Friday night. I celebrated by going to Walmart and LCBO. It was interesting to see that this time, only 50% or so wore masks. I researched the cancer warning of my new face shield some more: it was referring to California’s overarching warning that working with dust or lead is bad for you. Since I don’t intend to do that, I’m safe. It felt oddly comfortable to wear a cloth mask with a filter, a pair of wraparound goggles, and a face shield. Got a few odd looks but not as many as I’d thought. As a bonus, I spotted a fellow shopper who purchased a similar face shield for herself.

I’m trying to pass the time with more indoorsy addictions… Having finished the Walking Dead show, I’ve switched to reading the source material on Comixology. Steam just launched their summer sale, so I’ve finally bought Elder Scrolls Online to continue exploring the Skyrim universe, only with better graphics this time around. Whatever it takes to keep my mind off the things happening in the real world.

The governors of Texas and Florida finally decided to do the absolute bare minimum required to stop the pandemic: they’ve shut down bars. That wasn’t based on altruism and them coming to their senses; that was most likely because their major cities have run out of ICU beds. Now those petty science-denying tyrants are in an interesting philosophical pickle. They wanted their states to reopen because they claimed the pandemic wasn’t that bad, and that they’re somehow sturdier, healthier, and luckier than all those New Yorkers. Now they’re shutting down again (if even a little bit) because the virus doesn’t care about their politics. In so doing, they’ve successfully pissed off everyone: those who follow medical guidelines and self-isolate, and those who think the pandemic is a hoax. Heh.

Arizona might be the next in line to shut down once more. Then again, it’s hard to underestimate the ineptitude of Arizona’s government. Close to home, Canada will withdraw its armed forces from Quebec: they’d been sent there a while back, as I wrote 69 days ago over yonder. While helping the elderly, they also discovered multiple cases of neglect, if not downright abuse. I worry that things will just slide back toward the baseline relatively soon.

The stock market crashed by almost 3% today. Looks like Wall Street hadn’t anticipated that the reopening would fail. So much for that efficient market, eh? Trump’s bragging rights are mostly centered on the stock market’s performance. Seems like some more strings will be pulled (or more misinformation released) to keep the market propped up. My money is on the cruise industry lobbyists getting a shout-out or some stimulus money to keep them afloat. (Terrible pun intended.)

And so begins one more pandemic weekend… Just to keep things interesting, here’s a pic of yours truly sporting not one, not two, but three different types of PPE. Stay safe out there, folks.