the past couple of days [friday and saturday], i have had pressing police commissioner duties [a job i have had since 1985].
it was something that had to be done using in person contact, so masks and gloves were a REQUIREMENT, as well as social distancing.[the six feet suggestion].
it was VERY hard/impossible to accomplish the social distancing in a squad car [SUV]. also, the same applies to interview/interrogation rooms.
this will conclude in the district attorney's office tomorrow, which will also hamper the social distancing suggestion.
hats off to those first responders who must deal with this close contact daily !

and as an aside, the [police] chief confided in me yesterday, he believes he had this virus in late february lasting until the second week of march, way before the mask/distance guidelines were in effect.
it was NASTY and his doc declared it a "super flue type" [ he wasn't tested because the test[s] were unavailable at the time], but his position REQUIRES him to be on the job.
we had several contacts around that time and after, so i MAY have been exposed. it has been way more than 14 days after our final contact until friday, so since my wife and i have shown no symptoms, i either didn't catch it then, or was asymptomatic.
somewhat of a close call for me, as both my wife and i will have a devil of a time if we get this thing because of our pre-existing conditions.
stay SAFE out there !

I'm beginning to think this assessment may have been a little premature. Even if it does hold up, it looks like it's going to take a lot longer than I thought.

Have reservations to go camping in VA in two weeks. I’ve been optimistic until this week now I’m just ready to cancel it. A turn to normal is going to be a long time coming.

Let me tell you what MY new normal will be:

I am now a criminal, like felony-level criminal. Just like that. Went to bed one day, fine, work up the next, i'm an evil [censored]. So... it would seem i'm going to have to start thinking like a criminal, and acting like one.

See... i never... EVER thought... not in my entire lifetime... i'd say this, but i am envious ov your American government. Our (Canadian) government is taking this entire epidemic thing as a perfect opportunity for a MASSIVE power grab, and they're making changes, drastic changes, faster than a 10/11 GW Bush. Suddenly, just like that, HALF ov our guns are illegal. No warning, no conversation, no vote, just 'Hey, heres a list, if you have one on it, you're a felon unless you "sell" it "back" to us at pennies on the dollar' (pennies you dont even get, mind you). Our government-run car insurance just (again, overnight, no warning, no nothing) well more than DOUBLED my car insurance... for no reason... which i will now quite literally have to break the law to pay off. That was a lovely surprise. And... with this bullsh!t vaccine coming hard and fast, i will lay good money down that my government will be one ov the few to mandate it. I will inject heroin in my veins before they touch me with that poison.

So yeah... what a virus. Went to bed healthy and law-abiding (more or less), and woke up a felon.

Swell.

"Fair compensation" suuuure... Maybe you can get them grandfathered?

Lots of things will either stop, turn virtual, or move outdoors.

New normal, CRAPPY USPS shipping.

I ordered a part from Washington state (to Michigan). It took 43 days. We ship 100-200 packages a day and I'd say 20% are taking from a few days to a few weeks extra to ship using USPS. I STRONGLY discourage people from using USPS on my website but they still do and then want to know why its taking so long to get delivered and why the tracking isn't being updated after spending a WHOLE $2.98 of postage. Wheres the SMACKING MY FOREHEAD emoji.

NOTHING will return to the way it was. How can it unless you have a death wish. I bet a 1/2 the people I talk to think this is all overblown and would take a flight to Wuhan, China and ordering a steaming bowl of bat soup People act like they can't wait to got Carlisle. I'm gonna mss Carlisle. I paid $800 for my spots. I bought a new $10,000 trailer. I'll lose thousands in sales. But at 57 even getting the flu sucks anymore. Not sure i could afford to be laid up for a month.

Wife and i drove down to a small "eclectic" restaurant in Detroit this morning to get Americanos and scones. Curbside only. Wearing masks, hazmat suits, hand sanitizer, 6ft distancing, the whole 9 yards. Takes the fun out of going out on Sat morning. Restaurants are just not going to make it like that.

I'm not changing a thing. People act like this was the apocalypse.

Compared to the flu of 1918, World War II and probably a few bad flu seasons since this was way overblown. The public has been played.

Not saying that it was a hoax. I am saying it was milked for all it was worth by a lot of people for their own benefit - money, power, fame.

So true. Gonna be "interesting" to see what % of the trillions of $$$ goes unaccounted for. Or misappropriated/miss used/etc.
.

Its all up in the air now. We have serious people fighting them. Canada has 4 gun orgs, but we dont have anything near the teeth the NRA has. I'm not at all optimistic. At best, they'll allow some grandfathered, but either unable to use them... and i mean AT ALL... or deactivated. Neither is an option. Its funny... i've told my gun friends (that have been into this far longer than i have) that there is no point in legally owning anything other than a long, hunting gun in this stupid country. If you NEED a handgun, or AR, buy it illegally. Turns out... i was right all along. I know people with tens ov thousands ov bucks tied up into this. They're getting NOTHING back. Worse... they wont even know that until they try, and then they'll be on the list, and forced either way. You want to know how utterly absurd this is? They have ALL 12ga shotguns on the list... so that means even grampa's old break-open single shot duck gun is a felony possession. Even the gun-ANAL Western European countries never went this far.

Canada might be another Australia or New Zealand.. Thank God for the 2A.
After the first felony the rest are free.

Agreed,

1000 percent

I totally agree also !

I'm not sure how Australia are on their gun laws, but they're [censored] draconian on many other harmless things. I sure as hell would never live there. NZ is gorgeous, but i wouldn't want to live there either.

You have to wonder what the war generations (WW1, WW2) think about all this pain and misery. Utterly devastating world wars, utterly devastating aftermaths, Spanish Flu, the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl... probably a small mercy few ov them are alive and coherent these days... they'd spend their last days wracked with disgust at the people they fought and suffered for.