ever since i moved in here, i've been focusing on writing projects, and living mostly in my bed. when i decided to get up and out of bed and clean in here, i set up a computer system on the other side of the apartment, in front of the largest window in the space. i immediately noticed two things:

1) it was much colder over there

2) the stench of drugs, cigarette smoke and pollution (in that order, in the sense that they aren't the same thing) was much worse.

i set to cleaning up the space to try to isolate and neutralize these smells and quickly realized that the area had an inch layer thick coating of soot and ash that appeared to be settled second-hand smoke. so, i took everything away from the window, i scrubbed the floors and i set up a fan. it seemed to make everything a lot better.

but, then the heat in the space decreased with the shifts in the weather, and the smoke just became that much more apparent. soon, i found myself coughing from the smoke, which was so thick i could actually see it.

while the smoke appears to be coming from what i believe is an undercover police officer upstairs, the drafty windows seemed to be a problem in it seeping in. what i'm deducing is that the smoke is seeping out of the drafty windows upstairs and into the drafty windows, downstairs. so, i decided i needed to find a way to seal up the windows, and found myself at canadian tire looking for the kind of silicon you can apply without a gun.

i'm not wearing a mask when i'm out, in a conscious act of civil disobedience. the science is clear enough that medical masks of the sort being mandated are entirely useless in stopping the spread of any virus, and i consequently resent being forced to conform to a wardrobe decision that is intended to make other people feel safe. i don't care if you feel safe when i'm in your presence or not - if it bothers you, get up and walk away. i don't feel an obligation to adjust to your concerns, and you can essentially fuck off if that bothers you. i don't care. if there was some actually valid medical logic, i'd adhere to it - there isn't. it's theatre, and i'm having none of it.

so, i tell people i have asthma. 

most stores just shrug it off, but the canadian tire's reaction was hilarious. i actually had the manager escort me around the store in a full visor, which i'll acknowledge is at least potentially effective, even if i felt like making a cherryesque remark about it. if that's what they want to do, fine - but they should realize i'm going to force them to keep doing it, because i'm not going to wear a mask, at all, ever. 

so, the thing i was looking for was out of stock, and i had the store manager sit there and keep watch over me for ten minutes while they contacted the guy that works in the department, to make sure he didn't have any in the back. silicon is silicon, right? it just needs to plug the hole.

that's a lot of effort for a $10 purchase, but they can make the choices they wish to make. whatever. 

i stopped at the food basics afterwards, picked up some items and made it back home for the night.