POSITIVE

I guess it’s inevitable. After over two years of hiding, staying out of sight, masking and running from the world, it will likely catch up to you. And yes, I finally tested positive. When this would happen one of the first things you would do is ask yourself how and where did you get it? Of course you now realize that is a complete waste of time because it’s impossible to narrow the search down….especially in today’s world. You sort of have to assume everyone will get it.

Okay….as background - I went to Florida at the end of May for a week followed by a long weekend in NYC. On the drive down, I had a bit of a runny nose and so I bought a rapid test kit. Results - negative. Over the next week or so, the symptoms seem to stick around but I continued to test negative. I wondered around NYC (masking a bit) and drove home on the Monday (the 30th). I tested again when I got home and still came out negative. Over the next few days I felt a bit worse and decided to test again once more a few days later. Result - positive. So, what is the lesson? It seems that it can take more than a few days for the negative test to appear.

By this point I have become an expert in navigating the numerous websites on what you need to do. Like everything you read on the internet you do have to be a bit careful, so I decided it’s best to go with government sites or well-known medical sites. The information has been a bit of a moving target (I guess that’s science). My wife had tested positive prior to me leaving on my trip, but we really don’t think she was the carrier given the incubation period that you can go through. From the time I had tested positive to the last time I had seen her was well over 14 days - so it’s likely I did not get it from her. Not impossible but probably unlikely. So….without any real idea of how or when, you simply have to forget about that and do what your supposed to do.

Recent “rules” are you have to quarantine (self-isolate) for 5 days and then you can re-enter the world but you have to wear a mask. There seems to be conflicting thoughts on when you are contagious. Public Health Ontario suggests that you are no longer a threat 7/8 days after testing. The incubation period seems to be around 4 days from the time you were exposed. So…..locked in I was. I was not able to go to work for the week and part of the second week. Beyond getting some flu like symptoms, I can’t say that it hit me that hard. I guess I was lucky. As of this writing the Ontario Government has just relaxed the rules again, from the 5 day isolation to no isolation. Go figure…..

I recall months ago, that some people in my circle were advocating that “they would like to get it” to simply get it over with. Enough time has gone by that much of the fear of the unknown if we do get it, has faded away. Don’t get me wrong - it’s not fun having COVID, and the challenge with having to quarantine etc., is a pain in the butt. However, if that’s what we have to do to keep people safe, then sign me up.

On to other things. I was given a cooking class for Eately Toronto by my daughter for Fathers Day. This was the first cooking class that I have ever participated in and I quite enjoyed it. They have a number of courses you can take and this class was on how to make “lasagna.”

It was very civilized. The instructor was from Italy and he provided a lot of great insight into the foods and cooking styles of Italy and particularly the region he came from. When you arrive and check-in you select where you want to sit in the kitchen/classroom. In front of you they have everything setup in little trays. They ask you if you want still or sparkling water and if you would like a glass of wine. Hard to turn that down. I did have a quick glance at my watch to make sure it was past noon! Before long a nice plate of meats/cheese appeared and your off to the races. To assemble all of the ingredients together only took about 30 minutes and it’s off to the oven to bake it. When it’s done you have a choice to eat it there or bring it home - I choose to bring it home for the “kid.”

I have been very slow in writing this blog and one of the places I have been working from is the patio of a wonderful coffee/cafe called Contra Cafe on Shaw street (north of Bloor) in Toronto. I knew I had read about it, and only recently when out riding on my bike I passed it and stopped to take a look. The area of the city it is in is called “Bloorcourt” and it is completely surrounded by houses. No other retail shops are nearby - thus you have the perfect neighbourhood coffee joint. It embraces a minimalist look - think white brick with black accents. It has a understated elegance to it. They could use more seats on the patio but it has become my favourite place to hang out and enjoy some quiet time. And the coffee is pretty good too.

Lets not forget there was some tennis this month. I managed to get to the tournament(s) both in Toronto and Montreal. And…..I even bought a ticket. Yes, can you believe it? I guess these are the new realities. Sigh….for a long time, I always had access to tickets and usually good tickets. I would be invited to the Presidents lounge for a session and for some strange reason everyone has lost my email? Can you believe it :). Suck it up I guess someone would say. That chapter is over.

My friend TT gave me 3 tickets for the Wednesday night of the Toronto week and with some good luck that was the night Serena was going to play. She had earlier announced to the world (in Vogue Magazine) that she was going to retire at the upcoming US Open and she was using Toronto as an opportunity to get ready. This would be our last chance to see Serena play tennis in Canada. There was a huge crowd in attendance and ticket prices were the highest I’ve seen. It generally wasn’t a great match but it was an event and worth attending. I met Serena a number of years ago at the tournament. We had arranged for her to do a autograph session in our booth and I did have a photo taken, but alas I can’t seem to find it anymore. I did get her to sign some tennis balls (jumbo) and I did keep those. Assuming they will be worth something one day :)

The Montreal trip was a bit of an adventure. I drove down with my friend TT, who is a blogger for Tennis Canada. He was getting an award on the Tuesday night and he decided to take advantage of the cost effective trip and the company. We arrived in Montreal on the Sunday prior around 4 pm and qualifying was just ending. Step one was to get parking and preferably not to have to pay for it. (And not get a no parking ticket). We managed all of the above and I did a quick run into the retail area. The reason to go to Montreal was to check out the partnership with the local retailer in charge of the retail area and with Slinger - which is a company that I have been helping out with here in Canada. (See previous posts). Anyways, they provided us a space to display Slinger at the tournament and I think they did a great job with the small area.

We stayed for a few hours and then we went to where TT was staying, which fortunately was not that far from the tournament site. The area is called Outremont and it is considered an affluent residential borough within Montreal. Located on the north-western slope of Mount Royal, it is high-end with a number of large houses in the area. It’s key streets are Avenue Laurier West, Van Horne and of course Avenue Bernard. I’ve been to Avenue Bernard a number of times for both lunch and dinner. It’s dotted with some cute restaurants and cafes. A favourite is “Le Petit Italien.” My friend TT is single and we went there probably 15 years ago for dinner during Davis Cup. He noticed these attractive women and made a few comments - all good of course. The very next night we went to another restaurant - another favourite called “l’express.” And who did we see at the bar - the very same two women. So, it’s become a long-standing joke that they were following us and when we’ve been back we would see them again. All very innocent and of course they never seem to show up…..

The plan (if there was one) was for me to attend the tennis on Monday (the first day), but when I looked at the weather forecast it wasn’t very good. Rain at tennis usually doesn’t work very well. I got up early on Monday and the weather gods said rain all day. So…what to do? I made an executive decision to get into the car and head home. I followed the weather app all day while driving and they didn’t get onto the tennis courts till around 5 pm and my ticket was for the day session only. If I had stayed, I would have waited and waited. Did I make the right decision - who knows? I had one last trip before I went home…..

The bagel wars! For locals these would be known as “words woth fighting over.” Many have weighed in on who makes the best bagels in Montreal. TimeOut Magazine ranked these two number 1 and number 2. According to my internet research what makes them superior is that each bagel is made by hand, poached in honey water before baked in a wood-fire burning oven. I did what any respectible person would do - I bought 6 of each to take home. Once that was done, the drive began and a very quick trip to Montreal was over. Leave you with a pizza of course. This is from Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Pizza Bar on College Street. We don’t get there very often but it’s always very good.