Month: July 2020

I had a bit of ice cream earlier this evening. I also consumed two lactose pills but delayed the consumption a bit later than I should have. You’re supposed to take them right before you eat your dairy. As a consequence now, I’ve been passing gas all night. This has not been a pleasant experience. I’m afraid to go to sleep now as I fear I might poop in my sleep. It’s unfortunately getting late so I need to sleep. Wish me luck!

On Sunday evening I was walking home near my apartment when I noticed two young gentlemen walking in a direction perpendicular to me. I was almost at my building at this point. One of the gents kept looking in my direction. I was wondering if he saw someone behind me but I was the only person on my sidewalk.

He said something quick to his associate and then made a right turn to approach me. When he got close, I saw that he was well-dressed for this neighbourhood and the time of day (a Sunday at 9pm). He was wearing a suit with modern styling and a pocket square. He seemed out of place.

As he approached me, he stopped and starting to talk to me from a respectful distance. He first complemented me, said something about me seeming like a “cool dude”. He then asked me what I did for a living. I was immediately on the defensive. I said, “not much”. He then made the assumption that I was laid off recently. I let him continue to think that. He then asked me what I used to do. I did not want to let him know anything more about me so I just said, “sales”. He then asked me if I was interested in an opportunity that would be beneficial to me until I could find another source of employment. Boom! There’s the hook.

I immediately said no and I wished him a good night. I turned away, didn’t bother to listen to his response, and walked twenty feet to my apartment lobby. Luckily, I had to turn a corner, so he didn’t see where I live. I’m pretty sure these dudes are the ones that I wrote about in a previous post. They are part of some pyramid scheme or other shady enterprise. They prey on the vulnerable and it’s weird they finally tried talking to me after seeing them in my neighbourhood for years. With the pandemic, I wonder how they’ve adapted their approach. They used to conduct their meetings at Starbucks and frozen yogourt places because as a non-legitimate business, they have no real offices. Some of these places remain closed, so where do they meet up now with their potential targets?

Well, I hope they never approach me again.

I napped earlier this evening but I’m still feeling pretty exhausted tonight. I gotta go to bed so this is going to be short.

The weather has been really nice this week. On both Monday and Tuesday, I went for a walk during my lunch hour. It was great. It’s supposed to be cloudy tomorrow but I think I might continue the lunch hour walk.

I gotta work this dad bod off.

There is no easy way to say this but since this pandemic has started, it seems like I get diarrhea way more often now. Now I know that diarrhea is listed as one of the lesser known symptoms of having the virus but I’m fairly confident I don’t have that particular virus. Outside of having more frequent loose stools, I feel fine. Sometimes I’ll go a week or more without any problems. Other times, I’ll have a bad day, be fine the next day, and then have another bad day.

It does seem though that my gastrointestinal system seems more sensitive these days. Could it be that I’m eating more at home? Is there a root cause from where I prepare my meals? I don’t think I’m a slob, I wash my dishes pretty much immediately. I take food safety seriously and I’m very aware of cross-contamination.

Perhaps I’ve developed a food allergy or something. Previously, dairy has become a challenge for me in the last few years. I can take pills that counteract my lactose intolerance. Is it possible that some other food has now made me sensitive to it.

Well, at least my toiler paper supply is adequate for now.

A few weekends ago, I had a responsible and socially distanced lunch with two of my friends. We remained six feet or more apart at all times, got take-out, and ate outside in the fresh air.

I had seen one of those friends less than a month ago but my other friend I had not seen him since mid-March. It had been about four months in between. We had a great time, eating and catching up. Later that weekend, said friend sent us a group message in Slack saying he was glad to see all of us had dad bod’s.

I think he was kidding but not really. At first, I was a bit offended but then I looked in the mirror and I could not object. I weighed myself and the scale said 165 lbs. During the first month of the lockdown, I weight five pounds less than that. I was getting much less exercise back then but eating less and when I was eating, it was healthier.

I don’t want a dad bod anymore. It’s time to eat a bit more healthier and hopefully less too. Those first heady weeks of the pandemic really instilled a sense of dedication in me to eat more for survival than pleasure. I didn’t know how things were gonna go and back then, trips to the supermarket might mean instant death. So I ate strategically. Maybe I need to go back to elements of that, without the whole sense of impending doom perhaps.

By my way of counting, we’re now more than halfway through summer. It’s obviously a weird summer for a lot of the northern hemisphere. Locally, there have been a few hot days, some rainy days, but I would classify this summer as mild. It’s hard to tell if the rain has been more or less than previous summers because I’m inside so much. There have been days where I’m cognizant it’s raining but it doesn’t affect me because I’m not outside doing stuff or relying on dry weather.

I know the rest of the summer will go by quickly. July will speed into August. August always goes by so quickly. It’s the last gasp of summer before the fall comes barging in. The days will be shorter, the rains longer, and the temperatures lower. Through of all this, the pandemic remains.

Pretty soon, it will have been a year of living with it. Crazy. Well, I’m perhaps looking too far ahead. Gotta concentrate on tomorrow instead.

Well, my last post was quite timely. Today, I received an e-mail indicating that I and my fellow co-workers at the Burnaby studio were now able to book appointments to pick up our personal effects and any desired office equipment. The window for this is July 13 to August 7, so the first batch of people to get stuff will be starting next Monday.

I signed up for a spot near the end of this window, in the first week of August. I don’t need my stuff that badly. We also received instructions on how our visit to the studio will go. There will be just one entrance available to enter the studio. All cars also must enter through the same entrance in the parkade. We must check in before proceeding to our desks. We must wear a mask at all times and we must adhere to all signage locate through out the studio. Apparently, some areas have now been designated one way only. We are also to pack up as much of our personal items as possible. I believe this is because management wants as much flexibility in possibly re-arranging desks and workspaces. If all our personal crap is gone, it makes it easier for them to move stuff around. Once we’re done packing up (with company supplied boxes), we also then need to check out. It’s during this check out process that they will scan asset tags to catalogue what is being taken home and with who. We have approximately one hour to pack and get out of the studio with our stuff. It goes without saying but we are not allowed to bring anyone else with us to help pack.

At this point, I’m uncertain if I will bring my Herman Miller chair home with me. It’s undoubtedly more comfortable than my own desk chair at home but my current chair isn’t awful either. If I do bring it home, then I need to figure out where to put my own chair. My place is already a mess from being at the start of a small home reno when the pandemic started. I have no room in my storage locker. I know these are first-world problems, so perhaps I shouldn’t dwell on it too much.

Out of all the things I want to see from my desk at work, it’s the Tupperware container of cookies I’m most curious about. I bet they’re pretty gross now.

My employer has three locations in the greater Vancouver area. Our main studio in Burnaby, a smaller location in Burnaby as well, and a relatively tiny studio located in downtown Vancouver.

Management has now begun the process of allowing some employees in our smaller Burnaby location to visit the office and collect their personal items, plus any office equipment they might need. The process is organized and employees must follow certain rules before and during the visit. You can’t just show up on any day and at any time. Employees must sign up for an allotted time and day. They must also complete a health check on the day of their visit. A mask should be worn while on-site.

For that location, it will probably take several weeks to go through the entire list of people that want to get their stuff. There is still no word on when this process will be started for our main studio, which has four to five times the amount of employees. I am sure they are using this as a bit of a rehearsal for the main studio.

We are quite lucky that we live in a place that is safe enough now for us to be allowing employees to come get their stuff in a controlled manner. I know in our other locations, especially in the United States, they continue to be in a holding pattern. Who knows how long it’ll be before they can implement the same plans.

I’m looking forward to picking up some instant coffee that I left on my desk in mid-March!

Conan has left his home and now will be doing shows in an actual theatre. Well, it’s not exactly like before but I am sure it feels slightly more normal .

Last month, a former teacher of mine retired after 47 years of teaching. Carlo Muro was a math and P.E. teacher to me at Maillard Junior Secondary for various parts of grade eight, nine, and ten. It will always seem weird to refer to him by his first name because he will never stop being Mr. Muro to me.

Nothing I can write will sum up how good of an educator and person he is. The article I linked does it infinitely better than I could. He taught with boundless enthusiasm, had a passion for his work, was tireless in his coaching duties, and you could tell he honestly cared about his students. In his long career, he probably taught or coached thousands of students. Each one of them was a young person who he had the responsibility of guiding and providing a positive influence on. He did it with class and respect.

I am glad I was able to be one of his students. He helped make Maillard a special place for me. I hope Mr. Muro enjoys his well-deserved retirement. He has earned it several times over.