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The Republicans in this state are unclenching in face of facts. Cities and town can now set their own rules for wearing masks. Doesn't sound like a big deal but the Republican controlled legislature has blocked all kinds of local laws they didn't like. For instance it's illegal to set off all but the tamest of fireworks in practically any city or town in the state. But the state legislature made it illegal for cities and towns to prohibit *sales* of fireworks. Yes, it's nutsy.
As of Saturday in Tucson you must wear a mask anywhere social distancing often isn't practical (i.e. in stores and malls, on downtown streets, at the university...) I won't have to start wearing a mask to walk the short block up to my mail box, since I can easily distance myself from anybody else who happens to be out at the same time. I've already been doing that for months. People can still walk their dogs, and go for exercise walks without masks in our "wide open" subdivisions, as long as they don't start getting too chummy about it. If you are brave, you can eat inside a restaurant. But some restaurants are going back to take out and delivery only, so their help doesn't get sick.
The biggest effect will be on bars that got totally out of hand with going back to normal on the weekends.
Forest fire: It was really bad on the mountain today with high winds. For the first time I could see flames up on this side of the mountain, and there was smoke coming from most of the hidden canyons. The tourist town at the top of the mountain has evacuated and the place lower down the highway where the forest rangers live is evacuating this evening.
As of Saturday in Tucson you must wear a mask anywhere social distancing often isn't practical (i.e. in stores and malls, on downtown streets, at the university...) I won't have to start wearing a mask to walk the short block up to my mail box, since I can easily distance myself from anybody else who happens to be out at the same time. I've already been doing that for months. People can still walk their dogs, and go for exercise walks without masks in our "wide open" subdivisions, as long as they don't start getting too chummy about it. If you are brave, you can eat inside a restaurant. But some restaurants are going back to take out and delivery only, so their help doesn't get sick.
The biggest effect will be on bars that got totally out of hand with going back to normal on the weekends.
Forest fire: It was really bad on the mountain today with high winds. For the first time I could see flames up on this side of the mountain, and there was smoke coming from most of the hidden canyons. The tourist town at the top of the mountain has evacuated and the place lower down the highway where the forest rangers live is evacuating this evening.
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Yes, not-so-great-minds seem to think alike, also. About three years ago the PA legislature greatly relaxed the laws pertaining to fireworks sales, with the unsurprising result that people who have no business setting off these things (and we're talking real exploding rockets and such here, not sparklers) started firing them off regularly here in town.
The city quickly and sensibly one year in made it illegal to set off said fireworks within 150 feet of any dwelling-- effectively making almost the entire city off limits. But-- as you noted, it's still legal to BUY them.
Now almost every night, various idiots fire them off regularly in the evening, sometimes for over an hour. I suspect they know about the illegal aspect, but they're just "exercising their freedom".
Uhhm, yeah.
One of the things I've wondered as the summer was approaching as to restaurants who want to have inside service is-- air conditioning? Which is forced air circulation within the obviously confined space of the building? As a one-time AC selling/servicing guy, most standard filtration is not going to trap viruses of any kind. Best hope would be that they get trapped on the evaporator (cooling) coil because it's normally very wet from condensation, and end up in the drainage system, but...
Beyond my pay grade at this point, but the basic way these machines work hasn't changed, and I doubt may restaurant owners think of it, AC is simply one of those systems that you take for granted, like the plumbing or electricity.
How close are those fires to you? I think you mentioned once before, but I forget.
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I'm not sure I even mentioned how far I am from the fires. I live miles from the north edge of the city and the city limits are miles south of the foothills. There are houses in the county up into foothills and to the Nation Forest boundary, and some of those were evacuated for a time early on. This fire has mainly been spreading Northeastward away from the city. Basically it would be national news if the fire got anywhere near my house, because more than half the city would be burning. Arizona fires don't cross cleared or developed land as often as they do in Southern California. There, the famous Santa Anna winds blow toward towns. Phoenix doesn't have that kind of wind and here in Tucson, because of the shape of the mountain ranges, the wind almost always is in our favor.
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New York prohibits the sale and setting off of fireworks - but, we also border New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and Pennsylvania - so people can just pop over there, get fireworks and come back. It really has to be nationwide for it to work.
As a result they've been setting the damn things off in my neighborhood every night for the past three weeks - people are complaining on the FB page, and have been told not to call the cops (mainly because everyone hates the cops at the moment) but honestly, who else? I hear them but they aren't that close or that long.
One of the things I've wondered as the summer was approaching as to restaurants who want to have inside service is-- air conditioning? Which is forced air circulation within the obviously confined space of the building? As a one-time AC selling/servicing guy, most standard filtration is not going to trap viruses of any kind. Best hope would be that they get trapped on the evaporator (cooling) coil because it's normally very wet from condensation, and end up in the drainage system, but...
Beyond my pay grade at this point, but the basic way these machines work hasn't changed, and I doubt may restaurant owners think of it, AC is simply one of those systems that you take for granted, like the plumbing or electricity.
New York has actually worried about it. It's why they are only permitting outdoor dining, and outdoor bars. Nothing indoors right now. Also they are telling businesses that they can't have more than 15% of their workforce on a floor at the same time, and all buildings must have 50% or less occupancy. And they have been investigating filteration systems. If you don't have many windows - they are discouraging people returning to the building. It's very complicated. Most companies, including my own crazy agency are recommending everyone work at home for the foreseeable future.
There's another problem - the media has not been doing a stellar job of disseminating the correct information. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, causing confusion.