Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[WiseOne]

Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!

The weather here in New York is beautiful today - again. The air so clear and clean, it is an absolute pleasure to go outside. The visibility is staggering...the Manhattan skyline is crystal clear, and I can see a landmark that per Google maps is 22 miles away. Never once have I seen it from this location.

I would love it if a 1 or 2 week shutdown could happen every year, for this one reason alone.

[dualstow]

Cool, WiseOne! I bet the birds are happy, too.
I bet they’re saying to each other, “I don’t know what the hell is up with these humans, but this air is delish.”
(That’s how NYC birds talk).

[vnatale]

I went out around 2:30 PM to work in my garden area.

First thing I noticed was the shrieks of children on the trampoline on the other side of the fence. Maybe 20-25 feet from where I was working. Again it sounded like at least four kids.

Then alongside that neighbor, I saw another neighbor working on building something. When I saw him first started building it a few days ago I could not figure out what it was. It was not any type of swimming pool because he'd already done one of those a few days ago. It had a gate and I wondered if it was for his son or two dogs. But several years ago he'd put up a fence around all his property to protect his son and the one dog then from all the rushing cars on his street going to and from the drug dealer at the end of his street. I think I finally realized that it might be some form of gazebo or some similar type sun shielding structure. So far all I've seen is a square with a gate all composed of what looked like pressure treated wood.

With his was his son, wife, two dogs, and what looked like a set of grand parents. I did not see any masks or social distancing among all of them.

Vinny

[Kriegsspiel]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

[dualstow]

That’s the best time to sneak over there and collect their wood chips.

[Kriegsspiel]

When I lived in Michigan I had no use for wood chips, as I was a tower dweller.

[WiseOne]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

[Mountaineer]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

Good morning! I too have a plot reserved that only allows one occupant at a time.

[dualstow]

[Libertarian666]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

Apparently the governor of Michigan is going for the "most extreme and idiotic measures that have no benefit" award.

[Libertarian666]

some of these restrictions are starting to seem more like a test run for totalitarian rule than common sense health precautions, eerie similarity to the kind of economic destruction and personal freedom limitations the globalist green deal is asking for..

Great minds think alike.

[Kriegsspiel]

I think it's clear that governments all over are just "doing something" in hopes that it does... something. Either secretly reveling in the fact that people aren't fighting against them on it, or not caring because they think they're doing the right thing (thinking they're on the right side of history, in modern parlance). Another aspect of these people just "doing something" whether it helps or not, is that eventually the virus will mutate and the situation will stabilize, but they're going to think that whatever draconian measures they took were necessary. So we can probably look forward to more authoritarian measures in the future. Maybe we'll start *noticing* the normal plagues that happen all the time that kill more people than the Wuhan.

I, for one, welcome my benevolent dungeon-keepers.

[dualstow]

I think it's clear that governments all over are just "doing something" ...
Another aspect of these people just "doing something" whether it helps or not, is that eventually the virus will mutate and the situation will stabilize, but they're going to think that whatever draconian measures they took were necessary.

In France, they've got the police out taking whatever draconian measures are unnecessary. Out of control.
Everything short of creating a clone army.

[vnatale]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

I'll have more to say about my gardening in the next few weeks (with pictures taken by my CAMERA!). For mulch I use all the leaves from my property (and neighbor's properties).

Vinny

[vnatale]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

What is the rationale for that??!!

Vinny

[WiseOne]

Wow, Whitmer is bats**t crazy is all I can say. The list of things you're allowed to buy makes no sense at the core of it - if the store is open, it's open and why do you care what they sell. I have to say that i82start's theory is about the only viable explanation for this. And short-listed as Biden's VP nominee? Scary.

Hopefully the good people of Michigan will still be able to buy those things online. Which means that instead of supporting their local garden centers, they'll be lining the pockets of Amazon, Walmart, and Burpee. Rather a strange policy decision for a Democrat, wouldn't you think?

[vnatale]

Wow, Whitmer is bats**t crazy is all I can say. The list of things you're allowed to buy makes no sense at the core of it - if the store is open, it's open and why do you care what they sell. I have to say that i82start's theory is about the only viable explanation for this. And short-listed as Biden's VP nominee? Scary.

Hopefully the good people of Michigan will still be able to buy those things online. Which means that instead of supporting their local garden centers, they'll be lining the pockets of Amazon, Walmart, and Burpee. Rather a strange policy decision for a Democrat, wouldn't you think?

I wanted to buy a wheel barrow today from Amazon. But I was not going to get delivery until May 4th. Way too long.

I went to Home Depot. They have two in stock and if I buy it today I have up to 72 hours to pick it up.

During these times Amazon is no longer the go to source that it has been.

Vinny

[vnatale]

Wow, Whitmer is bats**t crazy is all I can say. The list of things you're allowed to buy makes no sense at the core of it - if the store is open, it's open and why do you care what they sell. I have to say that i82start's theory is about the only viable explanation for this. And short-listed as Biden's VP nominee? Scary.

Hopefully the good people of Michigan will still be able to buy those things online. Which means that instead of supporting their local garden centers, they'll be lining the pockets of Amazon, Walmart, and Burpee. Rather a strange policy decision for a Democrat, wouldn't you think?

I wanted to buy a wheel barrow today from Amazon. But I was not going to get delivery until May 4th. Way too long.

I went to Home Depot. They have two in stock and if I buy it today I have up to 72 hours to pick it up.

During these times Amazon is no longer the go to source that it has been.

Vinny

Yep, Prime is now 1-2 weeks instead of 1-2 days.

There was a super expensive garden cart ($200+) I could have bought today from Amazon and had it delivered on Thursday. I was almost about to buy it until I saw some negative reviews regarding it. I think decided to go in the complete opposite direction (inexpensive).

At this point the next phases of my garden work as to wait for three events in this sequences: 1) Rain stops 2) Dirt dries 3) Temperature is above 55 degrees. Since it may be a while for all three to occur there is no urgency for me to purchase.

Vinny

[dualstow]

@kriegsspiel,

The mask ⇢ shemagh thread has me thinking:

Did you have the opportunity to eat local Afghan(i) cuisine before you left? Did you like it?
I've been to one restaurant in the States. (They're all called Kabul). Amazing.

[Libertarian666]

Wow, Whitmer is bats**t crazy is all I can say. The list of things you're allowed to buy makes no sense at the core of it - if the store is open, it's open and why do you care what they sell. I have to say that i82start's theory is about the only viable explanation for this. And short-listed as Biden's VP nominee? Scary.

Hopefully the good people of Michigan will still be able to buy those things online. Which means that instead of supporting their local garden centers, they'll be lining the pockets of Amazon, Walmart, and Burpee. Rather a strange policy decision for a Democrat, wouldn't you think?

I wanted to buy a wheel barrow today from Amazon. But I was not going to get delivery until May 4th. Way too long.

I went to Home Depot. They have two in stock and if I buy it today I have up to 72 hours to pick it up.

During these times Amazon is no longer the go to source that it has been.

Vinny

Yep, Prime is now 1-2 weeks instead of 1-2 days.

It depends on what you order. I ordered a monitor cable on Saturday and it arrived today.

[dualstow]

Yup, and I had a third party item arrive yesterday that was due on April 20. Came just a few days after I ordered it.
Maybe in these weird times it makes sense to bypass UPS and Amazon's usually great logistics.

[CT-Scott]

Yep, Prime is now 1-2 weeks instead of 1-2 days.

Yeah, I've been thinking about trying to contact Amazon (they make it difficult to find a "Contact Us" page) to complain that I'm not getting my money's worth on their Prime membership and requesting a cancellation and partial refund, at least until the craziness ends. Paying that membership was worth it to us to have quick delivery. I've never been particularly impressed with Amazon's streaming TV offering, so I'm not giving them my money just to get that.

[Tortoise]

During these times Amazon is no longer the go to source that it has been.

For most people, apparently the 0.0001% risk of getting infected with coronavirus at a brick-and-mortar store just isn't worth it. They prefer the 0.00001% risk of getting infected with coronavirus by a delivered package. A 10x reduction in risk!

[Kriegsspiel]

@kriegsspiel,

The mask ⇢ shemagh thread has me thinking:

Did you have the opportunity to eat local Afghan(i) cuisine before you left? Did you like it?
I've been to one restaurant in the States. (They're all called Kabul). Amazing.

My terp brought some almonds from his family's almond farm once as a present. I got quite the dysentary from eating them. I ate a few times at an ANP outpost and goddamn it was unsanitary, but no ill effects afterwards. I ate goat once from a dude that made it at our FOB, it was pretty good. It was some kind of curry or something.

[Kriegsspiel]

Wow, just saw what Michigan's nanny-state banned. If their name meant anything (lol), the ACLU would be working around the clock. I'm sure they're busy bugging somebody because they put on a MAGA hat or whatever.