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Topic starter
16/03/2020 3:34 am
I just got back to Virginia from Chicago.
I'll have a more detailed report later today after I get some sleep!
We all had a great time this weekend, but you can see that things have changed radically. The crowds were thin. No one is shaking hands or slapping shoulders. People who haven't seen each other for a year stop just short of any personal contact. There was a feeling on the show floor that this may be the last weekend for any significant activity for awhile.
The highways are simply bizarre! Soap dispensers in the public bathrooms are empty. Clerks in the restaurants and stores are laying change on the counters instead of handing it to you.
There are no people manning the toll booths on any of the turnpikes, the states are mailing toll invoices to drivers. All the tables and chairs have been removed from the rest stops and food is carry out only. There's literally no place to sit in the rest stops. All along the way home, the talk at the convenience stores and gas stations was about how sparse traffic has been. In the middle of the night, there were times I drove on the Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes for miles without seeing another vehicle. It was eerie!
In short, everyone is taking this very seriously and working hard to keep the virus from spreading.
John Kuvakas
Warrenton, VA
16/03/2020 4:11 am
Thank you for this report, John. I have not traveled outside our small town for the last week and have no feel for the nation-wide response. I appreciate your information.
16/03/2020 5:21 am
Thanks John. Here in Holland and the whole of Europe it is a Corona disaster.
16/03/2020 6:02 am
Glad you made it home safe. I had a much shorter drive home and filled up the gas tank and bought 2 lbs of coffee and filled up the gs tank. Now I do not have to venture out of the house. My work went virtual only starting today!
Photos of the 1/43 weekend later, but Randy has already covered it well, I think!
16/03/2020 9:21 am
What do you do, that your work can go virtual, Karl?
I am a AAA mechanic and roadside tech.... I would LOVE to go virtual, but my my pay scale wouldn't allow it.
I don't make enough money to sit at home in my jammies on the computer.
16/03/2020 11:40 am
Karl drives a train, I believe...
perhaps in his jammies.
.
16/03/2020 12:32 pm
(ha!) Yes, I am an engineer, but I do mostly project and portfolio...
management. My project leaders are global so I do emails/webex/net meetings all the time. I can do that in an office cube or at home! Two hours less commuting now - that's a big upside!
16/03/2020 2:34 pm
Skip Johnson
Tonawanda, New York
16/03/2020 3:33 pm
Everyone in Indiana was doing 80 or more, saw no cops until KY (only 2).
The absent toll booths threw me. Looks like I will have to sign up and shell out my $3 before they track me down.
Stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel north of Lexington. Saw a waitress hug an older customer which made me cringe. On the plus side, gas was cheap.
Just in case, I'm being very careful around my wife. No hugs yet, and lots of hand washing, etc. as I fix meals. Keeping several feet away just in case. Trying not to breath in her direction just in case.
Talked to a neighbor this morning who said Saturday at the local Kroger was bizarre. No potatoes, tomatos, rice - he bought the last onion. Panicing a little, I headed out to see what I could find, but it wasn't that bad. Even ordered a couple pizzas. But of course the paper goods aisle was pretty decimated.
Dow dropped 3000 points today.
16/03/2020 3:55 pm
I believe Karl mentioned something about "chemicals"...
.
17/03/2020 10:27 am
Engineers are people, too! But they speak in their own language https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a31249215/how-things-move-and-why-communication/