Good evening folks,

We have had what I can only call a few surreal days around here. Luckily for me I did our usual shopping on Monday before the panic began. Once the NBA announced it was shutting down the panic shopping began. Unfortunately for me on Thursday I discovered we out of a few things like eggs and paper towels. The grocery store was jammed with people running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The paper towels were nearly gone as were the eggs. The unnerving thing was the look of fear in many of their faces. I have never seen anything like that before.

Schools in Pennsylvania are now closed for at least two weeks which means my wife and daughter are home. My son is also home as his college is closed and once, they figure out how to do it he will finish his last undergrad semester online.

We live in one of the now four counties in Pennsylvania under a social distancing measures. This means no social gatherings of more than 250 people, movies theaters, gyms, and non-essential retail stores are recommended to be closed. They are asking everyone to restrict non-essential travel. As I said surreal.

Looks like I retired at the right time. My old office is one of the state offices closed.

I have done some modeling to help relax. I continue weathering some ACF covered hoppers. I hope too have photos posted by Sunday.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Governor closed schools today.  Wake County Schools idiots didn't want to.  Then had a teacher test positive today.  Sad.  School system doesn't care for the health of the kids.

Governor ordered all assemblies of 100 or more canceled.  Had concerts defying his recommendation.  He shut them down with that order.  Profit before people.

Had a note today that the Doubleheaders layout tour (Mar 28) is now cancelled.
And the Brantford/Post Dover tour on April 4.

Yesterday when I went to buy the newspapers, the supermarket that normally has one cashier open had 3 or 4. And the parking lot was almost half full at 8:00.
The low prices for gas are now under $0.80 per litre. (Cdn $)
Most of our snow has disappeared except for some major piles. I think the boggy area in the back yard has sprouted mushrooms -- too wet to go out and examine.

Beware the Ides of March, gang.

20 and clear at he moment but clouds will be arriving later along with temperatures in the mid 40s.

Lots going on out in the world. Catholic churches are waiving the requirement for Sunday mass, the UK is talking about quarantining people over 70 "in the near future", Trump considering restricting travel within the US, and the list goes on.

I had a mellow day yesterday. Had to shovel the sidewalk due to 2+ inches of less than an inch. Had a nice chat with a neighbor while I was outside. Went to the grocery store for some potatoes. The store was calm and quiet. Also repaired a garden hose, filled out my online census form, and added some water to the waterbed.

Nothing major on the agenda for today. May work in the train room for a while.

Gas was down to $1.88.9 yesterday morning.

I have noticed an increase in participation over on the MR forum as people stick closer to home.

All stay safe.

Tom

Good morning folks, kind of an uneasy one though. I would expect more churches to not hold services today, our bishop says to stay home if you're sick (understood), or a risk based on age or chronic aliments, (makes sense). No handshaking, elbow bumps are OK though. He also said that the risks are minimal, I guess just to ease our minds. Our church is in Sun City, I would expect it to be a bit empty today based on age alone.

No more shopping for a while, went to Fry's last night, shelves are bare, restrictions on quantities of staple items. Did get a corned beef, a cabbage and a St. Paddy's Day cake. No potatoes, might have to resort to mashed, kinda hard to boil boxed mashed potatoes though.... . This craziness can't last too long..... I really hope. Friend says that she really still wants to go to Costco, we'll take her, but I don't have much expectations that there'll be much left to buy. Saw an article where eBay cut off a couple that bought out all the Lysol at one Costco and was selling them at $80 a bottle on eBay. They said they've made a $30,000 profit in a few days before eBay cut them off. I wonder if they still allow that seller with those $12 rolls of toilet paper.... Costco should have put quantity restrictions on things like that before things got out of hand.

Don I agree completely. ALL stores should have limited quantities from the start. Now everything is a mess.
My daughter says Cosco shelves are empty, they got the last loaf of bread Friday evening no buns, no rolls, nothing. Jeez they bake bread every day.
Sun with a 31/40 for the day.
Weather is not warm enough here to play outside so for the most part we are nesting.
S.J

Good morning folks,

It is 44 with a high of 52.

Quiet around here today. The next panic will be at the liquor stores today. The Governor ordered all state stores closed on Tuesday in our county and three neighboring counties under the social distancing efforts. Today all liquor stores are open. Tomorrow only a limited number will be open. Grocery stores now sell beer, wine, and other soft liquors so all is not lost.

Going to straighten up the gardens a little and perhaps some spring cleaning.

Finished weathering the ACF covered hoppers and sealed them this morning. Began working an LNE and NYO&W cabooses.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Afternoon all.  60 and sun trying to come out.  Never had rain as guessed.  Been watching Church on TV as all canceled.  Now get things done here as Wifey going to do work at FIL's house.  I'm limiting my getting around for a few days as message over MyChart told me the meds I have been taking on Saturday night was compromising my immune system.  All my County meetings are canceled.  Chatting by text message about Human Services.  Daughter with Child Protective Services said she will be bored.  Most of their calls come from school principals and councilors.  She hopes children will be OK. 


Got yard work and Train Box things to do. 

Have a good one and stay well.

hi all . the stampede is still going on here buying a loaf of bread is getting hard as is milk saw one woman with 12 galloons of milk  looked at expiration date  it read 3/28 , hope she likes sour milk.
other than that not much going on around here there calling for more rain Wednesday.

Good morning, start of a week of wondering. Yes, wondering will the hoarders and profiteers prevail or will the stores and government step in and start limiting quantities of what people can buy. Yeah, there'll still be those that get what they can at one store and then go to as many more as they can to stock up. I just hope that they all wind up with ten-year's supply of toilet paper and fifty-year's worth of hand sanitizer when things turn back around to normal.

All schools in Arizona are closed for two weeks starting today. We stayed home yesterday since we meet two out the the three requirements stated in the Bishop's letter. I doubt that there's anyone in our parish that has the virus, but the whole idea is to avoid contact where lots of people gather, just in case. There's usually a few in church sneezing or coughing on any given Sunday anyway...

Temps in the high 70's, right at normal, but there's a nasty storm heading our way from the NW that's supposed to hit sometime late tomorrow. Let's put it this way: there's a good chance of rain for the next few days and a significant drop in temperatures to go along with it. Possible snow up in the high country as well. That sounds vague, but a lot better than forecasting percent rain chances and actual temperatures.

Greetings, gang.

Cloudy and 32 with the NWS claiming a high of 44 for today. They said the same thing yesterday but it never got out of the 30s. I guess they'll just keeping saying that until it happens.

Went for a walk yesterday afternoon and worked on my 0-6-0. Works fine going forward but after two revolutions in reverse the eccentric arm gets out of position and locks up. Still trying to figure out why.

My sister-in-law called yesterday. Said I should get out more. 5 minutes later she said it was good that I was avoiding people!!!???

All stay safe.

Tom

Hello Blue
Sun and 25 this morning. I think 40 will be it for the day.
Yes the madness is in Mi. too. The governor has closed the casinos, bars and restaurants can only sell carryout food.
So if you plan to travel Mi. expect to be eating a lot of Whoopers or in car dining. The TP thing makes no sense at all and bread is baked every day so jeez.
S,J,

Morning.  51 and cloudy.  Sun will not come out.  Damp but now rain for two days.  Makes outside not desirable.

County things canceled except Co Commissioners.  They are discouraging folks to watch on TV and not attend.  With them and all the staff, over 50 in one room.  All proclamations canceled.  Efforts to coordinate food delivery for free and assisted kids in the county.


Have a good one.

Good afternoon folks,

It is 45 with a supposed high of 49.

Did some yardwork yesterday. Plan to do more today.

Still working on weathering cars. Not happy with the way some came out so I am trying to "correct" them. I added the enclosed detail parts for my newest locomotive acquisition. It is a Stewart F3A (powered) and F3B (unpowered) in NYO&W scheme. I have been after these for years. I also test ran them and they worked perfectly. I will get some photos up later.

I hope everybody has a good day.

A local railway events list from a friend shows that everything to Apr 4 is cancelled (including 2 layout tours) and one event on Apr 25. The Great British Train Show is going to be discussed by the committee -- if the municipality doesn't shut it down first.
Our dentist sent a note that everything except emergency work will be put off. Rats. We just had ours.
The snow is almost gone; tonight's forecast is freezing drizzle or light snow showers.