How is everyone doing?

[v8vega]

Things have changed, I'm afraid all you can eat self service buffets and salad bars are done for for a long time. My favorite restaurant by far Soup Plantation also Sweet Tomatoes in other areas has gone belly up. The one I went to had to be a money making machine but I' have read that they were having financial trouble.
I read a article in the LA Times that buffets will come back eventually but probably modified.

[E7]

Robert, You've uncovered the flaw in most vacation type trips. You rush around and drive on some rat race like I-95 in a big hurry to get to your destination because you only have so much time off. So much nicer when you can take your time and don't have to zoom down the interstate fighting trucks and traffic, and nut case drivers.

[E7]

I read a article in the LA Times that buffets will come back eventually but probably modified.

Hardly a great feat of fortune telling, that! Things are never going back exactly like they were.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I wonder what will.

[robert.]

Wegman’s will close 12 eat in pubs: many of their grocery stores through out Ny NJ,PA, and VA had restaurants. In the next 3 month They will changeover to burgers to go. Their by the pound buffets are finished also.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I wonder what will.

I think we are a long ways off from finding out since the end is not coming soon nor even in sight now. All this re-opening has only done exactly what was predicted. The cost and loss will be significant.

On a happier note, my son is moving from 2 hours south of us to 30 min north with his new job. He's been working from home for a few months but the phased reopening for his work is scheduled to have him in the office in 2 weeks. We might see him more often which will make SWMBO'd happy.

[Chris Webster]

He cut the fiber optic feed that's only 18" down with his bobcat. No pool for you!

Pool fund going to pay for repairing the fiber optic line?

[Chris Webster]

Is school actually open???

Not yet...teachers are supposed to report back August 3 and first day of classes is supposed to be August 10.

The latest is that the Superintendent wants to push opening back until August 24, then the first nine weeks of school would be virtual -- that's ok with me given how bad the disease is spreading in the southeast.

[chuck]

Pool fund going to pay for repairing the fiber optic line?

That and other things. He broke so many rules he had a lot of splaining to do. I seriously doubt he contacted the township for a permit as they would have informed him of the need to contact Miss Dig. When I worked for a year in the soils division at the Corps of Engineers we would always contact Miss Dig whenever we planed to take soil samples. It's free! Why would you not contact them?

We found out about the break when I contacted AT&T to see what happened to our telecom/cable service. They didn't say who but I was able to "find" the repair trucks and the rest was pretty self evident. It only took about 36- 48 hours to restore service. I remember the old days when a fiber break could take 5+ days to repair. Isolating the individual pairs and hand polishing the ends and then the actual splicing. They basically camped out with tents and took shifts to fix the stuff.

[Chris Webster]

When I worked for a year in the soils division at the Corps of Engineers we would always contact Miss Dig whenever we planed to take soil samples. It's free! Why would you not contact them?

A few years ago, I decided to surprise my better half by having the fence replaced while she was at work. The fence contractor was making really good time until they hit a gas line that was just a few inches away from the house. Thankfully, the crew quickly shoveled dirt into the hole -- the firemen said that probably saved the house.

I had called the 811 people and they had marked the line from the street to the gas meter on the side of the house. Unfortunately, the gas line actually continued past the meter and under the fence, where it turned back to the meter - the 811 people didn't mark that part.

[chuck]

They got lazy and assumed the line went right into the meter.

When I did summer heavy construction work with my dad the blue peints were often wrong, sometimes 10' + wrong and there is so much sh*t burried under NYC streets the sensors are often wrong. Our back hoe opperator tore into a couple of gas mains. These weren't service drops, they were 4" neighborhood feeds. A woosh and then a sustained roar. Shut down the machine and we would scatter to start getting people clear.

One time an idiot ran the first blockade and was heading for the break with his big caddy sparking from the front grill. I got him to pull over and shut down the car but the battery was still shorting out. Had to check three houses to find a garden hose to spray down the front of the car. It was a swanky neighborhood and most homes had sprinkler systems. We were lucky, none of the gas lines caught fire.

[robert.]

My mother's neighborhood just received all new gas lines. For the line running to the house. They used na underground marker. After the spread a foot of dirt over the line. They place a vinyl/tinfoil on top. Then 2 more feet of dirt. If anyone digs in her yard and they are over the gas line. They'll hit that pvc foil marker . It gives a little notice of " hay idiot you are about a foot away from a gas line"..

[chuck]

Probably plastic gas line? Aluminum foil also provides a target for the underground sensors.

We were looking for fine sand when digging in an area with a known gas line. The trouble was the "known" line wasn't always where is was supposed to be. Between lazy inspectors and blown reference points it was often hard to figure out where stuff was located. e.g. Valve is supposed to be two feet off of the curb. Which curb. The one that was there 20 years ago when the valve was installed or the newer curb installed 15 years ago?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Things are never going back exactly like they were.

That would be a positive viewpoint.

Listened to the reports that people are getting this a 2nd time - not immune having it once before. Calls into question if a vaccine or multiple vaccines will matter at all. We could be living with this for a very long time.....

[healey36]

Maybe it'll be like the Andromeda strain and mutate into a form that attacks rubber gaskets.