Social Distancing Journal, Day 107, 108 & 109

I never remember what was going on when I last left you. I think we had that crazy high number, like 9,500 cases in a day, right? Well, that was Friday? Saturday maybe? Well the weekend's numbers were better, sort of. They were lower- but there was also a lot less tests, so the positvity rate remained between 13 and 15%. Today there were 6,000 cases. At first glance you think "hey that's not as bad!" until you realize we only did half as many tests as we did on the 9,500 day. So, it's actually kind of worse. And all the drive thru sites and everything is filling up super quick. They're open like an hour before all the tests they have for the day are accounted for. 

Florida passed 150,000 cases today. Tampa (Hillsborough County) and Orlando (Orange County) both topped 10,000 cases over the weekend.  Florida is up something like 600% from a month ago, making us the worst in the county- Arizona was second place with 400% 

Our county is sitting at right about 2,000 cases. But we are up about 108% from last week. We're seeing a big influx every day. According to myflorida- Pasco county has just three ICU beds available. THREE. In a county with more than half a million residents. 

Meanwhile, Disney is sending out emails for passholder previews in 9 days. Seaworld and Legoland want you to know they'll be having fireworks for the fourth of July. Sparkman Wharf will be having live music. Trampoline gyms are running specials. Don't miss the games at Splitsville and the food specials at various restaurants. And our Governor today said he doesn't think bars and restaurants are contributing, that's it's young people hanging out (and where exactly does he think they hang out?) He also said we aren't shutting anything down again. 

Meanwhile, the national media keeps talking about how Florida is "rolling back" on their opening plan. Yes, we did tell bars they could not have people consuming alcohol on premises, but they're still open. DeSantis hasn't closed the beaches again, the mayor of Miami made that decision,  and it's only for the holiday weekend. 

So, I wouldn't say we're rolling back anything. People are out and about like it's nothing. And I'm over here like, now I feel like I extra can't go out. I really want to just be able to go to Costco on Thursday and even that is starting to freak me out. 

I will say support for masks is picking up, and that's at least encouraging. I told Asa Monday morning that I think Fox News will start changing their tune about masks (just because it's almost a no-brainer if you don't want to have to close businesses down, you need to wear masks) and sure enough, Sean Hannity of all people is on talking about how he'll wear a mask if it means baseball can come back (and not make other people sick..) Jacksonville became the latest city to announce an indoor mask mandate, which should make things interesting for the Republican National Convention, where Trump wanted to make sure people didn't have to wear masks. Worth noting: cities and counties have made mask mandates. Nothing statewide from the Governor. 

These were my phone screen shots for the day from Sunday. It's still fricken hot here. But, the dust cloud seems to be gone. I don't taste it when I'm outside anymore. 

We did have Mickey waffles for breakfast on Sunday. Funfact: I did get an email from Disney saying we could make dining reservations today, which was earlier than everyone else since we had dining impacted before. I made two reservations for the end of July- both places you can eat at outside (Spice Road Table and Homecomin), but I doubt we'll keep them. No way I'm going to Disney until Florida gets their crap together. Still, the attitude here is we'd rather have them and not want them, than want them and not have them. 

We're still house and hamster sitting, but this is probably the last week, so we're going to soak it all in. 

And we started a new puzzle- a Peter Pan one that we worked on Saturday and Sunday. 

Then Asa and I went out to pick up Blaze Pizza for dinner- they have a great family pack with two large pizzas, garlic knots, salad, and dessert. 

So we ate that over by the pool, and then took our second dip in the pool. 

That night we finished up the Peter Pan puzzle. But we were missing a piece. Turns out it was sitting on the table the whole time. But, it was solid blue, so it blended in with the countries on the table. 

But, it's finished and it's pretty. We ordered some frames, and have decided we're going to exclusively do Disney puzzles during quarantine and then make a whole framed wall of them. 

We already have our next one picked out. 

We also played some Moving Out- they added new medals to each level. Now the best time you can get doesn't earn you a gold medal, but platinum. I was excited about that- more things to beat. But, it is pretty tough, and things get a little heated. 

Monday our numbers came out. They were higher. 

But, we also discovered if we strategically have lunch we can fit in a tip to the pool on Asa's break. 

Monday's are of course, Asa's busy day. But Hayden knows how to communicate properly. 

Yesterday we even hit the pool on dinner break. 

And once the sun was nearly down, I went out to mow for the first time with the electric mower. It's really fun, and it even has a light on the front! Our neighbor even mentioned how quiet it was and said I was going to set off a neighborhood trend. 

When I was finished we headed over to the pool for a nighttime swim. 

This morning I went to take Ellie for a walk and it was SO. HOT.  and she wanted to stop and sniff EVERYTHING. Ellie did get stereotyped this weekend though, and then Asa neighborhood facebook posted about her and Ellie has gotten quite the social media love shown to her today. Not that she knows any of this. But still. 

It is also the last day of June, so I did George HW Bush's birthday with Hayden. He's sort of the lone June birthday president. Trump's is also in June, but I just do not have it in me to do his birthday right now. We're skipping it for this year, maybe we'll pick it up next year. 

Though, I will say, covering Bush's elections was real depressing. They were UG-LY! And, did anyone else know he was the first politician to use "liberal" as an insult? And then there's the explosion of wealth for the top 1%, and the LA riots and Rodney King... and it's all like, 'Oh, I get it- THAT's part of how we got HERE'

I got my monthly shipment of fiber one bars from amazon today too. But tell me why did three boxes of 10 granola bars come in a box that big? Weird Amazon, weird. Then we had to pop all the air packets in there, which scared Etta so much she spent the next half hour hiding under Peyton's computer desk. 

In other news, the new fridge is coming tomorrow! It's our second fridge purchase in quarantine. I've been working to clean it out, and shift food to the chest freezer and the garage refrigerator. I'm so excited for the new one. 

And we also made a quick trip to the pool during Asa's break in calls this evening. 

I'm just hanging out with Hayden in the blanket fort now, while he plays Civ and we watch Princess and the Frog. (T minus 3 days until Hamilton is on Disney Plus, people!) 

Most popular "hurricane snacks": Anything that'll make room in the freezer. 

Current binge watching obsession: We're working on Westworld, but sometimes dramas are a bit much these days and we find ourselves flipping around. This weekend it led us to the 2000 VMA awards. Back before Brittney Spears went to rehab, Beyonce went solo, and Whitney Houston was alive.  

Most popular game: The usual, a rotation of Civ, NCAA, and moving out. 

Boredness scale 1 to 10: 3. I've moved on from being bored to accepting the fact there's no way I'm going out there until things get under control. 

Frozen II Watchthroughs: 49. Still haven't hit 50 yet. 

How many times we've walked the loop: 68. It's still too fricken hot.  

Days Down: 109

Days Remaining: Undetermined

Social Distancing Journal, Day 105 & 106

I have nothing good to report from Florida today. Yesterday, I woke up worried about making my park reservations, since Disney was opening them up to passholders. As it turns out, passholders get either days for a resort stay, or three days to reserve elsewhere. Not both. I was pissed. I got over it enough to take Ellie for a quick walk. And hang up one of those fun hotel room clotheslines things in our shower. Now my swimsuits won't drip everywhere!

 But, by the day's end, it wouldn't even matter I was annoyed with Disney. Because, I'm probably not going to Disney again anytime soon. Thursday, Florida saw what? 5,000 cases? I don't even remember. The number was shocking. And alarming. Then, yesterday's numbers hit. Just short of 9,000. That's bananas. Like, BA.NAN.AS. Granted, we did do twice as many tests. Something like 70,000. But the positivity rate was still at 13%. Not good. They keep needing to add numbers to the bar graphs now. Mike Pence and the Coronavirus task force held a press conference for the first time, and Pence touted out a success story, saying we flattened the curve. What the hell graph is he looking at?! 

Not just that, but Pasco County is seeing a huge increase. My mom told me Sandusky county saw 2 new cases. But, we're seeing a steep increase here. 

And then today's numbers came out: 9,500 cases IN ONE DAY. Yes, it is a record for tests: 78,000. That's great we are testing that much, but our positivity rate is still over 10%. Statewide, I think it was somewhere in the 12s today. But Tampa and Miami have seen in the 20% range. Pasco county added another 300 cases. We're up 101 percent since last week.

I'm sorry, but I find this totally alarming. Now yesterday, right after the numbers came out, Florida "closed" all bars. (I say closed, but you can still sell drinks to-go in sealed containers). The Hangar Bar at Disney had just opened on Friday, and just over 24 hours later they had to shut down again.

So that brings me to Disney. In two weeks, they're supposed to open. Most experts agree it is worse in Florida than it was in March when everything shut down. So why are we reopening? Why didn't we use our shutdown time to put in the infastructure to test and trace properly to not get back right here. And like, what the hell is the plan? Because I'm sorry, but a few cities issuing mask orders for inside, and bars being closed doesn't seem like it's enough at this point.

And the messaging here is so- excuse my language- but fucked up. The Florida Department of Health is tweeting that you should stay home as much as possible, even order delivery for groceries and take out. But, every day I get a notification something new is open, or some new event is being held. Museums, restaurants, amusement parks- they all want you to come on down. 'We're open!', 'Welcome Back'. There's summer camps going on. My lodge is hosting Taco Tuesday.

Disney: 'We're hosting the NBA next month! Reserve your park dates! We open in two weeks!'
Also Disney: "We're going to go ahead and delay the opening of Mulan again." (You know, because people shouldn't be going to movies- but can be going to amusement parks?!)

Oh, and Mike Pence: 'Totes safe for a rally in Arizona"
Also Mike Pence: "Yea, I'm gonna go ahead and delay my visit to Florida I was supposed to do next week".

I wish I could trust someone, anyone to tell me it's safe. Or there's a plan to make it safe. But alas, I get nothing. So, we stay home, day after day. And what a first world problem that is. I have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. I have netflix and a blanket fort. Asa's job isn't effected, our income hasn't changed. But at the same time, I am like, we are a first world country, we should be able to get our shit together to have a plan.

That girl that got fired from the Covid-dashboard too, was the one who said they were going to dump a bunch of cases this week so numbers looked better next week and people would go out for the 4th of July. That doesn't look so far fetched now. I mean, wouldn't 5,000 cases be a good day at this point?

It doesn't help the governor has nothing to say about all of this. When I turned on CNN last night, the reporter was talking about how they get DeSantis's schedule for that day at like 6 pm, when he's done with all his events for the day, so nobody knows where or when he'll be available for questions. He has said the death rate remains low, and the hospitals are not overwhelmed. We don't know, because Florida is one of the states that doesn't publish their hospital data.

*Sigh*

And in all of that, we have a Saharan dust cloud overhead.

Yesterday I could taste it in the air. Today not so much. Add to that our ridiculous heat wave. Tampa tied their ALL TIME RECORD HIGH (of 99) yesterday. Meanwhile, in Land O Lakes it was a measly 98 degrees. The Gulf temp is over 90 degrees. Not that I'm going to the beach, so it doesn't really matter does it?

For now, we are still house sitting, so we still have the neighbors pool. Hayden, Asa and I were over after lunch yesterday. 

When we came home, Calib was begging Asa to change his computer back to normal. Asa had pranked (or punished him- after an NCAA game) by making Breitbart Calib's home screen. 

Asa and I went out to get dinner, and noticed all the work had started on the new town homes at the exit to our subdivision. They're burning trees, and it makes me so sad. I never stopped to pet the cows there. If there is one thing this year taught me, is you better do things when you want to do them, or you might never get to. 

We got curbside from Panera to have bagels for the weekend (and to cash in on our free coffees we can get every two hours until September- a highlight of my week), and curbside at Moes, since we had BOGO burrito coupons. 

We ate over at the pool and them swam for a while. 

This morning we got a fun Amazon delivery, Asa's squeeze bottles came, so he whipped up some garlic aoli. He had plans for lots of sauces, but the new fridge is coming on Wednesday, so we're trying to empty this one out as much as possible. 

After the numbers came out today, we decided we needed some coping mechanisms. Puzzles are good for that. So we're onto our Peter Pan puzzle. 

And the pool works too. We took lunch over to the pool and swam a bit. 

And then we spent some time in the blanket fort. Asa and Hayden played Civ, while I worked on stuff for a presidential birthday- we still haven't gotten to George H.W. Bush (his birthday was June 12th). Trump's is also in June. But, I don't have it in me to do his birthday right now. We're skipping it. 

It was another scorcher out there today.  

So we decided a second pool trip was in order. 

We grilled out for dinner with brats and hamburgers. It's nice not to heat up the house with the oven right now. 

And we might have had an extra visitor to the pool today. (He likes it, I think). 

Things spiraled out of control after a game of volleyball though. Peyton eating pie in the pool is all of us trying to cope with the summer of 2020. Us then all spending an hour coming up with pie and pastry puns because we have nothing else to do, is basically the whole year. (Calib was so bad at it, at one point I took a 15 minute video that is hilarious- but I'm saving posting it for a rainy day). 

I mean, Peyton, Hayden, Asa, and I are supposed to be in Orlando right now for CEO. It's like the highlight of the year for them (I'm more along to make sure everyone eats), so it's sad. It blows when you're turn is up for missing something you were really looking forward to. 

And to think, Peyton is about to have his birthday in quarantine too. I never would have imagined when Asa had his. *Sigh* I'll probably be up next. 

Most popular "hurricane snacks": Um, mini pies are BOGO at Publix. (I told Peyton I would order some on Wednesday- the last day of the week so he could have lots of birthday pies) 

Current binge watching obsession: We watched another Modern Love Episode last night, and we started 'Floor is Lava', which is like... desperate times, you know? 

Most popular game: The entire time I've been blogging, they've been playing Rock Band in the other room. 

Boredness scale 1 to 10: Sometimes an 8. Sometimes a 2. It really comes in waves. 

Frozen II Watchthroughs: We're stuck at 49 because we want to do something for the 50th watch thru, but don't know what to do. (see: same as yesterday)

How many times we've walked the loop: 68. It's too fricken hot.  

Days Down: 106

Days Remaining: Undetermined