Miss Etta Wails The Lockdown Blues: Sunday, March 22nd!

The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal. -Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (23 Mar 1900-1980) 

Hi Patrick Hope all is well with you and your family in this crazy time.This picture was taken in our last restaurant visit in Salem Oregon, during our forced return from Palm Springs last week . I thought it might bring a smile to your face . Quite a selection of your favourite tipple, but as we were the last customers before restaurant closed for a month , they were not offering any for sale!

We are now in our 14 day quarantine , having cut short our holiday by two weeks. Chris and Davey and families made it down , but Tom was driving and only made it to Oregon before heading home and Nikki cancelled. So all in quarantine, except Nikki, who has been leaving needed supplies for all of us. More importantly, everyone seems healthy at this time.
 
We are very worried for Chris and his wife Nicole who are both still working in essential services, firefighter and nurse, especially after firefighters in Langley contracted the virus.Tom is working especially hard at Telus ramping up ehealth capabilities, but wife deb speech therapist and Physio Dave are both at home. Nikki’s successful plant lease business will take a hit, as will husband Ben, gm for Audi, but he said they sold three cars on Friday! 

It's very hard to foresee the future , but the world has changed forever. We have offered rent relief to our tenants, for the foreseeable future , because both now unemployed, husband manager at bridges restaurant, and wife working for children’s festival, now cancelled. And as our other savings have plummeted in value the future could be more challenging.
 
What have you been up to? How are Chloe and baby ? Did Corine visit Mexico? Cheers, Mike PS already running out of good shows on Netflix any suggestions? May have to subscribe to the Disney channel to lighten the mood! Hello Self-Quarantining, Return from Afar, People! Lovely to hear from you, Mick, and know you and family, [those who travelled], are safely home from Palm Springs and Oregon. Lady Dar and Chloë/Rowan James just finished their own quarantine yesterday as they were in LA for two weeks, introducing RJ to family there and celebrating Olivia Rose's 1st birthday. 

Alex, also a firefighter, as you might recall, is working from home as he was recently enrolled in a 6 month medical training course. Both Samantha, his wife, and Ayn are working from home, as of this writing. Pierre and his girlfriend, Shannon, have both been laid off as nightclubs have been closed, as I'm sure you know. Pierre worked for a firm that provided security while Shannon was in sales in a business allied with such entertainment establishments. Again, CORVID-19, [Just heard the term "CORVID-IOT" to apply to those who do not follow self-isolation, etc.], calls into question so many of our other plans  and activities. At any rate, we feel we will be able to weather this current crisis, [Perhaps hope/pray that this is so!], better than so many others, of course, [At least our houses are paid for. Applaud your treatment of tenants!], of the "precarious" global financial situation, [Feel much the same as you!], so are grateful for that, it goes without saying.

I've been either boot hiking or snowshoeing, [I believe these activities will be curtailed, at least in group from, starting tomorrow.], but we have suspended our regular Monday night bridge evenings and cancelled our planned book club gathering on April 1st. When we will reconvene these activities is uncertain, of course. Only "good" thing about this crisis is that instead of an April 30 filing deadline for the 2020 tax filing season, Canadians will have until June 1 to submit their income tax return to CRA. The deadline to pay off any outstanding balances interest-free will also be extended, this time to July 31. Usually, I receive a refund so I like to file as soon as I have all my various slips. A few weeks ago, now, I started entering what I had and thought I was eligible for $1,500 refund sow as chuffed as I hadn't entered any charitable deductions. However, when I took a closer look I owed $1,500! Couldn't figure out why until I rechecked by OAS and discovered not a dime had been deducted! I never really look at monthly direct deposit amount other than to note it has made it into my account so no flags were raised.

After a couple of days of being on hold for hours and hours I finally made it through to help line and discovered that deduction % I had asked for when I was first eligible for pension had been removed. Individual thought it might have had to do with hefty capital gains we paid when we sold loft property in 2018 as it was not our principal residence. OAS was clawed back as our income spiked. I appealed and my pension was reinstated. [Not so high flyer Lady Dar!] I was able to claim "unpaid" pension as a tax credit so I received a refund, basically same amount as what I typically am refunded with my "forced savings" plan. 

Never miss the deduction, during the year, as opposed to being faced with a hefty bill all at once. While nobody likes taxes we certainly didn't feel we shouldn't pay as we'd done very well on property. What I do feel upset about is that I wasn't informed about change as I certainly would have insisted on continued deductions. 

At any rate, extended deadline will help, given considerable financial outlay for basement suite. We took out a LOC to cover cost of construction, the idea being that Chloë would use some of rental income to repay outstanding balance. When will this happen, please, please tell me, President and CEO of the Bank of Parents/Grandparents! Anyway, we all want to help as best we can but certainly hurts malt fund!


Sun is beaming down and I just took a look at the forecast. Supposed to go up to 11º C/12º C, with virtually no wind, at least for next little while. I often head for Trout Creek, on the flat, just before Summerland, on a Sunday, as traffic, at least truck traffic, is usually quite light. Long stretches of highway also give me a chance to maintain a decent AVG. Will suit up and head out as soon as I fuel up on the gluten-free pancakes I've implored Lady Dar to make. Fondestos from her to you both and I trust all will go as well as possible with rest of your family members. Stay well. Cheers, Patrizzio!
  

When I was first up, just after 7:30 am, sun was beaming down and a quick look at the forecast suggested temperature was supposed to go up to 11º C/12º C, with virtually no wind, at least for next few hours. I often head for Trout Creek, on the flat, just before Summerland, on a Sunday, as traffic, at least truck traffic, is usually quite light. Long stretches of highway also give me a chance to maintain a decent AVG. At any rate, by the time I had fueled up on the fabulous gluten-free pancakes I'd implored Lady Dar to make, answered a number of messages and completed a few household chores it wasn't until 12:40 pm that I was suited up and ready to ride. Wouldn't you know it, by this time wind was now whistling out of the S at 37 km/h and gusting to 57 km/h! fortunately, for me, it dropped to 23 km/h, out of the SSW, only gusting to a mere 41 km/h towards the end of the ride. As a direct consequence of these hurricados I decided I couldn't face such headwinds coming back from Trout Creek so hedged my bets and made for the Gerbil Trail. Basically, I rode all five of the loops off Power and Westminster but increased the number of loops, per circuit, to nine instead of seven, as I was planning to hit 71 km for the day's distance. 
 

Quite a few people on the boardwalk along Lakeshore, [I passed Dame Judith and The Malt King, near the Peach but was past them before I could say hello.], and I greeted Lady Di, close to the SS Sicamous, out for her walk. On next loop five swans glided onto the lake, just in front of the paddle-wheeler. Had never seen these magnificent creatures this far south, usually close to the shore as I ride towards Trout Creek. Anyway, I took their appearance as a good omen and continued my fierce battle with Aeolus with renewed energy. Shortly thereafter, on back lane, south of Dynes, I spied five deer, happily munching the grass in someone's yard. A couple of circuits later, tummies obviously full, they were lying comfortably on the lawn, taking an afternoon nap!

Once I'd finished gerbalizing on the north side of Westminster I crossed over to the SOEC parking lot. Today it was even emptier than on last two previous rides: three utility trailers, one passenger van, a medium-sized shuttle and but two cars in front of the VQA store attached to the casino. Only needed five loops of this circuit and I had the distance required to reach my goal for the day once back at Burns. 

Quick shower and change and then we headed over to Winnipeg Street where we were to have dinner with Rowan James and Chloë. Lady Dar was to make two of her designer pizzas but when she looked in the bag of foodstuffs we'd brought she realized she'd forgotten to include meat she planned to use for topping.

While she worked on slicing and dicing other toppings I drove back to Burns to collect sausage, etc. Pulled into the back driveway and just as I was climbing out of the car a couple of deer ambled across the alleyway. I still had my camera around my neck so snapped a couple of shots as they made their way down White. Into the kitchen and noticed Duke sitting on the raised planter along the fence to the south, his eyes riveted on a large doe happily munching on the succulents Lady dar had planted at the base of the tree city planted on the boulevard a few years ago. I went outside to take a few more pictures and was almost within touching distance when deer made for middle of Burns. Amanda, next door neighbour to the north, was in her front yard and told me there had been eight a little while ago! Almost had venison topping on our pizza! Go Bambi Go! Cheers! Garmin Map and Stats for ride:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4686098468#.Xnf92VrwY8w.email
 
AllTrails Map and Stats for ride: 

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/recording-mar-22-4-51-pm-840b378?p=-1

Tummler, hope you are all well and hunkered down. We are going to try calling you early evening today - around 6PM. And if it works, great. If not, we will keep trying. All the best to you and yours. W&CJ y Morita Hello Self-Isolating Salish Sea People! Lovely to hear from you, Masked Maddison and Bandana Over-Face, Calamity Bandida. [Great that you plan to call. We will be taking dinner over to Chloë's this evening so best to reach us at Lady Dar's number,  or at Chloë's number. Both have FaceTime. I do as well but still learning!] Trust you and all your family are well. Will suit up and head out as soon as I fuel up on overlefts. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you both and I trust all will go as well as possible with rest of your family members. Look forward to chatting this evening. Stay well. Cheers, Tummler/Patrizzio!

Thank you Patrick. We hope you are both well. Difficult times here as elsewhere. Still getting out and about but avoiding most contacts or distancing them. We are still communicating with Ray and Sylvia. Best wishes, Jim and Christine 
 

Tummler, Apologies for not checking In this evening. We had technical difficulties. We are going to try you again tomorrow and hope you are around. Let us know if there’s a good time for us to call you. Fond regards, G&J y Morita 

Hello Salish Sea Soaks! We all, even Rowan James, assumed it was immoderate consumption of too, too much high-test chain climber as opposed to so-called "technical difficulties" which prevented the planned call! You've been watching too, too many of Trump's press briefings and "doublespeak" is now a way of life in Lotus Land, as opposed to the Hardy Okanagan where we call a spade a spade. That being said, we will be home, huddled around either the land line or fighting over an iPhone, anytime Monday evening. We will be gowned, masked and gloved! UNtil we chat, stay well. Cheers from The Isolation Ward at The Burns Street Bistro and Hand Sanitizer Distillery, Self-Loathing Tummler! Movie: Bed-time story at Winnipeg Street! P and C, Thanks for sharing your lovely bedtime reading. What a beautiful little boy! We will chat later today!! Love G&J xo