I made the hard decision to close down my arcade for the foreseeable future. Will reopen when the state allows kids back in school. Curious if anyone has done the same ? As a physician I decided I had an ethical responsibility to my community to “flatten the curve”. Not worried about the kids, but am worried about their parents and grandparents. And worried that my hospital is likely to be overrun with cases shortly here. I do believe the only way we are going to get a grip on any of this (since we can’t actually test but a few people still due to total mismanagement) is to pretty much go on lockdown and will be surprised if we aren’t at that point in the next 7-10 days. Not being alarmist, just looking at what this has done thus far and not expecting its course to be any different than it has been in Italy and Spain and China. Hopefully not worse.

Nothing said above meant as a judgement and there are many many variables that go into this decision. Many restaurants locally have to stay open for same reason and wondering how they are going to survive. Yes I have another job, and yes this is a side business. And yes I can financially weather this and still pay my employees. All make it easier for me to make this decisions. That said we are poised to lose $40k of business over the next two months here which is no small blow

I believe the only way for everyone to be able to close without suffering financial ruin is this:

“Adam S. Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, likened the situation to the financial freeze-up after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Back then, the Fed provided liquidity so that financial institutions could ride out the crisis. The federal government could play a similar role now.

“You got a bunch of people, small businesses — particularly in retail, transportation, hospitality, tourism — that are going to be temporarily disrupted and might go out of business and shed jobs, but that’s only because of this one-time shock,” Mr. Posen said. “So fiscal policy should be the bridge to get them over that shock.”

I hear you. A year ago I would have said the same thing for the arcade. Money pit swallowing every spare dollar I had. Only in the last 6 months have we really turned it around and been able to build some liquidity to handle this situation. Lots of articles about people living paycheck to paycheck, few about businesses living month to month on revenue. University of Virginia sent all students home effectively until next August and many restaurants local to them wondering if they will go bankrupt in the process.

What I posted on my arcade page this morning:

I have never used our page for polemics, but I am now. We face a pending national emergency. Businesses need to be ordered to close other than essentials (pharmacy, food). All theaters, restaurants, retail shops, etc. People need to stay home. But they can’t. Many employees have no financial resources to do so. Many businesses face bankruptcy even if they are closed for 2 months. The quickest way to get over this as quickly as possible is to stay apart and get our testing ramped up as fast as we can. Part of the reason we don’t have many positive cases is we aren’t testing anyone. As recently as a day ago we weren’t even testing anyone in Charlottesville who didn’t have a positive travel history to an affected country. We didn’t have enough kits to do otherwise. Translated that means we were ignoring all possible community acquired cases - which is pretty much all of them at this point. At this point I don’t care who screwed up, who didn’t do what, which parties fault it is. Work together and fix it now. 1) Coordinate this patchwork of variable efforts into some coherent plan 2) Order all businesses except essentials closed 3) Come up with a coherent financial relief plan for affected employees AND businesses so they can weather this hopefully temporary storm rather than being left to fend for themselves and self sacrifice 4) Put this country on lockdown so that we can limit the cases and dig ourselves out of this as quickly as we can and get back to some normality. The longer we delay in doing this the less and less effective social isolation efforts will be. There is no time for half measures which is what I see being spouted up all over the place. Get it done. We have done our part at Decades. Our government needs to do theirs, it’s why we have them there, for times like this.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2020/3/12/21172040/coronavirus-covid-19-virus-charts

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/12/world/europe/12italy-coronavirus-health-care.html

I am not going to tell people what to believe or how they should think. We are free to decide for ourselves. But as a scientist first, a physician second, and an arcade owner third, I want to be sure we are all operating from the same set of facts in informing that opinion. Do with it what you will. This goes beyond political affiliation, the virus doesn't care. I am urging these measures for one reason and one reason only. I want you to have a bed to be taken care of in one of our hospitals if you should be so unfortunate to come down with this and be one of the 1 in 5 cases that need hospitalization

Finally this and then I will shut up.

https://www.newsweek.com/young-unafraid-coronavirus-pandemic-good-you-now-stop-killing-people-opinion-1491797

No, in fact I will be paying for it out of my pocket, including supporting my employees while we are closed.

Here's the thing. You can believe whatever you want, but please keep your insults to yourself. There is no need for any of that. I didn't insult you, I provided you facts and you choose to assume are fake. That's ok. And if thru some unfortunate set of circumstances you end up hospitalized with this virus I, or another physician like me, will take care of you all the same to get you or your family or your neighbors thru it. My goal is not to change your opinion, it seems unchangeable. My goal is to do the best I can so that the least number of people die from all of this.

What’s the line from Star Trek: “Jim I’m a Doctor not a magician”. As to what businesses should be left open, what should be propped up, what should be left to fend for itself I cannot say. I will leave that to smarter people than me. I can say anecdotal from my little town that multiple small business owners have told me they risk financial ruin if forced to close, or even if they stay open and people don’t eat out or go for coffee. Generally from what I have read most economists would say that if the difference between a business surviving an acute blow like this versus closing is helping prop it up, overall just taking a pragmatic than emotional viewpoint, it’s better to prop it up so it can comeback to life on the other side of all this.

It’s all speculation right now. Until we have adequate testing, the best we can do is extrapolate from the data available from Wuhan and Italy. What we can say is that we are for now following the same curves as they did if not a bit worse

Correct. A guess and nothing more. I think the assumption is that there are many more than are being confirmed positive (almost certainly true given test kit availability). 400X more ? Hmm probably not. 10X more ? Maybe. But here is the thing, in my hospital we just don’t know. How in the world can one be expected to quarantine this thing and separate covid+ from regular patients without testing their status. No idea

All I can say is that if your arcade is forced to or voluntarily closes, the one thing you can do to help out is book parties for the future or buy merch and gift cards. These help, they really do. I plan to buy my Pinfest ticket for just that reason.

If you have merch to buy I will gladly do so !

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/10/coronavirus-what-matters-isnt-what-you-can-see-what-you-cant/

There’s an old brain teaser that goes like this: You have a pond of a certain size, and upon that pond, a single lilypad. This particular species of lily pad reproduces once a day, so that on day two, you have two lily pads. On day three, you have four, and so on.

Now the teaser. “If it takes the lily pads 48 days to cover the pond completely, how long will it take for the pond to be covered halfway?”

The answer is 47 days. Moreover, at day 40, you’ll barely know the lily pads are there.

More coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

That grim math explains why so many people — including me — are worried about the novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as covid-19. And why so many other people think we are panicking over nothing.

During the current flu season, they point out, more than 250,000 people have been hospitalized in the United States, and 14,000 have died, including more than 100 children. As of this writing, the coronavirus has killed 29 people, and our caseload is in the hundreds. Why are we freaking out about the tiny threat while ignoring the big one?

Quite a number of people have suggested that it’s because the media just wants President Trump to look bad. Trump seems particularly fond of this suggestion.

But go back to those lily pads: When something dangerous is growing exponentially, everything looks fine until it doesn’t. In the early days of the Wuhan epidemic, when no one was taking precautions, the number of cases appears to have doubled every four to five days.

The crisis in northern Italy is what happens when a fast doubling rate meets a “threshold effect,” where the character of an event can massively change once its size hits a certain threshold.

In this case, the threshold is things such as ICU beds. If the epidemic is small enough, doctors can provide respiratory support to the significant fraction of patients who develop complications, and relatively few will die. But once the number of critical patients exceeds the number of ventilators and ICU beds and other critical-care facilities, mortality rates spike.

This is awesome ! Thanks for doing this

Richmond Pinball Collective voluntarily closed this weekend

Roanoke Pinball Museum voluntarily closed today

Though note neither of these are sole proprietorships like many

Any more closings out there ?

Folks just so we start putting a face on this than arguing abstract numbers. My friend has their father on a respirator right now, covid+ as is their family. He quite likely isn’t going to make it. Two emergency room physicians (one in NJ and one in WA) just died this weekend (one in their 70s another in their 40s). I cancelled all non urgent patients left and right so they aren’t sitting in a waiting room possibly exposed. My average patient age is 78. If you are sitting on the frontlines with the calm before the storm you would - excuse my language - be scared shitless about now. Stay safe, it’s a terrible situation, but it could be much much worse for you than you can possibly imagine

Sorry to hear you closed. I am hoping us operators can band together to help one another get thru this.

I have an entire new room we are trying to get up and running. Now I have the time to do the work we have been putting off to make it happen. There is a slight upside to being closed, tiny though it may be

Unfortunately not really my area of expertise. However, limited info says BIPAP is not really recommended as a form of support for COVID patients

While Bipap machines, should spare ventilators for the worse cases, they risk releasing particles into the air infecting care providers. Not sure how one would go about modifying to prevent this.

https://emcrit.org/ibcc/covid19/#noninvasive_ventilation_(BiPAP_&_CPAP)

Let me know how I/ all of us can help. Will support in any way we reasonably can. I can't tell you how many times over the years your responses have let me get to the heart of the problem I was facing.

Yeah, it does come down to funding doesn't it ? The basic problem is that we currently were running on a revenue of about $3-5K per week (small fish I know), and employment costs of about $800 a week and rent another $800 a week and then repairs - ugh highly variable. I am voluntarily paying my employees during work stoppage and I don't think anyone is letting me out of rent. The one person I don't have to pay is me, or my volunteers. Not a choice if its your livelihood. What I'm saying is that most go fund me campaigns are $20 here, maybe $50 there. Takes alot to get up to $4K and thats just for one operator. I know for sure that these barcades and such have to do WAY better than me to just break even. Its a long way of saying that I don't have a solution, the dollar amounts are likely much higher than we can generate even if every pinsider donated. Hmm.

https://www.sba.gov/

Specifically https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/

While it is not a long term solution, and there is worry about taking on more debt, arcade owners may wish to apply to an emergent low interest loan to stay afloat.

I understand that, but look at it this way: the SBA in this economic circumstance will let you secure the loan with collateral that doesn’t usually qualify with other lenders (ie video games and pins). The loan interest is 2.75% which you can’t get anywhere and you repay over 8 years. It would seem the alternative is selling your games right now if low on cash. This really isn’t much different than that. You are taking a loan to keep the arcade open and if you default you lose the games, which is what would have happened anyway. This at least cushions the shock, gives you a chance, and means you don’t have to sell right now.

So I have done a bit more work on the SBA site. I’ll keep you informed as I complete the process. Right now very few locales have been designated COVID disaster areas on SBA. You can only apply for SBA Economic Disruption if you are in a disaster area. DC is, Alexandria is, my little city is not .... yet. You are eligible for up to $2M loan. They do check credit scores and they do ask for collateral. That collateral can include whatever you have (pinball machines) or for the principal owner (for say a sole proprietorship or LLC) they do like houses too (obviously). We were never able to get any loan for my place as it was all self funded and generally you have to have a 5 year balance sheet for a traditional lender. So all if you are hurting and you are not going to qualify for an existing loan, and bankruptcy for whatever reason is not a great option consider this. I suspect that many more small business loan opportunities may arise out of all of this. The terms are as I said above 2.75% and 30 years. And if you just need bridge money < $25K you don’t need any promised collateral. The SBA does not give you the loan themselves. They just guarantee the loan for you with another lender. Sometime the government can do good by small businesses though I am of the same sentiment as many that it is mostly big businesses they get the lions share. I think there is recognition (finally) of the importance of small businesses in this country and how many people they employ. Most small businesses have less than 1 month cash reserve so we are all gonna be hurting soon. Good luck

I suspect it will come back and probably quite strong. People are mostly shut inside for now and will have pent up demand when this isolation is lifted. Trying to stay optimistic here. I think we will be ok

I would not be particularly happy about people asking if I’m selling games. There is a vulture like aspect to it isn’t there ?

I just took in a load that had been sitting up at coinopwarehouse for well over a year after I bought it. So I got me some new repair jobs to do during downtime. Just plugged in a Hyperball which is surprisingly in tact, but no working cannon. No customers but I’ll at least keep myself amused

So I know people don’t want to hear this, but it is quite likely if we are somehow “successful” in shutting this down, that it very likely will have a tail kick in the fall like the Spanish Flu of 1918. I think it’s fantastic that they finally got it under control in China but fear that it is a temporary victory. They have ALOT of their population still waiting to be exposed for the first time. This thing is unfortunately gonna be with us for a good 18 months until we have a vaccine ready and have built up enough herd immunity (hopefully slowly). I’d love to say otherwise, but the science and epidemiology on this suggests it ain’t over until it’s over.

So my basic approach in this is let them try to get it from you. There is contract law and then there is the apocalypse. I believe that a number of laws are going to be put in place to make sure the landlords share the burden here rather than just heap it on their small businesses that are renting. Honestly I would just not pay, at least for now, and let them try to evict. And when they try to evict call up your local news to do a story and shine a spotlight on what kinds of people they really are. Betcha that will shut it down really fast.

We will reach a new normal, hopefully resembling our prior normal. But I agree nobody can say for sure how this virus is going to move, how effective the vaccine will be, whether there are existing medications that might at least put on a break (the chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine is intriguing but results are too annecdotal right now). Too many unknowns but we will slowly fill them in

From the article above:

“If landlords turn around and provide rent abatement, a lot of companies can pay employees for longer,”

THIS. We have been relieved on rent so I can continue to pay my employees longer. Everyone has to sacrifice some here. My employees will get 2/3 wage so we can last longer paying them, the landlord as long as they don’t have their own mortgage doesn’t lose much (and I’d be happy to pay partial rent even if not open). We are all in this together. And if for some reason we get kicked out (which we won’t) there is no way they are going to be able to find another tenant now.

I second that. Desperation measure only. We oftentimes leant a couple of our games out to charity causes and fundraisers. First time a machine went down for the count after being moved (with a $300 repair) was the last time I did that. Plus it’s just a pain transporting these things.

Ordered t-shirt. If I have to be closed I might as well take the time to get a bunch of t-shirts from around the country

While I’ve played lots of games on my Stern Monopoly, I can’t remember the last time I partook in real Monopoly with my kids. Different world for sure.

60556531-9AA7-487A-B523-24E3218E054B (resized).jpeg

Just open by appointment for pickup I believe. This is all stuff we bought over a year ago and has just been sitting up there. Figured we should cart some projects down here to work on because who knows how long this will last. I’m figuring at least 10-12 weeks

There are several go fund me efforts in several cities including mine to donate for furloughed restaurant workers. Trying to do what I can to support local businesses that are doing whatever they can to stay alive for a while

When you know it ain’t your day, your week, or your month of the year. Just got out the Hyperball plunger. Yeech ! Well time to move onto another project for now. Think this is unobtanium.

5DF7D0B3-B850-444A-B842-F2E7225C75B6 (resized).jpeg

Ok there is something really weird going on with the universe. I searched everywhere, the entire web, even going back years to see how often these popped up on Pinside or anywhere else for that matter (EBay). Unobtanium. Literally within 10 minutes of this post this is listed on eBay for $20. It’s mine now.

CEE5E220-30B3-4560-B059-275C128AA6A4 (resized).png

Yeah really ! I’d drive down to the local grocery store for a lottery ticket but with reciprocity being what it is end up with coronavirus instead

Totally cool but not entirely appropriate for my 10 yo !

Gonna have to see if we can modify in some manner to make it last longer. I like what Ed Cheung did here
http://www.edcheung.com/album/album07/Pinball/hyperball.htm

Soooo looking at Facebook last night with nothing better to do. What do I see but Arcade Monsters in Florida streaming many people playing in their arcade. Several responses were of the WTF variety. Same ol same ol: states that all the grocery stores can be open so they can too, and trotting out statistics on the flu as a justification for whatever perceived bad behavior. Used to respect those guys and what they did. Not anymore.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/24/trump-again-downplays-coronavirus-by-comparing-it-seasonal-flu-its-not-fair-comparison/

“ But if you simply want to get things back to normal by Easter, you might take some solace in the fact that so many more people die of the flu each year than have died of the novel coronavirus so far. You might just convince yourself that, hey, we go through infections like this all the time.
If you’re inclined toward that line of argument, you might notice something else about Trump’s tweet from March 9 in which he compared the coronavirus to the flu. Since then, the number of coronavirus deaths is 27 times bigger. The number of confirmed cases is 85 times as large.
In the past 15 days.”

When you think you are being overburdened with being shut down read this, it might change your mind that we are overreacting

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-hospitals.html

In several hours on Tuesday, Dr. Ashley Bray performed chest compressions at Elmhurst Hospital Center on a woman in her 80s, a man in his 60s and a 38-year-old who reminded the doctor of her fiancé. All had tested positive for the coronavirus and had gone into cardiac arrest. All eventually died.

A refrigerated truck has been stationed outside to hold the bodies of the dead.

With ventilators in short supply, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, one of the city’s largest systems, has begun using one machine to help multiple patients at a time, a virtually unheard-of move, a spokeswoman said.

This isn’t China, this isn’t Italy, this isn’t Iran. It’s here in the US, right now

This idea is probably half baked, so bear with me. Is it not possible to open an arcade for a single family to enjoy for an hour ? As long as not under stay in place order, and assuming one can wipe down machines, you would think a single family could come enjoy the place for a small period of time. Not trying to be hypocritical here, but it’s hard to see how this is much different than the entire family hanging out at home looking at cell phones and whatnot. I think they key question is could it be done without putting the operator at risk or the family at risk. Can one actually disinfect all surfaces between families. I’m not about to go do it, but I thought I’d toss this trial balloon up for discussion. Just seeing if there is anyway besides gift cards, go fund me, and bail out loan to ease operators pain.

That looks awesome. Sure it will be waiting for willing patrons when we can all open again.

I don’t disagree with you at all. And for sure I’m not proposing doing something that flat out violates some state decree. But just thinking there has to be a middle ground between 0 and 100%. Perhaps there just isn’t

Just posted this on my arcade’s Facebook

Everyone is paying attention to deaths from Coronavirus. I am not. What I am paying most attention to is the number of hospitalizations. 15% of all patients need to be hospitalized. Even that number in of itself doesn’t matter. What matters is if we have a bed for you. When you have a heart attack, stroke, fall, flu, appendicitis, or even bad coronavirus you expect there to be a hospital bed waiting to take care of you. If too many people get too sick too fast with coronavirus there won’t be. That’s truly what I worry about. That’s what actually matters. And that is why our hospital sits half empty having cancelled non urgent surgeries and cancelled routine followup appointments. We wait for the tsunami we see elsewhere. I am not a smart enough person to be able to weigh this against you going broke, not being able to pay the mortgage, not being able to see your friends. Those have real costs, both to your health and pocketbook. The arcade is hemorrhaging money, the hospital is hemorrhaging money, all of you are hemorrhaging money. But trying to listen to every smart person I can who tries to weigh all these numbers, the least amount of damage in total is likely done by people staying indoors isolated for now until the peak passes. It’s a real pain, but it keeps our hospital beds open for you when you absolutely need them. Viruses are apolitical. Our goal in combatting it is the same regardless of beliefs: stay sane, emotionally get thru this, don’t go totally broke, don’t be irreparably harmed by this virus, trying to get back to normal life as soon as possible.

I am sure most of you have already talked to your accountants or other local small businesses to get options. The option I have seen others take is selling off games. Great option, liquid assets, no debt, but hard to recover those games if you dig yourself out.

I would again strongly urge you all to apply for disaster relief from the Small Business Association. You may very well be eligible for low interest loans repayable over 30 years and for the short term per this new funding measure passed, grants that don’t need to be repaid to cover employee costs and mortgage. Took me about 2 hours to apply.

Lastly, talk to your accountant about capital depreciation since taxes have been delayed. It’s like taking your Monopoly properties and mortgaging them temporarily to gain cash. Due to new quirks in the laws we were able depreciate most of our games and gain needed cash. It was going to be used to reinvest into the business but for now it’s sustaining us. The only requirement is that when you sell the game for $X, and say you have previously depreciated it to $0 then your are taxed on the full $X.

Sorry don’t mean to be pedantic. Most of you have been doing this way longer than me. So perhaps you will tell me a thing or two. For those that don’t know or weren’t aware I hope this is helpful. I want us all to stay alive and not have to firesale games. Unfortunately there isn’t a Grubhub for pinball.

No I am basing 15% entirely on those patients which have tested positive. Given the limited tests we know there are more positive than that so the 15% is a high estimate. How high ? Nobody knows. But one can use NYC and Italy as some metric as to the actual number of patients needing hospitalization per capita. Right now it’s too many. If you read many of the reports from there there are many patients that would normally be hospitalized told to stay home because they aren’t bad enough yet. This is eventually going to move to lower density towns in about 1-2mos. My town we can hopefully handle it since usually a town of 45000 people doesn’t have a 500 bed hospital right there. Of course if patients are shipped in from elsewhere that might be an issue. Many smaller communities have seen their local hospitals close, or have say 50 beds for a population of 50000 because that was the only viable economic model. They really risk being overwhelmed here. I do recognize we have branded this politically into those who say stay home (mostly Democrats in larger cities) and those who say we are going bankrupt if we stay closed much longer (mostly republicans in smaller cities). I won’t say who is right here. I will say that the evidence weighs more heavily in favor of the Democratic approach if you want to get thru this the fastest and get back to business. But that can’t be proved beyond doubt. Think of it this way, if we could all stay 6 feet apart from one another for 14 days in the entire country this would all be over with immediately. Wishful thinking and not pragmatic but it is the general approach that allowed Wuhan to shut down the virus, prevent it from seeding other Provences and let them get back to full operation in 3 months time. As Americans with our individualism and peicemeal approach here we just aren’t going to be amenable to that kind of draconian solution unless it gets really really bad. It’s who we are and there are many many good things that allows. But containing an apolitical virus is not one best served by that approach.

I fully agree with you on this. The ability to quickly separate out infected versus non infected is the key to shutting this down. It is the grasping in the dark with an invisible enemy that prevents any of us from venturing outdoors. And for those still open and having a job puts them at risk. The person working cashier at Kroger’s is at even more risk than I am seeing patients. Right now in my town due to limited availability we are still only selectively testing COVID suspects at the hospital. We use the term now “presumptive positive” rather than test. Our tests are still in the 24-48 hour range. This will be a welcome addition for everyone, the equivalent if you will of a rapid flu test.

Disaster Loan form has been much more streamlined. You will be eligible for a $10K emergency grant that does not need to be paid back even if they determine you are not eligible for a larger loan. Takes about 15 minutes to fill this in.

https://covid19relief.sba.gov/

Was posted on 2N Jenn.

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Agree with all of the above.

And today we learned that the “how long are we going to be closed ?” extends per our governor until at least June 10th

So all arcades check with your lender (mine is BofA) for the Payroll Protection Program. Online application. It just opened yesterday. It will grant you 2.5X your monthly payroll. I just applied for $8K. Not a perfect solution but will tide you over and loan is forgiven if you spend it on keeping employees employed including yourselves

Damn that sucks for all of you. Im sorry.

Look at this payroll protection program. It might help. If not for your business itself, perhaps at least for 2 months more pay for your employees. The loan is forgiven if you use it to pay mostly payroll and some rent.

So I have to just document my truly craptacular experience that is the Payroll Protection Program, and the SBA for that matter. Sorry, vent about to commence so look away if you must.

First I applied for the EIDL program thru SBA.gov the moment my state opened up for that. At the time lovely words about how we can grant loans up to $2M depending on collateral for 30 years, low interest rate.

Next try to apply for the Payroll Protection Program, Bank of America won't let me apply because I have a business account with them but not a credit card

A day later the rules change, now I CAN apply with them, and I do so. It says be ready to submit bank statements and such

Three days later they inform me that some documents are needed to document my payroll. Now my first year 2019 I paid via 1099 rather than W-2, but its all good, 1099 included and submit. Waiting for check.

One day later, I'm thanked for my EIDL application by SBA, BUT if I want to be eligible to receive the one time $10K advance I NEED TO COMPLETELY REAPPLY. I do so.

Two days later informed that I need to refill the documents out because the rules changed. 1099 no longer allowed, they have to file themselves as independent contractors. BUT they are now on my W-2 payroll, how are they supposed to do that ? I am supposed to provide as documentation my 2019 IRS form 940. Umm there isn't one. No bank statements required now though I already submitted them. So by the rules of calculating how much of a Payroll Protection Program loan I can have, we basically come up with ZERO. I wrote a letter as part of the application explaining the rather large crack we fall into, and that I am still paying my employees and have been doing so for the last 5 weeks even though we aren't open. I can guess with government bureaucracy how far thats gonna get me.

One day later I go to check on my original EIDL application. Hmm, all mention of 30 year loans up to $2M disappeared from site. Can't even pull up original application. NOTE THIS IS A MONTH AFTER I FILED IT without them contacting me at all.

Today start reading to figure out WTH is actually going on. Its NOT GOOD. First that lovely $10K payment, umm too many people applied, they are reducing it to $1K per employee. Second, that EIDL loan ... well funny thing, they have a total of $7.3B to fund the entire program for the entire year for all affected businesses. Forgot to fund that in the bill. Its gone because the money is gone. Possible $2M has now turned into a loan of $15K max, maybe until thats gone too. And I suppose that is if you talk to them nicely. And the allotted PPP program money. In 7 days (on a first come first serve basis mind you) half the entire $350B allocated is already gone.

SOOOO our wonderful government who rang up a $2.2 TRILLION DEBT and patted themselves on the back, handed so little of that to small businesses that they can't handle the applications and can't even fund the damn program with enough money to do pretty much anything. 50% of people are employed by small businesses (well ... not anymore). And out of $2.2 TRILLION DEBT they gave 16% of the funding total. Because hey why not throw small businesses a bone here finally. So the companies that keeps half of you employed, the same companies that have pretty much received almost no actual dollars so far due to a completely uncoordinated incompetent response, and the same companies that are trying to madly dash for a small foodbowl with not enough food in it, got 16% of the total funding designed to help pay every employee who was affected by this (which I can guarantee you disproprotionately fell on small businesses who have no reserve ... well except if you were unfortunate enough to work for morally bankrupt Hobby Lobby or their ilk who have the money but just don't want to give any of it to you).

This is a total joke. I mean complete and total joke. And meanwhile the markets soared last week because the stimulus package had propped the economy back up. Whose economy ? Not any economy I recognize supported by small businesses.

RANT OFF.

You know I am a strong proponent of not providing government handouts. Wrong economic incentives. And there is a little the pot calling the kettle black here because I have benefited from them.

But this time is different. This is the one time you truly need a government to step in and provide money when nobody else can. It’s why we all pay our taxes. In many European countries payroll is guaranteed by the government in times of crisis. Not here. Sure we will come up with some system of dribs and drabs that makes it look like we are doing something. But it’s disorganized, it’s hit or miss, it’s a cash grab not payroll protection at all. The money will mostly go to those who lobby the best. Boeing stands to get a $60B bailout. Are they deserving of some money. Yes, they are a large large employer. Are they deserving of $60B ? On a relative basis absolutely not. We do not do things by relative need or meritocracy here. We do it by who can bark the loudest and has the best paid lobbyists. That may be something, but it sure ain’t democracy.

I don’t dispute any of that. Boeing falls into the too big to fail category. The question more appropriately put is whether the effect on the aggregate of small businesses out there due to under funding the entire SBA loan program would have as big an effect as Boeing on the overall economy. I believe it would. Question in my mind is not really did Boeing get too much. The question is why did the rest of small businesses in the US get so little on a relative basis. You lose a million small businesses as the fallout from this because they depleted their bank account, the butterfly effect from that cascade is likely to gigantic and long lasting.

Already wrote both my congressman (a small business owner himself) and one of my senators.

I like this a lot. It will be good to brainstorm together how to get this right. Thanks for this start

How to disinfect games other than follow customers around with wipes ? I’m looking at this for when we re-open. Coats the joystick and buttons and is good supposedly for 90 days

https://sdst.com.sg/

https://www.sutl.com/environtech/

https://www.businessinsider.sg/1-5-million-hdb-lift-buttons-have-been-coated-with-a-disinfectant-that-can-last-for-months-heres-why-its-so-powerful

Ok you can buy it here SD 90. I believe based on what they say that SD 90+, SD 90, SD pro and SD ST are all the same.

https://www.globalshieldsolutions.com/category_s/1867.htm

I am still trying to find some assessment beyond a fluff business piece, and you can’t even find it. But if it does what is says it does it would prevent someone running around the arcade with a spray bottle and wipes

My further reading on their site says it is quaternary ammonium chloride known to kill COVID but also contains a bonding agent to the surface unlike sanitary wipes where it will just come off. I can’t find anything better here

https://www.sutl.com/environtech/faq/

Disclaimer: I don’t own stock, I know no more than any of you, there is possibility for hype, but the thought of what it does and how it does it seems rational.

Fully agree with you on that. I’d like to see some independent review. The only thing I can say is that if it had quaternary ammonium in it (again they say it does but ?) then it’s the right stuff to have. I will continue to wipe down machines and ask customers to do so too. Will also uv-c the place at night if I can . And finally looking at our air handling but not sure what I can do there. That’s about all I can do.

Only have the information I have. And unfortunately it’s not exactly robust. But I will try it and see if I can somehow validate myself at least regarding bacteria using Petri dishes at my lab. Anti-viral verification is beyond my skill set

Yeah not a bad idea and we are looking at offering masks if more plentiful

We aren't going to make it a requirement, but we want to offer it to those who would like it. And we will ask at the door about fever and symptoms. This isn't my hospital and I can't treat it as such. But I will do my best to make people aware we are treating this very seriously

Nic, I have to say you are ahead of me on this. Keep posting, I'm learning from you and following. You would think the guy who is a physician would have it all nailed down. I do not, just making it up as we all go along.

Since this is now the official disinfection and government loan thread, I can comment on the latter:

EIDL advances FINALLY showed up in my accounts today ($3K because I have 3 employees for my arcade).
PPP told application is complete and just waiting for the new spigot to be opened - no idea if they have revised the amount or not.
Actual EIDL we applied for on March 24th - nothing yet.

We are almost certainly going to have to cap entry at 50 to keep some level of social distancing here.

I agree with you, will require to sanitize to come in, and go out. Some won't bother to come and find it too restrictive and uninviting to play and that's ok. Greater good, and they can go do their thing somewhere else, just not in my arcade. As a physician I have to hold my place to a higher standard.

Now for the air purifier purchases with some built in germicidal light. Air movement sucks in my place, always has.

I am trying to decide what constitutes reasonable measures and what constitutes bonkers overkill. If I follow what has been happening at my (and I suppose many others) hospital, its gonna evolve day by day, week by week. My arcade might end up being more sterile than the clinics.

This is the hard thing. How does one optimize the following variables: 1) Keep people who come feeling safe 2) Keep enough people coming to pay rent and employees 3) Know that our business by its very nature is more risky than sitting at home or going to an outdoor park and perfect decontamination is nigh impossible.

Not new, but also not well practiced. I can tell ya the sink by the exit of my house is getting a workout like it never has in 12 years living here. I have never washed my hands this frequently in my life except when doing surgery.

If masks are going to be the deal breaker for you, here is a little ammunition. Personally, while wearing N95 respirators has a very important role in protecting front line health care providers, for general public it’s not clear it does much of anything. Even for people who score N95 masks, I find them mostly wearing them wrong (upside down even !). If they aren’t fit tested then they do nothing - like having a leaky valve. That said will we have people wear them ? If they want. Some of this is about true science and some of it is about impression of safety

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data

Happy ? Not in the least. Can I survive ? Yes I can. I am in a very special boat here in that I don’t make any salary from this at all. Also my rent is reasonable. I was about to start generating income before all this hit. One might ask what’s the point then ? Fair question. I guess I never did this to make money so as long as I don’t have to get too crazy I am ok operating at barely surviving mode for now. If it becomes too much of a hassle (especially when making no money for any of my time and effort) we will close

We will be throwing many things against the wall to see what sticks (just not the food variety). And yes, I anticipate premium packages may be part of the equation. 1/3 of our income was off of parties, and I suspect that this will just crater post re-opening. 50 of your closest friends aren't gonna want to show up. Agree also with food limitations to reduce the whole hand to mouth to machine thing. Possibly may fence off some area where this can be done or send them across the street to the pizza parlor. I'll be honest, I don't really have any idea how any of this is gonna work out. Can we even make enough to not hemorrhage red over the next 12 months. Are we going to get to the point where we have to show an immune-QR code on our phone to gain access to any business. Anyway, the one nice thing about our state putting the kibosh on reopening for at least 6 more weeks is that we get to vicariously see how this all plays out in Georgia and Florida.

I am going to be using multiple H13 HEPA filter air purifiers. 99.95% of 0.1 micron particles collected. Not perfect. Nothing is.

Also going to ozone and UVC light treat the place at night. Also not perfect.

Hand sanitizers every room.

There is no infection control measure that is going to be perfect here. Life is risk.

Wow ... you need to find a different place for your business. The landlord can after evicting you sit with an empty hole of a business and collect no rent. That is called being a true ahole. Hope they don't have a mortgage because with that attitude they aren't going to have a way to pay it after they finish evicting all their tenants.

Honestly this is where the EIDL program is supposed to do its job. I don't think we somehow believe that all arcades perish and that this is never a business model going forward. But lets all be honest, we are looking at minimum 6 months, likely 12 months, and possibly 18-24 months of trying to survive. The EIDL if it was doing its job would provide a bridge loan of 6-12 months worth of income with a rate of 2.75% and a repayment term of 30 years. Now not all will be even willing to take that bet, but I doubt any of us is even going to get a chance given how dysfunctional and overwhelmed SBA has become. We will bail out the airline industry, and I get it as they are required infrastructure even if losing money like a sieve. Arcades ... not so much ... if you don't have cash reserves you are willing to dump into your business yourself to tide you over ... good luck. States go bankrupt ... arcades go bankrupt too.

So I hope nobody will ever accuse me of not doing everything I could for this industry. Vaccine is gonna be tough, not because it can't be designed, but there is just a lead time to test for safety and efficacy, confirm the best (of the dozen or so candidates) and then make 5B doses of it. In the meantime there are possibly hundreds of planned or being actively enrolled clinical trials to repurpose existing meds against this virus for prophylaxis against infection. More than plaquenil, which has been a letdown in many ways, primarily due to the potential for real toxic side effects. I am going to be running one of those trials. 4000 planned subjects nationwide. NOT Plaquenil. NOT putting lights in the body. NOT drinking disinfectant. I can't say any more than that right now until we get all the approvals done, and I for sure can't tell you its going to work. But I can for sure say it will be safer than plaquenil and is worth trying.

Yes let’s please keep this on topic about how arcade businesses stay in business. I don’t want this to turn into another coronavirus thread. There are other places in off topic forums to discuss this. I would prefer Pinside not to have to turn this topic into another moderated topic. Thanks

I believe quite a few of them are going to be asked to give it back or guilted in to doing so. The basic problem is that even putting this egregious money grab aside, most people would not view a business with 500 employees as small. You think small business, and you think less than 10 people. We actually need a Really Small Business Administration to attend to their needs or at a minimum a carve out since those are the ones most at risk of taking a nose time

1. Yes I am raising prices by $2-3 per admission. Could be a disaster. Though we were mostly a bargain before at $8 kids, $12 adults stay as long as you want. Could have understanding customers and since we are going to have to limit to 50 instead of our prior maxing out at 100 people in there, the real question is whether there is enough take at $10 and $15 ? Don't know. New territory.
2. Exactly the conversation we were having yesterday. We are thinking of going to all credit cards, no cash so I can protect my employees. Seems the only other choice is to throw cash in a vat of disinfectant. Its funny because I don't think that the grocery stores or Costco has made any accomodation here. Perhaps its because we all pay credit these days anyway. Pre-pandemic I was probably less than 20% of transactions via cash.
3. As I mentioned earlier we are coating buttons in a coating they use on elevator buttons. Contains quaternary ammonium - same stuff on sanitary wipes - but is permanently bonded there for 3 months. Tested safe and made in the US. Now does it actually work ? Hmm. They coated the entire Singapore Airport with the stuff, but that is validation by association.
4. I'll add one more - how does one handle drinks for a beercade - not really our problem but we hoped to go there. I suspect this only works if there is a beer place and a cade next to it and never the two shall mix. I can't see adding beer to my place (or allowing food again) until I have that type of solution in place.

One can look at it with despair, or as an opportunity to get creative. Since I don't live or die by my place I am going to take it as a challenge to be intelligent about how we do business. As Lloyd has noted, most arcades have gone boom and bust before. This is just another bump that we will all have to band together to figure out the new model how to survive

I know it’s a pain in the ass because I’ve had to do it, but is moving locations to the low rent district possible. We had to do that because they knocked our building down and built an office building. I thought we were done even a year ago. Moved out to the more industrial part of town for lower rent. The place actually has done 8 fold increase in business over the last year. I suspect if you can hold on for a bit, enough places will open up or be willing to have anyone in there paying rent that your landlord will soon enough realize the error of their ways

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1990687384392223&id=100003529428458?sfnsn=mo

Not mine, Robert Brooks. The new social distancing arcade ?

C6E428A5-F0B5-4E9B-9FD6-8615C31C5BAE (resized).png

Posted this on my page this morning:

Sorry but I have to vent for a moment. If you use Bank of America for your business banking, my strong recommendation is don’t. I will be moving my bank accounts within the next several weeks. Their response to the payroll protection program has been disastrous. You cannot get a human being on the phone, my home branch states they are unable to assist in any manner, you can’t even have a chat or an email to any address to get any form of information on the status of your application, what documents happen to be missing, or even which business it refers to if you have two businesses going into the same email address. This bank is a disgrace. They exist to serve their own needs, not the needs of their customers. I still do not know whether I have secured any payroll protection for our employees at this time, and I filed literally the first hour that it was open for applications. I have nevertheless been paying them every week regardless of this. I realize that Bank of America did not create this mess of their own making, but they did absolutely nothing to put a friendly face on the front of this process and actually help people out other than shrouded behind an impenetrable curtain. Take your business banking local is all I can say, at least then when a crisis occurs I might be able to get a hold of a human being rather than a webpage with useless information. #bofasucks

Appreciate your opinion and I'm sure many will feel the same. I'm not sure I would call it intellectually dishonest though. Short of staying in your house, any activity that involves collections of people confers risk. Going to take your kids to the pediatrician ... risk. Grocery store ... risk. Playground ... risk. Little league or basketball teams ... risk. Vacation at any venue ... risk. And I, nor anyone else can even quantify that risk for you. If you are amongst 10 people is there a 1:10000, 1:1000, 1:10 chance of infection ? Without testing and more data you could never know. That's what leaves us all paranoid. I am not trying to downplay any of this, we all will make decisions on behalf of ourselves and our kids and our job is to do the best we can for them. I think its perfectly fine for each family to define what risk they are comfortable with. I also for my own business have to define what risk I am willing to accept to my customers and employees. Any responsible business owner has to do that, and on top of that be a microcosm for the debate of economy versus safety. I have let people who follow my arcade page know all the steps that we are taking - and its more than most - but I made clear that there is no such thing as 100% sterile risk free. As we have more knowledge we will make better informed decisions. If its decided that my arcade is a public health hazard far greater than everything else out there, we will close. For now, we go with what information we have.

Oh, we can't open for likely another 6 weeks in Virginia. Just getting ready to do so and that is a load in of itself. I don't think anyone has this all figured out, but the rule of thumb most are using is that 14 day consecutive decrease in cases is enough to allow people outdoors again. Our governor is a physician so is being a bit more on the cautious side than say Georgia. But there is a guarantee that cases eventually spike again and then we get to all go back indoors again. Its gonna be that way for a while. We will follow state rules for how many can be in one place at one time and try to keep customers 6 ft apart in addition to disinfecting every surface we can (see earlier in thread for our approach). I don't have all the answers here, and really will just keep following best practices. I can tell you the moment cases spike in my area we close again (and before others are forced into that decision) as we did ahead of everyone else before. It will be an interesting 18-24 months here.

Honestly, what concerns me more here is less IFPA tournaments (though I know that is important to some people and get it). I worry more about our pinball leagues. I mean I'm not exactly a youngster, but I'm definitely a bit younger than many league members. How do we handle it so they feel safe coming out. In the past we would allow league players to come in during the normal public hours and make up skipped sessions. I am thinking of making this a more permanent feature, but without the public. That is set aside times that we can let say 5 people in there from the normal 40 so that can still be part of the league. We will call it the social distancing league.

My response to this is that yes you make money available, and do not specifically exclude companies, then their applying for it is the fault of bad rules, not bad behavior. I don’t blame shake shack or anyone else for applying for free money. They have expenses too. I do blame our legislators for implementing a bad and poorly designed program that was underfunded. If they had put in enough money, no feeding frenzy would have been needed here. When most of us think about small business, we think about the flower shop at the corner, the restaurant downtown, the arcade in the suburbs. Those are really the backbone of what makes our cities great. The messed up aspect of this is that small business is defined as less than 500 employees. I’m sorry, if you have 500 employees in your business, no lay person would call that small. I propose that we have a new department called the “really small business administration” RSBA limited to less than 30 employees.

Why robots will never replace live human beings:

So in trying to go thru 3 different PPP providers, I hit the exact same roadblock every single time. They all wanted a 2019 940 payroll form from me. Well, I don't have one because employees were all being paid as 1099 contractors since it was just this low level part time gig. Decided in January that really should be rectified so went on Square Payroll. Kinda a mess, and computers don't handle messes, they handle yes or no decisions. I'm not mad about any of this, but given I've been paying my employees for the last 7 weeks, yeah would have been good to know that we weren't going to be paid back for any of that. At least I can feel good knowing that I am doing more for my employees than Hobby Lobby is.

Anyhoo, the other bonkers thing is that someone informed me that if I just claimed my business opened January 1st, I wouldn't need any of that 2019 paperwork, and a loan would get approved immediately just on the last quarter 941 IRS form. So, where the hell is the logic in ANY of this ? If i am trying to scam the government, which would I pick ? Uh, the one that didn't require almost any paperwork to get the loan

Try to get any of these people on the phone, fugettaboutit. And this isn't a requirement of SBA, its just standard they are mostly following for verifying borrowers. EVEN SQUARE who has gotten my receipts for the last 2 years, so they know exactly how much I make, and who have gotten my payroll for the last 4 months too, said I needed a 2019 940 with no human being to talk to. Nice job.

So I post this total shenanigans, because sometimes you have to vent. I'm not going to lie because its wrong (and easily verified) (and its the government)... but my employees don't continue to get paid unless I lie to get around a roadblock. Thankfully one of our customers happens to be a bank manager and sees the post. Problem taken care of in 30 minutes. Application submitted.

Guess where my bank account is moving to ?

OK, in my poor attempt at detailing my ongoing effort to reboot my place here is what I have done for disinfection: (SEE Bottom of this post for REALLY important caveats - your mileage may vary - don’t try this at home)

For disinfecting bough Ozone generators, 8 air purifiers H13 class, coating all buttons with this stuff called SD90 (SDST disinfectant) which last 3 months, bought UV quartz lights (don't buy the LED kind, wrong UV spectrum (not UVC)). Note that for purifiers it is most important in smaller enclosed spaces (like bathrooms) than it is in the open arcade, nevertheless for show I am doing all of the above.

I want to state upfront I don't say that any of this is the best way or cheapest or even most effective to go. But it is a way.

SD 90 3 month disinfectant: https://www.globalshieldsolutions.com/SD_ST_32_oz_spray_p/sd-004.htm

LEVOIT Air Purifier H13 True HEPA Air Purifiers for Home Allergies and Pets Hair 24db Quiet Air Cleaner, Remove 99.97% Dust Smoke Odor Dander Pollen for Bedroom Large Room, Customized Filter, Core 300
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VVK39F7/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_3W2REbD5TN6KE

Household Multifunction 3 Timer Desktop Lamp Base 6.5 FT Cord E26 E27 Screw Base for UV,CFL,Germicidal Lamp,LED,table lamp
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X393DHV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_kU2REb3QZSBGK

TESECU Automatic Soap Dispenser Touchless Foaming Soap Dispenser Bath Kitchen Countertop Soap Dispenser with Infrared Motion Sensor, Waterproof, 500ml Large Capacity
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083DVCG4B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_5U2REbGEG26MN

Naiver Automatic Soap Dispenser-TOUCHLESS Liquid Infrared Soap Pump, Wall-Mounted for Hospital,Airport,Kitchen,Bathroom,Hotel,600ml Ultra-Large Capacity
More information: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017IUN1BO/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_QV2REbTMRJMTH

Medify MA-112 | The Only 950 CADR H13 HEPA Air Purifier | Covers up to 5,000 sq ft Every Hour | Dual air Intake with 2 Sets of Filters for Allergies, Smog, Odors, Smoke, Pets Dander, Dust (2-Pack)
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0819387M7/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_mW2REbMS5KEPF

Medify MA-40 2.0 Medical Grade Filtration H13 True HEPA for 840 Sq. Ft. Air Purifier, 99.97% | Modern Design - White (2-Pack)
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08194ZQ4N/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_OX2REb3YVGP4D

Ziss Commercial Ozone Generator 10000mg Ozone Machine, Air Purifier Machine, Home Air Ionizers Deodorizer for Odor Eliminator Removal for Rooms, Hotels, Cars and Pets

25W 15W E27 UVC Ozone Ultraviolet Germicidal Lamp UV Sterilization Quartz Light
ebay.com link: 25W 15W E27 UVC Ozone Ultraviolet Germicidal Lamp UV Sterilization Quartz Light
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083FFG7FX/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_BY2REbNSFQ4R5

Hand Sanitizer
https://www.bulkapothecary.com/product/raw-ingredients/unscented-bases/unscented-hand-sanitizer-gel-base/

IMPORTANT CAVEATS !!!’

First, ozone is toxic stuff. If one is even contemplating using this, it can ONLY be used as a post closing disinfection procedure and THEN you want to have air quality measurements the next day.

Second there is limited data to suggest it is effective against this coronavirus, but broadly speaking its properties are virucidal http://www.triroc.com/sunnen/topics/sars.html

HOWEVER proceed with lots and lots of caution if trying any of this.

SAME goes for UVC light. Only leave on after everyone is out the door.

For the UV lights we will only run for 90 minutes post closing, same for any ozone treatment.

Nothing I wrote is a recommendation of any or these techniques. For now I want to be clear that the EPA primary recommendation is using wipes to disinfect surfaces and use hand sanitizer. That’s safe all day long. The rest of this stuff if not used carefully can cause more harm than good.

For booking since I already use Square (and Square Appointments TOTALLY SUCKS by the way), I am using Bookeo

www.bookeo.com

My best search has been for Escape Room Reservation Software because thats really the kinda model I see many of us potentially moving to. Kinda like all those adult injury .... er... kidee trampoline parks.

Am I in love with it - no I am not. Its interface is all kinda Windows 98. But it does the job and its $40 a month and it funnels bookings into my Square account and into my Square POS. It charges the credit card. I'll use it for now until I am convinced there is something better worth paying for and not something that does a ticketmaster $2 upcharge per ticket.

What we are doing is like any Escape Room where you have only so many people who can book per hour. I am selling tickets for a 2 hours time frame, for now pricing at $15 for 2 hours adult, $11 2 hours kid. We will allow I think 12 people in per hour, so that would be 24 at one time throughout the day. That I will try to make a selling point - 2500 square feet, 25 people in there - I think social distancing is kinda covered.

Spread your customers out like that, they a) might come back and b) you might not lose as much money as when 75 people get the same idea to come in at 2pm when we open which I can't have happen anymore. Then again, if you can't offer them all a 2pm start time it might be a terrible idea. Just gonna have to try and see what works. We will all becomes Escape Rooms of sorts.

Sorry I should have been more careful here than I was

First, ozone is toxic stuff. If one is even contemplating using this, it can ONLY be used as a post closing disinfection procedure and THEN you want to have air quality measurements the next day.

Second there is limited data to suggest it is effective against this coronavirus, but broadly speaking its properties are virucidal http://www.triroc.com/sunnen/topics/sars.html

HOWEVER proceed with lots and lots of caution if trying any of this.

SAME goes for UVC light. Only leave on after everyone is out the door.

For the UV lights we will only run for 90 minutes post closing, same for any ozone treatment.

Nothing I wrote is a recommendation of any or these techniques. For now I want to be clear that the EPA primary recommendation is using wipes to disinfect surfaces. That’s safe all day long. The rest of this stuff if not used carefully can cause more harm than good.

Alright alright.... no ozone for now.

Agreed. The one big conclusion from the Chinese survey of where Coronavirus lives in the air, was perhaps surprisingly, NOT in the large open space. It was in the small enclosed spaces, like bathrooms where air flow was minimal to non. Hence you can see I have choses to have some big ass air circulators, supplemented by several small ones for the enclosed spaces

Again people, lets please keep this on topic. Its a settled point that most operator locations are going to open again at some point, and this thread is about how this is done in the best way possible given all the variables involved. You may not like it, but it is what it is. There is a COVID specific thread for discussions about who is or isn't doing what, who is or isn't being put at risk. It is not that I am unappreciative of the many issues involved with the ethics of reopening a business in this climate, but this is not the thread for that discussion. Thank you.

So, yes enclosed spaces = higher risk. That is why we are running purifiers to recirculate that air rather than just blowing air around. What the chinese study specifically found was that within a hospital environment, where it is high high risk, they found little evidence of the virus just floating around in the air on the open wards, and more with it floating around within small enclosed spaces. It is not definitive, nothing is, but it is the best information to date to act on. For sure the Chinese restaurant is worrisome annecdotal data. The study published in Science however, was much more methodical. The perhaps not unsurprising conclusion was that the best place you can be is outdoors, but that being indoors, even on a ward with COVID patients, is not quite as risky as we may have imagined it to be.

Yes, we can make it on 25%, barely. First, I collect no salary from the arcade, just pay my employees. Second, we have relatively low rent. Third, the arcade was just starting to go into a boom period where it might actually make some money and pay off the small amount of debt it has. So a fall from those heights back to a lower sustaining amount is not as damaging as it could be. We were a small little business with not all that much in the way of expenses beyond a couple of employees and the rent and repair costs. But we've run it pretty wisely, not taken on much debt, never used projections of where we might get to to drive business decisions, so I think we can be ok

OK folks, I want to try something out with you all to get your opinions. I have a problem and most of you do too. You would not be making any money if there were 6 feet in between all machines. And I wouldn't have any place to put them if I had to shelve half the machines. Leaving half the machines off or covering with a bedsheet is NOT a good look, makes it seems like an arcade with lots of broken stuff. The problem is though that people generally aren't too good about maintaining social distancing correctly.

SOOOO, here is the thought. I believe we can make small mesh network devices on the cheap for each machine (as in less than $50 per machine and targeting more $35 - parts and maybe $10 for the effort). Those devices would a) sense when a person is in front of the machine b) communicate to the surrounding devices that a machine is being occupied c) display a red X when the machine isn't available because people on surrounding machines are too close d) when that person on the nearby machine leaves, change the display on the nearby machine to a green check mark e) if someone insists on trying to play a red X device, first warn them, and then sound a defcon 3 alarm, just loud enough for those surrounding them to hear. Step away from the machine sir .... ! Each device would know how far apart it is from other devices, or at the very minimum if it is within the 6 foot social distancing radius. It would also be self powered from a cheap rechargeable LIPO.

The system would be automatic, adjusting real time. You get to keep all games on, you get to control spacing of people in there by the little social reminders to do so, you don't have to go around with a bullhorn telling people to spread apart, and you don't have to break your back moving out machines.

Thoughts ?

We have them back to back right now in banks, so that wouldnt' really work that well unfortunately

As a low tech solution, yes that works quite well.

Adults for sure. Little kids.... well I’m not sure of any deterrent that will be foolproof, even a parent lecturing to them.

It seems as if Virginia may be a go as early as next week. 10 people limit though if they let entertainment locales open up.

Thank you for posting those. They will serve as inspiration for our own signage

First, you are 100% correct on everything you write here. I fully agree and they are all good points.

1) Masks - half my patients are wearing them upside down anyway, so minimal effectiveness
2) Forehead temperature - inaccurate, and if we could screen for every COVID+ patient with this we would not have a pandemic.
3) Social distancing in an enclosed space - an oxymoron if there ever was one
4) Disinfect surfaces - mostly done incorrectly, and usually just smears stuff around
5) Airflow - go visit the middle of the woods if we really want to make sure we don't want to inhale corona
6) Limited gatherings - a party of 1 person is best.
7) Gloves - what Nic said
8) Plexiglass barriers - barriers to what ? - good for salad, probably not so much for COVID
9) Hand sanitizer - good until I pull down my mask to wipe my nose and then play another pin.

The bottom line is this: short of us all staying in our houses for 14 days straight with no contact with anyone, this isn't going away. We could have done better, we could have had actual government leadership, but we didn't, and we won't unfortunately.

Despite all this, go drive by the parking lot of Costco or Walmart or Target or Kroger. Go walk in and see what we allow in an "essential" business. Enuf said. Are they doing pretty much any of this ? Some....maybe..... but its an incomplete effort at best.

I don't really view any of this as "hey at least I tried". That's glass half empty thinking there. I view it more as "I am doing more than most AND the combination is still way better than zero".

This isn't binary 1 or 0, its analog. Say I reduce with everything above the likelihood of someone getting COVID from my arcade by 50%. Am I gonna feel bad that someone got it from the arcade - and in any social gathering this is a given it WILL happen - yes I am. Am I just going to cower in a hole and say close the business now, I'll reopen in 3 years when everyone is vaccinated - not practical on any level one looks at. Understand people got sick at my arcade for sure before (flu, cold, bacterial infection, whatnot) it just wasn't as in your face as corona and before this, nobody really thought about the risks of going to a football game.

When I counsel patients I go thru a long list of risks/benefits. There is a benefit to watching Netflix by oneself for 3 years and staying indoors (probably also a risk to going crazy too), there is a clear risk to venturing back out into the world. There is no step I can take that fully eliminates risk or 100% assures benefit. The best I can do is mitigate risk, try and keep as much benefit as possible, and let people decide how to stratify their tolerance for risk. That's all any of us can do.

We are taking all 9 of those measures above, with best practices that are achievable with each. But I'll admit since I can't truly quantify risk except in the abstract, I can't even tell you how much I've mitigated risk with those measures, and since benefit (maybe mental health) is entirely personal, I can't tell you if its enough. I only go forward because thats the only direction one can move in life. The only way to make sure one never gets this is to go life on a desert island for 5 years (or a padded cell). I don't think any of us plan on doing that.

For anyone doing the "half the games off" scenario, I highly recommend these:

Smart Plug, KMC WIFI MiNi Outle Works with Alexa, Google Home & IFTTT, Smart Life, No Hub Required, Remote Control Your Home Appliances from Anywhere, ETL Certified,Only Supports 2.4GHz Network(4 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QPZ5WMW/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_7xEWEb15JC2Y2

$5 each, so simple my 10 yo set them all up for me today, one on each game to easily control what is up and what is not.

Also, there is another thread on my building the poor man's version of an automatic social distancer in the Operating/Route subforum. I'll have a working version in the next week and detail everything so anyone can build for themselves and I'll provide the software for free. I am using this to allow me to keep all games on all the time, but enforce one game between players.

You are totally and completely correct here. The belief that any business owner can control the narrative here is totally off base. If my arcade has taught me anything over the last two years, it is that I have very little control over who comes and why they come. Given that, I could easily throw the doors open, no changes, and come what may. I take all these measures (and dear god it’s cost me money) because as a physician it’s the right thing to do. I want to help set the example that others can hopefully follow and improve upon. At the same time I retain the humility to know it can never be enough, and no matter what I do there is a very real possibility that we won’t even hit 25% of our pre pandemic income. In fact I expect to lose somewhere between $30-50K this year even running on bare bones minimum. I have two choices, close or do my best within reason. I have chosen the latter