My day was better today. A morning trip to a quiet Shoppers Drug Mart to stock up on Coke Zero and to pick up some interim bananas. A midday trip to Terra because we decided to plant the five large pots the cedars came in with perennials; despite being very busy, it’s a huge place and people were largely keeping good physical distance. An enjoyable evening virtual meetup with SCA folks, including one of my oldest apprentices. And a drive along the escarpment, with the whole world coming alive in bloom.

My husband, on the other hand, had an echo of the kind of day I had yesterday. Our online gaming session didn’t happen. He’s had a harder time meeting virtually with people to game; this is really about the only standing session he’s been able to set up other than some ad-hoc XBox gaming.

This is the part that sucks. I talk to people all the time through the week, both at work and through SCA and Toastmasters meetups. It’s not perfect, but it’s not horrible. Dave’s thing, on the other hand, has been board games, and most of his boardgaming friends really haven’t been interested in playing remotely, even though there are some good apps that could be used. I’m usually OK for a game or two over the weekend, but I wasn’t on Saturday.

Add to that the fact that our dishwasher is out of commission (we’ve got someone lined up to take a look tomorrow), and there you have it…a crappy day. Pile on top of that reports of all kinds of people who seem to think the crisis is over—and it’s crappy with extra crappy sauce and crappy sprinkles.

It’s enough to make me wonder whether I shouldn’t take advantage of my company’s employee assistance program, which has apparently put some extended benefits in place during the crisis. I know most of the coping strategies, and overall I’m doing OK, but it might be worth checking out.

I am just hoping that we’re getting somewhere this coming week with contact tracing and testing. There have been hints that the Canadian government is on the brink of choosing an app to use, which might be a step in the right direction. But it keeps looking more and more like Ontario is merely treading water—at best—in keeping things under control, while provinces like BC and Alberta and New Brunswick seem to be getting somewhere.

I am not holding out much hope for substantial reopening this year unless a treatment is identified or we can really get people on board with masks in public. That might take another lockdown. Which is fine by me.

I’m going to spend some time this week identifying a project to work on. Maybe that’s finally doing a YouTube video. Maybe a craft project. But I’m feeling that need….