Frozen

 It’s been cold today… we’ve been hovering at -27C, with a wind that makes it feel like -43C. Jerry’s view of this weather is that it’s misleading and dreadful.  When it was sunny, he asked to go out, please, right NOW, but stuck his nose out, and retreated into the warmth of the house.  Don and I both pulled out extra blankets and pretended to be rotis… we were bundled up on the sofa and just being cozy.  There were several family chat messages about the cold — my sister showed that the temperature in her area was a “warmer” -14C.  It’s so cold here that our winter festival has been cancelled.  The weather is considered too dangerous to have outdoor events this weekend.  It’s forecast to warm up to freezing by Sunday, with a few days next week where it’s supposed to be above freezing.  Thus begins the January (February) thaw, where it will cycle through freezing, thawing, flash freezing and I will start planning trips to the Caribbean!  

Annoyingly, my tummy is still not settled.  The new medication has been good at reducing the worst of the symptoms, but it doesn’t last very long.  I’ve got a good sense of how long it will provide help, especially overnight, so I don’t have a lot of distress.  Today I drank 2 of my Ensure, and I ate a slice of bread (🎉) It did cause some discomfort, but it stayed in.  I also avoided drinking tea today, because it just caused burning, although the warmth is comforting.  So between the anti-emetics and the new one, the distress is reduced.  Hopefully I’ll be able to eat some actual food over the weekend, which would make me feel much better.  

I’m not sure if to be pleased or embarrassed… yesterday, I had to get a few items from the pharmacy.  I swiped my membership card, as one does, and when I got my receipt, I saw that I’d been given the seniors’ discount!  I don’t actually reach the age until June, but apparently the system just checks the year… I like the 20% discount, but at the same time, I don’t feel like a senior!  Does that mean that I’m now legitimately “Tantie”?  Shall I break out the pink parasol and the picnic basket?  Or do I leave that for the Vincies?

I had a conversation today with someone and we discussed (among other things) the decline in local news coverage.  It’s a sad thing that the news in Canada is really only Toronto, with small mentions of Vancouver and Montreal.  There are whole swaths of the country that aren’t covered and it’s sad.  I’ve also realized that the same thing is true in Trinidad, where news is only covered in Port of Spain, with a few mentions of San Fernando… and the rest of the country is largely bypassed.  I know that part of the issue is the cost of having people to cover all the small towns and villages.  Yes, there might be very few big stories happening outside of the larger areas, but they still do.  While it’s also true that much of the news is minor, it’s still important (IMO) to have local coverage in addition to bigger pieces.  I wonder if there’s any way to get more local news in the floods of other distressing items.  It’s probably one way to get people to be more actively involved in politics and governance.  

Don just ordered some Chinese, so I have some more wonton soup to drink.  Isn’t that lovely?  Hopefully the distress fades and I can enjoy some of the other items on the weekend.  Jerry is letting me know that he’s been neglected, so I’d better go do my job of petting him.  Good night!