Texas Re-Opening Announced

[Texas Jeff 1945]

10 hours ago, 6th Street said:

Question for you Texas peeps - it seems like a lot of you are now making grocery runs. So have you stopped using Whole Foods delivery and Instacart altogether? 

I've avoided the delivery services because I think there are other people who need delivery more than me right now and it looks like there are not enough slots to go around.  I can go during non-peak times, I have an exact list of what to buy and I know my stores pretty well, so I can get in and out fast with minimal interaction.  I've seen many pro shoppers in the store trying to go get someone else's list and they are all over the store looking for items.  I'm not complaining about that, but I know that I can do a faster job than a pro could for my list and so the overall burden to the system is less if I do it myself.

[GRHorn 105]

14 hours ago, Anastasis said:

I absolutely loath shopping basically anywhere with my wife.  Our grocery store habits are not compatible at all.  

 

What is the board thinking on kids sports?  I am hearing rumbling about trying to squeeze in baseball in the summer, and already seeing chatter about the select soccer firing back up.  I am not sure that I love the idea of either at this point, but man I am going to have some seriously unhappy kids to deal with. 

Good question. It sounds like our swim lessons will fire up in a couple weeks. Fortunately it’s just a crash course thing. 30 mins a day for 2 weeks, but it’s so the 2 year old can swim safely this summer. 
 

It seems like outdoor sports might happen, but in a shortened season? We do track here, no word yet. 

[GRHorn 105]

Just looked and TAAF will have final decision on summer track and swim schedules no later than June 1. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

37 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

Just looked and TAAF will have final decision on summer track and swim schedules no later than June 1. 

With the exception of shared implements in field events and relays, perhaps track has a chance. While athletes are breathing hard, if the head official runs more heats in the shorter events and staggers lanes instead of a waterfall start in distance, track may have a chance. Would be brutal for some meets, though. 100 and 200 meters usually have (what seems like) a thousand heats as it is.

[kevwun 15935]

Hot Wheels has another press conference this afternoon.  Are we skipping straight to Phase 3 now?

[hayden_horn 11365]

14 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Hot Wheels has another press conference this afternoon.  Are we skipping straight to Phase 3 now?

i reckon this will have to do with the pushback he's receiving from san antonio and austin for making the dumbass declaration to open everything back up.

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, Adler/TravisCo said pushback to May 15 (I think), and Abbott wants to override that.  I prefer Abbott to Adler 6 outta 7 days a week, but if Abbott would just stay out of the way on this---Austin is being as diligent as almost any other big city.  By the time you two quit your public media pissing match, it'll be Saturday already and we're only talking about the difference of less than a week by that point.  I suspect most Austinites are gonna just keep doing best practices through May anyway and let other parts of Texas fuck themselves over  no matter what the Governor or Mayor have to say about it.  

It's hard to gauge how the rest of re-opening measures are going in the rest of the country because the clips you see on the news are selected to support their ideology.  I'm not on social media so I don't get to enjoy the anecdotal bullshit evidence from the two Karen camps.  The "Get 'Er Done" Karens just post that everybody is free again and things are returning to normal as God intended, and they juxtapose the Elitist Kunt Karens who are bitching that everyone isn't inside their attic in a Hazmat suit living on homegrown kale listening to NPR reruns from 2009. 

But I have made it out to a half-dozen other Texas cities and this is not meant to say Austin is better in any way, but the wanton disregard for your fellow citizen was just glaringly more obvious in other cities.  the masked goes from 80% in Austin to 80% unmasked in other cities.  Social distancing is pretty good wherever you go, but then I didn't go inside much in these other places so hard to say.  All this bitching so you could go to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, shit you've been able to do this whole time anyway. 

20-25% of the GDP losses in Texas can be booked to the Health Care Industry.  The only way that chunk is gonna come back is if we don't overwhelm hospitals/clinics/workers with more Covid-19 patients.  The only way we that are these mitigation steps.  The only way we do that is through non-moronic reopening "plans."  

You want to "Open up the Economy", you gotta start with Opening up your Brain.  There are some industries we just can't help right now---airlines, hotels, etc.  Others we can help with strategic planning and tactical execution on new best practices and cheap credit---manufacturing, transportation, financial services, etc.  3mm more sick Americans cripples so many industries if they all happen in the next 6-12 months.  Our economic system is not set up for an entire industries to be down for a year at a time.  

tl;dr    We literally have to take turns getting sick.  

Edited May 5, 2020 by Lobo

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

48 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Hot Wheels has another press conference this afternoon.  Are we skipping straight to Phase 3 now?

Since Abbott seems to use small-town Texas as the barometer for his decisions, I'm sure he will say his measures are working and he's sticking to his re-opening plan. He may pay some lip service to hot areas needing to increase their non-regulatory safety measures.

One area that I think Abbott will eventually fight against are private businesses requiring masks. Not today but I think he will say that people have the right to decide that for themselves and not businesses. It could be another month before he makes that argument. He has too many constituents that are refusing to wear masks and he will have to side with them at some point.

[Message Board User 12396]

Abbott will be at White House on Thursday, per Texas Tribune Twitter page.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Message Board User

[RDCanecutter 26476]

13 hours ago, Cousin Strawberry said:

I was at 7-11 and a hispanic construction worker tried to refill his 5 gallon cooler of a thermos from the fountain machine.  He was told that wasn't allowed.  He fucking removed his mask to better argue the point.  The employee basically told him it wasn't fucking happening and to quit crying. When he realized he wasn't going to be allowed to refill the thermos he started walking out.  At the door another customer is walking in. They obviously recognize each other, shake hands and hug.  He was one of the 6 dudes who arrived in a F250 crew cab.  I don't know if it was because he was hispanic or in construction but he clearly didn't give a shit about distancing or masks.

Third possibility: He is a dumbass.

[Guest Lobo]

20 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Since Abbott seems to use small-town Texas as the barometer for his decisions, I'm sure he will say his measures are working and he's sticking to his re-opening plan. He may pay some lip service to hot areas needing to increase their non-regulatory safety measures.

One area that I think Abbott will eventually fight against are private businesses requiring masks. Not today but I think he will say that people have the right to decide that for themselves and not businesses. It could be another month before he makes that argument. He has too many constituents that are refusing to wear masks and he will have to side with them at some point.

What does he give a shit about his unmasked constituency anyway?  Unless he's planning on running for a third term.

Most "about-to-be" termed out governors (this fall or 2022) are sticking to best practices for public health and not getting mixed up in the idiotic political vitriol that's attached itself like a coronavirus cell to a normal cell.  We already have enough bad juju coming out of Texas with fucking Dan Patrick on tV every week calling for some sort of other fucked up measure.  We get it Dan, you want the Tommy Hillfiger outlet store to open back up, we fucking get it.  

[NameAlreadyInUse 5131]

39 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Since Abbott seems to use small-town Texas as the barometer for his decisions, I'm sure he will say his measures are working and he's sticking to his re-opening plan. He may pay some lip service to hot areas needing to increase their non-regulatory safety measures.

One area that I think Abbott will eventually fight against are private businesses requiring masks. Not today but I think he will say that people have the right to decide that for themselves and not businesses. It could be another month before he makes that argument. He has too many constituents that are refusing to wear masks and he will have to side with them at some point.

That will obliterate his stance that businesses don’t have to serve gay people so I doubt he goes down that path. 

[yoladu 4109]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Since Abbott seems to use small-town Texas as the barometer for his decisions, I'm sure he will say his measures are working and he's sticking to his re-opening plan. He may pay some lip service to hot areas needing to increase their non-regulatory safety measures.

One area that I think Abbott will eventually fight against are private businesses requiring masks. Not today but I think he will say that people have the right to decide that for themselves and not businesses. It could be another month before he makes that argument. He has too many constituents that are refusing to wear masks and he will have to side with them at some point.

Wouldn't business owners get to make that call?

no different  than "no shirt, no shoes, no service dice"

 

[gmr548 16617]

That will obliterate his stance that businesses don’t have to serve gay people so I doubt he goes down that path. 

Actual lol at the idea that logical or moral consistency gets in the way.

 

[DixonHur 11395]

33 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

That will obliterate his stance that businesses don’t have to serve gay people so I doubt he goes down that path. 

Hypocrisy is an integral part of the GOP platform

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13588]

Judging by the traffic on 37 heading towards CC I imagine Port A is still chock full of derp.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

Wouldn't business owners get to make that call?

no different  than "no shirt, no shoes, no service dice"

the more that Abbott supporters are opposed to masks, he will be opposed to businesses requiring it. Remember Abbott supported the Jade Helm conspiracy theorists. You don't think he will go against liberal business owners forcing God-fearing Texans from the right to go into the Piggly Wiggly without a mask?

He wouldn't go against a recommendation to wear masks or a person's right to wear one, but if the only grocery store in town tried to force everyone? Yes Abbott would be against that.

In fact if the question was posed to Abbott today with that scenario, he would side with the non-masked customer.

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

40 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

the more that Abbott supporters are opposed to masks, he will be opposed to businesses requiring it. Remember Abbott supported the Jade Helm conspiracy theorists. You don't think he will go against liberal business owners forcing God-fearing Texans from the right to go into the Piggly Wiggly without a mask?

He wouldn't go against a recommendation to wear masks or a person's right to wear one, but if the only grocery store in town tried to force everyone? Yes Abbott would be against that.

In fact if the question was posed to Abbott today with that scenario, he would side with the non-masked customer.

Then follow up and ask him if businesses can get rid of their ramps.

[justhookit 4191]

2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

Judging by the traffic on 37 heading towards CC I imagine Port A is still chock full of derp.

Not as bad as the weekend was but yeah still plenty of idiots here. I’m sure by Thursday night or Friday we will have a real mess again. San Antonio and Austin continuing their shutdown isn’t helping. 

[Neonmoon 38130]

 

[hayden_horn 11365]

yeah, that's not a good look, especially, if my assumptions are correct, that we are about to experience a fairly steep spike in the next couple of weeks due to this decision.

i agree, the goal cannot be zero, but it should be flat or decreasing before reopening things up.

oh, and obligatory:

Edited May 5, 2020 by hayden_horn

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 hour ago, justhookit said:

Not as bad as the weekend was but yeah still plenty of idiots here. I’m sure by Thursday night or Friday we will have a real mess again. San Antonio and Austin continuing their shutdown isn’t helping. 

 

Saw a gal in front of me in line this morning that had a horrific sunburn. She told the person at the desk she went to Galveston and the beach this weekend. Judging by the Pantone Color chart or a similar catalog of color samples it was either a 2347 or a Lobster Lumphead shade. I should have felt sympathy, but I'm having a difficult time knowing that sunblock or even perhaps a butter sauce (if you're Alex Jones) is a must if you are going to go to the beach the minute it is open.

[Jive Turkey 12648]

These numbers are going to look small in a few weeks. 

 

[Biff Tannen 45750]

1 hour ago, justhookit said:

Not as bad as the weekend was but yeah still plenty of idiots here. I’m sure by Thursday night or Friday we will have a real mess again. San Antonio and Austin continuing their shutdown isn’t helping. 

My wife's co-worker said she ran into some people that DROVE IN FROM PHILADELPHIA because Texas was "open".  Come on people.

[WBT 20675]

6 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

These numbers are going to look small in a few weeks. 

 

Has the testing rate changed this week?  That looks bad but case numbers are kind of meaningless without knowing the testing rate/percent positive rate.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

15 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

yeah, that's not a good look, especially, if my assumptions are correct, that we are about to experience a fairly steep spike in the next couple of weeks due to this decision.

i agree, the goal cannot be zero, but it should be flat or decreasing before reopening things up.

oh, and obligatory:

Well, and he goes on and talks about HEB and stores using distancing and masks, but that isn’t what’s happening in most places.  

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

 

[wildcat09 29425]

The GOP is a death cult.

[formermav43 4606]

I don’t think anything he said is particularly controversial.

[babysdaddy 2728]

26 minutes ago, WBT said:

Has the testing rate changed this week?  That looks bad but case numbers are kind of meaningless without knowing the testing rate/percent positive rate.

he had indicated testing was going to increase and I think there were going to start testing more at risk populations.  But I can't find any data on number of tests, positive testing percentage, etc.  

[WBT 20675]

19 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

 

I have another hot tip for Olivia.  If you go outside in the rain, you'll get wet.

[4th&Five 41601]

 

[Jive Turkey 12648]

31 minutes ago, WBT said:

Has the testing rate changed this week?  That looks bad but case numbers are kind of meaningless without knowing the testing rate/percent positive rate.

i don't think the number of tests administered has changed much.  but Dallas is allowing more people to take tests, including grocery and big box store employees, even if they are not showing symptoms.  the increased number of positives could relate to that.  and that's scary.

i'm sure there are lots of retail workers who are positive but asymptomatic and haven't been tested.  if they're out and about and coming into contact with others at any open establishments, then the numbers are going to really spike.

[Patrick Bateman 3933]

I guess we're just going to continue to suspiciously have the lowest fatality rate, by far, of any similar states?  No one is going to actually wonder WTF is going on as we "open up"?  Are we doing so based on faulty data?  Florida is almost up to 4% now, while we hang out at 2.7%.  Guess Texans really are tougher..... that's gotta be it.

 

 

[WBT 20675]

22 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

i'm sure there are lots of retail workers who are positive but asymptomatic and haven't been tested.  if they're out and about and coming into contact with others at any open establishments, then the numbers are going to really spike.

That's probably been the case all along unfortunately.

[InkaUtexas 26175]

2 minutes ago, WBT said:

That's probably been the case all along unfortunately.

Meh, who cares. Karen needs her fake tan and nails done. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19432]

went out to Target today to get stuff for Mrs Rojo's birthday tomorrow, and I swear to god old people must be trying to catch this shit. I'd say 80% of the people in the store were wearing masks, but 80% of those who weren't were over 60. They were also most likely not to observe a respectable distance. I had one old fucker walk right up next to me and lean into the area I was looking to grab something. He would have been encroaching on my personal space in normal times, much less in today's world. I turned and looked at him and said "I'll come back later" and walked off.  

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

Louisiana politics have always been especially corrupt, but man, watching what goes down in Texas over the past few years has been remarkable.  Especially when it comes to voter data and science denying.

[Anastasis 23487]

3 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

went out to Target today to get stuff for Mrs Rojo's birthday tomorrow, and I swear to god old people must be trying to catch this shit. I'd say 80% of the people in the store were wearing masks, but 80% of those who weren't were over 60. They were also most likely not to observe a respectable distance. I had one old fucker walk right up next to me and lean into the area I was looking to grab something. He would have been encroaching on my personal space in normal times, much less in today's world. I turned and looked at him and said "I'll come back later" and walked off.  

Most people are totally and completely unaware of their surroundings and inconsiderate people around them.  My applied misanthropy is rooted in things like watching people tend their carts after then have unloaded in the grocery store parking lot. But observing people fail miserably at social distancing because of just basic lack of regard for others is sending me over the edge. 

[Anastasis 23487]

3 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Louisiana politics have always been especially corrupt, but man, watching what goes down in Texas over the past few years has been remarkable.  Especially when it comes to voter data and science denying.

Meanwhile in Louisiana. At least we were smart enough to cancel most mass gatherings. 

 

 

 

[Message Board User 12396]

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Has the testing rate changed this week?  That looks bad but case numbers are kind of meaningless without knowing the testing rate/percent positive rate.

Nailed it.

 

[HenryJames 66189]

 

[justhookit 4191]

1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

 

Saw a gal in front of me in line this morning that had a horrific sunburn. She told the person at the desk she went to Galveston and the beach this weekend. Judging by the Pantone Color chart or a similar catalog of color samples it was either a 2347 or a Lobster Lumphead shade. I should have felt sympathy, but I'm having a difficult time knowing that sunblock or even perhaps a butter sauce (if you're Alex Jones) is a must if you are going to go to the beach the minute it is open.

Stores here ran out of a bunch of stuff again over the weekend  for the first time in about a month. The aloe vera sunburn stuff was one of the many things as was white vinegar? Do people use that on sunburn?

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

My wife's co-worker said she ran into some people that DROVE IN FROM PHILADELPHIA because Texas was "open".  Come on people.

We had a multiple groups from NY too, including one group that has now driven back and forth twice between Port A and NY in the last month on a road trip. Who knows where else they’ve been stopping. Mostly living out of their car which seems clean and healthy.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

12 minutes ago, justhookit said:

Stores here ran out of a bunch of stuff again over the weekend  for the first time in about a month. The aloe vera sunburn stuff was one of the many things as was white vinegar? Do people use that on sunburn?

White vinegar? I doubt that for sunburn, probably as a disinfectant if they were worried (hah) about cleaning but tbh I don't know much about home remedies for sunburn beyond the aloe or perhaps an oatmeal bath like one might do for poison ivy. I haven't had a sunburn in many years and if I go out in the sun now I have to wear coverings that make that Florida Grim Reaper guy look like a Chippendale's dancer.  Melanoma tends to make one attempt to avoid sunburns like the erm ...plague.

[Ghost of LL 15544]

Meanwhile, I just downloaded my application for a ballot by mail.  No fucking way I am going to stand in line with a bunch of dirty fuckers if I can at all avoid it.

[ultimaton 2982]

Apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are popular home remedies for sunburn amongst the essential oils crowd.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 minute ago, ultimaton said:

Apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are popular home remedies for sunburn amongst the essential oils crowd.

What is the rationale for this, I wonder?  Putting an acid (although weak) on one's skin after a burn? That's like putting an empty pumpkin on the head for a snakebite. Not seeing the thought process here.

[Biff Tannen 45750]

We used to use a diluted milk solution after long days on the river.  No idea if that did anything.

[workswithseed 2119]

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Meanwhile in Louisiana. At least we were smart enough to cancel most mass gatherings. 

 

 

 

I'm glad the girlfriend said she was gonna wait five years till she goes back, cause I was ready to do Mardi Gras again.

[InkaUtexas 26175]

21 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

What is the rationale for this, I wonder?  Putting an acid (although weak) on one's skin after a burn? That's like putting an empty pumpkin on the head for a snakebite. Not seeing the thought process here.

well to be fair, notice he said essential oil crowd. So basically this incorporates the Karens, the anti-vaxxers and crystal lovers.