Covid 19 and Your Life #2: It's Personal

[Tears of Lys]

2 hours ago, S John said:

Speaking of the library, our local one has been closed this whole time and I really wish they’d let people reserve online and implement some kind of pick up service.  I don’t think that would be any riskier than getting take out for dinner which has been allowed throughout the crisis.  

My local area also announced that pools will be closed for the summer.  I don’t really get this one either.  It’s obviously a place where people congregate but it’s outside and in chlorinated water.  Since pools are usually fenced they could also restrict the number of patrons to promote social distancing.  People are allowed to sit on top of one another at the beach, or at a lake, but not congregate around chemically treated water?  It’s OK pack people indoors at a TJ Maxx to shop for discount clothes, but not to cool off at a public pool when it’s 90 degrees?  

Give me the pool and the library and keep the TJ Maxx!  I really do feel bad for kids. They get out of school for the year months early but aren’t going to get to do any of the normal summertime kid stuff.  No summer camps, no pool, really limited bullshit summer job opportunities, graduates who didn’t get to say goodbye to friends and teachers. From the ages of like 8-15 I freakin’ LIVED for the pool in the summer. I would be bored out of my skull at this point with several months left to go.  

The selection sucks, but there's little "pocket" libraries all over where I live.  It's basically a little cabinet on a pole where everyone and anyone can borrow a book, drop one off, etc.  Some good Samaritan installs it at the street by their house for their neighbors to use freely.  I don't know how germ-free they are, but it's easy to just wipe a book down with an alcohol wipe and enjoy!  I've gotten some pretty good books from ours.  Don't expect much, of course, but it's better than nothing or rereading your own books for the umpteenth time.

I too feel really bad for the kids, especially high school age.  

[Ormond]

3 hours ago, S John said:

Speaking of the library, our local one has been closed this whole time and I really wish they’d let people reserve online and implement some kind of pick up service.  I don’t think that would be any riskier than getting take out for dinner which has been allowed throughout the crisis.  

My local area also announced that pools will be closed for the summer.  I don’t really get this one either.  It’s obviously a place where people congregate but it’s outside and in chlorinated water.  Since pools are usually fenced they could also restrict the number of patrons to promote social distancing.  People are allowed to sit on top of one another at the beach, or at a lake, but not congregate around chemically treated water?  It’s OK pack people indoors at a TJ Maxx to shop for discount clothes, but not to cool off at a public pool when it’s 90 degrees?  

Give me the pool and the library and keep the TJ Maxx!  I really do feel bad for kids. They get out of school for the year months early but aren’t going to get to do any of the normal summertime kid stuff.  No summer camps, no pool, really limited bullshit summer job opportunities, graduates who didn’t get to say goodbye to friends and teachers. From the ages of like 8-15 I freakin’ LIVED for the pool in the summer. I would be bored out of my skull at this point with several months left to go.  

Aren't your local authorities telling people they should be doing social distancing in stores? I can believe that people in your local TJ Maxx are not obeying social distancing rules, but it is hard for me to believe that the authorities in your area are telling them that "packing themselves" inside the store is "OK". 

I think the size of most public swimming pools is such that if everyone DID obey the six feet apart rule at them, they wouldn't be able to allow enough people in at any one time to make it seem worthwhile for hiring the lifeguards. Whether or not the water is chemically treated has nothing to do with spreading Covid-19 -- it's who's close enough to breathe on you. People may not be properly obeying social distancing rules at beaches and lakes in your area, but they theoretically could be able to, which would be much harder at your average public swimming pool. 

(P.S. Plus it may not be the same people making the decisions about pools vs. beaches. Most public pools would be owned by individual cities or towns, while authorities that control beaches would usually be at the county or state level.)

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

28 minutes ago, Ormond said:

hiring the lifeguards.

You're over thinking it. Think about what they're asked to do. There's no way to social distance from someone when you're dragging them out of a pool and giving them cpr. 

[Fragile Bird]

52 minutes ago, Tears of Lys said:

The selection sucks, but there's little "pocket" libraries all over where I live.  It's basically a little cabinet on a pole where everyone and anyone can borrow a book, drop one off, etc.  Some good Samaritan installs it at the street by their house for their neighbors to use freely.  I don't know how germ-free they are, but it's easy to just wipe a book down with an alcohol wipe and enjoy!  I've gotten some pretty good books from ours.  Don't expect much, of course, but it's better than nothing or rereading your own books for the umpteenth time.

I too feel really bad for the kids, especially high school age.  

Do you know the guy who thought of the idea charges a license fee do it? I think all kinds of people just put up their own once they see that.

[HexMachina]

3 hours ago, S John said:

Speaking of the library, our local one has been closed this whole time and I really wish they’d let people reserve online and implement some kind of pick up service.  I don’t think that would be any riskier than getting take out for dinner which has been allowed throughout the crisis.  

My local area also announced that pools will be closed for the summer.  I don’t really get this one either.  It’s obviously a place where people congregate but it’s outside and in chlorinated water.  Since pools are usually fenced they could also restrict the number of patrons to promote social distancing.  People are allowed to sit on top of one another at the beach, or at a lake, but not congregate around chemically treated water?  It’s OK pack people indoors at a TJ Maxx to shop for discount clothes, but not to cool off at a public pool when it’s 90 degrees?  

Give me the pool and the library and keep the TJ Maxx!  I really do feel bad for kids. They get out of school for the year months early but aren’t going to get to do any of the normal summertime kid stuff.  No summer camps, no pool, really limited bullshit summer job opportunities, graduates who didn’t get to say goodbye to friends and teachers. From the ages of like 8-15 I freakin’ LIVED for the pool in the summer. I would be bored out of my skull at this point with several months left to go.  

This is probably the wrong point to pick up on but I had never known until today it was TJ Maxx in the States and elsewhere. Here in the UK it is TK Maxx, which Wikipedia says is to avoid confusion with TJ Hughes. The more you learn...

[Ormond]

14 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

You're over thinking it. Think about what they're asked to do. There's no way to social distance from someone when you're dragging them out of a pool and giving them cpr. 

That's a point -- are the beaches that are open around the country all without lifeguards?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

7 minutes ago, Ormond said:

That's a point -- are the beaches that are open around the country all without lifeguards?

Of course not. But I'm just thinking to my time as a camp counselor, and how any social distancing could work at a pool. Beaches seem better because you have a lot more space, but I still doubt people would socially distance. How can you wear a mask and swim, and you just bump into people where ever you swim. 

But be it at a beach or pool, a lifeguard has to fundamentally break social distancing to do their most important job. I'm not sure how you circle that square and justify opening up pools and beaches. But then again, the idea of sending kids to camp worries me unless they're tested and then just stay at camp all summer.

[S John]

1 hour ago, Tears of Lys said:

The selection sucks, but there's little "pocket" libraries all over where I live.  It's basically a little cabinet on a pole where everyone and anyone can borrow a book, drop one off, etc.  Some good Samaritan installs it at the street by their house for their neighbors to use freely.  I don't know how germ-free they are, but it's easy to just wipe a book down with an alcohol wipe and enjoy!  I've gotten some pretty good books from ours.  Don't expect much, of course, but it's better than nothing or rereading your own books for the umpteenth time.

I too feel really bad for the kids, especially high school age.  

They do have those here, but they are also closed for COVID!  There’s one maybe 3-4 blocks away from my house with a sign on it.  I do have a pretty good stack of unreads in my house that I’ve been chipping away at, but I still like to browse and add to it.

33 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

You're over thinking it. Think about what they're asked to do. There's no way to social distance from someone when you're dragging them out of a pool and giving them cpr. 

Ah yea I forgot about the possibility of the lifeguards having to give CPR.  How about we open the pools and everyone just agrees not to drown this summer.

[williamjm]

6 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

I don’t think there will be millions of tourists in Spain this year, even if the government lifts restrictions. Some people will come, but not in the millions.

It looks like they don't have to worry about the British tourists for a while yet due to the Spaniards not thinking the British infection rate is low enough and the UK about the introduce quarantine that would force returning tourists to isolate for two weeks. I suppose it's possible some people wouldn't be put off by the two week self-isolation at home if they were working from home anyway and really wanted a holiday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52882177

I might believe that tourist numbers could be in the low millions if the situation remains stable for a few months (which might be unlikely) but nowhere close to the usual 80 million Spain gets according to that article.

[Maltaran]

38 minutes ago, Ormond said:

That's a point -- are the beaches that are open around the country all without lifeguards?

A lot of the UK ones are, the RNLI has severely reduced their presence. I’ve seen at least two news reports of drownings at beaches where the lifeguards were removed.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

45 minutes ago, S John said:

Ah yea I forgot about the possibility of the lifeguards having to give CPR.  How about we open the pools and everyone just agrees not to drown this summer.

The point I've been making for many months is that if you go through everything, and I do mean everything, line by line, bit by bit you see that what needs to be done, even in a perfect world, isn't really possible. 

Just look at the protests. Social distancing fails much? 

25 minutes ago, Maltaran said:

A lot of the UK ones are, the RNLI has severely reduced their presence. I’ve seen at least two news reports of drownings at beaches where the lifeguards were removed.

BUT THEY DIDN'T GET EATEN BY THE SHARKS OR DINOSAURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Fury Resurrected]

1 hour ago, Ormond said:

That's a point -- are the beaches that are open around the country all without lifeguards?

The beaches at lakes in Minnesota mostly do not have lifeguards. The ones in Minneapolis will also m be closed all summer

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

15 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

The beaches at lakes in Minnesota mostly do not have lifeguards. The ones in Minneapolis will also m be closed all summer

Fuck good that will do at night. 

[Fury Resurrected]

20 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Fuck good that will do at night. 

Probably enough for social distance. Gotta watch out for those algae blooms though

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Probably enough for social distance. Gotta watch out for those algae blooms though

At best between groups. At best. You know how people like to go swimming at night around the lakes. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Fucking hell. Now it might hail here too, and there's a tornado a ways off.

WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG EXACTLY WHERE I LIVE AT THE SAME TIME???!!!!111!!!!!1!!!

ETA: I'm knocking over all the game boards here. All of them!!!!!!!!!!

[A True Kaniggit]

8 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Fucking hell. Now it might hail here too, and there's a tornado a ways off.

WHY THE FUCK IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG EXACTLY WHERE I LIVE AT THE SAME TIME???!!!!111!!!!!1!!!

ETA: I'm knocking over all the game boards here. All of them!!!!!!!!!!

Just wait until the hurricanes start hitting. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said:

Just wait until the hurricanes start hitting. 

Yeah, not good.

And with that, the rain starts immediately and the thunder is roaring. 

My plants..... 

[Fury Resurrected]

36 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Yeah, not good.

And with that, the rain starts immediately and the thunder is roaring. 

My plants..... 

It’s not a very long one, it was over in about 30-40 minutes up here in Elk River where I am doing laundry at my sister’s house. Warthog is 5 and she just told me she named a turtle she found Sadness. She’s so weird and cool.

[Tears of Lys]

On 6/2/2020 at 6:56 PM, Tywin et al. said:

Yeah, not good.

And with that, the rain starts immediately and the thunder is roaring. 

My plants..... 

That reminds me that we used to have a gardening thread.  DalThor and Mashiara over in Greece grew a bunch of things in pots on their patio, IIRC.  Maybe I'll re-start it.