I just read on OregonLive.com that gas stations will be permitted to temporarily go to self-service to reduce exposure of employees to coronavirus as they take payment and interact closely with customers.

I’ve often thought that handing a credit card across is one of the best ways to give or get a cold. Now that we have a turbocharged version of the cold, we’re all looking at all the ways we might be opening ourselves to risk. This is going to create some lasting changes as we do things differently to prevent contamination.

Other examples of processes that are under the microscope and how they may change in the future:

• public transportation seating is very close together for extended periods – fewer people may travel on planes, or airplane ventilation and cleanliness may be managed differently
• tightly packed lines at grocery stores, TSA security, athletic events, and more – we may see a different method for managing lines involving “Disney-esque” crowd control
• public building and restroom door handles are needlessly high-touch – more of these may become automatic when you press a switch plate
• public or workplace plumbing faucet handles – many of these are already touch-free, and many more will become so
• point-of-sale systems that require the employee to handle customer’s credit card – more POS will be self-service
• POS systems that require customers to touch the screen or buttons – more POS will allow touch-free (in their lingo, “contactless” payment like Samsung Pay, Google Pay, or Apple Pay
• reusable shopping bags introduce more disease risk than expected – customers who are tired of wiping down their reusable bags are going to buy machine-washable cloth bags or some better alternative
• using the customer’s own reusable drink cups pose a risk to restaurant workers – we may see that restaurants stop this practice forever, even for drive-ins
• sick leave for workers who are in contact with customers regularly is inadequate to protect public health in extreme cases like coronavirus – more employers may go to a more flexible sick leave policy (or be forced to by law)
• recycling is now so dangerous for the workers that stores in many states are not required to accept bottles and cans for refunds – in the future, there may be more stringent requirements about rinsing or protective equipment for workers

As the effect ripples through our nation and even our world, we can only be sure of one thing – that we will encounter more surprises and challenges in the future.

What we’re going through is going to change how we work, shop, play, celebrate, and care for ourselves and others.

I’m settling into my new Asus Chromebook C433T, which is a wonderful, fast, slim machine that seems to do so much of what I want out of a laptop.

This one has an Intel CORE m3 8th Gen processor and 60 GB of storage, and is running Chrome OS Version 80.0.3987.158.

I’ve been using LastPass to manage my passwords for years now and it works great on Windows PCs as a Chrome extension and on Android phones as an app. It fills usernames and passwords like a champ.

However, Chromebooks are neither a PC or an Android phone, but can use a little of both. I’ve recently learned that the best way to use a Chromebook is with Chrome extensions or apps, and not Android apps. Some of the newer Chromebooks can also use Android apps, but I find they open in a small, phone-shaped window and that’s a bit awkward to manage.

If you also have a Chromebook that can have Android apps, you may have noticed that when you are looking at your launcher and searching for a specific app, sometimes you see two of the same app but with slightly different icons. What’s happening there is your have both the Chrome WebStore and the Google Play Store apps.

Currently, the Chrome browser extension (from the WebStore) is still auto-filling with no problems.

However, LastPass isn’t auto-filling passwords between the Android LastPass app and other Android apps on my Chromebook.

I think this is the main reason why Chromebook mavens are recommending to use the WebStore apps whenever possible. The user interface is not pleasant on Android apps when you’re trying to display them on a 14″ screen.

If you want to learn more about managing both types of apps, Google has a good answer on this topic. There was a bit of useful discussion on the LastPass Reddit as well. The website GSA Education provided a helpful comparison of Chrome OS apps, Chrome browser extensions, and Android apps, all of which are available for Chromebooks.

Goodreads.com is promoting Young Adult week. Its blog article, “Can You Be ‘Too Old’ for YA? Our Expert Opinion: No,” says it all. I agree.

Young Adult Fiction that’s written with care, where the characters drive the action, is a joy to read. One of the things I love about Young Adult Fiction is that it is often more positive. In life, we can’t always have a happy ending. In fiction, we can.

My fave YA series so far:
Vega Jane, a fantasy series by David Baldacci
Harbinger Series, a fantasy by Jeff Wheeler
An Ember in the Ashes, a fantasy series by Sabaa Tahir
The Earthsea Cycle, a fantasy series by Ursula K LeGuin
The Traveler’s Gate, a series by Will Wight
Arcane Ascension, a series by Andrew Rowe
Inter World, a sci fi series by Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves, and Mallory Reaves
The Giver Quartet, a fantasy series by Lois Lowry
Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, a fantasy series by Ransom Riggs
Harry Potter, a fantasy series by J.K. Rowling
Alice in Wonderland, a fantasy by Lewis Carroll
and of course, the first fantasy series in my heart – The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum

If you’re interested in checking out some YA books, your library likely has a great selection of ebooks in this category. Take advantage of this wealth of entertainment!

Today Jim took me to Forest Park, a large urban forest in the hills overlooking downtown portland and Vancouver, WA.
 
 We were at the highest point in the park today – 1,100 ft. Nice clear day at about 65 degrees. We hiked about 3.5 miles.
 
 Forest Park, a municipal park in Tualatin Mountains measuring 5172.14 acres in size, is a gem right in the middle of the Portland metro area.
 
 We saw a chipmunk, mole, and slugs in addition to the common fauna.
 
 Best part was when the view opened up to Vancouver. It was a beautiful clear day.
 
 Without further ado, the pics:

 The forest awaits! Beginning of Fire Lane 7 trail.
 

My love makin tracks.

Weird dwelling cleverly constructed.
 

So many beautiful flowers. Is this a trillium?

You can see Vancouver through the trees.

Obligatory selfie. (left) Syl. (right) Jim.

Mosses, flowers and ferns on the forest floor.

A slug. Jim says the moles eat them but I don’t know. Who could eat a slug?

Location:Forest Park,Portland, OR

I visited a men’s clothing store with my husband today. He was there to buy a suit for a job interview (he had lost weight and the old one was too big). My husband is a big AND tall guy – a real teddy bear type. He’s hard to buy clothes for.

I had never been in one of these stores, and it was an awakening for me. The staff was friendly and helpful and the selection was fine. However, they were missing some key opportunities to sell more clothing. Here is my list:

1. Store employees – all men – should wear something other than polo shirts and jeans. They should be demonstrating that big and tall men can look sharp with a little effort. How about showcasing some of the merchandise?
2. When a husband and wife come in and explain they need a job interview suit that sets him apart from the usual fashion-challenged tech worker, it’s an invitation to take charge of the situation. Don’t simply go along with the husband’s suggestion of a black suit. Or do so, but also suggest another color that is not quite as….funereal.
3. Design your store so that customers don’t have to brush against the racks of clothing or each other as they move around. Big people feel awkward about that stuff already.
4. Be ready with options for tailoring. Don’t just admit that your store doesn’t have it. Offer to hem pants for free with a purchase over a certain amount. These men don’t want to spend any more time fussing over their clothes than absolutely necessary, and they probably waited until the last minute to make a purchase decision because they hate trying on clothes in stores.

Contrast this with my positive experience in a Lane Bryant. Employees there did these things right:

1. The employees gave women a little emotional space in the dressing room area – they know we would like others to pretend we don’t exist while trying on clothes.
2. They avoided commenting on clothing that customers were browsing with comments like “that’s very slimming, it would look great on you.”
3. Store designers spaced the racks far apart to allow customers personal space.
4. Employees (all women) dressed nicely in the fashions on display in the store and were not all a size 2.

E-mail sent to A&P Fresh Online regarding a grocery delivery I received yesterday:

Hi, I just received my order – delivery service was timely and polite – thank you. I am wondering why you do so many substitutions? Of my 42 items ordered, 10 of them were substituted. Most of the substitutions were fine, but in a couple cases I didn’t agree with the choices. I know I selected “allow substitutions” – if I do not allow them, does that mean I would only get 32 of my 42 items?

How can I select items that are more likely to be in your inventory? Why does your inventory match up so poorly with what you are offering online?

If I keep allowing substitutions, how can I get substitutions that are more likely to be satisfactory? Should I choose middle of the road pricing to allow the packers more flexibility?

Thank you,

Sylvie Dale

What I was trying to do was not spend a lot of my precious energy picking out, bagging, loading in the car, unloading from the car, and putting away groceries. I find this to be an exhausting and thankless task and frankly, I hate it. Some people love picking out their food. Not me – that is, not if I have to shlep it repeatedly from place to place. So when my work schedule swelled because of a major project and the house ran completely out of food, I spent half an hour on a grocery shopping site and had the groceries delivered.

Logistically this worked well, because there is almost always someone at home to take delivery. But the substitutions they selected are enough to make me re-evaluate my decision. One-quarter of the items I selected were substituted – that seems kind of high, doesn’t it? I won’t bore you with granular details, but give you just two examples: for people who prefer white NY style cheddar, yellow cheddar just isn’t acceptable. Substituting a box of raisin bran for a box of bran flakes is not a great idea if I already ordered a box of raisin bran in the same order.  So I am looking for a way to use the shopping site smarter, so that I have fewer surprises when the food arrives. And I may try the other service, Pea Pod, to compare how they substitute.

I read an article by the Harvard Business Review that you should manage your energy, not your time. This is a concept that makes a lot of sense. When you’re working as smart as you possibly can, it’s time to look at your energy. You may not realize it, but little dribs and drabs of your time are being stolen away due to spotty attention span or fogginess caused by being tired. If you are fresh and rested, your ideas are more brilliant, your remarks more on point, and your work is much faster.

Multitasking, hailed in the 90s as a great way to get lots done, is now being understood as a time waster for some types of job roles. I am a trainer, so part of my time is spent developing curriculum in PowerPoint and also in an e-learning format. I must also keep track of student records and training schedules. These are tasks best done without interruptions, so it’s counter-productive (and tiring) to multitask when I do them.

I was a gardener when I lived in Oklahoma. I read about how plants do what they do and why, when you pick the dead flowers off a blooming plant, you can expect it to stay in bloom longer, and how sometimes a root-bound plant will flower better than one with plenty of wiggle room in the pot. It turns out we are like plants. We only have so much energy, and it gets channeled where we allow it to go. If we cut off an energy-wasting channel, like the pointless and aggravating task of grocery shopping, it naturally flows into the other channels that are still open, such as my work.

While the grocery delivery was not perfect, it did save me a lot of effort. Maybe A&P Online will give me some good pointers on how to use their system for best results.