Wednesday night. The end of the beginning of the end of the week.

Have I mentioned that I love Canadian holidays? Because I love Canadian holidays. There are 13 of them in Ontario vs 5-6 in the US, and the occasional day off is an amazing chance to recharge. Today was a somber holiday, of course, and I did my part to join the world in spirit at the 11th minute of the 11th hour.

I made the most of this day off by hitting the grocery store during the off-peak afternoon hours: I probably could’ve lasted a few more days, but those bananas and bread ended up looking pretty sketchy. Oddly enough, the local “Play It Again Sports” store (like Gamestop but for sports equipment) had a lot of weight plates in stock. I remember them being completely empty around two months ago, so this is an interesting turnaround. (Maybe they’ve finally fixed the supply chain?) I’ve just looked up my own archive: huh, I’ve started my strength-training regimen 59 days ago, all the way back on day 184. Time really does fly… I ended up buying another 40 lbs of weight plates for my dumbbells: a bit challenging, but I’ll likely get used to it by the end of the month. Bigger, better, stronger, eh?

The hair on my temples is now long enough to blow into my eyes when I drive with the window open. What an interesting sensation…

In covid news, there’s a new data reporting portal – Covid Exit Strategy. I don’t know if they’re as non-partisan and objective as they claim to be, but their data looks interesting. (Especially this wall of indicators over yonder.) According to them, 47 out of 50 states are currently in the “uncontrolled spread” mode, with Vermont, Maine, and Hawaii being mildly better. That is not encouraging… In one of my old haunts (Reno, NV – I’ve had a lot of haunts), the main hospital is setting up a triage area in their parking garage. This may sound shocking here and now, but I’m afraid it’ll become the new normal if more hospitals get overrun during the coming winter.

Things aren’t looking all that good in Canada, either. In Ontario, the positivity rate among those tested hit 5.7%, the highest it’s been since late May. Moving in a wrong direction here, and all the talking heads on the news agree that a new lockdown is almost certainly coming: they just don’t know the specifics quite yet. The fact that Doug Ford, the guy running the province, doesn’t seem to understand basic math is certainly not helping. Ho hum.

Try not to join the grim statistics out there, y’all.