Stranger in a Strange Land

[Ed Rooney 3,045]

There are always exceptions to every rule, Steve. In this case, I would feel it important to document that hair. 😜

[Steve F 587]

Just now, Ed Rooney said:

There are always exceptions to every rule, Steve. In this case, I would feel it important to document that hair. 😜

 

Lol, the hair has taken over. All I want to know is when the hairdressers are opening!

[Ed Rooney 3,045]

Without knowledge of the future, I had my last haircut two days before the lockdown. I used the word "trim" and then "short." My Kurdish barber took my hair down to a Vin Diesel length. 

[John Mitchell 4,252]

Hairdressers reopened a few weeks ago here. I went for my "pandemic cut". It was an unusual experience given all the precautions that have to be taken. No beard trims available either, as masks tend to get in the way. 😷🧔

 

Edited June 25 by John Mitchell

[losdemas 2,561]

On 25/06/2020 at 15:12, Steve F said:

Could be.... 🙃

 

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”

That's a great quote! Never seen it before; had to look it up.

[geogphotos 2,312]

On 25/06/2020 at 17:46, John Mitchell said:

Hairdressers reopened a few weeks ago here. I went for my "pandemic cut". It was an unusual experience given all the precautions that have to be taken. No beard trims available either, as masks tend to get in the way. 😷🧔

 

 

 

And no inane chatter asking about your holiday plans or what you will be doing the rest of the day? Bliss.

[John Mitchell 4,252]

34 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

 

And no inane chatter asking about your holiday plans or what you will be doing the rest of the day? Bliss.

 

My hairdresser talks a lot, so she still managed to get quite a lot of muffled banter in despite the PPE.

[Ed Rooney 3,045]

John, is that dog waiting for a haircut?

[John Mitchell 4,252]

19 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

John, is that dog waiting for a haircut?

 

Yup, but he wasn't wearing a mask, so he was probably out of luck. 😉

[Sally R 247]

On 25/06/2020 at 02:16, Ed Rooney said:

These gulls didn't steal from me, Betty. I gave them the fries. At first there was one alone, being very territorial. Then a few others dropped by. 

 

I've been here for almost a year now and I've never seen a Herring gulls steal or become aggressive. They are big birds, so they could be a problem.

 

I like these birds. They have a majesty about them. They are not friendly looking or charming, but they project something that says they have a right to their space on Earth. I don't want to be one of those people who goes around feeding birds all the time, but when I can I will. 

 

 

 

Hi Ed, just saw this picture of yours of a Herring Gull and realised they are like the Pacific Gulls we get here in Australia, except ours have yellow legs and much darker back feathers. You rarely see them in Perth, but see them more commonly to the south. Unlike the Silver Gulls which are the most numerous here, our Pacific Gulls sound more like your Herring Gulls, not aggressive and with a kind of nobility about them. I've put up one pic on Alamy of one I saw in southern Tasmania:

 

 

[John Mitchell 4,252]

These are the guys -- called Western Gulls here -- that we see in Vancouver.  No doubt, they hop rides to and from Asia and Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28 by John Mitchell

[John Morrison 3,335]

Gulls aren't popular in seaside towns; nor are people who feed them...

 

 

[Ed Rooney 3,045]

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-future-near-and-far.html

 

Here we go again.

[Robert M Estall 262]

This virus theme may have quite a lot of run-time left. So many people running out of patience, I hope they don't find grief after their partying. I'd love a long hot summer but not if it means trouble in the cities and gridlock trying to get to our beaches. Just  think, there would have been no mud at Glastonbury this year!

 

[NYCat 2,156]

A report from NYC for you, Edo. Some of the restaurants near me that already had outdoor tables have been allowed to put more out into the parking spaces in front. One place that always seems to do mostly outdoor dining has added plastic partitions between tables. The weather has cooperated so far and I've seen dining going on. A Persian place near me was very actively promoting their take-out during the shutdown and also taking donations for food for the hospitals. That was very lovely, although the cut in income I suffered made me feel like I had no extra money to donate. I only have two or three cat visits a week right now but it looks like picking up in a couple of weeks. Alamy is being good to me these days with a nice payment coming up. My main worry now with the cases of the virus spiking in the South and West is that people here may not be able to travel. Best to stay away from the worrying and just appreciate what I have. I know I am a fortunate person and having a courtyard garden to enjoy has been wonderful.

 

Paulette

[Cecile Marion 126]

Enjoyed your post today, Ed. It’s always a nice Sunday morning read, and I also appreciate hearing about your life in Liverpool. 
As for New York, my daughter has been back in Lower Manhattan for a bit, packing up her apartment and preparing to move out of state. She has been very frustrated by the number of people on the street who aren’t wearing masks. Not sure if you’re seeing this, Paulette. In the FIDI area, my daughter reports seeing  a lot of folks with masks around their necks or pulled down below their mouth/nose, ready to pull them back up if need be, but says it’s hard to social distance from them because there are so many people on the sidewalks. She also feels like she’s seeing a lot more homeless people than normal, but for the most part, the homeless are wearing masks. 

[wiskerke 2,994]

10 hours ago, Sally R said:

 

Hi Ed, just saw this picture of yours of a Herring Gull and realised they are like the Pacific Gulls we get here in Australia, except ours have yellow legs and much darker back feathers. You rarely see them in Perth, but see them more commonly to the south. Unlike the Silver Gulls which are the most numerous here, our Pacific Gulls sound more like your Herring Gulls, not aggressive and with a kind of nobility about them. I've put up one pic on Alamy of one I saw in southern Tasmania:

 

 

If anyone is into gulls, have a look at this book: Gulls of the World - A Photographic Guide - Klaus Malling Olsen 2018

Without it I would never have known the difference between the argenteus and the argentatus. Hmm I still don't see it, but I now know there is.

       Upperparts paler than in argentatus. Note very pale eyes surrounded by narrow, palish orbital ring, creating ʻsceptical lookʼ.

Sceptical look? Does mine have the sceptical look? Hmm.

Reviews of the book: 1; 2. (And the list of errata from 2. - Insert laughing gull emoji here.)

 

And there's the brilliant http://www.gull-research.org website. (Take a look at this page.)

 

wim

[Steve F 587]

On 27/06/2020 at 14:40, losdemas said:

That's a great quote! Never seen it before; had to look it up.

Seems somewhat appropriate at the present time...!

[John Mitchell 4,252]

 

2 hours ago, wiskerke said:

 

If anyone is into gulls, have a look at this book: Gulls of the World - A Photographic Guide - Klaus Malling Olsen 2018

Without it I would never have known the difference between the argenteus and the argentatus. Hmm I still don't see it, but I now know there is.

       Upperparts paler than in argentatus. Note very pale eyes surrounded by narrow, palish orbital ring, creating ʻsceptical lookʼ.

Sceptical look? Does mine have the sceptical look? Hmm.

Reviews of the book: 1; 2. (And the list of errata from 2. - Insert laughing gull emoji here.)

 

And there's the brilliant http://www.gull-research.org website. (Take a look at this page.)

 

wim

 

The "Gulls of the World" book looks really interesting. I hadn't realized that gulls were such a diverse species. Identifying them looks to be as complicated as naming flowers, something that I don't seem to get any better at. Then again, "the word is not the thing", as someone wise once said.

[NYCat 2,156]

3 hours ago, Cecile Marion said:

Enjoyed your post today, Ed. It’s always a nice Sunday morning read, and I also appreciate hearing about your life in Liverpool. 
As for New York, my daughter has been back in Lower Manhattan for a bit, packing up her apartment and preparing to move out of state. She has been very frustrated by the number of people on the street who aren’t wearing masks. Not sure if you’re seeing this, Paulette. In the FIDI area, my daughter reports seeing  a lot of folks with masks around their necks or pulled down below their mouth/nose, ready to pull them back up if need be, but says it’s hard to social distance from them because there are so many people on the sidewalks. She also feels like she’s seeing a lot more homeless people than normal, but for the most part, the homeless are wearing masks. 

 

I'd say about 3/4 of the people I see are wearing masks. I pull mine off my nose to breathe as I walk and put it back up as I approach people. I'm getting pretty good at it. Fortunately, the streets aren't that crowded as I do everything I can in the morning and then hole up in my apartment. The people without masks are usually young. All the indoor spaces require masks.

 

Paulette

 

[Ed Rooney 3,045]

Someone sent me a snap taken last night outside the White Horse Tavern that shows a bunch of people, shoulder to shoulder. No face masks. 🤪

[NYCat 2,156]

I haven't been outside after dark in months.....Is that sad? Or just smart.

 

Paulette

[Mr Standfast 377]

 

 

 

Found this chap while tidying up captions.

 

 

[Colblimp 1,880]

In Cork and County Cork, people wear face masks which only cover their mouths, not their noses...

[Michael Ventura 5,079]

19 minutes ago, Colblimp said:

In Cork and County Cork, people wear face masks which only cover their mouths, not their noses...

That’s odd about not covering the nose but at least the mouths are cover....better than nothing.  My area, just outside of DC, People seem to be very good about wearing masks.  It is heartening to see.  My nurse daughter says masks absolutely slow way down the breath particles from aerosolizing.  In the past three months, no healthcare worker, working with Covid patients at her hospital, have gotten the virus...just shows you that the personal protective gear they wear really does work!  Funny tho, she has a firefighter boyfriend who hates wearing a mask and will only do so when absolutely forced, she says.  I mean he will wear one in businesses but not so much in outside social areas.