I think The Wheel would be a good name for a bar.
Some other states have made similar concessions.
Now, maybe the fact that allowing outdoor consumption hasn’t caused the world to collapse might lead the regulators to realize that they don’t need to act like such nannies when it comes to rules about serving alcohol. Maybe we can relax the rules permanently!
I tried a place last night (takeout) that I’d walked by a lot even before Covid, but never been inside. Their fries were amazing. They are now the place I will go to for fries, even once things open back up (assuming they stay in business).
It’s so weird how bad most takeout fries are.
It’s going to be quite a long while before I’ll feel like it’s worth it to be inside of a restaurant.
I think he had the virus. Loss of your sense of taste is a common symptom.
They could. This from the Highway Code:
If the police saw you drinking a soda while you were driving, they’d fine you?
[/quote]
They could. This is from the Highway Code
Rule 148
Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as
- loud music (this may mask other sounds)
- trying to read maps
- starting or adjusting any music or radio
- arguing with your passengers or other road users
- eating and drinking
- smoking
(Damn - how do you do a quote now?)
OK, this is guidance based on statute rather than statute itself, but “Driving without due care and attention” has plenty enough wiggle room to allow them to nick you if they argue that drinking (or for that matter, messing with a radio) made you drive badly…
j
In England pubs are expected to re-open on 4th July. However, whether you would want to go is another matter. In addition to the concerns a number of others have raised upthread, there’s a particular issue that bothers me.
The opening up of the economy following the COVID-19 outbreak is being supported by NHS Test and Trace. You should assist this service by keeping a temporary record of your customers and visitors for 21 days, in a way that is manageable for your business, and assist NHS Test and Trace with requests for that data if needed. This could help contain clusters or outbreaks.
In other words, if I go to a pub I have to register my details. No matter that I might act as safely as possible, if someone else who was at the pub gets sick with COVID within (I presume) 21 days, I can be required to self-isolate for 14 days - effectively house arrest.
Risk that for a couple of pints? I don’t think so.
j
ETA - figured the quote thing out!
Same with working from home. I have fought for this for years, and do it well. I got up this morning at 5am on a Sunday to do some server work so I wouldn’t interfere with users. It’s great. TPTB are realizing that we may actually be getting more done by able to adjust our hours to ‘whenever it makes sense for me and everyone else’.
Sure, my connection is slower (latency sucks), but I’m saving an hour and a half a day by not having to go to The Office. My office is now in the loft above my bedroom. Looks like this may be SOP from now on. Or at least I hope I can choose when to go into work.
And oddly, I’m getting to know some of my co-workers better through Slack IM.
Do you mean quoting off-board stuff like the Highway Code you quoted? To make this work, you need to ensure that the starting and ending quote tags are each on a line by themselves.
So, this is correct, and will display as a proper quote:
[quote]
Rule 148
Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as
* loud music (this may mask other sounds)
* trying to read maps
* starting or adjusting any music or radio
* arguing with your passengers or other road users
* eating and drinking
* smoking
[/quote]
But this won’t work, even though it would have worked fine on vBulletin:
[quote]Rule 148
Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as
* loud music (this may mask other sounds)
* trying to read maps
* starting or adjusting any music or radio
* arguing with your passengers or other road users
* eating and drinking
* smoking[/quote]
Edit: Well, I just noticed that you figured it out, but I’ll leave it here anyway.
Well, I had partly figured it out. I think I had read the bit about quote tags having to be on a separate line, but I had forgotten it - so thanks for the reminder! 
(My first emoji)
j
Astoria, New York City checking in here. The NYC decision to permit take-away alcohol in plastic cups accomplished exactly one thing: Our sidewalks are now populated by drunk 23 year olds at 2:28pm on a Tuesday. Or at 3:45pm on a Thursday. It’s New Orleans out there. Gee. Thanks. Glad the bars are making some money. Bummed it has created a completely out-of-control environment. I want to live in the French Quarter or on The Strip in Las Vegas, I’ll damned well move there and get what I deserve in terms of quality of life.
Nobody wears masks when drinking because you can’t drink through your mask, and real tough people don’t wear masks anyway… so, a whole lotta Chin Hammocks® on display. COVID-19? What COVID-19? Much drinking to be done, you older people need to stop harshing our buzzes… Gee. Thanks.
Glad that restaurants have started to open up. It does mean that tons of street parking has been lost and may not return until Summer 2021 if there is a vaccine. Small price to pay for those owners to struggle to keep their businesses afloat. Right on for them.
The unveiled rage present when I am the only one in a mask is a drag. I don’t engage people and I don’t need the NoMaskers’ anger.
Since we’ve both lost our jobs and money is a severe issue, buying food at a restaurant isn’t something that’s happening these days anyway. Nice, for those making a fuckton of money working from home. Enjoy.
October’s coming, New York City. Best be ready to remember March.
Bars are somewhat open where I am, but I drink at home instead. Going to bars is too risky.
Pubs and restaurants now open in England. Usual stories in the press of crowded and rowdy pubs, but actually I think the scare stories haven’t been as manic as I expected.
I went to lunch at a favourite - and small - local restaurant, ate indoors as it was too windy to eat out, but it felt safe. Only half the amount of tables (and only 3 of those occupied), waiter wore a visor and washed hands frequently, The chefs were wearing masks. I took hand sanitiser to use at the table, but they had plenty.
I’ve also just booked my first holiday of the year - have decided to avoid planes and take the car ferry to France, driving my own car and staying in rental homes. Figure that can’t be any worse than staying home.
Not to pick on you – this is the third time I’ve seen this sentiment in various places – but this surprises me. I’m nearly under house arrest anyway. A legal order to stay home with some support in getting me supplies wouldn’t be a terrible trade-off. I’m much more worried about actually catching the virus than I am about being asked to quarantine.
Not feeling picked on at all. 
We were never locked down that hard - throughout I’ve been able to go for walks, work my allotment (community garden in the US, I think), ride my bike. Now we can meet friends (to a limited extent) as well - sounds like you are locked down much harder, and so I have more to lose than you do. All the things that keep me sane. It’s a lot to give up for a couple of drinks.
The big worry, of course, is that some people in pubs will drink enough to start acting like assholes. This is the UK - it’ll start happening sooner or later. Trust me.
I, too, am more worried about catching the virus than having to quarantine. But I’m still worried about the possibility of having to quarantine. Worried enough to make it certain that a pub would not be a pleasure.
j
We have had no legal requirement to stay home – just advisories. There are businesses that have been required to close, but as I can work from home, that hasn’t directly affected me. I’ve been staying home because it seems like a good idea.
I have been going on walks around the neighborhood, and also gardening. My garden is in my back yard, and I could probably do that even with a quarantine order.
I don’t think we’ve ever been legally prohibited from seeing friends (a few at a time) but I’ve only seen people on-line, except my household, my immediate neighbors (from a distance) my mother (outdoors, masked, distanced) and hmm, two other people, both outdoors, masked, and distanced.
Oh – and I had an urgent visit to an eye doctor. I suppose I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I been believed infectious. But I’m hopeful I won’t have to do that again. 
Restaurants/bars seem like a viruses dream. No matter how limited capacity is, as long as there’s a carrier moving between potential host to host. Same as nursing homes/hospitals. Maybe reastraunts/bars could shift to a pickup window, like a walk up drive thru. Servers may not like that approach, however.
How many US bars serve food? Not restaurants that have bars, but bars that have small kitchens and sell burgers/wings/etc.
To watch Jon Taffer on his Bar Rescue TV show, it seems like almost every seedy little bar in the land has food, but my experience has been just the opposite. Some of the bars around here have formed partnerships with taco trucks or nearby restaurants so people can bring in food and be able to get a drink on the patio.
I think liquor laws (which vary by state and sometimes by county/city) can make a huge difference in how common it is. In a lot of states, there are different types of license for serving alcohol, and they tend to go up in difficulty and availibility from beer/wine with food, beer/wine without food, liquor with food, liquor without food. In NC, for example, you have that gradiant plus bars that have a ‘liquor without food’ license can’t be open to the public, and instead have to be ‘private clubs’ (which usually means a $1 membership card), plus private clubs require more restrictive zoning than restaurants. This makes it a lot easier to open a bar and restaurant than just a bar.
Yeah, around here in Georgia I can’t remember a bar that didn’t have some food offered, aside from those which are in breweries (who do invite food trucks).
:sighs: just when I thought the bars here would reopen again next week… I can’t really drink anymore but I’d love to have a "cowboy: burger from texas cattle co (it’s a double-stacked chili cheeseburger that’s about a pound in half if ya get everything on it ) … I think they’ve fixed it from where the car crashed into them maybe next month …
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-governor-closes-indoor-dining-statewide-and-salons-gyms-in-30-counties-as-cases-surge/ar-BB16H84W?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=SK2DDHP