in the morning to see if they are going to stay open next week. They were already closed this week to replace the printing machines that make the passport.

[fattyflattie 4640]

6 minutes ago, justhookit said:

Got to be kidding me. I guess I’m calling the passport office in the morning to see if they are going to stay open next week. They were already closed this week to replace the printing machines that make the passport.

Have you tried one of the expedite services?  Like $300 for next day passport.  

[justhookit 4207]

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Have you tried one of the expedite services?  Like $300 for next day passport.  

They are all quoting 2-3 weeks right now. As far as I know our only option is keeping the Houston appointment or changing it to Dallas and having to drive 8 hours. You get your passport same day that way. I’m all ears if you have something else. Trip is on the 20th.

[fattyflattie 4640]

Just now, justhookit said:

They are all quoting 2-3 weeks right now. As far as I know our only option is keeping the Houston appointment or changing it to Dallas and having to drive 8 hours. You get your passport same day that way. I’m all ears if you have something else. Trip is on the 20th.

Yeah not surprised with the way things are now. But there are places that will expedite it for like $300.  Same day/next.  There is one in Houston for sure.  Damn I wish I could remember the name.  I’ll dig around my personal email and see if I used that (I was at another company at the time).  I think @Pescado_Rojo had to fly somewhere to get one in short order not long ago iirc?

[justhookit 4207]

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Yeah not surprised with the way things are now. But there are places that will expedite it for like $300.  Same day/next.  There is one in Houston for sure.  Damn I wish I could remember the name.  I’ll dig around my personal email and see if I used that (I was at another company at the time).  I think @Pescado_Rojo had to fly somewhere to get one in short order not long ago iirc?

Unless something has changed that doesn’t work anymore. The official government passport offices cracked down on the companies and individuals doing that so now the only way to get the same day turnaround is to go in person. The “expedited” passport company in Corpus was just going to send it thru the mail and charge extra for something we can do ourselves. If the Houston office shuts down again I guess we are prepared to head to Dallas next week or fly to another location, but obviously I’d rather not do that. 

[troph 25247]

5 minutes ago, justhookit said:

Unless something has changed that doesn’t work anymore. The official government passport offices cracked down on the companies and individuals doing that so now the only way to get the same day turnaround is to go in person. The “expedited” passport company in Corpus was just going to send it thru the mail and charge extra for something we can do ourselves. If the Houston office shuts down again I guess we are prepared to head to Dallas next week or fly to another location, but obviously I’d rather not do that. 

my ex got hers super quick based on the rec I gave her.  it was slower than before, my gf used them 5-6 years ago and got hers in a few days, this time it was a few weeks.  so I think some of those services still work to an extent.