Twilight Zone ?? (March 22 - April 5, 2020)

What a crazy time and crazy few weeks.  Is this what it feels like in the Twilight Zone? 

Worry, sadness, anger, frustration, time to reflect... Covid 19 is hitting very close to home for so many people and things are changing at a staggering pace.

The impact of Covid 19 really hit home with me March 31st, the day a former co-worker and friend passed away at St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener. John Tsai was 41 with underlying health issues. He had not been travelling and contracted the virus through community spread. John was also an all round great guy, hard working, helpful, considerate, funny and friendly. I, along with many other current and former Waste Management co-workers had the pleasure of knowing and working with John. 

Rest In Peace JT. You will be missed.

John Tsai

Living in PEI is keeping us fairly sheltered to date however that could change at any moment. To date 22 people have been diagnosed positive in PEI, all after international travel, all recuperating at home.  

That said, we are seeing other friends being personally impacted. A former co-worker from Geminis' young daughter is in hospital undergoing treatment and awaiting confirmation of whether she is Covid positive.  A full-time RV friend in the US, recently diagnosed with cancer, would normally be having surgery first but is having it delayed and chemo first due to Covid.  The impact is far reaching.

I imagine we will soon all either be personally affected or have family and friends who are personally affected. Bottom line. we're all in this together. Let's Stay at Home as much as possible (remember a few weeks ago when you would've loved to have more time at home), respect social distancing and each other.  

Thinking of you all - Let's get through this together.

With all this going on, not much has changed for Scott and he continues to work on the house. The 3rd bedroom and the upstairs hallway have been taped and painted. Soon we'll be "moving" our living space upstairs and starting to finish the main floor.  

The vision is coming to fruition.  Here are a few progress shots.

Guest bedroom is yellow and will have curtains in this material.
 (Yelllow is Pittsburgh Paint - Hearth)

The other guest bedroom is a light gray and will have red, white and gray accents.
(Grey is SICO - Freezing Rain)

Staircase being prepped

Hallway prepped and primed

 

Scott applying Benjamin Moore Cloud White to the hall and staircase

At work our opening hours have remained the same since we were never open late or on Sunday however I've had my work week reduced to 4 days from 5 days a week. I'm totally fine with this and enjoyed the extra day off this past week. The snow is melting quickly and it was a good opportunity to try and drain some water off the driveway which is particularly muddy right in front of the parking area. I got a shovel and made trenches to help drain the water downhill. Below is the "after" shot and I'm pretty happy. Between the draining and wind it dried up a bit. If it gets much worse I'll have to park at the bottom of the driveway and walk to and from the house. This is common practice around here but I hope it doesn't come to that.

After draining some of the water off the driveway

A few months ago I found a book with some creative furniture refurbishing ideas and was inspired by one in particular.  The idea is to paint dresser drawers to look like stacked suitcases. An old dresser came with the house and I've begun and am enjoying the transformation.

Remembered to take a picture after I started sanding it. In the end I sanded the top and painted the rest.without sanding it.

I did begin sanding the top a while ago and Scott took the belt sander to it outside while I was at work. After some more hand sanding and several coats of Varathane I love the top.

Leaving the top natural wood after sanding the original varnish off

Body painted with Charcoal Chalk Paint

Filled in the existing handle holes

Painted each drawer a different base colour

This afternoon and week I'll begin working on the "suitcase" details. 

Fingers crossed.

After Thursday and Friday off it was back to work Saturday with lots of Covid reminders in front of and inside the store. Figured I should record them for posterity.

Despite all these warnings Irving, the company which owns Kent Building Supply did provide Scott and I with a much needed laugh this week. On March 31st, an email went out to every one of Irving's 15000 odd employees (they own a lot of businesses) thanking us for our dedication and work during the Covid crisis. As a small token of their appreciation they were sending out 48 rolls of toilet paper to each and every employee. 

Seriously!! Not to be disrespectful of this expression of thanks but knowing that one of the Irving companies actually produces toilet paper and having seen what some other companies are doing for their employees I was thinking this might be an early April Fools joke. It wasn't a joke and it is 2-ply which is good (I would have returned 1-ply) and it was, still is, very funny. Imagine how many executives in how many meetings it took to make this happen. Needless to say we're covered on the TP front for a while.

Stay safe my friends - Love Ellen