2019 feels like a like a long time ago.
So much has happened, who would have guessed that only a few months after my return to the UK from Oklahoma everything would change? A strange and mysterious disease apparently from Wuhan in China, caused panic around the world starting with an outbreak in northern Italy with horrendous, documented scenes from inside intensive care wards. As of May 2022 over half a billion cases have been recorded worldwide with over 6 million deaths. These statistics are likely understated with many countries unable or unwilling to record the reality, rates likely to be two to three times higher than officially published.
The pandemic appears to be receding but its impact remains. It has has trended to the surface of the shared lexicon. Add Covid, ventilator, lockdown, furlough, vaccines, social distancing, facemasks, Delta, Omicron and sadly conspiracies to name but a few. A once in a century event? Not since Spanish Flu in 1918 has the world faced such a challenge. It was a shock to most but not to the world of science. SARS and MERS were near misses but mostly ignored by the mainstream. But scientists looked to the future and started work on new and innovative vaccines that would ultimately lead to light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve had my three jabs thanks to Astra Zenica and Pfizer and thankful to those that have spent lifetimes studying and researching.
The new normal
The world is different, and add in the madness of the invasion of Ukraine the impacts are far reaching. Inflation has taken off, energy prices are through the roof and many things are in short supply. Industry has mostly recovered but staff shortages hamper operations; there are now more vacancies in the UK than unemployed and it’s causing significant issues. Airports are struggling to process passengers and flights are being cancelled as airlines desperately seek to recruit and train staff to replace those let go during the pandemic.
It has knocked on to storm chasing. Trivial in the grand scheme but it
has added stress and uncertainty.
Flights to Oklahoma City are no longer daily – the return flights from Manchester were not available on the dates needed so we’re now arriving two days early; they are also 40% more expensive in real terms since I first went in 2006. Hotel prices have gone up dramatically too. Then there is insurance – Dogtag who were the go to company – and the only one to offer storm chasing insurance are no longer giving quotes for anything. I eventually got a lead via a thread on a UK storm chasing forum for a specialist broker but had to pay a pretty penny for the privilege. Not getting bespoke insurance is reckless in the extreme IMHO. Two of the most experienced and reputable tour companies have had vans hit by tornadoes and sustained injuries, Silverlining in 2019 and recently Cloud9. I’d happily recommend either but things can and do go wrong. Storm chasing is inherently risky and potentially fatal.
While much of the world has relaxed pre-departure Covid testing, the USA still has it as a non-negotiable requirement which has to be done in the presence of a recognised testing company and to be carried out no earlier than one day prior to departure. We fly early Saturday 04/06/22 and will be overnighting on the Friday in Manchester. So we (I’ll come to that) need to get our tests done near home before we depart. So I tried booking local places online all of which were strangely greyed out. Then the penny dropped: it’s the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrating her 70 years on the throne. That Friday is now a bank holiday and hence why most places are closed. Bad planning on my part, I can’t really blame Her Majesty. Boots the Chemist finally came through but as their online booking service was also greyed out I had to go through the convoluted process of booking and paying two lots of 30 quid online and then getting this manually changed to a slot that was actually available on the Friday in-store. A big shout out to the ladies at the Teesside Park branch. If this doesn’t pan out or either of us test positive then it’s game over. Speaking of the Queen, I’ll have to park the car away from the house on Friday otherwise we won’t be getting a lift to the station…my road will be closed for a street party.
So…there are two of us this year. Son no. 1 will be accompanying me as a belated and much postponed graduation present. He graduated in 2020 and completed his Master of Research in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in 2021 before ironically working in a “Lighthouse Lab” which supported mass testing during the Pandemic. Yes, he is a research scientist and very proud of him I am.
So all being well we’ll be flying out on Saturday arriving at our hotel in Oklahoma City in the early evening. If we have any energy left we’ll pop in to Cowboys which is near the hotel, a nightclub and music venue. The line dancing gives way as the lights go on to reveal a full on rodeo arena replete with tough cowboys and real life, enormous and pissed of bulls. 20 minutes of intense, visceral action then the lights go off and the line dancing resumes. Shame we’re not there on Thursday as it’s Ladies Night. Bottles of Bud are $1 but…the ladies are free ;o). Sunday we’ll likely go for a day in Bricktown, a former commercial area with brick warehouses repurposed to host bars, restaurants and live music venues and the roads replaced by canals. A boat trip is in the offing, some nice beer and food, live music and no…we will not be going to Hooters. I last went in 2010 (see blog entry), I wonder if Sonic Burger HQ is still there?
Stay tuned for updates and apologies for typos and inaccuracies (many still remain uncorrected in this blog) as sleep deprivation and trying to type while bouncing around in the back of the SUV take their toll. Oh and I’m returning with Stormgroup Chasers and Peter Wharton for another year with his personalised, agile, one SUV and not-for-profit group. We go where we want!
Cheers
Adam and Alex
