Staying the Course -- May 11, 2020

[Superbob]

Stirrings here. Hair salons and fitness clubs will be reopening next Monday -- of course, under special keep-your distance rules. Still seems weird: Shut down an economy thus throwing many millions out of work, now slowly reopen it.

Since I check practically every box in the "vulnerable" category, guess I will wait a while before venturing back to my fitness club. Don't want to get sick and be responsible for closing down all the gyms in the state of South Carolina again.

What's up with y'all? How many weeks will we have to be on a waiting list to get a haircut, do you think?

Cheerio,
Superbob

 

[MartinF]

SB, they're starting to open up our area now. Some retail stores to open but only for sidewalk pick up. Beaches to open for the walking paths and crossing to go swimming or surfing. Many restaurants are already doing take home. My favorite is take home Margaritas on Tuesday night after our run. They don't make it home!
Still working from home and I think our company will continue thru the 18th before a slow return. It might be in June that I go back to regular times. Right now I plan on going in a couple hours on Wednesday night and then hopefully I can work from home after that for the next week.
I was surprised that my cardiologist set up an appointment a few weeks ago for my yearly check up. It's next week. Shouldn't be any surprises.
And I'm lucky that my wife has her cosmetology license and cuts my hair.
Staying the course, weight staying at 175.

 

[Protimenow]

According to some news reports, although some of the restrictions are slowly being removed or softened - the number of people trusting that it's safe to go out is still pretty low. They feel safer staying home as much as they can.

The reopening of everything that was shut down by this damned virus really shouldn't be a political issue - although the divide between those who want to open everything versus those who choose to stay in and restrict 'unsafe' exposures seems to have become more political than science based.

South Korea opened things up - and the number of cases is climbing again. I wouldn't be surprised to see cases popping up in the areas where the restrictions have been lifted.

Supporting businesses is great - but not puts more lives at risk.

 

[Stowegirl]

Stirrings here. Hair salons and fitness clubs will be reopening next Monday -- of course, under special keep-your distance rules. Still seems weird: Shut down an economy thus throwing many millions out of work, now slowly reopen it.

Since I check practically every box in the "vulnerable" category, guess I will wait a while before venturing back to my fitness club. Don't want to get sick and be responsible for closing down all the gyms in the state of South Carolina again.

What's up with y'all? How many weeks will we have to be on a waiting list to get a haircut, do you think?

Cheerio,
Superbob

How is hairdresing meant to happen with social distancing though?

 

[Keithl]

There are precautions that can be taken. We are lucky, we know our hair person for years. She owns her shop, when GA opened up we texted her and she agreed to open on a Sunday just for us and locked up and left after us. I was double masked, she was masked with face shield. As soon as I got home I showered. At some point we all have to weigh how much risk are we willing to take using which precautions. The odds of me going to a dentist, even with them double masked and face shields is slim to none as laying with my mouth open as a catch basin for 20 minutes is not a risk I am willing to take.

Let's face it, this is with us for at least 12-24 months. As much as I am an introverted hermit, there are just some things we need to do. I avoid being near people, always double mask and weigh gloves. We keep a box of gloves and masks in the cars as backup. We keep hand sanitizer in the cars. We remove masks and gloves properly and dispose of the gloves and disposable masks cautiously. One of the masks is a 3 layer reusable mask the other is the disposable dental type mask.

Here is the real challenge now, with all the opening up, yes cases will go up, yeas people will die, I don;t like it, but since the states are the wild, wild west we don't have a choice. The challenge is avoiding this until the masses of people out an about build some sort of her immunity and thus potentially lower the amount of virus out there. The flip side is that makes us more vulnerable when we go back out as the bulk of the carriers will likely be asymptomatic.

 

[Superbob]

I got a late May hair appointment for my wife with her long-time stylist. As for me, I am a walk-in guy and figure only long lines til maybe September. I've decided to just go with shoulder-length hair -- maybe a pony tail, who knows?

 

[Keithl]

I have been fighting my wife about a buzz cut, but she will be upset.

 

[rich01]

I started cutting my own hair when I was in college. 50 years later, I still cut my own hair. I went to a barber once during that time (girlfriend talked me into it), but I liked the way I cut my hair better, so never went again..

 

[Protimenow]

A few thoughts:

I've known the guy who cuts my hair for about 40 years. He's meticulous, has a single chair, and sanitizes everything that comes into contact with his clients. The State board that regulates barbers and beauticians has very strict rules, andi enforces them as needed. He told me that, if caught cutting hair, he will be fined $1000. The State isn't kidding.

I'm thinking about the 9-11 comment. I'm not exactly certain how an attack from outside - one that we probably SHOULD have known about and prevented - could devolve into a two party battle -- except, perhaps one party would blame the other party, and its president, for knowing of the risk and not acting on it. In this case, as it is with this pandemic, perhaps effective, early action (rather than believing that it wouldn't happen, or that, somehow miraculously, the hijacked jets would somehow drop out of the sky or diappear when on their way to their targets. (Okay - maybe it WOULD devolve - Bush didn't take a lot of heat when 911 DID happen, even though he knew about unspecific threats for a few mnths before the attack).


As far as this current pandemic goes, and the people who avoid the risks, and, as Keithl points out, use 'my body my life' is a reason for avoiding the scientists and risking their lives by avoiding the protection that adequate masking, sheltering at home, and social distancing will bring, they are clearly putting their lives - and the lives of those they have contact with - into danger. We'll see how the numbers of new cases of COVID-19 and deaths from the virus look in these 'open' areas in the next few months.

FWIW - even with 'business as usual' in some locations, I've seen surveys that, in spite of this, a majority of people in those areas still don't feel safe going out or ignoring the risks that have bee clearly outlined.

And, another FWIW - I don't wish illness or death on ANYONE - but it looks as if the number of these 'my body my life' people will be reduced as a result of their ignoring science. In some ways, the political polarity may go down as the numbers of these people decline. We'll see.

Note: this was in response to other political-ish comments. I don't really want to inject politics in here, and I wouldn't be surprised if some or all of this will be deleted.

What does this do with 'Staying the course?' -- I don't know. It's just the way this thread evolved, which happens to many good threads.

 

[ValveAdmin]

Let's try to keep the specifics of political stuff out of this.

 

[Stowegirl]

Regardless if you've known your hairdreser for years, you still don't know what they're doing when not cutting your hair. Cutting other peoples hair? You still need to socially distance in my opinion and I don't think that is possible. My hairdresser I have known for years too but her daughter is a nurse on a COVID ward. Ive learnt to do my own roots and a bit of a trim. Its not the same atall but Id rather live and not pass anything on to vulnverable people.

 

[Keithl]

A few thoughts:


I'm thinking about the 9-11 comment. I'm not exactly certain how an attack from outside - one that we probably SHOULD have known about and prevented - could devolve into a two party battle -- except, perhaps one party would blame the other party, and its president, for knowing of the risk and not acting on it. In this case, as it is with this pandemic, perhaps effective, early action (rather than believing that it wouldn't happen, or that, somehow miraculously, the hijacked jets would somehow drop out of the sky or diappear when on their way to their targets. (Okay - maybe it WOULD devolve - Bush didn't take a lot of heat when 911 DID happen, even though he knew about unspecific threats for a few mnths before the attack).

without getting political, all I am saying is everything today is extremely polarized and partisan, not going to take side, just observing what is going on. The US people need to be u irked in this fight for the virus just like they were after 9/11. and it is not just the virus. People used to care about people, we have turned into the ME culture.

 

[Protimenow]

Regardless if you've known your hairdreser for years, you still don't know what they're doing when not cutting your hair. Cutting other peoples hair? You still need to socially distance in my opinion and I don't think that is possible. My hairdresser I have known for years too but her daughter is a nurse on a COVID ward. Ive learnt to do my own roots and a bit of a trim. Its not the same atall but Id rather live and not pass anything on to vulnverable people.

In most cases, I'd fully agree with you. My case is somewhat different. My gut is in his 70s (and I hope we both go on for many more years). Most of what he does is hairpieces, and I'm no sure how many heads he saw in a week - befoe this Covid-19 thing started. He's currently in a single salon 'room' that he uses for his few customers whose hair he actually cuts. I'm pretty sure that he's the only one who uses that room. He goes overboard with the sanitization of the room ad doesn't schedule many 'heads' each day - back when he was allowed to work.

I hope to see him before I start tripping on my hair. At that point, I may just do a long pony tail - or something.

 

[Keithl]

Regardless if you've known your hairdreser for years, you still don't know what they're doing when not cutting your hair. Cutting other peoples hair? You still need to socially distance in my opinion and I don't think that is possible. My hairdresser I have known for years too but her daughter is a nurse on a COVID ward. Ive learnt to do my own roots and a bit of a trim. Its not the same atall but Id rather live and not pass anything on to vulnverable people.

I agree, but it is a calculated risk.with safety precautions. I know her paranoid tendencies align with mine vs. some hair dresser that my be clubbing at nigh with no mask. Heck I just went o Home Depot and we left, half the employees (including cashiers) were not masked, half the customers and people were up on top of people, that was a risk even double masked I was not willing to take.