life in the time of the plague
We do not yet have any cases of COVID-19 in the town in which I live. However, in the region there are 8 cases but no deaths. The first two diagnosed patients here have recovered and were sent home to remain in self-isolation. I know this is nothing compared to elsewhere in the world and compared to what some of my flist has been experiencing. But things could get worse.
Some people here have given in to panic and have depleted all stocks of certain products in the grocery stores, pharmacies and department stores: toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towels, bottled water and many other products remain unavailable. Luckily I had sent a grocery order to Walmart last Friday and my stuff was delivered today. But there were certain items that were unavailable. Instead of bagged milk I received two cartons, one of which I put in the freezer, and instead of a case of facial tissues they sent me three boxes. I wish they would do that with the customers who trot out of the store with carts full of these items that I've seen in photos and videos online!
Yesterday we had to go to Service Ontario, the government building where you apply to update your drivers' licence, health cards, etc. Sean and I both received notices last year that our health cards were expiring and I could kick myself for not going sooner to do it, but now it's a priority. Sean is scheduled to have a dental procedure done on April 8th. Part of it is covered by our health insurance, and almost the rest of it by our dental plan through private insurance, but I still have to pay $480 up front and if we didn't update the card it would be more!
We joined a rather long line on the way in of around 20 people. Sean noticed on the sidewalk outside that someone had dropped their cellphone - it was a nice, new iPhone in an aqua-coloured case - very pretty. Once inside I held it up and called out to everyone that someone had dropped their phone. Turns out it belonged to a woman who had just returned from Pakistan and had to get her son's health card updated. She thanked me profusely and I said no worries, I was glad it wasn't broken.
Everyone in line had to answer a bunch of questions from the clerk at the front desk about the state of their health and if they had travelled anywhere outside the country in the past couple of weeks. Of course he had to put the people who had been to Pakistan through the wringer! They were really sweet - they stopped again to thank me for retrieving the phone before they left. I told them anytime! I didn't even think about worrying they might be carrying the virus. I'm just not used to this new lifestyle yet!
Anyway, on a brighter note, some time ago I had decided to pay to have a DNA test done through Ancestry.ca, the Canadian site. I just received my results this past week. For me they are fascinating!
It turns out there were few surprises - My ethnicity is 63% from England, Wales and Northwest Europe, 20% Germanic, 10% Ireland and Scotland, and 7% Norwegian.
I knew nothing about the Norwegian part, but I would suppose it's from the Viking invasion of England way back then. Another surprise was the very small Scottish heritage. My maiden name was Stewart! The part of Scotland where my DNA lies is in the Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides only and nowhere else in Scotland but all over Ireland! I started doing research and found that in 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie (who was a Stewart/Stuart) travelled into that region before the Battle of Culloden, and no doubt he and his men spread their seed around in those parts.
I'll be delving into this some more. I knew that my paternal grandmother was a Ryerson and one of the Germanic peoples in my DNA profile. She had traced the Ryerson family tree back to a Martin Ryerson (at that time spelled Ryerzsen) who came to New York from The Netherlands in 1645 and was the known ancestor of all the Ryersons in North America. I have family in Michigan, and family name Morrison and Root is part of my heritage too.
Ancestry.ca also provided me with the names of all my great grandparents to the 5th degree (going back to 1701!) complete with in some cases, photos and documents! There's a lot to look at and a lot of names to memorize. There are also photos of 438 living relatives from 2nd to 4th cousins. I have no, and never had any, first cousins.
If I wanted to spend another $2,500 I can have Ancestry's genealogists do all the work for me in delving deeper into my background.
Interestingly as well, I have no related DNA east of Austria except for a little bit in Australia, which I knew about. I am related to Ronald Biggs, the Great Train Robber, through my mother. After he escaped, he went to Australia and stayed with one of my grandmother's relatives that she used to correspond with. He was my mother's cousin's son, so her second cousin and my third. It's something I'm not proud of and would like to live down, but there you have it.
Some people here have given in to panic and have depleted all stocks of certain products in the grocery stores, pharmacies and department stores: toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towels, bottled water and many other products remain unavailable. Luckily I had sent a grocery order to Walmart last Friday and my stuff was delivered today. But there were certain items that were unavailable. Instead of bagged milk I received two cartons, one of which I put in the freezer, and instead of a case of facial tissues they sent me three boxes. I wish they would do that with the customers who trot out of the store with carts full of these items that I've seen in photos and videos online!
Yesterday we had to go to Service Ontario, the government building where you apply to update your drivers' licence, health cards, etc. Sean and I both received notices last year that our health cards were expiring and I could kick myself for not going sooner to do it, but now it's a priority. Sean is scheduled to have a dental procedure done on April 8th. Part of it is covered by our health insurance, and almost the rest of it by our dental plan through private insurance, but I still have to pay $480 up front and if we didn't update the card it would be more!
We joined a rather long line on the way in of around 20 people. Sean noticed on the sidewalk outside that someone had dropped their cellphone - it was a nice, new iPhone in an aqua-coloured case - very pretty. Once inside I held it up and called out to everyone that someone had dropped their phone. Turns out it belonged to a woman who had just returned from Pakistan and had to get her son's health card updated. She thanked me profusely and I said no worries, I was glad it wasn't broken.
Everyone in line had to answer a bunch of questions from the clerk at the front desk about the state of their health and if they had travelled anywhere outside the country in the past couple of weeks. Of course he had to put the people who had been to Pakistan through the wringer! They were really sweet - they stopped again to thank me for retrieving the phone before they left. I told them anytime! I didn't even think about worrying they might be carrying the virus. I'm just not used to this new lifestyle yet!
Anyway, on a brighter note, some time ago I had decided to pay to have a DNA test done through Ancestry.ca, the Canadian site. I just received my results this past week. For me they are fascinating!
It turns out there were few surprises - My ethnicity is 63% from England, Wales and Northwest Europe, 20% Germanic, 10% Ireland and Scotland, and 7% Norwegian.
I knew nothing about the Norwegian part, but I would suppose it's from the Viking invasion of England way back then. Another surprise was the very small Scottish heritage. My maiden name was Stewart! The part of Scotland where my DNA lies is in the Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides only and nowhere else in Scotland but all over Ireland! I started doing research and found that in 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie (who was a Stewart/Stuart) travelled into that region before the Battle of Culloden, and no doubt he and his men spread their seed around in those parts.
I'll be delving into this some more. I knew that my paternal grandmother was a Ryerson and one of the Germanic peoples in my DNA profile. She had traced the Ryerson family tree back to a Martin Ryerson (at that time spelled Ryerzsen) who came to New York from The Netherlands in 1645 and was the known ancestor of all the Ryersons in North America. I have family in Michigan, and family name Morrison and Root is part of my heritage too.
Ancestry.ca also provided me with the names of all my great grandparents to the 5th degree (going back to 1701!) complete with in some cases, photos and documents! There's a lot to look at and a lot of names to memorize. There are also photos of 438 living relatives from 2nd to 4th cousins. I have no, and never had any, first cousins.
If I wanted to spend another $2,500 I can have Ancestry's genealogists do all the work for me in delving deeper into my background.
Interestingly as well, I have no related DNA east of Austria except for a little bit in Australia, which I knew about. I am related to Ronald Biggs, the Great Train Robber, through my mother. After he escaped, he went to Australia and stayed with one of my grandmother's relatives that she used to correspond with. He was my mother's cousin's son, so her second cousin and my third. It's something I'm not proud of and would like to live down, but there you have it.