An article I read earlier today suggested sticking to places that you already know: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coron...b6eab7793cb07b

We did carry-out yesterday... we got too lazy to cook.

It was kind of bizarre, because the restaurant that we picked up from is usually very busy and crowded. I called our order in, then a half hour later, picked it up myself. All the chairs were up on the tables, and there was only 1 customer ahead of me paying for his order. I picked up our order, paid, and promptly left.

I've never used a 3rd party food delivery service; I don't know why I'm so leery of them. I'd rather pick up the food myself.

thanks for the article link.

it was informative and helpful.

I've used Waitr before, but they aren't around here anymore, so I moved on... It's pretty convenient. You do everything online and you can even request, basically, that they set the food down on the mat, ring the bell, and sprint away in a panic reminiscent of that of startled deer. I'm just trying to do as much as I can for as many people as I can... The restaurants, the DoorDash drivers... My job is secure, I'm in no danger of being fired or furloughed, and so I feel a need to support everyone and everything I can right now.

Lol.

I think I would extra tip just to witness their miming a startled deer while my wife and I flash on to do the headlights...

Careful, now. Don't try to be too funny or you might get scolded.

Yes, I am aware of that. Not to minimize the situation, but I think that levity can help a little bit and I see irony in everything humans do.

Doesn't that usage also exist in English though? For example, a person being "economical" meaning being practical with one's finances or an "economical" thing being a good deal or bargain for the money spent. Also, "economy class" for instance, for the cheapest travel options on a plane.

Yeah, I guess that's true. Though I do think that the use of the *other* meaning of all words related to "economy" is quite a bit more prevalent.

food is less of a worry or so they say. at least cooked food. take out is touched as much as grocery food is. i dk i guess try to stick with what you know in your area. a funny thing is in ny cuomo said restaurant booze is ok to go for now too. i tested that last night and its true lol.

https://blog.bayareametro.gov/posts/...ed-coronavirus

I'm very unclear on why busses would be any safer. In fact, since busses are entirely enclosed and most cable car seating is effectively outdoors, seems to me cable cars might be a little safer. I know I wouldn't ride a bus right now.

Yes, Montreal bus drivers just open the back doors to busses from today onwards. They don't check cards or tickets.


One coronavirus case from yesterday had just transited on the metro before his/her test according to a local daily.

millenials best beware:

https://nypost.com/2020/03/18/millen...official-says/

Ideally you want to introduce as little into your house from outside your house as possible. But in reality, for most of us this is near impossible. If you don't order prepared take-out food, you are going to have to bring in food from supermarkets or order what's needed to cook it for delivery.

However, having food prep items delivered may have some advantage over take-out prepared food. That is, the take-out food you will handle and eat right away. The staples and uncooked food you may have delivered can go on a shelf for a few days and you can wash your hands after putting them away.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/h...-aerosols.html

I'm leery of them because (1) you don't know how long it took the food to get from the restaurant stove to you and it could be cold or unappetizing, (2) you have to tip the delivery person (20% is expected in SF and that's a significant addition to the cost of the meal), (3) it's one more possibly infected person handling not so much the food but the packaging materials.

^ i generally try to avoid delivery as well because i dislike the tipping part.

my legs work, i can easily walk a block or two to avoid an extra $5 - $10 leaving my wallet.

besides, a little fresh air is always a good idea.

I've got a little restaurant and bar node about a half mile from my house that we walk to all the time. There's been no official bar and restaurant shut down order yet in either Atlanta or the State of GA. Some of the businesses have opted to close on their own and others are still open. There's ugly shouting back and forth going on on FB between the closed places employees and the open places employees, and attempts to publicly out and shame people still going out for dinner and drinks.

As far as I know, even in places where there have been shut-downs, that's for in-house service only. I know in San Francisco, which has a "shelter in place" lockdown, they are still allowing--even encouraging as a way to keep as many places as possible from going under--take-out.

When it happens here, I would expect it to be the same thing. The places that have shut down are opting not to do that. They don't think they can be profitable at it (and I agree with them). My neighborhood draws people from all over the metro. It's a destination party scene. Those same people aren't going to make a trip to EAV for take out food. Everything about my neighborhood is the social vibe of hanging out and drinking. It's a very boozy neighborhood, and all these places make the lion's share of their profits on the liquor sales. We don't have the population base close by for it to be worthwhile for these places to attempt to eke it out with take out food only.

uh-oh, my wife just got off the phone with her sister.

she just got back late last week from a work trip to italy.

she and her husband now both have fevers and a cough.......... they're trying to get tested as we speak.


they're both in their early 40s, quite wealthy (ie. rock solid health insurance), active, and healthy, so they should be ok long term, but this is the first case of someone i personally know.

Hang in there.

Very sorry to hear. Keep us posted on how difficult it is (or conversely easy) for them to get tested. I'm still reading about horror stories of how tough it is to actually secure testing.

^^SF's techies have long been heavy users of not only prepared take-out food but also "meal kits" and any other way anybody can think of to get them back to coding with as little interruption as possible (certainly no time out for cooking). That's why so many of these delivery services got started here.

just walked past fully operational bars in st louis. mainly boomers!

cant wait to get parented at by a boomer.

Just some daily info:


https://healthnewshub.org/wp-content...-1-466x452.jpg
Credit: https://hartfordhealthcare.org/about...2&publicId=395

fixed that for you mon amie.

sherrod brown’s tweet is sobering ... and frightening:


Unemployment claims filed in Ohio:

Last Sunday: 536
This Sunday: 11,995
Monday: 36,645

https://twitter.com/SenSherrodBrown/...850296835?s=20

Hoping for the best.

Thank you!

Likewise;

Fixed that for you mon ami.

oh lo lo bien sur oui that is very important now fiston.

:(

so this cocktail joint is offering fancy dranks with tots (because you have to serve food) outside the bar to go and its a big hit. money goes to laid off staff they say.

I hope and trust your family will be fine; best wishes to them and to you!

what a shock right? but the wsj has uncovered the incompetent crony trumpies at the cdc were telling the states dont worry we have adequate testing:

https://twitter.com/carlquintanilla/...481998848?s=20

I'd say go for it. Delivery might be slightly better than takeout in terms of contact with people (especially if they just leave it without you guys actually being face to face. Also remember that GrubHub is a Chicago company so you should prefer them to UberEats / DoorDash / Caviar / PostMates if you have a choice :-p.

Best of luck to them. I wonder when the first forumer will get it...

One of my friends nephews got diagnosed with it today, they got back from a trip to Austria; they live in Eureka, CA. Although technically he could have caught it here as well. He’s only 7 so he’ll be fine. But it’s crazy that this is effecting people we actually know now.

I've seen some folks wearing masks the wrong way in my travels or at some clients that I've seen.



For the collective SSP nation:


https://www.straitstimes.com/sites/d...s-for-haze.jpg

Park near my town desolated. Not as busy when folks normally are out. Pic by me.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4bd4314d_o.jpg
Round Valley (NJ) - 1 by Christopher Estevez, on Flickr

I took this pic the other day.


Was trying to go for a theme. The weak and fragile shrubs in the foreground, the city in despair in the back, the lone tree branch, no leaves... no growth... no green or moment of birth (leaves). Possibly the grim look of the shrubs is foreboding the gloom that is to manifest in the city of light.



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...116104e6_b.jpg
Midtown through the Bushes - 1 by Christopher Estevez, on Flickr

I should walk down to Northerly Island one of these days and take a similar picture of Chicago :).

Still think this is all just an overreaction? The U.S. should’ve been completed locked down 2 weeks ago and we could be recovering in April. This piecemeal approach will not only prolong this pandemic until the summer (at the earliest) but also cost thousands of American lives. If you think things are crazy now just wait a couple weeks when the hospitals are overrun and people’s family members are dying, then the real panic will happen and things will get really scary fast.

I got my bike fixed for really what turned out to be just minor repairs last Thursday in anticipation of not taking the CTA for a while to commute to work. I think shortly I'll be biking for fun. That's one of my destinations Northerly Island - never been

Invoking some lines from a poem from the start of the '20s, a century ago.

"April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."

I think what surprises me most is that only a week ago today, Wednesday, this virus was in the back of my mind only and was popping in as a concern more frequently but quickly disappeared. I freely took the train to work, the redone Old Post Office btw for whoever is from Chicago, joked with coworkers, went out to lunch, and all seemed normal and crowded, now look at a week later. Still hard to comprehend how fast life has changed. Last week at this time all was great.

For San Franciscans this is a certain sign of the Apocalypse:

https://sf.curbed.com/2020/3/17/2118...20says%20mayor

^^^^

I wonder if the ticket SS of NYC will do the same, because in NYC, you will get a $125 ticket, blocking the hydrant comes to mind EVEN if your 3 ft away... anywhere and at any time. Like if you think parking your car in Queens, in a neighborhood with single family homes is not an issue and that the ticket SS will not be out... oh... they are out. They come out of the wood work.

One time I parked in an area where your not allowed to park from I believe 8am to 1 pm, it was close to 1 pm, just to use the bathroom at a local McDonalds, and they came in a flash. They literally have an army of ticket givers in this city. A lot of the fines are $65, and some of them are ridiculous. You will actually get a ticket in this city for parking just so you can wash your car or make repairs. Not making this up. There's an encyclopedia of codes on the Department of Finance website. If you want a fun read, check some of the codes out.

Its a revenue game with the NYC Department of Finance, and their damn orange enveloped tickets.

But for some, its the cost of doing business. UPS/Fed Ex incur 1000's of tickets. But with a decent traffic attorney, a lot of them can be dismissed. More of a hassle for 1 ticket, but get a traffic attorney if you have more than 5.

When I use to be in a company vehicle at my last job, I just tossed them. Fuck it. They'll send a letter in like 2 months time, but fun fact, they don't go after all of them. After a while, there's a good chance it'll remain and you won't have to pay it. Just get a attorney and most will be dismissed if you show that your parking was work related.

Now any violations on the GWB or anything with Port Authority, they will make a stink about it, along with their absurd administrative fee's.

Down in South Carolina, in Greenville Prisma Health has converted one of their facilities into a coronavirus treatment hospital, while in Columbia the city has instituted a curfew between 11PM and 6AM.

Up here, a rehab center in the suburbs has been chosen to be converted into a coronavirus treatment hospital if it gets to that point. 92 cases in North Carolina as of yesterday.