PhineasC

Seems like solid crowds up this way too this weekend, despite the less than optimal weather. Everywhere I go it’s a sea of Red Sox and Pats gear and sounds like the “your cousin from Bahhh-stonn” guy.

North Conway is all people from MA.

My DoD customers are starting to mandate people return. One major command just announced 100% mandatory in-person by July 4. Now we are dealing with people who refuse to return for various reasons. So far, it’s a small number. Most folks are glad to be coming back; I think they missed the camaraderie and teamwork environment.

The people still wearing masks and worrying about COVID are the vaccinated. Those who by choice haven’t taken the vaccine have never been worried about COVID (clearly) and are glad to be 100% maskless. A couple of friends and coworkers of mine who were really, really worried about COVID and are naturally very big worriers (one of them has been terrified of Ebola, West Nile, Zika, bird flu, etc for years) are finally starting to come out of their shells. One of them even asked to grab a beer next week. I haven't seen him since February 2020. I think the peer pressure PF was talking about earlier will start to force some of these reluctant souls to rejoin the party. Clearly, it's quickly reverting back to being "kinda weird" to be a masked-up scared shut-in who shuns people. I think by July 4th COVID will seem like a past memory for even most of the diehards.

The sun came out in Randolph and it ended up not being too bad. Temp got up into the mid-50s for a bit and remained dry. 51 now with the fireplace going just to take the chill out of the great room.

I haven't looked at state-level OSHA regs, but at the Federal level, it's very tricky. Mandating that employees get a vaccine or that customers have to prove they have been vaccinated could lead to legal issues if someone gets sick from the vaccine your business mandated they get. They could have grounds for a workers comp claim or more. It's definitely a very challenging question. Of course, you can also run into trouble by NOT mandating vaccines and proof of vaccination if there is a spreader event. No easy answer. Small businesses need to tread very lightly and take a mostly hands-off approach, IMO. Trying to virtue signal and force the issue in either direction could lead to issues. Best to just post the signage clearly and tell people the choice and liability is on them the moment they enter the establishment.

Sorry, I think I misread your post. I can see feeling sorry for workers who have no choice in the matter. I thought you meant you felt bad being maskless while all those other patrons were still masked-up even outside. I wouldn't worry about what those other patrons are doing of their own free will.

There are a few houses up the hill from me around 1850' or so . There was also a house Alex was talking about a few months ago up at about 1900' on Dalton Ridge Rd near Whitefield that we thought would be snowy, but then Will came in and said it was still a total snow pit. LOL

Don't feel bad. Adults are allowed to make their own personal decisions.

Sun came out and temp spiked to 56. Still zero precip.

Viral interference is real. I think the return of other viral infections is actually a really good sign the amount of COVID circulating out there has really dropped.

I recommend that anyone worried about COVID get the vaccine. It’s a no-brainer.

Fear of variants is definitely a thing for some people.

It was weird for about a day after the mask mandate was dropped. Give it time, even the uptight MA people will come around. If they don’t, who cares? Just do your thing. I don’t spend much time worrying about what people think about my fashion choices so I wasn’t thinking about if people would judge my maskless face.

When I see someone still masked up, I assume they are vaccinated. Seems to fit the pattern.

Might just be an uptight SNE thing I guess. Very few masks in NH or MD. Took about a week in MD.

The masks will start to drop fast. Takes about a week. Some areas are going to take longer for various reasons, depending on the kind of people living there, TBH.

Hoteling and open floor plans suck so bad.

Zero precip here. Not even a drop. Feels like Feb/Mar in the precip department. All the good stuff in SNE.

I see a lot of firewood in those pics.

Yeah, it looked like a wind-whipped rain/snow mix. I have learned from experience that sometimes the cams in night vision mode can leave streaks on rain drops and also create a “swirl effect” that makes it look like snow.

41, no precip.

42/32 now.

I have the thermo at 55 and the fireplace going. Wife is bundled up. We get blasted with plenty of heat and humidity all summer down south so she is enjoying this little break, so she says.

So far this May has been way better than last May.