Boxing Day walk around Lismore
“How do I sign out? I’ve never done that before”, I heard one woman ask the barman at a Lismore pub today. Incorrectly he told her “Don’t worry, it just happens automatically”. While that may be the case in other states, that’s not the case in NSW. It’s a pain in the arse, to be honest. Surely if I’ve signed in to another venue, I’m no longer at the previous one? Even if we live in a “digital age”, life is still quite linear. Maybe he didn’t know himself? Or maybe he just wanted her to leave?
A few seconds later a couple of blokes appeared at the bar and were ready to order some drinks. “Have you signed in?, they were asked, to which they replied, “No, we didn’t know you had to”. “And you have to wear masks except when you’re drinking”, they were further told. The two blokes then asked if the pub had any masks. When they were told they did, but they would each cost $1, they reluctantly agreed to “buy one between them”. There was a follow-up question about whether or not the mask came with a complimentary soft-drink.
Since I’ve been home I’ve also heard a bloke tell his elderly mate at the Worker’s Club on Friday night, “There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just the flu”. Despite overhearing such ignorance, it was a worthwhile trip to the club, as I won TWO meat trays. This should look after the family for a few weeks!
Having spent yesterday without leaving the house (I’m still experiencing a bit of post-surgery pain(, I thought it was time to go for a bit of exercise (and a glass of wine at the pub), which took me through North Lismore, South Lismore and into Lismore’s CBD.
As you might expect for Boxing Day, things were reasonably quiet around town. Even for a Sunday it was pretty quiet. But hopefully you enjoyed these three short videos which give you an insight into life here.
One of the interesting trivia facts about Lismore is that it has a LOT of roundabouts, generally with trees/plants in the middle, and this year, generally with Christmas decorations.
Tomorrow, a friend and I are heading out to Nimbin to visit friends who live out there. Looking forward to it very much, and, of course, there’ll be stories and photographs. My first visit to Nimbin in about two years.
Agree about the signing out pain in the arse. Even more pain in the arse is that if you neglected to sign out, the next time you try to sign in you are forced to sign out of the previous place before you can sign in.
I’m not convinced that accuracy (or really completeness, because it’s self-reported) about time of departure from previous venue is worth the likely loss of sign-ins from people who just decide not to bother because it’s all become too much trouble. And when you visit places in quick succession, the log in to the next should be a good enough indicator of when you left the last.
I mostly sign out when I get the alert of a possible case at a previous venue. It’s all because I’ve been at the supermarket for 24 hours. So I go in and log out, and the alert eventually disappears. My sign out time is “rough” to say the least. Meanwhile, the timeline on Google Maps on my Android phone is probably a more reliable indicater of where I’ve been and at what time. In the US, they did contact tracing using Apple and Android technology, I understand.