GFisher Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Riding home last night I passed through the Arboretum Duck Pond area. Near the corner by Z-Tejas next to the ponds an older couple had set up a small table and chairs in the back of a full size pickup. They had a white table cloth, nice wine glasses, and were dressed up, the whole nine yards. It was probably 7 by then and they were in the shade and there was a nice breeze. I kind of chuckled to myself as I rode by but I had to admit it was a pretty good idea. I don't know if they picked something up from Eddie-Vs or Z-Tejas or what but it looked like they were quite enjoying themselves. I may never see that again in my life. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 I've only had two in-person encounters with friends and family in the past month. Picnic on the front yard and just chillin on the back porch. Not all that weird really. Seeing drivers on their cars wearing masks all the time seems a bit silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidingAgain Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 (edited) An announcement over the PA system using a computerized sounding voice in Randall’s supermarket about shopping hours for older people, while a employee was using some kind of price checking hand gun thing that was making a loud ping kind of noise all while the store was empty. It was kind of a Twilight Zone deal. Edited May 2, 2020 by RidingAgain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBaron Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 15 hours ago, GFisher said: Riding home last night I passed through the Arboretum Duck Pond area. Near the corner by Z-Tejas next to the ponds an older couple had set up a small table and chairs in the back of a full size pickup. They had a white table cloth, nice wine glasses, and were dressed up, the whole nine yards. It was probably 7 by then and they were in the shade and there was a nice breeze. I kind of chuckled to myself as I rode by but I had to admit it was a pretty good idea. I don't know if they picked something up from Eddie-Vs or Z-Tejas or what but it looked like they were quite enjoying themselves. I may never see that again in my life. Well we didn't have a fancy table cloth, and we certainly were not dressed up, but a week ago my wife and I celebrated our 20th yr wedding anniversary while eating Chic-Fil-A in the back of my truck, overlooking the ATX skyline at sunset! 😉 photo hosting sites image hosting sites 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 (edited) The "opening up the state for business" during a spike is probably the strangest thing i've witnessed. Gee, a spike following about two weeks after easter holiday when all the morons went out for bunnies and jesus and are now sick. Wait for the spike two weeks from now. Gonna be insane. Aside from that impending trainwreck Wife and I were riding bikes around the neighborhood this morning, and saw a couple having a picnic on one of the vacant lots where a home was torn down by the city. We waved and said hello and they replied that it was their old house, and they were eating where their dining room used to be. Fair enough. Edited May 2, 2020 by ATXZJ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 8 minutes ago, ATXZJ said: The "opening up the state for business" during a spike is probably the strangest thing i've witnessed. Gee, a spike following about two weeks after easter holiday when all the morons went out for bunnies and jesus and are now sick. Wait for the spike two weeks from now. Gonna be insane. I heard the strategy that is being implemented is "crossing our fingers". If I had known that's all it takes we're all in pretty good shape. We can go back to normal life as long as we keep our fingers crossed. This is going to be a pretty sh!tty experiment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, Chief said: I heard the strategy that is being implemented is "crossing our fingers". If I had known that's all it takes we're all in pretty good shape. We can go back to normal life as long as we keep our fingers crossed. This is going to be a pretty sh!tty experiment. don't worry. Governor suck N f@ck has got it all under control with operation making this up as we go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFisher Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 (edited) 53 minutes ago, CBaron said: Well we didn't have a fancy table cloth, and we certainly were not dressed up, but a week ago my wife and I celebrated our 20th yr wedding anniversary while eating Chic-Fil-A in the back of my truck, overlooking the ATX skyline at sunset! 😉 Way cool! I wonder if they saw you guys and decided to take it to the next level. Hell of a sunset too! Edited May 2, 2020 by GFisher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Magnet Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Well we didn't have a fancy table cloth, and we certainly were not dressed up, but a week ago my wife and I celebrated our 20th yr wedding anniversary while eating Chic-Fil-A in the back of my truck, overlooking the ATX skyline at sunset! [emoji6] photo hosting sites image hosting sitesCongrats Cody. My wife and I are hitting 21 years in 2 weeks. I need to figure something out like this.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 I rode through the domain yesterday and there were restaurants with people sitting at tables outside. Freaked me out. No masks, just hanging out outside. My gut says that most of the people were not living together, so that is less than 6' with people you don't live with - high risk behavior. And people shopping - a line (properly spaced with masks) out side the Louis Vuitton store. Do you REALLY need ugly shit that bad? I just don't get it. I understand going out to get groceries, but why are people going into a jewelers or an interior decorations store?? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 (edited) 42 minutes ago, AustinBike said: I rode through the domain yesterday and there were restaurants with people sitting at tables outside. Freaked me out. No masks, just hanging out outside. My gut says that most of the people were not living together, so that is less than 6' with people you don't live with - high risk behavior. And people shopping - a line (properly spaced with masks) out side the Louis Vuitton store. Do you REALLY need ugly shit that bad? I just don't get it. I understand going out to get groceries, but why are people going into a jewelers or an interior decorations store?? It's really beginning to look like some sort of insane eugenics experiment conducted on a public who is more than willing to separate themselves from the living. Saw people today going in and out of specs and other stores and restaurants with no masks, in Austin and way closer than six feet. Here we go......... BTW, was able to get everything i needed today and never even had to roll down my window. Edited May 2, 2020 by ATXZJ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Exactly. People have not figured out two important facts: 1. What is TRULY essential for living. Alcohol is a must. Designer purses can wait, even if you *want* it. 2. How do I minimize contact? It is possible to minimize contact, but that takes work on your part. Yes it is a pain, but life is worth it. The biggest challenge to this whole experiment is yet to come. We'll open things up, infections and deaths will rise, and we'll have to clamp back down. That will not be taken well. Too many people think that things will get "back to normal" but they will NEVER be back to normal. You'll see masks for the next 2 years, guaranteed. Some things may never come back. After 9/11 airline travel changed for ever, we will never get back to the way things used to be. This is essentially a 9/11 every single day in this country based on the daily death toll, so you should anticipate things changing even more, and never going back again. It would have been more helpful if this were a nuclear attack, I think people would be more cognizant of the need for change. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throet Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Not sure if a pop-up ad qualifies as witnessed, but this is both strange and deranged! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 This is why we can't have nice things: https://statesman-tx-app.newsmemory.com/?publink=1269fa998 My guess is the lockdown is going to start up again or we'll need to do some arrests to help emphasize the importance of being smart out there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, throet said: Not sure if a pop-up ad qualifies as witnessed, but this is both strange and deranged! No shit! I'll never look at my dogs squeaky toy the same. 1 hour ago, AustinBike said: This is why we can't have nice things: https://statesman-tx-app.newsmemory.com/?publink=1269fa998 we'll need to do some arrests to help emphasize the importance of being smart out there. That's the scary part. These fools are gonna play right into the thing they claim to fear the most. Edited May 3, 2020 by ATXZJ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFisher Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, AustinBike said: This is why we can't have nice things: https://statesman-tx-app.newsmemory.com/?publink=1269fa998 My guess is the lockdown is going to start up again or we'll need to do some arrests to help emphasize the importance of being smart out there. Most of the people interviewed don't even live here, WTF - come from Dallas/Houston/Philly just to party and break rules in our parks. WAY too many people suck. Another obsevation. I have seen more people pressure washing their driveways in the last month than in the last couple years combined. Edited May 3, 2020 by GFisher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Yeah, it seems to me the idea should be loosening the restrictions should mean you can do a little more, but it feels more like people think they need to go way overboard. It's full-tilt, no moderation. Crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 To many people, "herd immunity" is a eugenics project. sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it's out in the open that they want the weaker people to die rather than let the strong develop immunity to protect the weaker among us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMR Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 People just don't care. Didn't the CDC just cut the death rate practically in half the other day? Who knows the real numbers? Keep in mind, this is the same government/media that told us a 64 yr old retired accountant with no military training hauled 400 lbs of weapons up 30 floors, disabled cameras and fire alarms, set up two sniper posts, and shot random concert goers at an outdoor festival in Vegas. I'm sure the numbers will spike in the next few weeks. Of course they will! You'll see it all over the news. Well, that's my view from my side of the fence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntonioGG Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 51 minutes ago, JMR said: Didn't the CDC just cut the death rate practically in half the other day? Do you get that distancing has an effect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Yes, infection rate was rocketing up. We started distancing and lockdown. Infection rate started to level off. We start easing off on the distancing and lockdown. Infection rates will go up. It's...almost...like...the...two...are...somehow...related..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack_turtle Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 some people don't get cause-and-effect. I think that's the other pandemic going around right now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMR Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) I was asking about the death rate. Like, fatalities? Dead people don’t come back to life due to social distancing. Seriously asking if that is what was rumored to have been cut in half... Also, I’m implying people are misinformed. By Facebook, local media, national media, the government, Twitter. That’s why people are sitting together. Maybe it’s not as big of a deal as we thought? Maybe there’s some genetically superior hornet gonna kill us all. I saw it somewhere. Plus, in reference to my earlier post: Could we say that we flattened the curve by sheltering in place, just like we've prevented another mass shooting in Vegas by banning bump stocks? Cause and effect! Edited May 5, 2020 by JMR one more thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinBike Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) People don't die unless they get infected. Death rates are a function of infection rates. If infections go up, deaths go up. And hospital rates are in the middle, so there are two things to watch: Hospitalization rates and death rates Hospitalization rate is a function of infections. Some percentage of the infections will need to be hospitalized. When the hospitalization rate exceeds the hospital Capacity then you are really screwed and death rates shoot up. Look at Italy. Distancing and lockdown won't stop the virus, but they will hold down hospitalization rates and keep us from over-running the hospitals (causing massive numbers of deaths). White House aide Larry Kudlow mused that it would just be better if we all got it at once and then just moved on. Yeah, except for the 35M dead because we over-ran the hospitals and 10% of the population perished. The bigger issue on death rates is that they are not accurate. Look at just about any city and you'll see something called "excess deaths". That is a real number. Probably a huge number are COVID cases. If you normally had 50 deaths a day and now you are averaging 200 a day, but you are not testing them for COVID in determining that actual cause of death, you end up with a huge undercount. Here is an example from Wales: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-52523082 This is why I believe we are undercounting. Also, stuff like this: https://www.axios.com/new-york-nursing-home-coronavirus-deaths-133f86d2-33c2-41ef-9209-b6b25135a628.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100 Edited May 5, 2020 by AustinBike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATXZJ Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 The thing that really, really stands out to me are the comparisons to the 1918 pandemic. Back then the world population was around 1.8 billion and there was an estimated 500 million cases of infection and 50 million deaths. We're rapidly approaching a world population of 8 billion people on this earth. Over 6 billion mouths added to the ecosystem in 100 years. Think about that. Mother nature is f@cking pissed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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