Collected Item: “Bill's Covid Journal #9 - the last chapter”
I agree:
Yes
Name:
Bill Hogan
Date(s):
May 20, 2020
Title:
Bill's Covid Journal #9 - the last chapter
Text:
From Get Back to Come Together, A (Final) Day in the Life on this Magical Mystery Tour. It's been a blast, but this is my final Covid-19 diary entry. I think we're all tired of Covid this and Covid that, and I accomplished my purpose set out in my first entry "to record one exact moment in time" so I'd be able to recall it when I start my career as a Paperback Writer.
Wow! What a rush it was. I was working weekends only, as the tourist season started up at The Hilton in March. I worked my night shift Saturday March 7 where we had over 900 rooms in service and had my next shift Friday March 13. Tuesday March 10 over 600 guests cancelled weekend rooms. Wednesday, all 65 valet Department drivers, supervisors and management were laid off--BAM. It was so unexpected and sudden no-one even contacted me to tell me, so I showed up for my shift Friday to find a ghost town, maybe 50 rooms booked out of 1050! Totally unbelievable and it happened so fast.
Then everyone shut down, 5 million Canadians returned home and we started wearing masks and isolating ourselves. People suddenly started valuing teachers more and they REALLY started valuing the "front line workers" more. And while we're creeping back to a new "normal", air travel and tourism are a long long way from recovering. I may never work again!
We survived here quite well as I've documented and can easily encompass new habits like once-a-week shopping, and Zooming, and "tapping" bank cards, and wearing a mask in public. I wonder if our new "frugality" will last?
We haven't lost anyone we know. As of today there are 98 cases in St. Catharines with 80 of them publicly acquired--NOT from care homes or hospitals, so the virus is lurking. Last week, one staffer infected 15 patients and 6 co-workers in the Niagara Falls hospital, though, in one shift, catching Covid-19 "outside" the hospital and bringing it in.
In Tim's news, the Hartzel Road shop closed for Victoria Day!! That's a first. And in the accompanying pictures, you can see Wendy's ran out of hamburgers! Insult to injury, the Welland Ave. location also didn't have any Frosties either. Five Roses Flour has run out of printed bags so is using plain brown ones for a bit. What a new world.
I want to thank everyone who responded to these emails. The high was 15 responses, the low 3 or 4. The motto of the first newspaper I worked on was "To Inform and Entertain" and I think I've fulfilled that mandate here, too. Stay safe and ignore those other Beatles songs, Day Tripper and I Want to Hold Your Hand for just a while longer.
Bungalow Bill
Wow! What a rush it was. I was working weekends only, as the tourist season started up at The Hilton in March. I worked my night shift Saturday March 7 where we had over 900 rooms in service and had my next shift Friday March 13. Tuesday March 10 over 600 guests cancelled weekend rooms. Wednesday, all 65 valet Department drivers, supervisors and management were laid off--BAM. It was so unexpected and sudden no-one even contacted me to tell me, so I showed up for my shift Friday to find a ghost town, maybe 50 rooms booked out of 1050! Totally unbelievable and it happened so fast.
Then everyone shut down, 5 million Canadians returned home and we started wearing masks and isolating ourselves. People suddenly started valuing teachers more and they REALLY started valuing the "front line workers" more. And while we're creeping back to a new "normal", air travel and tourism are a long long way from recovering. I may never work again!
We survived here quite well as I've documented and can easily encompass new habits like once-a-week shopping, and Zooming, and "tapping" bank cards, and wearing a mask in public. I wonder if our new "frugality" will last?
We haven't lost anyone we know. As of today there are 98 cases in St. Catharines with 80 of them publicly acquired--NOT from care homes or hospitals, so the virus is lurking. Last week, one staffer infected 15 patients and 6 co-workers in the Niagara Falls hospital, though, in one shift, catching Covid-19 "outside" the hospital and bringing it in.
In Tim's news, the Hartzel Road shop closed for Victoria Day!! That's a first. And in the accompanying pictures, you can see Wendy's ran out of hamburgers! Insult to injury, the Welland Ave. location also didn't have any Frosties either. Five Roses Flour has run out of printed bags so is using plain brown ones for a bit. What a new world.
I want to thank everyone who responded to these emails. The high was 15 responses, the low 3 or 4. The motto of the first newspaper I worked on was "To Inform and Entertain" and I think I've fulfilled that mandate here, too. Stay safe and ignore those other Beatles songs, Day Tripper and I Want to Hold Your Hand for just a while longer.
Bungalow Bill
Location:
St. Catharines, Ontario
Publish online:
Yes