
My wife and I have been looking to move for a while now. For the first time, even before this pandemic, one of the considerations we had was distance to a good hospital; we can live anywhere and we’d find these beautiful houses in some small town for what we consider not much money, but then we’d look at where the nearest hospital was and . . .
We’re spoiled here in Knoxville. We live five minutes from the huge UT Medical Center. There are two other hospitals also five minutes away and several more in town. I was so fortunate to get my surgery at the Tennessee Valley Eye Center with a superb doctor even while in lockdown.
We’ve also been very fortunate in the timing of the pandemic as the students at UT had school attendance dissolved while they were on spring break. Their not coming back certainly spared the city a huge outbreak. Compared to Nashville and Memphis, our numbers is pretty decent although cases are starting to go up, not plateauing or declining.
One of first thing in the Area Study at the start of my Survival Guide is to examine how close we are to things like hospitals, fire stations, police stations, military posts, etcetera as well as dangers. Looking at the maps on this page in the NY Times (free coronavirus coverage) is how most of the mountains south of here lack medical care. You can tell sitting in the lobby of the main building at UT hospital that some of these people are coming in out of the hills and hollers. I will not call them Rednecks because that would piss off Darlene (for those fans of Ozark). And you do not want to piss Darlene off.
On the same page, you can check the latest data from your state and county.
There was an interesting interview on the last Bill Maher. A doctor pointed out that we are going to have to accept reality and gradually open up. There won’t be a vaccine for at least a year, probably longer. We can’t stay shut down. We need a plan for that, but we really don’t have one. The president is dodging responsibility, which he has made an art form of, and thus states are doing it piecemeal, which is a recipe for disaster. The real issue will come about school openings in the fall. Actually, in August in most places. Because it’s not just the schools and education; it’s the parents having to be home to supervise the kids. My son sent me pics of our grandsons in his apartment in San Diego and having spent a week with the little darlings, and I do love them, in that apartment, I feel like asking him to put a newspaper next to them for proof of life because they must be driving him nuts. Plus, the fact he has to teach his college classes from home while they are there. He says they’re doing well, but for all those parents out there with kids at home—hang in there!
I’ve noticed a big uptick in free downloads of ebooks. I’ve got a couple permanently free and constantly update the page with a new free book at least weekly if not more. You can check on that here FREEBIES.
Stay safe. Stay positive. Be like Cool Gus. Or even Scout.
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also now in Kindle Unlimited.
The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)
If you’re seriously thinking of moving, Bob, consider northern Wisconsin. Low cost of living, plenty of fresh air (and great fishing), and we have a surprising number of hospitals and medical centers. At last check, we had no limit on the number of Tennesseans allowed in (Illinois is another matter altogether). And we might even waive the requirement that you wear Packer colors during football season. Winters can be a bit rough, I’ll admit, but they’re only six months long; after a couple you get used to them.
David,
I actually spent a couple of summers outside of Crivitz, WI, working on a relative’s dairy farm while in high school. Summers were nice and the UP is spectacular, but their stories of having to tunnel in the snow to get from house to barn, didn’t thrill me.
I did Winter Warfare quite a few times and deployed to high altitude and cold and am not a fan. We’ll probably stay here in TN. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, Knoxville has turned out to be a really cool place. I’ve got the mountains, lots of greenway, the river.
But right now we’re riding out the pandemic and then see where things stand.