****CARNIVAL CRUISERS: HOW ARE THINGS WHERE YOU LIVE???

[Host Carolyn]

Thank you for letting us know how you're doing over there! Glad things are getting back to normal.  Be well..

[Honolulu Blue]

3 hours ago, patrice1 said:

Writing from Lisbon, Portugal. New cases are low, have had no deaths in recent days. Restaurants still at 50% seating, all indoor spaces require masks and social distancing. Outdoor masks only if you can't maintain distancing. For example, I wear one when I walk my dog during the day, because I'm not sure I can maintain distancing. People respectful with masks and distancing. The Portuguese are very patient! As each level was opened there was a small uptick in cases, but with testing and tracing, it was contained. Tourism has returned, but Americans and Brazilians are not allowed. You can tell a lot of Europeans have cabin fever because the restaurants in my square are full every day for lunch and dinner, many from France, Spain and Italy. Also, walking tours have returned. Still, Lisbon seems empty compared to last summer. 

 

Thanks for sharing about life in Portugal.  I'm sure it's difficult for the tourism industry there to have two major feeder markets blocked out, but they can't really be allowed until things are better.

[RWolver672]

We have one local bar that has real good food and a lot of people get take out from them.  They have a sign on their front door that you must wear a mask when entering.  Then it adds that if you  don't have one, they will sell you one.  Ah, you have to enter without one  to get inside to buy one.  That makes no sense.  Our Governor just extended wearing a mask in public through September.  Still seeing a lot of people wearing masks without their noses covered.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

Hi.  Michigan again.  I didn't want to do an update again so soon, but there are a few things I feel I need to discuss.

 

First, the numbers are generally stabilizing.  Metro Detroit is starting to get into some trouble again.

 

Second, our Governor is tinkering around the edges with her executive orders.  Workers and most kids at child care centers and kiddie camps are now required to wear masks most of the time.  Good luck with that.

 

Third, we've stayed off the NY quarantine list for another week.  Under their relatively modest standards for being not out of control, we're not out of control.  Yet.

 

Fourth, we're one of seven states (including North Carolina) to pool resources to get some more rapid result tests.  We can use them.

 

And finally, our Governor snuck off for a short trip last week to Delaware.  I assume she wanted some extra fresh crab cakes. 😁  Unlike the parties involved, I could talk about this for quite a while, but it wouldn't be very relevant to this topic, so I'll spare you all.  Let's just say I think we need her here more than there, I think there are better candidates for the position, and I think she won't get picked anyway.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Honolulu Blue

[pe4all]

Update from Long Island, NY.  We are still below 1% rate, though NY itself went a bit above that this week.  We were without power for 4 days courtesy of tropical storm Iasias. Lost all the food in freezers/fridge.  My brother - who lives 1 mile from me -was without for 6 days.  Some people still without.  

 

One of the pubs near us has been fined 5 times already for not following "rules."  I think they are up to $5,000 fine.  You would think that after the first or second fine they would be a bit more careful.  

 

It is hot, and I totally understand that wearing a mask over your mouth and nose sucks, but it is necessary.  Still giving wide berth to those walking near us not fully covering what should be covered.  Still have not eaten inside a restaurant yet, though we have eaten outdoors 3x now, as long as we are socially distanced from other tables and wait staff is wearing masks correctly.  Have no idea (nor do I want to think about it!) about kitchen staff.  

 

Our schools have been given permission to open in September, with tons of rules.  Each district has made their own hybrid re-opening/staying open plan.  My feeling - many will be shut down again by end of September and go back to remote learning.  Hate to think negatively, but do not see the possibility of students/staff not coming down with covid. The kids really need to be back in school for learning, socializing, etc.  

[Host Carolyn]

Had no issues here from Isias although we often do....I can't believe how hard you got hit. I'm just tired of 45 days in 90s. Hopefully you have freezer coverage!

 

School all virtual here for now. A few private schools opened with no masks and already closed due to outbreak

[RWolver672]

10 hours ago, pe4all said:

9 hours ago, Host Carolyn said:

 

 

School all virtual here for now. A few private schools opened with no masks and already closed due to outbreak

 

Our schools have been given permission to open in September, with tons of rules.  Each district has made their own hybrid re-opening/staying open plan.  My feeling - many will be shut down again by end of September and go back to remote learning.  Hate to think negatively, but do not see the possibility of students/staff not coming down with covid. The kids really need to be back in school for learning, socializing, etc.  

 

All schools are going to be in for big trouble, especially the elementary schools.  I worked at our schools for eleven years.  Every year the flu season hit.  Can you imagine kids with the flu, runny noses and vomiting with face masks on.  

[Honolulu Blue]

Hi.  Michigan again.  Thanks, all, for the updates from where you are.  I'll add a few items that caught my eye:

 

• Our county has had five deaths in the past two weeks.  That's worrisome; it's more than we had in the previous three months.  But still no registered deaths from anyone under 50.
• The Big University near here has decided to switch to virtual/online classes for most students in the fall and are asking students not to come
• Outdoor gatherings in the area surrounding the Big University's campus are now limited to 25 people.  That's an area where people like to party hearty in normal times, and perhaps a little too much these days.
• The Big University plays in a Big Conference that has decided not to play football in the fall and is instead waiting for spring
• Statewide new cases seem to be stabilizing as prior hot spots are getting a little less hot
• We're noting with approval that the numbers nationally are generally going down
• My goals, weird as they seem, are to stay off the NY/NJ/CT quarantine list and to keep Dr. Birx out of our state. So far we're managing to do both.

To summarize, I'm fine, everyone I'm close to seems OK, and somehow we'll make it through.

[Host Carolyn]

 Thanks. Basically same here....our party university even made BBC news for all the parties and a humongous slip and slide!😕😕 Now everyone has to go home for online learning.......

[jetsfan58]

Huge concern for children going back to schools. Not a wise and good idea. Also concerned for the individuals who are caught up in the confusion of extending Covid benefits.

 

May God continue to Bless our Nation.  

[RWolver672]

It was just decided that our local school district will begin classes on August 31st.  Sixty percent of the parents are sending their kids while forty percent are doing it on-line.  Every Friday will be done on-line for all students.  It will be interesting to see how this works out.  The Middle School parking lot has Wifi for the families that don't have internet.  It would be bad enough trying to teach your kids at home let alone in a car in a parking lot.

[pe4all]

Our infection rate ticked up slightly this week, to just over 1%.  Schools here are changing their plans of action daily.  One district just decided not to have kids in until Oct. 15.  Teachers would be going in with cameras in classrooms teaching to kids virtually.  Another local district just decided to do M/T in, W/T out, Fridays off in their elementary schools, instead of all kids in as of 9/8. Parents are in an uproar trying to make childcare plans.  35 restaurants/bars cited for not following rules.  1 closed permanently with multiple citations.  A lot of masks around, but very few on high school-aged kids.  Still have not eaten "in" a restaurant, but dined outside again last week.  Waiter came over with mask not covering his nose.  He covered it when requested.  I have become bolder at pointing out workers in restaurants/stores not wearing masks correctly.  Polite but firm seems to work.  Looking forward to seeing how mandatory covid testing at JFK/LGA airports for passengers from hotspots will work.  Maybe we will finally be able to get down to our Florida condo, and back up without quarentining in NY.

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks for all the reports, everyone.  I've said very little about the schools, partly because I don't have any and haven't followed it as much as I could.  But it is a major topic of discussion here.  The school district plans are all over the map - generally, the smaller rural districts are heading back to class (or trying to), while the bigger ones are doing the hybrid thing or going completely online.  The added restrictions on the number of people at outdoor social gatherings in places surrounding universities is becoming popular as two more Big Universities in the state have also done it in the past week.

 

Our Fearless Leader is continuing to get some legal challenges and so far is mostly beating them back.  She has a press conference later this afternoon.  I don't expect her to say or do anything too interesting, but you never know.

[Keksie]

My son is grown so I don't have to worry about what to do which would have been extremely stressful since I worked and would not have been able to stay home with him to do online.   Where we live now school has started.  The bus came by to pick up the neighbor's children at 7 this morning.  Parents could choose to send them to school or do online and I think 80% of the parents are sending the kids back.  Here people need to go to work and really what is the difference between sending them to school or putting them in some kind of daycare as far as safety is concerned?

[Etta1213]

On 8/21/2020 at 4:33 AM, RWolver672 said:

The Middle School parking lot has Wifi for the families that don't have internet.  It would be bad enough trying to teach your kids at home let alone in a car in a parking lot.

Can you imagine a mom with a middle schooler and preschooler in the vehicle?Somebody has to use the bathroom. Somebody needs a drink, snack. Pencil was dropped down between the front seats. It gets hot, so mom starts the car to cool it off. Mom's cell phone vibrates repeatedly; dentist office calling to reschedule. Preschooler throws up.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Etta1213

[RWolver672]

21 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

Can you imagine a mom with a middle schooler and preschooler in the vehicle?Somebody has to use the bathroom. Somebody needs a drink, snack. Pencil was dropped down between the front seats. It gets hot, so mom starts the car to cool it off. Mom's cell phone vibrates repeatedly; dentist office calling to reschedule. Preschooler throws up.

 

And being from Michigan, by November, it gets cold so the car would be running more than not.  

 

One of our neighbors is a teacher in a nearby town.  She was telling me that they are doing split sessions.  Half of the class will be in school Mondays and Tuesdays while the other half is virtual.  Wednesdays and Thursdays, they switch.  Fridays all classes are virtual. The one thing different this year is that it will be a full days of classes.   No more just giving them their assignments and they were on their own.  

 

She also said that besides Wifi in the parking lot, there will be one classroom set up with Wifi but with a capacity of only ten students on a first come, first allowed in basis.  I feel sorry for the school aged kids right now.  It's hard enough learning without having to go through this kind of education.  And with math always coming up with new ways to add 2+2, parents are in the dark when it comes to helping their kids.

[Honolulu Blue]

Hi.  Michigan again.  There's not a lot to report, so I'll be brief.  First, the state will stop reporting numbers on Sundays.  I have mixed emotions on this.  And second, rumor has it that our Governor is going to open up some indoor businesses next week - including gyms, movie theaters, and bowling alleys.  We'll see how that goes.

 

Thanks, everyone, for continuing to share, and we'll be on the other side before you know it. 🙏

[pe4all]

That is good news, Honolulu Blue.  Think of the not reporting of numbers as a huge positive.  We still get daily reports here in NY.  The city is opening indoor dining as of Friday.  That is huge news.  Mayor DeBlasio just (1 hour ago) postponed NYC schools from opening on 9/10 to the 21st.  Here on Long Island our infection rate has been below 1% for weeks.  our gyms and bowling alleys have opened at 25%.  2 of our local bowling alleys have not re-opened - bad sign of economy there. We still have not eaten inside a restaurant, and have no desire to do so yet. They are talking about opening the casinos here soon.   Most schools are opening next Tuesday.  Everyone is very nervous to see what happens.  Our high school fall sports season has been cancelled until January here in Nassau County, while in Suffolk County they will start up when school begins.  Makes no sense at all that one county is starting their season, and 5 feet away over the county line the other county is not allowed to.  Nassau will condense fall, spring and winter sports into very short seasons come January.  There have been many rallies/protests over this.  Many high school athletes are nervous over not getting college scholarships if coaches can't see them play.   We are sweating out our trip we have planned to Disneyworld on the 19th.  Won't go if NY still requires a quarantine upon return from Florida.  Have postponed the trip once already.  #2 might be coming up shortly!  

[Honolulu Blue]

On 9/1/2020 at 2:30 PM, pe4all said:

We are sweating out our trip we have planned to Disneyworld on the 19th.  Won't go if NY still requires a quarantine upon return from Florida.  Have postponed the trip once already.  #2 might be coming up shortly!  

 

Thanks for sharing your report.  I assume you mean September 19 for your trip.  I've got a bad feeling about it.  Good luck moving your trip to another, safer date.

 

A couple of short updates...

 

• Two weeks ago I mentioned that I did not want to see that harbinger of doom Dr. Deborah Birx in our state.  Guess who stopped by yesterday?  Yes, her.  Unlike most of the other states she's been to on her national tour, she did not chastise us for our naughtiness.  She, instead, thanked us for doing the obvious.  You're welcome.  Our Governor had two messages for her boss - give us a national (CENSORED!) mandate, and help pay for more of the Michigan National Guard who's been instrumental in testing.  We know how Our Fearless Leader feels about national (CENSORED!) mandates and excess testing, so I'm guessing that will go nowhere.
• Our Governor had a press conference yesterday where she did not mention opening up any new businesses, but said there would be news on that and high school sports in the next few days.  

[Host Carolyn]

Please watch the political comments......thanks

[pe4all]

Just announced NY casinos can open as of 9/9 at 25% capacity, with masks worn and machines 6 ft apart or barriers between gamblers, and advanced air systems in place. No beverage service on the floors.   NYC just announced malls can open at 25% capacity.  Slowly but surely...

[RWolver672]

Our Governor just opened up Gyms and bowling alleys and organized sports.  They interviewed a female gym owner and she said she is not opening hers.  The restriction for gyms is 25% capacity.  She said that if she opened at 25%, it would automatically be a 75% loss. 

 

Bowling alleys are only open for league bowling.  That means that 6 people are going to be sitting next to each other between frames.  Not too much thought put into that one.

 

Sports participants have to wear masks except for swim teams.  Can't imagine playing football with a mask on.  Concession stands can only sell pre- packaged items.  There was something about the spectators too but I didn't catch all of it.

 

DW and I got groceries today.  First thing I noticed was that Meijer removed all of the "One Way Do Not Enter" signs on the floors.  Those were a waste of money because over half the shoppers ignored them.  That and the fact that if you knew where something was in an aisle and you were on the wrong end, you were supposed to go to the next aisle, go all the way down, then turn to the aisle that you wanted and then go down three quarters of the way to get what you wanted when you could have went the twenty  feet to begin with.

 

Some of our colleges have sent all the students home.  If they were living in dorms and had meal vouchers, the schools are refunding their money for that.  

[Joe817]

I think Megan pretty cleverly summed it up by saying in the Allstate thread: " it's pretty much 'ground-hog day' here." Indeed. Today is just like yesterday, and the day before. Tomorrow probably like today, etc ad nauseum. I happened to notice a few days ago that our local Movie Studio Grill has a large banner saying Now Open. I don't know the specifics as we are not movie goers. No thanks. Not now at least.

     Wife & I are members of the local YMCA, as Silver Sneakers members. We go 2 or 3 times/week to get our exercise in. I mainly walk the track, while wifey does the tread mill. It's capacity controlled; they are constantly cleaning. I feel safe there, and constantly use the supplied hand sanitizer stations which are all over the place. Face masks required to be worn in the building, except when actually exercising. 

   School openings are a mess, with a mish-mash of open schools, remote educating(teachers in classroom while students at home on their computer. Colleges are a mess as well. With back to school openings in the last few weeks, there are already spikes in the virus, resulting in quarenteening of dorms. The(locally famous) Iron Skillet Bowl, between TCU and SMU slated for next week was cancelled as 7 TCU students and several staff members tested positive for the virus. 

     But life goes on. Our 'social outings' consist of going to grocery store; going to Home Depot and Pets Mart, going to the Y, and a rare occasion of eating in a restaurant. Although bars are still closed, our Governor has made exceptions to the rule, by granting some of the bars, restaurant licenses, as most serve some kind of food which permits them to open up. 

     Other than that, it's pretty much 'Ground-Hog Day' today. Be safe everybody! 

[Host Carolyn]

Very well put and not that different here here. Gyms and Y just opened 30% capacity last weekend, no bars open, no movies.  I go on errands, occasional lunch with my son. So few people wearing masks especially in small towns, some hotel workers clean rooms maskless.  Schools are a mix, colleges a mess pretty much. I'm glad football is back. NFL has funny rules though..... We got nixed to have some fans in stands by league but Bengals and Brown's can have 6000...go figure...

Edited September 8, 2020 by Host Carolyn

[Honolulu Blue]

A couple of stories I'll run through quickly - first, RWolver672 covered the big reopenings that are happening today.  We shall see how they go.  No movie theaters yet in the southern 90% of the state.

 

And second, our numbers locally have popped because of the Big University.  Their press release blames "off-campus social gatherings".  Having attended Big U. what seems like ages ago, I'm sure they mean PARTIES.

 

That's all for now.  Carry on.