Grigory Lukin.com

Monday night. More strange news at work. Nothing that would affect my long-term plans, but still quite disappointing. Just nine business days till my vacation… The first vacation in 3.5 years that would be longer than a few days, involve travel, and would not involve hospitals or health emergencies. (Why yes, I did just knock on wood.)

I did my thrice-monthly grocery store run today because, while I had a bit more food to last another day or two, the work news demanded some cider-assisted mind-numbing… About half the shoppers wore masks this time around, though relatively few cared about social distancing.

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has allegedly tested positive for covid. He’s 65, which isn’t terrible, but he’d also had pneumonia in the past, and that’s not good for his odds. It’s interesting that he got it after all his bravado and downplaying the pandemic’s effects. Regardless of whether he survives, there’ll be major repercussions.

On the personal front, I’ve decided to pursue cooking (inspired by the one, the only Elder Scrolls Online and my kangaroo-riding, snack-stealing character) and acquired the four major spices: paprika, ginger powder, onion powder, and garlic salt. Preliminary results: garlic salt is amazing; ginger powder exploded when I tried to open the bag, leading to some sneezing and a bad first impression. The lockdown adventures never cease!

Sunday evening. Thus endeth another weekend, and begins another workweek. So close to my vacation, though! Just 10 more business days…

I took a break from gaming to walk to a nearby park: one of the strange things about suburbs is that all the trees are young. There was no old growth, no branches lying on the ground, and no convenient chunks of wood to take home for whittling purposes. Ditto for the local Lowe’s: they had some hickory chunks for BBQs, but they were a) tiny, and b) made of the hardest wood on the market. I’m going to do my thrice-monthly raid on a grocery store tomorrow, so I might as well try out the Michael’s curbside pickup and get some basswood to practice on. (Is the lockdown life exciting or what?)

The news is more of the same old: at least four hospitals in Tampa, FL have run out of ICU beds. I used to live in Tampa. (I’ve lived in so many places…) Not a bad town, filled with mostly good people, who were likely failed by their inept government and its equally inept reassurances that it’s okay to come out and party. It’s a minor miracles that the Villages (a retirement community with over 100,000 elderly) haven’t been hit yet.

Speaking of my old haunts: the CHAZ, which I mentioned earlier, is no more. Seattle’s tiny rebellious community got flooded with the police four days ago. Depending on your level of cynicism, that was caused by either a) far too many shootings and either violent crime in and near CHAZ, or b) the fact that a mob of protesters found the mayor’s address (allegedly provided by a rebellious councilwoman) and spraypainted her fence, or c) all of the above. Either way, there goes another somewhat-covid-related cultural artifact.

I can only wonder what strange news this coming week will bring.

Saturday night. Well, technically, Saturday ended 35 minutes ago, but nothing is truly over until you let it go. The weekly hangout with xgf didn’t end well. She thought I was minimizing her chronic pain when I mentioned that one of my friends lost the ability to drive when she developed epilepsy. (She then continued to minimize my friend’s condition by claiming that keto would fix it, even though said keto almost killed her just three months ago.) I thought she was infantilizing myself and my cowokrers when she said that anyone can handle Amazon’s high stress if they just embrace therapy. That conversation did not go well.

Two-thirds of the time, everything is fine, we go for a ride, on a hike, play some video games, etc. The other third…

Not much to say about covid today, except that the US Independence Day will just result in more clusters. From what I’ve heard, folks were barbecuing and celebrating together in very close proximity. Some of the people who decided to do that today will end up dead 2-3 weeks from now. What a strange risk/reward calculation…

Not that Canada is any better. At a grocery store where I picked some snacks for xgf earlier today, there were three types of people: mask-less employees and customers (about 50%), masked customers (the other 50%), and myself, in a mask, glasses, a face shield, and a small spray bottle of 70% alcohol in my hand. I do believe some employees might have actually recoiled in horror after seeing my outfit. Heh. The printed signs around the store claimed that all customers must be masked, but nobody actually enforced it. Just how much of our society relies on the unenforceable unwritten consensus? More than in the US, I’m sure, but still very far from perfect.

So it goes.

Friday night, and I’m trying to learn to laugh. Everything can be viewed as either a tragedy or a comedy. Just a matter of perspective, since none of us can really affect large-scale events. So instead of growing more horrified by the headlines, maybe I can try to find humour in them instead.

The US Independence Day is tomorrow, though everyone’s three-day weekend began today. It’s unclear if that was a deliberate insult or not, but Sonora (a Mexican state) picked this date to close its border with Arizona. American tourists (and their money, and their viral loads) are no longer welcome. It’ll be downright hilarious if Trump’s 2016 campaign promise comes true, if we really do end up with a border wall and if Mexico pays for it – but to keep Americans out, and not the other way around.

Also, a private jet filled with rich Americans was turned around in Italy. Their non-US friends were welcome to go through customs, but they chose to fly back to Colorado with their yankee compadres. Also also, a couple of days ago Toronto’s mayor straight-up said that he doesn’t want his city to get as sick as the US. In normal times, that would’ve been a diplomatic incident. These days, everyone just sort of shrugged and admitted that yes, he does have a point.

There’s some good news from the Oxford vaccine trial. It appears to provide three times more antibodies than found in recovered patients. It’s still far too early to celebrate, and even if it passes all the human trials, it’ll take a while to produce almost 8 billion doses – but still, this might be it. And just in time: at work, they’ve reneged on the October promise. They’re trying to corral us back from WFH. The plan is to have myself and my colleagues start by showing up just one day a week, working on site just a little. That’s as absurd as being “a little pregnant.” I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking on which days the virus is off the clock. There’ll be an interesting discussion with the new management about why precisely I’d much rather stay home. (I’m not the only one appalled by that decision.)

I likely wouldn’t die if I catch covid, and I probably wouldn’t develop lifelong complications (though who knows), but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I got infected at work and passed it on to xgf and her compromised immune system…

Amidst the flood of disturbing headlines, there was a funny one: 7-Eleven is stopping their annual Free Slurpee Day which happens on – you guessed it – July 11th. It usually generates small crowds, so this is a wise choice. My best friend and I used to hit up every 7-Eleven in the neighborhood back when we were hungry college students: it was more symbolic than filling or nutritious, but hey – free food is free food. Here’s hoping there’ll be a delicious raincheck to come when all of this blows over. (Also, kudos to 7-Eleven for showing more responsibility than the US government.

My whittling kit and cut-proof gloves arrived today. Now I just need to find some wood branches and hope they’re from a pliable tree. (With my luck, it’ll be hickory.) Such simple tools, yet so much potential. This may end up becoming a perfect hobby, what with the free supplies and non-existent entry barrier. Easy to learn but hard to master, I bet, but hey, gotta do something even marginally productive with all this free time, eh.

Thursday night. I know I keep saying the world is getting stranger, but come on… Now there’s a video of an osprey holding a shark as it flies over Myrtle Beach, SC. 2020 will never cease to surprise us, and we’re only halfway through!

My online game got to the part where there’s a widespread pandemic, with corrupt politicians being somehow involved. Fortunately, I managed to skip that mission. Things get pretty meta when you need an escape outlet from an escape outlet…

Herman Cain, who was once a frontrunner in the 2012 Republican primary, has been diagnosed with covid and hospitalized. He’s 74, which puts him into the high-risk group. He also mocked the pandemic by taking pictures (maskless, of course) at a crowded Trump rally. I hope he recovers and learns from it. If not… Every death is tragic, but some are less tragic than others. Meanwhile, the governor of Texas has made masks mandatory outdoors, which marks a sharp departure from his previous line of thinking, if you can call it that. It’s quite refreshing to see one’s quest to piss off absolutely everyone around him. Awe-inspiring, really.

More people at work have transferred away, leaving us severely understaffed and overworked. My vacation can’t come soon enough. Incidentally, that wood-cutting thing I was thinking of is called whittling. I spent $50 CAD on some basic supplies (as well as top-notch cut-proof gloves), and they should arrive tomorrow. I’ll just add it to my French lessons and pandemic-chronicling as another fun activity to do while avoiding others.

Bad news with xgf’s as well: the gal pal who offered her the free basement apartment may be coming back. The apartment is too small for two people, so it’s back to the drawing board – but for 39 days there, she had a place of her own…

There’s other worldwide news that I’m not including: the arrest of Epstein’s accomplice (who will almost certainly commit a mysterious suicide), more gun madness in the US, etc. With everything else combined, that does not make for a calm lockdown. Then again, it’s likely that my self-inflicted sleep deprivation is finally making itself known. The weekend is almost here – thing should get mildly better then…

It’s Wednesday night, and the world is somehow getting even stranger. This really is stranger than fiction: college students in Alabama are throwing covid parties with a twist. Unlike earlier parties reported around the world (daring the virus just for the fun of it), this time there’s money involved. They get one person diagnosed with covid, hang out with them, and put money in a pot. The first person to catch covid gets the money. I try not to pay attention to geographical stereotypes, but damn it, Alabama, don’t you already have enough PR problems?..

Today was Canada day. I didn’t go to celebrations last year because I was overworked and didn’t feel like going out. This time around, I’m overworked and have a legitimate reason not to go out. Heh.

Spent the whole day exploring the ESO’s fantasy world instead. I’ve discovered that my character’s horse can jump. I started cosplaying as a mad chef who steals snacks from bad guys’ camps, runs off on his kangaroo horse, and uses said snacks to make culinary masterpieces. Ye gods, that game is fun. (And free! As in cheese!)

…I was going to say that I’m not getting the cabin fever, but having somewhat objectively gone over the signs – yeah, I have the cabin fever. I said this before, but it’s so damn frustrating that there’s nothing any one of us can do to fight the pandemic. It’s like that fairy tale about the tar baby: the best thing you can do is stay where you are and not engage. There’s zero outside stimulation coming, no meetups to attend, and nothing new. (Aside from increasingly disturbing news headlines, that is.) My two-week vacation will begin on July 19th. Hopefully, an entire fortnight of hiking the Canadian wilderness will help reboot my brain. Meanwhile, though – woodcarving! Sounds like a great ultra-low-budget hobby that you can practice anywhere, make great presents, and engage in while watching Netflix and such. And hey, who needs all 10 fingers anyway, eh?

Back to explore the ESO fantasy world on my faithful kangaroo-horse hybrid steed…

It’s Monday night, and I may have found my zen. That is, logging off from work at 5pm sharp and diving straight into the fantasy ESO world, where I fish (while leisurely reading the world news), craft different things, and acquire gold while going on an occasional adventure. That may or may not be an idealized version of what I want to do once I retire…

It’s interesting that most of the world seems to be done with covid, and it’s only China, Brazil, and the US that generate all the disturbing headlines. It’s been officially confirmed: when the EU reopens for international travel on July 1st, tourists from the US won’t be allowed to visit. Canadians are allowed to fly in, though. Kind of confirms that I made the right choice when I decided to move here, eh? (The cut in salary was incredibly painful, but hey, that’s the price of civilization.) China and Brazil are banned as well, and the list will be reviewed every two weeks.

Arizona has finally decided that they might as well try listening to scientists: they’ve shut down bars, gyms, and other public places. And just to think, this is only the first wave hitting them. We’ll all be in the same boat again later this year. (I doubt they will have learned…) Meanwhile, China is skipping the final step of the vaccine testing: they’ll test it out on their military instead. That is… troubling. If that works, they’ll have a strategic military advantage over everyone in the region. (Not to mention the control over the world’s only viable vaccine.) If that doesn’t work, they may end up permanently injuring their own military. That’s one hell of a gamble.

On the personal front… I’ve been texting on and off with a local friend. She got mildly flirtatious. Then she sent me a video of a covid-denier and said he made some good points. Oh well. At least this pandemic is making it easier to remove people with no critical thinking skills out of one’s dating pool. So it goes. I’m still trying to make the most of my one-man lockdown: today at work, I made a breakthrough and created a shiny useful Excel-based tool that had never existed before. Then I logged off at 5pm sharp (work-life harmony FTW) and celebrated by eating a freshly baked Hawaiian pizza on the sunlit backporch while sipping a coke and taking my French daily lessons from Duolingo. Life isn’t all bad.

Sunday night. I can’t express how beautiful and addicting this Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) game is. Ten years from now, it’ll probably seem primitive compared to the virtual reality haptic-feedback games. (As seen in Ready Player One.) Still, here and now, this is something remarkable. Beautiful graphics, lots of subtle humour, the freedom to do anything you want… I must say, having my character gallop around on an immortal hydrophobic horsie while crafting different gizmos is definitely giving me some ideas for the future.

And that’s how I spent pretty much this entire day. Healthy? Hell no. Helpful? Very much so. As escapism goes, this is pretty great. (And did I mention the game is free to play? Heh.)

Elsewhere in the world (well, pretty much just the US) – southern states are starting to obfuscate information: deleting ICU data, not updating the case numbers, etc. This is pointless, but I suppose if you’re stuck in the middle of a shitstorm, you lose your ability to think strategically. Your life becomes a series of tactical mini-shitstorms, and that’s something I can relate to based on my own prior work experience.

South Carolina is particularly bad: they plan to convert school gyms into overflow areas for 3,000 new ICU beds. If this isn’t madness, I don’t know what is.

…and now back to my pandemic-free fantasy world. Heh.