Coronavirus Update #12 - Refunds during the Pandemic

On Sunday, my wife and I were supposed to go on the trip of our dreams.

We had planned to walk the Camino, visit Spain and Portugal, fly to Hungary, take a river cruise on the Danube, and finish off with visits of Berlin and Prague.

That all changed thanks to Coronavirus.

Two things have made us all right with everything.  First, it will all be there next year (and who would want to visit anywhere now?). Second, companies have been pretty good with refunds.

We do have travel cancellation insurance with our Mastercard but I've never actually made a claim and am uncertain how that would go.

Here's how it all panned out.

We made a lot of bookings on Booking.com - way more than any other way. This turned out to be, for the most part, a very wise decision. Almost all of the places we booked had free cancellation up until a week or two before our stay. A couple of places waived any charges that we did incur. Only one place won't give us a refund but we can rebook with them next year.

A few bookings were made directly or with another company. No problems cancelling there, either.

AirBnB was a bit of a different story. All but one gave us a refund of their accommodation but not the service charge. The service charge (charged by AirBnB, not by the hosts) varied from $32 to $64 per stay so it added up over 5 different places. And one place wouldn't give us a refund, even after I complained. Happily, after a bit of back and forth with the AirBnB support - and after 'proving' that we were not allowed to travel to other countries due to the Coronavirus (thank you, internet) we were able to get full refunds for everything. Yay!

Our flights were with Air Transat and Vueling Airways. Both of these gave us a credit rather than a refund. That's OK, I guess, but not optimal.  If we book for next year and it costs more, we are on the hook. Of course, if it costs less, maybe we will have to check out a trip to Cuba...

We had two train trips booked. We received a voucher from Portugal - which I think we have to refund at a train station in Portugal. Not very effective, but we will try to apply our refund when we book next year. Our train trip in Germany is still not refundable but we will watch that one closely over the next month.

Finally, our Danube river cruise on Emerald Waterways. I am not a cruiser (so to speak) but this is a once in a life trip with friends - and it certainly costs muchos dineros. We were able to all rebook for a year from now - and we are all on the same boat still! The only thing that irks me is that there is an additional £130 per couple because the cost of their cruises are increasing in 2021. I don't think that's very fair.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with how the different companies have been handling things. The places that have given us refunds are top companies, in my estimation. A credit, on the other hand, is still a good thing, just not as good as a refund. And the German train system will hopefully get on board with the other companies and give us a refund or credit. Schnell!

Coronavirus Update #11 - Happy Easter?

The Easter Bunny making a delivery with her helper

Has it really been a week since I last blogged?

Time flies, in a pandemic - or at least it does weird things...

So... where are we now?

The US is the epicentre of the pandemic with 550,000 cases and almost 22,000 deaths - close to 2000 deaths a day right now.

Canada has over 24,000 cases with half of them in Quebec. 713 are fatal.

BC has 1445 cases with 58 deaths total deaths. There have been fewer than 50 new cases daily for the last 8 days. The number of people in hospitals and on ventilators is fairly flat.

At least in BC, it looks like we may be having some effect. But we must remain vigilante!

A local Social Distancer

It's Easter weekend and, unfortunately, there are people who are leaving their homes to have a little holiday in the vacation homes. Places like the Gulf Islands and around the Shuswap are concerned - and even angry - because  these are small towns that don't have a lot of resources if visitors bring the virus along with their RV.

Some restaurants in the Gulf Islands are refusing to serve non-residents.

Good intentions but a bit of a disaster...

Closer to home, Forbidden Spirits Distillery offered free hand sanitizer yesterday. We got there about 20 minutes after they opened and there was a huge line up of cars. As we inched our way along the road., we found some people butting in from a cross street. Some other people left their cars and walked past the lineup with their containers.

However, most people waited patiently. Unfortunately, as we neared the front, an hour an a half later,  they shut it down. At first, I thought they had run out of sanitizer but then found out it was a worse reason. There were people actually fighting over the hand sanitizer! And now the free sanitizer promotion has ended. An example of a local business trying to do something good spoiled by just a few rotten apples.

We luckily didn't have to wait when we picked up a couple crowlers at Barn Owl Brewing. They provided a much needed beer in the sunshine when we returned home.

Today is Easter and my daughter and my wife got together (virtually of course) to make Easter baskets full of goodies like homemade chocolate and peanut butter eggs, tea candles, candle holders, egg cups, a bundle of lavender, soap, and an animal toy.

SDD - Socially Distance Delivery

We split up the baskets and delivered them - in a socially distant manner - to family members.

We can't get together for Easter dinner but we can make each other's Easter just a bit better.

Happy Easter!

Corona Update #10 - Support Your Local Businesses!

The playgrounds are closed but you can still walk by the beach.

It's not all bad!

We have good news in BC - our infection rate of Covid 19 is less today than it has been for almost 3 weeks. There were still some deaths, which is so unfortunate, but there is cautious hope. There were 29 new cases today (compared to over 50 each day the previous 3 days) and there are a total of 1200 cases.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to support local businesses - which here in Kelowna means groceries, restaurants, and wine (although that's all that seems to be open).

This past week, we we notified that our first wine club case was ready from Synchromesh. They are in Okanagan Falls and I was emailing the wine club guy, Andrew, about pick up times as we live in Kelowna. Lo and behold, he offered to deliver the wine to my door since he lives in Kelowna! Similar to my experience with Niche Winery, Synchromesh seems to be so grateful that we are giving them business. Makes you feel special!

By the way, we had a bottle of their 2019 Thorny Vines Vineyard Riesling ($28) last night. It is similar to a German Spätlese Riesling - wonderful apple, pear and apricot aromas and off dry  - maybe even a bit sweeter. But such acidity! A wonderful wine! It would have gone well with a spicy dish, a strong, hard cheese, or something very savoury but we had it on its own and savoured its flavour. At less than 8%, there were no sore heads in the morning!

On Wednesday, we ordered from Soy Asian Fusion restaurant which is practically across the alley from where we live. My wife and I both ordered their yakisoba because it tastes just like the yakisoba that we ate in Tokyo 36 years ago when we met.  And I'm not worried about Covid 19 in the food. The experts are saying that you are much more likely to catch it from the person handing the food over  rather than from the food itself. And the owner made sure to spray down and wipe the debit machine before I paid.

Speaking of which, I found shopping for groceries not so bad in person. We have been trying to order online from Superstore but when I made the order on Tuesday, the first open time was two weeks later! In the meantime, we have gone to our local Lakeview Market where the crowds are small and there are big plexiglass sheets in front of the cashiers. Not many shortages of things, either (besides wipes). We also went to Save On which was happily dead on Friday night. There are still shortages of toilet paper and paper towel but we were able o find a lot of baking goods such as sugar and yeast which wasn't available a week ago. We used the self checkout and staff made sure to spray and wipe the whole area between each customer.

On Friday, we also picked up wine from Le Vieux Pin in Oliver. They have a good system. We paid for our wine online and then drove down there. We phones on arrival in their parking lot and our wine was delivered to a table outside, Then we went to the table and took our wine and put it into the car.

On the way back to Kelowna, we stopped in at Alchemist Distillery in Summerland. We got a free (by donation) bottle of hand sanitizer and a bought a bottle of their amazing Green Frog Absinthe ($50). The owner joked that I needed to drink the absinthe and use the sanitizer to clean my hands - but that you could conceivably do it the other way around! I was very pleased with the fact that they are giving out sanitizer.

Today, our daughter and her dog, Nebbi, stopped by and we went for a walk by the beach to the Manteo Resort and back. It was busy, but people we still very respectful of each other's bubble. At the end of the walk, we had a marvellous coffee and a fantastic churro from Ki'bok - which, like Soy Asian Fusion, is just a stumble away from our condo. Ki'bok is run by two wonderful sisters and I was happy to see them open.

Tonight, we are trying to keep the economy afloat by ordering dinner from Bouchons, one of my favourite restaurants in Kelowna. For $60 you get a dinner for 2 including appetizer, main and dessert. Can't wait for this one!

Coronavirus Update #9 - Some Graphic Information

Courtesy https://twistedsifter.com

Since this mess began, I've been keeping track of the daily totals - as best as I can. BC doesn't post their totals on Sunday and my Canada totals depend on what time of day I check. 

However, there are some trends that seem to be happening. 

First, this graph shows the Canada and BC cases compared. Canada's cases don't look overly terrible - at least the line doesn't go not straight up. There might be even a slight lessening of the steeples of the curve. If social distancing continues to be practiced, this might actually continue to get better. Other websites I've seen have shown different countries infection rates compared and, at least now, it looks like there is some hope for Canada. 

When you look at the graph for BC, it looks like we're in fantastic shape. However, when you look at BC's numbers alone....

Well, it's not looking quite as good. However, it does look like the numbers are not increasing in steepness. As Dr. Henry said, we are going to have to wait for a couple of weeks to really see if we are going to mitigate our numbers enough to make a difference.

Finally there's this....

This shows the change each day of cases in BC. There are some anomalies in the graph due to BC not reporting on Sunday. There is also the big spike when the province was catching up with testing. 

It looks to me that the number of cases increasing each day is starting to reduce somewhat. However this doesn't take in account if there is insufficient testing or other variations. There may be a number of people that have not been tested and the government is not aware of them and so are not included in the numbers. 

Only time will tell. 

In the meantime, I try not to worry. I have an 85 year old father-in-law with several health conditions, a son-in-law with asthma, and several other relatives that have varying health issues - including myself (asthma and high blood pressure). 

But I am focusing on other things. I'm finishing off taking two Spanish courses at the local college, painting, doing a different household job everyday, walking, blogging, and watching a fair bit of Netflix (season 3 of Ozark is highly recommended). 

We will continue to stay at home as much as possible, keep our hockey stick (2m) distance when not, and wash, wash, wash our hands. 

And hope. 

Coronavirus Update #8 - Finding Enjoyment Despite Adversity

Not such a bad day, self isolating.

It's actually been a pretty enjoyable couple of days.

Like I said, it looks like BC, at least, is having some effect on flattening the curve. That makes me feel good about things and solidifies my resolve to continue social distancing and staying at home.

The numbers aren't spectacular, however. Canada has close to 6000 cases and BC has 884 but it seems that things are starting to slow. Time will tell.

We did have a really nice time last night, though...

Many of the restaurants in Kelowna (and, I am sure, in most other places) are offering great delivery deals so they can stay in business. We have been exploring these and last night, we really found a winner.

Home Block restaurant, at Cedar Creek winery, is offering a few dishes for delivery as well as Take and Bake dishes and meals for two. We opted for the latter - a meal for two with lamb tagine, lamb kofke (sausages), yogurt, cilantro, and pita. We warmed up the lamb in the oven for 45 minutes and it was absolutely amazing. One of the best meals I have had in a few weeks.

It was a great deal for $55 all in. However, it was even a better deal because we had enough left over for dinner tonight. Delicious!

To accompany dinner last night, I delved into the cellar and came up with a 2013 Checkmate Silent Bishop Merlot that I bought a few years ago for, I think, about $65. I decanted it for about an hour and then tasted this wine. It was spectacular - great flavours of black currant, plum, blueberry, leather, mushroom and vanilla. The fruitiness was perfectly balanced with the characteristics from ageing. This wine is at the peak of its age, in my opinion. I have another Checkmate wine from that vintage that I will have to find an excuse to drink over the next year!

Today, we had another great time, despite the social distancing, when we walked from our condo to downtown Kelowna. It was mostly sunny and warm enough for shorts. There were a fair number of other people but everyone was very courteous about giving lots of space.

Found this not-so-secret tunnel on our walk.

We even found a tunnel which went under the Bennet Bridge and avoided the highway and brought us right to the beach at City Park.

Back at home, we busied ourselves with household tasks including rearranging the terrace furniture. It is kinda of nice to have the time to do these things because there's not much else to do!

The teary moment of the day, however, was at 7pm. We had finished our dinner and were sipping wine outside on the terrace, and then we heard the clanking of pots, cheering, and applauding for health workers. Of course we joined in!

I am finding that this crisis can be bearable with a positive attitude, steady resolve, and a commitment to keep busy. We can get through this!

Keep healthy.

Coronavirus Update #7 - Cautiously Positive

Am I self isolating enough?

It's actually been 61 days since the Coronavirus first hit Canada.

There are 4757 cases in Canada. And 792 cases in BC.  Sadly, 16 people have died in BC.

The US is turning into a, pardon my French, real shitshow as they now have the most number of cases in the world - over 100,000.

And Trump wants to station American troops along the Canada-US border.

Among all this negativity, there was a breath of fresh air today from Dr. Henry, our Provincial Health Officer. It appears that BC (at least) may actually be flattening the curve and be closer to South Korea in the rate of infection rather than Italy or Spain.

That is excellent news.

Mind you, my anecdotal experience has seen much better social distancing in the past several days. When we went for today's walk, there were lots of other people walking but we all gave each other a 2 meter buffer. More importantly, there were no groups on the beach, hanging out.

That's right - not one group of people hanging out together.

That is great to see. If people continue to be vigilante in social distancing, staying at home, and washing hands, we just might have this over with in a couple of months.

But what is happing in the US is scary. It looks like there is a patchwork of responses, depending on the state. Louisiana is a 'stay at home' state but neighbouring Arkansas has few restrictions. Same differences between Kansas and Nebraska. Not really happy with what is going on there - especially with the somewhat nonchalant attitude of Trump.

This cartoon about the Americans patrolling the Canada - US border more or less summed it up for me:

So, despite what's happening in the US, I am feeling, at least, a little better and just a teensy bit hopeful about the future.

Here's hoping that tomorrow's news continues being cautiously optimistic.

Stay healthy!

How to Combat Cabin Fever - Niche Wines

Our Cabin Fever Kit from Niche Wines

How about an actual post about wine?

On Monday, my daughter sent me an urgent text - "Dad, check out the Small Batch Box from Niche Winery."

Which I promptly did.

For $99 (plus tax)  you get three bottles of wine, cheese and chocolate. Sounds like a pretty good deal but it ended up being a great deal!

The cheese if from my favourite new cheesemonger in Kelowna, Perseval and Young. There's two types of cheese included - Le 1608, a nutty, buttery cheese from Quebec and La Religuese - raclette style cheese that melts in your mouth. Both smell divine and I am looking very forward to wine and cheese tonight.

The chocolate is from Karat Chocolate, also in Kelowna. There is a 70% Terroir Dark Chocolate bar and a Cherry Dark Chocolate bar. My wife loves chocolate with her wine and these are supposed to be a nice pairing. I'm quite happy to just have my chocolate after wine.

Finally, the wine. First is their 2019  Small Batch Bubbles ($26). This wine is tank fermented and left on its lees for a buttery, creamy flavour. Not sure what kind of grapes are in this wine as my usual sources (including the label on the bottle) don't tell the mix. It has a rating of 4/5 on Vivino.

Next is their 2018 Pinot Noir ($25). I've had Niche Pinot Noir before and it is fantastic! This wine has tastes of cherry and an underlying earthiness. This is the perfect cheese accompaniment. Or maybe chocolate...

Finally is the 2018 Foch ($30). I'm looking forward to trying this one as there are some Foch wines that I love and some that are OK - but I am sure that Niche has done a good job with this. Apparently there are notes of chocolate, coconut and vanilla on the nose so this might go really well with some of that chocolate!

I'm not sure you'll get the same delivery service that I did - the two owners delivered it to our condo last night in  their car! I also got another Small Batch Box for my brother-in-law for his birthday and Niche included a birthday card! Now that's service....

All the wines and food are discounted by 15%.

Included in the box are the two bars of chocolate, the two cheeses, the three bottles, a 'Bubbles are Best!' sticker, a recipe card, a handwritten thank you card, and a little booklet about what's in the box called Small Batch Box - Treats to Cure Your Cabin Fever.

Cabin fever - begone!

Update: You might be having a difficult time trying to order this. It was on an instagram post. The link is here - be sure to put the word SMALLBATCH in the coupon code!