The Big Pause - Day 90 - June 9 - The New Normal

When I started this blog at the beginning of the Covid outbreak I wasn't intending to do it daily forever. I figured I would do it until life got back to normal. Little did I know that 90 days in and we are still a long ways from normal and may never get back to where we were. Things are open in BC but physical distancing rules are still in place and will remain until a vaccine is found. The disease is to prevalent across the world to ever go away. Sports and movies aren't back but that will come. The disease has died down in the news and likely will be lower in the summer. From now on I'll go back to blogging bigger life events. With no travel, there won't be many of those for a while. Most people expect the disease count in North America will jump again in the fall based on similar diseases. This time full shut down likely won't be seen as an option. Unfortunately I think we've grown numb to the numbers and will just accept a percentage of the population dying each month. I suppose it's not that much different from third world countries with malaria and other third world countries. The difference here is it's impacting the first world.

I got the tops of the cabinets glued up and cut to size..... The new normal.

The Big Pause - Day 89 - June 8 - The Wrong Colour

The day started like every other Monday. Roll out of bed and turn on my work computer to do a bit of work before breakfast. I find I can get ready for the day by doing 30 minutes of e-mail checking and planning. I'm working on some projects with people in India and Denmark so I get emails at all hours of the day. The weather was nice again so I went for my regular bike ride. I think I need to find a new route. I like the one I'm doing but there are probably some other areas of the neighborhood I should explore. In the evening I was hoping to get the top for the cabinets glued up but when I planed the wood I noticed that one of my pieces was a very different colour then the other pieces. It was going to be in the back of the counter but it was different enough that it would still be noticeable. I will have to see if I can take Kerry to work tomorrow so I can use the car to go to Windsor Plywood to get another piece.

The Big Pause - Day 88 - June 7 - Historic Stewart Farm

I've been somewhat negligent in my volunteering duties this year but I'm likely not the only one. I volunteer in the garden at Historic Stewart farm and I've been out a couple times but not as much as I usually do. For March/April I wasn't quite sure if we were supposed to go in and we were occupied with other things. Sunday was supposed to rain but looked clear in the morning so I headed out to the farm. People have definitely been there because everything is  cleaned up though some of the areas need some thinning. I worked on the native garden which has been my area for the past few years. Looked much better when I was done.

After the garden I headed into the office to pick up a package. I had ordered a set of masks from the BC Children's hospital through the Power Pioneers and they delivered them to my office. It was a bit depressing going into work after almost three months. Hand sanitizer and arrows were everywhere and the place seemed empty even for a weekend. I picked up some more things from my desk and got my masks. They are well made but a bit small for me. I've not had good luck finding a comfortable mask other than the disposable ones. I will keep looking.

The Big Pause - Day 87 - June 6 - Floating Steps

Carter and I took a road trip to Langley this morning. Parks opened this week and he really wanted to go to the Parkour Park in Langley where they have some more interesting obstacles that are very similar to what is on the American Ninja Warrior. We tried everything but we really concentrated on the "Floating Steps". They are some 45 degree platforms that you jump back and forth on. With a bit of coaching from me he managed to master them. They aren't really that complicated but you definitely have to commit when you're doing them. After about 50 tries he was doing them with ease.

After the park we had a few errands to run including Windsor Plywood, Port Kells and Lee Valley. Each of them has their own physical distancing measures. Windsor Plywood is low volume and you can move about easily. Port Kells has moved outside and we did curbside pickup at Lee Valley. I hope they keep curbside pickup at Lee Valley. It was much easier. In the evening I got caught up on blogging and planted the final vegetables in the garden. Some peppers, cucumbers and some sort of chocolate tomato.

The Big Pause - Day 86 - June 5 - No Beef Patties

I finished painting the doors today. I had the first coat of primer on already and just needed to put the finish coats on. I was able to do it on breaks during the day. It's a welcome change from work and a more efficient use of my time. I find it's important to "cleanse by palette" when working where I do something completely different then my current task. Sometimes it's work related, sometimes its a walk and in this case it was painting some doors. I used spray paint on the doors and they came out well. I wish I had a proper spray booth for my sprayer but this works well too.

After work I went in for my 89th blood donation. Kerry had the car so I biked there. As long as I move slowly when I come back, biking seems like a perfectly valid way of getting to and from. There were more new rules. For instance I had to have my temperature taken before going in and I had to wear a mask. My temperature was only 95.9 even though I had just biked 3 km to get there. I guess I run a bit cooler than most people though I should probably take my temperature regularly to see what normal for me is. Might be relevant when I think I have a fever. I picked up KFC on the way home and it was lucky that I could go in. When we tried to take Carter to Wendy's later, you had to do the drive through or Skip the Dishes. We went back home to get the car and when we got back they said they didn't have any beef. Carter was not happy. More supply chain disruptions.

The Big Pause - Day 85 - June 4 - Back to School

Carter went back to school today. As Kerry was leaving for work there was talk of a stomach ache but by the time he had to leave he didn't seem too worried. I think the total number of kids is under 50 each day at his school. He's not with his regular teacher and he's in a portable but he seemed to enjoy being back with kids even though none of his regular friends went. In the evening I got caught up on a new show. DC's Stargirl is another one of these ones with an 80's and 90's feel to them. Less about smart phones and the internet and more about people interactions. First three episodes were good.

The Big Pause - Day 84 - June 3 - Too Many Peanuts

Things got a bit out of control today. I had a large meeting at work that I was organizing and I had to do a prep in the morning to make sure things went smoothly. This meant I was a bit careless with the peanut bag when feeding Covid. After she finished with the peanuts on the picnic table she got into the bag I had left on the garden bench. Only a few peanuts extra. Kerry got home after 8:00 pm. First week of school has been hectic. Carter goes to his first day of school tomorrow. He's a bit nervous but I think he'll be fine. I have no worry about spreading the disease. There are only a handful of active cases left in BC.

The Big Pause - Day 83 - June 2 - Advanced Dish Washer Repair

I Installed the second cabinet base today. I designed them with extended edges on the right and back left so that I could scribe to the wall. The one cabinet needed scribing on the back but everything else was pretty straight. I still have to put some baseboard around the bottoms but that can come later. I also had to 'fix' the dishwasher today. I like to wait a day before attempting to do a repair because it gives me a chance to think about the simple things that might be wrong. In this case the issue was that it was set to "Rinse Only". The last time it was a knife sticking out into the water sensor. I imagine repair people get lots of calls like this.

The Big Pause - Day 82 - June 1 - George Floyd

The protests continue in the states. I've posted a few items that try to point out to people what systemic racism is. The most poignant one for me is the "All Lives Matter" comeback. If someone had a family member die of breast cancer and they asked that you donate to the breast cancer society, how many people would respond with the phrase "All Cancers Matter". They wouldn't. It's these subtle "keep you down' things that prevent real change. I'm learning about the basic law changes that various groups are asking for to reduce confrontations with police. I've also seen people comment with things like. "Do they even know what they want?". The answer is yes. These ideas aren't new. What is new is that more people are listening. Hopefully our "blackface" Prime Minister initiates some real change, whether it be for natives or blacks. We need to pull control back from the "make xyz great again" groups. There is no reason we can't make things great for everyone. Not just those that have some vague memory of when they felt things were great.

The Big Pause - Day 81 - May 31 - Ninja Warrior

Carter has been watching American Ninja Warrior a lot during the epidemic and has wanted to try out some of the movies at the park but all the parks are closed. As of this weekend they have finally re-opened and we went down to Fleetwood Park because they have some complex monkey bars. He started a bit too quick and has some blisters already but once those heal he has lots of plans to improve his skills. The last few days there have been protests that at times have turned into riots down in the US. The spark was the death of George Floyd but economy and Covid have helped to fan the flames. I home it doesn't cause Covid to get a hold again.

The Big Pause - Day 80 - May 30 - Doors

I got started on the doors today. I had already cut the poplar to rough size so it could acclimate for a few days. It stays straighter this way as I've already released the tension in the wood when I cut it smaller. I managed to get the doors milled and assembled. Tomorrow I will paint. For dinner we had another family movie night. Carter ordered popcorn, hot dogs and nachos. We watched Get Smart as a family and then I stayed up late and watched the Invisible Man. It was a new take on it in that it was a suit rather than some sort of science experience. Still dealt with terrorizing a woman though.