Weird News

A post office near our nation's capital has gone to great lengths to keep coronavirus from spreading to its workers -- the philosophy being ... see no evil, breathe no evil.

Check out these photos TMZ got this weekend at a PO in Annandale, VA -- just 20 or so minutes outside of central D.C. You can see these long opaque vinyl tarps hanging from the ceiling and almost completely covering the mail tellers interacting with customers.

BTW, we're told these tarps were NOT set up on Friday ... so it seems the Post Office rolled them out (literally) overnight in an attempt to maintain as little contact as possible. As for why so blurry -- maybe these federal workers are sick of looking at people's mugs.

It's just the latest weird thing we're seeing in and around D.C. -- different stores and businesses have resorted to plenty of strange policies and tactics in these uncertain times. Looks like mail carriers are getting on the "let's try anything" bandwagon too.

Chris D'Elia has a wild tale that's almost too funny to believe ... a local cashier hooked him up with toilet paper 'cause of his celebrity, treating perforation like precious pounds of pot.

The comedian took to Instagram Saturday with his story, telling his followers that he casually strolled into an L.A.-area store -- didn't say which one -- and asked the dude at the front if they had any toilet paper in stock ... a question that's become all too common these days.

Chris says the guy started acting super shady, and then led him to the back of the store ... where he claims he emerged with a 24-pack of top-notch TP, which was clearly being hidden/hoarded from the general public. The guy allegedly told Chris he was a big fan.

Not just that ... but Chris says the fella gave him the whole pack for free -- how 'bout that?!? As CD puts it ... he'll be sh***ing pretty for weeks to come. Hooray!!!

Chris says he knew his comedy would pay off at some point, and it sounds like it has during these most trying of times. And, as far as toilet paper becoming just as coveted as drugs ... something like this has been predicted before by the great Robin Williams.

People say the coronavirus pandemic has had a seismic impact on our way of life -- and they're 1,000% right ... because seismologists are noticing how damn quiet it's gotten.

A geologist and seismologist named Thomas Lecocq, who works at an observatory in Brussels, Belgium, has noted the change in the vibrations he and his colleagues were recording from the Earth's surface -- saying they've reduced significantly since mid-March.

Of course, that's when most everyone else outside of China -- which was already grappling with the outbreak since at least February, if not sooner -- started implementing stay-at-home orders, quarantining guidelines, and in some cases ... nationwide mandatory lockdowns.

The Belgium study goes on to say vibrations in that immediate area caused by human activity has fallen by at least a third in recent weeks, which means people aren't driving on the roads, walking about ... or cranking their machines nearly as much as they normally do.

Needless to say, that same finding is probably being seen around other parts of the world, including here in the U.S., where we're always zooming around, especially on the coasts.

It's fascinating -- the seismologists in Brussels say the phenomenon is actually helping them pay more close attention to important stuff ... like incoming earthquakes, exact aftershock locations, oceanic noise and tectonic plate shifts they usually couldn't easily detect.

The dog walking community is hurting across the country -- almost everyone with a leash-for-hire is losing customers under the pandemic ... and it's forcing some of them to get adventurous.

Dog walking companies in L.A., NYC, San Francisco and Seattle all tell us the same thing -- business is tanking, down as much as 50% in some places ... and some have shut down altogether.

One of those is The Dog Walking Network in NYC. Manger Megan O'Leary says business dropped from 120 walks per day to just 30 before they suspended services last week ... after 11 successful years.

In Seattle, an early COVID-19 hot zone, Seattle4Dogs founder Mark Little tells TMZ ... he wasn't comfortable putting his workers at risk so he shut down on March 20 after 17 years in the biz.

Likewise, Hang Around Hound in San Fran, had to layoff 6 employees when it shut down on March 16. Owner Theresa Hedgepeth says several of her 400 clients have autoimmune disorders ... so she felt "reckless bringing their dogs to different neighborhoods when we didn't completely understand the risk."

Some dog walkers are taking precautions to ease the minds of owners worried about their own exposure and their dog's. For instance, Antonio Alfaro in L.A. only takes pups to Topanga Canyon for walks.

It's off the beaten path with relatively few people ... so there's less reason for his 120 clients to be concerned.

Wag! -- a bigger, national company -- is practicing social distancing for pickups and drop-offs, plus masks and gloves for all of their walkers. Based on pics Wag! walkers continue to post, they're rolling along just fine.

BTW, dog walking isn't specifically listed as an "essential business" under most state guidelines -- however, many include pet boarding.

And, for any owners concerned their dogs could possibly carry coronavirus if they go out -- the CDC says there's no evidence regular household pets are carriers.

This is taking coronavirus fears to the ultimate extreme -- rather than waiting until it's too late, more and more Americans are writing in-memoriam addresses ... for themselves.

As you know, standard funerals aren't happening anymore under "safer-at-home" guidelines -- and online memorial services are now the norm. Keeper, a company that allows people to create memorial pages, tells TMZ ... it's seen a big increase in people using their "Living Memorial" feature.

Might sound like a very morbid DIY, but Keeper's president, Mandy Benoualid, tells us their site lets users create a detailed chronicle of their lives -- complete with timelines, milestones, photos, and memories from loved ones.

She says the "Living Memorial" feature also lets you designate who'll be your "keeper" when you're gone. Overall, she says their site has seen a 300% increase in traffic.

GatheringUS is another online memorial site, and it's also been very busy. CEO Noha Waibsnaider says one of their newest virtual tools is seeing some love -- the video conference memorial/funeral, which is super elaborate, but tech-friendly.

Mourners log into the chat, and they're walked through the service by an MC of sorts, who mutes their mics and then tells them when it's their turn to speak. There's even a "reception" afterward, and they break guests up into "tables" -- separate video chats, basically.

GatheringUS also has memorial pages people can set up, but it sounds like their digital goodbye parties are seeing more action than online funerals.

That's a good thing.

Pinterest users stuck at home in coronavirus quarantine have one burning question on their minds ... how in the hell are we supposed to clean our bathroom sinks?!?

Seriously ... the good folks over at Pinterest tell us website users are searching for all sorts of things, but there's been a huge spike in searches for sink cleaning tips.

Pinterest says searches for "how to clean a bathroom sink" are up a whopping 3,404% during the coronavirus pandemic. Kinda makes sense though ... folks who have relied on housekeepers, finally have to fend for themselves.

It's almost like Darwinism.

Pinterest tells us they're also seeing spikes in searches for other topics related to self-care and DIY. Check out these search engine doozies:

• "Indoor beekeeping" is up 4,087%
• "How to grow spinach from scraps" is up 1,043%
• "Yeastless bread recipes" are up 4,400%
• "Garden obstacle course kids" is up 1,850%
• "Good sleep tips" are up 7,580%
• "Calm during chaos quotes" are up 6,299%

Oh, and we'll leave you with this ... searches for Chrissy Teigen bread recipes have also surged an incredible 3,790%.

What would we do without Pinterest?!?

If you thought "Three Billy Goats Gruff" was an enchanting fairy tale, you ain't seen nothing yet ... a small community in Wales has got that beat by the dozens.

Once upon a time, a virus took over the world and forced everyone inside for a long while. The city of Llandudno in the British land of Wales was no exception to the rule, and not a soul wandered its streets for weeks ... leaving the town barren and in relative silence.

The local mountain goat gang caught wind of the abandonment, and decided to try their hand at taking over the joint ... slowly but surely flocking and having their run of the place, without a human in sight to stop them.

The more goats that joined the herd, the more they were left to do their own bidding, and eventually ... the entire town was inundated with horns and lots of baaahhs.

The local townsfolk couldn't do a thing but watch intently from indoors. "Will we ever go outside again?" wondered Papa. "Doubtful," replied Mama. "The 'rona's got our goat for now."

The end ... or is it???

Quarantine and chill has video game connoisseurs going nuts, and the console that's scratching their itch is the Nintendo Switch ... something you'll have to pay big bucks for nowadays.

It's true ... Nintendo Switches are the go-to video game carrier right now during the outbreak, and it seems like folks who figured that out too late are now having to pony up and pay a premium price if they wanna get their hands on one. We're talking $200-$300 markups, maybe more.

We've spoken to big box and electronic retailers like Best Buy and Target out here in the L.A. area, as well as some locations in NYC ... they all tell us the same thing -- they're completely out of Switches. No locations within 250 miles of L.A. are shipping them either.

That's not to say you can't still get a hold of one -- we've heard of some lucky gamers in L.A. snagging one off of GameStop about a week ago out of sheer luck ... it just got delivered this weekend. GameStop's site says they're out and on backorder 'til April 30, but we know one person who recently checked and found they had a few in stock online for a brief time, and they jumped on it at the regular $299 price, too. That's a steal these days.

Fact is ... if you head on over to Amazon right now, you'll see they still have them available for purchase. You'll just have to pay upwards of $400 to $500 or more to get one, which is overpriced ... but also how the market works. Supply and demand, baby!

While tons of people who have a Nintendo Switch right now are resorting to classic Mario games -- like Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Mario Party, etc. -- and playing online with their friends ... the true hot ticket Switch item at the moment in Animal Crossing, which just came out with a new edition, "New Horizons," this past week to incredibly high fanfare.

We've heard of lines out the door -- even with quarantine regulations and social distancing in place -- over the past few days at places like Walmart, Best Buy and others, so people could pick up their pre-ordered copy. It's a simulation-type video game ... escapism at its finest.