Thursday, December 31, 2020

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021

Here it is, New Year's Eve. Time to bid farewell to a year that really turned out to be underwhelming. COVID and a cancelled summer plus the loss of Sandy's Mom Jan, after she deteriorated due to lockdown, made this one we would probably rather forget.

On the plus side, though, we are in a new place where we do not need to worry about maintenance, mowing, snowblowing or any of those other responsibilities of ownership. We took possession two months ago and have not regretted it for a minute.

Soon after we got back from the last trip, the TV arrived. Kim and Mike helped us pick it up in their van and bring it home. While at Leon's, we also ordered two recliners that were delivered just a few days later. Then we ordered a king size platform bed headboard and frame, also from Leon's, and a foam mattress in a box from Douglas. The stacked washer and dryer that came with the unit died (seized dryer motor) so our landlords Vic and Mone bought a new one. It took a while to get it connected due to condo rules that any connections need to be done by a licenced plumber, but they are now working.

We still need a couch, chairs and tables for the living room, furnishings for the guest bedroom and dresser and bedside tables for the master bedroom, in addition to a few other things, but we are getting by just fine.

We found an optometrist and we have a family doctor lined up. The latter was arranged through Health Care Connect, a provincial government service. Unfortunately, Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered a 28 day lockdown starting Boxing Day due to increasing COVID rates so we won't be able to schedule an appointment until after that ends. Still, there is light at then end of the tunnel.

After several years of looking at it, I am now doing most of my work on my HP Windows 10 convertible, although the W 7 Dell is still in service. I subscribed to Microsoft 365, which came with a TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Most of my files are mirrored there and can be shared with any of my devices. I have one more program to test in the W10 environment and I then will be able to switch over totally. Then I will start working on the photo scanning project. There are so many photos.

So the year was not a total loss. We are staying positive and staying safe. We look forward to seeing people in 2021 and, if the vaccine works out, maybe doing some traveling. So, on an upbeat note,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!