Richard’s Blogosphere
There was no "Sheltering In Place" entry for February 2022
Three More Months of Not Sheltering In Place
I went on a couple of trips, attended events, and otherwise spent another three months not sheltering in place.
Three Months of Not Sheltering in Place
Since July of this year, I've been to Hamilton twice, went to an Ontario cottage for the first time while living in Toronto, and have gone to a co-working space every couple of weeks or so. While I've mostly been working from home, I haven't exactly been sheltering in place like I did for the previous 16 months.
The Minister (Icelandic TV Series): A Short Review
My review of The Minister, an Icelandic TV drama, appeared in the September 2021 newsletter of the Icelandic Canadian Club of Toronto (of which I am currently the secretary). I am reprinting it here with permission.
Hamilton, July 2021
I attended a Hamilton Honey Badgers game.
Reflections on a Year of Studying Mandarin Chinese with Duolingo
Having someone to speak with and continuously practicing writing is essential in learning a language.
Toronto Islands July 2021
Spring Stations 2021
I love art you can touch or site on or walk inside, and did so with all of the art exhibits at Spring Stations this year.
Fifteen Months of Sheltering in Place
Toronto feels like a city again.
There's a Frood Who Really Knows Where His Towel Is
I celebrate Towel Day every May 25th as an homage to my favourite author, Douglas Adams.
Fourteen Months of Sheltering in Place
This month was uneventful except for one day. Up until then I had spent a month wondering when I'd get a vaccine. I had registered with UHN when they offered appointments to 18+ in my postal code, and quickyly shut it down after getting too many registrations. I also registered with my local Shoppers Drug Mart and with Rexall, thinking that while it didn't cover all the bases, at least it covered some.
That was in late March. Hoping for the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, but willing to accept the AstraZeneca vaccine, I waited another month, with the messaging from health authorities being "Get the first vaccine you can." In the meantime, I made sure my email filters didn't sent the drug stores' emails to my spam folder, and started accepting every call that rang my phone. On Sunday, April 25th, intending to sleep in that day, I heard my phone's text message and email notifications chime almost simultaneously. That could only mean one thing, so I leapt to my computer and filled out the appointmnet form. It being 10 AM and the next available appointments being available at 10:45 AM and noon, I decided I wasn't so anxious for it that I couldn't have a relaxing breakfast and watch an episode of the Icelandic political drama The Minister before making my way a couple of blocks.
The Rexall on Dundas and Spadina will have to do. pic.twitter.com/UKeqh9Pz9B
— Richard Brynj ó l f s s o n (@sillygwailo) April 25, 2021
They pharmacy asked me to be there no more than 10 minutes early, but since I'm early for everything, that was too much to ask. I arrived 20 minutes before my appointment, and 10 minutes later I had a shot in my arm. I took a vaccine selfie, but only posted it to Facebook, thinking by then it was a widespread enough phenomenon that nobody needed the inspiration anymore. (I do regret that I didn't post to Twitter, since I would have enjoyed the wave of likes there.)
The late-breaking news is that the Ontario government paused the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and that came on the heels of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization making a preferred vaccine recommendation, which gave a lot of people the feeling that there was mixed messaging around the "Get the first vaccine you can" messaging. I don't know exactly what to expect for my second dose, but I do feel a lot more protected than I did two and a half weeks ago.
The King-Liberty Village Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge
I visited the bridge over the course of its construction and today, its opening day.
Thirteen Months of Sheltering in Place
A month and a year of staying at home as the weather warms.
Grange Park Heritage
12 degrees Celsius and sunny during “Spring” in Toronto was the perfect weather to do a tour from the book Toronto Architecture: A City Guide by Patricia McHugh and Alex Bozikovic. Ontario lifted its "strict stay-at-home order" last month, so I no longer felt guilty about wanting to visit the neighbourhood adjacent to mine.
A Year of Sheltering in Place
After 12 full months of working from home during a global respiratory pandemic, I'm not sure I learned a lot.
Eleven Months of Sheltering in Place
Things are going about as well as one could hope while stuck at home.
Ten Months of Sheltering in Place
This is the new year, and we are still "locked down" (if you want to call it that).
University of Toronto Heritage
Over the course of a month, I visited the University of Toronto to take an architectural tour.