Friday, March 19, 2021

Today we are doing laundry, shopping and packing for our week in Siesta Key. Our goal is to park the car there tomorrow and not drive for a week. Beach bums by day and walk to the center for dinner at night.

Not much else going on. I just had coffee and breakfast with my walking friends so that was a good start to the day.

Have a safe and healthy Friday!

Weight 190.2 ack! Sushi/sodium attack!

Sushi was delicious, but not so delicious I am accepting of that number!

Today is a walk with a friend. I don't think I can do Pilates today, I'm still incredibly sore. But I will Monday.

Hope you all have a good day!

Good morning, all:

Thank you for the warm welcome - I am grateful to be here in a place of support and easy camaraderie.

Yesterday, I had dinner with a friend who has hermitting tendencies like me from even before Covid and it was nice for both of us to get out. We still have limitations on in-person dining so the restaurant did not feel too crowded and it was a relaxing time.

I am still a couple months away from being eligible for the vaccine so must continue to tread carefully as our numbers have crept up in the last couple of days. I order in most groceries but still get out for Rx refills and have been to a mall a couple of times. I must not get too comfortable just yet. DH and I try to walk outside now that the temps are more palatable and that helps.

Once I get vaccinated and the border opens up (we are still under 7-14 day quarantine restrictions returning from non-essential international travel) my first trip will be Las Vegas. Oh, how I miss the lights and energy of that city.

I hope everyone has a great Friday.

Does anyone up there have any thoughts about when the border might open? I think the US was talking about easing some restrictions soon? I live in Florida 1/2 the year and all of our Florida wintering Canadian friends have been gone for a year. And I have an upper state NY friend with a long-term Canadian girlfriend who has only been able to see her for a few weeks (after much red tape).

Right now there is no date set for the border to open up fully though there are vague mentions of April 30. It's been a moving date all along so you can't put much faith in it until it actually happens.

One of the big factors for me is that while there is a Level III Travel Advisory in place (Avoid all non-essential travel) people leaving Canada will have not travel insurance coverage. It's part of most policies and is not specific to Covid. We are not prevented from getting on a plane at all (not sure of driving across the border) but it's at our own risk. So even if someone gets the vaccine and is OK with the quarantine rules upon return, if they leave Canada and say break a leg or have a heart attack their travel insurance will be void and they are on their own for the costs.

I'm hoping once we got closer to 70-80% vaccination numbers they'll reconsider.

My dad has several friends who split their time between Canada and California. One who just left here to head to Alberta had to have a Covid test right before leaving, had to take another upon landing, and had a forced stay at a $900 a night hotel until his results came back negative so he could go home. An expensive reentry!

Yes, this is definitely a requirement. You have to book your return quarantine hotel before you depart, schedule your 'approved' covid test for 3 days before you return to Canada and have proof of it upon arrival at the departing airport. Take another test upon arrival into Canada and then move to your hotel until you receive those new test results. If you test negative you can leave the hotel and go to your place of quarantine (like your house or catch your domestic connector flights to go home) for the remainder of the 14 days. If you test positive you stay at the hotel until you test negative. You stay in the hotel or place of quarantine and take another test at 10 days out and when that comes back negative then you are free to go about normal life.

There's only a handful of airports accepting international flights into Canada so you could still have 1-2 more flights to get home even after the initial testing and quarantining at your first landing point in Canada. It's all a lot to consider and many employers will make you use your vacation days for those 14 days of quarantine if it was non-essential travel and you pay on your own dime.

The other gotcha is Canada only considers results from specific Covid tests so if your test was not on the approved list you may not be allowed on the plane. Regardless of whether you've already recovered from Covid or been vaccinated. Everyone must test before coming here.

Does the US require a 10 day quarantine for international arrivals such as Canadians?

Nothing enforced here. They ask you to quarantine, but no one checks to make sure you do except I think Hawaii. Crazy.

That is why my Canadian friends didn't come to Florida this year though they really would have liked to.

It was really energizing to be with other staff today. Next week is the last official distance learning. I'll work from home, then a week of spring break, and finally back in the building.

There are many who feel our back to the building is going to be bumpy. Will our confirmed cases stay low enough? Coming back right after a spring break seems problematic, and the high school age infections are already growing exponentially in our state. It's basketball state playoffs and teams all over are dropping out because they have too many positive cases. Definitely students will have to quarantine, the trick will be to keep the numbers low enough so the whole school doesn't have to also. So far 3 of our 8 elementaries have had to do a 2 week shut down.

My daughter got signed up to be a screener/voter for some indie movie awards. She has a huge list of movies to view, so we are trying to watch a movie a night. So far we watched Ma Raineys Black Bottom and Nomadland. Tonight we'll watch Promising Young Woman. Something to look forward to.