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letarasstuff · 3 years

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After a life long Quarantine

(A/N): This was requested by an anon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing

Summary: How will Matthew's daughter, a so called covid baby, react to seeing real humans aside from her father for the first time?

Wordcount: 1.5k

✨Masterlist✨

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Of course there is not a perfect time to have children. You never are going to be completely prepared. There is always something you’ll worry about. Are you going to be a good parent? Is your child going to be healthy? Are you financially stable enough?

All these and more questions flew through Matthew’s head constantly. But before the baby was due to arrive, the world got a little bit more crazy. Stores had to close, masks help you not kill your neighbor and it feels like breathing air could be the reason you die within the next two weeks. In other words: Covid-19 hit and everything kind of went into saving mode.

Subjectively for Matthew having a baby in the middle of a pandemic is the worst time ever. Shortly after going into lockdown the little (Y/N) was born. He was lucky to be able to come with his back then girlfriend into the hospital, he narrowly missed the restriction.

Sadly for the small family (Y/N)’s mother didn’t feel ready to take care of her and just a few weeks after her birth she took her stuff and made a beeline for a carefree life without responsibilities.

For Matthew it was a banger and he had to get used to a completely new day to day life. Still, he is very happy to have his daughter, his sunshine, with him. And secretly he is happy about the pandemic, because the freshly baked father is able to monitor any new progress or milestone (Y/N) has made in her development. He didn’t miss her first conscious smile, laugh or her first words (“Dada” of course, she is a daddy’s girl). The only thing he is concerned about for now will be the separation anxiety when he has to leave her for Kindergarten or work. But this is something Matthew can worry about later.

To be perfectly honest the only surroundings (Y/N) has seen yet is their apartment and the park. He tries to overlap her nap time with his grocery runs, so his daughter is asleep in her stroller while he picks up the things they need. It’s the easiest and most relaxing way without being separated.

Now, nearly a year after her birth, the whole situation slowly lets up. Stores reopen, people are back in the cities and everything seems a little brighter, a little happier. Travel restrictions are banned (still with safety precautions).

Since his baby’s birth he wasn’t able to see his parents in person. Of course they skyped and facetimes as often as possible, but they have yet to meet their grandchild. That’s why Matthew decided to take a roadtrip from New York City to Las Vegas.

His plan is to drive to Texas to visit Thomas and his family and to show his own child off. He knows that the car ride (to San Antonio 27 hours plus 18 to Las Vegas) is long. Luckily Matthew has enough time to plan this road trip and the plane ride back thoroughly and count enough breaks for him and his daughter. There are many fun activities, like visiting several zoos, a waterpark and a fair for example. He wants to show (Y/N) that there are many beautiful spots in the world she has yet to see.

That’s why he gets up at 4 a.m on a Tuesday, gets her and himself ready and is in the rental car at sharp 5 a.m. He wants to get a few miles done before eating lunch in a diner or something on the way, so the father tries to avoid traffic jams, hence the early start.

Luckily (Y/N) falls back asleep as soon as the car starts and doesn’t wake up before noon. “Daddy, I hungwy”, she pouts after jamming with him to several Disney songs he downloaded on a CD. A quick look to the clock confirms that it is in fact time for lunch. “Alright Baby, let Daddy find a nice place and we get food. What do you want?” “NUGGIES!” Matthew laughs and mutters to himself: “Well, that’s not exactly a surprise.”

Soon he finds a sweet diner off the highway and parks in front of it. With a few practised movements he gets (Y/N) out of her car seat and hoisted up on his hip. “You ready to get the little monster inside your tummy fed?” Matthew asks in a silly voice. Giggling she nods her head.

For lunch time the diner is relatively empty, not many tables are occupied. He finds both of them a small booth and sits her down on his lap for the moment. Only now the father spots the amazed look on his daughter’s face. “What is it, Honey?” “Who they?” She points at the various people in the establishment.

Quickly he puts her finger down, muttering how rude it is to point at someone. “They are humans, Baby.” “Omans? Wike us? More us?” Suddenly it hits him:

(Y/N) has never seen anybody else than him. All the other people she met were over the phone. How is she supposed to understand that they are real, too, when the ones on the TV aren’t?

“Yeah, there are many more. We are going to see so many of them. What do you think?” She seems to weigh her options as a nice looking waitress comes up to their table. “Hey Sweeties, what good can I do for you two? Do you need a high chair?” Matthew smiles at her. “Yes, please. We also are ready to order.”

After her departure to get their things, (Y/N) has come to a decision. “Nice all?” Her father nods. “Yes, most of them are as nice as the lady. We are going to see a really good friend of mine and his family, they are even nicer. There are also other kids. And we are going to visit your grandparents, they are also really nice. Are you excited?” An energetic nod is enough for him to know that this was the right decision.

On the next leg of the road trip (Y/N) is too excited to be quiet. She asks her father all sorts of questions. Has he met every human being? What are those, who aren’t nice? Does he like all of them? Are he and she nice people?

Happily he answers every single one of them, being as honest as possible. Matthew hopes that his daughter still turns out to be a people person like he is, even though she wasn’t exposed to many in her first months of life.

The first few days of their trip is pretty promising. They are now at Thomas’ house and especially Agatha is smitten by the little girl. Whenever Matthew is looking for her, both of them are in her room painting each other's nails (though the older one helps her out), playing hairdresser or watching a kids show.

The last 18 hours of the trip are tackled in two days. The main reason is that the little one got hooked on meeting new people and is way too hyped up to wait any longer to see her grandparents. So Matthew cancels a few plans and makes two out of three, he himself is also excited to meet up with his parents again.

“How wong?” (Y/N) asks from the backseat for what feels like the trillionth time. She already watched all of her favorite movies on her little tv in the headrest and due to the uneven street coloring isn’t an option. Luckily the destination is in sight. “Mhh, I think we are there in five minutes.” Children her age don’t have a sense for time yet, he knows that. Still, the father feels bad lying to her.

Finally they pull into the driveway, two people already waiting outside for them. After getting her out Matthew puts (Y/N) on his hip and makes his way over to his parents. “Baby, these are your grandma and grandpa. Can you say hello to them?”

But she tries to wiggle out of his grip, making the smiles on everybody’s faces fall. The father sets her down. Clumsily (Y/N) toddles over to them, colliding with her grandfather’s leg. “Hello, I love you!” She looks up at them sweetly. Her grandma has to restrain herself from letting the tears of happiness fall down.

“Hello there, Baby. We are so happy to finally meet you!” She says to the toddler, who now is in her grandfather’s arms.

It’s in this moment that Matthew decides his daughter is in fact a people person, which he is kind of relieved about, knowing that quarantine hasn’t taken anything from her.

His father shows him to join the group hug, being finally reunited as a family after all this time.

Taglist:

All works:

@dindjarinsspouse

MGG:

@mggsprettygirl

#matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler x daughter!reader #matthew gray gubler x child!reader #x reader #reader insert #x child!reader #x daughter!reader #fanfiction #mgg #mgg x reader #mgg x daughter!reader #mgg x child!reader

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loversamongus · 4 years

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Friends, Fevers, Family Movies

a/n: first one shot for @fromthewatertribe‘s 1k follower event! This turned out to be A LOT longer than I expected and it was also originally for a whole other prompt??? And then just??? Evolved into this??? I knew I wanted to write something that featured a Sokka friendship (and a Katara one!) but also feature good ol’ Zuko fluff. So here ya go. Word vomit. TO CELEBRATE NINA BEING AWESOME.

Also important: written as a world without covid, but does mention the flu. prompt: go to bed, you idiot.

words: 2k

relationship: Zuko x reader

Sharing an apartment with your best friends has its highs and lows. On the bright side, you truly lucked out between the epic prank wars, overly competitive game nights, and the bureaucratic division of chore responsibilities. However, there’s also the constant paranoia that someone can jump out of your closet in a gorilla costume, the frustrated search for the last blue Sorry piece after a certain sore loser flipped over the coffee table, and Katara’s insistence on hand washing all dishware even though the kitchen has a perfectly good dishwasher. The three of you never experience a dull moment.

And you’re so grateful to be living with them. Sokka and Katara are your best friends but now it’s like having a brother and sister of your own. Due to the smaller size of the apartment, you and Katara share a bedroom but neither of you would have it any other way. Though you both have your own corner of the room, you’ll spend hours laying on the gray shag rug in the middle between your beds just talking.

“Today, at the diner, a man had the AUDACITY to call me ‘pretty girl’ and like, yes I am pretty but I don’t need an old coffee-breathed, wrinkly limp noodle to tell me that so I assumed he was just stating the obvious and that I should also call him by obvious nicknames in order to better communicate with and understand the customer, as my manager puts it.”

“And what did you call him?”

“When I came back with their food, he said, ‘Can the pretty girl also get us some mayonnaise packets?’ And I said, ‘Not a problem, ‘crusty man.’”

Katara tried her darnedest to flash you a severe look but couldn’t help choking on a fit of giggles.

“Suki approves of it and we spent the rest of our shift calling each other different names when we crossed paths!”

The rest of the night would linger on with more work day stories, giggles, and Sokka occasionally pounding on the door for you both to shut up already because he is trying to sleep goddamnnit and can’t do that while the apartment is filled with your shrill girlish squeals.

Finally, when you both struggle to fight off sleep, you wave the white flag and drag yourself into bed. But just before you drift off, you hear Katara whisper your name from across the room. You’re not even sure if she’s awake, you’re both so tired, but you answer anyways.

“Hmm?”

“What do you think of Aang?”

“He adores you (yawn) it’s so sweet. I like him for you.”

There’s a silence and you think you’re free to finally fall into your dreams until Katara speaks again.

“What do you think of Zuko?”

“Hmm? I dunno, he’s our (yawn) friend and I like when he brings over (yawn) fireball for game night (yawn) why?”

Your exhaustion overpowers you before you could hear Katara respond, “Because he adores you, it’s so sweet. I like him for you.”

Although also your best friend, living with Sokka feels much less sweet and much more chaotic. Somehow you’re at each other’s throats more so than he is with his own blood related sister. It may have started when the Sock Battle started, a game in which Sokka made it his mission to hide his stenchiest pair of socks somewhere in your stuff. By now, you’ve found his socks in your pillowcases, in textbooks, in your gym bag, and in a picture frame next to your bed. You deliberately retaliate in any way you can during game night. While these instances often have you second guessing your friendship with him, you and Sokka could both put the bickering aside with a Disney movie and a bucket of buttered popcorn.

You could have killed him though when he gave you the flu. Katara was spared thanks to her daily regimen of vitamins and obsession with cleanliness, and Sokka had even recovered rather quickly. But you were not as lucky. Even though it was only the beginning of October, you had Katara dig out your flannel holiday pajamas to warm you up from the chills. The darling that she is, Katara made you her famous homemade soup and set it by your bedside table before heading out to see Aang. In the meantime, it was time for payback.

“Sokka, I need you to refill my water bottle.”

“Do it yourself.”

“Fine and when I get over to the kitchen I’ll lick every bag of beef jerky you own.”

“Oh my god, fine. Give me your water bottle.”

“Sokka, I need to charge my phone. Give me your charger.”

“No? Yours in your room, go get it.”

“If only my legs weren’t so weak from this terrible flu I’ve contracted from someone I trusted to be more hygienic.”

“Here, take it.”

“Sokka, you need to light a candle in the bathroom. Ooh do the rose petal one.”

“Ugh, no. You know I hate yours and Katara’s girly scented candles.”

“Okay, but then don’t complain about the smell when you go in.”

“It can’t be that bad— OH MY GOD DID SOMETHING CRAWL OUT OF YOU AND DIE?! OH MY GOD IT’S TRAVELLING. IT’S TRAVELLING THROUGH THE APARTMENT.”

By the fourth day of having the flu, Sokka was sick. Not of the flu. Of you. Katara had been spending as much time with Aang as she could to avoid catching anything from you so the responsibility of taking care of you fell on Sokka. And he was finally reaching the breaking point after you left used tissues all over “his side” of the couch. You snuggled into your pile of blankets as you watched your best friend grumble about the living room, every so often glancing at you while muttering incoherently.

After picking up the last of your snot filled, flu infected tissues, Sokka stood in front of you and took a long, exaggerated breath.

“I am leaving this Land of Disgusting to eat at the diner before driving Suki home.”

“Sokka, you had me at ‘I am leaving.’”

“Shut up. You still have a fever so I’ve called in reinforcements to look after you while Katara and I are both out. They’ll be here shortly after I’m gone. Can you handle yourself for 10 minutes?”

“Aye aye, captain.”

Before leaving, Sokka grabbed one more blanket from your room to bring to you on the couch. You realize how lucky you are to be such a pain in the ass and still be so loved by your little family. These happy thoughts, along with the utter amusement over the possibility of Toph being the one taking care of you, lulled you into a short, soft nap.

When you open your eyes next, the living room is dark, save for the small lamp in the corner of the room. As you go to stretch out your legs on the couch, your feet kick into something that wasn’t there before.

“Sokka?” you ask wearily, assuming your friend is back from dropping Suki off home.

“Nope.”

It wasn’t Sokka’s voice. Nor was it Toph’s. Trying your best to sit up under the weight of five blankets, you turn your head to see Zuko’s face illuminated by his phone’s screen as his thumb continued to scroll.

“Oh. Hi.”

He looked over at you. “Hey. Can I get you anything?”

It takes you a moment to get over the fact that Zuko is the reinforcements, the one called to take care of you while your roommates are out of the apartment. But finally you respond, “Actually, my throat is really dry. Can you grab my water bottle for me?”

He reached over to the coffee table to grab your water bottle for you. Then, after handing it you, Zuko went back to looking at his phone.

“Katara says you have to take your medicine once you’ve woken up.”

“Ugh noooooo. I don’t want to.”

Taking pills has never been your been your strong suit. Maybe it’s your irrational fear of choking on them or just your innate ability to be stubborn about everything but you try to put up your best fight.

“You have to. Or else we’ll have to cancel another game night or you just won’t be able to play with us. And then who would kill Sokka first in Among Us.”

“You’ll have to continue my legacy, that’s all.”

“Just take the pills. I already cut them up for you.”

“Fine... thank you.”

After you swallow the last pill, you lay back down on the couch but Zuko gets up.

“Where are you going?”

“Since you’re up now, let’s watch a movie. There’s nothing else you should really be doing in your condition.”

“I have my DVDs on my shelf in my room. Pick me a Disney movie?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh my god, please? I am very sick and frail and only the nostalgic joys of my childhood can cure me.”

“....fine.”

You muster up a squeal that quickly turns into a cough as Zuko leaves the room. After a few minutes he comes back with Toy Story 2, a choice that makes you raise an eyebrow considering its heartbreaking song is not something you’d expect Zuko to want to watch. Nonetheless, you hardly protest as the two of you settle in on the couch for the movie to begin.

To your surprise, the animated movie managed to steal a couple chuckles from Zuko. After all the bickering throughout the week with Sokka, it was a welcome and pleasant sound ringing in your ears. Despite your better judgment, you shift closer to him, especially when you know Jessie’s big song is getting closer. He doesn’t move away though and even wraps an arm around you. When a chill runs down your spine, you wonder if it’s due to the fever.

“Are you crying?”

“It’s just SO sad, how could you not, Zuko?! Somebody needs to LOVE HER AGAIN.”

Grinning, he hands you the tissue box, which you fully accept both for your tears and flu-inflicted runny nose. But once the song ends and you’ve let out a good cry, your eyelids start to feel enormously heavy. Zuko must sense this because he scoots a bit closer to you, allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder. You hesitate for a moment, not wanting to pass the flu onto Zuko, but for some reason he feels warmer than the mountains of blankets you’re buried under.

The rest of the movie plays on and you struggle to keep your eyes open, often shifting against Zuko to wake yourself back up. You know there’s more to the movie but Zuko picks up the remote and turns off the tv. Before you could even question what he’s doing, he’s lifting you up and walking you to your room.

“But we didn’t see the end of the movie!”

“You weren’t going to stay up to see the end anyways.”

“But you needed to see Jessie and Bullseye find new homes! With Andy! And Wheezy!! Wheezy gets fixed!!”

He helped you under the covers and sat beside you on your bed for a moment. You still feel enough energy to offer up a few more protests.

“Only the end of the movie can cure me with its pure, unadultered childhood joy! You can use some, too! Disney fixes all things!”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, but before getting up, Zuko leaned in to kiss your forehead lightly.

“Go to bed, you idiot.”

You didn’t even register when he left your side because you were asleep again within minutes. In fact, when the sunlight from the bedroom window wakes you up hours later, you could have sworn it was all just a fever dream anyways. Disney movies cuddled up with Zuko? Definitely sounds fake. However, later on in the morning, you do begin to suspect it was all real when you find your Toy Story 2 DVD still in DVD player and catching Katara and Sokka trying to discreetly give each other a high five.

#nina's 1k event #zuko x reader #lol what is consistent verb tense i do not know clearly

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creepingsharia · 3 years

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I Now Better Understand the ‘Good German’

Apathy in the face of tyranny turns out not to be a German or Russian characteristic.

I Now Better Understand the ‘Good German’

As my listeners and readers can hopefully attest, I have been on a lifelong quest to understand human nature and human behavior. I am sad to report that I have learned more in the last few years, particularly in 2020, than in any equivalent period of time.

One of the biggest revelations concerns a question that has always plagued me: How does one explain the “good German,” the term used to describe the average, presumably decent German, who did nothing to hurt Jews but also did nothing to help them and did nothing to undermine the Nazi regime? The same question could be asked about the average Frenchman during the Vichy era, the average Russian under Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev and their successors, and the millions of others who did nothing to help their fellow citizens under oppressive dictatorships.

These past few years have taught me not to so quickly judge the quiet German, Russian, etc. Of course, I still judge Germans who helped the Nazis and Germans who in any way hurt Jews. But the Germans who did nothing? Not so fast.

What has changed my thinking has been watching what is happening in America (and Canada and Australia and elsewhere, for that matter).

The ease with which tens of millions of Americans have accepted irrational, unconstitutional and unprecedented police state-type restrictions on their freedoms, including even the freedom to make a living, has been, to understate the case, sobering.

The same holds true for the acceptance by most Americans of the rampant censorship on Twitter and all other major social media platforms. Even physicians and other scientists are deprived of freedom of speech if, for example, they offer scientific support for hydroxychloroquine along with zinc to treat COVID-19 in the early stages. Board-certified physician Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, who has saved hundreds of COVID-19 patients from suffering and/or death, has been banned from Twitter for publicizing his lifesaving hydroxychloroquine and zinc protocol.

Half of America—the non-Left half—is afraid to speak their minds at virtually every university, movie studio and large corporation—indeed, at virtually every place of work. Professors who say anything that offends the Left fear being ostracized if they have tenure and being fired if they do not. People are socially ostracized, publicly shamed and/or fired for differing with Black Lives Matter, as America-hating and white-hating a group as has ever existed. And few Americans speak up. On the contrary, when BLM protestors demand that diners outside of restaurants raise their fists to show their support of BLM, nearly every diner does.

So, then, who are we to condemn the average German who faced the Gestapo if he didn’t salute Hitler or the average Russian who faced the NKVD (the secret police and intelligence agency that preceded the KGB) if he didn’t demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm for Stalin? Americans face the left’s cancel culture, but not left-wing secret police or reeducation camps. (At least not yet—I have little doubt the Left would send outspoken conservatives to reeducation camps if they could.)

I have come to understand the average German living under Nazism and the average Russian living under communism for another reason: the power of the media to brainwash.

As a student of totalitarianism since my graduate studies at the Russian Institute of Columbia University’s School of International Affairs (as it was then known), I have always believed that only in a dictatorship could a society be brainwashed. I was wrong. I now understand that mass brainwashing can take place in a nominally free society.

The incessant left-wing drumbeat of the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and almost every other major newspaper, plus The Atlantic, the New Yorker, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, all of Hollywood and almost every school from kindergarten through graduate school, has brainwashed at least half of America every bit as effectively as the German, Soviet, and Chinese Communist press did (and in the latter case, still does). That thousands of schools will teach the lie that is the New York Times‘ “1619 Project” is one of countless examples.

Prior to the lockdowns, I flew almost every week of the year, so I was approached by people who recognized me on a regular basis. Increasingly, I noticed that people would look around to see if anyone was within earshot and then tell me in almost a whisper: “I support Trump” or “I’m a conservative.” The last time people looked around and whispered things to me was when I used to visit the Soviet Union.

In Quebec this past weekend, as one can see on a viral video, a family was fined and members arrested because six—yes, six—people gathered to celebrate the new year. A neighbor snitched on them, and the celebrants were duly arrested. The Quebec government lauded the snitches and asked for more public “collaboration.”

Snitches are likewise lauded and encouraged in some Democrat-run states and cities in America (Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in March: “Snitches get rewards”) and by left-wing governments in Australia. Plenty of Americans, Canadians, and Australians are only too happy to snitch on people who refuse to lock down their lives.

All this is taking place without concentration camps, without a Gestapo, without a KGB and without Maoist reeducation camps.

That’s why I no longer judge the average German as easily as I used to. Apathy in the face of tyranny turns out not to be a German or Russian characteristic. I just never thought it could happen in America.

#Law #Legal #News #Media #Politics #Terror

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thingsandtrichotillomania · 2 years

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December in Review

Last bits of updating for this year since I really didn't post since early September.

Still working on school and anxious my period was late on the 1st. My nose is still running quite often.

The co2 monitor went off about 9:30 pm on the 2nd. We were fine but it was coming from our new neighbors apartment. By 10:30 they figured out the source and fanned it out again. We didn't leave for TJ's (I didn't feel safe sleeping at home) till 11 pm. Started my period during all that and didn't sleep till about 1 am. What sucked was I was literally laying down right before our co2 alarm went off. I called off work for the next day and asked for an emergency therapy appointment. Then I took most of the stuff back home after therapy. We brought Neo and his big ass litter box because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving him here.

December 3rd allergies are killing me. I was sick at the time but didn't wanna say so.

December 6th I was supposed to meet grandma and grandpa with my sister at LJ but I was still feeling sick so I went to get a covid test to make sure it wasn't covid. I didn't want to get them sick either so I just canceled. It wasn't covid thankfully. The wait though was like an hour and a half.

The next day I went to the mall with mom and my sister. I bought them a few presents and we stopped at my mom's friend's house before going home. I went to work that night and hated working night shift production.

December 8th I took babe to work bc his friend was sick. At this point we were all a bit sick. Went to work. Then at 6:30 my mom called (I was home and so was babe) tell me to sit down with him. She said our grandma had passed in a truck accident. I sobbed for a while before having his mom take me and him to get my sister near by and then to our mom's. We talked for a while before mom took us home. Booked another emergency appointment for therapy the next day.

Still dealing with being sick in some variety on top of being a bit sad randomly about grandma. December 10th was babe's friend's Christmas thing. I forgot about it till he reminded me like 2 hours before I got off work. Stressed and ran around after work getting changed and a present. It was fine and I had fun.

Later that night we had a huge storm. The tornado sirens went off 2 times that night. I didn't sleep well at all. It carried into 5 am on the 11th. Went into work regardless of shit sleep.

December 12th we went to a diner and met up with our 2 cousins and uncle and his girlfriend. We talked and caught up. Didn't know if there would be a funeral yet or not.

Was also trying to get mom to come to dad's for Christmas because at the time I wanted as much family as possible together.

December 15th I found out our grandma was already cremated. There is a big urn and then 7 small ones for the family. The next day I found out the official wreck report and now knew exactly what happened (for the most part). Also I had been trying to get a week straight off work because now that school was done I wanted a break. But Eric found out his week off didn't start till Christmas eve so I had to push it back once more. I was upset.

December 18th was the 'funeral'. It was just 4 hours of us in a Church conference room talking to each other. Not as a group. Just whatever we wanted. It was weird. Grandpa told us the story and her last words "oh honey" which made us cry a bit.

December 19th started the random rashes under my neck and on my face. I still have no idea what causes it other than showers that are too warm.

December 24th we had dinner with my boyfriend's boss and his friend that he works with. Eric forgot about it till last minute (a common theme this month it seems). So I was stressed but it also worked out.

December 25th we opened our gifts from each other. I got a ring and headphones. As well as a onesie. I got him a knife, some pants, and a gaming mouse. Then we went to dad's at 3 and got more gifts. Then we went to moms around 5 or 6 to get gifts and some of grandma's stuff. Mom didn't go to dad's Christmas because her and her boyfriend left for Arkansas on Thursday and didn't get back till Saturday (Christmas) afternoon and were tired.

Also my week off finally started on Christmas Eve. It's been so fucking nice not having school or work to do. I honestly don't want it to end but it'll be nice to have work again for money lol. I spent a lot this month.

December 26th our neighbors finally came over! They were here from 4:30 ish till 7 something. Was upset that they were here during dinner and so I didn't get to eat. But it went well. They're okay. Andrew is cooler than Trevor.

December 28th I took my brother and his friend to a place with bounce houses and lazer tag. Overall it was fun.

I've played a lot of minecraft this month and even more so during my week off. I've loved it. Might play some now because I have therapy at 11 am and its only 8:40. I can play till 10 and then let it cool off for an hour.

December 30th, 2021

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tuellertrails · 3 years

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It’s hard to put into words what our first week on trail has been like, but I’ll try.

Tiring. Hot. Cold. Amazing. Beautiful. Adventure. Ouch. Hungry. Thirsty. Dirty. Smelly.

There you have it!

Starting out the PCT was an emotional experience. It was surreal hiking those first few miles, and then it just sinks in “oh right, this is just hiking. And hiking is just walking. And walking is tiring. Wow it’s hot. Wait, how am I already this dirty?” We only made it about .3 miles when we came upon a little campground with some trail angels that we talked to briefly. One of them was an older man with long white silver hair and blue eyes named Legend who apparently is a triple crowner (has hiked the PCT, AT and CDT). He told us to put our hands towards the trail and then grab some air and cup it into a ball in our hands. He said we had grabbed a little piece of magic from the PCT and it is carried in all the hikers who had gone before us and that we were all connected. He told us to hold it up to our hearts to absorb, but being the brilliant nurse that I am, I held it to the right side of my chest instead of the left, so I guess that means the magic went into my rib cage instead. I’m not an expert in PCT magic 🤷🏻‍♀️ so who knows how it will affect me. Magic ribs? Time will tell. He also told us to take another piece of PCT magic and put it in our pocket to give to a friend. I will sell mine to the highest bidder. Authentic PCT magic, hard to come by, Bitcoin will be accepted as a trade.

Hiking has been very physically exhausting for me, more than I expected to be honest. We’re going about 2-2.3 miles per hour at this point, and have done 10-16 miles per day. We wake up between 6-7 AM, pack up our stuff and head out. Generally we eat breakfast at our first break of the day after 3-4 miles, and I’ve found that I need a break about every 3 miles. If we can get to a great spot for lunch, we will generally take at least an hour and sometimes more if it’s in the heat of the day. We try to stop hiking between 5-6 pm, so we can have time to set up camp, make dinner, roll out our feet and sore muscles, and write in our journals before bed. We are very tired every night, but sometimes we don’t sleep very well if it’s windy or very cold. I always take my trusty Benadryl and sleep better with it!

The hardest part for me so far has been the wear and tear on my feet. The biggest mistake I made at the start was not putting inserts in my shoes. My feet have been in a lot of pain and I’ve had to take more breaks to roll them out to continue hiking. No matter how tired I am, I have to roll out my feet at the end of the day or they fee pretty rough the next day. I’ve also been dealing with some blisters and some chafing, so basically everything hurts! Doing miles on miles every single day is a lot of work, and we are sore every day. Other hikers that we’ve met who have done other thru hikes assure us that we will get our trail legs (eventually) but it’s going to take about 3 weeks

Ok, enough complaining!! We have met some amazing people. Landon’s cousin Justin hiked out with us the first day and it was fun to give him a taste of the trail. There was a small group of people that we started with who have been a bit faster than us and are now ahead of us on the trail, but maybe we’ll run into them again!

We met a mother and son duo named Chris and Pat. Pat is a psychologist at a University and counsels students. She was the nicest friendliest little lady and I immediately liked her. Chris, her son, works in film media and is trying to become a landscape photographer. They were both lovely but Pat can't go very fast so I'm not sure we'll see them again, but we're following each other on Instagram now.

We’ve spent quite a bit of time with a small group of hikers, hiking and also hanging out with them in Julian (where we are taking our first zero day, no hiking and only lots of resting, eating and socializing). Half of them are not American which is exciting! Florian is from Germany and is a super interesting guy. He works for Google and has lived in Australia, the UK, and most recently in San Francisco. We talked about the differences between Germany and Europe, some about politics (how crazy American politics are compared to relatively boring German ones), gun control, Mental illness and lack of resources in America, our messed up healthcare system, the largeness of Australian huntsman spiders, and a whole bunch of other things. Lauren is from Canada and loves to quiz you about geography and ask fun questions. Today she asked "which animal most represents the place that you live?" Landon and I debated for a while and decided on a big horn sheep 🐑. She and Florian met on the JMT and are hiking together as friends as they both have significant others. She is always scavenging for everyone’s extra food and someone suggested that her trail name be Trash Panda (people give each other “trail names” on thru hikes, and then that’s how people introduce themselves. We haven’t gotten ours yet but it’s only a matter of time). I don’t think she accepted that trail name though 😂

 Another woman from the group is from Germany named Silke who is a bit more shy but still friendly, and man is she fit. She just blazed past us on the trail today. We also gave her a piece of pop tart and some skittles to try, and she hated both, which was very funny to watch her disgusted reaction. She hasn’t built up the junk food tolerance that we have I suppose, it takes years to build and I started very young! Carolina is from the Czech Republic, and has a great sense of humor. I can’t imagine the kind of bravery it takes to go to a foreign country where you know no one and the language spoken isn’t your first language, and taking on a monumental task like hiking the PCT. It’s pretty incredible and I have a lot of respect for all the hikers, but especially the foreign ones. We took a picture yesterday before Carolina had showered and she said “I look so dirty and crazy!” 😂 I ask just about everyone “what does your family think of your coming out to do this?” and the most common answers include “they don’t really get it...” and “They think I’m crazy.”

Otter is a 58 year old guy who was in the airforce for 30 years and has spent the last 5 years of his retirement hiking and traveling. He hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2019. Otter said that he decided to hike the AT initially because he read a story of a guy in his town who hiked it when he was 18. The guy had to ask permission from the board of education in Virginia to graduate high school early in order to hike it, and they told him no, so he quit high school and did it anyways. Otter told us that he read that and it stuck with him, and he made it a goal of his to hike the AT someday. He said it took 35 years, but he always remembered that guy and wanted to do it. Just goes to show that you never know what kind of impact you can have on the people around you! He has been very kind to us and let us come to the Airbnb that he had rented to do laundry and shower when we got into Julian, and we have used the Airbnb as a hangout zone for our whole group yesterday and today, which has been great. After showering and having clean clothes, we almost felt like normal people 😂. In Mt Laguna at mile 42, we showered in a campground bathroom and washed our laundry in the shower like the hiker trash we now are. Real food from a restaurant and a cold drink from a trail angel (people that provide food/drinks/rides to hikers) is also incredible. When you’re living so minimally, the little things are a big deal!

Lastly we have Brandon, who I met on Instagram last year and was also supposed to hike the trail but canceled due to Covid. He ended up getting a permit for this year too and started the day after us (coincidentally he is also a travel nurse). Last night, after hanging out at the Airbnb, We camped behind the Julian Market (they allow PCT hikers to camp there) and Brandon came too. At 5:30 in the morning after just settling back down into his sleeping bag after getting up to pee, he hears a voice say “oh good, you’re up. I really need someone to talk to.” He looks over and sees this strange girl that he doesn’t know (and wasn’t there when we went to bed) who is wrapped up in her sleeping bag. He says “Oh, um..are you ok?” And she says “I have no pants”. And proceeds to tell him that she ripped her hiking shorts and didn’t carry any warm sleeping clothes because they were too heavy. He tells her that she needs to have warm base layers if she is going to continue hiking (and not die) and that she can pick some up at the gear store in town. She tells him that she asked the guy she was hiking with if she could come and cuddle with him and he told her no, so she knocked on some random strangers window at 3 AM and asked for a ride from Mt Laguna to Julian, and the stranger gave her a ride (and luckily didn’t murder her). So that’s how she ended up on that back porch in Julian, possibly staring at Brandon for hours and willing him to wake up to tell him this. Apparently she talked to him for about 45 more minutes and at some point said that she was waiting for her meds to arrive. He said “Maybe you should call your family?” And she said “no way! They’ll freak out” 😬. Landon and I were returning from using the bathroom and we walked right past them, I thought that they knew each other somehow and somehow missed the pleading desperation in Brandon’s eyes to help him in this incredibly awkward 5:30 AM conversation with this random girl. Eventually she ended up going to the pie shop across the street and sitting in there to get warm and charge her phone. Long story short, I really hope that girl is ok, because hiking the PCT is hard enough as it is without having any warm pants. Also, hiking is not a replacement for a support system and therapy. Be safe and get mentally healthy before you hike!!

One last funny story. This morning we were eating at a diner when the waitress came over to take our order. She looked at me hesitantly and said “Um...I’m not sure how to handle this...you have a spider on your hat.” I yelped and threw my hat on the table. She grabbed my hat and took it outside and gently shook it off and de-spidered it for me before bringing it back to me 😥. What a good lady!! Please tell people if they are wearing spiders and help them out. I guess I am just becoming one with nature now.

Anyways, this is long enough, but I just want to say that we’ve had lots of great experiences, seen beautiful scenery, and met awesome people. Even though this is incredibly hard, it’s such a cool adventure and I am loving having a great partner to experience it with me. Hoping my feet are doing better in the next section and that none of my blisters get infected! Our friends helped me shake down my pack today and I was able to get rid of at least a pound in weight. When you carry everything on your back, hips and shoulders, every little ounce makes a difference! Much love to everyone and thanks for the support, it’s been a great first week!

- Joscelyn

P.S. - I’ll post our daily mileage for anyone who is interested

Day 1

Start: Mile 0 Mexican Border

Stop: Mile 11.4

Total: 11.4 miles

Day 2

Start: Mile 11.4

Stop: Mile 26 Boulder Creek Campground

Total: 14.6 miles

Went thru Lake Morena

Day 3

Start: Mile 26 Boulder Creek Campground

Stop: Mile 37.1

Total: 11.1 miles

Elevation gain: about 3k feet 🦶

Day 4

Start: Mile 37.1

Stop: Mile 47.7

Total Mileage: 10.6

Went thru Mt Laguna

Day 5

Start: Mile 47.7

Stop: Mile 63.7

Total: 16 Miles

Day 6

Start: Mile 63.7

Stop: Mile 77

Total: 13.3 Miles

Day 7

Zero Day In Julian

#pct #pctclassof2021 #pct2021 #tuellertrails #hikertrash

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

Text

Eric Rivera Is Playing the Game

Selling pantry items, like spices, has helped keep Addo afloat.

Despite everything, the Seattle chef has found a way to successfully run his restaurant Addo — and he has some advice for the rest of the industry

Eric Rivera does not run a traditional kitchen. At his Seattle restaurant, Addo, the menu, cuisine, and concept change constantly. So when Seattle restaurants began to close in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, Rivera was already ahead of the game.

Rivera was 4,000 miles away giving a culinary tour in Puerto Rico when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 cases. In between staging meals and teaching his guests about the island’s culinary history, he set up his phone as a hotspot and began emailing clients and staff to rearrange the coming weeks of planned dining events and promotions, determining which could be salvaged as takeout and which needed to be completely restructured or worse, canceled.

On March 11, Rivera returned to Seattle and a calendar with reservations booked well into the next year. Addo used the Tock app for dinner reservations, but soon began using it to schedule carryout instead. Addo’s lunch catering, which amounted to about 30 percent of his business, was no longer feasible since all the high-end tech offices in the area closed, so Rivera began to make easy-to-reheat take-home meals to accommodate those newly working from home. He made and sold pantry items, like CSA boxes, yeast kits, and fresh-made pasta. He even hired his own delivery drivers to avoid working with gig-economy food delivery apps, which he believes take too much from both restaurants and drivers.

Adjusting to changes at the drop of a hat is common in most kitchens, but it’s something Rivera was used to well before he started working in restaurants. In the late aughts, Rivera ran his own mortgage insurance and financial services business when the Great Recession hit. He was an early success by most American standards, running his own offices in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. “There’s this game-of-life kind of thing — you’re raised to believe that you need the nice house with the picket fence, the car. Checkmark, checkmark, checkmark. I had that when I was 24.”

Rivera recalls being at Costco picking up office supplies in 2008 when he got a call from an employee; they wanted him back in the office immediately. Rivera was surprised by the urgency. “No man, leave that shit there. We’re done,” his employee said.

“What? What do you mean?”

“We’re done. Everything’s closed, all the lines of credit. Everything’s done.”

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game.”

Rivera’s customers vanished almost immediately, and his business dwindled. He was forced to shift primarily to insurance. He was depressed. To save some money, he started cooking all of his meals at home and blogging about his successes and failures in the kitchen, mostly posting pictures of his process. He quickly amassed a bit of an audience and built a dialogue with some of the followers who were curious about the recipes he shared. “So then it became like more of a serious infatuation that I started to have,” he says. “It’s sort of what started to get me out of that spot.” Motivated by how quickly his skills had developed, he began to consider a career in food, and in 2010 he attended culinary school at the Art Institute in Seattle.

Acclimating to unfamiliar surroundings was nothing new to Rivera. His father was in the military for 30 years, and, as is common with that profession, the family moved around a lot. In order to build a bit of stability, when Rivera was 7 his parents chose to settle in Olympia, Washington — just over 60 miles south of Seattle — for a few years, and his grandparents left Puerto Rico for the Pacific Northwest to help with the kids. Growing up in Olympia, which was 82.5 percent white in the most recent census and more than 90 percent white in 1990, was challenging for Rivera’s Puerto Rican family. Fellow transplants to the Cascade region will tell you about the Seattle Freeze — if they haven’t already adopted it themselves. “In Seattle, in Washington, being passive aggressive, it’s an art form here,” Rivera says. “However, in my culture, if you have a fucking problem with somebody, you tell them in two seconds. You tell them to go fuck themselves. It’s over, it’s done with.” Rivera remembers the move to Washington as an uncomfortable transition. He recalls going to school and quickly realizing he and his family stood out from his predominately white classmates.

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game,” as he puts it. Beyond the regular curriculum of a student, he remembers playing the part of a young anthropologist, trying to learn about his peers’ preferred music, movies, food, and anything else that would allow him to fit in. “My grandpa would sit me in front of the TV and be like, ‘Sound like them, not like us!’ Meaning get rid of the accent, learn their shit.” However, while adapting to his surroundings, Rivera learned to embrace his own culture more fully. His grandfather taught him to cook at an early age. It wasn’t always easy to get the right ingredients, but he still managed to make Puerto Rican food, even in Olympia. When his grandparents eventually moved back to Puerto Rico, Rivera spent summers on the island and learned to move between the two worlds.

Rivera is selling rice, beans, and other Puero Rican pantry staples online.

The Addo space has transformed from restaurant to storage facility.

After culinary school, Rivera started working in restaurants, spending three years in Chicago as the director of culinary research operations with the Alinea Group. Early on, he began to see cracks in the way the industry was run. After an injury, Rivera was forced out of the kitchen and went without pay for months; again and again, he had to fight for meager raises. “The games you have to play are bullshit,” he says. “You have to go to the kitchens and stage for free. Dude, people that are younger and that come from different cultures and backgrounds can’t afford that — are you kidding me?”

After seven years in the industry, Rivera was ready to do his own thing, on his own terms. In the summer of 2017, he started running a chef’s table out of his Seattle apartment. He was unsure if diners would be interested in such a stripped-down eating experience, in which Rivera covered all aspects of service, but he was confident in himself. At the same time, he was running pop-ups out of any space he could get in town, cooking on panini grills in the back of coffee shops if need be. The hustle and desire to expand eventually led him to seek out his own space in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. He called it Addo.

Addo was an unconventional restaurant from the start. Although the chef’s table still existed in the new space, and you could still reserve space for a birthday party as you would at a more traditional restaurant, Addo relied on themed dinners booked months in advance. The menu changed based on current events, trends, and whatever popped into his head: He served a Pacific Northwest meal based on the grade-school computer game The Oregon Trail and multi-course dinners themed around Harry Potter. In an Instagram Live interview with Tom Colicchio in June, he described his process: “It’s truly head on a swivel. There were nights when we were a dine-in restaurant that we were doing three to five things a night because we had to. Here’s steak night, here’s a 20-course tasting menu, here’s Puerto Rican food, here’s a pasta thing we’re doing and there’s another thing.”

Puerto Rican food became a more significant part of Rivera’s professional life when, months after launching Addo, he expanded with Lechoncito, a side business that specializes in perfectly crispy and moist lechon, chicharron de pollo, and the famous jibarito inspired by his time in Chicago. Like Addo, Lechoncito also started as a pop-up, with a brief stint inside a whiskey distillery, but now Lechoncito food is sold through Addo a few times a month.

Although Rivera has mulled over the idea of making Puerto Rican food his primary focus, he appreciates that by having it as just one of the things he does, he’s not beholden to fickle food trends that could celebrate the cuisine one day and forget it the next. “[Puerto Rican cuisine] doesn’t stand out, because it’s just me talking about it or yelling about it, telling people how cool it is. That can only go so far,” he says. “There’s not enough people representing it or [who] know what they’re talking about ... thats why I have to be this fucking guy, that has to operate at this really high level to get that badge that says, ‘He knows what he’s talking about, he’s worked at a place with three Michelin stars.’”

Still, there’s a loyal clientele for Lechoncito. On a recent Sunday, Rivera greeted regulars and fawned over their dogs as they arrived to pick up orders of a sold-out whole-roasted pig, big-as-your-head chicharrones, and arroz con garbanzos. And since mid-July, Puerto Rican food has become an even bigger business for Rivera.

On July 9, at a roundtable for Hispanic business leaders, Goya CEO Robert Unanue praised President Donald Trump, quickly leading many, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to call for a Goya boycott. Rivera saw an opportunity.

Rivera has a knack for social media, which he uses to create content for events, speak out about problems in the restaurant industry, or just post pictures of delicious food and cute dogs. As the Goya news and the hashtag #GoyaBoycott spread, he tweeted about his ability to ship pantry staples like sofrito, sazon, and adobo across the United States. Within hours, these tweets had been retweeted thousands of times, and Rivera made around 1,000 sales in the days following. These days, Addo resembles a warehouse space, with Rivera and a couple staff packing up spices, dry goods, and even house plants while Bad Bunny plays and the Puerto Rican flag hangs visibly from the front door. Online, Rivera jokingly calls himself “Amazing Primo,” a play on Amazon Prime.

“We’re punching above our weight class now,” Rivera says of Addo’s pandemic operation.

Despite the struggles restaurants across the country are facing as they adjust to pandemic restrictions, Addo is busy. Rivera credits his staff, who went from cooking and serving to packing boxes and printing shipping labels, for Addo’s survival. “Is it what I want to be doing? Absolutely not. But I don’t think you have a choice sometimes, and I’m just really grateful we have an option to keep this going ... if anyone was set up to be able to be pivoted, it was us,” says Ingrid Lyublinsky, Addo’s director of operations. “We’ve been doing it since the get-go.”

Addo chef John McGoldrick likens the constantly changing circumstances to the animated show Rick and Morty: “We’re just like a bunch of Mortys and chef Eric is Rick, sending us down a new portal every day.”

Although operating as a makeshift bodega may not be ideal for every kitchen, Rivera believes this is where restaurants are headed if they want to compete as major changes in the industry loom. He has even offered free Zoom classes to chefs about how to widen the scope of their restaurants, including tips on social media and running their own delivery or shipping. “We have less than seven employees, but we’re punching above our weight class right now with scaling things out and being more accessible to more people,” he says.

Rivera has grown increasingly frustrated by the response to the pandemic from many industry leaders. He believes big names and owners of chain restaurants will bounce back, leaving many smaller restaurants behind, as well as restaurant staff and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), who will have to find new avenues of work or face deepening pay discrepancies. “There are people who are getting stimulus, getting enhanced unemployment, but you have undocumented workers who aren’t getting anything,” he says. “And they’re being pushed back into the fire immediately without any help.”

On Twitter, Rivera has called out well-known Seattle restaurateurs like Tom Douglas and Ethan Stowell, who shut down restaurants permanently and laid off hundreds of staff. More recently, Rivera criticized pushes to open restaurants as COVID-19 cases are rising once again. Rivera tweeted on June 11: “There are other options for dining but the consumer will drive things back and greedy owners will compromise their staff to serve them. There are no leaders in this industry. There are no voices that can make these points stick.”

“If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.”

While recent months have brought the cracks in the industry to the forefront, the pandemic is not the direct cause of many of them. Rivera takes issue with an industry built on what he believes is an antiquated system of constant investment and expansion. “A lot of chefs, who are frankly losing their asses right now, are going to realize it’s not wise to seek so much investment, those deals with the devil, in order to push themselves into the stratosphere of the industry,” he says. This system, Rivera says, perpetuates the problems within the restaurant industry and benefits only “old, rich white men.”

Rivera’s tweets have earned the attention of the famous chefs he’s called out; some have even reached out to him. Colicchio invited him to an Instagram Live conversation about his experiences in the restaurant industry. And in an episode of the Dave Chang Show podcast, Chang said of Rivera, “Everything he’s saying is not something I always agree with, but I respect his viewpoints on a lot of things. If you look at what he’s doing it’s anything and everything, that’s what you have to see cause we have no idea what’s going to work. You got to try it all and make mistakes and adapt, make mistakes and adapt.”

Rivera recognizes that his own privilege has contributed to some of this success. “I knew what I had to do in order to play the game for people to listen to me,” he says. “If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.” However, he wants that game to change. “First, they need to get the fuck out of the way. They need to just get out of the way,” he says, referring to the old guard of primarily white men. “I don’t want to see another white dude traveling around the world discovering food. I’m tired of the Christopher Columbus shit.”

Rivera isn’t convinced that a return to some level of “normal” after the pandemic will solve many of his issues with the industry, including the financial barriers for BIPOC-run restaurants and the treatment of back-of-house staff in big-name restaurants. However, he’s inspired by younger generations of cooks and writers, like Alicia Kennedy and Illyanna Maisonet, for speaking out about the changes that need to happen, and credits them with “[helping] me establish how to be a voice, if you will, without just saying ‘fuck you’ every two seconds.” And six months into the pandemic, Rivera is still playing it day to day, ready to pivot once again whenever the need should arise. As he packs up spices, thinks up new to-go meals, and updates his website, he hopes that, at the very least, what he has done in his kitchen resonates in a food world that’s in dire need of a drastic pivot of its own.

Alberto Perez is a freelance writer currently based out of Seattle, but he’d rather be back in Texas eating tacos. Suzi Pratt is a photographer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/36lJt39 https://ift.tt/30qG27w

Selling pantry items, like spices, has helped keep Addo afloat.

Despite everything, the Seattle chef has found a way to successfully run his restaurant Addo — and he has some advice for the rest of the industry

“What? What do you mean?”

“We’re done. Everything’s closed, all the lines of credit. Everything’s done.”

Rivera felt he had to “learn to play the game.”

Rivera is selling rice, beans, and other Puero Rican pantry staples online.

The Addo space has transformed from restaurant to storage facility.

“We’re punching above our weight class now,” Rivera says of Addo’s pandemic operation.

“If I was a dude with an accent that made jibaritos and chicharrones on the side of the street, no one would give a fuck.”

Alberto Perez is a freelance writer currently based out of Seattle, but he’d rather be back in Texas eating tacos. Suzi Pratt is a photographer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/36lJt39 via Blogger https://ift.tt/30orTHX

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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techcrunchappcom · 4 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/tech-gives-tech-takes-away/

Tech gives, tech takes away

It’s a warm Friday afternoon at a Mountain View sports pub just a stone’s throw from several Google offices, and tables inside and out should be filled with people celebrating the end of the workweek. But the long barroom with seating for 80 is closed by coronavirus regulations, and on the outdoor patio — despite efforts to draw people in — there are just a dozen customers drinking and eating in a space for more than 200.

In this city with an economy heavily dependent on the technology industry’s army of daytime workers, thousands of whom are typically bused in by their employers, the shift to remote work is wreaking financial havoc across a broad swath of Mountain View businesses even as the city’s biggest employer contributes new revenue and pandemic assistance.

“We’re surrounded by Google here, and Microsoft is just over there. A lot of small companies as well,” says Jackie Graham, who has owned The Sports Page with her husband, Rob, for 28 years. “We used to be busy nearly every day because of the surrounding companies.”

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: From left, customers Guy Reichman, Lawrence Lin and Michael Dellosso spend time at the patio area of The Sports Page Bar & Grill in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Now, the Grahams have pulled the net from the sand volleyball court and ringed the expanse with socially distanced picnic tables plucked from the patio, where they’ve mounted three giant-screen TVs along the rear fence “just to try to bring some people in,” Graham says.

The Sports Page has kept its five bartenders but at dramatically reduced hours. Graham estimates revenue has cratered 70% from pre-pandemic times.

Elsewhere in the city of 83,000, where the most recent census data from 2012 showed annual retail sales topping $1 billion and hotel and food services bringing in nearly $300 million a year, shops, hotels and restaurants are largely deserted. Even when closed-off Castro Street gets lively in the evening, spacing mandates put a heavy damper on the numbers of diners and drinkers. Cities throughout the Bay Area, from Walnut Creek to Pleasanton to Cupertino, are facing similar challenges.

But Mountain View, whose largest employer has enough workers to fill a small city of its own, is experiencing a few benefits that other cities aren’t — even when the offices and campuses of that employer and others are mostly empty.

“It is a double-edged sword,” says city manager Kimbra McCarthy. Without the eating, drinking or shopping of tens of thousands of tech workers, many of whom live outside the city, Mountain View has taken a big hit on sales tax revenue. Hotel-tax revenue has plummeted, too.

But in a region that’s one of the nation’s most expensive real estate markets, property taxes remain the top revenue source. City-owned property delivers another $21 million annually, with Google the largest tenant.

Plus, the city this year has new revenue from business: Mountain View’s per-employee tax went into effect January 1. Google, the city’s largest employer with 23,000 workers in its headquarters complex, is expected to pay more than half of the annual $6 million to be raised.

“A lot of cities don’t have that revenue base so sales tax would perhaps play more prominently in their revenue source,” McCarthy says.

The temporary closure of Castro Street, an experiment many other cities are replicating to provide more space for outdoor dining, is providing a lifeline for restaurants but is far from a cure for their COVID-19 ills. On a recent Monday at lunchtime, a few people were scattered among the restaurant tables arranged on the roadway. Last year, restaurants would have been packed.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: From left, co-workers Paul Carlisle, Frank Tuzzolino, and Casey Golliher, sit for lunch in a nearly empty Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2020. Castro Street has been closed to traffic for outdoor dining. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

“We barely get customers,” says Rabi Sharma, a supervisor and server at Quality Bourbons and Barbecue, which has slashed drink prices by a third and food prices 10%. “I have two tables and I just wander around.”

Up the street at novelties shop Therapy Stores, foot traffic has plunged during the street closure, which the city may extend till the end of the year. Though online sales are up, this store is the biggest income generator in the family-owned Bay Area chain, and relied heavily on the city’s biggest industry, said assistant manager Morgan Guidry.

“We would get so much Google traffic, so much tech traffic,” Guidry said. “Even the smaller tech companies, we would get traffic from them.”

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: Therapy Stores assistant manager Morgan Guidry is seen in the mirror as she talks with this news organization on Sept. 14, 2020, in downtown Mountain View, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Business is down about 27%, and staff hours have been halved, she said.

Still, the city’s flashiest street, Chamber of Commerce CEO Peter Katz is quick to point out, “is not all of Mountain View.”

In a strip mall along El Camino Real, dozens of violins hang from racks at Sono Strings, and larger stringed instruments lean against the walls. Most sales and rentals have become impossible even with curbside pickup because the instruments must be sized in person.

“You can’t do business if you’re not open,” says co-owner Connie Tse, 51, sporting a “Viola Vampire” t-shirt.

About 80% of the shop’s customers work in tech, co-owner Jason Yoon, 34, estimated. Like others in the city’s small business community, Tse cited the challenge of struggling through the pandemic in a city with “tremendously high” commercial rents.

Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga emphasized that the city is running a micro-loan program that has provided funds to about 100 businesses so far.

Tse and her partners said they have not received city assistance. Of the $900,000 fund, $400,000 came from Google after it canceled its annual developers conference because of the virus.

The company has provided more than $1 million in aid in various forms to help Mountain View businesses and residents weather the pandemic, spokesman Michael Appel says. Sunnyvale-headquartered LinkedIn has donated $100,000 to help Mountain View small businesses.

Over the years, the tech industry’s contributions to Mountain View, along with other strong revenue sources, have pushed the city into a relatively favorable position for troubled times, Abe-Koga says.

“We’ve always put away money for rainy days,” Abe-Koga says. “That’s all coming into play now in keeping us afloat.”

Tech companies have kept many of their Mountain View workers employed, albeit remotely, which has helped keep the city’s unemployment rate down to 6%, Abe-Koga said.

But the chamber’s Katz worries that many of the tech workers who patronized local businesses will be gone for some time. Google is taking what its CEO called a “slow, deliberate, and incremental” approach and says its employees can work from home through at least next June.

“I’m more worried now than I was before because it’s been lasting so much longer than I think many people anticipated,” Katz said. “And I don’t see a strong path ahead.”

Abe-Koga said she’s troubled by growing numbers of empty storefronts and “for lease” signs on commercial offices, including an entire 10-story building on El Camino Real. “I haven’t seen something like that since the last recession,” she said.

#gives #takes #Technology

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years

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How Coronavirus Is Affecting the Hospitality Industry in America

The COVID-19 coronavirus is a legitimate health concern for every American right now. But for those working in the hospitality industry, the unfolding pandemic not only threatens their physical well-being; their livelihoods are also at risk.

Restaurants and bars, in particular, are suffering. Even in good times, the margins for operating these businesses are razor-thin, and many employed in the industry do not enjoy the safety net of sick pay and health insurance. Many restaurant and bar workers also are not able to work from home to “socially distance” or self-quarantine.

As the situation unfolds, VinePair will be sharing the latest news and updates on a continually updated live blog. But to paint a more detailed picture of how this pandemic is impacting our colleagues in the industry, we reached out to hospitality professionals around the country.

No region in America has yet felt the impact of the coronavirus as significantly as Washington State. At the time of publishing, three-quarters of the reported U.S. deaths attributed to the illness (31) have occurred within the state. Bars and restaurants in its most populous city, Seattle, are scrambling to react to the unfolding crisis.

On Wednesday evening, the Tom Douglas Company, which runs 13 restaurants across the city, announced it was shutting all but one of its locations for eight weeks, following a 90 percent drop in business since the start of the outbreak.

Zach Geballe, the group’s wine educator (and VinePair podcast co-host), was among the staff members who will soon find themselves in temporary unemployment. (The two-month closure will officially start following dinner service on Sunday, March 15.)

“Everyone is just waiting to see what happens,” Geballe says. “It’s impossible to know when, if at all, things will return to normal.”

Though the official word is that the Tom Douglas restaurant group will begin reopening locations in two months’ time, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situation. Geballe, and many of his colleagues, are left considering the very real possibility that they may be forced to change industries.

“The restaurant industry is inherently an unstable place. Prior to now, that instability has not been too big of an impediment to me building a life,” Geballe says. “While [coronavirus] is admittedly unprecedented, these kind of instances do make you question whether it’s time to find something less fragile.”

The reverberations of any large-scale labor shift would surely impact Seattle’s hospitality sector for months, if not years, to come.

Speak to anyone who manages a bar or restaurant and they’ll confirm just how hard it is to find reliable, skilled workers — even at the best of times. If many within that industry now seek other, more stable employment because of the impact of this pandemic, there may not be enough labor to operate those bars and restaurants when the crisis eventually passes.

Meanwhile, other Seattle restaurants have pivoted their concepts in an effort to keep their workers employed, and to recognize some income.

On Monday, fine-dining institution Canlis announced it would temporarily alter its normal operations, and instead offer Seattle diners three options: a takeout breakfast spot called “The Bagel Shed,” a pickup option serving burgers called “Drive On Thru,” and a delivery service called “Family Meal.”

This option, of course, may not be a reality for all restaurants. And it remains to be seen just how much demand there will be for such an offering on a medium- to long-term time frame. Additionally, this type of solution at other restaurants may only cover the kitchen staff, not the majority of those who work in customer-facing roles, relying on tip-based income.

As someone based in the epicenter of the crisis in the Pacific Northwest, Geballe says he feels a sense of foreboding that slowdowns and closures on the scale of Seattle may soon happen in other cities, such as New York and Chicago.

On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a mandate obliging all venues in the state with a capacity of 500 or less (including bars and restaurants) to reduce their capacity by 50 percent. Events and spaces with capacities of over 500 people have been canceled or shuttered.

On Thursday night in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, bars, restaurants, and other venues were taking attendance at the door, in case of the future need to track exposure.

“At a bar in Jersey City last night, I was required to give my full name, and other places were additionally collecting phone numbers and emails,” says Erica Duecy, VinePair’s editor in chief and chief content officer. “Right now the effort is voluntary. What’s not voluntary is the 10 p.m. curfew on liquor licenses, which adds further hardship on an already struggling industry.”

With margins in hospitality already incredibly fine, operating at 50 percent capacity or working within curfews is not likely to be a tenable solution.

By early Friday afternoon, Manhattan restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) announced all of its 19 restaurants would shut until further notice.

“With all that we now know about federal, state and citywide mandates, as well as the science that has provided evidence urging everyone to reduce nonessential social contact, we have made the difficult, but for us, obvious decision to temporarily close our restaurants in New York City,” Meyer said in a statement.

“Every day is a loss of income and this weekend will be a very strong telling point,” Steven Hall, the owner of a New York-based restaurant PR firm, tells VinePair. While Mondays and Tuesdays are typically slow days for most restaurants — even in New York — strong weekends are crucial for survival, he says.

If that doesn’t turn out to be the case over the next few days, many restaurants will be forced to consider closing throughout the week, to consolidate payroll, or even to follow USHG’s lead in shutting their doors completely until the pandemic subsides.

Not all parts of the hospitality industry have yet reported feeling the implications of the unfolding crisis, however. In California wine country, where many wineries offer hospitality and tasting experiences, some wineries are reporting business as usual.

“Winter tends to be the slowest time of year in general,” Matthew Crafton, winemaker at Napa Valley’s Chateau Montelena, tells VinePair. “Because of that, if there was any drop in visitors, it’s hard to know whether it is due to this.”

A 10 to 15 percent fall in visitors in August, on the other hand, would be “significant,” Crafton says. But with international travel fears, there’s also the possibility that this summer could see a spike in domestic tourism. “We certainly saw that during the recession,” he says.

One thing that unites everyone in the industry right now is uncertainty. And yet, in these uncertain times, some professionals are still managing to offer the trademark hospitality that defines their industry — albeit in novel ways.

On Thursday evening, Washington D.C., bar veteran Derek Brown tweeted: “If anyone is stuck at home tonight and needs a cocktail recipe, tweet me your ingredients. I’ll tell you what to make.”

If anyone is stuck at home tonight and needs a cocktail recipe, tweet me your ingredients. I’ll tell you what to make.

— Derek Brown (@ideasimprove) March 12, 2020

At the time of publishing, more than 1,000 Twitter users have responded to Brown’s offer for help. His suggestions have ranged from classic cocktails, such as the Old Fashioned and Gin Fizz, to innovative uses for hard seltzers.

The risks and realities of a global pandemic are no doubt serious. But a momentary pause for a stiff drink might not be such a bad idea right now.

The article How Coronavirus Is Affecting the Hospitality Industry in America appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/coronavirus-covid19-hospitality-business-impact/

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johnboothus · 4 years

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How Coronavirus Is Affecting the Hospitality Industry in America