Ah, Omicron!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. I have taken the precaution of getting out the snow-shovels in support of the snowblower purchase, and that seems to have held off the snow for another week, however, they're threatening us with a winter storm tomorrow through Monday including up to 25cm of the white stuff! Our long Fall may be ending! Otherwise, we've had a pleasant week here, and I've managed a bit more work in the shop. But shop work may be headed into an extended hiatus, so I'm preparing to move some tools into the laundry room so I can do a bit more project work down there. 

Boom!

Sadly, the main story this week has been the sudden passing of Uncle Bernie! He was such a wonderful man, husband, father, grandfather and friend. We miss him. We extend condolences to our cousins and their families. We grieve along with the many others whose lives he has impacted and blessed. 

We have begun work on the kitchen stools. I have stripped one, and replaced the decrepit cardboard with some sheet aluminum I salvaged from an old sign. Wendy is choosing the materials and foam to recover them. She is also planning to refinish the dining room chairs from the same palette!

Getting Support!

Otherwise, I've been occupied with medical and dental appointments. On Wednesday, I visited the groinecologist to get an ultrasound of some bumps I've detected just where my abdomen meets my right leg. I suspect they are hernias, but of course the technician would tell me nothing, so we wait to hear about that. Then, on Thursday, I made a long awaited appointment with my dentist to repair a broken filling. It broke last Spring, but they were operating on a very limited schedule, and tight restrictions, so working that around our summer trip meant it only happened now. And that returns the discussion to the pandemic, and the newest buzzword—omicron. This 15th Greek letter designates the newly identified variant of Covid-19, and we are still in the initial phases of learning about it. So far, while it seems more contagious, it also seems to only bring on mild disease. We hope it remains a mild disease, and that its contagiousness allows it to replace other variants. At any rate, it is clear that we shall continue to be besieged by ever newer variants for so long as the unvaccinated and careless keep this virus around. As bad as things are in the USA, they have still ONLY infected about one sixth of their population, so there's lots of ground to cover before they reach herd immunity. If you add in the 59% of their population who are vaccinated, you can see that they might be getting somewhere if immunity holds, and if no further variants come along! Sadly, neither of those are holding true. Here we only have one province (Quebec) that is currently in the out-of-control range. In the USA, they have only two states that are under-control! Sad! Pandemic news is part of what continues to roil the markets, and we had another difficult week there. There were wild swings throughout the week, sometimes even within a given day, and I failed to make quota once again. I have been slowly selling off holdings during the downturn, but that also means there will be little to make gains with once things turn around. Sports continue to distract. Curling ended Sunday; Brad Gushue and Jennifer Jones won the respective spots to go to the Olympics. We wish them well. The Riders won the Western Semi-final over Calgary on Sunday! Yay Riders! They have advanced to tomorrow's Western Final against the top-ranked Bombers, in Winnipeg. It's a daunting challenge. Go Riders! My NHL teams are doing well, although the Oilers disappointed me last night with a loss to the Kracken! College football is winding down. Today the #5-Cowboys faced #9-Baylor in the conference championship game, but they failed against two goal-line stands, including one in the dying seconds! My other teams are just waiting on Bowl invitations. Basketball continues with non-conference games; the #8-Jayhawks looked good (although I didn't get to see them!) against St Johns. 

Erica writes, "It’s been a pretty ordinary week. Eric got a new toy - an ice chopper so he cleaned up our walk way. He also planned a date night for us on Friday and we got our tree up and decorated. Now we just have to figure out how to get the star to stay on. Last year a cardboard tube did the trick, but we can’t seem to get it to work this year. I think we might need zip ties. We were sad to hear of Uncle Bernard’s sudden passing and are thinking of his family as they find comfort together. It also makes us think about those we need to see and spend time with. I wish that we could all be together for Christmas."

Tree's up! Fire's on!

Erin and Kristian continue their usual routines of school and work. Both are doing well in those! Kristian has been achieving very well in his classes. Here's a pic he took of his cat, Lucy, for his photography course. 

Lucy

Nice to blur out the distracting stuff in the background. He's still getting UV treatments three times a week. He enjoys curling, and is thinking of doing more of that. New hearing aids are on order, we hope the upgrade assists his hearing. They are also hit hard by the loss of Uncle Bernie who spent some of his retirement years in Regina, and blessed their lives. Erin had an extra busy week at work as they were short-staffed due to a compassionate leave. 

Travis and Joanna continue with their busyness. More PuckShots, more BucketDecals... it is as it should be. However, now we begin to wonder what repercussions may come to sports activity with the arrival of the omicron variant in Ontario. Minnie had some veterinary interventions this week. We hope she will feel better, and enjoy her senior years. 

And that's enough for this week.