Much has happened on the COVID front since my last entry of November 16th. The expression ‘one step forward, two steps back’ immediately comes to mind. In these few short weeks, we’ve seen the rise of a new variant, Omicron. Spreads fast, and is predicted to replace Delta as the dominant strain in the next month or so. Kingston, Ontario has really been hits hard, with several restrictions returned. There are fears of lockdown everywhere, as everyone waits to see what happens in the days ahead.

The authorities are saying now that 2 vaccines will protect up to 70% from being hospitalized, but it’s all important now to get the booster. By January, it will be available to all age groups in Canada, providing it’s been 6 months since a person’s second inoculation. My second shot was on July 7th, so I can get mine in January.

For Christmas, Jason and I were planning on staying close to home anyway. We’ve discussed possibly taking in a movie on Christmas day. Apparently, there’s a modern remake of one of Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet or MacBeth, not sure which. I’m due for some Shakespeare, as if the ongoing tragedy in the real world isn’t enough...30K dead in Canada, 802K in the US, and 5.3M worldwide.

As for my brother and sister, out in Orleans, looks like another year without seeing them. We keep in touch on Facebook, and although we’re all double vaccinated, nobody wants to risk infecting someone else, which seems to be the prevailing sentiment in a lot of people these days.

On a related note, it was 50 years ago yesterday that my family moved to Ottawa from Arnprior, Ontario.

In a manner of speaking, Christmas came early this year. Jason is very careful with his money, and recently was approved for a line of credit. He went on a small spending spree of things needed for himself (clothes and bed clothes) and for the house, a new coffee maker, a rechargeable vacuum; much easier to move around and empty than the cannister beast with the bags, I bought 20 years ago (still works). We keep the old one in the basement now for cat litter, etc. Table clothes, a new mat for the front hallway.

Last but not least, one of those foldable clothes drying racks; this one made of light metal (probably aluminum), and painted black. My parents had one years ago, but made of wood. It’s also interesting to note that since we stopped using a dryer, the hydro bill has gone down by $20+/month. We still plan to buy a new dryer in the spring, when hopefully the supply chain problem has been resolved.

All the above stuff Jason bought was done so online from Amazon on Black Friday, and/or purchased by joining some sort of discount club, saving up to 60% on some items. All of it delivered to the front door, without having to set foot in a brick-and-mortar store.

Jason’s also added to his book collection, including the Holy Bible. I had a copy of the Bible on CD for several years. Came as part of a package of software with my first computer in 1998. When Jason bought his hard copy, I tried my CD Bible, but it no longer works in my current computer.

In any case, enough reading material to get him through the winter...the long uncertain winter ahead.


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12/14/2021

Posted on 12/14/2021
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti