Just Another day ...

Today's song is: Winds of Change ... Scorpions

It is getting very repetitive in our daily routine under self isolation. Sleep until the sun comes up, make coffee and toast. Read my favourite news sources online, make bacon for Jaidan and toast for and coffee for Thavorn. By this time it is around 8 pm and time to do some 4 hours programming until lunch time.

At lunch, Thavorn makes something for Jaidan and herself and I make a hot dog, or hamburger, or soup for myself. After lunch I do another hour of programming and then think about exercising or a walk, NetFlix, or read until supper.

I am also doing research online for ways to occupy ourselves during the next month. I just ordered another Lego Technics car that I will use as a base to design my own remotely controlled super car.

https://youtu.be/mwote7m2oBg

It would be nice if Spring appeared and it got warmer and dried up then going for a walk/run would be more enjoyable.  Things could be worse, we could be locked down in Thailand without health insurance!

I have about 4 packages coming via Amazon, Lego Canada, and eBay. It is good those folks are still currently working although I expect that to change shortly.

I think I will order a checker board and teach Jaidan how to play.

TTYL

Passing Time

Today's song is: Little Deuce Coup ... Beach Boys

I purchased some items online to pass our time during the isolation period. One of the items I purchase was Lego Technics Rally Car that I had been looking at for a couple of years. I figured it would take be about 5 days to build leisurely but I was not counting on Thavorn getting involved. I new she loved putting together Lego but Technics is much harder and the car had over 1500 pieces. She finished it off at midnight last night after about 6 hours of building.

The next step is to motorise the vehicle and Thavorn, but mainly Jaidan is looking to that as he will be able to drive the car around our home via an app on his tablet or my smart phone. It is an expensive proposition to motorise the car, almost as much as the car cost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMievDMoF_I

I ordered the motors (1 to drive the wheels and a stepper notor to do the steering. from Lego Canada's web site and the controller from Buwizz.com. I think they are a Russian, Slovenia,  or Hungarian company.

It is a great time to be a kid again.

TTYL

Just Plain Stupid

Today's song is: Thoughtless ...  Evanescence

It became painfully clear to me in Thailand that we had to get out asap once my basketball coaching was over which ended on march 1st.  Our flights were booked well in advance and we had our fingers crossed we would get out.  Would we have flown to Thailand after mid January? Definitely not as that would have been irresponsible and just plain stupid.

However, many Canadians did exactly that and our clamouring for the government to fly them back. Almost all of the countries are more dangerous than Thailand. Sometimes complete families are involved.  What were the parents thinking?

I was just reading on CBC about a family that left February 27th for Guatemala. Stupid, and of course they want the government to get them out. Where is personal responsibility in all this.  I think it may be time to use a little Darwinism in our decision making. Dumb Fucks should be on their own!

The danger is not only to themselves but they are also importing into Canada, whatever they are afraid of.  The snowbirds arriving this week are stopping in Canadian border towns to buy groceries when they are supposed to be heading home to quarantine themselves for 14 days. I would not want to have been in a border town or an international Canadian airport last week when over 1 million Canadians arrived home.  They should have pulled the plug and arrived at least one month earlier.

Then there are the Millennials who seem bent on still partying on spring break or in town in larger groups. I wonder how they will feel when they infect their loved one (other than themselves) such as parents or grand parents.

In order to keep the Millennial generation analytically meaningful, and to begin looking at what might be unique about the next cohort, Pew Research Center decided a year ago to use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials for our future work. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation.

It is time to start calling these individuals out as they are damaging our society by their thoughtless and dangerous actions.  But, perhaps it is no longer PC to do so.  We may hurt their feelings.

Yesterday and overnight we received about 3 inches of snow. Spring is here :-)

On another note, the pool table has arrived and hopefully will be up and levelled over the next few days. This will help prevent cabin fever setting in.

TTYL

Wanted

Today's song is: Only Human ... Jonas Brothers

Well, it is nice to feel wanted:

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/thailand-increasingly-blaming-caucasians-for-coronavirus-crisis

and better yet to remove yourself from such a xenophobic government.

The military junta is showing its intellectual limitations in time of crises. These are the same clowns that have more 5 Star generals than the United States and buy submarines to patrol the Andaman sea that is not deep enough to hide them from enemy aircraft.

TTYL

Better Now than Later

Today's song is: I Guess I Just Feel Like  ... John Mayer

When you are self isolating at home there is lots of time for thought. I was just thinking it is better to get covid19 now than later. Why that thought? Hospitals in Ottawa are not filled with covid patients at this moment in time and space. As the virus progresses, that will not be the case. Rooms and ventilators will be in short supply and you could end up dying due to lack of resources.

It all depends to what the odds are you will eventually get the virus.  Of course, I am assuming you can only get it once and if you do, you will survive.

On a more pleasant thought, Jordan is pulling his pool table out of storage and we will have some to do over the next month. The downside of that is Joran and I need to make a run over to Hull to pick it up, exposing us to the virus. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Can you die of cabin fever?

On another note I bought a sand exercise bag for Amazon and it should arrive soon. I also bought a Lego Technics rally car that should give Thavorn and I about 4 days of fun assembling it and Jaidan some fun playing with it. Once assembled I plan on motorising it. Assuming I don't die of Covid19 in the mean time.

Of course my business keeps me busy coding about 5 hours a day so I do have things to keep me busy for the time being. Once it warms up, going for a run outside is on my agenda. Anyone who believes this will be over in a couple of weeks is living in LallaLand.

TTYL

Today's song is: Bad Guy ... Billie and Justin

Cabin fever! I swear it is just as bad as Covid19. It is March 21st and we are self isolating for at least another 15 days when schools are set to reopen. Not that I expect them to reopen this year. I will go on record stating that schools will not reopen until September.

Every day starts the same with me getting up about 7:30 and putting the coffee on and making some peanut butter toast. Thavorn gets up when she smells the coffee. Jaidan sometimes beats her out of bed and it is a toss up who is second to exit the bedroom.

I usally end up cooking some bacon for Jaidan if he says no to cereal and milk. Jaidan is a pretty picky eater.

We usually spend the morning reading about the latest news on covid. Then it is time for lunch which could be hotdogs or soup.  Then it is movie time via dvds on my laptop or NetFlix/Prime on the TV via the internet.

Our internet connection at 25 down and 1 up seems to be sufficient to let me get work done and for entertaining. Not sure if we could self isolate without it.  Especially Thavorn who videochats with her mom, sister and 3 children left behind in Thailand.

I spend about 5 hours a day coding or looking after our servers and backups of databases/code.

Supper is cooked by Thavorn and then we watch TV/internet videos until it is 8:30 and we start thinking about getting Jaidan ready for bed.

We are hoping that Jordan's pool table will be installed next week which will give Thavorn and I something else to do during the day. We both enjoy playing pool!

So 15 days more before we hear that it will be extended for a couple more months.  By then the weather will have turned warm and we can think about opening the pool and going for walks in the wood.

TTYL

Social Distancing

Today's song is: Times They, are a Changing ... Dylan 1964

I can't imagine social distancing working in the entertainment districts of Thailand. Look but not touch is more of a western notion whereas 'No money, no honey' is more Thai. It appears that most of the entertainment districts in Thailand have shut down due to the lack of customer's and the girls have left for their villages through fear of catching the virus and loss of income.

The prices in Bangkok and Phuket were getting out of hand and it was time for a correction.

Speaking of corrections, I believe the world as we knew it will be reshaped by the latest pandemic. It was good that the WHO (World Health Organization) finally got around to naming it a pandemic. I suppose they hung in as PC as long as possible. Another PC action was naming it Covid-19 rather than the Wuhan virus. We would not to point fingers would we.

If things  were not bad enough, the Russians and Arabs decided to flood the market with cheap oil which certainly has not helped the Canadian dollar.

We Canadians seem to be good at testing whereas the US has taken the Ostrich approad of head in the sand. Better not to know I guess, as it would affect the stockmarket and the 401s that the American are counting on in their retirement.

Here in Canada Trudope is cocooning in isolation and coming out of his cottage on the Rideau to make announcements. Shades of 10 Downing Street in England. At least he is finally taking action. I imagine he has a lot invested in the stockmarket as well.

Pubs, restaurants, bars etc. are mostly closed. Even Tim Hortons and Starbucks has shut down their in store seating and are takeout only.

Cocconing and social distancing is turning out to be quite boring, but that is expected. Time to start exercising at home, getting ahead in programming and watching NetFlix and Prime Video.

I got my new glasses courtesy of my glasses insurance.

Are welcome balloons coutesy of Elaine are still flying after 2 weeks.

Jaidan loaded for bear  .. target shooting passes the time

Thavorn coming to grips with a Chromebook and Chrome OS.

TTYL

Enjoying Canada

Today's song is: I Have Been Everywhere Man ... Stompin Tom (Canadian)

The good news is that we are settled in nicely and we have wheels :-) 

The bad news is that Covid-19 is causing all kinds of cancellations and disruptions. Today we registered Jaidan for school to start after March break on the 23rd but the Ontario government just announced that all publicly funded schools are closed tomorrow for 3 weeks (including March break) until April the 5th.

We have a huge fridge and it is loaded with food so we could cocoon for the 3 weeks, but I think not. I would go stir crazy.

The NBA is on hold and March Madness is still a go, albeit, without fans in attendance. Can you catch Covid-19 over the airwaves :-)

I have been meeting all week with school boards, supporting our new software and the meeting have been going well but it is creating lots of work for me. However, that beats doing crossword and Sudoku puzzles to keep my brain occupied.

Did I mention I am enjoying my new wheels?

I might not even need a motorcycle to keep me entertained (at least this year).

TTYL