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You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Food / Late Night Open Thread: What I’ll Miss in the Outside World

Late Night Open Thread: What I’ll Miss in the Outside World

by Anne Laurie|  March 17, 20201:04 am| 97 Comments

This post is in: Food, Open Threads

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This, but for my favorite bookstores. https://t.co/oWd9rMHuMg

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) March 17, 2020

Since there are no good independent bookstores around here, I order most of my books online. But I’m worried about some of my favorite ‘local’ restaurants surviving. There’s one in particular, which we made a point of visiting last Friday — it’s almost half an hour north of us, closer to Gloucester than Boston, and serves delicious New England ‘comfort food’; it’s now shut down ‘until April 6th’. And I’m not sure about our favorite local Chinese place, even though of course they *do* have takeout (which we’ve been utilizing at least once a week for the past six weeks). Not to mention my personal favorite Indian restaurant… I always get takeout there, cuz the spice-averse Spousal Unit can hardly stand to go into the place, but it’s a white-tablecloth joint & most of its clientele seems to be large Indian families raiding the buffet…

Yes, I know, there will still be restaurants, and if I were a better person I could theoretically learn to make all my favorite dishes right here in our kitchen. But it’s not the particular dishes, so much as the dishes from those particular restaurants!

What are y’all gonna miss visiting, while we’re on lockdown?

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Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 1:09 am

    Nada.

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    March 17, 2020 at 1:12 am

    The Orange County Succulent Society cancelled its spring sale. I haven’t gone to one in four years, and almost certainly wouldn’t have gone this year, but not having the option really upset me.

  3. 3.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 1:13 am

    Library.

  4. 4.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 1:20 am

    I’m already missing Powell’s Bookstore.  It was my go-to place to kill time when I was in Portland.  I would browse Amazon and store up books in my shopping cart to check out in person when in Powell’s.  I can’t think of a single reason to drive across the river to Portland now.

    A new Ramen place just opened up near my house about a month ago.  I hope they are still around when this is over.  Top quality Ramen.  There are a bazillion Ramen places in the greater Portland metro but this was my good local one.  The Vancouver area was just starting to get a good selection of local restaurants and breweries.  I hope some are left after this and it isn’t just Olive Garden and Panda Express.

  5. 5.

    hilts

    March 17, 2020 at 1:20 am

    As a New Yorker, I’ll miss all the bookstores especially the Strand Bookstore, the art movie houses like the Film Forum and IFC Center, and every single museum.

  6. 6.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 1:22 am

    I posted this below in response to someone griping about a restaurant owner’s sign:

    Closed Until Further Notice

    Thanks Dewine

     

    All true. Flip side: a lot of people who worked hard and put everything they had (literally, every asset they had) into their businesses are watching it all fall into wreckage. A lot of them REALLY don’t like having to let their employees go either – like a half million servers, cooks & bartenders in and around NYC for example.

    So, yeah, some of them are acting like assholes. Their worlds are falling apart and they want to blame it on someone. Not admirable, but all too human.

    ETA: anybody in the hospitality business who was heavily leveraged is fucked, or so would be my guess.

    It hits close to home – niece and nephew (sister’s kids who i live like my own) are bar/restaurant workers and they are both out of jobs as of today, as are a lot of people I know in the same business. It is necessary, but it’s really ugly too and I hate the necessity.

  7. 7.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 1:23 am

    @Mary G: Yes!  The Boston Flower Show hasn’t been all that great in recent years, and we were debating whether it was worth the bother of trekking to downtown Boston over the weekend, and then it was cancelled.  Now I miss the smell of damp cedar mulch… not to mention the Girl Scout cookie table in the vendors room!

  8. 8.

    JoyceH

    March 17, 2020 at 1:23 am

    I’m going to miss the Y and especially the pool. I’ve really let myself get out of shape and was just on the point of getting back to an exercise routine. And I particularly loved working out in the pool.

    But I know the Y will be back. I’m most worried about my dog’s school. We haven’t been to class since the fall but we both so enjoyed the agility class.  But the school has announced it’s closing for a couple weeks at least and it is a small one owner operation; I’m not sure they’ll make it financially to a reopen if this business goes on too long.

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 17, 2020 at 1:26 am

    I asked her to make sure to stop by after horses. One hug. One kiss.

    Could be the last.  So many close to her at the extremes of vulnerability.

    Who the fuck thought that 12 days ago we’d be here?

    De Mi Rancho A Tu Cocina: Pollo Con Verdolagas en Chile Rojo

  10. 10.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 1:27 am

    Hey!  new episode of Better Call Saul just dropped onto my DVR.  Gotta go.  Be back in an hour.

  11. 11.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 1:27 am

    @danielx: I personally have to avoid libraries, the way alcoholics avoid taverns, but yeah in my younger poorer days not having the library would have been devastating.

  12. 12.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    March 17, 2020 at 1:30 am

    @JoyceH:

    I’m going to miss the Y

    Me too. And (as I whined at the end of the previous threadmonster) I went there yesterday, after missing most of the last month with a mystery collarbone ailment, and I made sure to wipe the hell out of everything before and after I touched it. Now I have a fever and some aches and pains and a lot of guilt. And I saw my elderly parents this morning and gave them some groceries. I didn’t touch my parents but I touched the groceries. I’ll miss not being worried.

  13. 13.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 1:30 am

    Exactly one month ago I was touring the campus of the University of Oregon with my 11th grade daughter.  We were scheduled to tour the University of Washington Honors College this coming Friday.  And were going to do a week-long tour of California schools during our spring break in two weeks.

    Seems like a lifetime ago now.

  14. 14.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 1:33 am

    @JoyceH: I’m most worried about my dog’s school. We haven’t been to class since the fall but we both so enjoyed the agility class. But the school has announced it’s closing for a couple weeks at least and it is a small one owner operation; I’m not sure they’ll make it financially to a reopen if this business goes on too long.

    A small thing you might be able to do — or to circulate among your fellow dog owners:  Most small dog ‘schools’ like this offer pay-in-advance punch cards for classes, or at least gift certificates.  If you can afford to buy some cards now, even though you can’t use them immediately, this helps provide a ‘cushion’ for the owner.

    People have been suggesting this for shuttered restaurants, but it also works for spas, hairdressers, nail salons, and private gyms…

  15. 15.

    CaseyL

    March 17, 2020 at 1:34 am

    I miss being able to decide impulsively to go to a restaurant.  I miss being able to see my friends (though we are checking with one another regularly by phone and email).

    Miss the Library VERY much.  I stopped buying books a few years ago, mostly for financial reasons, and became a dedicated user of the local library.  I’ve found so many new authors, because there’s no risk of spending $30 and not liking the book; or, at the other extreme, falling in love with an author and spending a few hundred collecting their whole oeuvre.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 1:35 am

    Open thread?

    Trusty old $1.99 (if that) manual can opener finally succumbed to age and broke into multiple pieces a while back. Have an electric one I rarely bother with as it is a PITA to use and sits on a shelf unless I have many cans to open or when the arthritis is at 11.

    Anyhoo, thought I’d try one of those newfangled manual ones that cut around the rim and ordered this baby. Dawdled about it due to the price but then happened to catch it on an attractive sale. Used it for the first time tonight, on a 28 oz. can of tomatoes, and am super pleased with the ease of operation and the results.

  17. 17.

    DivF

    March 17, 2020 at 1:37 am

    Sitting in cafes – reading, writing, programming. I gave that up less than a week ago and I’m already starting to twitch.

  18. 18.

    Eljai

    March 17, 2020 at 1:38 am

    I remember sky
    It was blue as ink
    Or at least I think
    I remember sky

    This post just made me think of Stephen Sondheim.  “I remember” was sung by a young woman who had lived in a department store since she was a child.  So, I guess it could be worse?

    Anyway, I will miss independent coffee shops, bookstores and travel.  And I went to the movie theater with a couple of friends recently to see “Emma”.  Can cross that off my list too.

  19. 19.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 1:40 am

    Ohio governor and sec of state are trying to shut down tomorrow’s in person voting as dangerous, and extend absentee voting until June. Legally iffy but I hope he  pulls this off. I know at least three family members who cannot vote because of corona related issues. Two is in California not wanting to fly home on an airline petri dish. Other is quarantined at home having survived corona hospitalization. All of them had had every intention of voting in person but at last minute weren’t able to.

    I have been trotting around the office with my little bar of soap, hand-washing frequently, and avoiding face to face contact with co-workers as much as possible. Had been regarded as eccentric in the office. Then when all sports shut down suddenly I am prescient. They went from laughing at me to freaking out in less than 24 hours.

    Office manager still doesn’t quite get it. She is swabbing everything down, but she is oblivious of face to face risk. I am assuming any of us including me could already be infected, so please go breathe in your own office not mine.

    My very elderly dad is in lockdown in a memory unit in a nursing home. They wouldn’t let his longtime nurse’s aide in since last Wednesday because of the quarantine.  Governor banned all visits. We have been worried sick ever since. Yesterday she found a staffing agency willing to take her on, so she can get back to work tomorrow and see how he is. Halleluia and hurrah.

  20. 20.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 1:40 am

    @NotMax: Given how many of us have been stocking up on canned goods, that’s actually sorta on-topic…

  21. 21.

    lahke

    March 17, 2020 at 1:42 am

    1. @JoyceH: Hi, JoyceH:, will you be using this extra time to write another Mary Bennett book?  I’ve really gotten addicted to them.  Please, please, please.
    2. Why is it making numbered  paragraphs?
  22. 22.

    hells littlest angel

    March 17, 2020 at 1:46 am

    Of course restaurants will be back after the coming Troubles. And long pig will be on every menu.

  23. 23.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 1:47 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Two Oxo can openers, a Leatherman multitool and if all else fails a Swiss Army knife. I haz preparation.

    Note: there is a way to cook frozen chicken breasts without thawing them nor yet having them turn into :::rimshot::: rubber chicken.

  24. 24.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    March 17, 2020 at 1:48 am

    @NotMax:

    Anyhoo, thought I’d try one of those newfangled manual ones that cut around the rim

    Aren’t those awesome? I admit, the first time I found one in a drawer at someone else’s house, I had to look at a YouTube video to figure out how it worked. But now I would never go back.

  25. 25.

    Calouste

    March 17, 2020 at 1:48 am

    @Anne Laurie: Yeah, I’m fortunate enough to always run out of month before I run out of money, so I’ve decided instead of putting the excess in a savings account to put it towards gift cards and subscriptions for local businesses. Maybe one or two will go bust anyway and that money will be gone, but on the other hand you can get some discounts at the moment to make up for that.

  26. 26.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 1:48 am

    Got home from work late, didn’t feel like cooking. So made rice onion celery other frozen veggies glop with bouillon cube in the ancient rice cooker. It was actually quite tasty, and got us our daily veggies. Carrots would have improved the taste and visual palate, but you can’t always have everything.

  27. 27.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 1:49 am

    @hells littlest angel:

    And me not sitting on 10,000 rounds of ammunition. Who knew?

    ETA: the longest pig I know is artificially hued, and I’d rather starve.

  28. 28.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 17, 2020 at 1:49 am

    I always carry cash, usually $80-$100 somewhere like that.

    When do we switch from card-swiping back to cash exchanges and when do the ATMs run dry?

    I still do a lot of face-to-face banking. That’s gonna stop.

    How much cash do I need for the next six-eight weeks?

  29. 29.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 1:50 am

    @Sab: I expect there are large numbers of Ohio college students who are now all scattered to hell and gone and would have had no realistic way to get back to their local campus polling places tomorrow and would have had no way at this late date to get absentee ballots.

  30. 30.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 1:52 am

    @danielx: My older daughter is a server/bartender at a wonderful, long time restaurant in North Park in San Diego. San Diegans have just been told, that while restaurants can stay open, dining in is no longer an option. So while the cooks *might* have work with take-out or delivery orders, the servers/hosts/bartenders won’t have work to do. This is an amazing restaurant with a terrific, caring owner. But I don’t imagine any restaurant that isn’t part of a corporate chain has a lot of reserves. They got through the years after 2008. I hope they can weather this. I have no idea what my daughter is going to be dealing with. I might have to move my crap out of her old bedroom…

  31. 31.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2020 at 1:54 am

    @Kent:

    My daughter wants to transfer to U of Oregon in ’21.  Did you arrange for a tour, of just show up and poke around on your own?  I’m hoping we can go this summer.

  32. 32.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 1:54 am

    @Kent: If it’s extended until June they can just write and request the absentee ballot. I voted absentee in 1972 that way. Back then I had to get my ballot notarized.

  33. 33.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 1:56 am

    @LesGS: My sister is in San Diego visiting. All hunkered down, not sure how to get home safely.

  34. 34.

    West of the Rockies

    March 17, 2020 at 1:57 am

    @NotMax:

    Thanks for the tip!  Yeah, arthritis has left my thumb occasionally weaker and easily aggravated.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 17, 2020 at 1:57 am

    @Mary G:

    The Orange County Succulent Society 

    Oh I’m just glad they exist.  (I’ve just said their name out loud 5 times.)

  36. 36.

    frosty

    March 17, 2020 at 2:00 am

    It’s hard to say what I miss since I’m not home. Retired at the end of January, hitched up the trailer and headed south and west for (hopefully) four months. The good news is we may be more quarantined this way. 90% of the time we’re not around other people at all. The other 10% is ranger stations, groceries, gas stations etc. where 3 to 6 ft clearance is pretty easy.
    So, what I’ll miss. If the National Parks close, there goes most of the trip. We’re due in SoCal in mid-April, if that’s locked down we may have to scramble. Other than that we’re good. Other good news is that no matter what tiny burg we’re in, there’s hand sanitizer at the door of the grocery, no TP inside, and no offer to shake hands. The message is getting through, even in Texas.

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 2:00 am

    @LesGS

    Might she be able to temporarily switch over to delivery? Think of it as long distance serving.

    Also, I imagine many places don’t keep a deep stock of takeout containers, so there will be an immediate run on those.

  38. 38.

    Ivan X

    March 17, 2020 at 2:01 am

    I’m missing the entirety of NYC, and in particular the Knickerbocker Bar & Grill, as we happened to be on the CA Central Coast when this plague arrived. We’re walking distance from my brother and his wonderful family, which feels good, and there has been only one reported case in the whole county, so we’ve decided to just stay put until it seems like the right time to go home. Not having any idea when that is, or what will have survived in the city when we finally do, is deeply unsettling. I’m also greatly missing the exciting musical scene I am a part of there. But I can’t express how grateful I am to have the fortune to be here over anywhere else, and that our business is still doable and needed without being physically present. I miss home, but I don’t want to be there now. This feels like the best option of awful ones, at least for today. Tomorrow is likely still coming.

  39. 39.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 17, 2020 at 2:01 am

    @Anne Laurie: What’d you do – try to check out ALL of the books?

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 17, 2020 at 2:06 am

    @NotMax: Excellent.  I have an OXO Good Grips that works well.

  41. 41.

    Ninedragonspot

    March 17, 2020 at 2:09 am

    I’ve been in a state of mourning since late January, when performances of traditional opera essentially ended in China.  No longer could I stay up late (or get up early) to watch live opera broadcasts from the northern Chinese countryside.  Yes, there’s YouTube, but that’s not the same.

    So then I watched Chinese opera performers doing solo broadcasts from their home – half chatting / half singing opera excerpts and pop songs.  I kept as many tip jars filled as I could.  But the feeling of claustrophobia often overwhelmed me.

    I’ve got few friends in the US who follow that sort of thing, so through February I felt like I was living in two completely disconnected worlds – one carefree, one on a state of crisis.

    Now it’s my turn.  First they closed the Symphony and ballet, which were my opportunities to be in the presence of beauty.  My husband’s quartet concerts are cancelled at least through summer. It’s very hard not to feel that all joy is being drained from the world.

    Of course, I can listen to CDs, plug into streaming sites, watch old broadcasts.  But gone is the communal experience of being immersed in a live, unrepeatable event.  And it’s gone almost everywhere.

  42. 42.

    AnotherBruce

    March 17, 2020 at 2:09 am

    I missed a visit by the daughter of a friend of mine who wanted to come in and get to know about Seattle. She wanted to check up on going to grad school at the Udub. She and her family came to visit me about 7 years ago. I’m approaching codgerhood. So I had a lot of fun texting her about places to go and visit on spring break. She was really  pumped up about going to Seattle. The last time I saw her was when she was a teenager. I wanted to see her as a young adult. But as it happened she was going to fly out to Seattle in the middle of  March Spring break.  So I had to warn her off of visiting here. I’m glad I did, but it kind of depressed me. I’m going to try to go back to Iowa,  where I grew up and where that family (and parts of mine) to visit this coming Christmas.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 2:13 am

    BTW, if your local library belongs to Kanopy and/or Hoopla, there’s channels for those on the Roku (and of course the apps function elsewhere as well).

  44. 44.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @LesGS:

    Truth, and for all I know my niece and nephew may end up having to move in with their parents – both of whom are pushing seventy and one of whom (my sister) is not walking around bent over double with patience. I foresee a disturbance in the Force.

    On the other hand, sympathy and charity begin at home. I posted this before somewhere but it’s more apropos than ever. I was browsing through a Patrick O’Brian novel last week and there was a scene where Jack Aubrey is growling about ‘No, Tom, it will not do,’ said he. ‘If we stay another half hour with the breeze veering like this we shall never get out of this God-damned bay – windbound for weeks, mewed up with these miserable brutes.’

    While I would never categorize my loved ones nor yet anyone else’s as miserable brutes, that’s as of today. Ask me in two weeks, worse yet a month.

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 17, 2020 at 2:16 am

    Newt Gingrich, Feb 27: "The city of San Francisco, in its usual irresponsible way, has already declared an emergency…"Newt Gingrich, today: "Faced with a pandemic threat, history teaches us it is far better to be over prepared than underprepared."https://t.co/Z3TSqB6eON pic.twitter.com/5oL4U0C95g— Matt Novak (@paleofuture) March 16, 2020

    History also teaches us that Newt should be teabagged by a donkey.

  46. 46.

    bjacques

    March 17, 2020 at 2:18 am

    Museums. There’s a Caravaggio show I was going to see at the Rijksmuseum and now of course it’s closed. I have tix to see the Van Eyck show April 20th in Gent, and that’s looking a lot less likely now. If they don’t just postpone it, then I’ll consider the money a donation. They won’t be the only museums hurting during and after.

    Also, flea markets.

     

    Having a lot of older and/or immune system compromised friends, I’m being really careful to be among the last to get the C.

  47. 47.

    Randolf Hurts

    March 17, 2020 at 2:19 am

    I’m gonna miss having a paycheck for who knows how long. How much did we spend to bail out banks who caused a global financial crisis?

  48. 48.

    MisterForkbeard

    March 17, 2020 at 2:20 am

    @HumboldtBlue:  Remember that cash is pretty dirty- cards are actually cleaner if you’re worried about transmission.

  49. 49.

    Redshift

    March 17, 2020 at 2:21 am

    I’m going to do my best to keep my favorite Chinese restaurant in business through this; I know it will be tough for them.

    I’d say I miss not spending every day wondering what’s coming next and how we’re going to get through it, but I’ve been missing that for three years now.

  50. 50.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 2:22 am

    @Sab: I wouldn’t want to be stuck away from home base either. And on top of that, we’re raining on her! Go figure.

    I’m a driving fiend. Love road trips, even sleeping rough in a car. Sealing up in her own little secure space capsule and driving home isn’t an option for her?

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    March 17, 2020 at 2:23 am

    Also, if I heard right, they’re going to be closing local parks, so I may be missing bike rides longer than around the neighborhood.

  52. 52.

    Martin

    March 17, 2020 at 2:24 am

    I still think there should be a national moratorium on all debt payments and rent until things generally open back up. Have the fed backstop the banks, but just put everything else on pause. Most business owners will be okay if that happens and if they and their employees can collect unemployment, get some form of stimulus.

    Would beat the dogshit measures they’ve been doing so far.

  53. 53.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 2:25 am

    @NotMax: Could be. She likes to drive. It’s also possible they’ll need someone to deal with the phone to take orders and to run the food out to the curb for those that come by themselves.

    Folks are gonna have to get creative…

  54. 54.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 2:25 am

    @Ninedragonspot: My Ohio sister married into a Shanghai musical family, and her kids all love Chinese opera. Everyone is in US now but the kids all love Chinese opera. They feel your pain.

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    March 17, 2020 at 2:27 am

    @Martin:

    I still think there should be a national moratorium on all debt payments and rent until things generally open back up. 

    Agreed, but seeing as how the executive branch is currently run by slumlords…

  56. 56.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 2:27 am

    @LesGS: They flew there. West coast car. Midwest car. Don’t want car in wrong state, but it may come to that.

  57. 57.

    JoyceH

    March 17, 2020 at 2:30 am

    @lahke: I’ve been trying but to be honest I’ve only written a chapter since the New Year. I’m exercising and trying to stop eating like a total maniac – hope the brain comes back soon. Last year was a real challenge for me and some of those challenges are lingering.

  58. 58.

    Randolf Hurts

    March 17, 2020 at 2:31 am

    @Randolf Hurts: Just to add: I cant believe how tone deaf these comments are (and this post in general). Millions of people who live day to day just got laid off. There is no plan in place for them and no end in sight. But super sorry you wont be able to get your favorite lentil soup.

  59. 59.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 2:35 am

    @danielx: Today was the first day with my dear spouse working from home. It’s… gonna be interesting. :D Didn’t feel comfortable doing noisy vacuuming until he took a break midday. Didn’t really start dinner, as his desk is in the kitchen/dining area, until he “got off work” at 5:30 and could move into the living room, as he hates the smell of cooking onions (likes ’em fine once they’re done) and I was making Zuppa Toscana.

    I honestly would be fine with my miserable brutes back home (love O’Brian), but it would be an adventure figuring out how to live with one another as mature adults.

  60. 60.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 2:39 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Hand to goddess:  When my dad in the South Bronx died, we filled an entire cardboard refrigerator carton, twice, with the checked-out books he’d been hoarding.  (My brothers who still lived in the city spent the next six weeks dropping them through return slots after hours, an armload at a time.)

    I’ve been lucky to achieve my most fervent childhood fantasy: I can buy more books (even in hard cover!)  than I can read.  So, mostly, I try to stay out of libraries, for everybody’s safety!

  61. 61.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 2:40 am

    @Randolf Hurts: Other side is I work seasonally for wonderful people for not much pay. Husband is high risk. Do I continue  working now, endangering him, because they have been such a support for more than a decade, and seem to be oblivious to the risks now?

    Dad’s nurses aides got paid by us while we figured out how to get them back to work.

    Fine if you can afford it.

    We made daughter quit Uber. Now what?

  62. 62.

    cain

    March 17, 2020 at 2:41 am

    @Kent:

    Still buying books online. Just bought a book on Rust.. it was supposed to be delivered to a store, but that went all belly up so I’m trying to get it changed to be delivered to me instead.

  63. 63.

    cain

    March 17, 2020 at 2:45 am

    @LesGS:

    I think we need to take heart – I’m hoping that for small business and restaurants the govt can help prevent bankruptcy. It will be unacceptable if all the local restaurants ended up dying leaving only the chains around. There will be a very large pent up demand after this is over as people re-join the world again. You can bet they will all want to go eat and be able to stretch out their legs.

  64. 64.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 2:46 am

    Be it noted: if there is one thing in this uncertain world of which I am tolerably certain, it is that birth rates are going to skyrocket starting around the beginning of November.

  65. 65.

    Anne Laurie

    March 17, 2020 at 2:48 am

    @danielx: And there will be sooo many kids whose parents decide it’s cre8if to name the ‘Corey’ or ‘Rona’…

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 2:50 am

    @danielx

    That brings up a delicate related question. Will red states use this as an excuse to shut down clinics which offer family planning or abortion services and counseling as “non-essential?”

  67. 67.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 2:51 am

    @LesGS:

    You’ll get used to it. Spouse and I have been working at home together off and on for five years, you just have to to adapt to each other’s rhythms.

    Which I admit is still difficult, she gets off work at 3:30 and I’m still totally focused on computer mapping, she wants to talk and I’m all great now could you like fuck off for like another couple of hours? Kthanxbai, love you go away.

  68. 68.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 2:52 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Now, now, I did hear of one being named ‘Rowan’, which I thought was nice.

  69. 69.

    Randolf Hurts

    March 17, 2020 at 2:53 am

    @Sab: Isn’t that the same side? People forced out of work with an unknown future and no plan in place for the interim. I applaud local governments for taking the action that Trump won’t. But there are massive ripples and repercussions to said actions. Yet no one seems to have considered that reality before rolling out massive lay offs. And on top of that, all the commiserating about the food or drink or books you can’t have while the people who served you said goods are fracked seems incredibly petty.

  70. 70.

    danielx

    March 17, 2020 at 2:53 am

    @NotMax:

    Is this a trick question?

  71. 71.

    James E Powell

    March 17, 2020 at 2:54 am

    I already miss friends. Going to restaurants, movies, or just hanging out with friends.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    March 17, 2020 at 2:58 am

    @danielx

    “These are the twins. Russ and Vi.”

  73. 73.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 3:00 am

    @Randolf Hurts: I am really sorry you’re in such a precarious position. I’m scared for you, I’m scared for my kids, I’m scared for the… millions? …certainly thousands and thousands of folks, who even if they don’t get sick, are going to suffer because of this plague. I don’t know that there’s anything I can do for you personally (I don’t have a job to give you or gobs of cash to spread around), but I will do my best to chip into efforts to support my community (I’m lucky in that I belong to a very proactive UU church) and to pressure The System to do what it’s suppose to do.

    I know that really is of no direct help to you. I’m sorry.

  74. 74.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 3:01 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    @Kent:

    My daughter wants to transfer to U of Oregon in ’21.  Did you arrange for a tour, of just show up and poke around on your own?  I’m hoping we can go this summer.

    We did the official tour.  I actually grew up in Eugene and spent my youth poking around there as my dad was in grad school part of the time.  I probably went to 3/4 of the Duck football games from about 1971 to 1982 when I graduated HS as my dad and his buddies had season tickets.  Back when they generally sucked and beating OSU and WSU meant it was a good year.   So my duck roots go back at least to Ahmad Rashad and Russ Francis.

    I can tell you LOTS more about UO and my thoughts on the place if you want both good and bad.  email me at kentalind at gmail

  75. 75.

    Kent

    March 17, 2020 at 3:04 am

    Here is some maybe good news.   My wife works here.  Not at this particular research lab, but for Kaiser Permanente in Washington

    First COVID-19 vaccine trial at Kaiser Permanente Washington

    On March 16, 2020, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute gave the first-ever injection of an investigational vaccine for the 2019 novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, to volunteers participating in phase one of the federally sponsored clinical trial.

    This is the first vaccine trial for this virus, which causes COVID-19, in humans. The KPWHRI trial began recruiting participants on March 3.

    “We are proud that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases selected us to conduct this innovative trial,” said Lisa Jackson, MD, MPH, senior investigator at KPWHRI. “We’re well prepared and focused on helping to address this evolving health situation.” Dr. Jackson is the lead researcher for the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health.

    The investigational vaccine is called mRNA-1273 and made by Moderna. The vaccine is made using a new process that is much faster than older methods of making vaccines. It does not contain any part of the actual coronavirus and cannot cause infection. Instead, it includes a short segment of messenger RNA that is made in a lab.

    The initial trial is a small “phase I” test involving 45 participants—part of a 3-phase process that is necessary to determine whether a vaccine works. In this first phase, KPWHRI researchers are testing the safety of various doses and whether these doses produce an immune response. Phase I trials are not designed to determine whether the vaccine is effective in preventing coronavirus infection. That work comes at a later phase of the vaccine research.

    KPWHRI’s vaccine research team has expertise in conducting these kinds of trials, including testing other investigational vaccines against “swine” (H1N1) and “bird” (influenza A) flu.

    KPWHRI became Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units, or VTEU, site in 2007, and it is the only one of the nation’s 9 VTEU centers not housed at a university medical center. Since 1962, the VTEUs have played a key role in developing new and improved vaccines and therapies against infectious diseases.

     

  76. 76.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 3:07 am

    @Randolf Hurts: Yes. I don’t know how to fix it. Daughter we will cope with. Buy gift certificates helps management but not workers. Thank you for pointing this out. Life is about to become drastic.

  77. 77.

    Randolf Hurts

    March 17, 2020 at 3:14 am

    @LesGS: I appreciate the empathy. But yes millions. New York alone just laid off millions. Across the country 100 million+. Not thousands and thousands. These are people who live paycheck to paycheck and woke up one day to find there’s not another one coming. It is an abysmal failure of our government, when most Americans can’t afford a $400 emergency.

  78. 78.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 3:18 am

    @danielx: Yeah, today was literally the first day of him home (and I spent a chunk of it out trying to buy a thermometer, as we have not had minor children in the house for almost a decade, and the batteries on the thermometers we dug out of the back of our medicine cabinets where telling us “Yeah, right, we’ll give ya 97.6 degrees”. There are no thermometers to be found in any of the stores around us. It’s only an issue ‘cuz he’s coughing and his immune system is compromised). Our kids, who share an apartment (so both of them are re-nesting if it goes tits up) have three thermometers, so I might swing by to pick one up….

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    March 17, 2020 at 3:21 am

    @Randolf Hurts:

    To answer your question. Way too much.

    Second I think what you are seeing here is reality setting in. People here are not obvious to the issue of no work, no money. But there are high risk people right here that you are talking to, high risk meaning a better than even chance of dying if they get infected. I know I’m one of those because of several issues that I have, one of which I had my first ambulance ride for in 7 decades 6 months ago and am still learning how to live with. We aren’t blind to the costs, in money and lives. We aren’t blind to some not being able to work at all. Me for example, I could work if I could set up a machine shop in my apt. But otherwise it’s go in. And I can’t risk that. Now I’m also lucky that I have a job, and I know that but not if I will in for much longer. I know that all too well. None of us know what’s going to happen, it’s quite possible that one or more of us will succumb to the virus or to the lack of money. I’d bet there isn’t one person here that doesn’t take this seriously. What can we do? What would you have us say?

    I’m sorry your position is so precarious. I wish it wasn’t so. I hope that I don’t catch the virus and die, I hope we all get through this in as reasonable condition as possible. All of us. But other than try like hell not to get infected, what would you have us do? We can’t force trump to be a better person, we can’t get his idiot choices for government positions to actually not be assholes and idiots.

  80. 80.

    opiejeanne

    March 17, 2020 at 3:27 am

    I might be going to miss tomatoes this year, if the garden centers close down. I’m going to start some from seed, but I don’t know how that will work out for us, starting them this late. We always buy big, healthy plants of Juliet and Super Fantastic and Brandywine because we have a short growing season.

    There’s a nursery near us called Flower World that is a gorgeous place and is where we get our tomato plants. Half of the space is given over to an area like a park, with a large pond and a fountain in the middle. There are chickens and geese wandering around near the pond, and people bring beach chairs and coolers to have a picnic on the grounds.

    They have the best prices on plants in the area, and they have a great selection.

    I’m worried that they will go under if they close their doors, and that the property will become light industrial buildings where the greenhouses are and  the parkland will get a McMansion plunked down in the middle of it. I think it’s employee-owned, and the majority of workers are women.

  81. 81.

    JaySinWA

    March 17, 2020 at 3:31 am

    @NotMax: I have a less expensive version after wearing out a OXO, two things, so far the lifting mechanism wears out over time, and there are some cans that don’t work well or at all. Small tomato paste cans are usually a problem, forget about canned milk, some bean products can be difficult. Cans that have an indent before the top instead of straight sides are often no go.

    Still our goto can opener, I even use it for pop top cans when I don’t want sharp edges. But you do need a backup for things that don’t quite work.

    I got a BOGO deal for cheap knockoffs so I have a backup that’s stored as part of the emergency supplies. I got about 2 years of light use out of the OXO. It looks like wearing out is pretty common across all brands.

  82. 82.

    LesGS

    March 17, 2020 at 3:31 am

    @LesGS: And boy howdy, is that a trivial issue or what! But it was the first time I’d had to deal with the shopping craziness, as my eldest daughter has an anxiety disorder and so has had us slowly stocking our pantries and freezers since the beginning of April. An over-active amygdala can be useful in situations like this…

  83. 83.

    Sab

    March 17, 2020 at 3:33 am

    @Randolf Hurts: I know that. My family will be living that . Scary times ahead.

     

     

    @Randolf Hurts:

  84. 84.

    Randolf Hurts

    March 17, 2020 at 3:34 am

    @Ruckus: I truly hope the same. For you and yours, mine and everyone else. We will weather the storm, it’s just extra terrifying and uncertain right now.

  85. 85.

    Jay Noble

    March 17, 2020 at 3:34 am

    I’ll miss being able to go shopping in Cheyenne. It’s the closest “big” city to me and I only go about once a month. It’s more of just an escape from the routine of a small town life than anything but I was due for a trip and now . . .

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    March 17, 2020 at 3:55 am

    @Randolf Hurts:

    Yes it is extra terrifying and uncertain right now.

    I can’t tell you it’s going to be better, or if it is, how soon, or that you will be OK, or if I will, none of us know that. It’s like being in combat, it’s disorganized, it’s coming at you faster than you can respond, you have no basis for solving the issues…..

    See I can make it worse and so can you. What people here are trying to do is take their minds off of things they can do nothing about. It doesn’t work but it can be a distraction for a moment. And that can help. I don’t know if this will make sense but when I was in the navy the routine of being at sea could drive you nuts. It’s the same process day after day, hour after hour, living with the same people, who you don’t even want to be living with, in crowed and often nasty, literally stinking sleeping quarters with people who snore horribly, always moving, always bad food…. The impact is palpable to anyone paying any attention. It seems like it will never end, and then it does. This will end as well. Some will be worse off from it and some won’t be as bad off as others. But everyone went through and everyone suffered to some extent. The one thing that got everyone through was whenever the pressure got too much, someone would pipe up, “No one is shooting at you.” You’d nod your head and feel better. Find that phrase for yourself and whenever you feel the pressure tell yourself what I did, “No one is shooting at me.”

    You can always look for the worst or you can look for some ray, something to hang your hat on. No one is shooting at you.

  87. 87.

    lahke

    March 17, 2020 at 4:05 am

    @JoyceH: I’m sorry for any afflictions but very glad to hear that a new book is coming.  I’ll try to bear myself in patience.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 17, 2020 at 4:44 am

    Zero, zip, nada.

    Most of the places I go are empty. The places that aren’t empty? I don’t go unless I have to.

  89. 89.

    prostratedragon

    March 17, 2020 at 5:50 am

    Echoing a special hope for the Strand bookstore. Also a couple of nonchain coffee shops around here. Most of my favorite restaurants already do some delivery or pick-up, so I guess they’ll make it, though some of the servers and bussers might have to find other jobs. Now that I can’t, I find myself with an almost irresistible urge to hit a movie theater or the Art Institute (which I’m sure will weather this).

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    March 17, 2020 at 6:11 am

    I miss imagining a positive future for myself.

  91. 91.

    BRyan

    March 17, 2020 at 6:49 am

    @Ruckus: thanks for your comments throughout this thread,  hopeful even while acknowledging grim.  Appreciate the reminder that there are still blessings to be counted.  And, yes, no one is shooting at me.

  92. 92.

    Gvg

    March 17, 2020 at 7:25 am

    @Randolf Hurts: ahh..no, you are wrong. The lentil soup may not come back BECAUSE all those servers and restaurants got laid off. We mostly understand that it’s all related. And anyway it’s impossible to express ALL the sadnesses and worries in just a few sentances. We are aware of how disastrous this is going to be and have said so in other posts.

  93. 93.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 17, 2020 at 8:08 am

    @Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Bought a cheap version of one of those at IKEA a few years back. Worked OK, though I nicked my fingers a couple of times on the cans’ edges. Recently it encountered a can that fought back & broke it. It seems IKEA no longer sells that style. Bought a old-style c/o at a dollar store, which to be honest works better than the broken one (even before it broke).

  94. 94.

    rivers

    March 17, 2020 at 8:13 am

    1. My friends, my family
    2. Manhattan – the Met, the Morgan, the Whitney, MOMA, the Philharmonic, the concerts in churches all over New York, the sidewalks, the crowds. I still walk over to the river every day and gaze at the skyline, feeling homesick. I even miss the subway (still running but I can’t take it.)
    3. All the local cafes, some of which I fear will not survive this
  95. 95.

    Uncle Cosmo

    March 17, 2020 at 10:39 am

    I’m in pretty decent shape – live alone (no one to infect me), a month’s worth of grub & (soon) Rx stashed, lots of reading material & the Net, cash enough & a card for the occasional foray.

    But I will miss some things. Not restaurants – the only place I’ve frequented since last autumn was sold & closed on 15 Jan. I’ll miss the people I knew there, from the owner & her son to the executive chef & barista & wait staff & other regulars from years past who’d become intermittents.

    I’ll miss the dances. Time was I could go dancing 4 nights a week within a half hour of home – swing, squares & contras, international folkdance. My preferred form of exercise as well as social life. I have a feeling that a lot of that will never come back. For some years, social dancing had already been going through a down cycle, & the financials (venues, bands, clienteles) have been teetering on the brink of insolvency. The dancing crowds are aging out & there’s not enough new blood to keep the numbers up. And there is a lack of urgency to meet potential new partners with internet dating sites available – & if that’s an important factor, then “social distancing” may be the kiss of death (or should I rephrase that).

    Last, maybe most important to me, travel. I won’t be able in person to help one of my dearest friends celebrate a milestone birthday – he’s in Prague. Other friends & family, mostly in the high-risk cohort, strung out from Least Coast to Left Coast & in between, who I had planned to visit in my comfortable oldfartitude – that’s on hold indefinitely. And the places I had yet to do (not to mention the things I had yet to be) are on extended & extensive & perhaps permanent hold.

    First world problems. And yet the will and the health to be & do sifts softly through the neck of the hourglass. And no one knows the hour…

  96. 96.

    J R in WV

    March 17, 2020 at 12:22 pm

    @LesGS:

    my eldest daughter has an anxiety disorder and so has had us slowly stocking our pantries and freezers since the beginning of April.

    April doesn’t begin for two more weeks, unless your daughter is also prescient and started stocking up a year ago.

    ;-)

    Best of luck!! Everyone, best of luck!

  97. 97.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    March 17, 2020 at 2:12 pm

    An interesting thing is, take-out food from a good restaurant should be relatively easy to keep mostly safe, since it’s generally believed that surface contamination isn’t a major risk (NB: we still can’t be *sure* – but “they” do think person-to-person is the most common means of transmission). I saw that the Covid 19 causing coronavirus can’t handle more than 60 degrees Celsius, about 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is where food service normally serves food. If the cooking staff can maintain social distancing, and the tables were set for sitting and waiting for food, an improved take out menu could be a blessing, both for restaurant survival (takeout is far better than “restaurant gift certificates” when  one is hungry) and for nutrient intake.

    (No shame: I have chronic fatigue syndrome, and a takeout of a good kung pao chicken is far better, and tastier, than anything I’m likely  to have the energy to throw together. Since there are days I feel I’m nothing *but* an economic actor, being able to spread some money in the local community is often a good thing. )

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