MusicPlayerNetwork.com Forums Guitar Guitar Forum Things are slowly returning to normal

My main band played at a brewery the other week. There were a couple hundred people there. The band was in the barn where the tap room is. As it is on a large farm, there was plenty of space for people; no crowding. Even when in line for the beer or food, people kept decent spacing and were masked. We play there again in November. Not sure how it will be due to weather - all indoors, or still projecting "out" to the rest of the world.

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My other band I splaying a house party next month. Mild concerns all around, but were told we'll be playing in the garage, which will be open if weather permits. That gave us a bit of comfort in accepting the gig.

Update:

As of October 1, 2020

US Population 331,489,264

107,832,876 Tested
7,468,356 Tested Positive
100,364,520 Tested Negative
4,714,182 Recovered
212,147 Deaths

Stay Safe!

Another update: Starting later on this month, the gun and knife shows here in Michigan will start up again like normal. So instead of having to drive to Indiana and Ohio to sell all the stuff that I've been stockpiling all yearlong, I get to stay in my home state to do business. I sure hope people still want to buy masks, because I'm sitting on over 15,000 of them that I would really love to unload. It's going to be nice to live a normal life again.

Good Luck Sharkman! Masks should still be flying off the shelves...

A lot of the stores around here are sold out, and I get the impression that they are not in a hurry to order more masks. I hope the people in Shipshewana, Indiana are going to stock up this weekend, since that's where I'll be this afternoon through late Sunday afternoon. It's sure going to be nice to start taking in money again.

You might contact the show promoters and let them know you could supply them with masks at a discount if they are required at the door? You could also give one away with every purchase of your other goods. Maybe you could run an ad in your local area and do a mail order thing. They would be easy to mail out (like T shirts), no breakage or spoilage issues...if you get enough action you could expand your ad statewide, then nationwide. Anyway good luck and glad to hear you'll be back at it soon making some bucks!

When I arrived at the show today to get set up, I noticed that nobody was wearing a mask, and there was no sign on the door or anything from the promoter saying that masks had to be worn. After I was done setting up, I went next door to East of Chicago Pizza for dinner. I put my mask on and entered the restaurant, and then noticed that the waitress and I were the only two people in the whole place wearing masks. No masks covering the faces of the people making the pizza, no masks on any of the people sitting inside eating dinner ( I got the last empty table in the place). Life in Amishville (aka Shipshewana) certainly appears to be back to normal.

Be careful, Sharkman. Apparently new covid cases are at an all time high in parts of the upper MidWest. Protect yourself out there.

+1 Scott!

Don't worry, Scott. I wear a mask whenever I'm around people I don't know, which is everywhere here in Indiana. Besides, it's hard to sell masks if I'm not wearing one.

As of November 1, 2020

US Population 331,653,357

144,260,723 Tested
9,414,641 Tested Positive
134,846,082 Tested Negative
6,066,893 Recovered
236,154 Deaths

Stay Safe!

We're seeing a slow uptick in the D.C. area, not as bad as parts of the Mid-West, but still, a worrying trend. With cold weather, and Flu season coming in, my plan is to be home as much as possible, when I'm not working outdoors. If I run out of work, or if cold weather shuts me down, I may start selling off my Music gear, rather than take a job dealing with the public.

My wife hasn't had any catering work since February, and we turned down the one call we got a while back, because there was no way where we felt safe taking on the job. Other than family gatherings, dining out has proven to be a major factor in spreading the virus. I think one in four new cases locally report having gone out to dinner not long before testing positive. That may not sound conclusive, but if one in four people who went to a local beach got bitten by sharks, I sure wouldn't go in the water.

This thread has not aged well...

https://covidusa.net

Updated CDC stats as of December 1, 2020

US Population 331,817,450

196,205,130 Tested
14,108,490 Tested Positive
182,096,640 Tested Negative
8,333,018 Recovered
276,976 Deaths

Stay Safe!

Thanks Larryz, you do the same.

I'm just guesstimating at this point but I'm thinking we won't be to the point of having our second vaccination any earlier than next September or October.
That won't end this but it will tamp it down hugely.

In the meantime, this winter has the potential to be very disheartening indeed.

Staying Safe is the name of the game!!!

Thanks Kuru, My son is a fireman 1st responder and half his crew tested positive. He had to take the test but could not get the results until after Thanksgiving. So he and his family cancelled coming to our house to avoid contact with us and cancelled going to his in-laws as well. I know he made the right decision. We were all relieved when his test came back negative and we hope everyone can all stay safe too. I'm looking forward to the vaccines being released and pray they will make a huge difference and we can slowly return to normal...

The stat says that nearly 200 million have been tested, or nearly 2/3rds the population. I wonder if they've done the correlation to track how many of the total number of tests are for unique individuals vs repeat tests on the same people. I've been tested 4 times now, & if multiple tests are considered as the number of people tested the numbers will be way off. I suspect what they're saying is that 200 million tests have been administered.
Meanwhile, thanks to people not wearing masks or distancing, every time I think it might be safe to relax & re-enter the world at large, we have another big surge of cases. In LA County it is now worse than at any previous time since March. So, still hunkered down, still basically unemployed.

Good thoughts Scott!

I know friends who have been tested many times. My Lummi family have their own tribal health care system and can walk in and be tested free. Since they don't want to spread the virus, they are careful AND they get tested often.
If it were that easy I would probably do the same. I am always careful, it is not a good time to let our guard down.

There are also an unknown number of people who have had Covid more than once. Some have had mild cases and then the second time more severe.

There are many untested carriers. Certainly there is a number for the deceased who had severe and/or life threatening conditions when they got the virus but we will never know what that number actually is, nor should it matter

None of this invalidates the fact that the virus is highly contagious, easily spread, sometimes fatal and often leaves the "recovered' with long-term afflictions. I m cautious and will continue to be. I don't know when it will be safe to be careless again but I will not be an "early adapter".

Somehow, I was offered a job in October and with the latest mandates up here, they set me up to work remotely, from home. I drop in at the office about 3 times a week, take my temperature, sign in, check in, do a thing or two and go home to work. I am truly grateful for that, things were getting pretty thin on the ground around here.

I don't know what normal is anymore. Our unemployment rate for Oct was 14.3, the national rate 6.9. I have zero idea what I'm going to do. The good thing is our expense are low and Michaels farher owns a plumbing shop, so he has a job. Not what he wanted to, but I guess it was his destiny.

I'm fortunate to have a little income from pension, Social Security, & life insurance payments, and my house is paid off. Otherwise I'd be out on the street with the thousands of others in LA who are living under freeway overpasses now. The tent encampments are all over the city now & much like in third world nations, there is not really an adequately functioning safety net for those who, through no fault of their own, have been removed from the economy by Covid 19.

Things have been rather normal for us here in the lovely Sonoran Desert. We do wear masks when we go food shopping. Other than the masks, there are closures in our community because there have been a few cases and several deaths inside our community from Covid. So as a matter of caution our board members closed all the club rooms and the Fitness Center (Gym) which is the only facility I do use. (My gym buddy called me up and told me that the Fitness Room was now open. It was locked when I went by there this morning).

There's nothing like "normal" here around D.C.. Rates are rising in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and I expect we'll see a sharp spike very soon, because of all the folks who had to go home for Thanksgiving.

I don't have the link, offhand, but there was a perfectly horrifying graph the other day, showing cell phone data from a number of American college and universities. Basically, there was graph showing large concentration of active cell phones around State College, Pennsylvania, right before Thanksgiving, and presumably, most of them were students. The next graph showed how those same cell phones were distributed throughout the continental U.S., over the Thanksgiving break. The illustration was repeated, using several other schools as examples. If you want to see how a pandemic spreads, this is a digital data map of its progress.

GFL, everyone . . .

Well, just when I had started thinking I could have a very few small groups coming back into my studio . . . For the second time in two days a Covid related cancellation. Yesterday a composer emailed to call off a string trio recording because she has come down with the virus herself. Today a guitar & drum duo emailed to say that with the newest stay at home orders & infections at an all time high in Los Angeles, we better push next week's session into January. Yup, it's real. I'm looking at making about 1/3rd my normal income this year.

Stupid self-centered assholes have been doing stupid selfish irresponsible things in droves, causing greater spikes and spreading.

Today I bury my Mother, who suffered and died from Covid-19.

You who think your rights are being impinged upon- and this is not about rights, it's about responsibilities- you who claim to suffer, demanding haircuts and mall-shopping and crowded bars and parties and rallies-

F U C K YOU.

Caevan, I am sorry for your loss and for the losses others have suffered due to the selfish and irrational behavior of imbeciles. I often wonder - do they think speed limit signs are for other people?
Do they refuse to learn how to drive, get a driver's license and insurance for their car because it impinges on their precious right to endanger others?
Your final summation is apt. Take care, be safe, Kuru

So sorry Caevan. Much sympathy & a big hug. Yes, all true, about rights vs responsibilities, self regard, etc. There's a Native American adage that goes something like: "The White man talks about his rights in the world, the Native man talks about his responsibilities to the world."

Caevan, Our sincere condolences to you and to all your friends and family for the loss of your mom...

Sorry.

Indeed, deepest condolences Caevan on the passing of your mother. I'm very sorry to hear the news. Prayers going out to you and your family.

RIP Caev's Mom. We are sad to hear that she passed.