IAN Kills Dozens

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Rescuers searched for survivors among the ruins of Florida’s flooded homes from Hurricane Ian while authorities in South Carolina began assessing damage from its strike there as the remnants of one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. continued to push north.

The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week, battering western Cuba before raking across Florida from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, where it mustered enough strength for a final assault on South Carolina. 

Now weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, Ian was expected to move across central North Carolina on Saturday morning then move into Virginia and New York.  READ MORE...

Back in the USSR... not really... East TN... much better

We left Destin at 7:00 am EST which was 6:00 am Central Time which means we were up at 5:00 am this morning in order to get home at a reasonable hour since we had an 8.5 hour drive ahead of us...  and no telling how long we might be delayed due to construction, or traffic, or an accident...  

We stopped once for gas and use the restroom and a second time for something to eat most of which we ate in the parking lot before we returning to the Interstate.  We were delayed a little by construction and even less by traffic but it took us 9.5 hours to return to our home which means we were delayed about 30 minutes by our 2 stops and another 30 minutes by either traffic or construction or both.

In another hour, we had unloaded the car and put everything away from our trip although we are saving mowing of the lawn until tomorrow after we have gotten a good night's sleep....  so, in 10.5 hours we have just about been able to return to normal.

Two of our 3 cats met us at the door but our Siamese who gets really pissed off when we leave for more than a day or two, decided that he not show his face until a couple of hours after our return...  I guess he did not want to appear too eager to let us know that he missed us.

It was nice to have a vacation and eat out every night and it was nice to sit in chairs and watch the water...  even if it was the Gulf and not the Atlantic Ocean...  but, if the truth be known, I did the same damn thing down there that I did here, plus I had to spend all that extra money and drive for 18 hours...  not really sure if it was worth it or not... and unlike the Caribbean commercials my wife and I did not fall in love with each other all over again.

COVID Vaccine

By the end of this week, I will have received my second COVID Vaccine shot using the Moderna Vaccine...  the shot is in the muscle and my first shot had no side effects except for a sore arm for a few days.  My shots are being delivered by our local health department while my wife receives her first shot from a local pharmacy.  I signed up in January and was called at the end of February and my wife called yesterday (Monday) and will be receiving her shot two days (Wednesday) later...  so, I am not sure who had the best approach although her request was processed quicker.

Last night, we discussed what we would be doing this summer now that we both will have been vaccinated and decided that by April, we should start making plans to visit the beach for a few days and while we will still wear our masks and socially distance, we will both feel more comfortable being out in public.

Last year in the Spring we went to Myrtle Beach and were both very concerned and very careful with our activities in that, we would not share an elevator.  When we first got to our room, we put on masks and gloves and cleaned the room even after it had already been cleaned.  We put the remote for the TV in a plastic bag and washed our hands often.  Were we lucky???

This spring/summer, we are going to the Gulf Coast of Florida at least once maybe twice and we are now planning to go the Myrtle Beach at least twice...  However, we have no plans to fly anywhere nor do we have plans to go on a cruise anytime soon if ever again.  No matter where we go we will plan to wear face masks and continue to socially distance.

Favorite Places to Live and/or Visit

While my wife and I like East TN as the location in which we live and Myrtle Beach as the location in which we visit...  everyone else, for the most part, has their favorite locations for one reason or another which allows for the rich diversification that makes American Great... 

For example, we have visit several places in Europe, around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii and none of those places suit our personalities 100% even though there were aspects of those areas that we really enjoyed as we were experiencing them...

Locations, to us, are not just locations but they consist of:

• travel time to get there
• transportation to get there
• cost of living there
• number of people there
• annual climate there
• things to do there

As we get older, even the 6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach is becoming to long of a time to take just to get someone in which we feel comfortable and know what to expect.  And, it is this knowing what to expect that clinches the deal for us...

COVID has put a damper on our travels and this fear will probably continue until next Summer even if they get a vaccine because we believe vaccines should be tested by others first in case they need to be modified due to side effects...   of course, the FDA would have taken all of that into consideration one would think.