Friday = Monday. And Vice Versa.

Once again I’ve found myself falling a bit behind on my updates. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve been busy with work but that wouldn’t be particularly (or remotely) accurate. However, I have been trying to keep busy … some of those attempts could be viewed as more productive than others. For example, I’ve been watching a few tutorials on Lynda.com which have been rather helpful and would fall into the productive category. Similarly, I did a 3-day, online course a couple of weekends ago which, despite the occasionally dry subject matter, was also rather productive and successful. One of the nice things about online courses is they tend not to get cancelled due to pandemics. Hypothetically speaking. And speaking of hypotheticals, the past couple of weeks MAY have seen a few hands of online Blackjack being played. Fortunes were neither won nor lost.

Despite the pandemic shutting down pretty much everything, the days (and weeks) still seem to fly by. Hard to believe I’ve been back from BC for over a month now. Harder to believe is that the majority of that time has been spent in some form of self-isolation.

One side effect I’ve experienced as a result of all this time spent self-isolating is that the days of the week seem to have lost all meaning. I remember experiencing the same phenomenon during my long cycling tours and, to be honest, I quite like it. Truly living in the moment. After all, what does it matter if it’s Monday or Friday when you’re pedalling from one town to the next? Or, not working on any given day – not-so-hypothetically speaking. Side note: Ok, it actually DOES matter more-than-slightly if it’s Sunday and a broken spoke has left you in need of a bike shop – shops which are typically closed on such days … again, speaking from experience.

Anyway, last week I was completely lost when it came to knowing what day of the week it was. Case in point, on one particular day as I was editing a new video for a client (yes, a REAL client), I was convinced it was Wednesday. I don’t know why. And it really didn’t matter. But I was genuinely surprised when I glanced at the banner of my computer screen and it read “Fri 11:37 PM”. I was actually surprised twice because I also didn’t realize it was 11:37 PM and was puzzled as to why I was working so late.

In other news, I went swimming the other day … well, I went for a bike ride in the rain – that’s about as close as I get to swimming … I’m prone to sinking. VERY prone. Truth be told, I really wish the water and I got along better since so many water activities look like a lot of fun … I mean, not water polo – that’s just crazy – but water skiing, flyboarding, surfing (wind or otherwise) and so on. They all look fun. But probably significantly less fun with lungs full of water. For the record, I have in fact tried a few of those aforementioned activities and they were in fact fun.

Speaking of fun, I had so much fun making my first social distancing video that I decided to head out and make another one. If nothing else it gave me an excuse to go out on my bike which I’ve been doing woefully little of lately. It turns out my new video ended up being a BIT darker than my first effort. That could partially be attributed to listening to Pink Floyd on a rainy day and then going out for a ride. Despite the darker tone, I still had a great time making it (both shooting and editing) and will no doubt be making more. I mean, what else am I going to do with my time? Anyway, here’s the video:

Given the somewhat eerie tone of the above video, I’ll endeavour to make the next one at least a little more upbeat – then again, it would pretty much have to be! Spoiler alert: The follow up video is actually finished … it just hasn’t made its way to a blog update yet. It’s on Instagram though. As it turns out, the new video has multiple versions … I’ll explain when I post it.

Mini-rant alert: Completely unrelated, with Canadian Tire and a few other stores finally being removed from the “Essential Services” list, I think that list could still use a bit of a review – or a name change. I mean, every time I hear references to the “Essential Services List”, I can’t help but think, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” (and yes, that’s a quote you should know). For example, it seems to me that beer and liquor stores are not essential services. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy a beverage or two of the alcoholic variety when the opportunity presents itself. Because I do. But “essential”? Hardly. And if you think such services ARE essential, well … I believe there are meetings available for that – although, maybe not in these days of social distancing. Then again, I’m sure they have virtual meetings. Side note: An exception could be made for those front line workers who could probably REALLY use a “beverage with a kick” after days which I can only assume are pretty stressful now. You know, actual essential services. Okay, end of the mini-rant.

I hope people are doing their part when it comes to social distancing, self-isolation, and all the other buzzwords that are being thrown around.

On the upside, we’re one day closer to the end. I can’t help but wonder what that will look like.