Coronavirus:

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Pretty sure I've never seen this space empty of humanity...........

[Roy]

Big 3 plan to resume production of vehicles on May 18.

Wonder if there will be any demand..... Lot of people w/o jobs that are probably not buying cars.

Lots of businesses and governments, likewise.

[robert.]

That's all safety is. An illusion. My local grocery store has removed their salad bar,hot bar and bread roll bin.

[Roy]

I gather we need much more testing and tracking, before we can safely re-open. But,

White House blocks CDC guidance over economic and religious concerns:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/sns-nyt-white-blocks-cdc-restrictions-20200507-r5foptdt5zgnlegdinij3uyjmi-story.html

[chuck]

That's all safety is. An illusion. My local grocery store has removed their salad bar,hot bar and bread roll bin.

When you remove the salad bar, hot bar, and the bread roll bin from some place like Soup Plantation there isn't anything left which is why they are closing up shop. The grocery store still has dry packaged goods, canned goods, meat, dairy, frozen, .... All of which can be purchased wearing a mask and gloves and then cleaned or allowed to sit for three days with little or no risk to the occupants of the home.

That's all safety is. An illusion.

I don't find my seat belts or multiple air bags or crumple zones to be an illusion. Same goes for the back up camera, the side warning sensors (blind spot monitoring), lane departure warnings, etc. to be illusionary. I have to remind myself that my wife's 2011backup sensors are way more primitive than my 2017 and that no mater how long I stare at the infotainment screen on her dashboard I am never going to get a rear camera view and I had better start physically turning around or at least looking in the rear view mirror when baking up.

[robert.]

What if a tree falls on your car roof?

[chuck]

What if a tree falls on your car roof?

a) I don't park under trees large enough to crush the car
b) Even if I did, I expect no protection from such an incident.

Living involves risk. I try to minimize the risks by paying attention (situational awareness) and avoiding it to the best of my ability. When I can't avoid it, I apply rules of general systems thinking to find the best possible path to a safer alternative.

From Frank Herbert's Dune

Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

When there is a problem and I can feel the panic try to take over I remember that saying and immediately begin to analyze the situation. This gives me focus and tamps down the panic and allows me to come up with plan(s) (always leave yourself an out) to deal with the situation. Always pay attention to your surrounding, know where you are. Note things like where fire extinguishers are located or where the AED is, where the emergency exits are. Always keep thinking. Like your life depended on it. Someday it may just come down to that.

[v8vega]

That's all safety is. An illusion. My local grocery store has removed their salad bar,hot bar and bread roll bin.

Soup Plantation was my favorite restaurant, I went every Sat. and sometimes more. I'm guessing all salad bars, buffets and other self serve will be a thing of the past. Maybe all you can eat places may open again sort if like subway where you don't handle the food a server does, of coarse that will be more expensive. I haven't heard anything about Hometown Buffet.
How about displays in grocery stores where you handle the fruit and pick what you want?

[robert.]

I tried to sample some blueberries. They were taped shut in all directions. It did not appear to be part off original packaging.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

How about displays in grocery stores where you handle the fruit and pick what you want?

Those never closed in VA.

[chuck]

How about displays in grocery stores where you handle the fruit and pick what you want?

I normally wash that stuff anyway but now I am being way more careful. When I get home from a bi-weekly food shopping trip I have a table set up with a clean side and a not so clean side. I wipe down most stuff with sanitizing wipes except produce. This gets moved to the kitchen in batches where it is washed down separately and then dried/drained and either put in the fridge or in one of two hanging baskets. In some cases I will wash the packaging material (say for apples or grapes) separately from the apples and then put the washed and dried produce back in its original packaging before going in the fridge.

Canned goods are allowed to sit for three days before they go into storage. I will bring in 3-4 grocery sacks at a time and begin wiping down and transfer to the "clean" side of the table. My wife picks them up for transfer to the kitchen/pantry. While she is putting away the last batch, I go back out to the car and grab more bags. It takes the two of us about 20 minutes total to unload and process everything.

[Roy]

I remember Souplantation's black bean soup. Also, they had some good breadstuffs. My favorite for soup was Mimi's Cafe. I also liked Marie Callender's potato cheese soup. It came with cornbread with honey butter.

As for buffets, I still remember Sir George's Smorgasbord.

[chuck]

I liked their clam chowder and my daughter loved the chicken noodle. The focaccia cheese bread was like a meatless mini pizza and they had baked potatoes and I think biscuits as well as corn bread. They had discount coupons that you could use to feed a family of four without blowing your paycheck. Really sad ending for a nice "family" eating place.

[robert.]

I guess this will greatly effect a place like shady Maple. A Pa dutch smorgasbord.

[Roy]

[Souplantation's] focaccia cheese bread was like a meatless mini pizza and they had baked potatoes and I think biscuits as well as corn bread.

Yes, the focaccia. I had forgotten about their baked potatoes. I wouldn't be shocked if Souplantation's principals start anew, when things get better.