mississaugasnow

I think sometimes that we believe too much in individuals using common sense. I live in the GTA which is experiencing a situation going out of control, but currently working in rural Ontario. This past week I was at dinner and this guy with his elderly father and family started saying he's not wearing a mask and had a temper tantrum because they live in a non hot spot so why follow city rules. That type of attitude is why we won't be able to get a handle on this. Right beside his temper tantrum was a table of 6 guys from Toronto (hot spot) so who cares that he's in a non hot spot.

Thats my favourite type of winter. Early season snow and cold and then spring starts fast mid march

The economic reasons for not doing a shutdown are interesting and understandable. However, staying open doesn't mean businesses won't struggle which I think gets lost in the messaging. The seasonal company I work at just had to shut down an entire division for 5 days because of covid. We were operating with covid rules in place but now we've cracked open the emergency plans. This will slow down productivity even more and obviously increases costs but if we didn't have any measures in place the entire company could have been at risk of being shut down for days instead of just one division. All summer Ontario and most of Canada looked across the border with confusion. Now the rest of Canada is also looking at Ontario with confusion as we've shown no appetite to slow down the virus. Quebec was with us for the most part, but as someone mentioned earlier they've peeled away and have done a limited lock down now of the two biggest cities in the province, leaving Ontario to continue down this road alone.

First rain delay for the Jays (while playing at home) in nearly 20 years haha

Just realized how far north in Minnesota you are. In 2016 and 2017 I was up in Fort Frances and spent lots of time in International Falls. You guys have a stronger Canadian accent then us in Toronto haha. Very friendly people and I couldnt believe the amount of dual citizens on both sides of the border. The towns almost seemed like one big town (radio did news for both towns and weather in F and C, parties/bars were attended by both sides) Your weather is certainly one of the harshest outside the mountain ranges in the US.

Ontario is going ahead with full in class for grades 1-8 and high school is 50% of the week in class. We have a population of 14.5M and have now had 6 consecutive days below 100 new cases in the entire province. The entire province has seemed to accept the masks and I just came out of the beer store and people had no problem with waiting 10 minutes outside because it was 2 people in the store at a time. I think it all came down to leadership to set the example and our conservative premier (governor equivalent) stressed since early march the severity of this and only had a few hiccups along the way.

haha sorry not the geographical central part of ontario. Barrie-North Bay-Algonquin is central ontario. Timmins though where I worked last August and saw multiple nights with frost and temperatures in the 30s is actually in the arctic watershed haha

Was up in central Ontario this weekend and noticed a few as well. Not unusual for August but a nice sign to see. Multiple nights coming up in that area of Ontario with lows in the 40s.

Ive actually wondered this myself haha. Yesterday I noticed signs saying you have to pre pay outside for gas if you dont have a mask. 10 people have been ticketed in Brampton already for not wearing the masks. Just like the tickets for the parks earlier in the year, my guess is enough tickets get handed out and people will listen.

lol what? Is this a serious post or sarcasm, I work construction for a living and wait until I tell you about mask wearing when mixing cement/sanding. I guess you might be one of the old vets I stumble upon who laugh at people working in concrete dust with masks on. To them wearing a mask when working in construction isnt proven to help and no one will convince them otherwise. Aside from the fit tests the company makes them get but then right away they take the mask off

Ontario is about to enter stage 3 outside the GTA and Windsor. Indoor restaurants and bars and almost all business can reopen with heavy regulations. This stage is where California, Texas, Florida all fell apart. Ontario is in for a nervous 3-4 weeks to see what happens. Though mask use is mandatory in most of the population centers and not wearing one gets you shunned. One guy tried to walk into the gas station today and they told him to leave and the rest of us with masks were openly making eye contact with him when he came in. Unlikely he does that again as the embarrassment level must have been extreme haha

Ontario has 14.5M people and were now down under 200 a day with 30K a day testing and death rate dropping as well. Looking at States with similar population and the numbers are massive. The historical partnership and historical linkages of how our two countries grew is interesting and were seeing it play it out in trust of government and perceived freedoms. Sault St Marie Ontario and surrounding towns- The government has asked us to shut down and slow the spread so lets close and do our part. The government has asked us to wear masks and we should listen. I was in a Tim Hortons in Northern Ontario recently and they werent messing around with the 5 people in a store at a time. They asked us to wait outside and we did, when we were in and more people came in they asked again and without fighting it they waited outside. Sault St Marie Michigan and surrounding Northern MI- Nope shutdown is dumb, wearing a mask is dumb, the government is trying to crush my small business and if I want to open I will. Not my business though on how you guys want to fight covid on your side of the border. Its just interesting to see an imaginary line we drew in the sand and the corresponding outlooks on society that follow. Edit**** Ontario has also really dropped the ball regarding LTC and the investigations and possible criminal charges coming against some will be interesting. So we are not perfect, far from it.

Im currently waiting on my Musa Basjoo. Hopefully able to pick it up in a week or two and get them growing. I bought 3 gal ones. Kind of upset not able to get them until late May/Early June but considering it snowed last week here wasnt going to be able to do much with them anyways. How big do you think the 3 gallon ones will grow from June 15th to October? One is being planted in the ground and the other in a pot.

The plus side is that the averages are sky rocketing right now so even below normal is now 50s/60s. In a few weeks a cold day will be upper 60s/lower 70s. I keep seeing hints that the summer is going to be above normal but every time a warm up comes close it falls apart.

The border is remaining closed until minimum late June now though it also separates two different reopening plans. Ontario just announced were about 90% open now. All construction, storefront retail, marinas, golf, tennis, indoor/outdoor sport facilities in general (no gyms) Libraries can reopen to pick up/drop off, on and on. Lol even maid service is back for those who can afford it. Essentially just malls, restaurants, gyms and movie theatres remain fully closed.

Haha at this point its pretty laughable. I also see a lot on wx twitter trying to stay the course with a very hot summer. Not saying it wont happen but its kind of funny when the hype train was forecasting mid-upper 20s next week and heat indexs into the 30s. Now its average with rain. At this point I wont even say were out of the woods for a rare late May/June frost.

I loved the humidity when I was in Thailand haha. I was in Phoenix last summer and didnt really enjoy the heat much. But I also love that feeling of the tropics. Off topic but I was able to sneak in a quick Asia trip in January before covid. Landed in Bangkok January 5th and hung around Thailand for a few weeks before going to Dubai and finally Paris/London. Looking back on 2020 in a few decades it will be weird to say the wife and I did a world tour right when the world pandemic was beginning. Back to Toronto and heat, I guess its because of how hot Southern Ontario is compared to almost every other city in Canada. Working in Timmins in mid August and waking up to Temperatures around 0C. Calgary seeing frost and occasional snowstorms in May and September. St.Johns NL barely has a legit summer. Halifax has an okay summer but the average high in July is 23C or 74F. So Toronto seems balmy compared to most of this country.

haha I know. Though every summer Toronto generally strings together a few days in the row of 32-34C and humidex values around 40C and above with lows around 23C Our criteria for hot here when hearing the weather reports and newscasts is 30C. The 30 year average for 30C or above in Toronto and most of southern Ontario is around 20-24 days a summer which is pretty respectable. Especially within Canada. Only the interior of BC averages more. Its all relative and depends what you like. I love those big humid heatwaves where its 25C when you walk out the door at 7am and your drenched in sweat haha.

Thanks for clarifying. Here in Ontario and I would imagine most states there is a disconnect between smaller cities and rural vs bigger cities. The low population of South Carolina might explain some characteristics as Northern Ontario cities are also asking for Ontario to reopen and I imagine they're calling us in the Southern part sissies. Its all relative though because I travel all over Ontario for work and sometimes the Northern Ontario clients come down to Toronto and sweat buckets and talk about how nerve whacking the 18 lane wide 401 is by the airport. They also ask how does anyone get used to driving like that haha. For me thats where I can call them sissies haha

Ive been looking at traffic jams in North America since mid march and I havent seen a change in South Carolinas cities? Though to be fair, I never really looked at Charleston or Columbias traffic before, but at 8:30am today there is zero traffic and it shows all green on the interstates? Is there normally traffic jams in those cities? Atlanta, Houston, Dallas all show relatively easy commutes still even though they are open. The reason im interested is I live in Hamilton and commute to Toronto now that my job is back (4 weeks deemed non-essential construction) and my commute should take 65-90 minutes because its bumper to bumper but right now im doing it in 40 minutes at 7:30am with it feeling like a sunday evening drive.

haha sadly I enjoy extreme events. A few weeks in the 70s after this cold spell, but then I want 90-100F+ blowtorches

I believe that happened in 2018 in the eastern great lakes. We had a very late season ice/winter storm in mid April, chilly beginning of May and by Mid May had highs around 80-86F. It was weird to be working outside baking in the sun while thinking only a few weeks ago I was freezing and walking thru snow.

I think were going to see a May snow thread lol. Some of me wants something historic only because if its going to be so cold lets see a 1-3" widespread snow with it where its something talked about for years.

I dont know, since its may this massive cold spell doesn't seem as frightening. Average high is already going to be around 65F so even taking 10-15F off looking at days in the low 50F. Im not terribly upset by sunny cool days. In the GTA we still dont really plant gardens for another 2-3 weeks, especially if your north of the city. The May long weekend is our unofficial kick off to summer where its expected to have no more frost/freeze.

After a 9 day battle with Corona (test results took days to get back) my grandmother passed away this morning in her long term care home with no one able to visit her in her last days. I know we can debate whether lockdowns are worth it or and whether the elderly would have died in a few years or months regardless of the virus, but at the end of the day shes not here anymore because of this virus.