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How are you dealing with life now with the Covid-19 virus situation? (1 Viewer)

Robert Crawford

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What do you think is going to change?

There was a nice day in New York City this weekend and a good amount of people said "Fuck it, it's nice out. I'm going to Union Square." This isn't 6 months or a year later, this is right in the middle of the worst catastrophe in the city's history with bodies in makeshift morgues and when these people could literally catch a fatal disease and they still ignore warnings & go outside so I don't see people being too scared to go to a concert or a sporting event or a movie in the near future. And of course the people that went out in NYC only represent a small minority of people but if it's happening now, I don't see the majority of people who are currently being cautious greatly altering their lives after it ends.


For what it's worth, I'm not 'rooting' for people to learn nothing from this. I'm just saying that I think that's the likeliest outcome for most people.
There are people who do stupid things all the time like not buckling up their seat belts or driving when they're impaired. Like Forrest said, "stupid is as stupid does".
 

Tino

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What do you think is going to change?

There was a nice day in New York City this weekend and a good amount of people said "Fuck it, it's nice out. I'm going to Union Square." This isn't 6 months or a year later, this is right in the middle of the worst catastrophe in the city's history with bodies in makeshift morgues and when these people could literally catch a fatal disease and they still ignore warnings & go outside so I don't see people being too scared to go to a concert or a sporting event or a movie in the near future. And of course the people that went out in NYC only represent a small minority of people but if it's happening now, I don't see the majority of people who are currently being cautious greatly altering their lives after it ends.


For what it's worth, I'm not 'rooting' for people to learn nothing from this. I'm just saying that I think that's the likeliest outcome for most people.
I disagree. I think people will change.
What do you think is going to change?
As I’ve said before, pretty much everything relating to continued social distancing to varying degrees.
 

Bryan^H

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What do you think is going to change?

There was a nice day in New York City this weekend and a good amount of people said "Fuck it, it's nice out. I'm going to Union Square." This isn't 6 months or a year later, this is right in the middle of the worst catastrophe in the city's history with bodies in makeshift morgues and when these people could literally catch a fatal disease and they still ignore warnings & go outside so I don't see people being too scared to go to a concert or a sporting event or a movie in the near future. And of course the people that went out in NYC only represent a small minority of people but if it's happening now, I don't see the majority of people who are currently being cautious greatly altering their lives after it ends.


For what it's worth, I'm not 'rooting' for people to learn nothing from this. I'm just saying that I think that's the likeliest outcome for most people.
I agree 100% with you Travis.
People do what they feel comfortable with. I'm shocked that some of you think this is going to change peoples behavior. It absolutely will not. I have been to so many grocery stores (the only places open) in the past 3 weeks, and Damned If I see anyone obeying the "social distancing" policy. Anyone at all, not one of the hundreds if not thousands of shoppers I have encountered are going out of their way to keep far enough apart. Tight Aisle, with high traffic, and shopping carts, it is shoulder to shoulder in many instances.
They aren't comfortable for waiting for another shopper to finish in the aisle, and move on, and you know those store aisles are not 12 feet wide so there it is.


If they aren't changing their behaviors during a pandemic what make you think they are going to change their behavior well after a pandemic? I just don't get it.
 

Scott Merryfield

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A word of warning to those of you staying at home and not using your cars very much -- still get out there and start them up occasionally. This is especially important for the newer vehicles with all the electronics that run even when the car is shut off -- those electronics drain your battery.

We've been driving my wife's Buick Encore mostly for errands around town, but I have tried to use my GMC Acadia at least once a week (plus it's the vehicle we take back and forth to northern Michigan to my parents home). Even with that, my battery was dead yesterday when we were heading to pick up a take out order from our favorite micro brewery (have to support our local businesses). The AAA road service person who showed up today said he's replaced 6 dead batteries already this month from people who have not been starting their vehicles and charging the battery.

I was cognizant of this from an incident with my mother's 2017 Ford Escape this past winter. After my father passed away in December, she was staying with us in southeastern Michigan and her car was sitting unused in their pole barn in northern Michigan. When we went to start it (it had been a month since it had been driven), it was completely dead. Up there, the company doing the AAA road service did not carry spare batteries, nor have a very good jump start device. Plus, chipmunks had built a nest in her air intake (luckily they didn't chew any wires). We had the vehicle towed to the local mechanic up there who has been servicing my parents cars for 30 years (if you are ever in the Roscommon / Houghton Lake area of Michigan and need a mechanic, go to Lonnie's on M-18). All this when she had only about a month left on the vehicle lease!
 

Tino

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If you guys really feel nothing will change, then we’re all doomed.
 

Robert Crawford

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A word of warning to those of you staying at home and not using your cars very much -- still get out there and start them up occasionally. This is especially important for the newer vehicles with all the electronics that run even when the car is shut off -- those electronics drain your battery.

We've been driving my wife's Buick Encore mostly for errands around town, but I have tried to use my GMC Acadia at least once a week (plus it's the vehicle we take back and forth to northern Michigan to my parents home). Even with that, my battery was dead yesterday when we were heading to pick up a take out order from our favorite micro brewery (have to support our local businesses). The AAA road service person who showed up today said he's replaced 6 dead batteries already this month from people who have not been starting their vehicles and charging the battery.

I was cognizant of this from an incident with my mother's 2017 Ford Escape this past winter. After my father passed away in December, she was staying with us in southeastern Michigan and her car was sitting unused in their pole barn in northern Michigan. When we went to start it (it had been a month since it had been driven), it was completely dead. Up there, the company doing the AAA road service did not carry spare batteries, nor have a very good jump start device. Plus, chipmunks had built a nest in her air intake (luckily they didn't chew any wires). We had the vehicle towed to the local mechanic up there who has been servicing my parents cars for 30 years (if you are ever in the Roscommon / Houghton Lake area of Michigan and need a mechanic, go to Lonnie's on M-18). All this when she had only about a month left on the vehicle lease!
A week and your battery is dead. Something's not right as people park their cars at airports all the time without driving them for a week or two.
 

Scott Merryfield

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A week and your battery is dead. Something's not right as people park their cars at airports all the time without driving them for a week or two.
Actually it was only a couple of days since I last drove the vehicle. The technician showed me his diagnostic readout -- the battery was retaining 0% charge, and its overall health was very low. The alternator and everything else checked out fine. It was the original battery, so it was probably just its time to go.

So, in my case, it wasn't due to not starting the car. I just thought I would throw the warning out there for folks who may be letting their cars sit for a long time. I had not really thought much about the potential consequences until the incident with my mother's vehicle, since we usually do not let our vehicles sit unused for many weeks at a time -- as you said, a week at the airport is not usually a problem, unless the battery was weak to begin with.
 

Bryan^H

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If you guys really feel nothing will change, then we’re all doomed.

The changes made by those of us that care wont affect the overall majority that don't so it really is a lost cause. If it weren't for the government mandate, we would be in serious jeopardy.
 

Robert Crawford

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The changes made by those of us that care wont affect the overall majority that don't so it really is a lost cause. If it weren't for the government mandate, we would be in serious jeopardy.
I don't know how you quantify what the majority of people are going to do in the future.
 

Todd Erwin

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A word of warning to those of you staying at home and not using your cars very much -- still get out there and start them up occasionally. This is especially important for the newer vehicles with all the electronics that run even when the car is shut off -- those electronics drain your battery.
I found that out the hard way this past winter. In the middle of December, I had to replace my car battery - no big deal, as it had been over three years since I last replaced it. I live fairly remote, so I only drive it once or twice a week to the post office or grocery store. We then left for the Christmas holiday to visit my family in Arizona, taking my wife's car which has a smoother ride for long trips (it's a 10+ hour drive). A week later, after we returned home, my car would barely turn over. Two days later, it appeared the battery was dead. The auto parts store in town recharged the battery for me and it was as good as new, but the owner explained that newer cars, especially in sub-freezing temperatures (it often dipped into the teens at night), need to be run at least every other day to keep the battery charged. For the remainder of the winter months, I would take the more scenic route (if you can actually call it that herein rural Nevada) to run my errands, at least until I had to drive into Fallon (70 miles) or Reno (120 miles). No more battery issues.
 

Bryan^H

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I don't know how you quantify what the majority of people are going to do in the future.

What I'm seeing currently during this pandemic (in my area, and reading report s about the behaviors of people in big cities...could be a negative media angle though). I'm inclined to believe if people don't care now why would they when the virus is gone?
 

Clinton McClure

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What do you think is going to change?

There was a nice day in New York City this weekend and a good amount of people said "Fuck it, it's nice out. I'm going to Union Square." This isn't 6 months or a year later, this is right in the middle of the worst catastrophe in the city's history with bodies in makeshift morgues and when these people could literally catch a fatal disease and they still ignore warnings & go outside so I don't see people being too scared to go to a concert or a sporting event or a movie in the near future. And of course the people that went out in NYC only represent a small minority of people but if it's happening now, I don't see the majority of people who are currently being cautious greatly altering their lives after it ends.


For what it's worth, I'm not 'rooting' for people to learn nothing from this. I'm just saying that I think that's the likeliest outcome for most people.
A bunch of yahoos held a parade and a block party in Little Rock this past weekend. :rolleyes:
 

Clinton McClure

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A week and your battery is dead. Something's not right as people park their cars at airports all the time without driving them for a week or two.
Gotta agree, it takes more than a week to drain a battery unless you left your lights on. My wife’s 2015 RAV4 will sometimes set for a couple of weeks between drives and it turns over fine every time.
 

TonyD

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Down here in sw Florida Marco Island apparently just reopened one of the beaches.

plenty of people went immediately.

Dozens of people on our local city fb pages are saying this is over blown, asking what beaches are open so they can go etc.

This is not going to to change a large amount of people.
 

Robert Crawford

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Down here in sw Florida Marco Island apparently just reopened one of the beaches.

plenty of people went immediately.

Dozens of people on our local city fb pages are saying this is over blown, asking what beaches are open so they can go etc.

This is not going to to change a large amount of people.
Then the pandemic will continue.....
 

Walter Kittel

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I've been going out for groceries about once a week and usually about half way between that interval I go out and turn the car over and listen to one or two songs on the radio. (For a low battery, a longer run time is required; but the battery in my car is only around 2 years old.)

On the topic of change, I'll beat a dead horse here :) and say...

Human behavior obviously changes, but only very slowly. Look at the attitudes of some folks on certain topics which I cannot get into on the HTF. As Robert stated, there are a lot of stupid people all over the world. That being said, of the current adult generations living through the pandemic; some will alter their behaviors in subtle ways. But I fully expect future generations to default back to pre-pandemic modes of behavior due to intrinsic human nature; but only after a COVID-19 vaccine exists. Like I said, it changes but only very slowly. Those thoughts and a couple of bucks might secure a roll of TP at the supermarket.

- Walter.
 
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