[Leica] the new normal

[Don Dory]

The issues down in Texas are somewhat different but the same.  While the
stores have bare shelves the deliveries and restocking is happening so
there are only hourly shortages.  Our idiot local government just closed
all the theaters, restaurants, bars, but not tattoo parlors, nail salons,
barber shops, beauty salons or other places of close personal contact.  I
say idiot because there was no support for all of the workers who mostly
are young and just getting started in life.  The restaurants and bars had
proposed methods of social distancing as wall as disinfectant protocols but
ignored.  Also ignored was insuring the wait staff for delivery duty or any
other public needs that could extend a lifeline.  No thought of hiring the
now unemployed to disinfect medical facility surfaces freeing up trained
medical staff for what they were trained for.  No thought at all about a
Civilian Conservation Corp. like program dedicated to public health.

I also say idiot local government as we have been hammered for a year about
the homeless and spent many, many millions of dollars on structures that
may some day provide shelter.  However, in the shutdown news conference
absolutely no mention of policies for the homeless.  So, maybe the most
vulnerable aside from older or immune suppressed citizens are being ignored
by the fools in power.

On the good side take out/delivery is still available(I know 3-5 day
viability of the virus on hard surfaces) so some of the kitchen staff will
struggle on with some income.  As I mentioned yesterday some musicians are
stepping forward with on demand delivery of music so the better imagined
musicians will survive.  There is good neighborhood traffic as people are
out and about walking dogs, visiting at a distance with neighbors and
ignoring the idiot government regulations and going to parks to play with
their children.  I have seen decent sanitation efforts being performed on
playground equipment.

We will see if the fractured American government can talk to each other
enough to get the money being discussed into the hands of the newly
unemployed so they can hang on however many weeks this goes on.  Hopefully
all involved can remove dream wish list wants from legislation and just get
pared down aid to those who need help.

Also on the good side are hiring by the delivery firms to deliver goods and
services which will help some with the newly unemployed.  Also, with the
local schools and universities switching to remote learning possibly that
endeavor will become more permanent. The motivated can take additional
education of interest on line and improve their lives.  The offerings may
be far more diverse than what an individual institution can offer on site.

For the Luggers who feel that they are not at risk I suggest that we go out
and document the people and places around us that are being impacted for
posterity.  The current virus is not as deadly as it could be but the next
one may be far more lethal.  Lessons learned now may pay off if anybody
listens or remembers history.

All the best.

On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 9:49 PM Mark Kronquist via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

>
> Happy St Patrick’s Day! There is no corned beef or cabbage to be found in
> the bare markets and the one Guinness came from my fridge.
>
> How long before it makes economic sense to import beer from Ireland again?
> Did it ever?
>
> Portland and the suburbs, including Stayton, were built on Flavortainment.
> What flavor is in people’s mouths now?
>
> I spent many years working as a City Councilor, Planning Commissioner,
> Parks Board Member, Vice Chair of the Parks Board and School Board Liaison
> doing what I could to serve brilliant, determined business people who
> wanted to pursue their now shuttered and perhaps shattered dreams. Tonight,
> I look out my door. Mick and Mom's is having a last call party. Snow Peak
> Brewery right next door is closed. The new high end pub that was scheduled
> to open today probably never will. The food carts are gone. The cafes and
> coffee shops shut, many for good. The curtain has come down on the
> promising little theater that opened to rave reviews in December. There are
> no stars on the silver screen of the Star theater. The Moose and Elk lodges
> are empty perhaps to return to pasture. As Alice Cooper said, School’s Out
> for the Summer…in mid March…the library, pool and city offices are closed.
>
> The street lights light empty streets and highlight the possible death of
> a downtown renascence.
>
> How long will the lights stay on if there are, as the Imperial College
> study predicts, two million deaths in the US before August?
>
>  How many downtowns across America and the world are experiencing the same
> thing? Is this the new normal?
>
> > On Mar 17, 2020, at 7:42 PM, Marty Deveney via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > PS-I am very serious about you assembling these into a book
> >>
> >
> > Seconded!  Out-stan-ding!
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information



-- 
Don
don.dory at gmail.com