Friday evening, though the only real difference is not having to set an alarm.

Odd day at work today: I may have helped save the day in an entirely avoidable emergency. Scored some reputation points with newbies, got some assorted kudos, bought myself some more time. It feels so very strange to know that my entire future, my very ability to stay in Canada, depends on holding on to the same job, at the same location, from which I may not quit or transfer. Those are some stakes, eh? Until and unless I become a permanent resident, I can’t feel fully secure.

If something were to go wrong, I’d have to go back to the US – that bizarre plague-infested ungovernable region that keeps children in cages and elected an angry orange clown (on technicality, that is) to represent them. Hard pass. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has physiological needs as the foundation of its five-stage pyramid of happiness. I have a picture of that pyramid saved on my computer. If I’m not wrong, the file name is something like “hahahahahahahahaha.jpg” which should give you some idea where I stand on that issue.

Just 29 more weeks, tops, until I get the coveted permanent resident status. Somewhere, right at this moment, my application is getting closer and closer to the front of the queue – likely just a virtual file and not an actual paper-and-ink folder on the desk of an anonymous bureaucrat tasked with deciding my future… Really, can’t wait.

In somewhat more upbeat news, the zoom lens I got myself for my birthday is on its way from Japan. There’s a minor thrill in refreshing the FedEx tracker to see how much closer my shipment has gotten to me since the last update. Two technological wonders, one tracking the other. Isn’t globalization great?

In covid news, the US data reporting has been bounced back from the HHS to the CDC. I doubt they did that because of the PR reasons or due to some public outcry. More likely than not, they just couldn’t wrangle all the different data streams. If we ever do find out what happened, it’ll be a while. Birx tried to put a positive spin on this, promising a “revolutionary new data system.” Either she singlehandedly created a next-gen version of Excel, or she’s completely out of good news, and has to resort to the technological equivalent of dangling a set of keys in front of confused little children. Ho hum.

To wrap this up, here’s a pretty hilarious GIF that rather perfectly encapsulates the lockdown lifestyle: