Chapter 352

I got up at 4:30, with two hours of sleep, and sluggishly made my way to the computer in the cold apartment. My dad and uncles were having a Zoom chat, and I thought I’d drop by and say hi. They mostly talked about the virus and the vaccine doses, seems like Quebec is going on its 473^rd lockdown soon, and that Christmas is for all intents and purposes canceled. One of my uncles is wintering in Florida, and he was complaining that the Americans there don’t really comply with masking rules and social distancing and all that. I don’t know what to say really, one day we’ll have to just keep on living.

Then I played just one (just one) chess game, and before I knew it the sun was up. I went back to bed as the girlfriend was getting up to go to some kind of school function.

I woke up at 11:30 and ate a big plate of scrambled eggs with broccoli. Try it, it’s a great combination. I packed a little bag with supplies and headed out with the dog, listening to a podcast by an American political commentator who goes by RamzPaul. He makes some interesting points about the Clown World we live in and speaks in a southern accent that’s pleasant to listen to, but he’s very libertarian for my tastes and though he doesn’t say extreme things to avoid being banned from YouTube, he gives off racist vibes in how he talks about civic nationalism being destined to fail. I can’t say I disagree completely, but for sure given the cultural currents and the way the political system is structured now, the USA are likely headed to Balkanization.

I met the girlfriend at her school and then we kept walking and met the small group of hashers for a short winter trail. It was a bit chilly, but I was dressed well and it was a beautiful sunny day. The trail brought us through newer residential areas and through a large park that has extremely zealous rent-a-cops enforcing anti-dog policies, so the girlfriend volunteered to just walk around the park as the rest of the hash group went through. Then we drank a bunch of beer in the circle. A good time was had by all.

With a bit of an afternoon beer buzz, we walked the 3 km home, and as soon as we arrived, the dog fell dead asleep on the couch. We had an hour to chill before heading out again, and the girlfriend asked me for a white Russian so she could maintain optimal inebriation. Then we headed out and caught a taxi with a South African coworker, to go to a Srilankan coworker’s birthday party. It was at a cute little restaurant I had already been to just once (see Chapter 22), opened by a lovely ever-smiling Chinese woman who likes Western cuisine, and there was a big spread of food and drinks.

We gorged ourselves and hung out with old and new friends, a good time was had by all. The girlfriend was starting to get rather drunk, which is a bit of a cause for concern since she’s skinny as a chopstick, but she insisted to keep downing shots of Fireball with her multiethnic crew. At some point I went to check on her, and she was in the toilet, with a vomit carnage in and around the bowl. Ah well, happens to the best of us. I cleaned up with paper towels, got her to drink water, and we headed home after a quick goodbye.

I put her to bed, and when I gave her a glass of water, she drunkenly dropped it, flooding my side of the blankets. Then I went to play chess for about three hours, I lost most games but once in a while I’d get the checkmate or won by default because the other person’s internet disconnected. Chess is great, and if I want to level up, I think I’ll start reading and watching instructionals.