Charlie

Palm Springs City Manager has used emergency authority to close all bars. Restaurants can stay open, but seated patrons have to be distanced. Group gatherings of more than ten people are discouraged. Governor has asked all Californians over 65 to isolate themselves at home, except for necessary trips to grocery store, pharmacy, or medical appointments; sex with young men seriously frowned upon (OK, that's my interpretation).

If restaurants are closed, how are people who don't have kitchens or pantries supposed to feed themselves? What about workers who can't bring food to work?

I stopped at a local Von's supermarket this morning to buy fresh produce--you can't stockpile lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms or bananas--and it was the most crowded I have ever seen it on a Sunday morning, my normal time there. The checker told me that when she arrived for work at 5:30am, there was a line of people waiting to get in. They got a fresh stock of tp overnight, and it was all sold out by 7am. It is strange to walk down an aisle and see the shelves normally stocked, then turn a corner into another aisle and see them stripped bare.

I believe Hargitay, in his muscle-builder prime, was also in a show with Mae West.

The OP (tedbear) hasn't been seen on this site in almost four years.

A friend who was at local Costco yesterday said that an employee was stationed at toilet paper area and was handing out no more than two packages per customer. I am beginning to think I may eventually have to dip into my earthquake preparedness supplies. BTW, if everyone is supposed to stay home and self-isolate, who is going to manufacture and transport all the stuff to re-stock the stores?

If you have the time, I would certainly drive rather than fly, plus you will have your own transportation with you while you are here. If you have never done it, I can suggest some routes you might enjoy.

The annual White Party, which was scheduled April 26-29 in Palm Springs, will not be held this year. It may be rescheduled for late October, if circumstances permit.

Are you going to disinfect everything as soon as it is delivered?

One of the reporters for our local paper just happens to be on a vacation cruise in the Pacific right now. She sent an article to the paper about changes to the cruise routine during the past couple of days, one of which is that the ship has stopped letting the passengers use the buffet. All food has to be served to the passengers at their tables by a staff member wearing gloves.

Right now we are dealing with all sorts of incomplete statistics: 1) we don't know how many people are currently infected but have no symptoms; 2) we don't know how many people are ill, but haven't been tested to confirm a diagnosis; 3) we don't know how many people were ill but have already recovered; 3) we don't know how many people became infected but did not become ill; 5) we don't know how many people became infected and died, but the cause of death was attributed to something else; 6) we don't know how many people who have been tested and diagnosed will actually die in the near future; 7) we don't know if there are long term effects of infection, which may contribute to death in the more distant future. In other words, it is much too soon to make firm conclusions on the death rate of COVID-19 vs. influenza, a disease on which we have many years of reliable information. The one certainty is that both diseases are potentially lethal to a significant number of people who are exposed to them.

A good friend of mine told me this morning that she and her husband, who take a couple of cruises each year, still intend to take the cruise in the Mediterranean that they booked a year ago; it leaves April 1st, and ends in Italy. They are both in their 70s, and he has underlying health issues. I told her she is crazy.

I miss Will, who started this thread almost two decades ago, even more than I miss Reece.

It has just been announced that the entire two week Indian Wells tennis tournament, which was supposed to start tomorrow morning, has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 threat. It is one of the biggest tennis events in the world, and the most important event in this area after Coachella, which may also be cancelled. The tourist economy here is going to take a huge economic hit.

Today we learned that we have the first case here in the Coachella Valley. The patient is at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

What a nice Studebaker!

The real problem is not where the cruise ship has been, but who the other passengers are. You don't know where they have been or whom they have been exposed to before the cruise.

My first thought when I saw those photos was, "Oops! A clockwatcher."

Or they might immediately put you in quarantine for two weeks.

Yes, because I have been having terrible seasonal allergies for the past month--sneezing, coughing, and runny, itchy eyes. However, the respiratory problems associated with COVID-19 are in the lungs, not in the head, although the average person on the street is probably not aware of that distinction.

My landline carrier also identifies a call as "potential spam," and I always let those calls go to voicemail. They rarely do leave a message.

Health care workers actually need to use them because they are more likely to become infected from their interactions with the ill, but be asymptomatic themselves while they are caring for--and passing on the illness--to others.

Am I correct in assuming that if you took the Delta flight, you would have to get off at LAX, go through immigration and customs, then get back on the same plane and fly to the ultimate destination of the original flight? What would happen to the rest of your ticket if you were denied entry at LAX?

The problem with Ontario for Mike is that there are no direct flights from Australia to Ontario; he would have to fly to LAX, change to another flight to Vegas, Phoenix or Salt Lake, then fly from there to Ontario. It would be simpler to just deal with the traffic around L.A. Ontario is certainly preferable to LAX if you are originating in a US city, but not if you are coming from across the Pacific.

Palm Springs may or may not be a good choice, because of the Indian Wells tennis tournament which starts next week and will run over two weekends and draws hundreds of thousands of attendees. On the other hand, many people who have already made reservations may cancel if the COVID-19 epidemic scares them off, so there may be empty rooms available at the last moment.