Pennsylvania shuts down

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, March 16, 2020, 11:01 pm.
  2. March 17, 6:25 am:
    • I had not previously noticed that my interstate escapade will have to be to West Virginia. “[Tom] Wolf’s order came hours after New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Ohio enacted similar mandates, closing all casinos, gyms and movie theaters.”[1] As it happens, Ohio and New York are the second and third closest states respectively. West Virginia is the closest state and still has no reported cases of COVID-19.[2] Some will undoubtedly suspect that this is because to test for coronavirus would be disloyal to our delusional raging narcissist-in-chief.
  3. March 17, 2:59 pm:
    • My foray into West Virginia was successful and the communication disruption originally planned for last Friday but actually begun last night is now complete. I have Uber back on the new phone, but not Lyft, and from what I can see, business is well and truly dead.
  4. March 17, 4:52 pm:
    • Lyft has completed the phone number change so I now have both Uber and Lyft on the new phone. But there may still be very little business to be had with all the shutdowns.[3]

Housekeeping

The planned communication disruption is taking longer than planned.

The AT&T number is temporarily operational at present. The Verizon number is down right now. It appears Signal and Telegram are functioning on the AT&T number. My attempt to bring up Session failed—I might just start over with this.

It seems that Verizon cannot be the eSIM on the Pixel 4 XL. I have the physical SIM card for AT&T in the phone. That’s going to need to be swapped out for a Verizon SIM card and then, hopefully, AT&T added back in as the eSIM (a quick Google search says this should work). That will happen in the morning. If I can find an open Verizon dealer.[4]

I may have to cross a state line (which isn’t far) to deal with this.[5] Fortunately, Tuesday and Wednesday are the two worst days of the week for Uber and Lyft driving. These are the days to take a hit.

Coronavirus

It would seem that slashing interest rates very nearly to zero[6] was insufficient to assuage capitalists’ concerns. It sounds like they’re terrified.[7] Poor babies.

Associated Press, “Stocks plunge 12% as coronavirus shuts businesses’ doors,” Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-16/monday-market-report-stocks-coronavirus

Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf orders nonessential Pennsylvania businesses to shut down,” Tribune-Review, March 16, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-wolf-orders-all-nonessential-pennsylvania-businesses-to-shut-down/

Eric Levitz, “In the Age of the Coronavirus, Biden’s ‘Results’ Require Bernie’s ‘Revolution,’” New York, March 16, 2020, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/who-won-the-democratic-debate-between-biden-and-bernie-coronavirus.html

  1. [1]Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf orders nonessential Pennsylvania businesses to shut down,” Tribune-Review, March 16, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-wolf-orders-all-nonessential-pennsylvania-businesses-to-shut-down/↩
  2. [2]Mitch Smith et al., “Tracking Every Coronavirus Case in the U.S.: Full Map,” New York Times, March 17, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html↩
  3. [3]Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf orders nonessential Pennsylvania businesses to shut down,” Tribune-Review, March 16, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-wolf-orders-all-nonessential-pennsylvania-businesses-to-shut-down/↩
  4. [4]Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf orders nonessential Pennsylvania businesses to shut down,” Tribune-Review, March 16, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-wolf-orders-all-nonessential-pennsylvania-businesses-to-shut-down/↩
  5. [5]Megan Guza, “Gov. Wolf orders nonessential Pennsylvania businesses to shut down,” Tribune-Review, March 16, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-wolf-orders-all-nonessential-pennsylvania-businesses-to-shut-down/↩
  6. [6]Don Lee and Laura King, “Fed slashes rate to near zero to counter coronavirus as Fauci warns ‘worst is yet ahead,’” Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-15/fed-slashes-rate-to-near-zero-eases-lending-rules↩
  7. [7]Associated Press, “Stocks plunge 12% as coronavirus shuts businesses’ doors,” Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-16/monday-market-report-stocks-coronavirus↩

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