Saturday night. Today was my last full day in Thunder Bay. I tried to make the most of it: slept in (of course), went to my secret spot to get more beautiful quartz crystals, then bought some local cherries ($3.99 CAD/lb – not the best deal, but not the worst either), and munched on them while reading my favourite author’s new book on a park bench overlooking Lake Superior and the Sleeping Giant. ’twas a good day.

I don’t relish the thought of waking up before 11am tomorrow, but sacrifices must be made, eh? I’m currently watching a pot full of uneaten eggs boil (maybe that’s why it won’t boil) while eating the last of my frozen burritos and drinking the last of my cider. I’m very self-sacrificial like that. I thought of turning on the gas-powered fireplace to fully maximize the low-key hedonism of my last night here, but it’s gas-powered, my sense of smell has never been too good, and it’s been emanating strange levels of heat… I figure I’ll skip the fireplace part. With my luck, I’ll just blow the whole place up, and that would be bad for my AirBnB rating.

In covid news… Look, you’ll just have to take my word for it that it gets crazier every single day. If we ever have a trend reversal that lasts, say, a week, I’ll be sure to mention it. The Sinclair Broadcasting Group is a giant media empire that controls hundreds of local TV news stations, among other things. They control the information consumption of millions of Americans. Someone leaked their plan to air a weekend program accusing Dr.Fauci of creating covid-19 for his own nefarious purposes. (I don’t read right-wing online conspiracies, but apparently they call it “plandemic” now.) There was a lot of outcry, and Sinclair backtracked and said they wouldn’t air the program. Good news: cockroaches still run if you shine a light on them. Bad news: it’s out in the mainstream (or almost mainstream) now, and who knows what crazy folks with guns will do…

A couple of nights ago, someone burned down the Democratic HQ in Phoenix – a bit of an escalation, considering that in the past they’d never gone beyond bricks through windows or petty vandalism. Things are getting heated up… Arizona, in particular, has had more covid deaths recently than the entire European Union. Considering that the EU has 60 times more people, that’s actually kind of remarkable – in a horrifying, unbelievable, nightmarish sort of way.

I’ll spend all day tomorrow driving toward Bancroft, where I’ll spend my second half of the vacation. Should be fun. I wonder what percentage of Ontarians have explored as much of their province as I have? I enjoy gamifying things, and it’d amuse me greatly if I were in the top 30%. Heh.