Heading home early

Hello loyal reader

I am heading home on Tuesday. Leaving Ireland on St Patrick's seems wrong but that is the first date with an economy seat on Air Canada. I am unwilling to pay $3600 for a one-way business class ticket. I can huddle in my window seat and try to stay as isolated as I would be paying several times more than a round trip ticket costs.

Thursday I enjoyed my final social encounter with the "cousins on the McGrath side" in Kilkenny. John met me in Bunclody and he drove via Gowran and Borris to McDonagh Junction Mall where we met the siblings for coffee and a catch-up visit. During that time we learned that the schools were closing and later learned that pretty much everything is a no-go now. No tourist sites will be welcoming visitors. 

So I decided on the way back, to get the first flight home. That proved to be a royal pain but eventually, I did get a seat booked for Tuesday and I took it. The extra cost is $134 for the Air Transport Fee which I thought I'd paid on the original ticket. The "change" fee was waived. But they still did a "gotcha".

Why go home instead of hunkering down here? Well, there's no guarantee that flights will not be cancelled by April 2 and I'd be stuck here longer. I've budgeted until that time and not longer. I do have plans and appointments when I'm back in Ottawa. And I am pretty sure that my travel medical insurance does not cover pandemics - as noted in an email from the insurance company. So, should I contract Covid-19 and need medical care, it would be on my own dime so to speak. I'd rather be at home with fully paid coverage. Gotta love our medicare.

I'll spend the weekend in the Barn (as this cottage is named), doing some writing and staying tuned in to the news. I should be able to consume most of the food that I have left in the fridge. The combinations may be a bit unusual but I won't starve.

I may venture out to Aldi for a bottle of wine and the remainder of their supply of dark chocolate with sea salt. Both are quite medicinal when consumed appropriately. And I am nothing if not an appropriate consumer. It could feel like a long weekend with only myself for company – as suggested by every country in the world now – and I need my creature comforts. 

Aldi is open at 9 this morning and I'll be there! Besides, any later than that and I might have to line up for a parking space so the food hoarders can pounce once again. It is comical to watch but is really not my sport of choice.

The coffee is ready and I'm in need of caffeine. Enjoy your day. It's sunny here now but rain is promised to start this afternoon. The end of the rain has not yet made it into the forecast.