Latest Numbers

Today, official numbers are:
   USA:  826,240 sick; 
               45,373 dead
   World: 2,573,143 sick,
                177,602 dead

The US now has almost double the number of deaths as our nearest, dare I say, competitor, Italy. So I guess we’re Number One in something. Partially because we are doing a better job of testing and recoding deaths accurately, partially because we are bigger country and the smaller ones like France, Spain, and Italy, are running out of victims. Africa and South America have yet to weigh in. China has reigned in its contagion, but only by draconian means with phone apps everyone must use that show whether they are allowed out or must be quarantined.

In this country, cases are beginning to show up in the hinterlands, causing meat packing plants to shut down, and food supply lines to slow, because the workers are sick. Unemployment is estimated at 22,000,000. BTW, Florida is evidently the slowest state to process unemployment claims. Another dubious Number One. I’m debating about worrying about the food pipeline. To that end, I ordered okra and eggplant seeds, the only veggies that will grow in the Florida summer heat. Plus some sunflowers and marigolds for fun. I guess they are also edible. Wonder if we can catch fish in our little canal. Maybe I should put fishing rods on the list.

If Only We Wanted to Drive Cross-country

I guess good news is that oil prices are so far down, they’re negative, implying that producers will have to pay to have their oil stored, rather selling to refineries. It’s a matter of futures, short selling, and other financial shenanigans, but the bottom line is that the bottom line is way down. Gas is cheap, if we had anywhere to go and wanted to.

Twice before I remember really low gas prices. The first was around 1970. Steve and I would drive straight from Atlanta to Naples in our muscle car with the 350+ cc engine. Dang, I can’t remember the model. During a gas war, we paid $0.25/gallon. Since that car got about 6 miles to the gallon, cheap gas really helped our poor student budget.

The second time was when my children were young, so mid-90’s. I don’t know why gas dropped in price, and I’m too lazy to look it up, but it went below $1.00. I remember having them look at the pump so they could say they’d seen 2-digit gas prices in their lifetimes. I was driving a Dodge Minivan which got a lot better mileage than the go-fast car, but it sure wasn’t as much fun to drive.

Happy 50th Anniversary, Earth Day. This Great Pause has brought blue skies to Los Angeles and cleaner water in Venice. Surely all our national parks are enjoying the respite from millions of visitors. If only humans could learn.