The straight skinny!

My New Hobby

Your intrepid blogger has taken a couple of week off to do some exhaustive research on the real situation with Covid-19.  I have combed through hours and hours of reports from all the major news outlest, the CDC, the Tennessee department of health, My brother-in-law Tom, Neighbor Chuck, Madam Rue (you know that gypsy with the gold tattoo from Love Potion #9).

The Chinese fellow at the local take out restaurant said it sounds like the Russian flu to him while my friend is Cuba last said to stay the hell indoors and wear a mask everywhere before he went off the air about a week ago (I'm worried about him!)

But here is the straight skinny derived (stolen & plagiarized  from dozens of reliable sources.)

The LIST:

1. Basically, you can't leave the house for any reason, but if you have to, then go ahead.

2. Masks are useless, but please wear one, it could save you or someone else or maybe not. Also could be mandatory, maybe. 

3. Stores are closed, except the ones that are open. You can buy the same stuff at some open stores that they have at closed stores and there are a lot more people inside them. 

4. You should not go to hospitals unless you have to go there. Same applies to doctors, you should only go there in case of emergency, provided you are not too sick. If you are sick stay home.

5. This virus is deadly but still not too scary, except that sometimes it actually leads to a global disaster or instant death. 

6. Gloves won't help, but they can still help. If you touch anything then throw them away! 

7. Everyone needs to stay HOME, but it's important to GO OUT.

8. There is no shortage of groceries in the supermarket, but there are many things missing when you go there in the evening, but not in the morning. Sometimes. Check Facebook for current inventory. 

9. The virus has no effect on children except those it affects.

10. Animals are not affected, but there is still a cat that tested positive in Belgium in February when no one had been tested, plus a few tigers here and there…

11. You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you can also get sick without symptoms, have symptoms without being sick, or be contagious without having symptoms. Yeah.

12. In order not to get sick, you have to eat well and exercise, but eat whatever you have on hand and it's better not to go out, well, but please support local restaurants. 

13. It's better to get some fresh air, but you get looked at very wrong when you get some fresh air, and most importantly, you don't go to parks or walk. But don’t sit down, except that you can do that now if you are old, but not for too long or if you are pregnant (but not too old).

14. You can't go to retirement homes, but you have to take care of the elderly and bring food and medication.

15. If you are sick, you can't go out, but you can go to the pharmacy or pretty much anywhere. 

16. You can get restaurant food delivered to the house, which may have been prepared by people who didn't wear masks or gloves. But you have to have your groceries decontaminated outside for 3 hours. Pizza too?

17. Every disturbing article or disturbing interview must start with " I don't want to trigger panic, but…"

18. You can't see your older mother or grandmother, but you can take a uber and meet an older Uber driver.

19. You can walk around with a friend but not with your family if they don't live under the same roof.

20. You are safe if you maintain the appropriate social distance, but you can’t go out with friends or strangers at the safe social distance.

21. The virus remains active on different surfaces for two hours, no, four, no, six, no, we didn't say hours, maybe days? But it takes a damp environment. Oh no, not necessarily.

22. The virus stays in the air - well no, or yes, maybe, especially in a closed room, in one hour a sick person can infect ten, so if it falls, all our children were already infected at school before it was closed. But remember, if you stay at the recommended social distance, however in certain circumstances you should maintain a greater distance, which, studies show, the virus can travel further, maybe.

23. We count the number of deaths but we don't know how many people are infected as we have only tested so far those who were "almost dead" to find out if that's what they will die of

24. We have no treatment, except that there may be one that apparently is not dangerous unless you take too much (which is the case with all medications). 

25. We should stay locked up until the virus disappears, but it will only disappear if we achieve collective immunity, so when it circulates… but we must no longer be locked up for that?

I hope you feel better now that you are correctly informed.

Tennessee: 9667  Loudon County: 27

Another note from Cuba

Early 4/1 warning from Unicef

Things have changed in Cuba, here is a note from my friend there:

"The country that I’m in; Cuba, is 90% black or mixed and every single person whether it’s the president, new’s commentators, doctors or lawyers are waring a face mask. It is an absurdity— digress — for the black people there in the USA; not to be exhibiting necessary and prudent behaviors to protect themselves and their families from this contagious disease. And I don’t care who it is, if they hang their hat on the premise “I’m afraid I’ll get shot,” if I ware a mask to protect my family and friends. Those individuals should be fined or prosecuted for their brazen behavior in this time of crisis that has been cast upon virtually all of humanity."

My friend is outspoken but if you follow this blog, you will notice how his three posts have changed over the last few weeks.   From the slight concern of a distant storm, to storm clouds on the near horizon and ultimately the realization that the storm is here and we all need to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

Tennessee: 4634  Loudon County: 15

A little about COVID-19 VS. Personal Liberty

Big Brother is watching

I am a Libertarian, I believe that the rights of the individual are sacrosanct and should not be infringed by individuals or governments without just cause.

We have just been informed that cell phone tracking is being used to compare personal movements with COVID-19 infection hot spots.

Portions of the Tennessee/North Carolina boundary have been closed to all traffic.

Some counties on the Ourter Banks of North Carolina have been walled off to all but residents (prompting Federal lawsuits).

Florida is quarantining people crossing its border from New York and Louisiana. 

A parent was arrested in Colorado for playing ball with his wife and daughter.

A law enforcement team of lifeguards, coast guard and police are called out to arrest a single surfer breaking a closed beach restriction.

The list of such actions grows larger with each passing day.  The patchwork of state, county and city orders has created a situation in which many law enforcement people are themselves violating social distancing and quarantine rules to arrest people for violating those same rules. 

Many are clamoring for a Federal order to force people so stay in place; opening the door to more crazy instances of conflicting rules and regulations being enforced by people who are themselves largely ignorant of the procedure, rules and orders they are tasked to enforce.

Now, there is a point here: Most of these orders are put in place by well meaning officials who feel as though they must "Do something" but often that something causes harm to the citizens it is supposed to protect and endangers the people charged with providing the protection.

Most of these "Temporary orders" infringe some of the rights of the people but on the flip side foolish behavior by some will endanger some others.

What is the answer? Is there an answer to the rights vs. Corvid-19 question?

The answer is that there is just no one answer.  

My position is that the restriction of some of my rights (as ordered and enforced in Loudon County Tennessee today) may provide me with some protection from the virus and that reasonable enforcement of those restrictions by well informed and trained officials might help to slow the spread of COVID-19 and insure preservation of my life and the lives of my loved ones.  I can accept a temporary restriction.

However, any restriction of individual rights must constantly be reviewed and reduced wherever possible with the stated goal of removing all restrictions as soon as possible.

Now, if the public will do their part in following reasonable guidelines when you must venture out, behave as though you have the disease and don't want to spread it and treat everyone you encounter as though they have it and you don't want them to infect you.  Distance, masks, gloves, avoidance.

Not fun but not deadly. Be safe out there.

Tennessee: 4138  Loudon County: 15

Yakking with the kids

Our far flung family

One of the worst parts of being quarrantined at home is not being able to visit with friends and family in person. 

With stay-in-place orders in nearly every state, and 14 day quarantines imposed on travelers that cross many state lines, visiting is not a realistic option.

So after weekend phone calls, emails and a bit of downloading, we all got together via Zoom this past weekend.

Our three kids, their spouses and one granddaughter spent a delightful 40 minutes just talking and looking at each other.  From Colorado, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Tennessee, the nine of us were able to have a relatively normal conversation just as though we were sitting in the living room together and COVID-19 was far away.

Tennessee: 4138  Loudon County:  15

Sunday in the Suburbs

Official - No Means No Handbook!

Our community,  "Tellico Village" is located in Loudon County, Tennessee a largely rural county just Southwest of Knoxville.

Most of the county residents live in Lenoir City (Pop 8642),  Loudon (Pop 5381) or Tellico Village (Pop 5791).

The Village consists mostly of single family homes on winding streets along the Southern shore of Tellico Lake.  Originally intended as a place for city dwellers in the greater Knoxville area to build their "Cabin by the Lake", the Village transformed to a semi retirement community for affluent retirees from the burgeoning cities around Lakes Michigan, Erie and Huron - Steel, automobiles and other industrial products provided good wages and retirement plans, expensive real estate, high taxes and cold winters.  East Tennessee offers low taxes, less expensive property and moderate winters and the salespeople of Cooper Properties were happy to inform those northern retirees of the little paradise called Tellico Village.

Oh there are lots of native Tennesseans and imports from other parts of the country and the world and they almost universally share a few traits - they are well educated, law abiding intelligent people many of whom seem to share a common fault.

They don't seem to comprehend the word NO as it applies to all of us in this awful time of COVID-19.  Please refer to the official handbook of No Means No above and we might just live through this.

If its Tuesday, this must be Friday?

Keeping track of the Days

This is being written on Saturday for Sunday publication but I no longer pretend to have a good sense of time.  Retirement 10 1/2 years ago wend a long way toward reducing my internal clock to a quivering mess of time chalenged jelly but 17 days on the, "Stay at home" timeclock pushed me over the edge.

Up until mid March, we had a Silver Sneakers class 3 days a week in Lenoir City at 8:30am. That necessitated waking up at 6:15, coffee in bed, morning routine, breakfast about 7:15 and out the door before 8:00.

Exercises over by 9:30 and off to get groceries, haircuts, gass up the car and whatever else needed doing in town that day.  We would grab lunch at Casa Fiesta a couple of times a month.  Maybe we would drop off one of the vehicles for service, travel to the liquor store to replentish the wine cooler.

Mondays we would be home by 10:30 for Mary's card club but on Wednesday and Friday we could go off on some adventure for the afternoon - or visit one of our assortment of doctors.

But those 3 days were predictible and forced us to keep our internal clock reasonable on-time.  Now we have only two reference points; Saturday, Mary fixes Oatmeal (Thank you Jerry!) for breakfast and on Sunday, I fix Cranberry Pancakes (Thank you Dinny).

The rest of the week, we haven't a clue.  Must be getting old.

Tennessee: 3321 Loudon County: 13

It really is Saturday...

Jim, Andrea & Mary in happier times

I was lazy yesterday but I'm really slothlike today (Saturday 4/4).

My phone reminded me that 4 years ago today we were in Savannah, Georgia with friends Jim and Andrea Bradshaw.  This was a, "why don't we just go" trips that we all enjoyed for a number of years when we were all retired (mostly) and could come and go as we pleased.

Today with COVID-19 in the picture, we can't go anywhere not deemed essential (motels are, RV Parks & campgrounds are not) - some North Carolina counties are preventing Tennessee licensed vehicles from crossing into NC and others are restricting access to residents only.  Florida has long

Beach Bum 2016

entry lines checking for undocumented aliens from the likes of Louisiana and New York.

All the while gasoline for my thirsty RV is less expensive than it has been in many years and police along the way might ask me for my note from my employer saying I am employed in an essential job (let me see your papers rings a bell) or I might be fined for risking COVID-19 or be tossed into a jail where I will be sure to get it.  Then I can't return to the state I just left without a 14 day quarentine (in ine of those essential contaminated motel instead of my non-essential RV kept meticulously clean and sanitized by my nurse wife).

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The madness perpetrated on the American governments (state, federal and local) in the name of keeping us safe is astounding.  But not to worry - this will all be over by April 1, 2020 -- OOPS, that was last Wednesday.  How about April 15, 2020. May ...............

No wonder I'm tired!

Tennessee: 3067 Loudon County: 12

Old Folks Having Fun

Old folks having fun

Today (Thursday 4/2) was grocery shopping day - so after a leisurely breakfast, we cranked up the Rxpedition and drove to our loca Food Lion grocery store.  many partially filled shelves, a few empty ones and some full ones.  Obviously they are either not getting all they order or they are getting cleaned out quickly.

Pre-mixed salads were nearly totally gone, ground beef was 73% only although they did have pre-made patties with a lower fat content.  Paper towels and TP were non-existant  and the veggie selection was limited but better than last week.  We got most of the items on our list and decided to drive another 6 miles to the Food City store in Vonore.  We haven't shopped there since they opened about 5 years ago but we were amazed!

Nearly full shelves throughout (except paper products and most cleaning and sanitizing rpoducts were gone or in short supply).  Food city's prices were a bit higher but they seemed to be well stocked on most things.  We'll probably head there first next time.

This was an almost normal shopping experience.

Tennessee: 2845  Loudon County: 9

Life here is actually pretty good right now

Carabelle, Florida 2015

Mary and I are basically homebodies. When we travel it is usually in our 20 foot Pleasure Way Lexor.  About 5 years ago, we took a 4 month trip across the country ending in Hyder, Alaska - then down the West coast as far as LA and back home again. You can read that blog HERE,

We are used to living in small places together and our tiny 932 square foot home seams quite large when compared to our rolling home but current events do place some unwelcome limitations on us.

I do miss my weekly golf with Bill and while our neighborhood courses are open under COVID guidelines, I just don't think it is worth the risk - Bill also participates in wine tasting groups, poker games and hand and foot groups and I just can't trust that every one of those people is virus free.

The same goes for Mary's Monday card group - all of the ladies in that group are careful but what about their friends and their friends and so-on.

You very quickly go from exposing yourself to a person or two to dozens with just a few interactions and THAT is unacceptable to us. We'll stay put right here except for necessary outings to the grocery store.

Please don't be upset if we don't accept your invitation to visit or fail to issue our own to you.  It is just a sign of the times and this too will pass.

Tennessee: 2683 Loudon County: 8

Fishermen or Liars?

One thing missing in the minute-by-minute reports on the COVID-19 situation is accurate information.   Every "Talking Head" on every newscast, social media platform and the print media has only ONE thing in common with all the others - they just don't KNOW.

They don't know how many people are infected, they don't know the mortality rate, they don't know how many people are asymptomatic carriers, they don't know how many masks or ventilators or hospital beds will be needed, they don't know if you ought to stay 3 feet or 6 feet or 10 feet or a mile from other people to be out of virus range, they don't know if you ought to wear a mask anytime you leave your home or wear eye protection or a full blown hazmat suit.

Many of the talking heads are no better informed than you or I, they have educated guesses perhaps or a spreadsheet complied from known data or perhaps SWAGs (Scientific Wild Assed Guesses).  But they just don't know and in their lack of firm knowledge they make assumptions and reveal them as though they were fact to the information humgry masses.  Think about this:

Now I am probably not the brighest guy on the planet but when one person tells me that 50,000 people are going to die from this COVID-19 virus and another puts that figure at 50,000,000 it is not too much of a stretch to understand that they are each peddling their own agenda and it is rife with the stuff that comes from the South end of a North bound horse.

What can you do to survive this pandemic?  Well my idea is to listen to the reasoning that we try not to spread this virus around, stay away from large groups, and reduce unnecessary interactions in person as much as practical.

1. Hug your loved ones that live with you. 
2. Call the others on the phone or Skype or Zoom as often as you can.  
3. Talk with your neighbors from a distance.  
4. Use your brain to try to make sense of all of this mess. 
5. Be grateful for those who are risking their lives to make things better. 
6. Don't spread false information - if you don't know it for a fact, keep it to yourself.
7. Understand that everyone wants to make it better but no one knows exactly how - be patient, we'll figure this out in time.
8. Don't pay much attention to talking heads or crazy old men like me.

Tennessee: 2239  Loudon County: 8