Dater’s Daily Links: Quarantine Day 13, freedom on the brink

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – Thank providence for those fans you see. Without them, I’m not sure your humble correspondent would be here at the keyboard on this, Day 13 of a 14-day quarantine right here in Edmonton.

We’ve had a heat wave the last few days, with temperatures in the 30s. That’s wicked hot in Canada, by the way. That’s in the 30s Celsius, which is their scale of measurement here. As I’ve noted before in these pages, there’s no AC in my otherwise perfectly fine airbnb. So, those two fans have saved me from self-immolation.

It hardly seems possible that I will actually be able to go outside and do, you know, real-life things starting tomorrow. I gotta be honest though, it feels like it’s gone pretty fast. It’s been just so strange though. Of course, I’ve had plenty of Face Time with the family and texted plenty of people, so I’ve had contact with the outside world. But otherwise it’s just been me and my thoughts for two weeks, within an airbnb that I’d estimate to be about 600 square feet. I’m still going to be living here until at least Aug. 24 too.

Doing this whole thing has reaffirmed my faith in the essential goodness of humanity too. You, my precious readers and subscribers, have been very kind with the Avalanche Travel Tip Jar (and if you want to add to it, don’t let me stop you! Link is here – and if it says the link has expired, if you scroll to the official link on this page, it’ll work just fine).

People here in Edmonton have been so kind, too. I am not exaggerating when I say that probably two dozen people from here have slid into my DMs with stuff like “If you need anything delivered, let me know” or “Here’s a great place to eat near you” or just other nice, helpful tips and offers.

The only real negatives for me so far have been zero real exercise. I think I’ve eaten pretty sensibly and don’t feel like I’ve gained much, if any, weight. But I feel sluggish. Need to hit a gym tomorrow and get some cardio in, poste haste. My back has felt pretty awful at times too. My mattress is starting to feel a little too soft suddenly, and that’s a killer for my back. I definitely think the heat in this place has softened it up some.

Still, this experience has made me appreciate little things that I forgot could be so luxurious – like a cold shower, followed by laying on the bed with the fan blowing on you. Ahhhh! Refreshingly cool!

I forgot how good a simple pan of my hamburger and rice recipe could taste so good, and how far I could stretch it. That’s pretty much all I’ve eaten the last two days (I go on kicks like that). I forgot how peaceful on the mind it is to just sit and look out the window and observe people and the surroundings. Not being on the go all the time is good for the blood pressure.

And, I never realized how luxurious a thought it is to think: I can go out for walk tomorrow! I can go to a store tomorrow! And, as I plan to do, I can go to a hockey game tomorrow!

On to some links:

• Uh oh Bruins, Brad Marchand already is hurt (NHL.com)
• A good feature on Nathan MacKinnon (Hockey News)
• A Western round-robin preview (Hockey News)
• Five bold playoff predictions (Sportsnet)