Work, at 3 days a week, enough verging on too much but there are the bills of winter still overhanging.
Volunteering, an unstoppable tide of kitchen kitsch, dishes, cups, pots, pans, a 40 foot trailer unloaded - this is never ending, the avalanche of disposable goods...there is no need for humanity to manufacture another thing - another coffee mug, another plate. We have it all. The manufacture of said goods should be prohibited.
Asking my workmate he estimates a third of all donations end up in the landfill.
This is - in my observation - a gross underestimation. More like a half. Two thirds even. And it's not that there is a lack of quality in the donations (often there is) - it's often just the sheer superabundance of repetitive items.
Like branded coffee mugs. Unless your brand is "Nike" or "Adidas" or "Gucci" or "Starbucks" don't put it on a coffee mug. It's not promotion, it's manufactured rubbish.
I could go on.
Anyways, the volunteering has led to another commitment - they need to hire someone - 2 days a week - why not? I need the cash. And so my schedule is filling up.
The boy, on his way to pick up his sister in Vancouver and take her on the big tree planting adventure - stops by in Nelson Wednesday/Thursday. There's not much going on in town these days, we go for dinner, catch up, I'm envious of their impending adventures, half thinking I want to tag along, it's been awhile, make it a proper family adventure...
Not now - right now - there's other things that beg my attention.
And now, something new, a persistent, phlegmy cough, runny nose, congested sinuses, foul breath, could it be the plague? I'm saying probably not, there's a lot of other things going around, in any event, even if it is the world is still turning and no restaurant is shutting down for this again, there will be no time off allocated, and so it's just be miserable and shake it off.
The weather, unusually dry, cool, but spring is not far off - in 2 weeks we'll have extraordinary weather, in 4, 5 weeks will begin the fires and heat domes, all while trying to persuade ourselves "this is the new normal", and it is, but it's not normal at all...not at all.
And so - for the moment - that's it.