Cancelations and Escalations

Wow, for once im gobsmacked at the speed of this virus across the globe, and the response by the authorities.
In a matter of days things have gone totally crazy.  People buying toilet roll (go figure as the suits certainly isn't one of the symptoms) and pasta. Ironically sales of Corona lager are down, this both amuses me and concerns me at the level of stupidity in the country can affect the sale of a lager by name association. SMH.
Anyway the girls and I left it to the wire with regards them coming out to see me for the big road trip and eventually we came to the agreement that it wasn't a good idea, especially with Mr Trump closing the US borders to EU citizens, it was just a matter of time before the UK got involved and I could definitely foresee trouble ahead.  I mean major attractions were closing, Disney, Yosemite, the bloody  Eiffel Tower.  I have to admit breathing a sad sigh of relief when we cancelled plans.
I slightly relaxed and went for a long walk and on my return Leigh, sold sensible and practical Leigh suggested I may like to consider my position and location in this debacle of virus.  I had barely considered it, soo I mentally listed the pros and cons... there was no cv in Santa Barbara , I was in a nice house, I wanted for nothing. BUT my visa was diet to expire in a few weeks, us has 27 million under insured citizen and an unspecified huge amount of illegal immigrants, and trump was making some random demands on the borders etc.  Potentially I could be stuck for months, unable to move with an expired visa (you can never return if your visa expires)
I began to look at flights and discovered they were thin on the ground. I was slightly panicked.
After hours of searching and much deliberation I booked a flight.

 And here i am in Calgary Alberta.
Todays journey begins at 7 am, I took the early morning bus from Santa Barbara to LA passengers 4, roads so clear we were an hour early, then a flight to Calgary. As I approached my seat I saw a toddler and tried not to visibly groan but, contrary to the norm she was an absolute delight and slept all the way after a brief chat! ive sat next to worse behaved adults. I was a good student and held any coughs , tried not to touch my face and acted as if the whole world was lava. Arriving in beautiful clean empty eerie Calgary airport I have a three hour layover(where im currently sitting in a bar writing this) next I fly nine hours into London Gatwick, then another bus to Coventry to see Kim and Ian and get my van.
A beautiful new Dreamliner awaited me for the next leg- Calgary to London Gatwick. Taking my seat I note that the huge plane is at about fifty percent capacity and all the passengers are spaced evenly, there are no people sitting directly together. I can’t recall if this is strange or not but it pleases a sense of order and balance in my brain.
The journey was enhanced by Deadpool 2 and A Star is Born, but not really any sleep, never mind, the white wine was excellent and the Danish gentleman next to me reasonably amusing.
Arriving bleary eyed at Gatwick I grab a coffee whilst waiting for the coach to Birmingham.
Again numbers are considerably lower everywhere and now I’m picking up a sliglhty strange atmosphere about me, people very definitely trying to get home, not the usual holiday/business trip vibe. The bus trip also showed less busy motorways. England is chilly and sunny but does still feel welcome to me.