The Finance, Travel and Everyday Life Newsletter
from Randy Lewis
First, welcome to an entirely new group of newsletter subscribers! I hope you enjoy what I and others will share with you.
I received a great amount of quality feedback on how people are reacting to COVID-19 where they live. You’ll read about not only the experiences of folks living in the U.S. but from people living in Colombia, Canada and Australia.
I essentially have two groups that receive my newsletters. One general group gets my finance/travel info. The other receives messages from the auto racing world. For this feedback, I invited people from both groups to share their experiences and what they are doing during the pandemic.
As you know I don’t want any of the feedback I share to be political. I long ago learned that no one has ever changed someone else’s point of view on politics from messages over the internet….but several people have severely pissed off others with political messages over the internet. I did not warn the racing group that we don’t do “political”. Nevertheless, I didn’t censor anyone’s responses since not everyone fully understood the guidelines. Whatever. I think we’ll all be able to handle all of the feedback.
From what everybody sent in I had concluded that even though we as a family as trying to be as safe as possible our (my?) behavior is a little bit “out there” compared to many. Trust me we will try to be safe while still trying to enjoy our lives responsibly.
I told you in my last message I took a COVID test. It was a very easy test to take (swabs in the throat not nose). I needed a doctor’s approval to get the test. I’m happy to report I tested negative….I guess. In some ways had my test been positive, while feeling well, that might have been a good thing. Then I might have had some antibodies that might have helped…however that theory hasn’t been confirmed either. There’s only one real solution in my judgement and that’s a vaccine or cure of some sort.
I’ll thank everyone who took the time to share their experiences. I know everyone is busy doing their thing and truly appreciate the feedback provided by others. Take a look. You’ll get some real life experiences from others who live somewhat close to you and from some who live a long way away. You might be struck as I was at how similar in many ways everyone’s last 2-3 months have been regardless of where they live.
CANADA
Randy,
Canada/USA border is closed to us commoners so no racing anywhere for me yet this year. Even our local drag races are affected. Don’t know if Mexico will even be a plan next winter. Only 1 active case here now out of 150,000 people. But masks are going to be mandatory soon too.
Stay safe,
NORTHEAST FLORIDA
Hi Randy,
Good to hear from you and glad all is well with you and Carol – please give her my best wishes!!!
If I lived in south Florida, I would be having a very different experience. My specific zip code is fairly low as to CV but the next zip code north (Jacksonville Beach) has a much younger population and is a highly commercial area and their CV has been on the rise.
I wear a mask indoors at any retailer. I think that’s recommended here and mandatory in the next county over but it’s hard to keep up with all that so I just wear a mask indoors at shops or restaurants (unless eating). I shop in person at Publix Supermarket which was pristine even before the CV hit and is probably cleaner now, if that’s possible. All their personnel wear masks, many wear gloves but I think many were wearing gloves before the CV due to food prep, deli counter, etc. The salad bars and soup bars are open but the Publix employee fills the box or bowl with what you ask for. There is no self-serve on the salad bar or soup bar anymore.
I go out a few times a week mostly to lunch, sometimes to dinner, at restaurants which I believe are clean and careful, mainly because they were clean and careful prior to the CV. I shop online for clothes, shoes, handbags, etc. I really only go to clothes stores to return things if they don’t fit. (Cheaper than mailing it back.) The stores and restaurants are supposed to be 50% capacity but the actual numbers are probably around 10% or 20% people actually there. No problem social distancing. I think the real problem will be how much longer can these places stay in business with an 80% drop in volume. I’m sure there’s takeout but I can’t imagine it’s making up for the loss of customers.
One of the book clubs I belong to is meeting on Zoom through the summer. The other book club is just a few friends of mine and we are back to meeting in person at each other’s homes. I should mention that two of the ladies don’t plan to meet with us for a while. One is married to a doctor who is definitely exposed to CV on a daily basis and, frankly, I am appreciative that she isn’t coming to book club. Another lady’s husband has pretty bad cancer so she is wise not to take any unnecessary risks.
I only know a few people who had CV. One of my friends was on the cruise to Chile that ended up docked at San Francisco for two weeks. Her husband got a mild case of CV which appeared while they were self-quarantining upon their return. That was a while ago and I’m sure you saw it on the news. Her husband donates anti-bodies now as often as they let him. My sister-in-law’s aunt and uncle in Philadelphia both got CV and her uncle died from it last month.
My family reunion was cancelled as to meeting in person but we had a Zoom call in June instead. My brother and sisters and I meet on Zoom about once a month as a group. Otherwise, we just talk or call one-to-one.
My hairstylist is open with strict social distancing. Wearing a mask is mandatory and that’s fine with me.
Reading this sounds pretty “tame” but things are usually slower here in the summer because my women’s club doesn’t meet during the summer and that is a lot of my social life. It will be interesting to see how or if things pick back up in the fall.
Take care and stay safe!
OHIO
Hi Randy. You certainly are one adventurous individual!!! That’s quite a bit of travel you’ve done in the past few months during Covid. My family on the other hand has been very conservative. It’s not because I’m afraid of getting sick, it’s because my wife is the primary caregiver for her 90 year old father and my parents are both in their late 80’s, diabetes, etc. We have had to cancel 2 extended family vacations that were planned a year ago. We are hoping to keep a small vacation to Destin in September.
We carry out at restaurants to support local business. We have even eaten inside a few times. Our Sunday church services have been by video… which honestly has been nice. No driving through traffic or crowded parking lots to attend service. Since retiring from P&G, I have been a Realtor, and incredibly, our business is on fire. People are still buying and selling homes. We just do it differently!
All in all, while things are not “normal”, life is still very good. We are eating well, have plenty of toilet paper, and realizing day by day what is really important in life — it’s family, good health, love for each other and this great country of ours.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
Hi Randy-
Thanks for sharing your COVID experiences. We live 8 months of the year on Sanibel Island off the southwest coast of FL. the Average age 65, so a generally cautious bunch. But lots of 20, 30 and 40 somethings coming on the island every day who are waiters, work in retail shops and other service folks. In the first three months from mid march, there were 12 cases in that zip code. We were cautious, did some takeaway every week, Shelley handled the rest (she’s from an italian family and a great cook). We are about a 9-iron from the beach so did a lot of beach walking, and several times per week social distance cocktails with neighbors and friends, sometimes on the beach, sometimes on the pool deck. Things opened up in FL early, we got out to a few restaurants, but then things got bad again as young folks went back to party ways at night, then became spreaders coming to work on the island. We went back into virtual isolation for a few weeks as FL cases skyrocketed.
We normally go to a lake cottage on a lake in NE Pennsylvania in mid-May, but things were still crazy in the Northeast, so stayed in FL. As that got worse it was time to escape to PA and we got back a week ago. Now in our short term self isolation for a couple weeks. Got an antibody test on leaving FL, we have not had it, although had the same experience as you, having a bad cold in February. Got the nose swab on arrival here, still waiting on results.
Plan to have a small bubble here, our son, DIL and granddaughter who live in NYC, brother and sister in law from northern NJ. All were very cautious in the peak period and didn’t get sick. July and August are great here in the Poconos.
On taking airplanes, the WSJ article today on airplane A/C systems made me more comfortable since the data are beginning to indicate that air transmission is primary. We had a one night hotel stay of I-95 in NC on the way to PA. They advertised new cleaning protocols, etc. And this particular hotel had an AC under the window in each room, so no central system to worry about. As an extra precaution we bought an Air Purifier that we ran inside the room to clean up any odd suspended particles… Plan was to see our granddaughter after 8 days of isolation, so wanted to be careful.
Other protocols. We were lucky fo have bought a 5 pack of Clorox wipes just before the lockdown and have made use of those in external touch situations. Gas pumps, toilet stops away from home, carrying around for grocery shopping and entering other buildings, general hand cleaning, etc. Handwashing after touching anything from outside – food or package delivery, etc,
Big on mask wearing. Cannot understand why such a simple precaution that would literally save lives has become such an emotion topic. Well, I can but discussions about foolhardy leaders is probably off topic…
Big question is when we will go back to FL with exploding case rates. Normally we head South at the same time as the geese, right after Labor day. But our island had 12 new cases in the first half of July and two deaths. County rates are bad too, not as much as Miami, but still… Shelley was recently recognized as an Italian citizen by descent (long story) and now has a passport. Maybe we’ll winter in safer Sicily…
Stay safe!
ARIZONA/ILLINOIS
Hi Randy,
Mike and I are doing well. We arrived home from AZ the middle of April and have been on IL since. We were supposed to go to AZ July 18 (Saturday), but with the increase in COVID in AZ and the closures of many businesses again we decided against it. We got vouchers from Allegiant for future travel. As I had probably told you before, I am trying to complete a 5K in all 50 states. We had plans to fly to Oregon in August so I could finish OR and WA. I just found out this afternoon those races are canceled. After we returned from those races, we were planning to drive to NE and WY for two more races. Those are now canceled as well. Sooooo here we are! Next planned trip is September to see Rich and Emily in NC. If we have to, we will drive if they even feel comfortable having company.
Life is not what we are used to, but we feel so fortunate to be retired and do not have to go back to school this August. We are strongly considering not substitute teaching this fall. Wearing a mask all day is not my idea of a good time. Give our best to Carol and your kids. I am glad that you are able to continue track chasing.
TEXAS
Hi Randy,
Sounds like a good trip to New Mexico.
When the governor of NM announced that quarantine plan, I wondered how in the world they expected to enforce that. I also wondered if someone traveling to NM wanted to book a hotel room for one night, would it be the responsibility of the hotel to insist they stay two weeks? Who knows.
Safe travels,
Hi Randy,
I enjoyed reading your email. You certainly have been doing some traveling. That’s excellent that the middle seat was open so often.
We took the Airstream to New Mexico for a couple of weeks last month, and that’s all the travel we’ve done. That felt very safe, since our kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom came with us. Each of us has cancelled three air travel trips that we had planned; one of those trips we had planned to travel together internationally.
A couple of weeks ago we went to a birthday party at a neighbor’s pool. We ate outside, and couples sat together, but stayed six feet from other couples. No hugging, no handshakes. I never went inside, and most other folks didn’t either. It felt safe to me.
My wife goes to a neighbor’s pool once a week where she meets up with three other women, including the hostess. They keep their distance, and stay outside. They don’t share food or drink.
I’ve met up with a buddy a couple of times at a park. We sit over six feet apart, and there is no handshaking or elbow bumps. I haven’t shaken anyone’s hand since this began.
We’ve dined indoors twice, about a month ago. We were well over six feet away from other diners, and the servers all wore masks. We used our phones to scan a code on a laminated sheet that was on the table, and that placed the menu on our phones. We’ve dined on patios two other times.
We’ve gotten take out and drive through food numerous times. I used to go to the grocery store about once a week, but now I’ve become a fan of Instacart, so I haven’t been inside a grocery store in several weeks.
We’ve had two service people inside the house, both masked. Our housecleaner comes every two weeks, and wears a mask (we didn’t request it, she just showed up with it); I always leave for the day when she’s here, even before the pandemic. No one else has been inside our house since this began.
I haven’t had a haircut yet; I don’t know if my barber shop is open, but I’m guessing that it is. When I do get a haircut (likely not any time soon), I’ve already planned to give perhaps a 200% tip.
Early on my dentist sent an email saying that she was only seeing patients who had a dental emergency or were in pain. Otherwise, I would have had my six month checkup and cleaning last week.
I ride my bike for a bit over an hour daily about six days a week, and typically walk for 45 minutes one day a week. I don’t wear a mask when I’m outdoors. I find it interesting that a small percentage (perhaps 5%?) of the people I see are wearing a mask on the paved trails where I ride my bike; some of these folks are walking, some are riding a bike.
I always wear a mask when I’m inside a building (other than home). I dropped off and picked up the car for service one day. I went inside the post office one day. When I was doing grocery shopping previously, I always wore a mask.
At first I was concerned about mail and packages, and after bringing them in, I would wash my hands, and let them sit for a day before handling them further. I still wash my hands often, but I no longer let mail or packages sit for a day. It seems that surface transmission turns out to be only a slight risk; it appears that most transmission is through the air, by breathing the microbes.
I facetime with my grandkids several times a week, sometimes daily. I spend more time talking on the phone and texting with other family and friends than I did before the pandemic.
I updated my will recently. Most of the work was done by phone and email, but I went into the estate attorney’s office to sign the will. I wore my mask, as did the attorney, and the two witnesses he rounded up from the staff there.
Cases and deaths are increasing rapidly in this part of the world. Texas had 110 deaths yesterday, which is a new record. Sadly, I think that trend will likely continue for a while. I sure hope I’m wrong.
I’m looking forward to seeing your recap and learning what other folks are doing.
Take care and be safe,
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Randy,
Life changed very little for us… I social distance as a way of life! Have worked as usual, raced last month and plan to race this Saturday, and have been a couple of times as a spectator.
Had all the family at the house for the 4th, wear a mask when I need to and all that stuff. We have it a lot better than many folks.
Thanks,
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
Hi Randy,
Thanks so much for your update on your situation with the ever-increasing problem of this virus worldwide.
When I last reported, we were in Stage One of a three-stage plan of restrictions to try to counter this menace. We are now in Stage Three, with an easing of restrictions. These Stage plans are a generic plan for all of Australia regarding restrictions, with the States and Territories able to vary times and conditions according to their own situations. In general, pubs, clubs, gyms, churches, sporting stadiums etc are allowed more people in attendance, provided the 1.5 metre distancing between people rule is still applied. This rule, plus the recommendation of proper hand-washing, use of sanitisers, etc, have been in vogue since the beginning of the outbreak and are the things that have remained throughout.
Now that greater numbers (within reason) are allowed, the social distancing criteria seems to have been forgotten in most instances, as far as I can see. Unfortunately, there seems to be double standards applying in some instances. For instance, I was watching a game of Australian football on TV from Brisbane where the now 2,000 people allowed to watch live (in a 16,000 plus stadium) were all crammed into a couple of bays. The cameras did not try to disguise the fact, yet the next day, the football management were stating that social distancing was adhered to. Rubbish!! There are many instances of this, unfortunately. We have had street demonstrations with big numbers of people supporting the “Black Lives Matter” issue where social distancing has been totally ignored with the authorities standing on the sidelines doing nothing. There have not been many people in Australia wearing face masks, and I certainly haven’t come across any. Only now, in Victoria (see below) has their use been recommended and in some cases been made mandatory.
The closing of borders State to State has been a big issue. Here in Queensland, as well as South and Western Australia, we were under strong pressure to open up the borders quickly (they were closed for a few months), yet this was rightly rejected. Now that they have opened, when the situation Australia-wide seemed to be under control, there has been a very nasty re-occurrence of the virus in Victoria, which, at the moment, is apparently close to out of control. The spike is far larger than the initial outbreak in that State. New South Wales is now on the verge of a serious spike, and we in Queensland are holding our collective breaths. There were many people, including me, who were hoping that the borders would remain closed. It is a difficult balancing act, of course, with the number of businesses, despite massive financial assistance from the Federal Government, going bust, but what price our health?
I feel sorry for businesses and therefore individuals trying to make a living, especially anyone involved in tourism and the like, who are seriously affected, but if we don’t safeguard the health of the nation and its residents and the virus overtakes us all (I still reckon it to be a strong possibility) then we have nothing! This situation in Victoria and New South Wales is, I hope, a wake-up call to everyone here not to be complacent, as most people, I feel, had become.
Kindest regards,
Hi again Randy,
I meant to mention that Queensland has opened its borders (with some restrictions) to all States and Territories EXCEPT Victoria, given the enormity of the spike in the virus there, which is getting worse daily. People from a few shires around southern New South Wales have also been barred with a few hot spots cropping up there. Travellers who have visited those hot spots are being turned around at the New South Wales/Queensland border.
Sorry for the mis-information earlier. Hope it is not too late for you to alter.
Cheers,
PENNSYLVANIA
Hi Randy.
We are safe and healthy here in Philadelphia. We’re sheltering in place and only venture into supermarket. I walk four miles most mornings setting out at dawn. That keeps my encounters with other folks at a bare minimum. Although I wear a face mask I will cross the street or go out into the street to make sure I’m more than six feet away from anyone. We’re in close contact with our neighbors. However, we all are masked and maintain social distancing. We have not been to a restaurant except to occasionally order curb side pickup.
Every couple of weeks I take the car out of the garage and go for an hours drive. I never get out of the car. I keep hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes in the car as well as gloves when the need for gasoline arises. I did take my car in for it’s annual maintenance and state inspection. Talk about a contactless encounter. Before I went to the dealer the sent me an email with detailed instructions on exactly where to park the car and where the loner car would be parked. Upon picking up me car later that day the procedure was reversed. I never encountered a single person.
Concert season was cancelled in early March and has been extended until at least January, 2021. I personally will not be attending any public events until there is a vaccine and I’ve been inoculated.
I continue studying Spanish on line. I talk with people on the telephone, via FaceTime, Skype and Zoom.
We just learned that we’ll be able to rent our cabin in Vermont for six weeks beginning August 1. However, we will have to quarantine for seven days and get tested as well as have a negative result before leaving.
That’s all I can think of at this time. I’d appreciate you not sharing my bout with pneumonia or my scared lungs.
Stay safe and stay well.
Best regards,
NORTHWEST INDIANA
For the first three months from mid March until my wife’s birthday on May 23rd when we actually went out for a meal, she went nowhere except to pick up groceries at the store – didn’t go IN the store, just picked them up outside the store and had them put the stuff in the back of the truck. Then she’d let them sit outside for a while at home before bringing them in and spraying everything down over the top of the bags, then taking everything out and washing each item down. I mean EACH item – every potato, every green bean, every package, etc. And then, “they” said there was little chance of the virus being spread that way. So now, no more of that, and she is actually going into grocery stores now. And we have stocked up on a LOT of stuff, but we have never gone overboard on TP and still only have just a modest supply. We aren’t hoarders by any stretch but have a lot of friends who keep advising us to really stock up on non perishable items because “things are gonna get worse” they say.
For me, those first few months were difficult because I actually would have preferred to go SOMEwhere, but really, there was no place to go, plus I didn’t want to get into any conflict with my wife, so I too pretty much stuck around home. I did have a few “driveway” meetings with my sister and a couple friends. And I gained the COVID 20 pounds for sure.
I do not like wearing a mask as I wear glasses and no matter what I do they fog up, so I tend to just not go anywhere that requires a mask. If I do, I take my glasses off. I also don’t like breathing back in my own breath. Most of the people we know are the same way; they only wear the mask where they have to, and they wear it out of deference to other people. I’m not sure I know anybody that truly believes the mask will keep them from getting the virus as there is skepticism now about just about everything. There is such conflicting information out there as “they” seem to change their minds about stuff as new data is analyzed, etc.
I’ve had two doctor appointments, a dentist appointment and have had my hair cut. Every time I have worn my mask, but then, it seems what’s the point when they have you take it off to do their “doctoring” and off when they clean your teeth and off when they cut your hair. Seems kinda silly actually. Same silly as liquor stores are open because they are essential, even though you can buy everything in a grocery store here that you can buy in a liquor store. Dumb.
I have many friends who are just shy of being conspiracy theorists, and I guess I can’t blame them when you look at everything that has gone on the last 6 months – or even the last few years. I am not quite there but am weary of the hatred that has come right along with the virus. I am a very traditional American and believe in the rule of law and capitalism and so I am at odds with a great many people these days that are getting a lot of attention, so I’m frustrated and feel compelled to actually do something, but I don’t know what. Almost everything is closed down, including organizational meetings, even many government meetings are now closed and done on line, etc.
I have no problem staying at least 6′ away from other people at all. I will miss shaking hands and hugging loved ones, but have stopped doing all that. I think the distancing is going to continue long term, as I think mask wearing will become the new normal everywhere you go. I detest the fact that church services are almost non existent and even if you can go in small numbers there is no singing. That’s awful. I sing in a community male chorus group and we have been very active for many years, but we haven’t met since mid March and have no idea when, or if, we will ever resume. Very sad.
It has been very difficult, very aggravating and very sad these past few months to see what our country is going through. So much anxiety, so much conflict, so much hatred only confounded by the virus pandemic.
And in closing, I was tested one day after having the chills, then fever overnight. It wasn’t COVID, it was a doggone case of cellulitis that emerged that it seems I’m susceptible to in my older age due to circulation issues.
I look forward to better days.
SOMEWHAT RURAL PENNSYLVANIA
Randy,
As you know, I drove to Wyoming in May for races at Casper and Gillette, then on to Kansas to look at two supermodifieds, neither of which utilized an Edmunds chassis as the owner declared. Since then I’ve been to two PA winged sprint car week shows, one at Wms. Grove with ex-midget racer, Chuck Kauffman, and another at Lincoln with sprint car and modified racer, Paul Koch. At both shows we met Mark Rodriguez, who had four box seats and no one to go to the races with him. Masks were optional and in the open grandstands we wore none, as was the case with most spectators. We weren’t packed in like sardines, but both tracks had very good crowds. The racing was good, but not enough to change my view of winged sprint cars. Kyle Larson was present all week and worth the price of admission.
In early May, after being screwed around for several weekends by PA Governor Tom Wolf (D), i.e. being told they could race with no fans, then the day of or day before the race, after they had spent money on advertising, food, track prep, and made arrangements for the show to be broadcast on a live feed, they were told, ‘No, can’t do it.’ A few tracks in the state, Roaring Knob, Penn Can, et. al., simply ran without contacting the state government. Although the PA state police arrived to tell the promoters they were violating the government’s guidance on outdoor crowds, they left without further ado and the tracks continued with the racing program. By May virtually all the tracks in central PA said, ‘Screw this!’ to the governor and opened with fans in the stands. At the fair grounds which host racing in PA, the governor threatened to pull all state funding for the fair. After careful consideration, most determined the state paid for 4-H ribbons and a few incidentals, but the real money came to them from the racing program, so the governor’s rants fell on deaf ears.
About that time the Republican-led PA House and Senate passed legislation to impeach the governor. He was within his powers to put forth any CV-19 mandates for the state as he deemed proper, but these directives were good for only 28 days before he needed to appear before both bodies for confirmation of his shutdown mandates. He appeared before neither body and told them he didn’t have to appear. At that point many PA businesses, including many racetracks, gave the governor their middle finger and opened for business. Their point was their businesses had the right to attempt to survive along with the chosen supermarkets, Walmarts, and Home Depots. When the PA House and Senate voted to impeach, the governor vetoed their legislation, but the PA State Police took no action, since the wishes of the governor may not have any current legal standing.
Effective two days ago, I have cancelled a trip to Houston to pick up parts for a friend’s Jim Hurtubise Indy car restoration because the promoter at Cardinal Speedway in NM cancelled racing for this weekend. He’s been threatened with $5,000 per day fines if he runs again and really can’t afford to find out if the NM governor’s edicts have any teeth. No Cardinal, no Houston for me. Race fans in NM, as well as in PA, are planning to vote Republican in November. I haven’t gone to more racing, since I simply haven’t the interest to attend weekly racing programs, CV-19 or not.
This Friday I will travel to deliver a set of drag tires to a customer in upstate NY (charge him half the cost of shipping, which may become a new ‘cottage industry’ for me in the future) and stop to pick up supplies for several projects (specialty machine tools, dzus buttons of bizarre dimensions, etc.) also in eastern NY for my current Trevis 3/4 midget restoration project. The TQ work and mowing the ‘Ponderosa’ have taken up much of my time, but a few customers and friends have visited as well. I wear a mask to enter my local supermarket and a number of other businesses, but at my property masks are not required and the choice to wear them is left with the visitor — most don’t. I wash my hands with Lava soap every afternoon when I return from my shop.
I usually eat nightly with my mother, who at 92 wears a mask to go to the grocery store and keeps one in her car if needed, but generally does not wear a mask. And you wonder where my ornery streak comes from?
Last week I was mounting tires for a Legend car customer and two PA state troopers walked in, one with a mask and the other without. They asked if they could park their cruiser in my parking lot to put a radar gun on drivers on Hoffmansville Road — they had received complaints. I told them, ‘Hell, use the loading dock, so they won’t be able to see you right away.’ They both smiled (one anyway!) and headed outside when I called to them, ‘If you get bored and want to mount a couple of tires, c’mon back!’ The last one turned around and gave us a big grin. I get the feeling most state troopers are tired of enforcing the governor’s mandates, when the whole deal may be illegal. Ex-parole agents usually get along well with the police.
Judging from the behavior of the NFL, NBA, and professional baseball, I don’t care if they ever play again. I don’t care if NASCAR ever races again — don’t watch them either! Fortunately, my phone is full of numbers, many of which I haven’t called in a while, so every other night or so, I call one of them and renew old friendships. At least it gets me off their ‘He’s probably dead!’ list.
I’m putting the finishing touches on my TRUMP/PENCE billboard for my school bus shed — should be able to see it from the 12-mile limit! Still looking for a loose, or at least limber, woman, but no luck. Good thing I’m an only child — great training for life with CV-19. I haven’t stayed in a motel or flown commercially and the bank account still has money — they keep sending me $1200 checks in addition to the regular socialist payments. When the TQ is done, my buddy and I will fire it up, make sure it runs, then take it apart and send everything out for chrome, polishing, and paint — then put it back together. If that doesn’t keep me off the streets long enough, I’ll start on another project. Always a room in eastern PA if you get wandering around the country.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Thanks buddy!
Mitch & Astrid in the middle seats of the 3 seat SUV? They look good.
I continue to cautiously go about the day. Furloughed from work since 5/8. Enjoy the day reading & watching some TV. Michael Connelly books are excellent.
Continue to swim & work out in the gym when the health club is open. Gym closed, again on 7/13. Pool is still open though.
Visited grandchildren in N.C. mid June. Headed back mid August if the governors don’t overreact.
CA governor is overreacting! We are working people. I’ll use caution now & in the future like I do with the risk of getting the flu. Those with minimal risk should be allowed to carry on.
Our best to you & Carol. Enjoy Christie’s visit.
OHIO
Hi Randy
Good to hear from you! Great to hear you and Carol are doing well, and continuing to enjoy life!
Our experience is a bit different- haha! We have stayed indoors mostly, except for our 6-7 mile daily walks around the neighborhood (without masks- if we run into 5 folks total during this, ive probably exaggerated and we give wide berth).
We have yet to eat out at all, and that was one of our favorite activities since we started at PG – totally miss that. The only non- home cooked meal we had was pizza as we were helping my son move back from Seattle. That’s it! So look forward to feeling safe enough to go back. And it helps that my wife loves to cook! And she is VERY GOOD at it.
We had 2 cruises cancelled on us – one for 7 days on the Caribbean (no huge loss) as we’ve done Caribbean quite a bit, but the one that really hurts is the 22 day trip from Sydney AU to Yokohama – we were to arrive the day before opening of the summer olympics. ☹️
We currently live in a temporary apt complex with a small gym (temporary because we sold our home in Feb and move to FL next month (given Covid virus down there, maybe not best plan, but hard to stop it now….) which we enjoyed for 3 weeks before shutdown. Gym (and pool) have reopened in the past few weeks but we’re staying away….. not so paranoid for ourselves, but my youngest son is starting at Virginia Tech next month and we’re trying to give him every opportunity to arrive healthy … and when we get to FL, my wife’s parents are there (mod 80’s) so wanting to minimize risk for them…..
So…. quite busy with my son and our move to FL, but not very much in terms of outings except for groceries (with masks of course). Ohio still impressed me with how they have managed this despite all the politics.
Once we are in FL, we hope to see this virus controlled, ideally a vaccine available, and then we resume our cruising life!
Until then, we will try to stay safe and healthy – so far, all my wife and I take are daily vitamins and we hope to stay that way with our healthy lifestyle!
Stay safe, keep hitting the racing circuit!
Regards
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Great detailed story Randy. It gave me some encouragement as to getting back to traveling one of these days.
I like you live a pretty social distant lifestyle.
I’m waiting till the end of the year (for hopefully things to settle down) before I get on a plane.
I’m also being very careful (borderline neurotic) since I have an underlying health (heart) condition. I’d rather be safe than sorry and have no problem sacrificing a bit for the greater cause.
Btw, your grandchildren sure are growing up fast. They’re adorable!
Thanks for sharing your story and talk soon.
COLORADO
Hi Randy. Sorry for not responding sooner. My wife has a kidney disease that causes, due to her medication, a compromised immune system. Therefore, we are staying very close to home and have been since March. Since we live just outside of Colorado Springs, we take routine car trips just to get out a little and drive through the mountains. We have a cabin on the western slope where we usually spend the summer. But this year we opened it up for our kids to enjoy and have not been there much ourselves.
I get out a little more than my wife and run a few errands, etc. I carry hand sanitizer in my car and wear a mask when I’m in a retail environment. We both try to be extremely careful. We do occasionally order out food and pick up, but not too often. We have a Super Walmart about 7-8 miles away, so we order our groceries on line and have it delivered. It’s pretty handy but not a food store we would normally shop at.
I don’t have an electric car, but I do have 10 vehicles, not counting my three tractors or the various 4 wheelers and Razor. We live on 20 acres so it’s fairly easy to stay isolated and always plenty of outside work to do.
That’s about it for now Randy. Sometime I’d love to chat about my experience at P&G! Take care and be careful.
COLOMBIA
Hi Randy,
Well, Colombia was one of the first of the latam countries that started a mandatory quarantine, by mid march. The numbers of new cases started to increase especially in the biggest cities, but in some regions the cases increased faster, for example Cartagena (which is the most touristic city in our caribbean coast), and also in a city called Leticia in the far south in the Amazon. The quarantine was very strict at the beginning, all the commercial stores had to close, and also all the public events like soccer games, movie theaters, concerts, etc. For example, just one of the family members could go to buy groceries once a week, depending on the city or region. You could only go out for essential things like an emergency, to buy groceries, to go to a pharmacy or if you work with essential commerce like food, public transportation, utilities, etc.
Things were going relatively well, but many people started to do private parties, or going to see their families, and also we had special days like mothers, and fathers day. The government created a day without VAT (19% tax) and the people went crazy, it was ironically called Covid Friday (like black friday), and the number of cases and deaths increased a lot in the following weeks. Right now we are having around 200 deaths per day in the whole country (45 million population) but the daily cases are increasing steadily. In the biggest cities there are closed areas in different schedules, it is mandatory to wear masks all the time (300 USD ticket if you don’t use it), but there are almost 50 exceptions that makes it very difficult to control people on the streets. It seems that we are getting closer to the peak of the pandemic, and most of the big cities are concerned about their ICU occupation, which in some cases is about 80%
These are the numbers for today:
July 22:
2,773 recovered
7,390 new cases
207 deceased
28,801 samples processed
For a total of:
101,613 recovered
218,428 cases of COVID-19
7,373 deceased
1,292,501 samples processed
109,005 active cases
There are some big problems besides the pandemic, we reached more than 20% of unemployment (the highest rate in Latam), thousands of businesses are going bankrupt, specially all the entertainment industry, restaurants, bars, etc. It seems that the government is trying to give tax incentives and other types of aids, but they are not enough for small and medium companies. We are still optimistic, but there are some hard challenges for our society right now, poverty is increasing and some experts have said that we moved back a couple of decades in terms of our economic strength.
Well Randy, now you can have a better look at Colombia´s situation, I hope that things get better soon.
Thank you and be safe.
WISCONSIN
I am still working everyday. Nothing has changed since covid 19 started for me.