The Eagle has landed
On June 18th, we flew from France to Syracuse, NY. Except for the fact that we had to wear a mask from the time we entered the terminal in Nice, during all flights and layovers in Germany and Washington, up to the time we excited the terminal in the Syracuse NY (some 19 hours on the clock) it was uneventful.
As returning US citizens, they took our temperatures and suggested that we quarantine for 14 days. We chose to self isolate by renting a car and going on a week long road trip through NY state, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. There was a sign at each state line suggesting that all those entering quarantine for 14 days. Had we followed the recommendations, it would have taken us 6 months to complete the trip. If this sounds irresponsible, just know that for those 7 days, we were alone with each other in the car, practiced serious social distancing when ever we needed gas, stayed in Covid clean certified Air BnB's where we made our own meals and only visited outdoor sites (like lighthouses, beaches, forts and civil war battle sites). We were in the proximity of exactly no one. Besides, we as well as everyone else everywhere, wore masks.
This was basically the continuation of a 3 month lock down we had in France and a warm up for our entry into Canada where we were put on the strictest 14 day quarantine known short of outright imprisonment. The road trip allowed Janice to get her chemo treatment before entering Canada with no ability to leave for 15 days. As of today, Canada has extended its closed border until the 21st of August and there is an excellent chance it will be extended yet again.
To give you a sense of the friendliness of the welcome, below is the email we received from them upon our arrival and twice more in the following week as a pointed reminder.
Since you recently returned to Canada and have no symptoms of COVID-19, you must QUARANTINE yourself in accordance with the instructions you were given by a quarantine officer. This is mandatory.
The Government of Canada will be calling to monitor compliance with your mandatory quarantine. You must answer calls from 1-855-906-5585 or 613-221-3100.
To give you a sense of the friendliness of the welcome, below is the email we received from them upon our arrival and twice more in the following week as a pointed reminder.
Welcome to Canada
Since you recently returned to Canada and have no symptoms of COVID-19, you must QUARANTINE yourself in accordance with the instructions you were given by a quarantine officer. This is mandatory.
This means you MUST:
- Stay at your place of quarantine for 14 days, not go to school, work, other public areas and community settings.
- Arrange to have someone pick up essentials like groceries or medication for you and not have visitors.
- Violating any instructions provided to you when you entered Canada as part of this Emergency Order is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to:
six months in prison and/or
$750,000 in fines
The Government of Canada will be calling to monitor compliance with your mandatory quarantine. You must answer calls from 1-855-906-5585 or 613-221-3100.
....and call us they did. A Covid compliance officer also called twice to make sure we were at home and insisted on speaking to each one of us. We could now write a book on "How to the time without doing the crime"
This means that since Janice must get her chemo treatments every 3 weeks she will have to go across to the US side for 3 hours and return to face yet another 14 day quarantine each time since she will have left the country. She will be spending 2 weeks out of 3 quarantined all summer long. I will face the same fate every 6 weeks for my medical appointments.
Of course, life can be a lot worse that being marooned on an island. During our quarantine, the only thing we could have used was more cash and more beer. Fortunately, we had our friends Bud and Bev go over the top for us by launching our boat, fetching our mail and ensuring we had what we needed.
We had a bit of an incident this past month. We spent the first 10 days without internet or house phone as muskrats had chewed our submarine phone cable. The fellas from the phone company came out to repair it but soon discovered too many sections had been damaged, so they replace the whole thing....about 1/3 of a mile.
They use a high tech tool to locate the cable in the water. As seen above, they take a long pole with a hook on the end, snag the cable and raise it to the boat to splice it to reconnect the ends.
Of course, life can be a lot worse that being marooned on an island. During our quarantine, the only thing we could have used was more cash and more beer. Fortunately, we had our friends Bud and Bev go over the top for us by launching our boat, fetching our mail and ensuring we had what we needed.
Meanwhile, we celebrated Janice's 2 X 35 birthday.
This month's rant
Surely we have all experienced placing calls to businesses where we got a recorded message that our calls were very important to them or that due to unusually high call volumes we are being placed on hold.
Since the Chinese virus has landed on our shores through, this practice seems to have come off the rails. Several calls I have placed have said that that I will be on hold for over 90 minutes. I don't know about you but at some point I feel that this is simply not providing service at all. Few, if any people will sit and hold a phone in their hand that long. Janice did, 3 times when we were trying to re book our plane tickets from Europe. Her calls got dropped twice after being on hold for an hour.
Lately, I have made 3 calls that for me, just took the cake. The first was when I spoke to an agent who told me he would have to transfer me to another office and my wait time would be 3 1/2 hours. I laughed at the obvious joke but he was serious. The second was a recorded message that informed me that I was ....wait for it....number 336 on the phone queue. Really? That soon?
The all time winner was my last call to a government office where the recording informed me that I was number 1,561 in the queue. I had no idea that their machine could hold that many calls.
The Covid thing I feel, has become an excuse for our society unraveling. Most places where I try to order anything warn that 'due to the exceptional volume of orders, long delays are to be expected'. Why the sudden exceptional volume of orders - everywhere and for everything? What has changed? It's BS. Covid has become an excuse for not functioning, slow playing and simply not performing.
Janice has opined that it's because of the number of people who have been laid off or told to stay home by their employers and for many, provided with financial incentives NOT to return to work. The government has not only been paying unemployment benefits but has given $600 - extra - per week to these folks. I have immediate family members who are recipients of this governmental largess. As a dad, I am please that they are doing well (or better anyway) and safe. As a taxpayer, I am outraged.
We have been at this since February. I get it. It has disrupted our lives and work but at some point if businesses and government cannot figure out how to make it work, we are all in big trouble. With 1,561 people in a phone queue, it's time to disconnect the phones and stop pretending we are in business to serve anyone.
When they make me King, things will change. There now, that feels better.
Janice has opined that it's because of the number of people who have been laid off or told to stay home by their employers and for many, provided with financial incentives NOT to return to work. The government has not only been paying unemployment benefits but has given $600 - extra - per week to these folks. I have immediate family members who are recipients of this governmental largess. As a dad, I am please that they are doing well (or better anyway) and safe. As a taxpayer, I am outraged.
We have been at this since February. I get it. It has disrupted our lives and work but at some point if businesses and government cannot figure out how to make it work, we are all in big trouble. With 1,561 people in a phone queue, it's time to disconnect the phones and stop pretending we are in business to serve anyone.
When they make me King, things will change. There now, that feels better.
OOOPS!
We had a bit of an incident this past month. We spent the first 10 days without internet or house phone as muskrats had chewed our submarine phone cable. The fellas from the phone company came out to repair it but soon discovered too many sections had been damaged, so they replace the whole thing....about 1/3 of a mile.
They use a high tech tool to locate the cable in the water. As seen above, they take a long pole with a hook on the end, snag the cable and raise it to the boat to splice it to reconnect the ends.
Our neighbors. Mom, dad
(not seen as he is guarding the rear) and
(not seen as he is guarding the rear) and
8 little ones who nest right off our island.
Obviously, a Catholic swan family.
Obviously, a Catholic swan family.
