Hey y’all, how have you been? Did you miss our Covid-19 blog a little bit? I admittedly did. So here it is, my very first of probably many, many check-ins. Because I honestly think, the second wave is not going to wait for fall to come. It’s upon us, looking at how the Covidiots are behaving, now that things are reopening.
In short? They are not. Behaving, I mean. Behaving would mean, they would follow the bleeping rules. I get the strong feeling, that rules and policies in the US are merely a suggestion. Or maybe an idea? Not sure what’s even less strong a word than this, but that would probably be it.
Don’t get me wrong, our little friend Sam is definitely taking some of our commands as a suggestion, that can be followed, or not. However if enforced, he does listen and follow. Also, Sam’s behavior might mean, it takes us a little longer to leave the garden, as he does not want to come for Henning to hose him off. He’s not at risk of killing anyone, by not immediately obeying.
And who could be seriously mad, if this little monster gives you his 1000 watt smile. Right, no one I met could.
Back to our Covidiots. They are back. Expired stay@home orders + reopening phase 1 = stupidity spread faster, than the actual virus. Second wave of our second pandemic.
Our “park” a few blocks away reopened. They made an effort to print what feels like a gazillion signs with “park rules” and another gazillion signs asking you, to please follow said park rules.
And of course, since they really put a lot of thought into those and made such an effort, everyone is following, right? Hahaha, yes, in a parallel universe where common sense is an actual thing, for sure! Here? Not so much. The park rules are saying in short no groups larger than 10, social distancing of 6 feet or, if not possible, wear a mask. Do not stay longer than 2 hours. Oh and no contact sports, please. Well…let’s talk about the interpretation of our Covidiots, shall we?
- Soccer (contact sport) practice male and female
- At full game capacity (11 player IN ONE TEAM)
- Playing the ball game (no social distancing)
- Masks would just bother (no masks either)
But at least, the City of Weston is strongly enforcing the rules. AKA no cop to be seen AT ALL. But at least they parked a Sheriffs Office car on the park parking lot. I guess for deterrence purposes. It’s working really well. Not! Broward County Sheriffs office, how often have you fallen for someone driving their teddy bear on the passenger seat or a mannequin or another type of puppet in the car pool lane? Not that often? Ha! I rest my case.
Almost 100,000 US residents have passed away due to Covid-19. And unfortunately, many of those likely have fallen victim to a Covidiot getting them sick. The New York Times made a very tasteful front page to remember the dead. Have a look for yourself, but be ready to potentially tear up a little bit…https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
As announced last week, Sam, Henning and I made the decision to lunch-out at our favorite restaurant, The Capital Grille. And we did. It felt so good, to be out and do something else than just walk with Sam. When we arrived, Henning went in to have them take him to our table on the patio. I waited at the gate with Sam. The hostess, wearing a mask, seem to be excited to greet us and had us pick our table. They only prepared some table and only one other table on the patio was occupied.
Our waiter was wearing a mask and handed us a “throw-away” paper menu. Unfortunately, our favorite starter was not on that very short menu. We asked if they had it still and they did. It was good as always (tuna tartar on cucumber and avocado with sriracha and mango sauce). They have an awesome sesame crusted ahi tuna with gingered rice and three different sauces (none of which I am needing to go with it). Henning had filet mignon with Truffle Parmesan fries.
We enjoyed ourselves. And we did not feel unsafe or uncomfortable at any time. I also had brought alcohol wipes, just in case. OK, Sam looks like he did not get any of our food. Because he did not. But he got his treats and also had his lunch before we went to the restaurant. He was fine, but he is a little drama queen.
We are definitely going to do that again. Unfortunately we are not going to do a trip to the Gulf coast. It’s too short notice. The houses we found are too expensive for not being the almost perfect (remember, perfect does not exist) beach accommodation.
I am still going to take a week off in June and will enjoy planning some day trips and dinner’s or lunches out and about. On patios only and in places, where we feel we can practice social distancing.
So this is Memorial Day weekend. It was a nice, sunny and warm Friday. And a not so bad Saturday. We spent our mornings in the pool. And the afternoons as well. And we had a blast. I enjoyed my coffee and the time spent with my boys, especially on a Friday.
Today was a wash-out day. Literally. It rained from the morning until now and it won’t even stop tomorrow. Not exactly what I had envisioned when I took the long weekend off.
This morning, we went for a walk in rain coats and bath slippers. I was super depressed about the whole weather and the outlook. Henning played with the thought of going out into the pool anyways when the downpour turned into a little bit of a stronger drizzle. I was not so sure, but then decided, what the heck – why not! And so we went. And swam for almost half an hour, closed our exercise ring for the day and made some good progress on the move goal.
Who are we? And what happened to the couch-potatoes from a couple of years ago? Those two would have taken this as an excuse to stay inside on the couch in front of the TV or computer the entire day. And then would have tried to fight the grumpiness, that would have sneaked up, with Pizza and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Not anymore. Now our “bodies” are “craving” exercise and moving and our pooch makes us forget about the rain and go into the pool to swim and play with him anyways.
I chose to not take pictures in the rain. It was actually too cold being wet and with the wind and all. Not so sure, what we are going to do tomorrow, if it really continues to rain like it has today. We shall see. Maybe we can cut a break.
At least it will keep the Covidiots inside as well. Memorial weekend in times of Covid-19. In case you were planning (and are allowed to) a visit to the beach, check-out these suggestions to protect yourself. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/05/23/7-ways-to-be-safe-on-beaches-during-the-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic/#3a199eda70e1
Back to “Business” on Tuesday. Ever thought, that the best thing about having done actual in person meetings was, that you did not have to look at yourself the entire time. After 3 months with no haircut and home made hair coloring at least 2 shades too light.
Just read this tweet.
Not one person, who went for a job interview in 2015 got the answer right, to “So where do you see yourself in 5 years?”
Well for any and all job interviews in the future, this pandemic is a really good excuse to defer this answer. “Honestly, I thought I had it all figured out but hey, 2020 taught us a thing or two on plans, didn’t it?”
Unfortunately, not everyone will learn a lesson from this. Those of us who will, are going to be quite annoyed by those that don’t. See, I can predict the future. Mark my words. I think, Covidiots are here to stay. They have been here all the time. We just did not notice (as much).
Sunday evening is almost over. The puppy is sleeping next door in our bedroom. Likely on my pillow. He came to get his espresso treat, of course. And looked like he was wondering, if there shouldn’t have been more.
OK, he was not really wondering. His eyes are saying “what the what, is that all?”. It was all. And the moment that was clear, he jumped off the couch to “go to bed”. He hasn’t been around for longer in the evenings lately. He is enjoying having the bedroom to himself.
Not for long, my little friend. Not for long. We finished our last episode of the night (You on Netflix, strange but worth watching). Yes, I am multi-tasking. Remember, that’s how I function best.
Keep your distance, wear your mask, stay healthy and take care! Talk soon!
Hugs,
Nannette