I don’t think we made it but we were close. The wind kept us a few degrees short. Maybe today! At 11:20 and 12:30 we have parent teacher conferences. Both boys are doing well as we received their 3rd Quarter Report Cards yesterday.
They say this is the week to stay home. I do need a few things from the grocery store and was going to go early this morning but overslept. I might run down later today or wait until the morning. The boys had pizza for dinner last night as we still have take out available.
We had 16 new cases up here but much more in other parts of State. Hopefully we’re turning the corner. The news is on with newscasters trying to play gotcha with whoever they have on. This morning they asked the Surgeon General if he missed warning signs in January. Let me tell you something, the World missed warning signs in December, January and February! At least Trump stopped all flights from China in late January as these same newscasters called him a racist. Bill Gates warned in 2015 of a coming worldwide pandemic and again, everyone missed it, or rather chose to ignore him. You see that’s how people are, until something hits you personally, you basically ignore it. Guess that’s why I and maybe a few others (who I don’t know) are the only ones in the valley with masks. This is a good spot for a hmm, right!
I talked with cousin Chris in Vermont yesterday. She’s a pastor at her new church and doing well. Julie is still in New York saving lives. It was good to talk to her for a bit as we don’t speak that often. Lori and I are working away. I want her to continue to work remotely even though she might soon be able to go back to work. No point risking it.
Andrea (Bocelli) is singing from the Duomo in Milan on Easter with it totally empty. Italy has turned the corner, they say, let’s hope so as they’ve had a tough time. New York might be too. If we all do our part, maybe we all will. There are still some unknowns associated with this virus such as people being reinfected while others develop antibodies that make them immune. Scary times.
Last, people are starting to lose it. With so many out of work and out of money, food bank lines are miles long and people are losing their cool. There are incidents of shoppers going off on people for meaningless reasons as the lock down and new normal are getting to people. If money doesn’t get in people’s hands soon, there will be more crime and social unrest. If this goes on for months, things could get really tense but we’ll save that “what if” for another time. Hopefully things won’t get that bad. Time to go, be safe, be well and God Bless.
The people in charge say this is the week. The bad week. The week to stay at home and not even go to the grocery store! We’ll comply but not go to the grocery store? That’s a new one. We can do it except for maybe half and half for our coffee. It’s so strange this new normal. On the news it has mom’s teaching their kids how to make a mask. Just 2 or 3 weeks ago they were telling us we didn’t need them and not to wear masks, hmm. Over a month ago the girl at Steadman told Lori and her team, they didn’t need masks, hmm. Now it seems we’re all supposed to wear them every time we go out, hmm. Well I don’t know about you but this doesn’t surprise me.
Masks are a hot commodity. One of Lori’s former nurses posted a thread last night to about 20 people from the clinic begging for a mask for her brother who is an emergency surgery doctor in Minnesota. I think I’m down to a handful but will share one with her to Fed Ex to him. I should probably be saving them but that’s not who we are. We’ll help someone if we can. If things go really south and it’s my family or someone else I might have to reexamine that policy.
Melanie has it bad. Her lungs feel like they’re on fire and it hurts to breathe. They still want her to stay home though until she can’t breathe, hmm. Lot’s of hmm’s these days. That signify’s the people that are technically in charge not really knowing what they’re talking about. In Eagle County we have some good news. We have the lowest incidence of expanding cases out there. Thursday we had 314 cases. That went to 333 on Friday and stayed there on Saturday and then climbed to 339 on Sunday. Hopefully that trend will continue. It’s sort of misleading though as they’re not testing people unless they go to the hospital for the most part. Still a stable number means less people are going to the hospital. We’re also pretty sure Diana from Lori’s office has it. I told Lori no way she’s going in to work. I played the “I’m high risk because I’m over 60” card.
They say this week is a big week because they think we’re nearing the top of the curve. We’ll see. Time for another hmm. Going to be warm today, really warm, nice. I’m also dropping two masks to Dr. C today as they only have one. Hard to believe so many people were caught unprepared, especially hospitals, hmm. Ok, ok, I’ll stop with the “hmm’s” but it is sort of funny. Lori says one thing’s for sure, no one can say I wasn’t prepared, hmm. Last one, I promise.
That’s it. It’s somewhere around April 6th or 7th. I lose track of the days. I’m also tired of watching the people from the news broadcasting from their homes. I’m pretty much tired of them all. Denver has a stay at home order but just closed some streets to cars so people can go walking. Did I miss something here? Wait for it……hmm, bwaaaaaaaaaah.
Last thing. It’s Holy Week. Yesterday was Passover and next Sunday is Easter. Doesn’t seem like it, right? We’re going to have to figure out how to color eggs without going and buying the egg coloring kit. If you’re not familiar with Passover and the Holy Week, find a bible, I know you have the time.
Ok, it might not be 70 up here but if it is in Denver, we’ll be 65, whoo hoo! Before I go any further, up here, outdoor activity is approved by the authorities as long as people stay 6 feet apart. This includes sledding, hiking, and other outdoor activities. I think people in Denver can go for walks too as long as they follow the social distancing rules. I can’t imagine they expect everyone to not go outside. Sledding by the way, is essentially in our back yard. Also it looks like from Friday to Saturday we had zero new cases in Eagle! I triple checked this but the number seems correct. If so, that’s great news for us. Also when the kids we’re sledding, Zoe’s mom was there making sure all the kids were six feet apart at all times.
I do agree this will probably now come back every year but it will go away during the year. What won’t go away is all the freedom we’re giving up. There’s talk and concern worldwide about the restrictions governments are installing. It’s not too bad here but some countries and even States are using this to do things like putting ankle monitors on people or tracking them by drones and by the way, every single place you’ve gone for years has been tracked if you have and take your cell phone. There’s even talk of putting a designation on passports or drivers licenses if you’ve had, not have but had, the virus. Rhode Island police are pulling over anyone with an out of State license plate! This is a real slippery slope. Some of you might not be concerned and even think this is good but what if in the future you can’t get into your favorite restaurant or store if you’ve ever tested positive for the virus. What if your hair salon or nail salon won’t see you anymore. What if some of your close friends now shun you out of fear you’re still carrying the virus? Or worse, what if you’re denied medical care in a few years because you’ve had this? Already we’re told we can’t go visit our loved ones in the hospital or nursing home. In the bible they call it the mark of the beast. Here’s the biblical meaning just to be clear,
The Mark of the Beast Passage. Revelation 13:16-18 (HCSB) — 16 And he [the False Prophet] requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name.
This is where we’re headed people, don’t let it happen. You are a free person. I’m not saying go out in groups, all I’m saying is don’t give up your rights as a free individual. People throughout history typically lose their rights when they give them up due to some tragedy or emergency as they think it’s in their best interest.
Robi, wish you lived closer as Tom and I could take you shooting! We’re excited and happy for you. Tom said, about time, when we heard you bought a firearm and I agree. Good for you sister! You should have bought two! His and hers! That’s it, hope everyone is well, as I said before, everyone up here is doing well. Some neighborhoods have taken down the basketball hoops at the parks as that is not social distancing. We’ll take the dogs up the hill behind our house again today as they cannot just stay in the home all day, especially Harley, ha. God Bless.
Here’s some food for thought, NY is the blue line at top.
I imagine there are some people who love New York City more than I do, but I do love it. I love it with fervor of the convert. A Philadelphian by birth, for 20 years I have now walked the storied steel canyons of the world’s current capital.
There’s a reason the United Nations meets here, why artists and would-be stock barons alike come here. Now we are in the grip of the coronavirus, locked down. But our peril must not mean that the nation we represent must be destroyed.
I had occasion this week, as the virus ground us all to a stop, to talk to a friend in Indiana. I asked, “Is this the greatest crisis the country has ever faced?†We haven’t been invaded since 1812, I pointed out, and have never been occupied. Her reply, “What crisis?†She was in her backyard, her children playing. My life was at a bizarre standstill, death all around, hers was not. Yet all across the nation I don’t have time to think about lives are being destroyed, not by virus, but by an economic disaster unknown in a century.
The entire country, experts I trust tell us, must be shut down. Businesses shuttered, many with little hope of opening again. Ten million people unemployed in two weeks. Ten million. In that world beyond that Hudson River, an economic hammer is falling faster than the virus can spread. Who can think of money at a time like this? we are told. How callous. But it’s not just money. In its own way it’s lives, it is a way of life.
Jack Kerouac — who danced and played and was educated in New York City but found his literary and intellectual fortune in the forgotten America — once said he didn’t want a living, he wanted a life. But where is the difference? What is life if not the ability to sustain it? We are embarking upon the devastation of an entire nation when it is becoming clearer and clearer that the gravest threat lies in megacities. And no city is more mega than Gotham.
The counter point is that the virus will eventually spread from New York and inevitably infect the suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas. But in Europe and here at home that isn’t what has happened. In Washington state, where the first-recorded American cases occurred in Seattle, the number of cases has flattened. Why? Well, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pointed out, the population density and public transit usage in New York City makes us violently susceptible to this plague.
New York City is the center of the universe; by definition the center of the universe is an anomaly. We cannot base an entire national policy on an anomaly. Err on the side of caution, many say, but is it cautious to destroy entire communities through economic collapse that may not recover for a generation?
“If we can save one life then it’s worth it.†Is it? David Mamet in the movie “Wag the Dog†asked why nations go to war. The answer was to defend our way of life. Four hundred thousand Americans died in World War Two to defend the American way of life. Should we have handed the world to the Nazis to save American lives? Although far from perfect, the point of this analogy is that we cannot base public policy on the basis of total fear of death. We never have, and we never should.
Let’s be clear: what we are sacrificing by a policy of total lockdown for God knows how long is the livelihoods, dignity, and yes, in many cases lives of hundreds of millions of Americans. Platitudes don’t cut it. A crisis is a crisis specifically because it is a situation with no good answers. If there were an easy answer it wouldn’t be a crisis.
I’m scared. I open the door to my bodega in Brooklyn with my elbow, not my hand; I wash my hands like my life depends upon it because it might. But I also chose to live here and I’m not leaving. New York City will get through this. I hope I do too. But being the symbol and signal of America does not mean the rest of the nation must be crushed under the weight of economic collapse. We need to make some hard choices, and we need to make them now.
It’s the weekend, not that it is much different from any other day. They all kind of run together these days. There is some good news on the vaccine front. Lots of companies are supposedly close to developing one and going into human trials. Let’s hope so, right?
Last night we went down to the house. The drywall guys were taping away. I gave each of the three guys working there $20 for cerveza (beer in Spanish) while Lori walked around. Our builder bought two fiberglass doors for the garage side and rear entrances which we don’t like. He’s going to paint them black but might have to throw them away. We never gave our ok on them.
We’re still all working on getting along well in our new “in your face” living arrangement. We’re just not used to being so cooped up with each other 24/7. We’re getting there though. Jag went to Madi’s (her family has been in total lock down like us) for the weekend. Lori and Shelly (Madi’s mom) are in constant communication and she’s a dentist so she’s taking this seriously too.
Diana, one of Lori’s nurses, left work yesterday not feeling well so she went and was tested. No results yet. New cases are coming down on a daily rate up here so this distancing thing is working. Lori and I are going to the park to work out this morning. Then not sure what we’re doing. We might go back down to the house. Lori said let’s take a table and two chairs and go sit down there for the sunset. Maybe have a picnic.
I was in and out of Denver and home by 10. Retail has to be dying as nothing is open except gun shops, liquor and grocery stores. Personally for Tom and I, we don’t need much else except some restaurants, ha. Wonder if Robin and Robert have made it to the range yet. If so, give us a report.
Dogs are well, so is Ty. I think he’s going sledding with Zoe and Chloe today at Meadow Mountain. Couldn’t do that in Denver! Time to run. Hope you all are well, be safe and God Bless.
I’m off to the big city today. Leaving early to get in and get out before the hoards are up and moving. I need to pick up some wine and drop some masks at Tommy’s before heading back up. Everyone is still sleeping. Looks like a little snow in Denver, more than up here.
It was a good day yesterday. We dropped Jag’s car by 9 in Glenwood and then stopped at the house on the way home. We’re all working away at work and school. Money is tight with less income coming in but we’re adjusting. Time to move so I can get on the road. Oh, good news is I think only about 20 new cases up here compared to about 70 the day before. That could be just a lag in testing or good news, who knows. It’s still surreal like a movie. God Bless.
Last night for dinner we had elk tenderloin on the bbq. I gave our neighbor some and he grilled it up for both of us. The boys and I ate it up but Lori doesn’t like it. Don’t know why as it tastes just like beef. I shouldn’t have told her and she would have ate it.
This morning we need to take Jag’s car down to Glenwood to drop it off to get fixed from when our neighbor backed into it plowing snow. I was going to have Jag drive his car down but think I’ll see if Lori wants to go so we can stop at the house on the way home.
We’re still social distancing. No where to go anyhow. They say we’re getting a little snow today. Doesn’t seem like it outside right now. Maybe this is just in Denver. Boys are doing well and had a good day yesterday.
We’re getting tired of this whole thing. I’m sure you all are too. Could be another month or two, who really knows. I told Lori, we can do this. Things could be much worse. No one likes it but it is what it is. Get outside and go for a hike, that’s ok. Lot’s of people fishing up here. I heard birds chirping this morning for the first time. Spring is here. Be safe, God Bless.
Well it was bound to happen. With everyone locked up or locked down, sooner or later we were going to have a blow up. Last night around 5pm, over a video game, things blew up. Ty was “rude” to Jag, Jag “rude” to Ty, and then when Lori and I stepped in, all hell broke loose. Name calling, Ty throwing some things in his room, and more ensued for a good hour until cooler heads prevailed. I thought about publishing some of the language but the FCC would probably shut the blog down. Oh well, as I said, it was bound to happen and now we’re past it and back to normal.
Ty was on the mountain most of the afternoon with two buddies making sure to stay 6 feet apart. Lori and I worked and Jag worked a little and played some Wii. In past years April 1sr was a time for pranks but I don’t think we’ll see many today. Dixie is doing better, thank God, and is going to get some medicine levels checked this morning. Told you prayer works! Wish we could bring her here but that’s not possible plus we’re in the middle of it.
Dr. C is out for another day as his test showed some other virus but not Covid. He should be back to surgery tomorrow. My gym is now shut down, even for me as some people complained that they were sort of open.
Yesterday the govt. said things are going to get really bad over the next two weeks and between 100,000 and a quarter of a million people could die here in the U.S., best case. There’s really nothing we can do except stay home. At least we’re not stuck on one of the cruise ships off the coast of Florida with no place to dock. Every State needs to shut down like we are. School is over for the year for sure and things will get worse before they get better. Don’t get complacent and think we’re out of the woods yet. We’re not.
Bill Gates, who is a super smart guy, wrote an article yesterday which basically said we need to shut down all States, start building labs to make vaccines and stat mass testing. You can read his article here if you like. I really wish everyone would listen to him. He even had a TED talk in 2015 urging governments to prepare for this exact scenario. But of course, none of them listened. Here’s the article.
That’s it, we are doing our best to keep things going best we can. I need to top off our food supplies, as even with all the food we have, sometimes we think we have nothing to eat. Sauces and canned fruit seem to be what I’m missing. We need to shut our borders here in Colorado to ALL people from other States as they are not shutting down. It’s sort of pointless all we’re doing here when other States don’t and those people can fly or drive to Colorado. Realistically this Stay in Place stuff is probably going to last 8, 10 or even 12 weeks. And this is if we ALL start today! Get ready, mentally and physically. Also get what you need as supply chains are getting interrupted as I write. Here we go, God Bless and this is no April’s Fool joke!
Lori just came down and said she’s tired of this coronavirus and she’s ready to get back to normal. Hmm, I agree with her! I’m sure everyone other single person in the world does too. Finally something we can all unite on.
Yesterday we had a scare as Dixie wasn’t feeling well. The paramedics came and her vitals were fine and she didn’t want to go to the hospital so Michelle spent the night with her which was nice. Today she’ll hopefully go to her regular doctor and get checked out. We think she had a TIA or mini stroke. Lori can’t fly out there or she’d need to be in quarantine for 14 days minimum before seeing her mom plus even if she could get there, and she had to take Dixie to the hospital, they wouldn’t let Lori in. So what’s the point? Go there to drive her to the hospital 14 days after arrival. As you can see, we’re stuck. We could borrow a private jet and fly out and get her but where could she stay until the house was done. No room here as I don’t think she could sleep on the couch. We’ll know more today. Dix is 89 on April 8th! Say a prayer that she’s ok, prayer helps!
Yesterday we were back down at the house changing up a few things to stay close to budget. The Fed says we could have over 30% unemployment. Now the Great Depression was 24% and if you’re old like I am you remember the pictures of the people in the soup lines with no money, no food, and no jobs. Don’t think it couldn’t happen just because it’s 2020, it surely could. The difference is we’re far advanced scientifically so God willing, we’ll soon find a cure or vaccine.
Jag is waitlisted at NYU which is a pretty big deal but no way he’s going to school in New York. I personally think it’ll be years before New York fully recovers. Economically they’re going to be slammed with unemployment, higher taxes and crime and an overall lack of basic services. Looks like CU is going to be his choice which is a great school and close to us and Tom and Ali which provides another layer of support. It’s also the least expensive which is now a huge consideration. Who knows if colleges will even be back in session in the Fall, I don’t.
The boys are doing well considering they’ve been locked down for weeks now. They’re handling things really well. That’s it for now, time to run, keep staying away from people and we’ll get through this. I promise! God Bless.
I woke up at 1:14 in the middle of the night as my damn cell phone went through an automatic update that made it chime. Then it took me at least 45 minutes to go back to sleep. When I woke at 6:30, for a moment it seemed like a normal day. Then our “new normal” instinct kicked in. Staying away from all people, not being able to go to the gym, etc. Good news is we’ve saved a ton on eating out and haven’t been to the dry cleaner in weeks. We have nowhere to wear nice clothes. Need to keep at it so hopefully this thing will go away.
Yesterday after running down to the house, Lori wanted to bring up the table from downstairs so we can all sit and eat together as a family. It was a good call as it was nice to hang out together. We also now have a place to play board games! The national news just came on and of course they’ve titled their newscast, The Coronavirus Newscast, give me a break. It’s as if they don’t think we all (everyone in the world) doesn’t know we’re in the middle of the Coronavirus?
Dr. C is negative too which is good news as Lori has him scheduled for surgeries on Wednesday and Friday. We stopped and gave Diana, her lead nurse, four bottles of wine when we went to the house. Our bathtub arrived scratched and cracked at the house so it needs to go back. We have plenty of time so no worries.
They say a little snow today but they said that yesterday too and we had none. The boys are doing really well working from home. One of Jag’s friend was accepted to Cornell but there’s a catch. He can’t enroll until Fall 2021 and has to go to another four year college and get a 3.3 average this coming year. Lori and I have never heard of such a thing. What if the guy does that and doesn’t get a 3.3? What if Cornell changes it’s rules by next year? What if the kid decides he wants to do something different in a year? Plus on top of it all, it takes away a spot from a kid who wants to go to the four year school Jag’s buddy would only go to for a year. Stupid if you ask me. Anyhow the boys Mom and I talked about it and New York probably won’t even be open this Fall. Jag was hoping to get into Columbia but didn’t. CU is looking really good which makes Lori and I happy. Plus as I said, what if some shit like this happens again? It’d sure be good for him to be 90 minutes away from home instead of thousands of miles. Last, it’s the cheapest option there is which is a major part of the decision.
We’d love to load up the car and go somewhere warm like Arizona but all the hotels are closed too. I told Lori we just need to ride it out. If we do go out, it’s to the house or grocery shopping over in Frisco. Summit County has only like 15 cases while here in Eagle we have 187. So we’re basically staying away from everyone, no exceptions.
Time to go, hope everyone is well, do not go out if you don’t have to. If you’re over 60 and need groceries, go when the store first opens as they reserve an hour for, wait for it, senior citizens. Damn, I cannot believe or accept that I am a senior citizen, just won’t do it, ha. God Bless.
Yesterday morning they called and Lori’s test was negative. problem is we don’t know if that’s from the test on Friday or two weeks earlier. If from last Friday, well that’s to be expected. If two weeks earlier, I’m just not buying it. She still has some lingering symptoms like a bad headache. Who really knows. It was weird as they asked her if she still had symptoms before telling her she tested negative, hmmm. Why would anyone do that? makes no sense.
Yesterday we hung out after going to the gym for a few minutes and then the storage unit to get the Wii for Jagger. I hit up Whole Foods this morning at 7:30 before the general public gets in. We’re all doing well considering. Here’s something I sent a few of you which is good to know.
Dr. David Price of Weill Cornell Medical Center gave advice on how people can prevent spreading the coronavirus.
“You may hear a little inflection in my voice like I’m emotional. It’s not because I’m scared. It’s actually the opposite. For the first time in a while, I’m actually not scared,” Price said via video. “I work at probably the premier hospital in New York City. Our hospital is almost exclusively a COVID-19 hospital, but we’re learning and we know a lot. And what I want you guys to know is that every single day we’re getting better, we know more. And I am confident that the stuff I can tell you today should make you guys feel like when this comes to your community that you don’t have to be scared and that you can protect your family.”
Price went on say the virus is primarily transmitted by touching someone who has the virus and then touching your face.
“The ways that you get this is the transmission of the virus almost exclusively from your hands to your face, from your hands to your face and inside your eyes, into your nose or into your mouth,” Price explained. “So there’s a lot of talk about contact or getting it through contacts, hands to face.”
The doctor also addressed the idea that the virus is transmitted by “long sustained contact” or through the air.
“There’s also a small thought that it can be aerosolized, that it can kind of exist a little bit in the air,” Price said. “The thought at this point is that you actually have to have very long sustained contact with someone. And I’m talking about over 15 to 30 minutes in an unprotected environment, meaning you’re in a very closed room without any type of mask for you to get it that way.”
“But very simply stated, the overwhelming majority of people are getting this by physically touching someone who has this disease or will develop it in the next one to two days and then touching their face,” he pointed out.
“The thing that makes me smile a little bit is I actually know now that I won’t get this disease because I know how to protect myself,” Price said in the video.
Price offered two practical tips to keep you, your family and your friends from getting the coronavirus.
“Become a hand Nazi. Everything you know about your hands, just keep it clean and you will not get this disease,” Price said. “The second thing is you have to start psychologically working on the connection between your hands and your face.”
“Those two things combined is incredibly powerful and will prevent the transmission of disease in your family in 99 percent of cases, to know your hands are clean and not touch your face, period,” Price added.
Makes sense. Please follow this! Could save the life of someone you love or even you!
