Going Stir Crazy – Day 7 of House Arrest

No, I am not wearing a Martha Stewart ankle monitor. But it feels like it. Pat and I have decided to lay very low to avoid the virus. We are both in good health, without any real underlying health issues. I would advise everyone to do the same. Just stay in the house, the patio, and go for walks in the neighborhood. Many walks…

Just trying to add some levity to a serious situation. It really has not been too bad to stay in. I have to turn off the news and read some books or some other hobbies. Not panicked, but just a good dose of healthy caution.

Do We Stay in Florida or Go Back to VA?

A few days ago we looked at the pros and cons of staying here in rural central Florida or quickly relocating back up north to Virginia. Our family and our doctors are in Virginia. In addition, Virginia has a normal mix of age groups. Why is that important? As experienced in Italy, the elder population has much more serious symptoms and require hospital beds and ventilators. They soon run out of each. The downside is the weather still has some cold and rainy days ahead until May.

Florida has some great warm weather in the upper 80’s. Some experts say that the warm temps may kill or else slow down the virus. Also, if we travelled the 750 miles back to VA, we would be taking some additional exposure risks at RV parks and fuel stations. What would happen if we had mechanical problems on the road and mobile techs were not working? We decided to stay here, so time will tell if that was the correct decision.

Florida’s cases have more than doubled since Friday. Maybe the crazed spring breakers still coming in to the state.

Self Quarantine

Pat and I decided to stay in and not go out to restaurants or anywhere people are congregated. Not just the new guideline of 10 people, but zero, zilch. Just the two of us. Hopefully, we will avoid it in this go around.

The really frightening part is many who have the virus show no symptoms at all and are out and about doing their thing. The number of people they infect is overwhelming over a couple of weeks.

I have now heard that the major outbreak may not decline until July or August. And then it will continue at some rate, year round, until a vaccine is developed. And that is 1.5 to 2 years away from mass usage.

With the above information, I am going to cancel our travel reservations over the summer. It was a planned travel to Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Maybe another year.

Curbside Grocery Pickup

We are trying the Publix grocery online order and curbside pickup for the first time. It is a little more costly, but is worth it in this case. The experts say to keep six feet from the store worker and tip on line instead of cash.

Then bring the groceries inside washing everything in soap and water. If cardboard or paper, set aside for a few days before touching. Then wash your hands very well. This virus can live on these hard surfaces.

Winter of 2021 in The Rio Grande Valley of Texas

The bit of good news is the RV resort that we like (Llano Grande) opened the 2020 reservation window at 8am on Sunday. After numerous attempted calls, I got through and snagged one of the last spaces in the new North section. Yippee!

Hopefully, things will be back to normal (whatever that is) by then.

Coronavirus Tracker

I have been tracking the US and the World cases and deaths. The US is just starting in the spike phase. Let’s all pray for that people will follow the new social distancing guidelines and help flatten the curve.

The charts below are my excel files from tracking the daily cases from the John Hopkins website.

Take care and God Bless.