Hence why with summer almost back, the European-style open air "beer garden", which should be fully functional even now, is such a great idea. There are a few of those in SF and they never closed.

I have to admit that I used to be neutral on al fresco dining but COVID has taught me to really enjoy it, especially now that so many restaurants have set up spaces that shield you from wind, provide some heat when necessary and are generally very pleasant (more so than just a table on the sidewalk).

And al fresco drinking is also a very enjoyable thing.

Beer garden in Hayes Valley not far from my place (the picture is pre-COVID)

https://media1.fdncms.com/sfweekly/i.../9037581.0.jpg
https://media1.fdncms.com/sfweekly/i.../9037581.0.jpg

^ That’s great if you’ve got the weather. We generally don’t in London. And in LA, there was no real social interaction even outside. Tables were like 10 feet apart.

As a matter of fact, what I see in that photo is just couples or small groups talking amongst themselves. They might as well be in their own backyards (if they had them, which they probably don’t in SF). There’s no spontaneous social interaction taking place in that photo.

Oh, there’s no doubt this is the case, especially for younger people. Kids who were college freshmen last year are going to need a do over especially.

In Stockholm, the government sounds like Canada but acts like Florida.

Söder is jumping, but it's a daytime thing -- gotta clear out those early closing times

For someone who has been on a real tear trying to knock what those that you see as a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings who just want to sit at home on the computer all day... when do you work? You post at all hours of the day every day.

Wow, I did not know that The Urban Politician owned downtown Chicago skyscrapers.

He is way richer than I thought!

Interestingly, I and some of my medical colleagues have talked about this.

Over many years of practicing medicine we've learned the skill of showing the proper facial expression with patients (showing empathy, holding back laughter or annoyance when somebody says something ridiculous, etc). But we've now been wearing masks for over a year and have gotten "rusty" with those skills.

Work on your poker faces, people, because eventually you're going to need them again!

I just put in an offer on the John Hancock Center for $400,000,000, we'll see if they accept it! :D

Glad to hear you did OK on the mortgage stress test for that one!

I would think suburban/outer urban residential landlords would be more likely in hoping for extended lockdowns if their returns were the only priority. Here in Toronto it's the downtown high-rise rental owners who are getting hammered by the current environment. No students needing a place downtown, service staff who populate the young high-rise communities are out of work, no one wanting to spend a year of lockdown in a 600 SF condo rental. People have been willing to spend a bit more cash for a larger place further away from the core since they spend so much more time there.

I'm flipping things around, for example, so if you say pro-maskers are "virtue signalling" then I will say that anti-maskers are "unvirtue signalling". It creates a tie so the thread can move on, although it does seem worse to readers to be a "unvirtue signaller" by not wearing a mask.

I thought you were married... are you and the wife swingers? You like to go up and talk to random strangers?

Time to come back to work!
 

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/fina...rs-back-office

:cheers:
10,000 workers right there. Get those trains ready!

^ well that's some welcome news for downtown chicago!

What kind of a question is that? As if the sole purpose of socializing with strangers is to hit on them?

It made me think that a month or two ago, when sit-down dining was still (somewhat open) here, my wife and I went out for dinner and for most of our dinner we chatted with the couple at the next table. They were in their 70s so 20-25 years older than us. They were 2 m (6 ft) away.

We chatted about our kids, their kids and grandkids, their travels and our travels all over the world, life in general, and of course the pandemic.

Afterwards, my wife and I were saying just how good it felt to just chat informally like that with people from outside our immediate entourage - it hadn't happened in close to a year I'd say.

I feel like Chicago's restaurants are going to be literally PACKED this summer, with the chance that reservations will be very hard.

1. As noted above, the reopening is planned
2. So many places closed permanently.

Supply is WAY below demand

^ Well, to some people yes.

I basically (outside of work or taking care of some kind of errand, etc) would probably not socialize with a young woman out of the blue unless the interaction would somehow lead to sexual intercourse. Therefore, being married I just don't socialize with young women.

That seems to me like a cultural difference. (Though yes there are people who are more conservative about this where I live too.)

In all honesty it doesn't happen every time my wife and I go out that we end up chatting with strangers at other tables. Maybe 1 out of every 5 times or one out of every 10 times.

I just found Sopas' reaction to be bizarre: "what the hell? are you guys, like, swingers?"

That would have never crossed my mind as a reaction to that post. Never.

https://socketsite.com/archives/2021...sday-plus.html

Welcome back 10023.

I must say, I covered a lot of the downtown area last weekend in a long Sunday walk, and it looked to me and felt almost normal. I even saw quite a few of what looked like tourists and asked myself, "Are they? Where'd they come from?"

I feel like British after work pub culture fosters more of that intermingling as well. Typically you'll have a pretty large portion of the bar area as standing room with small round tables, often spilling out into the street.

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/E83MHH/off...ity-E83MHH.jpg

I love this kind of thing compared to everyone shuffling to their 4 person table on the patio or at a booth inside.

One of the main things I miss during lockdown is to sit at a bar and get into a conversation with strangers. Sometimes I'm with my wife, sometimes with friends and sometimes I just like to go alone. Nothing sexual about it and I rarely talk to people I meet at a later date, though I definitely know the regulars at my local.