How long will this go on?

[Dutch_12078]

We've had good luck with Walmart's pickup service as well, although occasionally we're told online an item is out of stock. Some spot shortage items like yeast, popular spices, etc., I've been able to source online at Amazon with fairly quick delivery. We also buy my wife's favorite Altoid mints through Amazon, since they have a much better quantity price than the individual container prices found in stores. Walmart's free next day delivery has also worked well for us for bulk items like coffee, sweetener, and other non-perishable items. I think they have a $35 minimum for the free delivery, but we always have a few items we use a lot of that we can tack on to an order even if we don't really need to restock yet.

[skater91]

On 7/2/2020 at 8:34 AM, trailertraveler said:

We were on the road from February through May. Even after arriving at our summer location, one of the bigger issues for us is the availability of groceries and other products (sporadically everything from rice, fresh and frozen meat to dogfood) . Several on this thread and other threads have stated that they order online and have delivery or pickup.  We are rarely able to get everything we need at one store and sometimes not at any of them requiring multiple visits to multiple locations. Even online orders from Amazon, etc. were out of stock or delivery delayed for extended periods (that seems to have gotten better). Because of the small size of the refrigerator/freezer and generally limited storage space in the trailer, it seemed like we were running out of something every couple of days. Even though we have a larger freezer and refrigerator where we summer, limits on the quantity of items like meat and frozen vegetables has made it difficult to build up much of a cache.  So, my question to those that shop online. Do you usually  get everything you order? Since I see grocery store staff picking orders from the aisles, I am wondering how good an idea they have of existing inventory.   Do they tell you when you order what is out of stock or low on stock or do you find out at pickup/delivery?

I've ordered from Amazon Fresh (once), Kroger, Walmart, HEB (once) here in Houston. March and April, there were many things not filled in orders. They send you an email about 15 minutes before your pickup time showing what they were able to fill in the order and what they didn't have. Shopping online is no guarantee that you will get what you order, but I have found one hack that gives me a better chance. I always select the earliest pickup time reserved for old folks (I qualify, you do too). I'm not rousting my lazy ass out of bed for an 0700 pickup time! I want that shopper to have the first crack at everything on the shelves! So when I get there (when I GET there), I've found that more things are fulfilled in the order.

There are some things that are hit and miss ordering online, so I will go in the store, avoiding weekends, the first week of the month and try to be in/out before noon. Even though one store showed a limit of 2 online, it wouldn't let me order two of one size of toilet paper. So, next best thing is order one of the 12 rolls and one of the 6 rolls. I have traveled with 3-6 months staples (rice, flour, yeast, breadmaker, oil, beans, tuna, etc.) for the past few years, so I'm still eating off reserves. I learned to store those in covered metal feed bins (Tractor Supply) in the basement after a mouse problem in the mountains in Colorado. Even toilet paper in basement will not be safe unless in a storage box. Chewy is my go to for dog food. They deliver the next day by Fedex for free if you buy the big bags, also stored in a steel covered bin. The supply chain delivery was interupted from March to now. Going forward I would plan for the supply chain SUPPLY to be sketchy. If you traveled with a couple of weeks food, you might rethink budget and storage to accomodate a bigger cushion. Just saw a video today of the potato seed farmer in Idaho dumping all the seed potatoes he couldn't sell to growers in a big pit. There is food in warehouses right now...this fall may be another story.

Edited July 4, 2020 by skater91

[skater91]

Thanks to everyone who has posted what's going on in their corner of the world. I've been locked down in Houston, at home, off the road since the end of February. I, like DollyTrolley's doc, saw the Chinese fighting this thing, devoting massive govt resources to putting up temporary hospitals, saw videos of people falling over on streets in China, being hauled off by workers garbed in high level biohazard gear, etc. in January. The people I was working with in Oklahoma were laughing about the Kung Flu, "I'll take a shot of Jack, and be at work the next day" (?!?) I finished a job in February & hustled back Houston to get the RV serviced, unloaded and stored, getting all essentials done (doc visit, dogs to vet, etc.) shopping (yes, TOILET PAPER), before the virus was widespread here. I hope the Candians I had wine with, boondocking at Cummins(getting RV serviced) in Houston, canceled their plans for the April cruise as I suggested.

Everyone in Houston did sorta good the first month or two. Week by week, more people have stopped wearing masks, gone back to bar life, eating out, crowding the Farmers market, like the virus just 'disappeared'....we see how that worked out. The parachute analogy so describes what happened- It worked, so we can take it off. Every place that thinks they are not going to have a problem, get's the problem, eventually. The young people thought it was only the old folks, now they are the largest numbers of new patients in Houston. Small towns thought they wouldn't have it, and there it is. Officials in Houston were watching the thing take off in New York when they allowed the Rodeo to take place, naively thinking that it would be contained in New York. They exposed hundreds of thousands of folks in Texas and other states that first week of the Rodeo, until they shut down the second week...when EMS and police started being admitted to the hospital. You can believe that it won't be that bad for quite a while, until it is...like last week when the Governor of Texas HAD to reinstitute more drastic measures to keep the hospitals from being unable to care for ALL patients, not just COVID infections.

I've boondocked out in the National Forest quite a few times the last few years, so this is kind of like that, except at home, with TV and good cell service.

I just got a contract to go back to work...I'm going, I'm not thrilled, but I'd rather be at a job and not worrying how I'm going to pay house taxes this year.

This is the first time in 38 years of living in this country that I've SERIOUSLY thought about unloading the house and moving back to Canada. At least the pool of potential infected people is smaller and the resources to address a public health threat are there and being deployed. Life as we know it has changed, and will be changing more in the next year. Prior to the HIV virus, no one wore gloves for many things that involved blood or body fluids. It was seen as wasteful and unnecessary. It took a few years for people to even adopt glove wearing AFTER wide spread HIV infections, knowledge that gloves were effective to prevent transmission of blood or body fluids, and the standards of care changed to mandate it. This is where we are with masks. ...at the beginning.

Edited July 4, 2020 by skater91

[hemsteadc]

10 hours ago, skater91 said:

 Prior to the HIV virus, no one wore gloves for many things that involved blood or body fluids. It was seen as wasteful and unnecessary. It took a few years for people to even adopt glove wearing AFTER wide spread HIV infections, knowledge that gloves were effective to prevent transmission of blood or body fluids, and the standards of care changed to mandate it. This is where we are with masks. ...at the beginning.

As I remember it, you didn't even want to be in the same room with someone with HIV.  It ended up being sexually transmitted.  There were some pretty crazy, out-there ideas about that disease.

Edited July 4, 2020 by hemsteadc

[Barbaraok]

17 minutes ago, hemsteadc said:

As I remember it, you didn't even want to be in the same room with someone with HIV.  It ended up being sexually transmitted.  There were some pretty crazy, out-there ideas about that disease.

Yes there were.  Thankfully science has moved on, we have better techniques, can identified complete genomes of virus now, can  look at a lot of different therapies while developing a vaccine - all is asked is that people help by avoiding spreading the disease by doing simple things like avoiding crowds, physical distancing, wearing a mask, vigorous hand washing and other actions to help bend the curve downward.   

[skater91]

2 hours ago, hemsteadc said:

As I remember it, you didn't even want to be in the same room with someone with HIV.  It ended up being sexually transmitted.  There were some pretty crazy, out-there ideas about that disease.

Yes, and those 'crazy, out there ideas' aren't limited to people who's education should expect them to know better. I worked with an ENT doc in the mid 90's who whispered under her OR mask that HIV was being transmitted by mosquitos but the govt was covering it up. (?!?) This woman was very diligent and brilliant in specialty, but swayed by those with an agenda. Obviously, if this were true, EVERYONE would be HIV positive, and we know that just isn't the case. Another doc I was working with in the mid 80's got a needle stick on an HIV pos patient during surgery. He grabbed the electrocautery and burned the beJesus out of his finger, before we knew what he was doing (Vietnam vet surgeon).

The confusion about what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' today isn't anything new.

[hemsteadc]

56 minutes ago, skater91 said:

The confusion about what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' today isn't anything new.

No, it's just more in-your-face now with the internet and certain political influences. I remember people didn't want to wear seat belts, didn't want to stop smoking, Kennedy was shot by the mob, 9/11 was an inside job...the list is long. Conspiracies have always been popular, and virtually never true. 

Edited July 4, 2020 by hemsteadc

[docj]

1 hour ago, hemsteadc said:

Conspiracies have always been popular, and virtually never true. 

It's always more satisfying to blame unfortunate events on someone else--"the other".   Sometimes it's difficult to accept the fact that bad things simply happen; that we're not in control of lots of aspects of our lives.  It's so much easier to say that these bad things wouldn't have happened "if it weren't for [name you own boogeyman]."  So it's lot easier to blame the Chinese for the virus, Hispanics for drugs loss of jobs, etc.  

Edited July 5, 2020 by docj

[Blues]

23 hours ago, docj said:

It's always more satisfying to blame unfortunate events on someone else--"the other".  

It's also a strategy.  A very effective one, unfortunately.

[Jinx & Wayne]

We were in Florida gearing up for traveling through fall when things started going south in Wuhan.  We looked at it and decided it was going to be a problem here, too.  We found a park here in Florida that is reasonably priced and out of the more populous areas.  Here we are until an effective vaccine is developed.  We are hoping for a year from now but not counting on it.

Most people here are not masking.  With the exception of the Tampa area most bars and restaurants are open, so it is up to us to be careful.

We try to avoid being indoors anywhere but our rig.  That is not always possible.  We do laundry at the park facility at off hours.  Masked, we hop in and fill the washers, leave and return to switch to dryers, and then take if home to fold.  If you have to be indoors minimizing the exposure time is recommended.  We play golf but just call in when we arrive.  Lots of people are in the course restaurant without masks.  (I expect the course to be less crowed in a few months.)  We purchased an Instacart membership and have all of our groceries shopped and delivered.  Using Instacart we can chat with the shopper while shopping so substitutions are handled better.  We are doing most medical appointments by telemedicine and never use hospitals or urgent care facilities.  Dining out, tourist attractions and shopping in stores is out for now.

This is going to be a long haul.  Us old folks cannot expect the young to sacrifice their jobs and futures simply to save us.  We should expect them to mask and do their best not to infect us, but good luck with that.  We are going to have to lay low and let things run their course.  You can see the eyes of the wolves just beyond the firelight.  Keep them at bay.

[Barbaraok]

We couldn’t leave Mesa because of medical problem, so we are just hunkered down.  Unfortunately we can’t avoid all physician in-person visits because cardiologists have to list to his heart, etc.   

[NDBirdman]

2 hours ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

This is going to be a long haul.  Us old folks cannot expect the young to sacrifice their jobs and futures simply to save us.  We should expect them to mask and do their best not to infect us, but good luck with that.  We are going to have to lay low and let things run their course.  You can see the eyes of the wolves just beyond the firelight.  Keep them at bay.

Yea, that's kinda what we started thinking when this hit, going to be a long while before we can return to a somewhat normal life.  This hit before we set out, so we stayed home.  Picked up some livestock, til'd up a large garden, bought a lot of wood for my woodworking, lots of paint for the house, new lathe and a few other toys, er, tools.  We are going to just stay put for a little longer, couple years or whatever it takes.  I'm actually considering selling our camper since it is not going to get used for quite a while.  We feel fortunate to have a SnB out in the sticks, we don't see/congregate with anyone but I know we still are not completely safe, but we will hang in there.  Ya'll hang in there, it will end eventually.

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, NDBirdman said:

We are going to just stay put for a little longer, couple years or whatever it takes.  I'm actually considering selling our camper since it is not going to get used for quite a while. 

At this point, we too are starting to question if we should let the RV go. Where we now live I have to pay to store it and I also rarely drive the tow truck so the cost of insurance on the truck an trailer are an expense that is giving us nothing in return. We had thought to make at least 1 more Escapade and trip of several months but if things do not improve soon that is not likely to happen. I am beginning to wonder if it will not be at least another year before we see activities return to anything near what we had in the past?

[Jaydrvr]

58 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

At this point, we too are starting to question if we should let the RV go. Where we now live I have to pay to store it and I also rarely drive the tow truck so the cost of insurance on the truck an trailer are an expense that is giving us nothing in return. We had thought to make at least 1 more Escapade and trip of several months but if things do not improve soon that is not likely to happen. I am beginning to wonder if it will not be at least another year before we see activities return to anything near what we had in the past?

I think it's pretty obvious that a year will pass before we see anything resembling normal again. Even if we have better therapies and/or a vaccine, it'll take months for people to acclimate to the new normal. Jay

[mptjelgin]

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

At this point, we too are starting to question if we should let the RV go. Where we now live I have to pay to store it and I also rarely drive the tow truck so the cost of insurance on the truck an trailer are an expense that is giving us nothing in return. We had thought to make at least 1 more Escapade and trip of several months but if things do not improve soon that is not likely to happen. I am beginning to wonder if it will not be at least another year before we see activities return to anything near what we had in the past?

We have some friends pondering the same thing. They came off the road a couple of years ago, are paying  to store their RV and keeping their big diesel truck.  The last two times they've taken a trip the RV has had issues due to sitting in storage and not being used. They are either going rent a long-term place in a cooler mountain location and use it as a "cabin", or sell it and move on.

[Dutch_12078]

We're currently in upstate NY where the situation is much better than most states at the moment, but we are still minimizing our RV travel. We did get out to a NY state park campground for the week of the 4th, and we'll likely head out to our favorite private semi-boondock spot on an Adirondack tree farm for a week or so pretty soon. It's a great place to be in the hot weather we're currently having. We had plans to go see friends in Michigan this summer, but between the virus situation in their area and the closed Canadian border, that's not happening. A Labor Day week visit to a NY state park on the St Lawrence Seaway is still on the schedule. Our usual trip south for the winter is still a big question mark at this point of course. Georgia and Florida state park reservations are all in place just in case things get better enough. There's been no thoughts of hanging up the keys and selling our motorhome though as long as our health holds up well enough.

[NDBirdman]

We don't pay for storage but it is a waste just sitting there.  Both the camper and a RAM 3500 dually just sitting.  I have a small truck I drive so even the truck is a waste just sitting.  Sell the camper first then the truck, then and if we start back up camping, buy a motor-home.  Hate to say it but no more than I've been driving this rig, I'm getting less and less comfortable pulling/backing this rig. And I'm not getting younger, would probably be more comfortable backing a motor home.  If push comes to shove, our SnB is a little remote and more comfortable/enjoyable than sitting in a crowded campground.  For one or two trips a year to visit relatives, a motel would be fine, when/if this virus clears up someday.  This virus has/is making us rethink our future.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

We arrived at our winter quarters in the Houston area in November of 2019, expecting to stay through March.

In January I was asked to help a church out that is between pastors.  I agreed to it, but only until late May.

Then Covid hit.  The church went to recorded, streamed services and their pastoral search stopped.  I agreed to stay through June.

With the drop in Covid cases, we planned on hitting the road by July 4.  Then, Texas, and especially the Houston area, had the big resurgence of the virus.  We decided to stay put until the end of July.

Which brings us to today.  The virus is still on the upswing and, so far, there are no hurricane threats in the Atlantic.  So we are staying put at least into August. 

 

[RV_]

On 7/2/2020 at 12:36 PM, docj said:

We now call that kind of reasoning Aristotelian deductive logic.  It was the principal reasoning method employed before the scientific revolution.  Identify things that agree with your theory and pretty much ignore those that don't.

During the Renaissance, the world began to realize the shortcomings of this approach and what we now call the scientific method was adopted instead.  More formally one can refer to it as inductive logic.   The idea is to present a hypothesis and then search for ANY evidence that contradicts it.  The theory hold until such time as contradictory evidence is found.  At that point it has to be altered or abandoned. 

All we're seeing in this case is the "anti-science" attitude of a large segment of the American public.  It's as if science, and facts, in general, are things you don't have to "agree with!"  Unfortunately, in the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "everyone is entitled to his own opinions but not his own facts!"

Well said Joel, thanks. Online it is cherry picking posts or articles that agree with a premise even if the majority do not support it. Some folks never post links to their sources. Some do an excerpt that agrees with them but not the part that obviates the agreement. All we have to do is wear the masks and we can get over this in a few weeks.

If we make it mandatory and people do wear them, it will still be a year or two barring an amazing vaccine.

There has never been an amazing instant vaccine, it takes stages and testing. Then a year to manufacture after learning the best production methods, then the long line with health pros and first responders first.

[ToddF]

I just got an email informing me that Spirit Mountain in Mohave Valley in AZ is closing again. I fear we're in a beginning stage of new closures. We've eaten out 3X since restaurants reopened in MN and both agree it just isn't the same with reduced seating, masks, and fear of the virus on everyone's mind.

On a positive note, camping has been fine in IA, MN and WI. We're self-contained so don't use public restrooms unless there are no sewer hookups, then maybe showerhouse. 

I'm hoping campgrounds in the Thousand Trails system remain open. Big trip planned out East from Sept 10- late Dec.

I'm a tax guy and closed the office to ALL foot traffic from Mar 12-May 26. Since reopening with precautions, I find most clients come in without masks on. After entering the building and seeing me with a mask on, they offer to do same.

Camping should continue as social distancing is easily accomplished and being in your RV in a campground is very low risk in my opinion. But as with the restaurant experience, won't be quite the same.

The RV is my hobby...plan to muddle through this crisis at all cost.

If parks are open in early Sept,  I will plan to leave MN on Sept 10 with the first big stop at Timothy Lake South in the Poconos then on to the Jersey shore, both places I grew up in and love.

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by ToddF

[RV_]

We're staying in, and only shopping on base where masks are mandatory at the BX and Commissaries. No mask, no entry, and likely an article 15 or court martial for a violation of Article 92 of the UCMJ for any active duty, and loss of priviliges for old retired farts like me.

It seems folks in leadership roles need to be held accountable for damage they do for playing down the seriousness, recommending untested drugs and treatments. 

The anti hat crowd get real when they have folks and children they know get it and die, or have permanent organ damage including the brain.

https://heavy.com/news/2020/07/richard-rose-covid-19-coronavirus/

 

[Zulu]

1 hour ago, ToddF said:

Camping should continue as social distancing is easily accomplished and being in your RV in a campground is very low risk in my opinion.

Au contraire. From my experience working in a CA campground since April, I think it would be easy if people weren't involved.

[DanZemke]

I'm still in Connecticut, where masks are mandatory for almost any public place, other than outdoor cafe's, and it's been this way since early March.  I only shop during "senior only hours" at Costco, Trader Joes and my local supermarket.  Everything else I buy is via mail order.

I made an appointment for a hair cut last month, and cancelled it.  I learned that I can do a decent job of cutting my own hair on top (not much there) and the sides, but not the back :(.  Oh well,  I'm not dating anyway :-).

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, RV_ said:

All we have to do is wear the masks and we can get over this in a few weeks.

If we make it mandatory and people do wear them, it will still be a year or two barring an amazing vaccine.

We probably need to do a bit more than just masks, but from what I see, most people who wear a mask are also very good at social distancing and for me the act of wearing a mask helps to remind me of the other things that the medical world is advising. And I can't see how this could possibly be over in under a year no matter what is developed. 

[Barbaraok]

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

We probably need to do a bit more than just masks, but from what I see, most people who wear a mask are also very good at social distancing and for me the act of wearing a mask helps to remind me of the other things that the medical world is advising. And I can't see how this could possibly be over in under a year no matter what is developed. 

Agree!

Even if they determine one of the vaccines starting trials is the magic bullet and they have the factories ramped up that is still Billions of doses the world needs.   We tend to lose sight of the fact that everyone in the world will be vying for the vaccine and we won't get it all.    It will take probably a  couple of year or more just to get it out to all of the people who want it (about 25% of people in this country will say no way until someone in their family dies) to get the needed doses and then how will it be allocated?   Health care workers, first responders, etc., will be first, and then high risk (ie us 'golden oldies') and then general population?   And what about costs?   Assume Medicare will include it as a NEED Preventative care for those over 65, will health insurance cover the rest?

I just assume we will be in this state for a couple of more years, at least.   And then we can all get ready for the next one - there are several other animal viruses that have been identified as ones that could possibly jump species.