A symbolic $5; shelves empty of US products

Whatever I picked up at the hospital has now made a clean sweep of the household. With Mrs. Ottawacker going down yesterday, Ottawacker Jr. joined her today (perfectly timed, as ever, before March break). It’s all quite mild for the time being – slight temperature and headache – so fingers crossed it wanes in its virulence. I had to go and pick him up from school, from where a desperate telephone call had been made.
 
I had another hospital appointment today – this time in the Riverside Campus for more x-rays. I wasn’t overly looking forward to it, but arrived 15 minutes before the allotted time and was taken immediately. In fact, I was out before the time I had been scheduled to go in. Came back home to a letter from Numeris, a company undertaking surveys on radio listening habits. I’d spoken to a lady a couple of weeks ago and agreed to do the survey. They enclosed $5 for each of us for agreeing to do it. This, I noted to Mrs. Ottawacker, is the first money I will have brought in this year. It can be tough being self-employed.
 
The tariffs are back off, at least for a month. Or are they? Doug Ford says he can’t trust Trump so he’s keeping the electricity reciprocal tariffs in place until Trump says all the tariffs are off for good. My head hurts. It is so easy to get obsessed with this. I was unloading the dishwasher late this morning and I caught myself checking the clock to see if I could catch any news. I imagine this is what the early days of a distant war must be like. Thankfully, for the time being, this is “just” an economic war; few people will forget, however, how Trump sent troops to the Canadian border during his first term in office. It’s bad to be obsessed, but it is bloody hard to not be obsessed. Meanwhile, the LCBO has cleared its shelves of American products: no more wine, no more bland beer, no Bourbon… 
 
The afternoon was spent en famille, more or less, groaning, lying on sofas or reclined in recliners. We watched some tv, chatted, dozed. Then we all decided any food more complicated than a piece of toast wasn’t needed, had a piece of toast, and then headed for an early night.