Where can we go from here?

Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Day 361 (since our official isolation). April or May will be the vaccination start dates for our age group (60+) in BC and we will be in phase III, without preexisting conditions, so they will begin in May likely (and continue until everyone in the country is vaccinated).  There may be accelerated schedules as more vaccines become available. It is incredible to see that one year later, Canada has approved four vaccines. I know we will need boosters, but we may have just started to get over that hump. TFG. And we may get it in Mexico first, but from what’s been happening, people have been lining up starting at 6 am and getting turned away at 6 pm because they’ve run out of vaccines. It’s a shit show here, seniors in the hot sun, no appointments, FFS. This country is third-world, don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.

Things seem to have stalled. A producer has a hip pocket/back pocket deal and is taking our Christmas script around, she’s sent pitches so far to contacts at Hallmark, Lifetime and Corus Ent. And we wait. Captivatist.com is moving servers today, so I really can’t work on any pieces. Hope the move works out okay. It’s a project, that’s for sure. It’s going to take some time and some thought but in the meantime, I will just keep writing and posting.

The book continues to sell well, I will need to update it in a month or so because it finally looks like cannabis will actually be legal in Mexico sometime in April. That’s good news for Mexico and for tourism.  They say that in the first five years, 40% of all licenses will be given to indigenous people and those in marginalized areas. They also include anyone who had been harmed by prohibition.

Speaking this morning, CW and I said (and we mean it) – after these dogs are gone, and we have our vaccinations (I’m sure the order will be reversed) — we are not waiting for anything. Nope. Nothing. If we want to go somewhere, we’ll go. We’ll be mindful of our footprints. But we are getting an electric car with a 450km range. We can go lots of places in B.C. I want to spend more vacation time in the province, probably places like Tofino and The Queen Charlottes. And once a year, take a big trip. 

And the dogs. Face it, they’re ours. Until Rosie is dead, unless we fly her, we need to keep a place down here. We can get sitters. Sucks, though because we need to keep a house. But this house is relatively cheap, and it works and we’re here so what the heck. I don’t think Rosie can fly. PJ can *maybe* fly, but we’ll need his heart checked out again. With PJ’s meds, it’s difficult to send him by land with a dog transport company, plus, they won’t come into Mexico so it’s two days and cross the US border to put him in the hands of them, then drive back, fly home, drive to Bellingham WA to pick him up, forget that. Might as well drive him ourselves. Also, he needs 9 pills at five different intervals in the day. Hard to ship a dog like that for a trip that will take a few days.

Maybe we can drive them but it’s complicated because of starting in one country and ending in a third. And not having a car right now. And we only drive six or seven hours a day, which takes forever. And they fight, so it means cages all day and separate hotel rooms. And can’t even do it until the border opens. FM. No wonder we aren’t going to wait once we’re free. Not for a damn thing, mark my words. But morally, we can’t be jumping on planes willy nilly.

We are still thinking a lot of things through. But we see pathways through the forest. Through the pandemic. Through the dogs. Through Mexico. The next few months will tell a lot, of course. Even about whether or not the strains are strong enough to mean another wave of infection and death this fall, even with many vaccinated. It won’t be until the world is vaccinated that the new strains will stop surfacing. So far, we’ve been lucky.

Wednesday, March 10. I am bored to death this morning and it’s not even 6am. I’ve reached the end of the internet, I’m afraid. Anyone got any good news sites to share? I do the Globe and Mail, The NYT, the WaPo, New York Magazine, Guardian, Toronto Star – and assorted others. But there’s no news. Is no news good news? I’ve checked book sales at two distributors, checked google ads (don’t ask), too early for the stock market. What am I going to do with myself?

Ah, there’s the dog’s 6am shake. I think I found someone to feed 🙂 And he’s up. And now, he will pester me enough that I won’t get terminally bored. He’s really coming along – we still have to keep him separate from Rosie which is hard for us, because it means CW and I are often in different parts of the house. But it has changed him. I was thinking back to his PTSD period (fall 2019) and how different he is now. Much more confident, tail wagging all the time. I think he may be a normal dog after all. Except for the major heart condition and all the medicine required.

The situation with the dogs added stress, that’s for sure. So did selling the house for two years (counting Covid). But that’s done and the dog issue is all but resolved. At least the dog PTSD – keep them away from each other issue seems to be solved. Then, there’s the transportation issue but that’s something else. We will figure that out. It’s not rocket science. And I see getting back to Canada in my future. Near future. Before summer. And vaccinated. It can’t come soon enough.

What am I looking forward to?

Besides all the food (Chinese, real poutine, English fish & chips, seafood boils, Greek and more), there are yard sales and thrift shops. Canadian supermarkets. President’s Choice! Nice highways to drive on. People who answer 9-1-1 calls. Health care in English. Salt Spring Wild Cider. Friends. Family. Ocean. Home Sense. And one day, going out to restaurants, and even concerts.

Thursday, March 11, quick flypast, really. The producer got a pitch and the logline to a big producer at Hallmark, who asked for the overview and said if it was right for them, she would recommend some showrunners to take it on. So that’s good news. Good enough for me to think I should write a second one right now to keep myself out of trouble.

Who knows when we will get a vaccine. I do have to admit to being envious – Canadians and Americans I know are getting vaccinated left, right and center — and nobody I know in Mexico has been vaccinated yet except one person who went to a small town near her and stood in line.

Monday is the middle of the month. Why I know that is not immediately clear. Holy crap, time is going by slowly and quickly.

Argh. Now, it’s Friday. Tomorrow is 365 days in all but isolation. Maybe I should pop a bottle of champagne because we’re still alive. We ordered again today (food) but from some burger place. It’s not going to be Las Casas. But nothing is. Ok. It came and it sucked. We paid $34 CAD or $17 each for a burger and bag of fries that might have come from the CNE (or PNE). I do just shake my head but it’s disappointing. Especially since, with Covid, it’s the only excitement of the week. Now I’ll have to make beignets or something on Sunday. Tomorrow is Saturday, not sure what I can do then. Maybe just go for an extra walk.

Now it’s Sunday. Saturday just went by. We had a kale salad with chicken for dinner last night. I’m thinking of becoming a pescatarian. I think that’s how you spell it. I may quit meat and poultry. Especially after that burger.

Horoscopes are up. My interest level in things is down. F-ck, I’m bored. Maybe I should join an online bridge club. I do get to attend the world (online, public) premiere of “Without Getting Killed or Caught” – the Guy Clark documentary, then a Q&A with Rodney but I have nothing to ask him. Very interested in the movie though, that’s on Tuesday evening, March 23.

I think I’m about to start on putting the Best of the Bitches together (the pilot). Maybe even today. It will take a while. I think this might have to be a two-week post. Nothing much went on this week. Not sure how next week will be different, but anything can happen.

And now it’s Tuesday March 16th. My weekly astrology from the AstroTwins suggested some ‘exciting discovery’ would present itself today. Or maybe I have to do discover it. In any case, we’ll see. The same day I was revviewing bitches and thinking about buying Final Cut Pro, I also had this land in my mailbox (and it’s so referring to bitches – I think):

“Fame could stalk you, like it or not, Scorpio. If you have something to present to the world, invest in some style upgrades and maybe a home-video studio setup, and let the 2021 rebranding begin!“

I can’t believe that my annual forecast from Georgia Nicols for 2020 (yeah, over a year ago, a year and 1/4) said I had a two year window. Starting 15 months ago:

Now here we are three months into 2021. I think I’ve missed a lot of signs in the past (before these two years). So given that this is my third act, I’d better start paying attention.? I do see a new path to Hallmark and Lifetime (channels) with the producer who optioned DogStar eons ago. And I’m watching more tv at night, studying the formats. I can see why the vast unwashed majority watches them – they are escapist movies and feel-good movies. I like to escape and feel good. It’s why I drink beer 🙂

So, now it’s Friday again. March 18. Oh wait, that’s Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday. Oy. I’m getting bored. Stocks are down, book sales are down, there’s nothing on eBay to buy. I’m expecting a delivery from Texas with three eBay lots of “junk drawer” items, notably jewelry. We’ll see how that pans out. I’m stalled on my Captivatist ideas, although I am doing “Unique Cutlery” this week. The condo is finally going through, did I tell you that? Should close next week, then listed immediately. No news on the house.

No script news either. But we’ll wait. Like CW said today, we feel like we’re in Casablanca, waiting on our papers. I’m shocked, shocked to discover gambling is going on here.

Actually, gambling would be at least something to do. And we did strike one thing off our list of five large things we are waiting for this week – the condo closing date. And we may have a buyer lined up. I need to go look at some comps, things are changing so quickly there. Oh dear. I opened a Heineken and so far, I’ve had half of it. And I feel better. Oh wait. I also turned on music. It could be that. Phew. The other four things we are waiting on, if you are curious, is our moving of goods date from storage in San Miguel to Vancouver Island (it’s a part load). The script, and any possible responses. A couple of production companies are thinking about it.

The vaccine: we don’t have a date here yet. It will be available in Canada for us in the last week of April but if the house closes May 31, as it is supposed to, we’ll do it all with that in mind (mid-May). I don’t see it happening here in Mexico but you never know. I had thoughts in the wee hours. Not really monkey chatter. More like maybe story thoughts, but I couldn’t take it very far. It started with – no vaccine for you, the variants will take over and vaccines will be useless. And you’ll stay inside and this is how you’ll die, after spending four years seeing no one but CW. Sheesh. I think it comes from feeling stuck in Mexico. It’s a horrible feeling. Would be fine if it were Monaco. However, since the premise would make a horrible movie, I didn’t hang out in that place. Mentally, at least. And I know if both dogs were dead, we’d be out of here tomorrow. I honestly don’t think Rosie will last much longer, CW does but I don’t. And PJ is fine to come home with us in due course. So we wait. But we’ll always have Paris.

Friday – it’s really Friday now. Trying, once again, to stabilize my life by recognizing weekends. I put a note on the big window in front of me (several notes actually, the window looks out over a fountain that we’re not using so there is no view really, but lots of natural light) and the note says: MUSIC — and now have remembered (by 6 am) to put the radio on. I listen to 91.7 Coast FM from the Island. It’s mostly an oldies channel but can get a little rocking on Friday afternoon. There are others I like, but Tune In gets screwed up sometimes. Helps my mood a lot. I highly recommend background tunes for all. All-day long. Works for me. That, and my SAD lamp and I’m in heaven through the first few dark hours. And wake and bake. Wake and bake always works. Especially when you need to have creative thoughts most of the day.

I hear songs on this channel that I haven’t heard in 25 or 30 years. So it gives me lots to think about (memories) and lots of lessons to recall and try to impart (subtly) in any stories. Things I’d forgotten about. It’s a good memory jogger. And so is w&b, despite what you’ve heard. It’s not great for retaining new learning, as it’s the short-term memory that can be affected. However, in long-term users — studies have found that they have learned to compensate for that (and many other things). We’re nothing if not disciplined, I actively train myself all the time but I’m also very much a Skinner behaviourist. F-ck that Freud stuff (and abort your inner child while you’re there).

I have conversations with friends about that topic sometimes – some agree, some don’t. I just know what works for me. Getting on with it works really well. This is why a pandemic is so confining and difficult. Tom Petty on the radio. I saw him the August before he died. He did not look good. You see, I’m back there, sitting in the arena, I see him playing.

Walking out of the stadium back to the car, I was offered two french bulldogs (Junior had died in July, I was still in Canada until October). Actually, I could take one if I wanted, but was offered both. My life would have been FAR different, had I taken one or two of them.

It was one of those fork decisions — and I had no idea. Because if I’d gotten those dogs, we would not have gotten PJ in November of that year. So, I guess it was really the PJ decision. But, a path had opened where I could have subverted that decision before it happened. I clearly didn’t recognize it. I thought about it for a second, then thought, no, I should get a bull terrier. You see what I mean about w&b and music and memories? I just learned something that I can use in scripts – the decision before the decision. And how it can impact a life. Or in our case, four lives (the two of us and Rosie and PJ). And all of our friends and family up north. We are not there now, and that first decision is one of the whys. Maybe every decision counts, no matter how inconsequential if you pay attention?

Choices. Changes. I can’t think of a third “Ch”. Cheesies? LOL. There are a day or two a year when diet coke and cheesies are in order. But they do make my fingers orange and that’s a little scary after the deed is done.

So, today. My mission, should I accept it is: finish the Captivatist unique cutlery post (I would have picked a better title but that one works for SEO very well, some might not agree but I don’t mind competing in a large pool), make pizza for dinner (from scratch), check the normal reports from various income sources (book sales, google ads). Not really much to do today on the work front except the website. Better get to it if I plan to publish by Sunday at the latest.

Egads, music makes such a difference to my mood. Upon reflection, I’ve been forgetting to turn it on until later in the day, that could be why this week has dragged on and been quite flat. Glad I put that sign on my window 🙂

I feel the missing vaccine more as my friends get vaccinated. Three more in small-town Mexico today, two yesterday, my UK friends are already done, as are most of my American friends. In Mexico, they decided to do cities last, I probably told you that. I’d rather have one before flying but will fly home if we don’t get them in the next month as we will be eligible in BC by the end of the month. Now CW says if Rosie is still alive, he will wait here. Really? Time will tell, hopefully, they come here before it’s time to go (mid-May at the earliest, more likely June). Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve gotten kind of sanguine over stuff I can’t control – dogs dying, vaccines, house closings. All I can control right now is how usefully this time serves me. Profound, right?

How many times can I say thank god for music. Every new songs has me thinking about different things. I know it would get boring after a while. I was watching a Netflix series, Ginny & Georgia and it almost had me – but after about five or six episodes, I’m done. It tries to stradle two POVs, the 15 year old daughter and 30 year old mother and I’m finding it too young. The sex life of a 15-year-old (ok, she just turned 16) doesn’t really interest me and they are spending a lot of time there. Anybody got any good Netflix shows to share? I loved the Queen’s Gambit. I am watching season 11 of Modern Family, which I had not seen yet. But that will be done in a week, no doubt. I’m fond of that show. Old Frasier writers. The only other comedy series that has ever appealed to me. And, I just found out – they are releasing a new version, with Kelsey Grammar. This makes me incredibly joyous. Joyous, yes, that’s right. I know he’s a rabid Republican. I have to reconcile that.

And more good news! A third friend in Mexico got vaccinated today. And I paused for dinner – and now, there are two more – I just got the news from in less than that many hours! This is good. I am very happy. Five friends today. Earlier in the week, I felt kind of bad that we hadn’t been called. We could have been living in any of those places that are vaccinating today, they were all on the table at one time (choices…). But now, for some reason, having five people I actually know and really like get vaccinated makes me feel really good. There are a couple of them who I was very worried about. And there are still a couple I haven’t heard from but it’s a three-day affair to vaccinate usually, so maybe they will get there. But five people I know won’t die from Covid now. I call that a great day 🙂

And my father gets his in a week in Ontario (my stepmother, too). That’s good news. The variants are still a bit of a worry. But the vaccinations seem to be rolling out and if people are just careful until the vaccines are distributed, we can all turn the corner here. I think this is a good place to sign off for the night. I need to find something to eat. I won’t tell you what happened to that pizza.

Saturday. Later Saturday. Really feels like just another day.

In fact so much, that’s all I wrote, LOL. Now it is Sunday. EIGHT friends got vaccinated last week and won’t die of Covid-19. That’s what I call a good week. Stay tuned for the next episode. Until then, stay safe, stay informed, stay kind.

This song always makes me think of my old friend Rosie. Some day I will write about him.