6 ms·

Millions holed up at home as U.S. routines shift profoundly

53 points by spking 7y ago

notyourwork 7y ago
With these changes, I wonder how much this impacts gas purchases. If people are not going out for work, not going out to eat or shop, there has to be a massive reduction in gas purchases.
- spking 7y ago
  We already have the biggest oil surpluses ever recorded, and it's just going to get bigger: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-History-Could-Force-Oil-Even-Lower.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-Hi...
  - ars 7y ago
    Oil prices seem to be about half of what they were in Jan - but gas prices don't seem to have fallen as much. Any idea why?
    - 01100011 7y ago
      Gas prices can include significant taxes. I'm guessing it also takes a while for the lower prices to propagate through the system. You also have refinery bottlenecks, so even though we might have lots of crude, we don't have a glut of refined gasoline yet.
      - theandrewbailey 7y ago
        There's costs to refine (requiring lots of energy input) and to transport the gas, too.
- ck2 7y ago
  What terrifies me is the massive deregulation all the states are going to do to recover from this, likely causing ten times the damage the slight pause in toxic practices spared (fracking, etc)
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
  Gas purchases might have a bit of spike before a lagging downtrend. Everyone in my area has been panicing and stocking up on whatever they deem essential. I certainly succumb to the panic as well. Though, I bought cheap shelf stable dry staples. I also filled my tank in case the gas supply chain gets disprupted. I don't expect failures of the supply chains. But I do expect there to be some unexpected problems that lead to very bad situations for some. I've prepared my home to be wholly self sufficient for a week without power, water, sewer, internet, gas, etc. I don't expect disruptions to any of these, but I also didn't expect people to panic by toilet paper of things.
  - nate_meurer 7y ago
    What's your plan for pooping without flushing toilets?
    - Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
      I can build a wooden make shift outhouse with a dug waste hole in a few hours. In the interim I can use a 5 gal bucket with a makeshift seat. To clean out the bucket either use a bag or flush out waste with water into a hole dug at least 2ft deep then sanitize the bucket with a strong bleach solution. But I live in a rural area. This solution probably won't be as effective in Brooklyn.
- linsomniac 7y ago
  Look to China for an indication. China's oil consumption, I believe I heard, was down by 25%. I believe I heard it on the Planet Money podcast: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814529252/episode-978-coronavirus-oil-and-kansas https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814529252/episode-978-coronav...
shaneprrlt 7y ago
Funny article my coworker shared about everyone being home: https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-utopia-where-everyone-stays-inside-sports-canceled-social-interaction-forbidden https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-utopia-...
Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
My partner is a k-12 teacher who has been told to wfh. This is relatively uncharted territory. I don't envy her. She's trying to figure out how to support students in households without internet, with parents who are technologically illiterate, in households with very high risk individuals, etc. These are hard problems in a functioning society. I might get laid off this week too. I don't look forward to being cooped up inside for weeks to months. I guess I can keep trying to learn web dev to keep my mind busy, at least until we get evicted from our home.
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
  > until we get evicted from our home. Sheriffs in a few places are not evicting due to risk of infection...
  - VBprogrammer 7y ago
    I'm counting on the hope that banks will realise that the cost of giving normal people a few months to get their shit back together will cost much less in the long run than the cost of evicting people.
    - brundolf 7y ago
      Some governments are stepping in and making it illegal. Austin is banning evictions and utility shutoffs for the near future: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-03-13/utility-shut-offs-evictions-court-dates-suspended-due-to-pandemic/ https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-03-13/utilit...
      - Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
        My city has taken none of these actions. We need federal responses to these issues.
        _bxg1 7y ago
ck2 7y ago
But not millions of kids, not here, they are running around the neighborhood screaming their lungs out unsupervised. Bringing that virus home to their parents. At night the teenagers hang out in the parking lot and drink/smoke. People just do not get it or more likely just do not care. It's one big holiday for the carefree. You can do everything right, be responsible for yourself and family but your town is as screwed as the weakest link which are the thoughtless who do not give a darn and no-one can stop them.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
  Bad parents are going to be negligent regardless of the circumstances.
TheFiend7 7y ago
Yet my software company refuses to even let people do voluntary WFH. Amazing.
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  Assuming they didn't have a WFH policy in place before, it sounds like they're remaining level-headed while everyone else is panicking, which is respectable. Although, hopefully that won't continue to hold that line if things get bad enough. All this assuming it's not already located in one of the few areas with a high number of confirmed infected.
  - sever 7y ago
    Once it's bad enough, it's too late. It's like putting on a seat belt after the crash.
    - stronglikedan 7y ago
      That's a disingenuous interpretation of what I said.
  - TheFiend7 7y ago
    We're in an area with high confirmed #s of infected and we have full time WFH employees. I'm preparing to leave and already have an interview with another company.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  If you won't lose your job over it, this is something to push the line on. Maybe just work from home anyway; we're talking about your basic health. Worst case, use PTO if you have it.
craftyguy 7y ago
"'hacker' 'news' needs their hourly reminder that people are WFHing"

53 points by spking 7y ago

With these changes, I wonder how much this impacts gas purchases. If people are not going out for work, not going out to eat or shop, there has to be a massive reduction in gas purchases.

spking 7y ago
We already have the biggest oil surpluses ever recorded, and it's just going to get bigger: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-History-Could-Force-Oil-Even-Lower.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Largest-Oil-Glut-In-Hi...
- ars 7y ago
  Oil prices seem to be about half of what they were in Jan - but gas prices don't seem to have fallen as much. Any idea why?
  - 01100011 7y ago
    Gas prices can include significant taxes. I'm guessing it also takes a while for the lower prices to propagate through the system. You also have refinery bottlenecks, so even though we might have lots of crude, we don't have a glut of refined gasoline yet.
    - theandrewbailey 7y ago
      There's costs to refine (requiring lots of energy input) and to transport the gas, too.
ck2 7y ago
What terrifies me is the massive deregulation all the states are going to do to recover from this, likely causing ten times the damage the slight pause in toxic practices spared (fracking, etc)
Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
Gas purchases might have a bit of spike before a lagging downtrend. Everyone in my area has been panicing and stocking up on whatever they deem essential. I certainly succumb to the panic as well. Though, I bought cheap shelf stable dry staples. I also filled my tank in case the gas supply chain gets disprupted. I don't expect failures of the supply chains. But I do expect there to be some unexpected problems that lead to very bad situations for some. I've prepared my home to be wholly self sufficient for a week without power, water, sewer, internet, gas, etc. I don't expect disruptions to any of these, but I also didn't expect people to panic by toilet paper of things.
- nate_meurer 7y ago
  What's your plan for pooping without flushing toilets?
  - Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
    I can build a wooden make shift outhouse with a dug waste hole in a few hours. In the interim I can use a 5 gal bucket with a makeshift seat. To clean out the bucket either use a bag or flush out waste with water into a hole dug at least 2ft deep then sanitize the bucket with a strong bleach solution. But I live in a rural area. This solution probably won't be as effective in Brooklyn.
linsomniac 7y ago
Look to China for an indication. China's oil consumption, I believe I heard, was down by 25%. I believe I heard it on the Planet Money podcast: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814529252/episode-978-coronavirus-oil-and-kansas https://www.npr.org/2020/03/11/814529252/episode-978-coronav...

shaneprrlt 7y ago

Funny article my coworker shared about everyone being home: https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-utopia-where-everyone-stays-inside-sports-canceled-social-interaction-forbidden https://babylonbee.com/news/nations-nerds-wake-up-in-utopia-...

Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago

My partner is a k-12 teacher who has been told to wfh. This is relatively uncharted territory. I don't envy her. She's trying to figure out how to support students in households without internet, with parents who are technologically illiterate, in households with very high risk individuals, etc. These are hard problems in a functioning society. I might get laid off this week too. I don't look forward to being cooped up inside for weeks to months. I guess I can keep trying to learn web dev to keep my mind busy, at least until we get evicted from our home.

WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
> until we get evicted from our home. Sheriffs in a few places are not evicting due to risk of infection...
- VBprogrammer 7y ago
  I'm counting on the hope that banks will realise that the cost of giving normal people a few months to get their shit back together will cost much less in the long run than the cost of evicting people.
  - brundolf 7y ago
    Some governments are stepping in and making it illegal. Austin is banning evictions and utility shutoffs for the near future: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-03-13/utility-shut-offs-evictions-court-dates-suspended-due-to-pandemic/ https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2020-03-13/utilit...
    - Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
      My city has taken none of these actions. We need federal responses to these issues.
      - _bxg1 7y ago

ck2 7y ago

But not millions of kids, not here, they are running around the neighborhood screaming their lungs out unsupervised. Bringing that virus home to their parents. At night the teenagers hang out in the parking lot and drink/smoke. People just do not get it or more likely just do not care. It's one big holiday for the carefree. You can do everything right, be responsible for yourself and family but your town is as screwed as the weakest link which are the thoughtless who do not give a darn and no-one can stop them.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
Bad parents are going to be negligent regardless of the circumstances.

TheFiend7 7y ago

Yet my software company refuses to even let people do voluntary WFH. Amazing.

stronglikedan 7y ago
Assuming they didn't have a WFH policy in place before, it sounds like they're remaining level-headed while everyone else is panicking, which is respectable. Although, hopefully that won't continue to hold that line if things get bad enough. All this assuming it's not already located in one of the few areas with a high number of confirmed infected.
- sever 7y ago
  Once it's bad enough, it's too late. It's like putting on a seat belt after the crash.
  - stronglikedan 7y ago
    That's a disingenuous interpretation of what I said.
- TheFiend7 7y ago
  We're in an area with high confirmed #s of infected and we have full time WFH employees. I'm preparing to leave and already have an interview with another company.
_bxg1 7y ago
If you won't lose your job over it, this is something to push the line on. Maybe just work from home anyway; we're talking about your basic health. Worst case, use PTO if you have it.

craftyguy 7y ago

"'hacker' 'news' needs their hourly reminder that people are WFHing"