SPOX’s Daily Briefing – Bars, Casinos and Shoe Stores are Reopening

Silver Dollar Bar and Grill

Tenderloins and cold beer. What a great combination. For many years, a glass of beer at the Silver Dollar was a buck. Two years ago they changed it to a dollar and a half. For your information they didn’t change the name of the bar.

They had a pickup service during the shutdown. They had a full-service drive-up where you could get a burger and fries plus refreshments. You could even buy lottery tickets. They would bring them right to the car with a penny to scratch them with.

Casino Time

My favorite casino on the river in Laughlin, NV is reopening. You can sit there all day and drink their beer or whatever for free. That is as long as you’re playing the video poker. My biggest pay day there was the weekend I won eight tee shirts. Of course, with my luck, the logos were gone the first time I washed them. I did keep two on the side to polish my car with.

Shoe Stores

Boy, I was glad this happened when it did. About half-way through the shutdown, I blow a shoe jogging. The little nails in my right shoe popped up through the sole. Well, the malls were closed so I had to put thick paper in the bottom.

Finally, I got in a shoe store. I remember the good old days when you went in, sat on a stool and a salesclerk helped you measure your feet. They would made sure you got what you wanted, back then. As you know, it’s self-service now.

The store I went to was practicing social distancing and sanitation. Each aisle had a monitor to check what you had touched. And they had a cart to put the shoes in you had tried on.  As you left the monitor got his spray bottle and sanitized the leftover shoes and the seat you were sitting on. I have odd sized shoe, so I had filled up the cart. Job security.

Hair & Beauty Supply Stores and Beauty Parlors

They are beginning to open. My wife was going crazy. Finally, her favorite store was open for business.

They were doing a good job monitoring customers. They had a limit on the number of customers that could be in the store at one time. And all employees had gloves and masks on. Each customer was required to wear a mask while shopping. Unlike other opening stores, it looked like the customers wanted to wear masks. I think the main reason was not the flu but their identity.

Banks

The banks are starting to loosen their customer restrictions. They had been directing their customers through the drive-thru but they have dropped the limit of two people per car.

You could go inside the bank by appointment only. They required a mask and a customer account. They checked your temperature and your bank balance before letting you enter. I understand they are loosening the customer account requirement.

Our Real Heroes

Our condolences to those who have lost love ones and to the patients and their family members that continue to fight COVID-19.

A big salute to our doctors and medical workers and our first responders.

A salute to Calvin Munerlyn, 43, a father of eight and a black security guard who was murdered doing his job.

And to black federal law enforcement officer, Dave Patrick Underwood, 53, who was shot and killed while providing security at the U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest. He died from gunshot wounds sustained after someone fired shots from an unidentified vehicle.

SPOX’s Daily Briefing – Defunding of the Police and the New Normal

Now that the movement to defund Police Departments is underway, I thought I would do some research on the way the New Normal will look. I tried to get as many opinions from as many sources as I could.

911 Call

My study started with the dreaded 911 call. In my first attempt, I was put on hold for about a minute. Then I got a recording, “Due to the increased volume of calls, all our representatives are currently busy answering other calls. You’re estimated wait time is (pause) 12 minutes.”

Well that didn’t go well. So, I decided to wait this one out. The conversation went like this.

“How can I help?”

“I have an emergency. I think someone is trying to break into my house.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Let me look for availability in your area. Okay. I can schedule someone to come out tomorrow from noon to four. Also, you can report your event to a meter reader who is scheduled to be in the area next Monday. They have been trained to take incident reports.”

Communication Center

That wasn’t good. So, I thought I would check into the communication problem I just went through. I had a friend who knew one of the city councilmen, so I reached out to our elected official. This is how that went.

We discussed my call.

“We are working on the problem. I assure you we will be moving the communications back to the States. Because of the time delay, we are seeing the wait time is unacceptable,” he said.

“We are taking the money from the police budget and remodeling the former police station downtown. We are going to turn it into a state-of-the-art communication center. We will be hiring people from the area and creating new jobs. Also, one floor will be devoted only to personal videos from people’s cellphones that they send us.”

“As you know, there is a push to not allow any evidence except for the personal videos at trials. And because suspect’s past-records are not admissible, we have turned the evidence locker in the basement of the station into a workout center to help our new employees adjust.”

Crime is Up and Down

When I asked the councilman about the increase in crime, he responded positively.

“When we started, we didn’t know what would happen.  The murders and shootings increased almost immediately but it looks like their curve is flattening. Other crimes and assaults have increased. We are waiting for their curve to stop going up. You know we are doing all this with video from our cameras, personal videos and security sources. It will take time for everyone to adjust.” 

Annual Police Bake Sale and Auction

One thing I look forward to each year is the county fair. Well I had accepted the fact this was going to be different. Probably forever. The New Normal.

The Annual Police Bake Sale was always the big event at the fair. People looked forward to eating the cake and pastries and mingle with our first responders. The kids got to see policemen in person, turn on the siren, and flash the lights. A positive experience for them.

Well, that had changed dramatically. The food was catered in, clowns replaced the officers, and the kids had to ride a horse carousel.

One of the new things was the police equipment auction. Everything was on sale. They were selling used police cars and other equipment. Even guns from officers and the evidence locker were on display.

The police cars were a great deal, selling at a fraction of their value. The sirens, warning lights, and floodlights had been removed. The logos had been sprayed over although it was unclear if the department had done that or they had hired a tagger to do the work.

The cage wire between the front and back seats was optional.

Cop Shows

There is even a movement to ban Cop movies, TV shows and certain CARTOONS under certain conditions. I’m going to miss Harmon. I’m going to miss Snipes. I’m going to miss Dirty Harry.

BUY DIRTY HARRY TODAY while you still can.

Man on the Street

As I left the fair, a man was holding a sign that caught my eye.

The sign read, ‘Please don’t close the Police Station.’

I needed to talk to this guy. His sign was against the protester's point of view. He explained it to me.

“I usually spend the weekend in lockup. I live on the street and I get my best meals there. I know where the patrolmen hang out for donuts and I try to get in their way. The next thing I know, I’m sitting in a cell. It works every time.”

Our Real Heroes

Our condolences to those who have lost love ones and to the patients and their family members that continue to fight COVID-19.

A big salute to our doctors and medical workers and our first responders.

A salute to Calvin Munerlyn, 43, a father of eight and a black security guard who was murdered doing his job.

And to black federal law enforcement officer, Dave Patrick Underwood, 53, who was shot and killed while providing security at the U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest. He died from gunshot wounds sustained after someone fired shots from an unidentified vehicle.

SPOX’s Daily Briefing - Demand for TV Dinners has Soared

As we move closer to the New Normal, the demand for many things is increasing. We had to change our habits and routines. One of the winners is TV dinners and frozen food. I have to report the facts, as I see them.

Regular Demand

The normal things we need are really in constant demand like food and drink and toilet paper. With restaurants and bars closed, we have moved to eating at home. That’s why grocery stores were deemed essential. But our wives found out quickly, cooking every day got old fast.

So enter the TV dinner’s popularity. As my wife put it, “If it takes more than four and a half minutes, I’m not cooking it.”

The other thing that took a hit was personal appearance. The practice of hair coloring, toenail, and fingernail care became a home project. Let’s put it this way, there are more brunettes then I remember before the shutdown.

A Note: Look for the Spox’x Chicken Fried Steak TV dinner. Its demand has exploded. You can’t find the dinners anywhere.

Static Demand

These are things that we do frequently but are not life or death activities like eating out at restaurants. We have seen a spike in the usage of drive-thru restaurants.

On-line buying became very popular and maybe a big change to our new normal. Even the sale of cars online exploded. You just select it on the internet and they drop it off at your home. You have seven days to return the vehicle if you don’t like it. My neighbors are on their third car. Go figure.

The price of gas is down drastically. Of course, we aren’t driving anywhere anyway. I logged in forty miles last week down from a regular two hundred.

Our social distancing and wearing protective mask usage is starting to decline. One authority estimated that only about 15% of the people in the U.S. practiced preventive methods.

One thing that is changing this is the current demonstrations and riots over the death of a man in police custody.  While the social distancing is out the window, the wearing of masks has increased.

The job market is starting to improve. Many are starting to return to their day jobs. Others are starting the old job shuffle. They are changing jobs, hopefully with a bigger opportunity.

As broadcasted the other day, over 60% of the unemployed are making more money than they did when they were working. I interviewed a guy at a bar last week. “I’m not going back while I’m getting the extra money.” He finished the conversation by hoisting his mug of beer and saluting me.

               

Next, I talked with a chair salesman. I just had to spend part of my stimulus. He was forced to return to his job or lose his seniority. “I was making more on unemployment but I couldn’t go backward. Everyone is going to be looking for a job soon.”

Bars are coming back strong. At least, the new normal will still include my favorite pastime.

Our Heroes

Our condolences to those who have lost love ones and to the patients and their family members that continue to fight COVID-19. Salute to our doctors and medical workers and our first responders.

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