Small Vacation

I am looking forward to taking next week off work, even if I can't go anywhere or do very much. I've been extremely anxious that the city's COVID numbers would be too high, forcing yet another lockdown, and depriving me of the chance to indulge in the simple luxury of being able to workout at the gym and then nap and be lazy for the rest of the day.

That's all I want; I'm not arrogant or deluded enough to think I've 'earned' the right to travel or anything like that. I am fine with the current public health rules as they are, even if it keeps me from seeing my friends and going to shows, but as we approach the 1 year anniversary of the first lockdown, I am going to be honest: even for someone very well adapted to being on my own, I'm beginning to experience fatigue.

I am encouraged by the reported efficacy of the multiple vaccines being distributed, and I just hope that the effort continues to improve. I still have numerous complaints about the provincial and federal handling of the issue, but the good news is that we're making progress — I might be able to close out the year without worrying some motherfucker is going to cough around my parents and kill them.

I'm going to cross my fingers and hope I don't have a grouchy update on the status of Ottawa's COVID-19 numbers in the next week or so. Aside from selfish reasons, getting to the other side of the pandemic is necessary if we are to even begin addressing the issues it catalysed and exacerbated, nevermind the Bigger Picture (climate change, social and economic stratafication, etc).

UPDATE: Of course, within an hour of my posting this, the actual test numbers for the 4th of March were published, with 80 positives in Ottawa. Somehow, sensing my anger, my Google News feed switched to include a number of infuriatingly smarmy articles, with headlines like "enjoy it while it lasts Ottawa, another lockdown is coming." I cannot put into words the white-hot rage that overtook me, the moment my brain parsed that sentence. So yeah; we'll see where this goes...

Published: March 4th, 2021.