Covid

4/28

So, for the past couple days, I’ve been sick. My whole body has been achy, my throat hurts, I sleep on a great schedule of 1AM-3PM. Although I don’t really get out of bed anytime, so the day is filled with cat naps and lost time. I hit a kind of slump when we went online for schooling. I pushed off assignments for the next day and then the next week until I just didn’t do them. I can feel myself slipping into old habits that I thought I got rid of last year, but I suppose old habits die hard. Basically I’m just acting like an idiot and not doing my work, which I have to do.

So Covid, it’s hit the shops being that we have to wear masks at Walmart and we can only go through drive-throughs. The sheer number of people I see walking through Tim Hortons or McDonalds is really peak comedy to me during this pandemic, cause like… Why would you chose to stand in a long line or cars in a national emergency without even a mask? I don’t really understand it but to each their own.

I watched that video of the people boycotting awhile ago, like when they filled up the streets because they thought the quarantine was bad because people had to work, and like, I get it. To a certain degree. I understand it gets stressful when you cant work and you still have bills and you’re trapped inside with someone you probably regret marrying by now. But at the same time, I don’t care how hard it is to wake up and do the same thing everyday, there’s no reason to block the hospital and stop emergency personnel from getting to their patients. And there’s no reason for them to be in giant crowds with only 30% wearing masks. It’s incredibly irresponsible, also, we’re running out of hamburger meat everywhere I go now. And not to be dramatic or anything but I really want a cheeseburger.

5/3

So I went out to Jakes Rocks for a little hike. Well technically I guess I went to Elijah first because it was nice out. So I went to Elijah, but when I got up there it was super windy, like it wasn’t that windy anywhere else, so I enjoyed the view and then headed back down the road. On my way down I was about to pass Jakes Rocks, so I figured, “Hey! Why not go on a little hike! Enjoy the weather, exercise, and breathe some fresh air.” I pulled in to the site and the first thing I noticed was how I haven’t been up here since I was maybe 7 so I had no clue where I was going or where to park. Eventually I found a little parking lot though so I’m assuming I did what I was supposed to do.

I parked in a spot nearest to the trails, and headed out. Keep in mind I was planning on exploring a little and heading back to the car so I could go back home. I picked the “easiest” trail and trekked along the rocks. As it kept going and winding ways I didn’t expect it to, I realized I had been out there for 2 hours (mostly because I screwed around the whole time). Now normally I would be completely cool with that, I love being outside. But it was already past 4 o’clock and my mom said I had to be back in town by 5, also I had no idea how close I was to the end o the trail. It was supposed to be an easy quick trot in the woods and I’m gonna be honest I cheated. I hit the halfway mark on the trail at around 4:30 and decided to book it along some random road hoping it took me back to my good old Subaru Forester.

The road wound around awhile and I took a turn onto a road that said “Do Not Enter” my bad I guess. 4:45 now and I had just hit the very first road I had to cross on the trail. Luckily I found the parking lot and happily sat in my car eating some pineapple and strawberries my mom had cut up for me. Yes I am a 1st grader, I munched on peanut butter sandwiches and cut up fruit.

As previously stated, I’ve never driven up here before. With that in mind, I must’ve driven right past the road I turned off of to enter the area because I ended up on a dirt backroad for maybe 2 miles, and when I finally hit paved road I was out way past Sheffield and Clarendon, literally had no idea where I was. I do however pride myself on having a general knowledge of what direction most things are in, so I swung a left and drove for awhile, hoping I ended up somewhere near home. For the record, I did get home safely. My intuition was correct and eventually I hit Sheffield and came in by Dairy Delite. 100% worth the entire trip even though I was late and got a little bit yelled at, not my fault though mom blame it on Corona.

5/4

Trauma and terror filled my driveway this morning. True horror, at least as much horror as you can get staying inside everyday only talking to your mother as she practically starts worshipping our cat. Anyway my driveway, basically I just hit a shovel but I’ve never hit anything with my car before! Well okay that’s not true I ran straight into a guard rail once, but I’ve never ran anything over with the tires I guess. So I go to back out of my driveway to go get some essential Tim Hortons, and I hit something with my tire and my thinking is, “if it didn’t make a horrible scraping sound it’ll be fine” so I continued, slowly now, to hit it with my front tire. Basically kicking the poor thing while it was down. I have no remorse. As I back up enough to feel the road on my back two tires, I look up and see the remnants of our metal snow shovel. The handle is twisted around maybe 20 degrees and the arm of the shovel is sticking up at maybe a 30 degree angle, 150 if you’re going from the other side first. It honestly means nothing but quarantine has made my daily life so bland and uneventful that it’s all I have to offer these entries.

Other than that, I have done nothing with my life, OH WAIT okay get this. My mother, Barbara, sent me to Wal-Mart to get some hamburger for dinner. Thrilling I know, stick with me here. So I pull up and into a space, cringing at the noises my car is making because it’s a trash car and needs something new fixed every 2 weeks, currently it’s the brakes and the bearings I believe so she’s loud. As I sit in the space, I open my glovebox to grab my mask so that I’m not classified as a danger to the general public. Nothing. There’s no mask, no nothing to offer the world protection against possible virus strands on my breath. So I call Barb, the conversation goes as follows:

“Hey, where are the masks?”

“What masks?”

“The… The masks?”

“Masks for what?

“Mom I don’t know, so I’m allowed to go outside and survive?”

“Ohhhh, oh no. Yeah they’re all inside I’m looking at them.”

Apparently she had decided to venture out on a walk and had stolen 3 masks from the car to do such an activity. Why 3, why do you need all of them Barb please tell me I’m sitting in a Wal-Mart parking lot self conscious of the noises coming out of my car, trying to not be another number on the lives taken by Corona that they probably wouldn’t report because I’d never get tested anyway, and you have STOLEN the one thing we are required to have on us to go outside.

I’m a 17 year old doing my best so what did I do, you might ask. I found a shirt in my car, I took the seatbelt cutter from my glovebox and because crafting a personalized mask so that I would be allowed inside this building. I sat there for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to make this thing work, and I see a buddy who works there walking in so I honk at her and yell out my current situation. She offers an extra mask she has in her car, I accept. I go inside, Barb calls, she doesn’t want the hamburger anymore because she’s already begun eating leftovers. So, to conclude, I now have 4 masks, I ate Tim Hortons for dinner, and I just want to go back to school man it’s been so long. I did find new music however so it’s keeping me sane I suppose. That’s all.

5/5

I got a skateboard today! Pretty much the only exciting thing to happen during this pandemic in my person life, that is. It was a gift since my birthday was a couple weeks ago, and my brother got it for me. I’ve ridden penny board and messed around on my brother’s real board before but I never had one of my own so I’m excited to figure it out I guess? I really haven’t got much else to do other than catch up on school work.

It’s an element board with a ship inside a bottle as the detailing. I think the most interesting part was that I got to assemble the whole board myself! Seeing as I’ve never owned one before, and my brothers aren’t around to show me what to do, it took some trial and error. Putting the bearings in definitely took a little bit of time because I really had no idea what I was doing. I think I spent a good 2 hours putting it together and trying to ride it a little.

The process was pretty cool to be honest. I had to stick the grip tape down to the deck without leaving any air bubbles, and then I scraped around the edge of the board with a paintbrush handle because I was too lazy to get up to find a screwdriver. It did work, but it also tore up the brush and it kind of looks like I just bit a bunch of chunks out of the handle. Anyway, then I cut the extra grip off the sides and used it to sand down the edges to make it super smooth.

Next was the hardware which is basically just 8 screws that you use to hold the trucks on the board. I jammed them in and loosely attached the trucks because, once again, I’m too lazy to find a screwdriver. I used the trucks to push 2 bearings into each wheel and then attached them to the trucks. Then I DID have to get up and find a wrench and a screwdriver to tighten everything up and make it ridable.

I found some tools and tightened the wheels, and the hardware so the trucks wouldn’t wobble. And eventually I tightened up the trucks themselves so that I could make more controlled turns and keep my balance a little bit better. I think I did a pretty good job considering I’d never done it before, and I definitely tore up and hands, arms, and somehow my knees while I was messing with the grip tape… It was all worth it though, at least now I feel like I’ve done something productive in quarantine, at least for this week. I think I’m gonna go out tomorrow and get comfortable riding it before I start to learn any tricks.

Update on the pandemic rules that I learned today, apparently Tim Hortons is requiring you to wear a mask if you go through their drive-through now. I think it’s a bit overkill, but I guess if it keeps people safer overall it’s for the best. I try to go out once a day just to get some air but honestly most days I just stay in bed and sleep all hours of the day, only really waking up at night to do some work for a few hours. I kind of slowed down eating, which I hear a lot of people are doing. It seems like people are either eating to fill their empty days, or not eating very much at all, neither seem very healthy. It’s the same thing during summer though, I suppose. With less plans, I wake up having missed breakfast and lunch already and by the time dinner rolls around I’ve only been awake 2 hours maximum so I’m never hungry, then I tend to fall back asleep or just slump in bed not having the energy to do much of anything. It’s a bummer but I guess it’s the new way of living for awhile.

5/7

I went out skating today. I figured since I knew the owner of some shops down by the water I would use the little space of concrete by their store. I grabbed my board and helmet and drove down. At first I was just figuring out my footing and how to push the board while facing my body weight the right way so I wouldn’t fall off. I think I stayed out there for about 2 hours or so just riding back and forth, I also would put all my weight down on the tail of the board so it would sit up and then all my weight back down just like you would when you drop in on a ramp. Then I practiced tic-taking which is basically where you put some weight on the tail of the board, and push the nose in another direction so that you can make some quick turns.

Overall I think it was a pretty successful day and I’m glad I got out. I’m excited to skate more and get more comfortable with the board. On a side note, it feels really weird that it’s May already. Like we’re almost halfway through 2020 and we’ve all just been inside practically the whole time. That’s wild to me. It’s supposed to snow a little this week and I’m not looking forward to it. I hate cold weather so much especially when it’s May, like be warm, it’s not that hard I don’t think. I just want sunny days or thunderstorms not snow.

5/8

It’s snowing. I hate it. I hate the cold but it is what is I guess. I spent 4 hours out driving around with a friend of mine today, let’s hope I don’t get covid please nobody yell at me for being out. We went up to see a car that he’s working on, she’s gorgeous. She’s an old Buick that’s like a fee cherry red color, ugh she’s so pretty. I wanna learn more about cars so he showed me some things and explained some basic engines and such. I thought it was pretty cool not gonna lie.

Anyway it was a pretty basic day, I’m just glad I got out and was able to hang out with someone for a little bit. I definitely miss seeing the general public at school and such. I picked up my stuff from school awhile ago and it’s weird to me that the seniors were basically handed their cap and gown and sent off. Like I know that they’re doing something online for them I think but it’s a shame that they went through all that schooling just to be handed they’re stuff through a cracked door by their teachers with masks and gloves on and sent away. That must really suck and I’m sorry it turned out that way for them. I hope Covid goes away soon and we can try to get things back to normal for summer.