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lj762

Explorer
Feb 18, 2017
358
227
Bass River State Forest
OK let's go somewhere else: State Parks and Forests reopening. Some news reports I read are unclear about a few things, so I looked at the actual Executive Order here: https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-133.pdf

Face coverings: The EO does not require wearing face masks. It says employees and visitors should wear cloth face coverings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain... But we should be trying hard to avoid those situations anyway. (By the way, I really suggest people not wear face masks when driving alone in a car, or with family members you live with. Wasn't there a story recently about an accident, where the police think a factor was the driver had been wearing an N95 mask for a long time and probably didn't get enough oxygen?)

I'm not at all saying you can't wear face covering outdoors in the forest - you certainly can, but it isn't required.

Second, and people here probably won't like this at all: The EO forbids parking in undesignated areas such as roadways. Only in marked parking spaces, and 50% of those are supposed to be unavailable.
 

HankG

Scout
Dec 14, 2019
70
15
where i am
OK let's go somewhere else: State Parks and Forests reopening. Some news reports I read are unclear about a few things, so I looked at the actual Executive Order here: https://www.nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-133.pdf

Face coverings: The EO does not require wearing face masks. It says employees and visitors should wear cloth face coverings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain... But we should be trying hard to avoid those situations anyway. (By the way, I really suggest people not wear face masks when driving alone in a car, or with family members you live with. Wasn't there a story recently about an accident, where the police think a factor was the driver had been wearing an N95 mask for a long time and probably didn't get enough oxygen?)

I'm not at all saying you can't wear face covering outdoors in the forest - you certainly can, but it isn't required.

Second, and people here probably won't like this at all: The EO forbids parking in undesignated areas such as roadways. Only in marked parking spaces, and 50% of those are supposed to be unavailable.

I never understood why people wear a mask while driving solo.

And I'd expect to see widespread non-compliance with the EO as far as parking...
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
But we should be trying hard to avoid those situations anyway. (By the way, I really suggest people not wear face masks when driving alone in a car, or with family members you live with.

Have you noticed the numbers of folks with the mask pulled down over their chin/neck? Doesn't seem to be a smart way to store it, especially if it has become contaminated.
 

HankG

Scout
Dec 14, 2019
70
15
where i am
I have no idea, do you? I prefer to let someone with the education and qualifications define it. Do you think you have them?
Well, the question of what distinguishes life from non-life may be more philosophical (and yes, I have qualifications in that regards) than scientific....

But I'm curious..what do you do when those with the education and qualifications to define life disagree on the issue? That's great that you prefer to defer to the experts...


Dr. Bhella considers viruses to be a form of life.... Do you agree or disagree with him?
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
I am in the "not alive" camp for virus. Outside the host, they don't carry on all the requirements of life that I learned of in Biology. They are on the edge of life. Further, when most people think of the word "kill", it means put an end to life. When a blowtorch is aimed at a hard surface where a virus is wrapped in it's protein, you are destroying something that is not alive, so you are not killing it, you are destroying it.
  • responsiveness to the environment;
  • growth and change;
  • ability to reproduce;
  • have a metabolism and breathe;
  • maintain homeostasis;
  • being made of cells; and.
  • passing traits onto offspring.
 
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Jon Holcombe

Explorer
Dec 1, 2015
967
1,934
Medford
None of these allowed in our parks and forests this weekend.

In my opinion this is not going to go well.

The other day I saw a group of 6 teenagers with two dirtbikes, hanging out together on a narrow trail. I walked 30 ft into the brush to avoid them. Two adult fisherman walked by me as I scrambled to distance myself on a slope off the trail although I warned them I was doing it, they never slowed down. On the way home, turning into my development, I saw a group of 6 or 7 kids who could have been Shawnee distance runners with shirts off, sweating up a storm, running in a pack on Stokes road.

Kids are knuckleheads. So are a lot of adults. If everyone took distancing seriously the Parks never would have been closed.

Have I been a Covid despardo myself? Yes. But I follow the distancing rules carefully, never putting myself or anyone at risk.

I am afraid the openings won't last long, hope I'm wrong.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,178
If you follow the distance rule as you say, then you have done your part. Not much more you can do. Because some (many) people don't follow the rules, we all are in for a long road ahead of us.

Other than work, I have not been near anyone other than my family in well over a month. I went to CVS to buy my drugs because I had to, and I went to the gas station to get gas. In CVS I never touched anything, and at the gas station I stayed far away from him.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
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HankG

Scout
Dec 14, 2019
70
15
where i am
I am in the "not alive" camp for virus. Outside the host, they don't carry on all the requirements of life that I learned of in Biology. They are on the edge of life. Further, when most people think of the word "kill", it means put an end to life. When a blowtorch is aimed at a hard surface where a virus is wrapped in it's protein, you are destroying something that is not alive, so you are not killing it, you are destroying it.
  • responsiveness to the environment;
  • growth and change;
  • ability to reproduce;
  • have a metabolism and breathe;
  • maintain homeostasis;
  • being made of cells; and.
  • passing traits onto offspring.

Hello Bob...so is it your opinion that if just one of these traits is absent, we are dealing with non-life? Does a living thing need to possess every single one of these traits?
 
I don't like it just walking in my neighborhood now when people are out. They are jogging with no facemask, maybe leaving a cloud of particles behind them. Sort of a slipstream right towards me.


Not a huge issue near me- most of the people out walking are older and are not moving fast enough to generate a slipstream! And are wearing a mask. The younger people are usually not masked, are in groups of 2-4 on their way to the local convenience store. Not many people on foot around here, so walking the dog is easy social distancing. I put the mask on if I'm near anyone.

Google "nylon stocking layer face mask" and get several versions of a story about how putting a section of this material improves the fit of any face mask. I tried it, just cut a section of pantyhose leg off. It definitely improves the fit of my cloth mask around nose and chin, and keeps the elastic from popping off my ears. Also reduces glasses steaming up. It may also slightly improve mask ability to block inhalation of infectious droplets.

There's a good, detailed instruction /diagram on the John Hopkins website on making a cloth mask.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,178
Our company has bought us a few different types of masks. Today we received a cloth one to use. Rob tried it on and said it is the first one that did not steam up his glasses.
 
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