Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

Pandemic diary/update: September was Month #30 (going on #31 -- the 2.5-year mark) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more, both people and governments are putting the pandemic behind them, even when the numbers (the ones you can find, anyway...) would suggest that it's still very much among us. Disappointingly, even the president of the United States (who really should know better!) declared the pandemic is over. (His statement was actually a little more nuanced than that, but of course, that's what the headlines blared, reinforcing what a lot of people already believe.) 

As August ended/September began, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health admitted that Wave #7 was still ongoing -- peaked, but still plateaued -- and that the province could expect to see more cases in the fall, as kids returned to school (no masks required, boosters for children announced less than a week before classes resumed) and activities moved indoors as colder weather arrived. (DUH.) Yet -- at the same press conference -- he still announced that the province was dropping its five-day isolation requirement for people who tested positive for covid.  Go figure... 

Critics warned that this would fuel an eighth wave and worsen the current labour shortage. As Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur wrote on Sept. 6th, "Ontario scrapping isolation rules sends a message that we don’t have to care anymore."  

...the biggest problem with Moore’s spiel is that it truly confirmed the overarching message from public health which is now this: you really don’t have to care about other people anymore....

Moore knows masks protect others as well as yourself, but seems unwilling to say it.

It’s the big-picture message that is sticking with me, though. That desperation for normalcy is understandable, and maybe even universal. It’s just that even before we truly understand the long-term effects of COVID on a population basis, in a world with no durable immunity and still-evolving variants, normal isn’t what it used to be.

There is an adult conversation somewhere out there. It is deeply irresponsible to not even recommend indoor masking, and it would be reasonable to require it in indoor spaces unless you have to take them off — allowing people to eat or drink in restaurants and bars, etc. — because masks help cut down transmission elsewhere. We should resume actually trying to get vaccines to people, rather than ask pharmacies alone to do it. We should try to keep people healthy at work, and even the banks are saying no masks could be an issue.

It won’t happen, though. People may still be masking on airlines and trains and in hospitals, but most everywhere else we’re letting it fly. Yesterday, by the way, Canada’s confirmed COVID deaths surpassed our number of combat deaths in the Second World War: Canada lost 44,090 in the war, and we sat at 44,370 COVID deaths on Monday evening, Labour Day. We still try, as a nation, to remember our war dead: all the memorials across the country, in towns big and small.

With COVID we seem so determined to forget in real time, and governments are rushing to meet us where we live, and so now society will enter the fall hoping for normalcy as the hospitals tremble and the nurses and doctors keep burning out and with governments scared to do even the minimum. I hope I avoid the hospital: you should, too. I’ll tend toward masking in indoor spaces, too. It’s not that hard.

Maybe we’ll be OK. It will more likely be unpleasant. What’s that Walt Kelly line? We have met the enemy, and he is us.

Predictably, within days of schools reopening, I began to see posts from in my social media feeds about kids and teachers (and their families) getting sick -- friends, relatives, and friends of friends getting covid, many for the first time. Meanwhile, hospitals have been swamped and understaffed all summer long, forcing the closure of some emergency rooms. 

As the month ended, the federal government announced on Sept. 26th that it was dropping all remaining travel-related restrictions, including vaccine requirements for people entering the country, mandatory use of the ArriveCan app -- and mandatory masking on trains and airplanes, effective Oct. 1st -- just before we're slated to fly to see my elderly parents, of course. (We will be masked -- but how many other people will be??)  Grrrr.... 

Since June 16th, the government has been reporting covid data weekly (on Thursdays) instead of daily. :(  The Toronto Star (my main source of covid data) has started a brand-new weekly stats tracking page -- but not all data categories that were previously reported are still being disclosed there. :(   If you look at the charts for the past two months, most of the categories tracked have remained more or less the same ( = no huge increases -- but no significant improvement either). Among the latest stats (last updated Sept. 29th):  

• New case numbers & test positivity rates are no longer reported (on the Star's page, anyway -- not that they've been very accurate anyway, since PCR testing was limited/cut back at the peak of the Omicron outbreak in late December/early January). 

• Hospitalizations (people in hospitals testing positive for covid) decreased slightly from 1,278 on Sept. 1st to 1,265 on Sept. 29th (up 9.1% over the previous week). Peak was 1,296 on Sept. 9th, low point was 1,066 on Sept. 19th.  
• There were 135 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario's ICUs testing positive for COVID-19 or there for COVID-19 related illness on Sept. 1st, and 133 on Sept. 29th, up 3.1% over the previous week. Peak was 141 on both Sept. 6th & 7th;  the low point was 118 on Sept. 24th.  
• There were 19 deaths on Sept. 1st and 11 on Sept. 29th. Peak was 31 on Sept. 8th. The 7-day average on Sept. 29th was 10.3, up 10.8% over the previous week. (Total pandemic deaths reported: 14, 351.) 
• On Sept. 29th 87% of Ontario's total population has had at least one vaccine, 83.7% had at least two, but just 51.7% had received a third dose. (No stats provided for fourth doses, which only became available to adults under age 60 in mid-July.)  These numbers have hardly budged over the past couple of months. 
• The new bivalent vaccines began rolling out to Ontario residents aged 70 and older on Sept. 19th, and to everyone else 18 and older on Sept. 26th. At minimum, you should be at least three months out from your last dose/booster;  the recommended interval is six months. Dh & I had our fourth vaccines/second boosters on May 11th, more than four months ago. We'll probably wait to get our next shots until closer to the six-month mark (Nov. 11th), as we head into the winter and the Christmas holiday period (and perhaps get it at the same time as our flu shots, to save us an extra trip).   

On the personal pandemic front: Dh & I continue to wear masks when out in public (even as fewer and fewer people are doing so), and have remained (mostly) socially distanced -- more so than usual this month! Just as I approached the one-month mark after my gallbladder removal surgery on Aug. 15th, and was starting to feel fully recovered, I came down with a nasty cold, which lasted a full two weeks and meant staying home a lot longer than I had hoped...! (Three rapid tests, all negative.)  Needless to say, this has NOT been my favourite summer...!  

On top of dh's weekly (masked) trips to the supermarket for groceries and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners: 

• We visited SIL & Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's house 2 times. (First LGN was home sick with his mother for a week, so we didn't see him then -- and then I got sick -- I probably got the bug from him!  lol -- so I didn't see him that week either!).  
• We made a shopping trip to Bed Bath & Beyond, Staples and Homesense, all near each other, on Sept. 8th. I was in the checkout line at Homesense when I heard the Queen died. The next day, I woke up with a sore throat... so that was my last outing for quite a while! 
• Dh's aunt passed away on Sept. 16th. We went to the visitation at the funeral home on Sept. 20th in the afternoon (but not the session later that evening, which would have been much busier), and funeral mass on Sept. 21st, masked. (I was pleasantly surprised by how many other people were also still wearing masks.) In between the two sessions, BIL & SIL stayed and went to a nearby restaurant with two of their other aunts & a dozen cousins, kids & spouses -- they asked us to come too -- but neither of us is keen on restaurant dining just yet, and so we just went home.  
• Another aunt passed away on Sept. 23rd. Visitation was Sept. 27th (at the same funeral home we'd been to the previous week!) and the funeral mass on Sept. 28th (ditto). 
• We ventured out to a nearby mall for the first time in a year (and only our third mall visit since the pandemic began!) to buy new carry-on luggage, in anticipation of our upcoming trip, and took the opportunity to pop in and out of a few other stores while we were there. Tired out about halfway around and went home... we're out of practice!  (lol) 
• We went to the supermarket together last Thursday, Sept. 29th to shop for groceries for our cottage weekend with BIL, SIL and dh's cousin & his wife and teenaged son. 
• We ended September and began October at the cottage.  :)  Drove north to a nearby town on Saturday afternoon and poked around a couple of cute little shops there (I wore a mask inside), but otherwise just relaxed. 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 2 books in September (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books").  

• "Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin (the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club pick for September). (My review.) 
• "The Bullet That Missed" by Richard Osman (the latest "Thursday Murder Club" mystery!). (My review.) 
  

This brings me to 38 books read so far in 2022, which brings me to 84% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway) 5 books ahead of schedule. :)  

Current read(s): 

• "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown (couldn't resist, in light of recent events!  lol). 
• "BeWILDered" by Laura Waters (the October pick for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club: ) 
• "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery (chapter-by-chapter group read with my LMM Readathon Facebook group, which began in early July and will finish in late November, after which I will count this as a re-read). (My original review.)
• "Sarah Morris Remembers" by D.E. Stevenson (with my DES book club. I'll count this as a re-read once our chapter-by-chapter group discussion is finished in December). (My original review.) 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 

• Within the private online Gateway Women (now called Lighthouse Women) community, we have two groups discussing Jody Day's book, "Living the Life Unexpected" -- one group that's more conducive to UK/European/Australasian time zones, and mine, which is mostly North Americans. Since January, we've been meeting on Zoom to discuss one chapter per month. Unfortunately, I missed our calls for Chapters 7 & 8 -- and it looks like I will miss the October call for Chapter 9, which will take place when I'm visiting my parents. If/when we complete the full 12 chapters, I'll count it as another re-read. :)  

A few recently purchased titles (in digital format, mostly discounted ($5.99 or less) or purchased with points):  

• "Death and Croissants" by Ian Moore 
• "Unreconciled" by Jesse Wente 
• "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin 
• "Woman in the Shadows" by Jane Thynne 
• "The Woman They Could Not Silence" by Kate Moore 
• "Out of the Corner" by Jennifer Grey  

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Watching: I was glued to coverage of the Queen's death and funeral (mostly on BBC World) for nearly two weeks.  ;)  Lots of extra-early mornings!  

"The Handmaid's Tale" is back for season 5!  and there's going to be a season 6 too (which will be the final season -- at least until the adaptation of "The Testaments" becomes available...!). It's now broadcast on CTV Drama here in Canada. It's still gripping television -- although I'm wondering how we went from focusing on the battle against a society based on patriarchy and misogyny (Gilead) to what's basically now a catfight between two women who hate each other (!). Granted, women who support the patriarchical order (like Serena Joy in the show) are a problem, but still...  

We always enjoy Ken Burns's documentaries, and his new three-parter about "The U.S. and the Holocaust" on PBS was excellent, as always.  

Listening: I'm still enjoying the daily Heardle challenge(s), including the decades versions. Current stats as of today, Oct. 3rd):  

• Heardle (original):  38.7% (24/62) correct, including 7 on the first guess and 8 within 3. 
• Heardle 60s:  92.6% (25//27), including 15 on the first guess and 4 on the second. 
• Heardle 70s:  76.7% (23/30), including 15 on the first guess, and 4 on the second. 
• Heardle 80s:  37% (10/27), including 4 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 90s:  26.7% (8/30), including one on the first guess and 4 on the 6th & final guess (!).  

Eating:  I tested out my new gallbladder-less digestive system with some takeout fish & chips, and a barbecued steak at the cottage (as well as lots of wine, lol). So far, so good, although I haven't been too adventurous yet. Fingers crossed for our upcoming  trip to Manitoba for (Canadian) Thanksgiving...!  

Looking forward to getting out the crockpot/slow cooker again, now that cooler weather is here!  (And to trying a roast beef in that again -- red meat was a big trigger food for me last fall, when my gallbladder was giving me so much grief -- time to try again!)  

Drinking:  Lots of tea, especially while I was recuperating from my cold. Lots of wine at the cottage this past weekend.  :)  

Had my first Starbucks tea latte since the pandemic began (!) -- picked it up as we were leaving the mall on Sept. 26th. Alas, I paid $5 for a grande, but I was wearing my mask and didn't taste it until we got to the car -- and there was NO SWEETENER in it. Grrrrr.... 

Buying (besides books, lol):  In anticipation of a likely fall/winter covid wave, I ordered a couple more boxes of N-95 equivalent masks online, from a Canadian company recommended by Turia. 

I also ordered myself some new tops online from Old Navy, as well as some swim trunks/shorts for dh. He hasn't owned a pair in years, but his cousins have a hot tub at their cottage -- it was out of commission last year, but I wanted to be prepared this year, just in case...!  Unfortunately, just about all that was left were extra-large size, which proved to be WAY too big...!  (I do have a swimsuit -- one-piece -- but I won't tell you how old it is... miraculously, it still fits!!  And the elastic is still good on it too!  lol)  

We desperately needed a second set of sheets for our bed (in time to bring them to dh's cousin's cottage, and save our hostess some extra laundry) but was unable to find another set of our current sheets at our local Bed Bath & Beyond. They were also unavailable to order online (!). I wound up ordering a set from BB&B online, which were delivered to our door in plenty of time. They cost more than I had planned on paying, but beggars can't always be choosers...

We went to the mall for the first time in about a year (!) and bought two new carry-on Samsonite suitcases in anticipation of our upcoming trip west. I also bought a new purse, and some sundries at the drugstore while we were there.  

Wearing: I had to put on long jeans for the first time on Sept. 22nd -- the first official day of fall -- when the weather suddenly turned chilly. Socks followed shortly thereafter, as did long yoga pants (vs capri length). My capris have been washed and put back in the closet.  I've also had to add slippers and a cardigan around the house (sigh...). 

Noticing:  The days are already getting shorter -- it's mostly dark outside now by 7:30 p.m. And the leaves have (finally!) started to turn colour!   

Appreciating:  Sunny days, when they happen!  The hospitality of dh's cousins, just when we really needed a pick-me-up.  :)     

Enjoying:  Having the balcony door open slightly this afternoon. :)  (It's been chilly here lately, but it's supposed to be 17C this afternoon and 20C tomorrow & Wednesday -- yay!)  (That's 58F, 63F and 68F... not bad for October hereabouts!)  

Wanting:  To buy a new humidifier, soon, now that colder, drier weather is here. We have our eye on a combination humidifier/air purifier from Dyson, but it's *horrendously* expensive. (I do like the two-in-one aspect, and the fact that it's supposed to be quiet technology -- our last humidifier was too noisy for my liking, which is why we got rid of it... any recommendations??)  

Hoping:  That we'll be able to fit everything we need to take to my parents' house into two carry-ons. (Dh's cousin & family went to Europe for two weeks this summer with one carry-on each... they assured me it can be done!) (Not so sure it's do-able at Christmastime, depending on the number and size of presents we're bringing -- but we'll cross that bridge when we get there...!) 

Prioritizing: My long to-do list, before we head west soon! (But today -- I'm prioritizing recuperating from a busy weekend and busy few weeks before that, before tackling what needs to be done before Saturday!) 

Trying: Not to get overwhelmed by everything on that to-do list...! 

Waiting:  Until we get back home from seeing my family before we get our next haircuts. I am hoping I won't regret this decision...!  (This Friday will be six weeks since our last one, which is when we usually go -- by the time we get back & are able to see our regular stylist, it will be 8 weeks... hmmm....) 

Wondering: How many books I'll have time to read while I'm at my parents' house?? (I guess that will depend on what cleaning, organizing & baking projects my mom wants help with while we're there...!) I'm still on pace to reach my Goodreads goal for the year, albeit I'd hoped to be doing a little better at this this point... still, I've had a lot of distractions/other priorities lately...! 

Loving:  Seeing almost all of dh's cousins (on his mom's side of the family) at two recent visitations & funerals for two of their aunts. We hadn't seen some of them since pre-covid. We used to spend a lot of time together when we were all younger and single or newly married and kidless, and even in recent years, we made a point of getting together at the end of summer for a barbecue/picnic. I have missed that! 

Feeling: (Very!) Annoyed that, just as I was feeling I could get on with things after my summer surgeries, I came down with a nasty cold!!  Sad to have to attend not just one but two funerals for two well-loved members of dh's family, one week after another. :(  Somewhat less frazzled after our recent cottage weekend.  :)  And looking forward to seeing my parents & sister soon!