2020 Updates

Here goes another post of random ramblings! Let's get ready to RRRRR-AMBLE!!!!!

2020 has been a sad start. From Kobe Bryant's tragic passing, to Ravi Zacharias and Irfan Khan as of late; 2020 has been a sad year so far and it's just going to get more sad with all that's been happening.

COVID has put a halt in most of the world's economy. Slowly but surely, things will start to open up. Hopefully those who have lost jobs/income will be able to go back to their jobs or find new ones. It's a difficult time for many. Let's try to help one another out. Stick with the social distancing rules and please don't gather in large groups!

The past few months I have been working as a front line staff. It started off very difficult as we had staff off on sick leave or leave of absence or what not. It was not surprising to have 8 staff call in sick per shift on a daily basis. Considering it takes about 33-35 staff to run the department per shift, losing 8 members took a huge toll on the rest of us. Especially when certain staff were off for 2 weeks or more. On top of that, we've had community transmissions which affected our clients, and having to do contact tracing which resulted in several isolations. Let me just say, it was a madhouse. And that was just before the pandemic began. I had to put my usual work duty on hold in order to be on the front lines because that's how bad it became. Thankfully we have started pandemic preparations before this happened and implemented strict policies so we have not seen a huge rise in cases.

Things have started to taper off gradually, but seeing the community start gathering in large groups when the officials have implemented strict rules on social distancing, it really pisses me off. We don't know when this second wave will happen but seeing how things are right now, it could happen very soon. And we may not be prepared for it. However, it doesn't mean we won't continue implementing our policies. We still are and we will still continue for as long as it's needed.

I was looking back at previous posts and just realized that wow, I have not bought any handbags for almost 2 years. That to me is like celebrating sobriety. It can truly be an addiction that is not good for the wallet. But as I accumulated all these bags, I kept thinking to myself...why do I need so many bags?! How many arms do I have anyways?! And the thing that really stuck out to me was that I rarely have time to go out. All I do is work. There's no way in heck that I would want to take any of those bags to work, especially during this pandemic. So I've basically worked to buy bags, for them to sit on my shelf. Yeah, so that's one hobby that I have set aside for now and just focus on life. There is more to life than handbags that's for sure. It hasn't stopped me from window shopping and dreaming of certain bags. But seeing how things are now, it just doesn't make sense to get handbags.

Speaking of which, both Louis Vuitton and Chanel have raised their prices during this pandemic. LV did two price increases. TWO. DURING A PANDEMIC. How narcissistic is that?! I understand that companies are struggling to sell products during this time but seriously. TWO increases? come on now. And Chanel has raised their prices, anywhere from 7-27%. That is HUGE. So now it will cost just north of 9 grand for a medium classic flap. 9 GRAND! I could get a GT4 body kit instead.

I just honestly think it's so classless and ridiculous of them to do such a thing. In Chanel's case, it's obvious that they don't care about most of the customers. They care about those who are willing to drop 10 grand on a bag without blinking an eye. They want to focus only on the super rich. They do NOT want people who've saved up their hard earned money over the years and reward themselves with a bag. No. They don't want them. Their market is the super rich and only the super rich. In my opinion, it's the wrong move. The only reason why Chanel has sold so many products lately is not because of the super rich, but those who are "normal" middle class people who have worked hard and bought their products over the years. They may not have dropped 50k at once to buy 4 handbags, but they may have over the years bought certain amount of bags and jewelry, or whatever accessories. That still adds up. So if anything, the middle class has helped Chanel with their profits in the past decade. For them to do this, it just shows they're not as classy as we thought they were. They will end up losing a lot of customers. There is only so much a super rich person can buy from Chanel.

LV is trying to pull a Chanel stunt. The only difference is LV is making customers pay thousands of dollars for a canvas bag, and not a leather bag. If you want leather, you have to pay a minimum of 3 grand or more for the bag, and can go upwards of 10 grand or more, depending on the type of leather. I was never really a fan of LV, even though there was one that really caught my eye. When I saw it in person, it was a lot smaller than I imagined, and now they're asking north of 2 grand for it. Does it look classy? Not really. It is more fun and casual but not as classy as I thought it would be.

I've basically lost respect for those two companies. A complete classless act. They really should be ashamed of themselves. But they're so stuck up that they probably don't care. So why should we care to carry their products?

Speaking of not caring. For those who have been on social media a lot (IG mostly), you've probably seen the recent police activities among car gatherings. A while ago I mentioned a group called TOtakeovers, and we all think it's members from there plus more, who cause havoc among Toronto streets at night. The stunts include doing donuts at intersections, donuts in parking lots, drag racing on a stretch of public road, and there was one which stopped traffic on the 401 because someone decided to do a donut there too.

Since the pandemic began, there has been a huge increase of stunt driving on Toronto streets. I work almost everyday and I can say there is little to no traffic on my way to work every morning, so I can imagine what it's like at night. Probably no traffic, if at all very little. This still should not be a reason for people to go out in hoards, and start doing donuts in the middle of intersections. I don't mean 10 people, but it's upwards in the hundreds that people congregate at these meets. It's getting ridiculous to the point that police will stop any car that looks modified, and give tickets just because they can. It's affecting everybody. For those who actually stayed at home, and went out for a quick drive to warm up the car, they get stopped because they drive a fast looking car. Thankfully I have not been pulled over, but that's because I avoid driving at night. This is just getting way too ridiculous. And it's those types of people that ruin the rest of the car community for us.

You might think, well just take it to the track then!

Here's a funny story. This past Tuesday is when stage 1 of reopening certain public areas began. This included parks, golf courses and of course, race tracks.

Day one of open lapping at Cayuga. It was a complete disaster. It involved a group of (sorry to say if I sound racist) China boys. Yup. I said it. China boys. Videos from the cars were posted to social media, which showed them disregarding the rules, overtaking others when they're not suppose to, and not driving behind one another. It seems that people forgot how to drive after staying home for so long.

The worst part is, they congregated at the last turn, not very far from a live track lane. And started shouting and punching each other. This all stemmed because a CLA would not let people pass and others behind him thought it was too slow. One thing led to another and boom. Again, I hate to say this but the Chinese mainlanders just isn't helping. It's not helping that this pandemic stemmed from China, but now you have these China boys swearing at each other and talking so loud too. I listened in to the video and yes, they were definitely saying stuff like F your mother! F your mother! Yeah, until you have to call her back in China to give you more money to fix your cars. Such an embarrassment to all Asians around the world. I watch that video and get so disgusted. Then it gets on the news and you see a bunch of pubescent China boys fighting. Ridiculous.

I also felt bad for the random Vette owner. That was the Vette that became engulfed in flames. I bet he didn't expect to lose his car that way either. Insurance is going to be a bitch. Let's hope he got the track insurance.

I will leave you a link for your enjoyment to read (and watch if the link is still available):
Cayuga 2020 day 1 disaster

I feel like I've talked a lot of car stuff so let's talk about....

Tax season. The government was nice to extend the deadline for tax season to June 1. Of which I have not done my taxes yet. Shoot. It's always an exciting time because I get to find out if I get any returns, or on a sad note, if I have to pay back the government. I remember talking to someone who worked more than 2 jobs and they had to pay back 10 grand to the government. Holy crap. I think the biggest mistake was not buying RRSP. It's also when I found out working all those overtimes may not always be so beneficial because in the end, you still have to pay it back. So what's the point of all that?! I hate the government most of the time.

That's it for now. I shall return soon. Stay safe everyone.