u/WarmInvestigator4738

Hi, I live in Florida and close to the beach. During COVID, I took up open water swimming and kind of enjoyed it. But I got a few jellyfish stings that kind of discouraged me, including one from what may have been a man of war. I bought a “stinger suit” but it’s not a great fit and it’s kind of ridiculous looking. The water is too warm most of the year for a wetsuit and they’re kind of expensive. I’ve seen “swim tights” though (they look like running tights basically) and matching tops. Supposedly you don’t need much material to protect against jellyfish stings and these tights and tops are much cheaper than wetsuits. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations? And final thing, do you wear underwear beneath the tights when you swim? Thank you!

Reading an opinion piece today in the Times-Union that is about supporting mental health providers but it also mentions the state of mental health in Duval County and cites stats showing that we have a higher suicide rate than the state average and a higher mental health hospitalization rate. I’m generally of the opinion that most of Florida sucks, including NE Florida. I happen to like where I live and my job so I’m staying, but I did think in terms of the rest of Florida, Duval is average or maybe slightly above average in terms of quality of life. But maybe that’s just wrong? Curious what others think? I guess I’d say traffic is bad but not as bad as other big cities in FL. Cost of living is lower here. Employment is tricky but we do have a strong healthcare sector. The schools don’t seem great but that seems mostly because of the state and a terrible school board vs the quality of teachers. I’m kind of just free associating so probably way off in some of these assessments. We certainly have our share of depressed neighborhoods and I know the urban core has some really devastating metrics re: public health. Anyway, wondering if anyone else feels like sharing their opinion.