It's six months since I've seen some of my friends, especially those living in the city, people I'd meet once a month or more often after work for drinks and sometimes dinner. Most of them are still in the job market, a few are retired or semi-retired, and they haven't been going out after work, if they've even been coming into the city. Talking on the phone is great, and sometimes it has to serve as a replacement, but really, it is not the same thing.
As we head into the Autumn, and the positive test rate for Covid-19 in NY is hovering at 1% or so, it becomes more likely that we will start to get together, whether for take out or outside dining if possible, or indoors if the restaurant is following guidelines. Since mid-March, I've eaten inside a restaurant once, and that was last Sunday at Mo's Midtown in Hartford, CT, long past their high-traffic morning. When we were there, two tables were occupied and both of those empties by the time our meal arrived, and didn't get refilled.
It's still worrisome, but less so than it was early in the summer when reopening of bars and restaurants in places such as Florida, Texas and Michigan were followed by large jumps in new cases, both in real numbers and as a percentage of tests.
New York stayed vigilant and except for a few isolated outbreaks - after a high school graduation party in Chappaqua, for instance, and this month at SUNY Oneonta after some close contact parties - the pandemic has been largely controlled. This could change, especially with reopening restaurants, even at 1/3 capacity. If people wear their masks and stay apart, it might not happen. And so I've been mulling the possibility.
I will see.
Four years ago, Mitch McConnell would not allow Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court to have his hearing before the Senate. Now, he is eager to start the process in a similar situation, just before the election for President because he is a hypocrite. If he can get the court packed before the election, he won't care so much about the President, though I can't see him bailing on his lord and master.
Personally, I think both Alito and Thomas are on the verge of croaking, so it may not matter that much. But McConnell should remember that he won't have a moral leg to stand on after this, if he finds himself with the situation reversed. Not that Moscow Mitch, the corrupt and hypocritical piece of turd that he is, won't act as if he's on the high moral ground. That's the general attitude of the Repulsive wing of the Republican party.
The photos tonight were taken nine years ago today, walking around midtown Manhattan while I was on my midday break. Times change.
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