Have YOU Been Vaccinated?

Today I spoke to a distant relative of Bea. She is around 90yrs of age and lives in a nursing home in Denver, CO. When I asked her about her vaccination status she told me that her doctor told her not to take the vaccine, as he (the doctor) would not take it himself nor for his wife and his children.

I must say I was quite shocked about so much stupidity coming from this doctor.

Then I read a report about current covid vaccinations status in the US, and I just could not believe that a total of 26%  of the US population are refusing a vaccination against the Corona Virus. Not so surprising though is the fact that most of these are republicans who either still think that the pandemic is a hoax or just another form of the flu. If that percentage of the US population will stay unvaccinated, the US will not reach herd immunity. That again means that the virus will continue to go rampant and build new variants.

The result of such foolish behavior is, of course, that Americans will stay in a state of emergency with consequential restrictions of travel and free movement. I can asure you that the border to Canada will stay closed for unvaccinated travelers and that airlines will demand a vaccination certificate before entering a flight. So much for free movement. 

In the case of Bea's relative in Denver, it is totally unbelievable that a doctor is refusing to get vaccinated and rather spread some wild theories of some undisclosed ingredients in the vaccine, thereby risking the life of seniors.

They say, "you can't fix stupid", and has there ever been a statement more true?

So What Is Going On In Canada?

 If you have thought that I have died from Covid, you are wrong. I haven't had the damn thing and now I've even been vaccinated, though with one shot only. No, the reason for my somewhat long pause in continuing to write more on this blog, is a bit different. First of all, not much has happened here on the home turf, and our home turf is just barely stretching over 7acres of coastal land, so one can't expect too much, really. The most we have done is getting our small seedlings of various vegetables to grow, and getting things going in the greenhouse. 

While Bea is in charge of the garden stuff, I have started to make sure we are not without firewood next winter, as we might have to face another winter staying at home. 

But I have used the blogging pause to make certain observations as to what this world has come to. 

Starting with myself, I've dicovered to see that a nearly 70-year old is looking at me from the mirror every morning. Hey - that's not me, I thought, but the guy in the mirror insisted. 

So be it. No more discussions, right?

Back to the Covid thing: Canada has still closed borders to the United States, and it is far from being over. But it's not only you Americans who are being shut out of Canada. Nope, Canada has closed out the entire world. No more flying to Mexico or other exciting destinations. Those who return from such adventures, booked several months ago, will have the honour of being escorted with government vehicles to a government-contracted hotel at the sweet cost of $2000 for 3 nights. Still cheaper than the Trump hotel in Washington DC. But it will blow a hole in many people's budget. When the Covid test comes back negative, the folks can move on into their home and spend another 11 days in quarantine there. But some snowbird smart asses have found the loophole the government left open. They found out that one can book a flight to a city near the Canada border, then rent a car or take a ride with a taxi to the border. That way it will save people most of the $2000 cost for that glitzy government hotel, as the rule only applies to fly-ins and not to land border crossings. I predicted that would happen when the hotel quarantine was launched.

Meanwhile, other smart asses have been thinking they could buy fake negative test results and even vaccination certifications. Well, that didn't work out as they found out when arriving in Canada. Now they got even more problems.

Now, that is Canada in a nutshell these days. But it got worse. Much worse, I dare say. 

The province had already started to register our cross-border travels and implemented a "travel number" system. I was smart enough to get a "frequent traveler number". While I haven't encountered to be checked up behind the border, other people have met the "Covid-cops" asking for that number after they had passed through customs. Next thing you know the federal government starts their own number system, and it's a lot worse that the provincial one. The "app" works on the phone or on your laptop, that is if you happen to have either one or the other. You can only register one border crossing at the time, which is largely inconvenient for us islanders as we often travel through the US to access our very own mainland. That means we have to do another registration before returning home. Some private outfit sold the government onto this foolishness, which will be enforced by federal customs officers. I say "will be" as they are only in what they call "the educational phase". But if you go down to customs and ask specific questions about "ArriveCan" (as it is called) they just shake their heads. "It's a mess" a nice officer told me a week ago. The problem is, what's gonna happen to those who have no internet access, like many seniors? Nobody really knows. Like I said, a private company cooked this up. Their consideration for seniors is non-existant.

Yes, we are in a mess. And it doesn't help that Canada got to a very slow start with their vaccinations. Shortage of vaccine is the problem of the day. In this mess we are getting one shot only, then have to wait 4 months for the next, which "hopefully" will arrive on time. Meanwhile Ontario developed into the worst Covid place in the country. Covid variants are popping up everywhere and nobody knows how the one shot policy will be able to deal with that. The European Union doesn't want to send us vaccines and the US has only sent a million or so doses of the shamed Astra Zeneca type, which they have problems getting administered to people. Hey, good enough for Canadians!

So where does that leave us?

It leaves us behind a closed border. And you Americans will have to stay at home. And those of you who have summer homes in Canada will have to spend another summer without enjoying their Canadian summer retreat.

As sad as this is, it would be irresponsible to open the border as long as both countries are on different levels of vaccinations and new infections. The fight against Covid is a race against time. The longer it takes, the more often the virus can mutate, creating new strains. So when I heard a CBSA official had stated that the border will not open before Christmas, it dawned on me that we will have to deal with Covid for long time yet.

Stay safe and stay home.

Another long and cold After-Winter

 It is the same every year. When snow and ice have disappeared, we have to drag ourselves through a long windy, wet and mostly cold after-winter. Officially, spring has started, but remains out of sight. Rain showers are followed by wintry-mix, and when we finally have a warm and sunny day, we can be sure that the following day will be extra miserable. How I ever hate this time of the year. It's not fish nor meat. I hate sitting idle on the couch and being relegated to peppering Facebook with unnecessary comments. My whatsapp account is running over with pictures, and my contacts must be wondering where I find the time to do all this posting. I used to read lots of books and used to find enjoyment with it, but lately my eyes have gone tired after a few pages. I attribute that to my poor reading glasses I got some time back. So when in town lately, I dropped by the optometrist and got an appointment for new eyeglasses. Hope that'll help me reading. Have tried the bifocals for years and it's worse.

So what else I have been up to?

You wouldn't guess it: I have been quarantined for 2 weeks by an idiot customs officer. Here's what happened:

You'll remember the Jeep disaster? Well after we got a new bord computer I had to send the old one off to the company within 7 days. Otherwise, they would have voided the warranty for the new unit and charged me with $125 fee for the core. They had also provided me with a paid Fedex return label. 

With the package in my car, I went across the border to the nearest Fedex station, which is a simple dropbox 40miles south of the border. Returning to the island immediately without stopping anywhere else, I was presented with a real surprise when arriving at the CBSA border station.

The CBSA officer on duty deemed my trip non-essential and punished me by sending me into federal quarantine in my home. My point that I never was in any office or in any contact with any American was ignored. I was told that if I had grabbed a gallon of milk at the local grocery store, I would have been "fine".  This piece of advice I deem the most grotesque, as I would have had to enter a US store for that and expose myself to a possible Covid infektion,

Needless to say, I was flustered and mad. Campobello Island residents have a federal exemption from being barred of going into the US for "essential goods and service", which are not available on the island, and they are not to be quarantined for those trips. So, to make matters worse, not only were we having bad weather, but now I had to stay home. One day, I even was visited by a police officer who was checking on me staying home.  

As outrageous as this might sound, I fully realize that this regimen is why Canada kept a rather low infektion rate. But reason should have been applied when I required the service of a mail courier company not serving Campobello.

Well, I am done with it now and still waiting for the weather to improve.

Meanwhile, Bea has been busy with putting tiny seeds into black soil to produce all kind of vegetable plants. She even bought a grow-light and several other remedies to make it work. If and when the sun peeks out, our greenhouse is warming up quickly, but we need the nights to stay frostfree before starting to move the tiny plants into the greenhouse. So for now they stay in our heated entryway.

And here's some other good news: Bea and I will get vaccinated on March 31 right here at the local pharmacy. That means that we won't have to be afraid to get infected with Covid, mind you, we will still follow the rules and wear our masks in public.

"I Like This One", She Said

 Yes, that's how it began.

It was a normal evening we were spending in the living room when she came over from her couch showing me a picture on her cellphone. This picture.

First I thought it was a new car, I mean new like brand-new, but it wasn't.  I have to admit that I liked it too. We have had 2 Jeeps in earlier years and had only good to say, mind you, they really were new vehicles.

Contacting the seller, he used the word "MINT", in his description. 

So we ended up driving there to take a look - and a short drive. It seemed fair enough and the price was reasonable for a "mint" (rustfree) vehicle. "Rustfree" in our area is definitely a big temptation as many vehicles end up in the scrap yard after 5-7years. Our winter roads with tons of salt and on top the salty air here at the coast, can just about kill any car in record time.

In this case the Jeepster is 15yrs. of age and would not have been among us any longer, if the first owner hadn't kept it in the garage every night.

But that's not a good enough reason to write about a vehicle purchase.

The story really only begins at our local mechanic's shop who was tasked with giving the car a prescribed provincial inspection plus putting new front brakes on it. When he was done and the car was ready, he wanted to drive it out of the garage again, but the vehicle refused to start. It didn't even turn over, nor gave it a click, nothing, just playing plain dead.

The following technical investigation went over several hours with no result. The next day he had spoken to an online help desk engineer and the conclusion was that the bord computer, also called PCM (Power Control Module) had failed and was to blame. The mechanic ordered a replacement unit at the sweet price of one thousand Dollars. He called again on Sunday with bad news. NAPA Autoparts couldn't get it. 

That was when I went online and found a shop in North Carolina offering refurbished units at USD 298. The company had tons of good reviews so an order was made.

A week went by, but one day the unit arrived. Next morning our mechanic put it in, said a little prayer before turning the key and  ---- it ran. It actually ran again. What a relief.

Yesterday I took the SUV out on some park roads and, just for testing, put into low gear, drove a few yards and wanted to put it back in high. But it refused to do that. I tried over and over, but to no avail.

Nothing  else to do than drive it the few miles home in slow motion.

Now our mechanic is enjoying another challenge in his profession.

Of course I searched the internet for solutions, but came up empty-handed. Except that a stuck-in-low-gear seemed to be a much common problem with all kind of 4X4 Chrysler products. I would never buy any Chrysler product, except a Jeep, which after all, is a popular SUV everywhere. My mechanic could also confirm that stuck-in-low gears are a common occurence in Chrysler's 4x4 vehicles. What are these Chrysler folks building in their factories? 

So what did we learn from this? Well, "Mint" is not the one and only criterium for purchasing a vehicle. Reliability would be another. Unfortunately, the Jeep Commander does not excell in that category. In fact the Commander model had 5 factory recalls, all of which had been fixed on ours years ago. It was only built over 4 years from 2006 - 2010. Main reason being the totally messed-up 3rd row seating arrangement where only dwarfs might be able to enter the 3rd row. We are gonna throw them out to make some room. Whether Dixie will ever be able (and willing) to get into that car is an unknown. She is kind of picky that way as she is spoiled with the low and easy entry into our vans. "lifting" her into it is impossible unless you are Hercules and capable of lifting 95pounds of fighting dog. Besides, we don't want to traumatize her. She will never forget.