Its a giant show. Seeing the ants scramble. Life is a show Centropolis.

Hopefully we are around to see the global warming show as well. By 2050, things should get interesting.

On a side note, great news. I'm sure you have your CHMM. Lots of potential with that credential.

actually i take my test in three weeks but ive already been transitioning into the role over the past year so im not a certified hmm yet but hopefully soon will be. hoping to finish the 1000 page text this weekend!

I've been texting with a friend who normally lives in Madrid. She and her husband (a Spanish national) have a second home on the Costa somewhere, and they left Madrid yesterday to try to sit out the worst of it on the coast. She said Madrid now has several THOUSAND cases of covid-19, and every potential gathering place has been closed. Bars, restaurants, theaters, museums, etc. She is very worried that the local hospitals, which are of a very high standard, are being overwhelmed with acute cases. My friend is 73 and her husband is 70. She also said that just about any Madrid resident who owns a place on the coast has left the city. Of course that leaves about 5 million less fortunate souls to fend for themselves in the metropolis. Sounds very spooky.

Traffic is lighter in NYC. Posted in GE section, but I figure its applicable as it concerns traffic...


Light traffic in NYC today. I was also looking at the DOT Cams, and avenues or high ways (especially in the outer boroughs) are very empty. If one is familier with the area, highways like the Belt or Cross Bronx, even on a Saturday, are really never this light. Same thing replicated zoomed in on the local routes.

I'd imagine partially attributed to some folks either staying home or curtailing some activities. Just replicated throughout the region.

I noticed the other day, getting into the Holland Tunnel, around 830 am, easiest time I've had in ages going in. No hurdles. Ussually, at 0830, its a f'n nightmare, but man, what a reduction. Some folks working from home helps to mitigate traffic.

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...4ed97e4cdd.png

Anybody notice lighter traffic in your city??? Like weekend or even weekdays?

Traffic in Genesee County is light enough as it is, so when it dips it's noticeable. There are definitely way less people on the road right now. Meanwhile, my little brother's pizza store is off the hook with deliveries.

Downtown San Diego is deader on a Saturday than I’ve seen in some time. It’s also been rainy tho

Traffic is light around Austin this afternoon.

https://www.sigalert.com/Map.asp?lat...=-97.68046&z=2

The I-10 west out of downtown Phoenix is awful as per usual

I think the world would actually need to end for that to change though :haha:

^^^^

Phoenician's out in mass buying toilet paper. I'm monitoring the situation on roads near Wal Marts or Costco's. If there is a massive spike in traffic, I know that the toilet paper shipments have arrived.

Idk like I said I am in San Diego atm

My local Safeway was pretty cleared out on Thursday of toilet paper.

Most of the city is suburban enough and on a grid so I don’t think traffic would change too much from panic buying.

When I go home to SF I take the Gila Bend-Buckeye bypass and by the time I-10 gets to Buckeye it's almost always at the limit (fingers and toes crossed).

Looks about normal in the Bay Area for a Saturday morning. I-80 in Emeryville bumper to bumper as always, minor backups getting on and off Bay Bridge.

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...214738/enhance
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...913078!5m1!1e1

There are two bypasses now, state route 85 and also the 202 loop south just opened in December and a 3rd reliever set to be built from the i-17 to the 85 as a toll road reliever to I-10

Doesn’t matter still a nightmare

Except Bay Area traffic is not normal at all; everyone is staying home, because 1) it's raining and 2) there's nothing to do. Usually, when there are things to do like sports events, shows, concerts, etc., weekend traffic is much worse than the map you are showing.

Weekend traffic feels like rush hour on these jammed Bay Area freeways
Nico Savidge
Bay Area News Group
Updated December 13, 2019

On some of the Bay Area’s busiest freeways, the bumper-to-bumper traffic of weekend warriors can rival the worst of the work-week commute, according to data this news organization analyzed from the traffic analytics firm INRIX.
. . . .
https://i0.wp.com/www.mercurynews.co...2C9999px&ssl=1
. . . .

Now compare the normal heavy weekend traffic with this, grabbed two minutes ago:

https://images.dailykos.com/images/7...JPG?1584217356

Not even the bridges or toll plazas have traffic. Nothing is normal here right now.

The map I posted was "grabbed" from Google about an hour ago. If you think it's inaccurate, complain to Google. While traffic does appear somewhat lighter than your "normal" examples (not all that much, really), it looks similar to what I experience driving back to my "shitty modern condo" (as I believe you called it) in the city (almost always on a Saturday) from my "shitty" old Territorial townhouse near Tucson. Maybe the biggest difference is not in San Francisco at all--it's on 580 in the Tri-Valleys which can get really backed up on weekends as people are out shopping. The traffic maps I looked at today show only a minor backup westbound approaching 680 northbound.

Went to the Ralph's supermarket in Studio City (Los Angeles) this AM. Whereas the produce section was fully stocked on Wednesday, there were no fruits at all and veggies were almost all gone. No meat at the butcher area. I didn't look at the packaged meats. Almost all dairy gone. No milk. No eggs. Some bread. The processed meat section was nearly empty. I didn't bother looking for canned food. All healthy frozen food was gone. A good amount of crappy frozen food was available. I bought a large frozen lasagna.

All these people stocking up on quality foods, I stuck to the non essentials frozen pizza, beer, bags of chips and frozen diners. High calorie low space foods. I WILL SURVIVE

The map at the end of my post was grabbed at 1:21 p.m. and shows no traffic anywhere, including the locales identified in the linked article as having heavy weekend traffic.

You can get as pissy as you want, you are still wrong to declare from 850 miles away that traffic is normal for a Bay Area weekend. It is not. In addition to social distancing in reaction to COVID-19, it's also raining, so the parks and beaches are not a great option even though they're technically "open." Well, there is one place with lots of traffic--eastbound 80 into the Sierra Nevada ski resorts.

Grocery stores running out of things now. Nowhere has flour for some reason, like people are going to sit at home and make cakes for 3 weeks.

Well, I simply said the Google traffic map when I posted it looked about normal for that hour. If you've been out in traffic to places like I-80 in Emeryville and have first hand knowledge, I'll take your word for it. Otherwise, the map that I posted, which was what Google was showing when I posted it, looked not surprisingly different from what I usually encounter.

Congratulations on the rain. I read the Bay Area needs it. But it usually makes traffic worse, not better. By the way, here in Tucson it's 75 degree F with bright blue skies and only 2 coronavirus cases in the county (Pima). Still can't find any hand sanitizer in the stores, though.

I feel the same about people hoarding bottled water and canned goods in San Francisco.

Without power and water, it's time to evacuate before the idiots burn down the whole city with their brilliant plans to cook canned chili on propane camp stoves.

I’m at a local Mexican restaurant where it’s usually packed with a wait time, and there is literally only two other people here. I’m making sure to support places while I still can. Went to the Chinese market a few days ago and bought a ton of groceries, which is also usually packed and hardly anyone was in there too. Meanwhile Walmart’s are all packed with people buying toilet paper and bottled water, because you know a ton of people stuffed in a Walmart is somehow more safe than eating at a restaurant. If anything has been shown from all of this, it‘s that a majority of people are really really stupid.

You can eat canned chil without warming it. Done it. Canned soup too.

No fires allowed in the field sometimes:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/i-kAA...PY/s-l1600.jpg
https://www.ebay.com/i/254495324590?...xoC0woQAvD_BwE

But nothing is edible without hot sauce so be sure to get some of that when shopping.

Biltmore House has closed to the public, although the gardens are still open. If I recall correctly, Biltmore hasn't closed for any extended period of time since World War II. Also, this afternoon the governor banned gatherings of more than a hundred people and closed all the schools for two weeks as confirmed cases in North Carolina jumped from fifteen to twenty-five.

I went to Wal-Mart today to buy some baskets to organize my freezer, and just to see what it looked like... All the fresh foods picked over, no eggs at all, one pallet of toilet paper that had obviously just been unloaded and already attracting a crowd. Later this afternoon, a video showed up on Facebook of two people walking around the Asheville Mall in hazmat suits, much to the amusement of shoppers.

Walking around today and all seemed normal to me. I did go grocery shopping and dreaded going all day expecting huge crowds. I finally went to Marianos supermarket and it was a normal crowd amount. Some shelves were more empty but nothing dramatic. Yup I didn't venture much of the city just several blocks within where I live.

Just got home this evening from spending the day with my parents in their area. Driving home was bizarre---streets and freeways are nearly empty, and it's fucking Saturday night.

Almost makes me wanna go into the nightclub areas later tonight and see what they look like...

Well, my wife will stay home for awhile and will certainly bake a lot of bread. If people do stay home, it's a lot cheaper and better to bake your own, not to mention all the other goodies.
We also a sizeable freezer to store that stuff, and the washer-dryer is not in the kitchen.

On a real personal note as of today my New Zealand-Australia trip, which I was leaving on March 20th is officially canceled.

Birmingham is running business as usual. I has a, bacterial, upper-respiratory infection the week before last and did notice that A LOT of OTC cough, cold, and congestion meds were a bit short in stock.

That being said, we're really not experiencing anything terribly unusual. From what I understood when I went to the Publix in downtown on Friday, things were a bit crazy there on Thursday, but since then it's all been pretty calm.

So? no major disruptions here in The Majic City.

spike in deaths is when other countries have come a bit unglued.. still a little early here.. pre-exponential infection rate

Traffic is down. People are acting weird around each other. People who would normally wave hello were instead ducking their heads and acting weird today. City just limited groups to a max of 250 till May 1st.

I had the same reaction to people yesterday awhile out and about. Today I felt there was much less tension in the air and strangers on the street and in the store said "good morning" to me, which is very unusual in Los Angeles (or, at least, my part of Los Angeles). Thier greetings today made me feel so much better.

It's not "a little early" in the US at all. The situation in the US is far more grave than other Western countries because at least the other countries are testing people and have a grasp on how many people are infected and where. The US response would be laughable if the situation wasn't so grave.

To put things into perspective about how pathetically the US and CDC have been dealing with the crisis, Canada has tested, as of 2 days ago, 15,000 people while the US with 9X our population had tested just 13,000. In a country which is probably the most mobile on the planet that means untold thousands have been infected that should not have been had the the originally infected had access to the test in the first place.

If you were planning to come to an Australian (or New Zealand) city after midnight tonight (Australian time), you'll be asked to self-isolate for 14 days. Effectively, this is a soft way to close the [air] border.

Cruise ships are banned from docking in NZ until end of June and they're banned for a month here in AU.

Whole foods bulk foods section out of a bunch of stuff. Fortunately Americans don't eat much polenta so I could get the coarse corn grain I needed for dinner.

France as entire Europe is going locked down like Italy.

It's been official since yesterday over here; all "non-essential" retailers have to close until further notice, probably for several weeks, maybe up to 2 or 3 months. No one knows.
Non-essential means only grocery stores, pharmacies and things you absolutely need for everyday life will be open.

Everyone is encouraged to stay home as much as they can to avoid spreading the virus too fast, so hospitals are not overwhelmed and can decently manage the crisis.

I'm dumbstruck, speechless at what's going on. If anybody had told me I would ever witness anything like this in my lifetime, I surely wouldn't have believed it.
We're just preparing for the worst lock down since WWII.
That's what's up...

I do. I've got 2 kinds: The basic uncooked kind and the kind that's in a tightly rolled tube, precooked. Bought another roll last week.

Thinking of having the procooked kind for dinner Monday, in fact. I slice it, fry in olive oil, then lay out the fried/browned slices in a baking dish, cover with marinara and mozzarella and bake.

I was standing in a line to check out in the supermarket yesterday and, as usual, chatting with the guy behind me in line. I kept backing up trying to maintain a 3 ft distance. He kept moving closer. Felt a little annoying, even frightening. I came very close to asking him to stay a little farther away. He didn't cough or sneeze so I guess no harm done.

My newspaper comes in long, thin plastic bags--perfect for covering your hand and forearm. I've been slipping one over my hand before touching the touch screen on credit card readers, door handles and anything else I have to touch in public. Nobody has stared at me like I was wierd.

One thing the US has for it is our sprawling car-reliant cities and no real public transportation in 99% of the country. It’s a built environment designed for social distancing.

I’m hearing more and more people calling this a “hoax.” My girlfriends cousin, who wants to pursue a masters in public health, said we were foolish for deciding to cancel our attendance at a big group dinner at a restaurant last night. She lives in a two flat with her sickly mother...

My dads business partner doesn’t want to take any special measures at their office and is putting up a fight against allowing anyone to work from home, run any kind of shift schedule, etc. because it’s a “media conspiracy...”

Luckily I think the messaging around why these types of “social distancing” measures are necessary is getting better, even if we’re not all on the same page yet. I went for a run with the dog yesterday and bars were packed for St. Patrick’s Day....


On the other hand, both the Trader Joe’s and Jewel near my place are almost picked clean.

Because my church has moved services online for at least two weeks, I'm getting to scratch off "attend church naked" off my bucket list. I'm watching the service on Facebook Live right now.

If you split screen, you might be taking in porn on one side and church service on the other. Is that the idea?

lolla.

Yes, schools are closing tomorrow too all over Quebec, no more large gatherings of 250 or more, all shows and museums are closed. That's the way to beat it.

I'm not ready to vote for totalitarianism, but this freedom and democracy thing isn't handling the crisis well. The country is full of idiots like your examples, and they're putting us at much higher risk. For example it's possible to keep an office open but pay way more attention to cleanliness, keep the sick people home, avoid major meetings, etc...basically the official advice these days.

If the dictator (or any national leader) is an idiot, that of course compounds things...policy, the lack of public belief/understanding, confusion, lack of resources...

We should have been testing at least the known at-risk people several weeks ago...people inbound from hotspots, people starting to develop symptoms, etc. The CDC's 13,000-tested stat is apparently mostly people with symptoms...we don't test until you've been communicable for days, and we never test non-symptomatic carriers.

My state and city started shutting things earlier than most, since we're a hotspot and also run by intelligent people. As for the rest of the country, there are probably tens of thousands of infections that are unknown right now, and they're in every state. Basic precautions would dramatically limit the chance of infection both personally and societally.

meatpacking is a dead zone. we were the only ones in a coffee shop today.


https://i1340.photobucket.com/albums...psok0wvuuf.jpg

No need, because i took care of carnalities when my husband got home from work this morning. Instead, I spent the time looking for chili recipes. That's my "dinner for the end of the world" strategy: trying to cook more stuff that yields a lot and can be frozen so you get two suppers out of one afternoon of cooking. If you pushed me to the wall right now, I have enough food in the house to last a good three weeks, including three casseroles and a thing of beef chili (tonight's is chicken) in the freezer.

On another note, I saw where the city and county schools will be making meals for kids and others in the community who don't have enough to eat while the schools are shut down, with shipments of meals delivered by schoolbus to drop off points in farther areas of the county. At least two restaurants are also offering free meals to children while the shutdown goes on. I actually teared up reading that.