‘m in quarantine.

Saturday night (August 22nd), laying in bed, I found myself with a bit of night sweats going on. Also, I’d had a sore throat, on an off, for days. And that’s when it hit me.

You might have Covid.

Not a good time for this – the wife has pre-surgery coming up. I’ve got all sorts of hobby things going on. I don’t have time for a virus.

But I don’t have time for a funeral, either.

So I immediately sealed myself off in the den, sleeping on the floor that night. Found that my Doctor Sister was up at 4am and made plans with her. Scheduled a test. At 5am, I heard my wife stirring (or rather the cats stirring her for breakfast). Told her to pack me food and give me the backpack we used in Japan (outside the door). Suited up, packed up, and left the house (wiping down every knob).

First stop – the gas station. Then I hung in a park for a while, letting the clock tick down to my appointment. Did the test (a drive-through) and then headed to my secret fall-back base (my mom’s beach-side condo). And here I am.

Had to make a soda run yesterday. So here I am, in semi-isolation, worried about myself and my life and my world. Pinged for the elevator to ride down. Three young bucks in their swimming suits, grab-assing in the elevator. I looked though the open door in something like shock (over the top of my mask). “Come on in,” on of them said in a neighborly fashion. “Um, I think I’ll catch the next car.” As the door closed, one of them said, “Covid doesn’t scare us.”

It would almost be a joy to step in the car, remove my mask, and on the slow four-floor ride down, explain that I might have it, that I was waiting for my testing to come back, and I hoped I wasn’t giving it to them. Or, more directly, to roll a live fragmentation grenade through the door as it closed. Either way, I just waited for the next car. I’m already sorry. Better to go with safe.

And at the 7-11 – nobody (including the clerks) was wearing masks. Well, one old guy, yes. But there was an older woman standing in line without a mask who picked up a carton of smokes. So yes, why worry about covid when you are damaging your body just as badly with tobacco?

And this is why Florida is a hot-spot, why we have higher infection rates than third-world countries, why we vote for people like Scott and DeSantis when they have proven track records of criminal activity and tit-suckery. It’s really hitting home for me, but for the young and selfish, it’s all just background.

So I’m established here, waiting out my couple of days until the test comes back. Still feel a little “off”. Throat is okay and no sweats, but still, not quite full-go. I’ll keep posting these daily diaries until it’s resolved, one way or another.

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