“Grandpa what did you do during the big coronavirus isolation of 2020?” Well, kiddies, grandpa didn’t act a fool like some people, running around grabbing all the toilet paper and cleaning supplies he could find and hoarding them, or hanging out with crowds of people at the beaches and bars. No, grandpa was home writing. And he did another 6,000 words in his new book yesterday for a total of over 10,000 words for the weekend.
While we were in Arizona in February, my daughter Tiffany turned us on to the British TV show Call the Midwife, which is on Netflix and we have been binge watching it. It’s a series about midwives in the slums of London back in the 1950s and early 60s. Coincidentally, because one of the characters in the family saga I plan to write is a midwife, I bought the e-book Call the Midwife from Amazon a couple of months ago to get some background on their work, but had not read it yet. Terry liked the show and the e-book so much that I ordered the other two in the series for her in printed format and she is enjoying reading them. It’s an interesting show and not just a chick flick. I find it very interesting to see what life was like back then for people in a country still rebuilding after the devastation of World War II.
Our only trips out in the last week have been medical appointments. We are trying to limit our time away from home, so that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing. We have four appointments scheduled for this coming week, and I’m not sure if we’re going to keep them or cancel, or whether the facilities we’re going to might beat us to the punch and cancel them for us.
The only time we went outside during the weekend was to check the mail and to talk briefly with our neighbors across the street, Jesse and his lady Jen, and Jen’s daughter, who is currently on furlough from her job at Disney. Jesse moved in a few months ago, and Jen got to town on Wednesday. It was nice to meet her, they’re both great people who I am sure will be good friends. And yes, we maintained the recommended safe distance apart. I’m not finding that very hard to do since most people shy away from me naturally.
I had someone tell me online yesterday, not for the first time, that we are being paranoid. No, we’re being cautious. We don’t think the sky is falling, but we’re both 67 years old, I have had two heart attacks, and Terry’s immune system is compromised from her cancer. We have plenty of food, we have toilet paper (we even have bidets), and we have most everything we need to get by. All restaurants are closed except for takeout, as are many of the stores, so where do we have to go? Most of the stores that are open have empty shelves, and if there is something still there that someone really does need, why should we buy it just because we can?
Folks seem to be divided on this whole Covid-19 thing. Some people I care a lot for and respect very much think it’s all a bunch of hype and there’s really nothing much to it. Others are taking every precaution they can. No matter what you think about it, there’s no question that it is a serious issue. My daughter-in-law Geli is Clinical Director at a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, and my son tells me that they are so overwhelmed with patients and short of supplies that she is having to use the same mask over and over again, putting it in a sealed bag between patients.
And then you have the fools like the idiot in Tucson, Arizona who broke into a healthcare place and stole a bunch of Coronavirus test kits. I have no idea what he was thinking because unless you have a connection with a lab to process them, they are worthless. But I’m sure he’ll find somebody gullible enough to buy them from him.
No matter how long this keeps up, I would not be the least bit surprised if before too long we’re going to start seeing looting. Not for food or toilet paper, but for anything that can be stolen, just like we have every time we have a hurricane in this part of the country. Some take advantage of the fact that emergency services are tied up elsewhere and have a field day stealing TVs and stereos, small appliances, cell phones, and things like that from stores. A couple of hurricanes back, we actually had somebody drive a vehicle through the wall of a local gun shop and get away with a bunch of firearms and ammunition. The same gang hit other gun shops here in central Florida.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I wonder if they have toilet paper?
Congratulations Wayne Shunamon, winner of our drawing for an an autographed copy of Outlaw Road, the second book in my good friend Billy Kring’s excellent Hunter Kincaid mystery series about a female Border Patrol agent who isn’t afraid of taking on the tough and dangerous cases, or of stepping on toes, to see justice done. We had 114 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon!
Thought For The Day – I run like the winded.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We feel we’d rather be cautious than take any unnecessary chances. We postponed our routine dental appointments for six months – they were getting ready to call us to do that anyway. We get in socializing w/our neighbors when we are walking our dogs in the evenings – the two-legged folks practice ‘social distancing’. One of our neighbors had happy hour on her front lawn in the afternoon – we all brought our own chairs, snacks, drinks with plenty of room in between al of us and in the center of our circle – a small table holding a container of wipes instead of snacks – too funny. And as snowbirds, we are in no hurry to head north – staying here in FL is certainly not a hardship. We’re lucky we can enjoy being outdoors in such great weather.
All the different opinions about what this is and how bad it can be will be answered in the next few weeks.
Good luck!
Well Nick, anyone of any age not taking the COVID-19 seriously is in for a big shock. We are in Canada and where it has just been an announced closure of any businesses that are non-essential for a period of 14 days at a minimum. The schools have been closed until September 2020.
This is not a drill, our global medical infrastructure is stressed beyond functional and as countries that hesitate to take action watch the death rate escalate the only thing standing between staying healthy and getting sick is social distancing.
Stay safe folks.