Coronapocalypse Traffic

"fintail" (fintail) 03/20/2020 at 20:27 • Filed to: None

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I live in a traffic hellhole, with all arterials usually grinding to a halt during the couple hour rush hour period. As we all know, these aren’t usual times, and traffic is a bit lighter. My area isn’t in “lockdown” yet, but traffic is almost eerie at times. I went for a walk just before 5, and snapped a few pics:

Southbound 405 is often backed up for a mile past this point at this time of the day . A little more open today:

ranwhenparked > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:36

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Around me, the roads are still jammed and stay that way all day. No idea where people are going, probably buying more toilet paper and chicken. My state has more chickens than it does people, and somehow we’re now in a chicken shortage because that’s the latest thing people think they need a two year supply of. And my county only has 5 symptomatic cases so far, none hospitalized. Can’t imagine what its going to be like when the first person here  actually dies.

Goggles Pizzano > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:36

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Mean while on Kits Beach.

Spaceball-Two > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:36

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At 3:30 people were leaving downtown Seattle like it was on fire. I saw traffic laws being broken left and right. 

fintail > Goggles Pizzano 03/20/2020 at 20:39

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I suspect parks are like that here too, and nobody keeping a distance.

fintail > Spaceball-Two 03/20/2020 at 20:41

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T here’s construction down the street from where I live, and the tradebros are still driving semis, box trucks, and lifted overcompensators in the usual shitty fashion.    Seemed to be a lot more of that out today, which makes me think they are trying to get things to a certain point before real lockdown.

fintail > ranwhenparked 03/20/2020 at 20:43

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I live in a neighborhood that is mostly office buildings, where far more work than live, so when everyone is WFH, traffic fizzles. I am not complaining about the traffic. .

I live maybe 6 miles south of the original hot zone here where over 30 died - I am surprised there’s not more of a mass freak out. But who knows what’s in the fu ture. I am sure the big box stores here are jammed - I saw maybe 150 lined up at Costco on M onday.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:44

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I live on a busy residential road. I don't think three cars have driven past in the last hour.

Goggles Pizzano > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:45

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Y esterday I saw many not respecting space. Much fear too . Today was better.

wafflesnfalafel > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:48

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405 traffic is the ONE thing I don’t miss in all of this

fintail > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:51

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Hopefully there’s no explosion of cases there.  I am somewhat shocked there hasn’t been, and the clock is ticking.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail 03/20/2020 at 20:54

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That’s exactly what’s happening. My phone has been blowing up the past two weeks, when in reality it’s not *that* busy , it's everyone trying to get things done much, much sooner . My customers need everything now now now!

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/20/2020 at 20:58

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Ugh. And I am sure entitled overmonied dorks of the Seattle metro area are reasonable when you tell them to get in line.

I love seeing poorly maintained overloaded dump trucks and tweaked out 4x4s speeding down my street at 15 over.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail 03/20/2020 at 21:04

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[finger tent of d oom ] When this is all over, I’ll be sure to share my interactions with a certain popular local chain owner...

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/20/2020 at 21:06

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Put em on blast.  More than a few of these shits deserve it.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 03/20/2020 at 21:13

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Sounds like my work right now. Drywall is our bread & butter, out biggest customer do drywall (spend $12 million + per year) 1 of our big 3 customers just shut down. Their concern is drywall manufactures are gonna shut down, so they are buying it by the truck load.

arl > fintail 03/20/2020 at 21:24

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I had to go run an errand thi s morning and I was surprised by two things

1. The number of people still out on the roads

2. T he anxiety and stress in people’s driving behavior.

People were running lights, speeding, driving aggressively , and basically being high- anxiety in their cars. Sigh. Stay safe people. 

AestheticsInMotion > fintail 03/20/2020 at 21:37

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It is a bit strange. Driving through the Highlands, if you didn't know the usual traffic patterns you'd never know there was a pandemic. Same in Kirkland really. 

fintail > AestheticsInMotion 03/20/2020 at 21:46

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It shows how many more work than live in downtown Bellevue - mostly single occupancy commuters here, so when they are WFH, traffic evaporates.

DipodomysDeserti > fintail 03/20/2020 at 22:05

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Downtown Phoenix is empty, which would be normal when I was a kid, but now there’s a few college campuses down here and it looks more like LA than Phoenix. Waiting on some food from my favorite local chef who is closing his doors tonight. Only people out are walking their dogs and everyone is keeping their distance. Traffic here is never that bad, but there has been no rush hour at all this week.

We’re fucked.

fintail > DipodomysDeserti 03/20/2020 at 22:32

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Yeah the restaurant industry here has been hit hard. Some have tried to transition to take out/delivery, but it is rough. I feel for that part of the economy.

I think in the near term anyway things might get pretty dramatic.  I’d say 50/50 odds of lockdown here by the end of next week, especially if cases/deaths spike.

DipodomysDeserti > fintail 03/20/2020 at 22:53

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They were forced to transition here, but you can’t pay your wait staff that way. The small shops have been closing down so their people can apply for unemployment. We’ve had a huge restaurant boom here led by local chefs that have helped revitalize areas. So fucked up that this is happening.

fintail > DipodomysDeserti 03/20/2020 at 23:01

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Same here, those who didn’t transition aren’t open, as indoor dining is effectively banned.

Seattle has a huge upstart restaurant scene, and where rents are high, they can’t weather this. The state has been proactive in encouraging people to apply for UI, but even that only goes so far.

And then the crisis if predictions come true. My cousin is a nurse, and she thinks that if it is half as bad as predicted, it’ll be a disaster due to simple lack of capacity.

DipodomysDeserti > fintail 03/20/2020 at 23:18

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My sister is a nurse and a doctoral student. She doesn’t seem too concerned yet. Her biggest concern is people flooding to hospitals that would otherwise heal fine at home on account of everyone being panicked and stressed.

fintail > DipodomysDeserti 03/20/2020 at 23:25

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That’s part of it. Everyone goes to hospital, and my area has one of the worst outbreaks, so hospitals here will be overwhelmed.

I am just as concerned about shortish term economic impacts.  There’s going to need to be a lot of government aid/intervention to prevent catastrophe for millions.

someassemblyrequired > fintail 03/20/2020 at 23:33

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I used to drive through there several times a week. You sure that’s not 3am on a Tuesday?

DipodomysDeserti > fintail 03/20/2020 at 23:42

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The disease will mostly kill old and sick people who aren’t participating in the economy. The people losing their jobs without any back up make up the backbone of our economy. Wall street is a fucking dream land and someone still influences our daily lives despite being a sham.

This whole scene is just revealing what an unstable house of cards we live in.

I’m not even drinking yet, just been sitting here with my dog watching people scramble to make food despite knowing theu’re out of a job tomorrow.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 10:45

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I finally have a moniker/descriptor I can use: fluffers and turdpolishers . Thank you, Charlie Sykes .

Also, Sebastian Gorka says Donald Trump is manly .

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/27/2020 at 13:48

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Funny, in history, dictators love to surround themselves with fluffers and turd polishers. A certain someone also seems to relish the idea of being a dictator, himself . To paraphrase, history doesn’t repeat, but it can rhyme.

A not exactly fit 70-something pathological liar and narcissist with a bizarre fake tan and even more bizarre fake hair who’d have nothing if not gifted a fortune from daddy , yeah, that’s a real alpha male there.

Gorka is just as manly, a real masculine man who works hard and represents honesty and integrity , salt of the earth, healthy body and mind.   I mean, just look at him.  

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 14:16

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The Charlie Sykes column I linked also has an interesting discussion about fascism. And dumbing down. And eschewing meaningful discussion or exchange of ideas. That last, there’s a flavor of it that I’ve come to recognize. I’d call it polite fascism, where they say, “Rusty, it’s okay if we disagree.” I say, “Wait: I asked you a question . That’s not an answer, it’s a statement.” How people can find solace in that space is beyond me. It’s like an entire class of people sheltering in place intellectually.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/27/2020 at 14:32

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I think some people, maybe even a relatively significant amount of people, actually want fascism. They might not see it as fascism, but that doesn’t change it. It’s not just those who want to lick the boots of their sedentary strongman, either, although it does seem to be mostly that demographic. They often screech about “the constitution”, but couldn’t actually discuss it other than knowing a certain amendment or two.  This pandemic is only creating more division and given the intellectually lazy/cowardly more room to continue their ways.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 14:54

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There’s an Old Guy I correspond with who lives outside of Nashville. He’s close to 80. Parents who survived — and thrived — during the Depression, military veteran, got sick of liberal California politics and moved away. He’s active in a Vietnam veterans’ motorcycle group and he’s an accomplished marksman and performer of feats of sharpshooting. And writes a column for a gun periodical. Accomplished guy. And he built engines for NASCAR and ran a vocational education program for high schoolers. I correspond with him about anything I have a question about a car or a gun and he always has good info. And in an email yesterday, he referred to the “coronavirus hoax” and how many other stunts will there be between now and November to try and cost Trump the presidency? Are we destined for Civil War 2.0? For my part, I do not allow him to draw me into any of that talk. He baits me once or twice, I refuse the bait, and then we talk carburetors or whatever. Though yesterday, I pulled out turd polisher  indirectly and none of his slogans would fit into his response...

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/27/2020 at 15:08

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Sounds like another example of the greatest generation raising the worst generation. There’s a deafening lack of self-awareness among many of the late silents and earlier boomers who were coddled by their parents and gifted more than they realize. They leave FOX News blaring on TV 24/7, and eventually start believing it. He probably bitches and moans about younger people too, not realizing he had it a lot easier than they have had it in the past 25 years, in terms of socio-economics anyway. I wonder how he’d fare if exposed to the virus. He’d probably say he’d sacrifice himself to save the economy, but if push came to shove, he’d be nowhere to be seen. They will use infinite mental gymnastics to keep to their original view. These guys don’t admit error.

Funny, I have an uncle in his 70s, ex-Marine, a real veteran with multiple combat tours in Vietnam, came home to be a quiet unassuming family man, and he’s actually one of the more liberal/progressive people I know. It’s reassuring to see someone of that demographic rake the current regime over the coals every time 45 opens his mouth.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 16:11

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Honestly, I think “turd polisher” really took this guy aback a wee bit, not that it had any kind of real impact. I mean, I don’t want to try and change anybody’s mind, I just want them to talk to me about where they’re at.

Best generation raising the worst generation. Would you mind breaking that down for me a little bit more? I like the sound of it, but I want to make sure I understand exactly what you are saying.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/27/2020 at 17:00

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Don’t worry, he likely won’t change his mind, and even if he did, he wouldn’t announce it. That group seldom admits any kind of error.   At best they just simmer down, like another uncle of mine who was a loud Trumper in 2016 and who doesn’t say much politically today.

The generation widely credited as being the “greatest” (along with the often smarmy silents) gave us the boomers. The “greatest” may have known real sacrifice, but they didn’t do the most ideal job raising kids.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 19:33

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Smarmy silents?

So my parents would be silents and their parents would have been greatest and no, my grandparents were not great parents and did not raise great parents. I’m born in ‘64, considered the last year of the Boomers, so kind of grey. And given that I’m the eldest, I’d be inclined to consider my two brothers and myself to be Gen X. There you go, dividing us MORE.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/27/2020 at 20:53

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Yeah, the ones after the greatest, before the boomers. Roughly those born during the depression and into early WW2. They seem to take the glory of the greatest, but are as mouthy and entitled as so many boomers. Also very prone to falling for right wing talking points, in my experience anyway. Likely because they came of age before the societal change of the 60s, and are bitter about when things were “great” for them. They also got to buy real estate in many areas when it was still affordable and effectively have winning lottery tickets from it, and now confuse that good luck with hard work.

There’s no hard year definition. Someone born in 1960 can very much be an Xer in terms of experiences and viewpoints . Someone born in 1970 can be much more like a boomer. Attitudes count for a lot. Maybe there is one thing in common, many parents aren’t good parents. Perhaps even most parents aren’t good parents.

My dad was a silent, but leery of any state sponsored propaganda, especially from the right. My mom is an early boomer, something of a hippie back in the day, and pretty reasonable now, but I fear could be led astray if she listened to FOX 12 hours a day for a couple weeks. Her brother is a Trumper who now keeps his mouth shut most of the time, and her mother is an old time Catholic who sees 45 as the 7 deadly sins. My maternal grandpa was an Ike era republican who would I suspect would be quite displeased now, but if he watched a lot of TV, who knows.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/27/2020 at 21:13

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Is there a liberal parallel for bellying up to, say, Rush Limbaugh for two hours straight every day? I can’t think of one. In the religion I subscribe to, there are a couple of times each year where there are a number of hours listening to sermons from a variety of people, but there, too, it’s a variety of people. I have no desire to listen to anyone else for more than about fifteen minutes. Just sheer loutish laziness. Dullards with guns and votes.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 01:37

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I suspect CNN can be pretty bad if one watched it 24/7, but not nearly to the shouty deception owned by FOX. The channel has moved from kind of being a parody to all out state-sponsored media now, which is dangerous - and man do some people lap it up. The liberals don’t have a Rush or similar personality to guide them. Kind of matches well with the supposed left opposition - not a lot of leadership or organization.

Your last bit sounds like most of the state capitol building protests last weekend.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 08:13

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They just stand there and preen  with their AR-15s and their tactical gear.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 08:14

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 My parents watch Rachel maddow. She just sits there and talks. I can't stand it. I'm good for about 5 minutes. She had Elizabeth Warren on as a guest and I wanted to hear from Liz, so I watched. Had to sit through 90% of the show with Rachel monologuing so there could be a few minutes with Liz at the end. No thank you.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 08:30

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CNN: right down there with Fox. I read the Wall Street Journal, TYVM. And skim the NY Times and read Charlie Sykes, Jonah Goldberg, Jonathan Sykes and David French. Those last four are conservatives from the time before the zombies ate the Republicans’ brains. And when Mr. Trump is gone, the Republicans and their pundits will carry on as if none of this has happened.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 12:51

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The ones in Michigan were especially bad, probably because they made the news.  But even here, a bunch of poorly bearded manchildren and Karens squealing about something or other while posing with their guns and flags and no doubt many of them still on a parental dole or with a slack unfireable public sector meal ticket.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 12:52

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The ones in Michigan were especially bad, probably because they made the news.  But even here, a bunch of poorly bearded manchildren and Karens squealing about something or other while posing with their guns and flags and no doubt many of them still on a parental dole or with a slack unfireable public sector meal ticket.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 12:54

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I don’t watch any of it. I’ll catch the local news for stuff that happens here, and for traffic (I prefer NWS or weather.com for weather). I use online news aggregators for other sources, and read opinion pieces as opinion pieces frankly, I try to spot the bias . Hell, Al-Jazeera is probably more balanced than any mainstream US source, but something like a Reuters news feed probably works best - events without a partisan voice trying to give interpretation.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 12:56

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I’m glad my mom just laps up the real estate propaganda of HGTV and doesn’t watch TV news, although I fear she might pick up on a facebook hoax here and there, as is typical for that generation and many others.

I have family members who stream FOX constantly.  They don’t even appear to be TDS sufferers - no racist statements or whine about Obama.  But eventually, funny things come out - when I visited and my recent trip to Europe came up, I was asked about what it was like in a place with “Sharia law” etc.  People don’t form those ideas by themselves.    FOX and Sinclair are dangerous.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 12:58

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What is a "Karen?"

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 13:29

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Meddling entitled busybody middle aged woman:

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/karen/

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 14:27

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Or a union job...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 14:28

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Same, pretty much. And Politico.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 14:31

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My new nextdoor neighbors are Pakistani and devoutly enough Muslim that the wife cannot shake my hand. Great family. The dad is a developer/engineer for a tech company. I was raised on Tom Brokaw. Every night at supper, our family time would be interrupted so that Dad could hear the news.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 14:48

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I won’t bemoan union members as I believe unions provided a clear net positive to developing a living wage working class here.  But it can be a little tiresome for those especially in cradle to grave public sector positions to complain about “takers”, when it’s someone else who will foot the bill for those pensions.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 14:53

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I’m in a techy area too, and live among similar people. Such diversity is why this area is strong.

My dad was also an evening news viewer, and we watched it most nights.  He liked to be aware of global socio-political events.    He’s likely the source of my “be skeptical” mindset, too. Maybe similar to the age demographic of yours. A late silent, came into adulthood during the postwar boom, made a good enough family wage living without needing a degree, realized that there were forces wanting this to end. Here we are.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 14:58

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Unions engender and entrench mediocrity, entitlement, corruption and political power mongering. They stifle motivation and growth and creativity and individual motivation . Did I mention corruption ? They breed the same intellectual laziness and dullardry that you and I have been discussing this entire long thread. Fascism. Dumbing down. All of it. Grift and graft. I will bemoan them plenty because they earn it.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 15:09

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Without the work of private sector labor unions of the past, we’d all likely have 60 hour workweeks, no benefits, and serfdom wages, like those in the bad old days. They may have mostly derailed now, especially in the public sector (ahem, police unions), but they served a purpose and helped build what remains of a prosperous working class.

Unfortunately, our current (as in over the past few decades) corporatist oligocracy encourages plenty of corruption, entitlement, and mediocrity even with a strong anti-union sentiment. Private sector unions could vanish tomorrow and I am not sure anything would improve.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 16:04

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I grant you all that you said, and all of that is good. It’s all the other farkling around that they do that is destroying them. Being unionized turns every job into a dead end job because you’ll make exactly the same as the next guy and if you work harder than he does, you’ll start finding seagull s**t in your lunchbox at lunchtime. If you wanna move up, you gotta leave the union. 

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 18:54

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I think most jobs with significant promotion/career path potential aren’t union jobs anyway. Working and moving up isn’t why people take those jobs . Unions got a bit out of control for sure, but I am not ready to abandon the idea just yet - they might be needed again . What percentage of the workforce is in a union, anyway? It has to be pretty small these days, probably under 10% of those in the private sector. I worry about the expanding socio-economic chasm a lot more than union abuses, even those of untouchable public sector unions who have been creating a have/have not system of retirees.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 04/28/2020 at 19:29

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I have not said they should be abandoned, only what they are . We need to be careful not to accept behaviors from one group and not from another.

fintail > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/28/2020 at 20:34

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Sadly, this whole system is built on allowing some groups to get away with a lot more bullshit than others. This is a shockingly un-egali tarian scheme.

Unions have drawbacks, sure. IMO, a world without them will have more drawbacks. If anything, I often wish they’d come back more for normal working people - Americans in particular have been preached to by the right about evil unions for a couple generations now, while at the same time their own financial well being isn’t improving.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 05/18/2020 at 19:16

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Hey Stranger. I am listening to Marketplace on NPR right now and they’re talking about businesses like Twitter telling employees that they can work at home forever. If so, then any city, like, say, Tulsa, if they have fiber, can recruit people to come and live there. Or Nebraska. This would bluify the country and if it were so, then perhaps what we are witnessing now is the right’s Battle of the Bulge.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/01/2020 at 01:27

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Funny how armchair quarterbacking took just a handful of minutes.

What is this reference?

And yes, it’s a hoax, and a masterful one given how many other countries the American Democrats tricked into playing along with it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/03/2020 at 00:26

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I was tempted to take the recent image of 45 holding up the Bible and photoshopping Qur’an  onto it, but it would be too irreverent.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 06/05/2020 at 21:50

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FHr04zEpwpPpuGH1X1fykLHyVx7TIHo5/view?usp=sharing

Here is an opinion column from today’s Wall Street Journal. Peggy Noonan is not exactly a liberal commentator. I can’t say if she rises to the level of turd polisher, but I never read her columns because she’s too conservative. This one is an interesting read. Can President Trump go too far?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > fintail 07/26/2020 at 09:25

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https://oppositelock.kinja.com/1844509033

Good morning. This is a brief thread I’m having with two other Ops. I am trying to have reasonable dialog with ops who seem to me to lean right. I’d appreciate your feedback on my approach and tone.