I was at another superstore the other morning thinking it would be a quiet time to shop, and it looked like a Saturday in there. One man walked around with five small children. People were polite, but there was no way to maintain the recommended distance. Masks were about 65% in the grocery area and maybe 20% in the general goods sections.

My local Wallmart parking lot is always full. As is Kroger.

I have gone earlier in the morning and 20 minutes before Walmart closed. Once I found disinfecting wipes. The other time I found disinfecting spray.

Because tourism has not been shut down officially and an unknown number of sick people and asymptomatic carriers will pass through here I made a list of 101 things to do while being as close to troglodyte as possible.

One of the bad things about the small business loans is that they have to call back all their employees. If the employee is a server at a restaurant, their wages are lower because they are supposed to get tips. So that loan is a good thing for the owner but bad for the employee as they can make more money by taking unemployment. And if they don't go back to work, they lose their jobs.

Update on my "slow street" opening. They finally put the slow street into effect the same week they re opened the beaches (less than a mile away) and parks for walking. 2 areas a few miles apart comprising a series of short connected streets in all of LA which is probably 20 miles by 40 miles in size. So far I have not seen very many people coming out to use them, not even neighborhood people who have their own lightly traveled streets in this single family house neighborhood. . This has not done a thing for the apartment house areas where 15-50 x more families use the same streets. I still think they should have closed those streets affording apt dwellers the chance to walk safely in the roads. Local traffic is still allowed.

quote=shoptastic]

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Unless this is a gated community, anyone can walk there anyway. What I do not understand is why one particular neighborhood was chosen for this [honor; privilege; horror; insurance nightmare; ?] What was their process?

True, but still limited and not advertised either. Here in Virginia, Northam's executive order thru June 10 (although, it's constantly changing, so maybe it's shortened or extended by now) says gatherings cannot be more than 10 people and IF you go out to exercise, you MUST social distance with 6 feet of space for non-family members.

People often walk in their OWN neighborhoods.

Even if some place had a huge outbreak of COVID-19 and people didn't feel safe walking there, why the heck would they designate MY STREET! Seriously. Really dumb! Go designate a park or school...or public grounds like beaches that sandyf spoke of. To designate some street is to advertise that to people as the place to go. Even if they could have gone anyways, now you have a specific street in people's minds.[/quote]

@plmccut wrote:

One of the bad things about the small business loans is that they have to call back all their employees. If the employee is a server at a restaurant, their wages are lower because they are supposed to get tips. So that loan is a good thing for the owner but bad for the employee as they can make more money by taking unemployment. And if they don't go back to work, they lose their jobs.

Roughly half of all U.S. workers stand to earn more in unemployment benefits than they did at their jobs before the coronavirus pandemic shut down swaths of the U.S. economy, a result of government relief that employers say is complicating plans to reopen businesses. WSJ 4/28/20

I have seen that and it was noted before they even passed the extra 600; however, it still doesn't help a server who is making much, much less than they would if they were working and getting tips.

I know a few people working in restaurants, back and front of house. Those called back to work are making $15 per hour for a 40 hour week, even if they work less than 40 hours. Tips are pooled. Some are making more, others less, than before, but it at least attempts to compete with unemployment and PUA. I'm assuming that the owners received relief aid. If so, and they're in compliance, the 'loan' to cover payroll and rent, may be forgiven.

RE Servers...I see this as no different than the millions in other industries who are also getting $600 plus Unemployment. The servers are supposed to be reporting tips to the IRS and paying taxes so all of their income including tips would be included in how much they get from UI just like everyone else. Some of everyone are getting more and some less depending on their working situation before. And some of every job are getting called back part time and earning less now too.

How has the corona virus affected me...I have continued to find good boxes for the post office jobs during the pandemic. I have a huge pile now taking up half the bedroom but no post office jobs yet in my area. Pretty soon the box room will become a room onto itself.

How has it affected me? It has made me lazy! I had 4 shops today and it wore me out! Staying home was great, and I guess it could be addictive. I wonder how I used to do 6/8 shops a day, ever!