Is this the "new normal"?
 

I think it's time to commence discussion on what will be the "new normal", much talked about...

Here's something that is happening, predictable but it kick starts this post...

Working from home has been a blessing for me! Being the sole caretaker of someone who tried to take their own life, it wouldn't be possible for me to do with a normal life at work. For me, this couldn't have happened at a better time. (Don't take this the wrong way)

Something I am worried about is that the general public is getting restless and the gov'mint in the US is trying to re-open quickly. I understand that everything everywhere is hurting, but as soon as they approve mass travel and huge public gatherings and shoe store openings, this thing will make a nasty return. People will use the re-opening as an exemption from needing to take precaution and Covid will have its resurgence.

Where I live, for the past month everyone has been masked, wearing jackets, rubber gloves, etc. This week they decided to allow small business to open in the are and allow small groups (8 people or less) to gather in public spaces. Already the amount of people I am seeing wearing ANY PPE has dropped significantly. This could just be because Vermont is its own unique demographic, but I'm worried none the less.

I will say, I am excited for normal life to resume though. I've been itching the browse the stereo section at Best Buy for a while.

I've spent two weeks of my life in inverness, driving to dozens of distilleries... I think I'd move to orkney :D

(From an american perspective of course. I love scotch!)

We are a long long way from determining what the "new normal" will be. We are still in the "new transition" stage and that could last for months or years. The "new normal" can not possibly exist until everything has leveled out and remained the same for an extended period of time.

Ironically enough our North American head office was about a week away from completing an multi million dollar revamp of their office areas. It has taken two years for them to rip out all the individual walled offices and build a massive, tight packed cubicle farm. This was done to increase efficiency and expedite communication. Of course that is no longer acceptable so they will have to spend million more in spreading them out and putting up wall. Obviously many places that went the same route will have do the same and that will eventually become the "new normal".

Yeah, it was a consideration to hold on to my other house until city people decided the city wasn't so great after all and then flood the suburban/rural market with that city money. But that's both a big risk and a PITA to have to maintain 2 houses that are 3 hours apart.

And then a year from now they all decide they hate the country and flood back to the city knocking the crap out of the country real estate values. Short term it may look like a great market but when things are all said and done it could swing the other way in a heartbeat.

Well, yeah the idea would be to sell during the market surge. But yes, I decided to walk away with the money now even if it was about 10% less than it would have sold for without pandemic stuff going on in peak market season. Still made money on it so it wasn't worth the risk to keep it.

This whole situation is far from a new normal. It's been 2 months since lockdown here and people are flipping out. If that's already a new normal for them, god help them.

The roads are dead in my area. I'll grab a takeout window meal once per day, just to leave the house. Go home, remove the outer package, wash my hands and eat. Yesterday was a Mary Brown's sandwich (like Chick Fill A). On the way there and back I will open the throttle on a short stretch of highway where there are no intersections or speed traps. My car is quite fast except that even with staggered rears it doesn't always hook up. That's my adrenaline for the day.

I'm an audiophile, so have been passing the time tweaking my system, playing LP's and streaming Tidal hi-fi. Also, buying shit I probably shouldn't, since I'm unemployed.

When this ends I will have gotten a lot of hobby time out of my system and will long to focus on working again.

This is not any form of normal. It is a situation, which is ever changing and which all of us are trying to navigate. Nobody is alone in this, despite social isolation. Same way, we will all need to resume living when this really ends. And I don't mean mismanaging and causing it to prolong. The good news is once again we are all in the same boat.

PS-Not impressed with how so many countries have handled things. It's almost as if a burden has been lifted for them with a significant chunk of their elderly populations now deceased. It's horrific and goes against all the advancement humans have made over time.

The level of social development in a society can be gauged by the condition of their elderly.

Forgive me for asking, but disregarding all the reasons people voted for Trump, is he really the best man for the job NOW or do people maybe wish they picked a more intelligent man?

He behaves in a stupid, arrogant way every day plus he mostly seems to rub so many people the wrong way. It's unfortunate, since many people used to have huge respect for past Ps OTUS and he has belittled the position. One stupid comment and many people end up dead drinking bleach. He couldn't give a shit. His legacy will be that he carried on firing people in his staff just as he did on his TV show. Is this how you want children growing up in your country to view this position? I guess he's a shoe-in for re-election. LOL

:popcorn:

I travel the 401 between London and Woodstock twice a day. For a couple of weeks I have seen a slight drop off in traffic but not nearly what I expected.
This week it has started to pick up again and is almost back to the old "normal".
The only real difference I have seen is that a lot of people seem to think that the unspoken 125 KPH speed limit is now up to 150+. In the last week I have seen five cars being loaded onto flatbeds on the side of the highway. Three new Mustangs and two new Challengers all attended by two cruisers with the drivers in the back seat so you know they were not break downs.

The 'new normal' is yet to come. It's slowly happening here in the UK. My department has realised that we can work from home with infrequent visits to the office, so that will be one of the 'new normals' for me and my work colleagues..

This is something I've been super curious about. How many business realize there's no reason their workforce needs to be on the road daily. It would save their company time and effort to keep employees at home on top of not needing physical real estate maintained. All of this will be interesting over the next couple of years.

Your country really fucked up managing the pandemic, sadly.

Since China likely wasted a month before warning the world what was about to happen, can't really blame all the other countries completely. It was just too surreal, but regardless leadership is supposed to be the people that are most capable of navigating large scale situations.

Sadly, all that many world leaders can say after this is they'll do better next time. Except that comment in itself is a failing.