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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

How much Freedom are you allowed in your City or State?

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
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Asher Kelman: Northern Sky At 7:30pm

Here in Southern California we can walk as long as we wish outside, but in my City wearing a mouth-covering is required by edict!

But sports places & gyms are locked shut! No massages!

Beaches are generally closed in my area, Los Angeles County, but a few adjacent beaches are open and folk are not obeying distancing strictly as they should!

Restaurants are only open for curbside food pickup or home delivery. Illegal drug sales have had supplies interrupted, especially Fentanyl from Wuhan!

However drug and alcohol overuse has increased as has domestic violence!

So are you allowed to freely run a marathon or saunter in your park!

Our celebrity place, Holmby Park, is of course open!

Asher
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
New Mexico is under a general "stay at home except for 'essential' errands" order by our capable and adorable governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham. Almost all businesses are shut down except for "essential" enterprises (which includes grocery stores, pharmacies, The Home Depot, etc.). Restaurants may provide takeout orders. Churches were exempt at first, but now are subject to the same rules as any other establishment. Persons are encouraged (but I'm not sure if "required") to wear face coverings when among others. The rules currently run through the middle of May.

In our county (which has the area of Connecticut but a population of only about 62k) there are so far 4 recognized COVID-19 cases, one an airman at Holloman Air Force Base (adjacent to our city, Alamogordo) and the others allegedly in the ICE detention facility near the border with Mexico. There are no reported cases in Alamogordo (population about 28k) itself.

Our Board of County Commissioners (three Republicans) and our City Commission (nominally non-partisan, but actually mostly Republicans) have passed resolutions asking the governor to promptly reopen many business establishments and relax the stay at home rules (I don't know the actual provisions of the resolutions). We have not yet heard of her reaction.

Stay safe.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Jim Olson

Well-known member
On April 22, 2020 Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that Washington state, where the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. was reported, plans to gradually curtail its lockdown measures, but not all restrictions will be lifted on May 4. The state has pretty much the same as other states. Like "stay at home except for 'essential' errands". But for some reason, the traffic in my town has not slowed at all. Every time I go for a walk, the is a never ending flow of cars. So it looks like people aren't staying at home. There is only 7,000 people in this town of Sequim but alot of them are out every day. I see people wearing masks all by themselves while driving in their cars but don’t even cover their nose in the store.
I had to go to the dermatologist to have a small cancer removed today & took this pano from the parking lot.
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Tom dinning

Registrant*
A quick drive to the local Botanic Gardens for some fresh air.
The ground rule is: Social distancing, small groups, designated areas only.

The roads are quiet, but they usually are. This is midday on the link road. The other 3 cars must be on the highway delivering toilet paper,

I saw a dozen other persons in the gardens. It’s a bit warm for a walk.

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James Lemon

Well-known member
I explained to my lawyer that my government keeps corresponding with me in French and I don't know what they are taking about. I have tried to get in touch with them to request English. Regardless of whether I press 1 or 2 for service in English or French it should not matter because they are required to be bilingual and serve me in either language. But I can't get a hold of anyone, on any number. I asked my lawyer what this may be about and he mentioned something about a crazy Chinese Bat and advised me to ignore them.
 
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Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I can’t help but notice the cars in several of the pictures. I live near the Munich city center and, although I own a car, I don’t use it to go to work or for shopping. I use the underground to work and walk to the nearest supermarket. But city center supermarkets are relatively small and that makes it difficult to organise queues at the till where people would stay 2m apart. Some supermarkets limited the number of customers and the queues are outside. I tend to avoid those, so I am visiting shops further away. Walking does me good: now that I work from home, I put on a little weight and I need more exercise.

Bavaria ordered a locked down over a month ago: all shops but the essential are closed, restaurants may only serve take away, parks and public places can only be visited if one is keeping at least 2m distance to other walkers. Bavaria is also experiencing the worst draught in 2 decades with summer-like weather (but we are expecting some rain tomorrow). The past week were a bit surreal with perfect biergarten weather and empty streets. Traffic was gone the first week but is slowly catching on.

I was a bit worried the first week. As you may know, I keep bees. They know nothing about COVID and, as they do, are simply making more bees. I was worried I would not be allowed to tend them, but this was not the case. I enjoy my weekends at the bee place, outside the city. Because of the heat, the season is two weeks early.

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(carnolian honeybee in rapeseed/canola field)​


Today, Bavaria decided to ease a bit the restrictions. More shops can open, but customers must wear a mask. There are more people in the streets. I took some pictures earlier this afternoon.

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(yarn bombing)

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(Marienplatz)​
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
I can’t help but notice the cars in several of the pictures. I live near the Munich city center and, although I own a car, I don’t use it to go to work or for shopping. I use the underground to work and walk to the nearest supermarket. But city center supermarkets are relatively small and that makes it difficult to organise queues at the till where people would stay 2m apart. Some supermarkets limited the number of customers and the queues are outside. I tend to avoid those, so I am visiting shops further away. Walking does me good: now that I work from home, I put on a little weight and I need more exercise.

Bavaria ordered a locked down over a month ago: all shops but the essential are closed, restaurants may only serve take away, parks and public places can only be visited if one is keeping at least 2m distance to other walkers. Bavaria is also experiencing the worst draught in 2 decades with summer-like weather (but we are expecting some rain tomorrow). The past week were a bit surreal with perfect biergarten weather and empty streets. Traffic was gone the first week but is slowly catching on.

I was a bit worried the first week. As you may know, I keep bees. They know nothing about COVID and, as they do, are simply making more bees. I was worried I would not be allowed to tend them, but this was not the case. I enjoy my weekends at the bee place, outside the city. Because of the heat, the season is two weeks early.

View attachment 4505
(carnolian honeybee in rapeseed/canola field)​


Today, Bavaria decided to ease a bit the restrictions. More shops can open, but customers must wear a mask. There are more people in the streets. I took some pictures earlier this afternoon.

View attachment 4506
(yarn bombing)

View attachment 4507
(Marienplatz)​

Folk in the big cities here are afraid to ride on public transit. Would be nice to see more pictures of this place... looks like a great place for street shooting.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Jerome,

I really like pictures with someone as motivated like the person caught striding to where she is headed!

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It gives a sense of purpose, a thrust!

I wish you had the top of those magnificent buildings. But as it is, there’s magnetism in the photograph!

Her hair flared out by her movement is just a great powerful flourish that’s unbeatable!

Kudos!

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Jérôme,

That is one complicate Design treasure! Such a lot of craftsmanship. It mentions a lot about stone, but how much big timber was needed?

Asher
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
Do you mean that they are afraid now because of the epidemics or were they generally afraid before the epidemics?

Yes because of the Coronavirus and bus drivers are afraid too, ridership is down on the rapid transit system as well, Vancouver BC. No one worried about using the system before the crisis.
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Yes because of the Coronavirus and bus drivers are afraid too, ridership is down on the rapid transit system as well, Vancouver BC. No one worried about using the system before the crisis.

In Munich as well ridership is down but I don't know whether it is because people are afraid or because the number of people commuting is much smaller. The number of cars is also markedly smaller.

The people responsible for the transit system (buses, trains, underground, trams...) have decided to keep the lines running at near normal capacity, so the trains/buses/etc are mainly empty. This is by design, as it lowers the risk of infections. The drivers are isolated from the passengers and, from Monday on, passengers must wear a mask. There is also regular disinfection of door handles, etc...
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
In Munich as well ridership is down but I don't know whether it is because people are afraid or because the number of people commuting is much smaller. The number of cars is also markedly smaller.
. .
The people responsible for the transit system (buses, trains, underground, trams...) have decided to keep the lines running at near normal capacity, so the trains/buses/etc are mainly empty. This is by design, as it lowers the risk of infections. The drivers are isolated from the passengers and, from Monday on, passengers must wear a mask. There is also regular disinfection of door handles, etc...

I question some of the measures that they come up with in hopes of mitigating the virus spread. One solution to protect bus drivers is to have passengers enter and exit the rear door. So in many ways I think that people are just winging it without thinking things through. How are the masks being disposed of and where? I did a project in a chemical plant where you had to have your blood checked for lead count levels. I am trained with SCBA SABA to enter deadly environments to check for gases such as H2S and other nasty things. Many wore sophisticated masks with appropriate filter cartridges while others did not, this is after things were deemed safe. Surprising they found that the ones wearing masks had higher lead counts than the ones that were not . The masks were some type of rubber/plastic material and what was happening was they were not cleaning the masks after each use, breaks, coffee, lunch,etc. Disposable masks are meant to be thrown away after each use. I cant image wearing that same mask multiple times or drinking from the same disposable cup at the water dispenser. The cups are small but I would not drink from a cup and fill the same cup again at the water dispenser when you can simply grab a new one.

Prior to this crisis people I would have seen people not think twice about filling up their personal water bottle at the office water dispenser. In many environments sometimes the solutions just create more problems. Its one thing to establish good hygienic procedures but they need to be thought through and written out in a clear and concise way and enforced. Most of it is just basic like washing your hands after using the bathroom.

I am hearing from multiple sources than the virus has infected millions of people already New York 40%, United Kingdom and Sweden 50%. I am not minimizing the severity of the crisis or am I suggesting that we all go out and party and have a Super Big Group Hug but we really do need to think about what we are doing.

Do we need to close the children's Play Ground or deny the young adults their graduations things like that? What are the priorities, protecting the vulnerable,mitigating the spread in places like,hospitals care homes and such. We need to get these things straight in a methodical prudent manner. We need more than just band-aide solutions. I would suggest designated buses and schedules for the elderly, vulnerable, or some type of community support network for them to help with grocery shopping, and other priorities.
 
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Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Even though everyone in Ontario Canada is encouraged to just “Stay the Blazes Home” - recommends you only leave for essentials, and then only with one person entering a location like a grocery store or LCBO (the only two places we need to go for supplies) —- - Anne and I can drive if we want. But we don’t go out too often. We aren’t paranoid, we just see no need for it and aren’t interested in taking any gambles for ourselves and more importantly for us, is how our choices could affect others.

Our two sons have businesses related to maintenance for essential services - they have kept working very discretely and under strict guidelines. Our one daughter works from home as a consultant for a software developer for the human resources industry and is actually busier than before the outbreak. Our oldest daughter is a team manager for banking institution, and they have just made provision to provide all employees with computers and other needs to carry on their work from home.

As for school, our oldest sons children are out of school. After schools were closed our two children with school age children, have been homeschooling them, more recently with some instruction a few days a week coming from their teachers by Zoom. While our children didn’t follow our course, it wasn’t that much out of the ordinary or much a worry - being Anne and I homeschooled them, and they are all very intelligent with jobs that often only go to those with higher education.

A few days ago, Anne and I had a long distance visit with our daughter, in front of her home. Previous to this we have only seen her once through the glass of our trailer when she delivered some cleaning products to our doorstep just after we got back from El Salvador.

Our order from Amazon, with hair clippers and portable speakers for my MacBook Air, had arrived and we needed to drive to her place and get the package. Rachel set out 2 chairs about 15-20 feet from where she sat in her porch. We had a great visit and the distance didn’t bother us at all. A couple people going by, commented positively on us “social distancing”. The ones struggling the most from not being able to have me rub their ears and play with them, were her dogs Raven and Zoe. LOL



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Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I question some of the measures that they come up with in hopes of mitigating the virus spread.

So do I, especially because the measures are so different country to country (which is the reason for this thread). I remember I posted similar comments a month ago when Asher, as a trained physician, wanted strict hygienic measures. We need to balance between lowering the transmission and measure we can sustain for a long time, because we are in this crisis for months.
 

James Lemon

Well-known member
I suppose that the water park will open when they decide to turn on the water but for now it's too cold anyway. But nothing stopping me from a stroll in the park.
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Tom dinning

Registrant*
I don’t have any pictures but the NT looks petty much as it always had.
After a few months of lockdown, no deaths and only 5 cases left to recover the people in charge decided to open up a bit.
Social distancing is still in order but other than that life goes on as normal.
Our boarders are still closed and will remain so for some time, probably months.
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Munich is slowly opening. People can enjoy the local river, as long as families/groups keep a minimum distance:

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Traffic is increasing, restaurants are open with regulations on minimum distance. The beer garden on Viktualienmark (a major tourist attraction) is open, but they rearranged the tables. As it was mainly used by tourists, it is a bit empty though.

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Jerome Marot

Well-known member
The shops are reopening, but they have a limit on the number of customers allowed and people must wear a face mask inside. This is the local Apple store which implemented extra checks (they measure your temperature), and people need to queue outside:

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In the pedestrian street, the city brought in new chairs, for people to sit while minimising contacts:

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