So where we live, they have been going through a limited reopening - although oddly enough, both by state and county by county (we live in one county, and I work in another). I was out and about a bit over the weekend - some general observations on the state of things.
1) Traffic has definitely been increasing over the last two weeks from my limited trips out. Still nowhere near pre-Plague traffic levels though.
2) I visited my favorite local used book stores (three in my driving range). All three are requiring masks and are laid out with flow arrows and other certain rules (such as one person in an alcove, etc.). One of the three had a customer limit that once hit, asked for 30 minutes of shopping (they all had a limit). People were generally well mannered and one of the store personnel recognized me from last week. "It is weird" she said, "I am recognizing people with their masks on where before I was not."
Their stocks were definitely down. Interestingly enough, almost all Role Playing Games were completely wiped out.
3) Driving around the edge of commercial centers, some are open but there are still gaps where things (such as restaurants) are closed. There was a 6 foot distancing line to get into Ross (discount clothing store). I cannot imagine waiting in line just to get in there.
4) My gym is in its second week of opening. I went for the first time in almost two months on Monday. No requirement for a mask (but I wore one, habit now I guess) and an hour limit on a workout. As it was Memorial Day, there were more people than are normally there when I go. It was the largest crowd I had been around in 9 weeks. It was weird and a bit uncomfortable.
5) Gasoline has become the climb back up the price chart. It got as low as $1.19 a gallon but is back up near the $1.40 a gallon. I still have not used a whole tank in the last two months.
6) My work (anyway) had made no move to restore onsite operations - in fact, due to construction, they are decreasing onsite staff even more. I am easily betting there is no return to work until the end of July at this point.
Crowds were that way to me before the panic. I don't like the vibe of huge amounts of people.
ReplyDeleteOur gas didn't drop below 1.45 here. And they yank the oil out of the ground all around us. It's about 1.60 now.
I quit wearing the mask. I've become a curmudgeon. I make jokes about the Lone Ranger being the only good guy with a mask, and no one understands. To quote an intellectual, "lost in a modern world that more and more outdistances me - and am becoming quite comfortable with that fact."
STxAR, I am not a crowd lover either - but interestingly to me anyway - this was maybe twenty people. Not nearly what I would have expected.
DeleteHonestly at this point, there is a certain benefit to wearing the mask if for no other reason that it allows me to go gray in a crowd wearing a mask.
You might watch that intellectual you quote - I hear he may have issues...
Nice! I use a tank about every two and a half weeks... maybe 3. But I shoot at the archery and gun clubs. If I didn't do that I might stretch that out my a month or so too...
ReplyDeleteGlen, I typical used 1 tank about every 1.5 weeks before. I am going to sword class now so that will move it up, plus the gym and rabbit shelter - but all told that is maybe 70 miles a week? That is almost 4.5 weeks given my mileage.
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