On my walk this morning I was musing about how life is sometimes like a walk in the forest. Sometimes there is a trail, clearly blazed. Other times the trail is obscured, either by fallen leaves or by mud, rocks or water. When the trail is hidden, we can’t see it more than a few feet ahead. But with each step, the next step becomes clear. Funny how our eyes always manage to tell our feet where to go next, while keeping an eye out for obstacles. One step at a time.
Our governor announced yesterday that he is extending our stay-at-home order until May 8, at which time he hopes/expects to be able to implement a phased return to opening businesses. and getting people back to work Based on that it may be June before we can return to many of our normal activities. It’s a little frustrating but ultimately seems like a wise approach given the uncertainties.
It’s been interesting to read about the results of these so-called “antibody tests” that show whether or not you have had or have been exposed to the virus. Evidently the numbers are suggesting that there are far more people that (a) have had the virus but didn’t know it, or (b) had symptoms which were not indicative of the virus but actually had some form of it. It’s also interesting that the data suggest the virus may have been prevalent in our country a lot earlier than previously thought, and at a surprisingly high level. I’d love to be able to get the test to see if either or both of us had been exposed. Assuming that there is some level of immunity from previous exposure, it would be nice to have the peace of mind of knowing that maybe we had less to worry about. I also think it is a key for getting people back to work again.
As far as these other states that seem to be jumping the gun on opening things up, I’m exercising my best Southern Hospitality and saying, “Y’all go ahead, I think I’ll just sit here and watch for a while and see how it works out. Bless your heart.” 🙂
In the mean time, it sounds like I’ll be looking for more things to photograph around the house!
Every household should have a Curtometer. We have two! 🙂
I read an interesting article today about Carl Sagan and the idea of a Baloney Detection Kit from his book titled “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.” It is a thoughtful look at critical thinking and how it is or could/should be applied to the way we view information and how we form opinions. It inspired me to request the entire book from the library to read, and it is now on my Kindle. Unfortunately it’s about 4th in line to read, but I’ll get to it!
This chair is part of a dining room set that we bought when we lived in Ohio 30 years ago. Interestingly, it was manufactured by the Cochrane Furniture Company in Lincolnton, NC, just 30 miles from where we live now. It is woefully out of style, but it suits our house nicely, is well made and we still love it.
Here’s a story of our government’s ineptitude. We have friends who have been on the Pacific Princess cruise ship since early January. He is an entertainer, she is a port lecturer. The ship finally made it back to Los Angeles yesterday, after having been at sea for nearly 2 months with no port stops. No one on board is sick, no one on board has even been to a place where the Coronavirus is. When it came time to disembark, she is allowed to leave because she is on the passenger list, while he is required to stay on board because he is on the crew list. They are married, have been sharing the same cabin for nearly 4 months and are going home to the same place. But he can’t go. Rules is rules, the CDC says. No wonder people are getting upset.
The SC governor is lifting the order that closed the beaches in South Carolina. Some of the officials in those beach towns, however, are saying “not so fast!” We’ve got our eye on Hilton Head, because if we can get down there in May or June, we can “social distance” there just fine. It’s just like living at home, but with a beach!
Good coffee almost always means a good start to the day!
As we approach the end of the original 30-day shutdown of North Carolina, a lot of folks are understandably anxious about whether the shutdown will be extended, or whether all or part of it will continue. Much like cars sitting at a red light that start to creep forward in anticipation of the green light, I feel like some folks are getting a little antsy.
I tend to be more of a Rule Follower. Even though I consider myself to be a pretty smart guy and capable of forming my own well-reasoned opinions and decisions, I typically seek and rely on the advice of others for subjects in which I don’t have expertise. I read the statistics about illness and death and compare them with unemployment numbers and deaths from other diseases and it feels like we are seriously overreacting. I drive past businesses open and closed, and wonder how come I can stop at the auto parts store and buy a new air filter but I can’t stop at Dick’s and pick up a new pair of shoes. Thankfully my coffee shop is still open so I can buy beans!
I default to the idea that “people smarter and better informed than me” are making the best decision they can. It might or might not ultimately turn out to be the right one, but there is only one way to know, and that is to ride out the storm and see what’s left when we’re done. I see people protesting, seeking to “liberate” their state or county, and I wonder “what makes you think you are smarter than the smart people?” and “liberate from what?” My gut tells me that maybe those are the people that need to stay home the most! If they are that sure that they’re invincible or aren’t concerned about their own health or safety, I probably don’t want them standing behind me at the grocery store or visiting a restaurant I’m planning to go to.
Day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month remains our motto!
We went for a nice long drive in the countryside yesterday. It was a beautiful day, blue skies and sunshine. We had no destination, just a big loop that took us about 50 miles in an hour and a half. It was nice to get out and see some different scenery.
We last filled up the gas tank on March 30, and when we left the house yesterday we only had about 50 miles on the odometer. The shame of it is we keep getting “Fuel Points” from our grocery purchases and prescription refills that give us a nice discount on our gas. The points expire every month but we have a hard time using them because we don’t need gas! A nice problem to have, I guess, but I hate to not buy gas when we can get up to $1 per gallon off.
We continue to avoid eating restaurant food, and have gotten to the place where it doesn’t have much appeal. One of these days we may go out for pizza, but we just bought some frozen pizza dough and are going to try making our own. It won’t be as good as pizza from our favorite place, but we’re on a roll now with cooking at home and don’t want to break the streak!
Someone blogged the other day about takeout being a “significant treat” but we don’t see the appeal of eating food from a cardboard or styrofoam container. We’ve been experimenting with beans and grains and different kinds of veggies, improving our ability to grill fish, and continuing our weekly steak habit (about the only meat we eat these days). The scale has been very happy with the higher quality of food. Just this week my weight hit the lowest point since we started tracking in 2009! Kathy is right along beside me. Life is good!
Today’s photo reminds me that we would all be a lot better off if we spent more time listening instead of talking. Listening to good music through good headphones allows us to mind our own business and to not bother others.
We were scheduled to get haircuts today. Fortunately things haven’t gotten too shaggy yet. Another month, though, and we may need to take action.
Busy head this morning…that’s not always a good sign.
The headline in this morning’s Charlotte newspaper said “Coronavirus Claims Two More In Mecklenburg.” Two people out of a total county population of 1.1 million. If the paper reported daily deaths from heart disease and diabetes on the front page, would the number be more than two, and would it get the same level of attention? Nah.
And we have a “president” who says “hey, don’t look at me” when criticized, while a country is looking to him for leadership. It’s time to move on from that bozo.
Our local liquor store manager/philosopher publishes a weekly newsletter, and in yesterday’s newsletter he recounted an amusing story from a recent visit to the grocery store:
“Okay so I am the grocery store and I need some celery for Keith’s world famous chicken soup. It is all about the egg noodles folks. There is a woman that is touching every single head of lettuce for reasons that only she knows. I lean forward and swiftly grab my celery and she turns to me and says “do you mind keeping your distance? Just give me some space buddy.” I just smiled at her and continued my shopping because what kind of conversation are we going to have? Like why is the worried person touching every single lettuce without gloves? I didn’t see that going well so I just moved right along. I figured she had a long life and day ahead of her.”
What kind of conversation are we going to have? That’s something we could all think about before we try to make any witty comebacks. Reminds me of a recent encounter that Kathy & I had with the owner of a nearby fitness center. We used to walk through the parking lot there because it added a few hundred steps to our route and was generally pretty quiet, especially while the center is closed. One day last week, the owner – who all our neighbors don’t like anyway – came out and said that he couldn’t have us walking through his parking lot due to “insurance reasons.” He said a bunch of other impolite things but generally made it clear that he didn’t like the folks in our neighborhood because – he’s convinced – someone reported him when he didn’t close immediately the day after the order came out. We said we would pass the word to our neighborhood, and we did. But that was another case where there wasn’t anything I was going to say that would make him my friend. Not that I would want that anyway!
This stay at home time is a good opportunity to do important but easy to overlook things like confirming insurance coverages, reviewing wills, cleaning out old tax return documents, etc. Kathy & I have been doing that in earnest, and it’s amazing how much stuff can accumulate. And it’s interesting to see how much things have changed, even when you don’t think they have changed!
Public service announcement: The IRS has established a website (all the search engines know where it is) that you can use to find the status of your stimulus check (aka Trump Dividend). In typical government fashion, the website says that if you have filed a tax return in the last two years and have provided your banking information that you will receive your payment electronically. Of course, it takes a while to get to the page where you can check, and once I got there it told me that they didn’t have my information, even though they took my payment just yesterday! I read elsewhere that if you had only owed tax and haven’t gotten a refund they couldn’t use your info, but if you had gotten a refund they could. We’ve done both but they still didn’t have it, so that information may be false. I entered my information yesterday and this morning it says they have it, that my check will be sent electronically and that the page will be updated with a status once it has been scheduled. So check it out. We might as well get our dough sooner rather than later, and I don’t really need King Donald’s autograph on a check! 😉