corona lockdown day 198

 Today was a rainy day but there was a short part where I could hang laundry. It didn't dry completely.

My computer had technical difficulties and I had to get it restarted to work again. That took a surprisingly long time.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that I tried a different type of mask for Rustle as the last time and hour in my shopping mask was a bit too much so this time I tried a more scarf-like one and that was a bit better.

Tomorrow I have a chefs plate box and a frozen box arriving so that is something to look forward to. The most exciting time of the week.

corona lockdown day 197

 Well, today was bad for the numbers and our numbers in residence are growing so not good things.

But other than that work went well, I biked downtown to drop off the rustle deposit. Made lemon pepper chicken from the frozen box. Rustle had  a prayer meeting in person with 7 people. Those were the good things.

corona lockdown day 196

 Rustle had its first in person service at 9am today. I slept in and needed to pick up some things for James so I opted for the 11am online service.

I went to Giant Tiger which was pretty quiet and enjoyable to shop quickly and efficiently.

James has decided he likes ketchup chips. He also is really enjoying Trenton. They are in a hockey bubble and so far so good. 1 week down.

Generally when I order the chefs plate there are many dishes that are not acceptable for my picky tastes so it makes it easy to pick the 3 that I am ok with or like. I have a week in late October that I am having trouble with the decision though so I thought I would talk through it here. These are the options:

1. Spicy Korean beef tacos- I have made these before and they were ok but I like to try making new things

2. One pot Italian meatball soup- this looks yummy and have never made before so it makes it a YES.

3. Peanut satay chow mein- I don't like peanuts

4. Pan seared chicken and bacon cream sauce- has mushrooms which I hate

5. Souvlaki style pork chops- I think I have made this one before- I found the pork chops pretty tough so not high on my list of approved meals

6. Diner burgers and oven fries- not too keen on burgers

7. Mediterranean baked feta with spiced pita chips- a good possibility but the last time I made a feta dish I overcooked it and it wasn't as good as it could be. If I get this I need to watch the stove more carefully.

8. Creamy cheese and pepper pasta with cauliflower- I think I have made this one before and it was good

9. Naked turkey burrito bowl- I've had a number of their burrito bowls before and they are ok. Not sure why this one is called naked

10. Refried bean and sweet potato burritos- other people in the family object to sweet potatoes

So other than #2 I don't know which way I am going with this week. Let me know if you have thoughts for me! Note that there are more choices than in the past and now 4 veggie options for vegetarians. I have referral codes if you want to try it, just let me know!

corona lockdown day 195

 My green bin was visited by a racoon last night. It was spilled all over and there were tiny little hand prints so I could tell who it was!

I went to Shoppers in the morning and they were out of TP again. I guess moving into the yellow with 9 active cases does that.

It was a beautiful day so I walked to Rustle to pick up the financial things. I have been doing mainly biking but thought it was so nice I would walk. I could tell I had not been doing much walking as it tired me more than it used to. After Rustle I walked to 661 Montreal which is going to be the new housing hub for the city. It is still under construction. I found the K&P trail right by it with lots of needle disposal sites. I walked a bit of it.

Made a nice stew for dinner.

On the breakwater park cams it seems as though police are patrolling it in the middle of the night.

corona lockdown day 194

 Today we had a number of training sessions and I had meetings. In the evening, I made new nitrite/sugar free bacon and it was WAY better than regular bacon. I'll never go back! It tasted much better than regular bacon. I worked in the evening to get report marks out.

James did a golf tournament today after his skate and he did all 18 holes with his team. First time golfing. He had fun.

corona lockdown day 193

 I was up early today to get laundry and dishes done before we had a meeting about how things will look for the winter term. Then there was a couple hour break before my next meeting so I biked over to lake ontario park. It was a nice day and nice at the park so very refreshing before hours of meetings. The meetings finished about 6:30 and I made some chicken from the frozen box with rice and veg.

James texted that he has eaten Jalapeno and cheddar doritos and was not sure if he was going to survive. I was impressed that he ate more than one but I really don't understand the flavor.

There is a positive covid case in our residences but not on one of my kids floors. They are scaling back the people allowed to get tests I guess because too much testing was being requested. However, I think for peace of mind it was always nice for people to get tested if they were worried.

corona lockdown day 192

 Today was a lovely day outside, I thought about popping down to Lake Ontario park but with so many meetings and a test running today I was not able to get away.

James got a slight head hit skating today but seems to be ok.

My pom pom flowers have not turned white yet. I am wondering if that is still going to happen?

corona lockdown day 191

 Today I dealt with a major technical issue for the morning when I had hoped to be working on the timetable but I did complete the Winter timetable plan in the evening, which felt like a good accomplishment. I still have to transcribe it all into the Registrars spreadsheet which will take many hours but it is good to have the plan done.

James seems to be having a good time. There are only 4 defencemen at his session in the camp so he gets quite a work out.

corona lockdown day 189 and 190

 I slept in on Sunday and didn't go to the in person service. James packed his bag in the last hour before he left so he did forget a few things. He is now in Trenton with a nice family and a boy about his age. He was a bit concerned about it being awkward but the other boy is very friendly so I think things are going ok. He made it through the first day at least.

Squirrel Freezes after Feeding on Fresh Snacks || ViralHog

corona lockdown day 188

 Today I tried to catch up on email.

The covid test result site was down most of the evening but just came back up and James' result is not yet available.

He has a billet family and the son evidently knows James so that should be nice for him.

The rules are very strict for the hockey bubble and everyone is aware how tenuous this is. Kingston is still not doing badly  with only 5 active cases but Ottawa nearby seems to have a lot of problems right now.

corona lockdown day 187

 Today was a day of many meetings all day long. But I think many things were accomplished. 

The Kingston cases took an interesting turn as a Tim Horton's shut down indicating an employee tested positive but the Health unit indicated that it had no such test. So there were some discrepancies there.

We have a confirmed Queen's student and walmart employee case and I think 1 health care provider in the last week but no increase today.

James logged into the test site today but his test is still pending.

corona lockdown day 186

 I suppose today was an interesting day in the covid landscape as James needed to get a test for the camp he wants to attend next week. With the return to school and some schools needing negative tests and a walmart employee and queen's student positive, this seemed to lead to an upsurgence of test needs and so the lineup was 4 hours long. He made it through eventually but had hockey right after and he did not play well as he had been standing for 4 hours and had not eaten much. Thanks covid!

Weeeee! Funny jumping trucks

corona lockdown day 184 and 185

 These 2 days I have been buried in email and haven't gone out much.

Yesterday James and I made a quick trip to the bank machine that he used for the first time. It was hilarious to watch him through the window in this foray into adulthood.

The COVID cases in Kingston have begun to creep up. We had a walmart employee test positive and so there will probably be a lot of hysteria at the testing center. Today the line ups were all the way around the Leon's center and it is a big center. James needs to go and get tested tomorrow to be eligible for the camp at Trenton on the weekend so hopefully that will work out and I'll update on the wait time later.

corona lockdown day 183

 Today I went to Food Basics first thing in the morning. Weirdly it was very busy. The busiest time since I've been in the pandemic. Most of their sales were sold out as well so I'm not sure what everyone was doing there! There was only one cash open so the line was a whole aisle long to get out. So I spent a lot more time in the store that I had in many month. So that was not a great experience.

Our outdoor service was cancelled due to rain and instead it was an online service instead.

corona lockdown day 182

 Today I woke at 7am because I had left my alarm on but this was ok as I wanted to do some exploring of the Rideau trail. I had carefully looked at all of the maps to find the entrance and it was good that I had otherwise I likely would not have found it. It took me about 30 minutes to walk there (I didn't bike because I wasn't sure where I was going or if there would be any bike parking (there were some signs that I could have parked at so that was ok) The other disadvantage to taking the bike means that I can't do a loop as I would need to retrieve the bike.

At any rate, I walked out bath road to the intersection point. I walked the way that it had indicated on the map and found I was following some deep red arrows  which I interpreted (I think correctly). It was kind of interesting to be a trail like this in the middle of the city. I only saw one other person on the trail and it was a jogger, which was weird as the terrain was not really jogging friendly. The first bit was pretty open- there were some additional blue trails that seemed very overgrown- they were supposed to be loop trails  but I did not try them. Then the trail veered to the right and it was much more closed in and muddy, which I wasn't expecting. The end bit was VERY overgrown and then it spit me out onto Parkway Street, then I turned onto Princess and walked home stopping at Shoppers on the way.

Then I biked to the other shoppers. Gatorade was on sale. Now just preparing for my training session at 2:30

corona lockdown day 181

 At 5am I woke as there was some animal screeching. There were dogs barking. I am not sure what happened but I did get back to sleep until 7am.

Yesterday there were so many meetings but today was a bit better, only 1 training session. I have another one tomorrow. I managed to get a bit caught up on email.

corona lockdown day 180

 a long day of preparations, email and organization.

chef's plate is on meatball week as there were 2 meatball dishes. Meatball soup today.

at the end of the day I read this with sadness as Izzy was one of my project managers

https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/queen-s-remembers-isabelle-brisson

corona lockdown day 179

 I took a walk this morning before work started and then spent the day getting everything rolling.

James went to school today as he had to fill out some paperwork. He has the first octomester off but will be returning for a final year. He saw a lot of his friends which he enjoyed.

We are now starting to work toward scheduling for the Winter term.

My amazon order that I completed on Sept 5 and that amazon said would arrive Sept 4 that shipped on Sept 6 and immediately ran into unforseen errors and may only arrive on Sept 11 arrived today Sept 8!

corona lockdown day 178

 Today was a very long day as we geared up for day 1 tomorrow. I went to Loblaws in the morning. Then biked to Rustle. There was a van in our parking lot with its door open. I don't know why I'm guessing someone had gone through it. I spent a lot of the day answering email or writing email. I biked over to see Sarah as well. Have lots of financial things to sort out for Rustle this week.

corona lockdown day 177

 Went to Loblaws first thing in the morning, then biked down to the waterfront to see how the pier was locked up. There were some scattered people by the waterfront. Nothing to worry about. There was fencing all around the pier. As I biked down there was clear evidence of some parties the night before but not like it normally was in previous years, so things have scaled back. But have they scaled COVID level back? We'll only know in a few weeks. For now Kingston is holding tight.

Rustle service was online but we are looking to try an outdoor service next week.

Had lots of work to do to get the course up and running. Things are indeed progressing slowly but they are progressing.

I had ordered from amazon- James needed a new charging cord for his phone as his current one is damaged+a new bamboo mask + some pringles. I got a notification that it shipped today. Then I got a notification a few minutes later that there had been unforeseen delays so who knows what that is about this time!

corona lockdown day 176

 Went to Shoppers in the morning and it was a pretty successful visit. I did some things around the house during the day. The laundry dried well but I had to get it in before the rain. Made peameal bacon for dinner. Liked it a lot as it is far less greasy than other bacon and it tasted good. Worked for a number of hours in the evening, still trying to get the course ready to launch! There was some party noise in the evening but that seems to have dissipated now.

corona lockdown day 175

 Today was a long day of emails and working on the course. I got the gradebook and dropboxes set up and we are almost ready to launch the course but it was a long haul and there is still a lot to do.

I did go to Food Basics in the morning and it was the best experience there so far in the pandemic as it was relatively quiet and there was more than one cashier on so I made it through pretty quickly. Even bought a bit of meat, which is rare. There wasn't much good there but they had some pepper steaks that James likes.

At the pier they have started enforcing the 9pm curfew as they said that people had not been physical distancing. So they have enforcement of distancing during the day as well, somehow.

While yesterday did not seem to be a good laundry drying day, today made up for it. There was a good breeze and sunshine.

corona lockdown day 174

 Today was a day spent mainly in front of the computer. We ran a training session which was good but in other areas I made no progress. I am hoping to make progress on the course tomorrow.

The dinner was some nice chicken with green beans and warm potato salad. It took a long time to make, but it was quite tasty.

corona lockdown day 173

 Happy 75th to my dad!

Today we were making some progress on the course. I went to Loblaws first thing in the morning and things were still pretty quiet. James and I biked down to his school to pick up his yearbook from last year. They had contactless pickup outside the school and it went very quickly. James went to a trainer today and also tried his hand at driving!

corona lockdown day 172

 Today was a day of work from dawn to dusk or rather midnight. I think I sorted out most of my enrollment issues. I took a few breaks to make meals and to mow the lawn but not much exciting.

corona lockdown day 171

 I biked downtown in the morning to drop off the Rustle deposit. Since the start of the lockdown I have never seen anyone else in this banks vestibule but today there was a lady standing waiting to be let in the branch. I was in the vestibule for less than 30 seconds. Then to return home I walked up the hill and ran into Diana so we had a chat to catch up.

Lots of meetings today. Made a stew for dinner. I was working on browning the diced beef and I slightly burned the pot so I had to take a break and wash it out. It was a very nice stew made in about an hour so I was pleased.

Then in the evening we had a prayer meeting at Rustle. That was the longest I have worn a mask. I was pretty exhausted after - I don't know if it was the mast or seeing 8 people at once that did it!