Canadian Buffoon's Exhausted Vacation - Update 09/01 - New TR link!

[afwdwfan]

(Yes. That's where they hang out
while I'm trying to cook and not
step on them.)

Perfect spot to wait on you to drop something.

My company ended the crew system at the
beginning of November...
Just as the pandemic's "second wave"
hit the city much harder.

Sounds familiar... we had people working from home and in the office on a shift like rotational basis during the spring/summer. Then back in force for the second wave, when everybody in our office got to enjoy the blessings of passing it around.

And in case you were wondering...
Hot dogs won the contest.

Joey Chestnut came to town? I mean I get it... 2 hot dogs are about the meat equivalent of 1 good burger. So give me 2, right?

I settled for the lower spot, myself.
I don’t have a death wish.
Or at the very least, I don’t have
a severely injured wish.
If I'd been in my teens,
I'd probably try the higher spot.
I'm older and more prone to
injury now.
Then again, I'm stupider, so it's
really a wonder that I didn't leap
from the higher point anyway.

More importantly, apparently nobody triple dog dared you.

I give you... the Nutimik Lake Falls!

Only surpassed in wonder by Schweitzer Falls

Christmas was quiet as well.
With the city under lock down,
we didn't have my folks over
or go to their place for the first
time in years.
I know I'm not alone in that this year.

Not gonna lie... I liked being home with just our family last Christmas and not rushing around.

In fact, DW got the extended family on board that we will get together before or after Christmas, but Christmas Day, we aren't going anywhere.

Question for the reader
(Readers? Plural?
Is that being too presumptuous?)
Hot Dogs… ketchup. Yes or no???

I'd say no to ketchup alone... but as one of multiple condiments, yes. Honestly, do you know what goes into a hot dog? We aren't talking about a high dollar gourmet piece of meat here. So who cares what you put on it. If you like it, go for it. It's not like you're ruining a perfectly grilled fillet with a blob of ketchup.

Does Covid have a catchy slogan yet?

I've always just called it "the rona"

Sorry. The last 18 months have been… un-fun.

She reached forward and I said,
“It’s a…”
<POKE!>
“…wasp nest.”

Oops!

That could have ended up significantly worse!

I’m sure you know the drill.
Dump your carry-on on the belt.
Remove your own belt and anything
Else that’s metal or has metal in it.
Pray your pants don’t fall down.
Shuffle through the detector,
praying all the while that you
haven’t forgotten anything metallic
on your person.
Stand with arms raised in the
device whose sole purpose
is to let hidden agents snicker
at your virtually nude body
as your pants inexorably begin
their descent to your ankles.
Hold onto your pants while
you wait for your belt to show up.
Look on with dismay as your
carry-on is once again, selected
for “random” screening.

This is so ridiculously accurate!

And the long line spoke well
as to its popularity.
I got in line and dreamed of
delicious chowder.
The line barely moved, but
eventually, after about 30-40
minutes, I got to the front of the line.
Oh boy!
“One seafood chowder, please!”
“Sorry, we’re out.”

I had brought a small cooler with me.
Before I left my hotel, I filled it
1/3 of the way with a Ziploc bag of ice.
I asked if they could fill the cooler
the rest of the way with Nanaimo Bars.
They complied and I was able bring
Kay back about 10 bars.
(Which, a couple days later,
when I got back home,
she stated “Oh. My. God. Best ever!!!”
So, mission accomplished. )

Well worth that 2 hour drive to avoid an hour drive.

I took that photo on a run I took
when it was about -25C/-13F.

I slipped the face covering down off
my nose, but otherwise... That's what you do.

No, otherwise, you don't go outdoors to run when the air is too cold to breathe.

Imagine it if you can...
Hundreds of fantastically shaped
ice clumps ranging in size from a
Volkswagen Beetle to a Semi-trailer.
And they're all melting... dripping
water onto the rock that supports them.

And if you close your eyes...
it sounds just like you're standing in
the middle of a summer rain shower.
Except the sun is warming you and
you are not getting wet.

Or it makes you have to go...

A 17C/33F degree temperature drop
in about five minutes.

And I thought weather swings in the midwest are ridiculous.

One day, as luck would have it,
when my parents were visiting,
we were able to witness a fairly
rare sighting of a mother Polar Bear
swimming with her cub.

I thought polar bears were an every day thing???

Oh, yeah, that's right. You're dispelling Canada myths.

Living in a town where at any moment
you can come face to face with a 1,300lb bear
makes life a bit more... interesting.

I knew the stereotype was true!!! Polar bears wandering the streets!

Most people don't lock their doors
so that if someone needs to quickly
escape a bear, they can run inside.

I mean, can't the bears open doors too? Or just tear it off the hinges?

 

[pkondz]

I loved this update!

Hi Tracy!
Glad you liked it!

It kinda reminding me of the opening to "O Canada": "Canada, big, wide, and very, very cold" and "snows 24 hours a day"

Sometimes it feels like that!

But then of course you added some springtime and other non-snowy pictures, so I guess you're in cahoots with Martin Short trying to dispel some of these myths?

So... is it working???

Your descriptions are just amazing, I practically felt like I was there with you!

Thank you!
That's very kind of you to say.

(And wish I was... but in a very heavy parka )

You'd be welcome... parka and all.

 

[pkondz]

Perfect spot to wait on you to drop something.

They have it down to a science.

Sounds familiar... we had people working from home and in the office on a shift like rotational basis during the spring/summer. Then back in force for the second wave, when everybody in our office got to enjoy the blessings of passing it around.

Wait... what?
We have pretty strict rules
about when you can or can't
go to work.
If you're symptomatic
or in close contact with someone...
So far there's been extraordinarily
few cases at work.

Joey Chestnut came to town? I mean I get it... 2 hot dogs are about the meat equivalent of 1 good burger. So give me 2, right?

Depends.
Foot longs?

More importantly, apparently nobody triple dog dared you.

Thank goodness for that!
I'd be dead!

Only surpassed in wonder by Schweitzer Falls

Yes!

Not gonna lie... I liked being home with just our family last Christmas and not rushing around.

There was a certain...
peacefulness about it.

In fact, DW got the extended family on board that we will get together before or after Christmas, but Christmas Day, we aren't going anywhere.

And just like that,
an new tradition is born.

I'd say no to ketchup alone... but as one of multiple condiments, yes.

Honestly, do you know what goes into a hot dog? We aren't talking about a high dollar gourmet piece of meat here. So who cares what you put on it. If you like it, go for it. It's not like you're ruining a perfectly grilled fillet with a blob of ketchup.

Hey, that's true.
I'd never consider sullying
a nice steak with condiments...

I've always just called it "the rona"

I've heard that...
and a bit surprised
I don't use it.

That could have ended up significantly worse!

We got lucky.
They seemed to swarm above
the next without looking too
hard for anyone close by.

This is so ridiculously accurate!

Well worth that 2 hour drive to avoid an hour drive.

At least Kay thought so.

No, otherwise, you don't go outdoors to run when the air is too cold to breathe.

Funny thing.
I've been not that well
over the last few weeks
and just started back up
with running yesterday.
It wasn't that cold,
(about 30F) but I was
coughing with...
I don't know what to call it...
Lung burn? Cold chest issue?

Gotta get back in the groove.

Or it makes you have to go...

Go ahead.
It's the North.
No one around to see you pee.

I thought polar bears were an every day thing???

Oh, yeah, that's right. You're dispelling Canada myths.

Nah.
Every other day.

I knew the stereotype was true!!! Polar bears wandering the streets!

Well, it's better than
in the malls.

I mean, can't the bears open doors too? Or just tear it off the hinges?

Actually...
Usually they will either
shoo a bear out of town,
or trap it and then transport
it farther north...
But this one time,
while I was there,
a bear was in town and
trying to break through
a living room window
when there were two kids inside.

They shot that one.

And just outside of town,
there's a small settlement.
They occasionally get broken
into if a bear smells the food.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wait... what?
We have pretty strict rules
about when you can or can't
go to work.
If you're symptomatic
or in close contact with someone...
So far there's been extraordinarily
few cases at work.

Well... long story. But you're good at writing them so I'll try. Our rules have seemed to be a floating target since day 1 and nobody really knows what they are. Not even our HR guy.

We are an essential business that never closed as we receive and ship grain. We load about 1 unit train of corn every week throughout most of the year. What we did when this thing first started was separate our office staff from operations. Makeshift second break areas, etc to keep people apart, and a lot of our operations is either outside or in areas where distancing is easy to facilitate so we avoided problems there. In the office, we have 6 people. We moved 2 people to work from home every day for a few months, then we had 2 people in our scalehouse that rotated days and 2 people downstairs in the office that rotated days. By summer we were back to everyone in the office.

Fall harvest is our busy season. In our office area, we usually have 2 in our scale house, 1 in accounting, 2 in merchandising and me doing whatever it is I'm supposed to do... delegating... that's the word.
So mid-October one of my merchandisers comes to work on Monday after being unknowingly exposed on Sunday. By Wednesday she has covid. Well all 6 of us had been exposed as we were all in the office with her 2 days prior. We couldn't all go home for 2 weeks. So accountant got sent to work from home (basically so she'd be eligible to return in 2 weeks when our merchandiser was cleared to come back - you know, in case it hits the fan), scale house people started working solo and rotating, I stayed in my office and the one merchandiser not sick had the rest of our downstairs office to himself. A few days later scale house worker 1 goes down. Then it was just 3 of us. A week later, scale house worker 2 gets it. Now there are 2 of us. A couple of days later I feel like sh... poop. And my merchandiser looks like death. We both get tested and I send him home. So it is just me. And this is when we had to wait 2 days for test results. I worked alone in the scale house during the busy season for 2 days just to keep the doors open. I locked the office doors so nobody could get in and turned the phones off and forwarded calls to our corp office. My last day there I felt so bad that I would lay down on the floor even if just for a few minutes between trucks coming in. Thankfully we were at a point where the merchandiser who first had it could return and the first scale house worker that had it would come back in a few days and our accountant returned to the office to answer phones. So when I left that night I went through about 4 cans of lysol soaking every surface in the office, I changed the air filter in the HVAC and our patient zero came in the next day to take over.

Our corporate office at one point offered to send us someone from their location as we were dwindling down to out last 1 or 2 people. I basically asked my GM if he was nuts and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not sending someone else to our facility. I hope I never have a fall like that one ever again.

The good thing was that at home, from the time the first person tested positive, I started isolating myself to one room upstairs and had my own bathroom that nobody else used. So I stayed like that for a month and nobody else got sick... that time.

Actually...
Usually they will either
shoo a bear out of town,
or trap it and then transport
it farther north...
But this one time,
while I was there,
a bear was in town and
trying to break through
a living room window
when there were two kids inside.

They shot that one.

And just outside of town,
there's a small settlement.
They occasionally get broken
into if a bear smells the food.

Wow... yeah that's interesting. I guess part of my thinking of bears opening doors goes to my experience with black bears- which are probably infinitely more familiar with people and our technology. I'm sure you've seen videos of those things going through opening car doors, etc looking for food. They're crafty and know how to use those paws!

Last summer we took a vacation to the Smokies. We stayed in a cabin and went out for a walk one evening. Happened to round a corner and saw 2 black bears. We kept our distance but watched... they were going cabin to cabin, walking up on the porch and looking for food. They didn't care if people were around or not. Didn't act aggressive, didn't act scared. Just didn't care.

 

[franandaj]

Well... long story. But you're good at writing them so I'll try. Our rules have seemed to be a floating target since day 1 and nobody really knows what they are. Not even our HR guy.

Wow! Andy! That sounds absolutely awful. I'm glad you made it through and protected your family.

 

[pkondz]

Well... long story. But you're good at writing them so I'll try. Our rules have seemed to be a floating target since day 1 and nobody really knows what they are. Not even our HR guy.

We are an essential business that never closed as we receive and ship grain. We load about 1 unit train of corn every week throughout most of the year. What we did when this thing first started was separate our office staff from operations. Makeshift second break areas, etc to keep people apart, and a lot of our operations is either outside or in areas where distancing is easy to facilitate so we avoided problems there. In the office, we have 6 people. We moved 2 people to work from home every day for a few months, then we had 2 people in our scalehouse that rotated days and 2 people downstairs in the office that rotated days. By summer we were back to everyone in the office.

Fall harvest is our busy season. In our office area, we usually have 2 in our scale house, 1 in accounting, 2 in merchandising and me doing whatever it is I'm supposed to do... delegating... that's the word.
So mid-October one of my merchandisers comes to work on Monday after being unknowingly exposed on Sunday. By Wednesday she has covid. Well all 6 of us had been exposed as we were all in the office with her 2 days prior. We couldn't all go home for 2 weeks. So accountant got sent to work from home (basically so she'd be eligible to return in 2 weeks when our merchandiser was cleared to come back - you know, in case it hits the fan), scale house people started working solo and rotating, I stayed in my office and the one merchandiser not sick had the rest of our downstairs office to himself. A few days later scale house worker 1 goes down. Then it was just 3 of us. A week later, scale house worker 2 gets it. Now there are 2 of us. A couple of days later I feel like sh... poop. And my merchandiser looks like death. We both get tested and I send him home. So it is just me. And this is when we had to wait 2 days for test results. I worked alone in the scale house during the busy season for 2 days just to keep the doors open. I locked the office doors so nobody could get in and turned the phones off and forwarded calls to our corp office. My last day there I felt so bad that I would lay down on the floor even if just for a few minutes between trucks coming in. Thankfully we were at a point where the merchandiser who first had it could return and the first scale house worker that had it would come back in a few days and our accountant returned to the office to answer phones. So when I left that night I went through about 4 cans of lysol soaking every surface in the office, I changed the air filter in the HVAC and our patient zero came in the next day to take over.

Our corporate office at one point offered to send us someone from their location as we were dwindling down to out last 1 or 2 people. I basically asked my GM if he was nuts and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not sending someone else to our facility. I hope I never have a fall like that one ever again.

The good thing was that at home, from the time the first person tested positive, I started isolating myself to one room upstairs and had my own bathroom that nobody else used. So I stayed like that for a month and nobody else got sick... that time.

Quite the story! Man... you guys took it hard!
We're essential services as well,
but what we did was split staff into two crews.
If one member of one crew got sick,
they could quarantine the whole crew
and still have enough left to run the operation,
albeit on a skeleton crew that would get zero days off.
Neither crew was allowed to come into contact with the other
and there were strict cleaning protocols in between crews
and even between members of the same crew.

Wow... yeah that's interesting. I guess part of my thinking of bears opening doors goes to my experience with black bears- which are probably infinitely more familiar with people and our technology. I'm sure you've seen videos of those things going through opening car doors, etc looking for food. They're crafty and know how to use those paws!

I wonder if it's a size/flexibility/familiarization issue?
Polar bears have less chance of encountering
human made obstacles.
And while a black bear paw averages 5" across
(7" on a really big one)
a polar bear's paw averages 12" across.

Last summer we took a vacation to the Smokies. We stayed in a cabin and went out for a walk one evening. Happened to round a corner and saw 2 black bears. We kept our distance but watched... they were going cabin to cabin, walking up on the porch and looking for food. They didn't care if people were around or not. Didn't act aggressive, didn't act scared. Just didn't care.

Huh.
Bit surprised they weren't more leery of humans.

 

[Steppesister]

Hi There!

Just back online after over a week without nets. Finally life is starting to get back to normal after the storms, at least for us. Just in time to move to Arizona. Lots of transition (always) but looking forward to being in the sunshine and setting up my new digs. Hope this Christmas finds you well, PK. Also, and sorry to hijack your report, it's great to see you @afwdwfan ! We've missed you.

 

[pkondz]

Hi There!

Just back online after over a week without nets. Finally life is starting to get back to normal after the storms, at least for us. Just in time to move to Arizona. Lots of transition (always) but looking forward to being in the sunshine and setting up my new digs. Hope this Christmas finds you well, PK. Also, and sorry to hijack your report, it's great to see you @afwdwfan ! We've missed you.

I read about your experience
over on your thread.
Wow, what an experience.
Just glad you and yours are okay.

 

[Steppesister]

I read about your experience
over on your thread.
Wow, what an experience.
Just glad you and yours are okay.

We certainly dodged the bullet. Thanks!

 

[Tracy161]

Sometimes it feels like that!

I bet! I was cold just reading the update

You'd be welcome... parka and all.

I'm on my way! On second thought... maybe I'll wait for spring. You and Martin Short both did a lot to dispel the myths, but I did read your complete update and New York winters are already way more than I can handle so...

 

[pkondz]

I bet! I was cold just reading the update

Sorry!

I'm on my way! On second thought... maybe I'll wait for spring.

Clever girl...

I really don't recommend
winter visits...
Unless your #1 priority is
seeing Northern Lights.

You and Martin Short both did a lot to dispel the myths,

Yes. He consulted me when
he made his movie.

but I did read your complete update and New York winters are already way more than I can handle so...

So... I won't expect you to
show up on my doorstep
for a few months yet.

 

[franandaj]

ooooohhhh... a jacket!

I'm going on four days having been here and it's still in the closet. Then again we have only left the house twice. Once Thursday to go to Trader Joe's, and Friday to pick up Seafood for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Which part... the running?
Or the temperature?

Or both!

Yes.

If we didn't leave the house
when it was that cold...
We'd starve to death

You don't have Instacart or Door Dash up there?

I checked and Life is a Highway
did reach #6 in the US in 1992.

In the Fall of 1983 I completely stopped following popular music, and immersed myself in the oldies, circa 1780s - 1960s. The only reason I knew about Michael Jackson's hair catching on fire back then was because there were some girls who lived in the dorms that had been at the taping where it happened and I heard them talking about it when they got home.

Me too.
Haven't read cartoons since.
I do buy the paper on Sunday
(for the puzzles)
but don't care for any of the
newer (to me) 'toons in it.

I remember when reading Doonesbury and The Far Side was a Sunday Highlight.

Correct.
Actually, Lynn is where
I first got online, with AOL.

But. But. You're Canadian!

Cooked all the time.
Don't think I ever bought
a frozen meal up there.
Not even sure there were
frozen meals in the store!

OK so you said there wasn't fresh food. What could you cook?

Whoa.

Mid February is our coldest time.
Thoughts of Spring don't even
occur yet.

Whoa.

By February we have usually received all the precipitation we can expect for the year and I start to shift back to wearing capris. I put away the longer sleeve shirts, and start breaking out the tank tops again.

Okay, in that case...
I could stand at the base
of that one and reach up
and (maybe!) touch the point
where it widens out like a mushroom.

OK. That's big!

Lynn Lake was 1991.
Churchill was... 1994? 1995?
It was winter of 1994/1995.
I just don't remember the month.

Wow! At that time you were already married and starting your life...I was actually in turmoil those years...although somewhere in there I did get married as well.

1995 began the new period of life..

 

[pkondz]

I'm going on four days having been here and it's still in the closet. Then again we have only left the house twice. Once Thursday to go to Trader Joe's, and Friday to pick up Seafood for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

How was your dinner?

You don't have Instacart or Door Dash up there?

Instacart, no.
But Door Dash, yes.

In the Fall of 1983 I completely stopped following popular music, and immersed myself in the oldies, circa 1780s - 1960s. The only reason I knew about Michael Jackson's hair catching on fire back then was because there were some girls who lived in the dorms that had been at the taping where it happened and I heard them talking about it when they got home.

I only heard about
it because everyone was
talking about it.
I stopped listening to pop music
about the same time I started
yelling at kids to stay off my lawn!

I remember when reading Doonesbury and The Far Side was a Sunday Highlight.

Never got into Doonesbury, but...
Far Side! Yes!
And Calvin & Hobbes.

But. But. You're Canadian!

Sorry. They should have called
it COL. :laughing;

But, don't forget I live in America, too.
Just like you.

And Mexicans...
And Costa Ricans...
And Brazilians...
And Uruguayans...
Etc...

OK so you said there wasn't fresh food. What could you cook?

A lot of spaghetti.

By February we have usually received all the precipitation we can expect for the year

Really! Huh!

I start to shift back to wearing capris. I put away the longer sleeve shirts, and start breaking out the tank tops again.

I will be wearing a winter coat
for months, still...

Wow! At that time you were already married and starting your life...I was actually in turmoil those years...although somewhere in there I did get married as well.

1995 began the new period of life..

Sometimes... it just takes time
to find oneself, don't you think?

 

[franandaj]

How was your dinner?

I posted pictures on the Book of Face.

But, don't forget I live in America, too.
Just like you.

And Mexicans...
And Costa Ricans...
And Brazilians...
And Uruguayans...
Etc...

Maybe true, but you don't live in 'Merica!

A lot of spaghetti.

OK I can see that!

I will be wearing a winter coat
for months, still...

And I packed my jacket in the suitcase after I got home from dinner last night without wearing it while out at night. For the drive up I left it in the back of the car in case I needed it when we got farther north. Since it's got no use, might as well just leave it in the suitcase.

 

[pkondz]

I posted pictures on the Book of Face.

I don't FB very much.
Mostly a quick glance
maybe once a day,
so I tend to miss... everything.

Maybe true, but you don't live in 'Merica!

True!

And I packed my jacket in the suitcase after I got home from dinner last night without wearing it while out at night

It's -22F here right now.

 

[franandaj]

It's -22F here right now.

I just walked to the Chiropractor in a 3/4 length sleeve top and long pants (nothing special) and got a text from Jenny saying, "It's freezing!"

I checked the temperature and it was 54°.

 

[pkondz]

I just walked to the Chiropractor in a 3/4 length sleeve top and long pants (nothing special) and got a text from Jenny saying, "It's freezing!"

I checked the temperature and it was 54°.

I just walked wearing nothing but pajamas, slippers and a robe.

Of course that was inside.

 

[pkondz]

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Just reading your update about going outside in the cold and snow made me exhausted.

I enjoyed reading about your summer trips. Gorgeous photos and I’m glad you got to have some excursions!

Your last two updates about the places you’ve lived were phenomenal. Neither of those places is where you currently live am I correct?

They both sound like amazingly interesting places to visit but it definitely sounds like living there has an interesting set of challenges.

 

[pkondz]

Just reading your update about going outside in the cold and snow made me exhausted.

It didn't make you cold??

I enjoyed reading about your summer trips. Gorgeous photos and I’m glad you got to have some excursions!

Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed them.

Your last two updates about the places you’ve lived were phenomenal.

Thanks a lot!
High praise!

Neither of those places is where you currently live am I correct?

That's right.
I live in Winnipeg now.
Still cold, but... not quite
as insanely cold as up North.

They both sound like amazingly interesting places to visit but it definitely sounds like living there has an interesting set of challenges.

I don't really recommend Lynn Lake
unless you are an avid fisherperson.
We would get people flying in
during the summer months just for that.

Churchill on the other hand...
I highly recommend.


Love your new avatar, by the way!