Coronavirus Alaska versus California

Recently, I travelled to Alaska and had an amazing time. However, prior to visiting I had heard many rumors about how red-state-last-frontier Alaska was dealing with the coronavirus differently than blue-state hyper-sensitive California.

In California people have to wear masks to go into stores, restaurants, or to go on fishing boats. Many Californians still wear masks when walking outside and occasionally will still cross the street rather than walking by some one. Less so now since the mask mandate has been lifted, but it still happens. Los Angeles still has an announcement at the airport that when visiting the city you are subject to a 14-day voluntary quarantine.

In Alaska, I was concerned about the need to get a covid test with negative results before visiting. Fortunately, that rule was changed a few weeks before I arrived and vaccinated travelers did not need to be tested. Not only that, a test was only voluntary now. I am not sure who would take a voluntary test at the airport if they didn't have to, but the testing station was still there. I heard rumors that masks weren't need in freedom-loving Alaska. That was not true. At my hotel, everyone wore a mask. At breakfast the next morning in downtown Anchorage, the hostess handed me a mask as soon I stepped through the door. On the trolley tour and glacier cruise, masks were also required. Although walking down the street, no one wore masks. So in many ways, except for the Alaska testing and Los Angeles quarantine, I saw no difference between California and Alaska covid restrictions. However, I did feel a difference. People in Alaska did not seem as concerned. Restaurants were full and once we boarded the tour or cruise, masks came off to drink water and eat and never really went back on and no one seemed to mind.

It would have been more interesting to compare the two states two months ago when the vaccine was just being rolled out and Los Angeles was still in virtual lockdown.

Someone I spoke to from Eastern Washington said his town (except for the schools) had been operating all year as if there was no such thing as the coronavirus. Restaurants were open, no one wore masks, and no one got sick.

The strictest place I have found regarding masks during my trip was on board airplanes.

However, even on the planes I was surprised by how lenient the crews were with masks. I think it is the whole eating/drinking loophole that creates the gray area. I had brought a burger at the airport that I took on the first plane. I pulled my mask down, hunkered down between seats not to be seen taking a bite, and then pulled up my mask to chew. Fortunately, it was a disposable mask because it soon smelled like hamburger and I had to swap it out when I was done.

However, once the drink and snack cart rolled around, people's masks came down to eat and drink. I no longer had to hid in shame to eat. What a relief! That is not to say that people were not wearing masks. Everyone had them. As we neared the end of one flight, I went to the restroom and saw everyone with a mask up. And before take off, I heard flight attendants asking a couple of people to pull their masks over their nose. No fuss. People did what they were supposed to do and the flights went smoothly.

All in all, while Alaska felt more relaxed regarding measures to prevent coronavirus' spread, visibly and at least on the books, I didn't see much of a difference between the two states.

That is the great thing about travel, you see that we aren't really different after all.

Take care and be safe.

Coronavirus The Heat

Coronavirus you are so mean! 

A heat wave has settled over Southern California for over a week and is forecast to last another two. 98 degrees today in South Pasadena. What do people do when it is hot? They go to the movies, the mall, the museum, eat inside a restaurant, basically go anywhere there is air conditioning. Thanks to the coronavirus all of those options are cancelled.

How about a nice hike? You would have to go really high up to find some relief. Last weekend Lake Arrowhead was 88 degrees at 5,174 feet - still a bit warm.  Big Bear was a little more comfortable at 82 degrees, but they were also having scattered thunderstorms. That would make hiking even more uncomfortable. And again, you can't go inside anywhere to escape the rain or heat.

Being in Southern California, we are blessed with golden beaches and the cool Pacific Ocean. Only issue is millions of other Angelenos would probably be headed that way as well - covid be darned. The temperature at Manhattan Beach last weekend was forecasted to be 86 degrees. So unless you were in the water all day, you will be broiling on the sand. And even if you braved the crowds and sun, once there you would still have to eat your lunch or drink your Starbucks outside.

 

Maybe my teenagers who sleep during the heat of the day and stay up during the cooler evenings night have it right. Night surfing anyone?

 

Note - I did go to Manhattan Beach yesterday despite my fears of crowds and heat. I took my boogie board and had a grand time. The weather was a hazy overcast all morning keeping the temperature in the upper 70s and it was not that crowded. Perhaps Angelenos had the same fears I had and stayed home making traffic a breeze. 

Lots of times one's fears are overblown and once you do something you realize its not so bad. 

Another good thing is theoretically the coronavirus dies in the sun. So if you brave the heat outside, almost everything thing you touch will be sanitized.  

 

Fortunately, in California we have a "dry" heat which means we avoid the humidity of the east coast making life more bearable than many other unfortunate souls. My son remarked yesterday, "Dad, remember how when we stepped out of the airport at JFK and our shirts immediately clung to our bodies." 

"Yes, I do," I said and laughed counting my blessings as we sat on the sand watching the waves.

I will take the California heat anytime - but that coronavirus is really trying my patience.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Posts Tuesday and Saturday

Coronavirus Eating On The Street

Good bye parking, hello dining.

In Manhattan Beach today, I saw how street parking was replaced with outdoor seating. Wooden stands were constructed ten feet into the street, covered with black cloth, and low plastic walls enclosed the dining space.

Between the spaced tables were plastic partitions. Servers wearing masks and face shields served customers. The local ice cream shop had their own street-level outdoor dining area with a pink picket fence separating traffic from their cute white chairs.

Manhattan Beach is serious about the coronavirus and helping its businesses while keeping consumers safe. Driving into Manhattan Beach, a large road construction sign said, "Face masks required, fine $350." I must say 99% of the people on the street and boardwalk wore masks. The exception was the people eating outside. You can't eat with a mask on.  So there is that small risks, something could go wrong.

But, I must say that eating on the patio of a restaurant in Oregon on our recent road trip was a great experience. To sit down and have someone bring us dinner and take care of our dishes for the first time in four months felt odd at first and then energizing.

My mother told me that the Glendale Galleria, an enormous indoor mall, has converted part of its parking structure into an outdoor eating area.

In South Pasadena, Mama's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta put up an enormous white pop-up in it's parking lot, put out a statue of liberty, and laid out tables with red table cloths for to customer's outdoor dining experience.

Fiore Market Cafe also in South Pasadena had a small three-piece instrumental band play on its socially-distanced patio for lunch the other day.

I am glad to see more and more business adapting to the new "normal" and overcoming the challenges to stay in business.

I was speaking to my barber last week whose store placed a pop-up tent in their parking lot and moved three barber chairs outside and we agreed that the worst is past us - the unknown. Now, everyone knows about the virus; it will not wipe out the earth's population; people and business have dealt with and adapted to living in the  coronavirus environment for over 5 months; and life has entered a new state of normal.

It is still scary and I bid you to take care of yourselves and be safe, but determine how you can make the best of your situation rather than waiting for something to happen.

Posts Tuesday and Saturday

Coronavirus Best and Worst of Road Trip

Seattle

A road trip during coronavirus?! It was awesome. Here are the best and worst situations we experienced on our two-week roadtrip from Los Angeles to Olympic National Park. Let me say, that we felt safe at every hotel we stayed in as they all had coronavirus measures in place. 

Stringent coronavirus checks

Most - Hyatt Place in Emeryville - asked us 3 coronavirus questions before they let us check in and gave us a handout on covid measures at hotel

Least - Bars - once you had a beer in your hand masks came off

Covid breakfast (every place except 1, staff handed you your breakfast items)

Best - Seattle - only place on entire trip with hot breakfast - scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage.

Worst - Redding - lots of cold choices, but we were allowed to grab our own food

People wearing masks

Most - Olympic National Park

Least - Stockton and small towns in Washington

Reliable bathroom opportunities

Most - rest areas along interstate 5

Least - California gas stations (many were "out of order")

Park experience

Best - Mt. St. Helens - very few people there due to coronavirus - I saw pictures from last year and observation decks were packed with people.

Mt. St. Helens

Worst - Cape Flattery - it is located on Indian Reservation and the reservation was still in Phase 1. We were turned back after an hour drive by police since we were not locals.

Dining

Best - Pastini - first sit down meal in 4 months! Seating was outside. All servers wearing masks, tables were wiped down between guests.

Worst - Oyster restaurant in small town - owner not wearing mask

Coronavirus precaution Items I brought

Best - hand sanitizer I placed in doors of car

Worst - wipes - never used them. We were very good about hand sanitizer and never saw a necessity for these.

Other coronavirus observations: many elevators had spots on floor where you were supposed to stand for social distancing purposes; one hotel said most were operating at 40% capacity or less; one gas station in WA gave out gloves so you could pump your gas; traffic was great- everywhere - even going into and out of San Francisco at rush hour on a Monday; and everywhere we went most people wore masks similar to what we see in Southern California - most people do, but there is that tiny minority that refuse.  Only in a couple of  businesses we found mask wearing lax and we abruptly left.

Being on the road filled us with a sense of freedom that we had not experienced in the last four months. I am ready for another one.

Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

Coronavirus Education Holiday

Surprising changes to my son's education since the coronavirus hit:

Three-week spring break with no days added to end of the school year

District grading policy: 2nd semester grades will be the same or higher than the 3rd quarter grades

No live classes

Now this last item is just for my son, at least after the first week of his distance learning program. He had to complete worksheets, online quizzes, a test, and watch one video. There were no live or prerecorded lessons from his teachers yet.

Needless to say, my son is very happy.

I have mixed feelings.

I like the fact that due to the light workload he is completing his work on his own in a short amount of time. I like that he feels confident that he can finally keep up with his work. Rather than spending all day at school and hours working on homework every night, he is only spending an hour or two a day on schoolwork. I like that we are not arguing over when he will complete his work.

But, I do not like that a neighboring school district has had a distance program up and running a week before our district.

I do not like that I have heard from families with children in private schools, whether very expensive to relatively inexpensive, that their children have been in full day online classes since the beginning of the crises. I feel that their children are learning so much more than my son.

My biggest fear is that when my son starts school next year, he will be ill-prepared for the rigors of 11th grade after 2 months of light schoolwork and 3 months of summer break. Of course, an almost 5-month educational holiday of relaxation, confidence building, and no homework arguments may turn out to be the best experience for both my son and our family.

This is a new world we have entered, a new educational experiment. I just wish my son wasn't the sample group receiving the less than rigorous education.

Take care and be safe.

Posts: Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Coronavirus When Can We Travel?

"Americans may be able to take summer vacations, Fauci says," according to CNN 4/9/20.

 

This headline brought a smile to my face when I looked at my phone this morning.

 

Apart from being safe at home, one of my big concerns about the coronavirus is if I will have to or even be able to cancel a trip I have booked this summer. And the most important question, "Will it be safe?"

 

The trip is to complete the Camino de Santiago. Unfortunately, that destination is in Spain, one of the most adversely affected coronavirus hotspots in the world.

 

I have been reading Spain news daily everyday to see how the country's coronavirus rates have changed. Today, Fox News said Spain could be seeing the start of a coronavirus decline. That's good news.

 

Especially since, as of today, airlines are only allowing you to cancel or change your flights without a fee for trips that commence before May 31, 2020. 

 

What happens if travel bans are lifted at the end of May? Would you feel safe enough to travel in June?

 

What if you can only cancel with a fee?

 

Perhaps there may be more travel restrictions put in place as Dr. Fauci suggests: taking temperature readings at airports, wearing masks on planes, continued social distancing, and no handshaking.

 

As of today, if travel bans are lifted I am going. I will mind any restrictions and recommendations by government and travel agencies.

 

I feel that you have to maintain your goals for as long as you can. It gives you something to strive for, a sense of purpose during these murky days. To prepare for the Camino de Santiago, I workout daily in my living room thanks to all the free online content - thanks Barry's and Nike Training Club! I also walk daily practicing social distancing and wearing a mask.

 

I hope that Dr. Fauci's hopeful words come to pass and that we can all take vacations this summer safely.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Posts: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

Coronavirus Mother Nature Fights Back

"The Earth is shaking less under coronavirus," said the CBS News headline on April 6, 2020.

"Goats take over town amid coronavirus lockdown," CNN, March 31, 2020.

 

"L.A.'s Air Quality Is Better Than Its Been in Decades," Los Angeles Magazine, April 6, 2020.

Article after article is coming out about how quickly mother nature is healing herself and throwing off human's grip as we are forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus. Now if the coronavirus is some ancient bat disease instead of an escaped bio weapon from a Wuhan lab, mother nature really is giving us a kick in the pants.

Everyday, the people of Los Angeles are reminded of how beautiful our city can be. When we look outside our windows and see the bright blue skies and crisp outlines of the city's landscape rather than blurry shapes in front of the usual dingy sky we remember why we love our great city.

The stay-at-home orders have had almost everyone in Los Angeles travel less, whether for business or pleasure. This means fewer cars on the road. NPR said truck traffic has decreased 21% (maybe those are the toilet paper trucks). And there are fewer planes in the sky. For three days after 9/11 when all commercial flights were grounded in the U.S, the United States warmed 3.6 degrees according to a news report from WTAJ News on 9/11/19.  I wonder how much warmer we will be after months of decreased flights.

As if the coronavirus was not enough, mother nature is employing a second method of enforcing the stay-at-home order in Los Angeles. After a dry February, rain has been falling on Los Angeles throughout March and April. So much rain fell on March 22 that it broke a single day record. And as any Angeleno knows, when it rains in LA we panic and stay home.

 

So embrace what nature has to show us: clean air, wildlife running amok, and especially for Angelenos, a less shakier earth.  Soon enough we will be back in the traffic and smog of the city we call home.

Take care and be safe.

Posts: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

Coronavirus: A Deserted Hollywood?

No Spiderman. No Batman. Not even Jack Sparrow stood on the corner of Hollywood and Highland.

Hollywood Boulevard was practically a ghost town. I say practically because the Goldman was there talking to a homeless man sitting on the curb and a man playing the guitar stood in front of the Chinese Theater.

I drove the length of the famous Boulevard with its theaters, hotels, souvenir stores, and fast food joints in only 5 minutes. Almost every business was shuttered.

Emptiness. I saw no more than a dozen people along the street, not counting the half dozen homeless not in their tents.

I was saddened for the shuttered businesses, but I was happy to see that Angelenos were taking the virus seriously abiding by the stay-at-home orders.

From here I drove up to Lake Hollywood Park to grab a picture of the Hollywood sign for today's blog. I saw cars parked along the road. I saw yellow tape closing off the park. I saw a city electric sign telling people to maintain a safe distance.

I saw four people here: one young woman leaving her car with a dog, a young couple walking to an overlook, and one guy dressed in neoprene pants and long sleeve neoprene shirt and what looked like num-chuks in his hand speed walking up the hill.

I didn't know where the rest of the people from the cars had gone. I took my photo of the sign and as I returned to my car, the woman with the dog asked me - invading my 6 foot personal space, "Is it closed?"

"Is what closed?" I asked leaning way back.

"The hiking trail."

"I have no idea."

She gave me a quizzical look, then proceeded walking up the hill, then disappeared down a trail that I had not seen. Now I knew where the people from the cars had gone.

It turns out Hollywood's attractions weren't completely deserted.

I didn't linger. I got in my car and headed home

Take care everyone - and please remember the 6-foot rule.

Blog posts: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Connecting Socially During Coronavirus

"I will go with you, Dad," said my teenage son.

You know your teenagers have cabin fever when they volunteer to go to the grocery store with you.

Having to work from home, and the kids having to be at home, have really brought us together. There is more cooking together, watching TV together and being forced to talk to each other more.

But what about those who live alone my single friend pointed out. How do we get that person-to-person interaction that we all so desperately need. Humans are social animals after all.

I have been speaking to more family members and friends by phone, text, and on social media since the coronavirus hit.   We even downloaded one of our favorite board games, Ticket To Ride, to play online with family members across the US. I have been taking livestream exercise classes and seminars. Backstage, an actor's job listing website, has been great at live-streaming educational content for actors of all types.

But it those interactions are not the same as in-person interactions.

My friend and another single family member had volunteered to go to work in their offices with skeleton crews rather than work from home to meet their social needs. Last Friday their offices were shut as it was not essential for them to be in the office.

I suddenly understood why "young" people were flooding the beaches and hiking trails and still mingling as the media frowned upon them. Many of these people don't have roommates or family members living with them for in-person social interactions.

A senior called in to NPR today to ask the guest doctor, "If there are three seniors who are friends and each has been isolated from other people for 14 days and showed no signs of being sick, can we get together and socialize?"

He said it is up to each of you to balance the risk and reward of that interaction.

Not an easy decision. I am sure it was not the answer she was hoping for.

With these thoughts in mind, I had a long conversation my mother about how I could bring her groceries and visit with her. She had self-isolated herself since the 11th because her age put her in the high risk category of a complication if she caught the coronavirus. We laid out a plan to minimize our contact.

My son and I left her groceries on the doorstep and then retreated to her driveway. We then proceeded to have a great conversation with my mother staying 10 feet away from each other. The other day we saw a circle of 5 neighbors all strategically placed at least 6 feet apart, with one couple talking to them from the other side of the street.

We are living in very interesting and trying times.

There are many ways to connect socially. We now have to be more creative and thoughtful about those interactions and remember that everyone's social situation is different.

How do you connect?

Take care and be safe.

Tacos With Toilet Paper

Buca Di Beppo

"Every order comes with a free roll of toilet paper," said the email from Los Gringos Locos mexican restaurant.

"Meals sealed for safety," said the email from Buca di Beppo.

"...grab your favrorite sauce, some penne, and a bottle of wine to relax tonight!" said Charlie's Trio on their Instagram page.

Thank goodness for technology and social media.

Can you imagine if the coronavirus hit prior to the year 2000? Before social media and online marketing were thing? Before Uber, Postmates, and Doordash?

How would these restaurants advertise they were still open - especially the independents?  Flyers? Buying radio and tv air time? Or relying on people blindly phoning numbers in the good old Yellow Pages to see if they were open?

Unknown Author is licensed under
CC BY-NC_ND

I think that all three social media messages were effective. The first one focused on levity, the second on safety, and the third on tranquility. I've purchased from two of these establishments based on the messages and I'm sure I will purchase from the third before the week is out.

I've been very concerned about how restaurants would survive under the stay-at-home restrictions. I have always heard that restaurant margins are thin. How are they paying rent with no dine-in customers? I read on Eater that restaurants are hoping for government assistance to help with rent and other costs*,  but  I imagine there will be fewer restaurants, especially independents, once the coronavirus blows over. And if the government institutes a full lockdown like in China and Italy? What then?

Unless that doomsday scenario happens, I am impressed by how effective restaurants are in using technology to advertise to their customers and to continue to remain open.

losgringoslocos.com

As we all scout for food for our tables, don't forget take out and delivery, not just to vary your diet and

avoid doing dishes, but to support your local restaurants so they are around once the stay-at-home orders are lifted.

Besides, who doesn't need a free roll of toilet paper nowadays.

Take care and be safe.

Posting schedule: Monday, Thursday, Saturday

  

*https://www.eater.com/2020/3/19/21185918/how-can-goverment-assistance-help-restaurants-actually-need-in-the-form-of-relief

Staying Active During Coronavirus

Gym closed!

How are people going to stay healthy?

www.everybodylosangeles.com

The gym closure was huge for me. My goal this year was to decrease my waist size by 2 inches: 36 to 34. It may not seem like much, but it had been at least a decade since I was that slim. Also, cosmetic and health benefits aside, many roles for male background actors often wanted men with a 34-inch waist or smaller.

Over the course of the last two and half months of regular gym workouts and watching my caloric intake, I dropped 15 pounds and at my last fitting measured 35 inches.

El Molino Viejo, San Marino

But now the gyms are closed now. What to do?

Here are the three things I have done to keep the body moving:

First, I walk at least one hour every day. As the Los Angeles mayor said, the new stay-at-home rules still allow you to go outside on walks and take hikes. My wife and I have discovered new stores, interesting homes, and historical points of interests throughout our neighborhood.

Gymenist, photo Amazon.com

Second, I created a mini home gym for $100. I already had a yoga mat, but needed a workout bench and weights. In my case, I needed lightweights due to a repetitive stress disorder in my hands. I found this colorful set on Amazon ($28) from BalanceFrom. Also living in an apartment, I needed a workout bench that I could fold up and move out of the way when I was done. I ordered the Gymenist on Amazon ($90). I find the construction to be sturdy and the cushions comfortable.

Finally, I learned that my YMCA was conducting live-streaming, instructor-led classes through Facebook. When I told my mother, she said the Silver Sneakers Program for seniors was doing the same thing. Looking on YouTube, I found a slew of exercise videos. My wife and I pushed our couch back, laid out our yoga mats, logged onto Facebook and followed our favorite instructor through a sweat-inspiring workout.

I hope that my experiences provide you with some ideas on how to stay active and healthy during this coronavirus period. My new goal is to reach a 34-inch waist by the time production starts in the next few weeks or heaven forbid, months.

If you have any additional tips on staying healthy please comment.

Take care and be safe.

Posting schedule: Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Coronavirus Invades Los Angeles

"Production is shut down due to Corona Virus!" said the assistant director. "Everyone head back to base camp to sign out and then go home."

That was my last day of work as a background actor before Hollywood shutdown on March 13.

March 12 was the last time I saw my mom; the last time I ate out.

March 13 my son's school notified me they would be closed for 3 weeks.

March 14 my gym closed.

March 15 my jobs on the 16, 17, and 18 were cancelled.

My 401k collapsed.

That was the bad news.

The good:

• not having to fight with my son over homework
• taking walks with my wife daily through our empty neighborhood streets
• having something to discuss with my teenagers that they are actually interested in
• I finally have enough emergency supplies for the next big earthquake
• amazing signs of community
• learning to adapt to a new reality

I will post every two days what interesting (and hopefully uplifting) things I have heard or seen regarding the new reality of Covid-19, and how it affects me, my family, and my fellow background actors, and how I and/or we have adapted.

I hope that you find it interesting and look forward to your comments and questions.

Take care everyone.