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Cocoa

 

Panama

Palm Beach

After discussion with my family, we mutually made the difficult decision that I do not come home for Thanksgiving.  If I had to be alone, I was going somewhere fun and the surf was up on the Florida Atlantic coast as it usually is this time of year.  My base was Cocoa Beach just east of Orlando and about 9 hours from Birmingham.  It was nice but I prefer the vibe at Daytona.  I ended up going as far south as Palm Beach, which is where you really start to get that tropical vibe with with lush coconut palms lining most of the street.  I also made a stop at Flagler Beach between Daytona and St. Augustine as well as the Kennedy Space Center.  I ended up spending Thanksgiving Day itself in Panama City.  Quite surprisingly, I found the conditions to be NICE!  I was plenty comfortable in that water and did not need a wetsuit.  Again, this was in late November and just 4 hours south of Birmingham.  The water temperatures were as follows according to Magic Seaweed:

Cocoa-76, Palm Beach-80, Flagler-71, Panama-73.  Some people are more cold tolerant than others but to me, as long as both the air and water temp are above 70, I'm going in and I will enjoy it too.  Flagler was comparable to Rhode Island in August in terms of temperature. 

Unfortunately, my health has taken another turn for the worse.  When I'm not running much, I'm not as well in tune with my body and thus, I did not realize what was happening until it was too late.  I have become intolerant to Probiotics and as of today, the TRS is also becoming problematic.  Who knows why but the smart money is on another layer of toxins and this is just a temporary reaction.  My whole body was abnormally tight and probably because of this, I sprained my knee a little bit on a wipeout.  I was able to run after 6 days but had to be a little more cautious going after the big waves after that.  I still had fun on the trip but this did put a bit of a damper on it.  I may just take the rest of 2020 off from running and just write the year off as a loss.  There will be no races until at least April and I'm not even sure of that.  

COVID cases are allegedly spiking again.  Not sure if I buy it.  I tend to believe that the media is overhyping this to scare the public into accepting mandatory vaccination.  As for Christmas, I plan on going to see my parents despite divided opinion of other family members.  Though I enjoyed the trip, the sadness kicked in HARD after I got home.  The virus has a survival rate of 99.4-99.6 percent and experimental drugs should increase that further.  The Washington Examiner published another Hydroxychloroquine study.  Patients who take it at early onset are 84 percent LESS likely to be hospitalized yet the drug still will not be approved for treatment.  IMHO, vaccines should certainly be taken for a disease like polio which had great potential to be deadly or leave you with a permanent disability.  COVID-19 is not like that.  Given my medical history, I have good reason to fear a severe reaction to a vaccine and sincerely believe I have a greater risk of long-term complications from the vaccine than the disease itself.

Word on the street is that while the vaccine is 90-95 percent effective, it is likely to trigger mild COVID symptoms as "side effects" and we still don't know the odds of long-term complications.  Worse yet, the vaccine is NOT likely to leave you with permanent immunity.  Instead, you will need a booster shot every 12 months.  What if the virus mutates and there are more strains just like the flu?  I fear that if that's the case, it may never be fully eliminated and we may just have to live with it and accept a new normal.  

Will it be mandatory?  Probably not legally.  I won't be thrown in jail if I refuse but there will be so many restrictions that it might as well be de-facto required.  Ticketmaster has already announced that they will require vaccinations to buy their tickets.  That means no live concerts or sporting events without a vaccine.  I can live without both of those.  The Australian airline Quantas has also announced a vaccine requirement to board their planes.  I can bet pretty good money that it will be required for international travel and possibly domestic flights as well.  I am NOT willing to give that up so I'm afraid that I will have to chance it and take the shot.  I just don't want to give in so easily especially without knowledge of its long-term effects.  In the future, it may even be required to enroll in schools or even work in certain fields.  If I have to take the shot to keep my job, it's really no choice.   I do have regular contact with the public as part of my job duties and am far too young to retire.  THIS SUCKS! 

As for international travel, Mexico is my best chance.  At least for now, they do NOT require a negative test at the time of arrival or departure.  You just have to pass a temperature check.  I'm shooting for Cancun in the winter and possibly Cabo later.  If something changes and I can't go home, I will try to get a last minute ticket to Cancun.  You have to fly into Mexico.  I cannot cross into Tijuana from San Diego or Juarez from El Paso unless it is for essential business.