Wednesday evening. 60% of the way to the weekend, which is a particularly meaningless social construct in this here time of plague.

Today was mildly interesting because of a) a grocery trip, and b) giving a couple of presentations at work. I could’ve lasted for a few more days without a resupply run, but my bananas started going bad, and a protein smoothie without bananas… Look, I’m not the most refined guy out there but I’m not a savage, you know?

The presentations at work were a refreshing change of pace. It’s amazing how much better you can get at public speaking if you have to speak to groups of people (on and off) for about five years. Fun times. It is my firm belief that the corporate America (and the corporate Canada as well) would be much better off with company-sponsored public speaking courses for every employee. Dreams and aspirations, eh?

Earlier today, one of my landlords (the stay-at-home husband) tried to explain to me that masks don’t work, because he saw some study (???) that said 85% of Americans wore masks (not even close to the truth), and then the US got sick anyway. He is not a high-information news consumer… I think he read that on some social media. I tried showing him some sites that stated unequivocally that yes, masks do indeed work, but he didn’t seem persuaded.

I’ll be honest: my landlords worry me. They throw social gatherings (5-10 people) almost weekly, they have this strange recurring cough which kind of implies they already caught the common cold from someone else, so they weren’t perfectly careful, and they’re both big fans of Trump. Both are concerned about the pandemic, but then they invite half of their social circle to feast and chit-chat, and then gleefully share a piece of fake news about masks…

If I catch covid, it will be through them. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many other options at the moment. I can afford my own little apartment somewhere in a high-rise, but the virus can travel through plumbing and ventilation systems. Ideally, an isolated cabin would work best – just like the one in Deep River, at the very beginning of this journey. Unfortunately, Toronto has a rather limited supply of cozy isolated cabins. Ho hum. Theoretically, I might be able to self-isolate even further, locking myself inside my roof (it has its own bathroom, so water won’t be an issue), but that’d also require getting a tiny stove and saying goodbye to all the refrigerated food… Crazy, but not impossible.

In covid news, France and Germany are going into nationwide lockdown for four weeks (France on Friday; Germany on Monday) due to approaching the maximum capacity in their ICUs, as well as the ever-increasing new cases. In France, the lockdown means you can go to work (if WFH is not an option), you can shop for the most necessary supplies, and you can spend one hour outside for exercise. Schools will remain open, unlike their previous eight-week lockdown in the spring. Germany’s rules will be very similar. I hope they pull this off.

The stock market’s crash is accelerating. Last week was choppy, but this week… It’s been crashing for three days in a row now. Today Dow fell by more than 3%. I’m a very patient person, so I’m just holding on to my stocks (most of which I’d bought back in June) and waiting until all of this gets better at some point in 2021. Others, who are not as patient or strategic, must be losing their minds right now. I’ll almost certainly load up on more stocks within a month, once I get my twice-yearly bonus. And yes, I know, I’m privileged as hell. I know. I just want us all to get through this relatively intact, and thinking far ahead is my personal coping mechanism. Hang in there, y’all.