i'm going to be sitting inside, straight edge, all summer.

and i like the humidex at 40+ degrees celsius.

after looking into this housing benefit a little bit more closely...

it seems like it's only going to a handful of applicants. so, i may have misunderstood the breadth of it's application.

there's thousands of people on the wait list; it's only going to take a few hundred off.

it seems more like a political stunt than anything else, really. that money would be better spent on actual housing.

looks like this is the last cold night here, and the heat should finally largely turn off in the next couple of days.

i'm feeling better, but i'm still wavy, and while it does still seem like somebody is smoking upstairs, my bigger concern is the dry air from the heaters.

once the heaters turn off, i should be able to fight the desiccation and smoke more effectively with steam and humidity.

if they don't get this horrible pig out of here, it's going to be a long summer for everybody.

we're last to get hit because we're furthest away from the centre.

that is all.

the government seems to want to just blame everything on trump.

and, we may be collectively dumb enough to fall for it....for a while, at least.

i'm not going to be gloating about my predictions in ontario and quebec actually happening.

most of the rest of canada is in truth very sparsely populated and very isolated, so you wouldn't expect a lot of through traffic, and you wouldn't expect a lot of spread. that is, in fact, what is happening. cities like halifax and winnipeg are unlikely to get hit hard until the waning stages of this, when the big cities have already reopened and there's basically nothing they can do to stop it further.

there is also vancouver, which has a lucky geography and which seems to be fluking out, somehow. but, the actual major counter-example to this in canada is alberta, who probably thinks they're getting off easy on this.

rather, i would expect calgary to peak some time after toronto - july, maybe august. and, they'll probably find a way to blame it on quebec, when it happens, but it's just the nature of how this thing seems to want to move in less densely populated regions, which is fairly slowly.

that doesn't mean i think they should stay locked down for the next year, it just means this thing is just getting started, here.

yesterday was not productive, but i do think i'm feeling better.

let's try this again.

distorted viewpoint.

it's a known unknown. you don't know; don't pretend you do.

this wasn't that long ago, really.

that's one way to do it.

let's hope they do antibody testing while they're at it, and actually publish it. that's what i want to know...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-11/china-s-wuhan-sees-first-new-virus-cases-since-lockdown-lifted

it does not seem as though we've seen a decrease in rent in windsor, yet.

i'm best to wait this out, regardless, i think.

obviously, i'd rather sign up and take the cash and stay where i am while i wait for access to subsidized housing. but, that's not an option, unfortunately - i have to pick.

and, if i have to choose between taking the cash and losing access to smoke-free housing and kind of waiting it out with less cash for a while, the latter makes more sense to me - even if it costs me $3000/yr, which is 20% of my existing income.

that's not an easy choice; that's a lot of money for me! but, if i just end up spending it to move sideways, while eliminating my ability to get into a long-term housing solution, i'm not accomplishing anything. it's tempting, but it looks like it would be foolish.

the thing is, though....what if it takes 10 years? what if they pull the plug altogether next year, and i've just blown time? that's the gamble i'm making - i'm hoping that this clears the backlog a little, and makes it easier to get into subsidized housing. if i'm wrong, i'm screwed regardless, and am going to find myself back in conflict with welfare case drug addicts, either way.

i sent an email to the subsidized housing people already; maybe they can give me more information. they don't answer the phone. and, let's see what i can get from the landlord...

so, what i want is a way out of the market, but the government wants to force us all into market relations, whether we like it or not. i'm worried that the new policy is a signal that they're shutting things down regarding subsidized housing, and then what?

frankly, despite my complaining, where i am is probably better than almost anywhere. i have to be crystal clear: i'm not going to find an apartment building in this city that enforces any kind of non-smoking rule, outside of the city-owned buildings. it's really the only answer...

but, how much cash do i actually have to play with, and maintain something roughly the same?

the language is a little blurry, but i'm good at math, and if i understand correctly then i can tap the system out at about $800. however, it would be very useful if they would publish "average rent" and it would be equally foolish for me to make any kind of choice until i see it.

but, if i have the data right, i can claim up to $800, which would give me $680 a month left after rent. i currently have $419 left after rent. so, that's an extra $261.

in fact, if i could spend the money on anything, i'd spend it on rent! so, that would have the functional effect of boosting my maximum rent amount from $750 to $1000.

i know, you're thinking - this is supposed to put more money in my pocket, to buy more things. but, what i want to buy, first and foremost, is smoke-free housing, and i can't do that with $750 on the free market. i would need a government to come in and set the rules. sorry.

and, what are people most likely to spend that $250 on? the reality is that they're going to spend it on cigarettes and marijuana, thereby making the second-hand smoke problem in market housing even worse.

with an extra $250, though, i could potentially put myself in a better situation to find something that's.....well, something that's very similar to what i have right now. except maybe better?

i'm going to send something to my landlord.