Author Archives: Torontonian

Second Wave of COVID-19

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Is Ontario entering the second wave of COVID-19? The province’s seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases is now 159 per day, a number that has been steadily creeping upwards since hitting a low of 85 in August. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/is-ontario-entering-the-second-wave-of-covid-19-1.5096852

As we enter The Great Unknown, the second wave of COVID-19, is Canada better prepared than we were before? No one can say with any certainty if, when, or how big a second wave will be. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says provinces and territories should prepare for a “fall peak,” a resurgence, a rebound that could be several-fold worse than their previous experience. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/lessons-covid-19-taught-us-as-we-prepare-for-the-great-unknown

As Americans brace for 2nd wave of COVID-19, here’s why experts predict more infections but lower death rate. Six months into the pandemic, doctors now have more success treating patients with the novel coronavirus — especially those with severe symptoms — than they did at the beginning of the year. Adults that are older and more vulnerable to illness are staying home, as the virus is now infecting a greater number of younger people who are less likely to succumb to illness. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/americans-brace-2nd-wave-covid-19-experts-predict/story?id=72817318

Experts project autumn surge in coronavirus cases, with a peak after Election Day. An autumn surge in covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, would not be an October surprise: It has been hypothesized since early in the pandemic because of the patterns of other respiratory viruses. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-fall-projections-second-wave/2020/09/04/6edb3392-ed61-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html

The second wave of COVID-19 is inevitably here. Just hope that it won’t get to the point that we need another lockdown. However, if unfortunately, when a second lockdown become a necessity in the coming weeks, what are your plans now? I have some in mind.

Do a hair cut – Not sure if we will have another lockdown, it’s now an excellent time to have a hair-cut. Last time, I waited almost five months to get one. There’s one point that I even planned to cut my hair, but barber kits were also sold out in a nearby Walmart.

Change winter tires – Usually, we change our winter tires near the end of October. But now we can see that the number of confirmed positive are rising slowly. Who can tell what would happen in October?

Stock up a bit this and that – I don’t think there will be panic buying like last time that we can see empty shelves everywhere. But shortages of certain household items could remain unavoidable. It would be nice to stock up some dry goods like sauces, pasta, canned soups and food, dried nuts, toilet paper, etc.

Stay home more – When we see the numbers going down, we are happy to go out more, shop here and there. Like for the past few weeks, we went out to several places to do weekend shopping. But from now on, as we are preparing for the second wave, we might only visit one supermarket to do our weekly food shopping.

By the way, do you know that Walmart has a new COVID-19 return policy? Now they are not accepting bulk returns of more than 3 of the same item. Probably because after the first wave, many people are trying to return everything that they don’t need. So, be careful of what you buy. Check https://www.walmart.ca/en/help/returns#COVID19ReturnPolicy for more details.

Birding Is Fun II

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Three months ago, I wrote a post about how I become a birding newbie. It’s fun. And we bought some other tools and stuff to try it out. Here is what works and whatnot.

World Source Partners Gardman BA01131 Bird Feeding Station Kit – This sturdy looking piece of equipment comes with everything you need to set up your feeding station. The birdbath is a bit small. You have to make sure the feeder pole is installed deep enough into the soil, or animals such as racoons could push it over.

Stokes Select Four Cake Suet Buffet Bird Feeder with Metal Roof, Four Suet Capacity – Last time, we bought a C&S EZ Fill Suet Basket. This time we bought one which can hold four pieces of suet cake.

Stokes Select 18″ Wrap Around Squirrel Baffle – It looks like some hat made of metal, you never know it could work. Squirrels have a hard time to climb up the pole. In the past, squirrels can jump up a few feet to reach the feeder tray. Some customers commented that after using this tool, fewer bird seeds are being consumed. In other words, squirrels can eat a lot if they find a way up the pole.

Pure Garden 50-LG1073 Antique Bird Bath-Weather Resistant Resin Birdbath with Vintage Scroll Design – Birds love it. Most of the time, half a dozen birds are gathered around.

Solar Powered Fountain Pump, FOME Solar Fountain Pump Brushless Bird Bath Fountain Solar Power Water Floating Pump Kit with Different Spray Heads for Pond Pool Garden Decoration – There are many similar products. This one we bought doesn’t work very well. There are small suckers which are supposed to hold the pump to the bottom. But the suckers are too weak, so it just floats on top of the water. After a few days, it stopped working, and the pump got blocked with bird poo and feathers. You have to clean it regularly to avoid the problem. Since it’s floating around on the water surface, it sprays water everywhere. After a few hours, the birdbath would become empty.

Woodstream Hummingbird W Dew Drop Hummingbird Feeder – We wonder if we have hummingbirds in the neighbourhood. So we bought a hummingbird feeder with some Ready-To-Use Hummingbird Nectar from Perky-Pet. So far, we haven’t seen any, but ants seem to know a way to find the sucrose water.

Great Value Black Oil Sunflower Seed Wild Bird Food – Birds love black oil sunflower seed. We used to subscribe it from Amazon, but it’s no longer available. We bought some from Walmart. At first, birds seem to hesitate a bit, but now they got used to it.

Great Value High Energy Suet Wild Bird Food – Remember last time I mentioned that birds don’t like those suet cake. Well, Great Value seems to have a better formula, now birds like it, even squirrels like it too.

Great Value Wild Bird Bell – Small birds find it hard to pry the food.

Curbside Pickup Experience

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Under the “new normal”, many things have changed quite a bit, including our shopping experience. For the recent months, we used to mailorder a lot from Amazon and other online retailers. Amazon is cool, but sometimes, you can’t get everything from Amazon. In other words, once for a while, you have to go out and shop. In our case, we need to get some supplies from Michaels.

Curbside pickup, how does it work actually? I was under the impression that it would take quite a while to arrange for the pickup. Few hours maybe? Here is what happens:

Right after I made my online purchase, I received an email saying “We received your order, but it’s not quite ready!” After 5 minutes, I received another one saying “Still processing your order – Stay Tuned!” Then another 15 minutes, I received the pickup message saying “Great News! Your order is ready for in-store pickup.” That’s amazing; altogether, it only requires 20 minutes; it takes much less time than I expected.

According to their curbside pickup policy, curbside pick is only available till 6 pm. When you arrive, call the store number, and someone would bring the order out to you. Or, if you already enter the store, you can locate the Buy Online Pick Up In Store call button for assistance. Also, during online check-out, their system already asks you if you need someone else to pick up the order on your behalf, that’s very thoughtful. If you don’t pick up the order in 4 days, the purchase will be cancelled, and your payment will be refunded.

Oh, and there is something more. There is an option of same-day delivery, which costs $17.99 for basic delivery. That fee could be a bit steep, but it would be an excellent option for many. If you plan to use this option, don’t get disappointed if your desired items are out of stock from your nearest location. You can always try other locations; you might still find what you need.

Farm Food Subscription

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Recently a neighbour of mine joined a CSA program, and are pretty much excited about it. They are happy with the produce they receive every week and suggest that we should give it a try. CSA shorts for Community Shared Agriculture is a program which connects the farmers and consumers. A consumer can subscribe to the harvest of a particular farm. In return, the farmer can maintain a guaranteed market, and the consumer can receive high quality, fresh food as it becomes available.

Where to find a CSA farm near you? I wouldn’t seem to be able to find a website listing all CSA farms in Ontario. Google map would show you some entries, but there aren’t too many showing on the map. You can try your luck at a website called Harvie – https://www.harvie.farm; they try to maintain a directory of some of the CSA farms in North America.

How much does the program cost? Let’s take Forsythe Farms as an example. If you are interested, you can still sign up for their 2020 season. Your membership will be pro-rated for the weeks remaining in the season. It’s $550 for an 18 weeks season with a one time $10 charge on the cooler bag. If you want eggs, add $108.

What is in the box? According to the Forsythe Farms’ FAQ, you would receive the followings:

July – Strawberries, Fresh Raspberries, Large Head Broccoli, Bunch Carrots w/ Tops, Basket Fresh Peas, Head Romaine

August – Fresh Niagara Peaches, Large Bell Peppers, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Strawberries, White Spanish Onion, Sweet Corn, Leaf Lettuce

September – Honey Crisp Apples, Garlic, Green Pepper, Spaghetti Squash, Dozen Corn, Carrots, Cucumbers, Potatoes

October – Apples, Lettuce, Cranberries, Butternut Squash, Onions, Flemish Pears, Red Pepper, Swiss Chard

For more information or sign-in, please visit their website at http://forsythefamilyfarms.com/csa/.

Best Houseplant for Your Zodiac Sign

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It’s your friend’s birthday, and you are having a problem finding the perfect gift for your friend? Maybe you can consider shopping a houseplant based on your friend’s zodiac sign. However, different experts have different opinions. Searching the best houseplant for your zodiac sign generates the following result. For more information, please visit the specific page to find out more about why a particular plant is being chosen by the expert.

https://www.proflowers.com/blog/zodiac-plant-pairing

Aquarius: Pothos (January 20 – February 18)
Pisces: ZZ Plant (February 19 – March 20)
Aries: Succulent (March 21 – April 19)
Taurus: Fiddle Leaf Fig (April 20 – May 20)
Gemini: Philodendron (May 21 – June 20)
Cancer: Money Tree (June 21 – July 22)
Leo: Bromeliad (July 23 – August 22)
Virgo: Rubber Tree (August 23 – September 22)
Libra: Monstera (September 23 – October 22)
Scorpio: Dracaena (October 23 – November 21)
Sagittarius: Alocasia (November 22 – December 21)
Capricorn: Bonsai (December 22 – January 19)

https://www.hgtv.ca/green-living/photos/best-plant-according-to-zodiac-sign-1933467/

Aquarius: Majesty Palm (January 20 – February 18)
Pisces: Aloe Vera (February 19 – March 20)
Aries: Barrel Cactus (March 21 – April 19)
Taurus: Bromeliad (April 20 – May 20)
Gemini: Living Stone (May 21 – June 20)
Cancer: Spider Plant (June 21 – July 22)
Leo: Monstera Plant (July 23 – August 22)
Virgo: Moth Orchid (August 23 – September 22)
Libra: Peace Lily (September 23 – October 22)
Scorpio: Snake Plant (October 23 – November 21)
Sagittarius: Air Plant (November 22 – December 21)
Capricorn: Lucky Bamboo (December 22 – January 19)

https://www.thespruce.com/the-best-houseplant-for-your-zodiac-sign-4691910

Aquarius: Lifesaver Plant (January 20 – February 18)
Pisces: String of Pearls (February 19 – March 20)
Aries: Cactus (March 21 – April 19)
Taurus: Jade Plant (April 20 – May 20)
Gemini: Air Plant (May 21 – June 20)
Cancer: Mimosa Pudica (June 21 – July 22)
Leo: Rex Begonia (July 23 – August 22)
Virgo: Prayer Plant (August 23 – September 22)
Libra: Peace Lily (September 23 – October 22)
Scorpio: Venus Fly Trap (October 23 – November 21)
Sagittarius: Snake Plant (November 22 – December 21)
Capricorn: Juniper Bonsai Tree (December 22 – January 19)

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-06-10/the-best-houseplant-for-your-zodiac-sign

Aquarius: Black raven ZZ plant (January 20 – February 18)
Pisces: Nerve plant (February 19 – March 20)
Aries: Chinese evergreen (March 21 – April 19)
Taurus: Fiddle-leaf fig (April 20 – May 20)
Gemini: Rose-painted calathea (May 21 – June 20)
Cancer: Hens and chicks (June 21 – July 22)
Leo: Begonia rex (July 23 – August 22)
Virgo: Bonsai money tree (August 23 – September 22)
Libra: Peace Lily (September 23 – October 22)
Scorpio: Purple shamrock (October 23 – November 21)
Sagittarius: Croton ‘Petra’ (November 22 – December 21)
Capricorn: Dragon tree (December 22 – January 19)

A Snapshot of Status of COVID-19 cases in long-term care homes in Ontario

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Long-term care homes with an active outbreak

More information can be found on https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-ontario-is-responding-covid-19

Status of COVID-19 cases in Ontario

More data can be downloaded on https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/status-of-covid-19-cases-in-ontario

Some excerpts from the military report:

“Lack of proper positioning (head of the bed raised) for meals/fluids;

PSW and Nurses aren’t always sitting up residents before
feeding/hydrating/giving meds; choking/aspiration risk is therefore high; includes
observation of incident that appeared to have contributed in patient death (code
blue due choking during feeding while supine — staff unable to dislodge food or
revive resident);”

The full report can be read on https://www.macleans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/JTFC-Observations-in-LTCF-in-ON.pdf You can easily change the pdf to txt format by using a free online tool at https://www.pdf2go.com/pdf-to-text.

Some information about long term care residents:

626 homes are homes licensed and approved to operate in Ontario

58% of homes are privately owned, 24% are non-profit/charitable, 16% are municipal

About 40% of long-term care homes are small, with 96 or fewer beds.

Of these small homes, about 45% are located in rural communities that often have limited home care or retirement home option.

77,257 long-stay beds are allocated to provide care, accommodation and services to frail seniors who require permanent placement

669 convalescent care beds are allocated to provide short-term care as a bridge between hospitalization and a patient’s home

321 beds are allocated to provide respite to families who need a break from caring 24/7 for their loved one

Approximately 300 of the province’s long-term care homes are older and need to be redeveloped (more than 30,000 beds)

The average time to placement in long-term care, as of February 2019, is 161 days.

The wait list for long-stay beds, as of February 2019, is 34,834

For more information, visit https://www.oltca.com/oltca/OLTCA/Public/LongTermCare/FactsFigures.aspx

Can you take your love ones out of long term care during COVID-19? Someone did that. Here are links to two stories. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-woman-takes-husband-out-of-long-term-care-home-despite-knowing-he-may-lose-his-bed-1.4881839 and https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/03/19/family-wins-battle-to-free-93-year-old-woman-from-scarborough-long-term-care-facility-stricken-by-covid-19.html

Are you worried about future health care costs? You can get an estimate at https://archive.projectbiglife.ca/life/index.php?le=1&fhc=1

Birding Is Fun

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During the COVID-19 “Stay Home Stay Safe” period, I become a birding newbie. Staying home all day could be a bit tedious and monotonous for some people. A day or two is fine. After that, you tend to look outside the windows more. And if you have a backyard, you might start to notice things more. The usual visitors are birds, butterflies, rabbits, squirrels, and racoons. Well, all are very welcome except racoons. Luckily, racoons don’t visit us often.

As a birding beginner, my first question is how to attract more songbirds. After a little research on the Internet, I was told that most birds love black sunflower seeds. Hmm, during this period, I don’t plan to visit Pet Valu. Fortunately, Amazon got you all covered. So, we ordered a pail of Morning Melodies Cardinal & Songbird Supreme. The birds love it. Not just the birds, even rabbits and squirrels love it. One of the reviews is quite right; safflower seeds are mostly left behind. Oh boy, these animals are picky eaters! Since our intended recipients are birds, we also bought some feeders to try it out.

Brome Squirrel Buster Standard Wild Bird Feeder – This one has a great design, and it’s squirrel proof as advertised. The way it works is that the weight of the squirrel would automatically close the seed ports, denying access to the seed but not harming the squirrels in any way. I could imagine how upset the squirrels are. This Squirrel Buster works out as expected.

C&S EZ Fill Suet Basket with Morning Melodies Suet Variety 3 Pack – It has been quite a while, most small birds ignore it, only birds size like a crow would try it.

Bird Feeder, Window Bird House Crystal Clear Acrylic with Removable Tray, Drain Holes and 3 Heavy-Duty Suction Cups – It takes about ten days to get our first visitor – a goldfinch. So far, only goldfinches and warblers use this one. Oh, sometimes, a squirrel would find its way, sit comfortably on the tray and eat up all the seeds, that’s something unexpected.

To sum up, briefly, the Squirrel Buster is the one that works very well, and we might get one more for the front yard. However, there is one concern though; one review suggests that during wintertime, snow might affect the weight of the closing mechanism, and that might require manual adjustment. Anyhow, the verdict has it that songbirds do love black sunflower seed. We do get more birds visiting like cardinals, robins, finches, and many others that I can’t tell what they are.

More Clicks More Money

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“For 10 Years This Man Ordered Pizza Every Day When Employees Suddenly Realize Something Is Not Right”

When you see a snippet ad with the above title, will you click it? I want to click it; I want to see how many clicks it targets. Usually, if an article has a title like “10 Most Beautiful Beaches around the world”, you would expect to click ten times to discover where all those beaches are. Ten clicks for ten beaches, fair enough, eh? But with this title, I expect something around 15 to 20 pages to get to know the story.

I was wrong; amazingly, it requires 40 pages to complete the whole story. Is that a big story? No. Each page only contains a few sentences. If you want, you can always sum up this story in one or two lines. That guy felt sick and wouldn’t be able to order. And that particular pizza company is kind or smart enough to call 911 for help. In this case, you need to click 40 times; this is an excellent example of making money online.

That reminds me of doing precis in high school. We are supposed to make a long story short, rewrite the whole thing in your own words, summarise everything down to 100-200 words. Now, if you can do the exact opposite, i.e. to make a short story long, maybe you can make some decent money online. More words mean more pages. More pages mean more clicks. More clicks mean more advertisements. And finally, more advertisements bring you more money.

Some might ask, what about that particular pizza company? Won’t they get good publicity from that? Have you wondered – does it make sense to eat pizza every day for ten years? Does eating pizza every day increase the risk of having a stroke?

COVID-19 & Physical Distancing

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Physical distancing is being observed by many in public, and it seems to work very well.

A nearby pizza joint has a policy that only two patrons are allowed to be inside the store. When there are already two persons inside, the rest have to stay outside and queue up. The funny thing is that there isn’t any notice posted outside. When the third patron tries to enter, employees inside would yell “get out!”.

Some supermarkets change their opening hours by open an hour earlier. Usually, the first hour of shopping 7 am – 8 am is reserved to the community’s most vulnerable folks, i.e. our seniors and those living with disabilities. Anyhow, well before 7 am, you can see that young and old customers start to line up, standing about two metres away from each other. It’s amazing that sometimes, people come out and only hand-carry a carton of eggs or a few bananas. Shouldn’t it be more efficient to buy a whole lot more and visit the market less frequently?

Nowadays, while we try to go out less and stay home more, we tend to do more online shopping. There are so many deliveries in the community, yesterday we received the wrong shipment. We tried to notify the delivery guy, but he just dropped the parcel and left. He ran so fast, and it’s like he thinks the package or our house is contaminated with the virus. Is it technically possible a parcel or mail coming to your home already infected with a virus picked up somewhere along the way by people handling it?

The New England Journal of Medicine published a recent study of this topic. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973 Somewhere it says “On cardboard, no viable SARS-CoV-2 was measured after 24 hours and no viable SARS-CoV-1 was measured after 8 hours.” So, I guess, the infection risk is low. Besides, cardboard is porous, and aerosol can probably penetrate the cardboard material. You may not pick up the virus when touching the package. Or, to play safe, we can leave the box and pick it up much later?

Toronto Meal Kits Delivery

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Under the coronavirus crisis, if you have to stay home for a while, meal kits delivery could be a great option. I believe the following four meal kits companies would be the most well-known in Canada. On the Cook It website, you can enter your email address and get a random discount for your first order. GoodFood offers three free meals on your first purchase. Interestingly, I also found a website which provides the same menu items as of Cook It; I’m not sure if that’s their competitor or something else.

Chefs Plate – https://www.chefsplate.com

Price per serving: Classic $9.99, Family $8.99, Vegetarian $9.99

Shipping: Delivery is free except 2-person plan with two meals per week. There is a $6 delivery charge applied to this plan.

Availability: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia & Manitoba

Sample Recipes:
Mediterranean Mushroom and Kale Flatbread with mozzarella and herby ranch sauce, 30 min
Beef and Roasted Red Pepper Ragu with Parmesan and linguine, 15 min
Pork Chops & Mushroom Gravy with green beans and creamy mashed potatoes, 35 min
Homestyle Glazed Beef Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans, 35 min
Halloumi Jumble with orzo and sun-dried tomato pesto, 15 min

Cook It – https://www.chefcookit.com/en

Price per serving: Regular $10.50, Vegetarian $9.88

Availability: Quebec and Ontario

Sample Recipes:
Spanish Chicken with paprika roasted vegetables and saffron rice, 30 min
Red bean vegetarian meatballs with pizzaiola sauce spaghetti and grana padano broccoli, 25 min
Lebanese Mujadara Lebanese fried rice with crispy lentils, sweet caramelized onions and yoghurt, 30 min
Middle Eastern Mezze Plate with curry-spiced vegetables, hummus and pita, 25 min
Sausages and Spanakopita potatoes with feta cheese, oregano and roasted cherry tomatoes, 30 min

GoodFood – https://www.makegoodfood.ca/en/home

Price per serving: Easy Prep $6.44, Easy Prep Low Carb $7.21, Classic $5.58, Classic Vegetarian$5.06, Family $6.28

Shipping: Delivery is free

Availability: Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Maritimes

Sample Recipes:
Soba Chicken Noodle Bowl with Lettuce, Cabbage & Carrots in Sesame-Hoisin Sauce, 25 min
Sumac Roasted Butternut Squash over Jewelled Quinoa with Feta & Mint Sauce, 25 min
Roasted Sausages, Potatoes & Carrots with Baby Greens & Parsley-Pepita Salsa Verde, 30 min
Chicken Caesar Salad with Red Cabbage & Nut Crunch, 15 min
Senegalese-Style Peanut Tofu over Fluffy Rice & String Beans, 30 min

Hello Fresh – https://www.hellofresh.ca/?locale=en-CA

Price per serving: Pronto Plan $10.31, Family Plan $9.69, Veggie Plan $9.83

Shipping: $9.99

Availability: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Québec, Newfoundland, and the Maritimes.

Sample Recipes:
Veggie Chili with Tortilla Chips and Sour Cream, 35 min
Montreal-Spiced Bacon-Wrapped Steak with Garlic Beans and Creamy Mash, 35 min
Roasted Shawarma Chicken and Squash Freekeh with Tomato Herb Salad and Lemon-Garlic Sauce, 35 min
Lemon Chicken and Goat Cheese with Crisp Pear, Arugula and Citrus Vinaigrette, 30 min
Cheese Stuffed Pasta in Zucchini Tomato Sauce with mushrooms and Parmesan, 30 min

Grocery Delivery During Coronavirus Outbreak

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One of the social distancing guidelines is that you are supposed to stay at least six feet away from all other people. However, in most grocery stores, you can always find packed grocery lines. The reasons could be there are too many shoppers, or there is never enough space for people to stay 2 meters away from each other. Now, during this coronavirus outbreak period, you might want to stay home as much as possible and consider online grocery shopping. Here is a simple comparison of some of the popular grocery stores in Toronto.

Walmart – https://www.walmart.ca/en/grocery/N-117

What is the Grocery Delivery fee? The fee is $9.97 for picking, packing, and delivering your order. Is there a minimum order amount for Grocery Delivery? The minimum order amount is $50.00 before tax.

Longo’s – https://www.grocerygateway.com/

The minimum order requirement is $50.00, excluding any alcohol or beer purchases and excluding tax and the delivery fee. Minimum order requirement is $50.00 (excluding any alcohol or beer purchases and excluding tax and the delivery fee). Longo’s delivers to both residences and businesses in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area including Oshawa, Stouffville, King, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Milton and as far west of Toronto as Kitchener/Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton. I use my postal code to get an idea of the delivery charge; mine is $9.99 with a fuel surcharge of $1. For unlimited delivery, you can consider joining one of their membership plans: 3 Month for $49.99, 6 Month for $79.99, and one year for $139.99.

Loblaws – https://www.loblaws.ca/delivery

Loblaws works with Instacart for grocery delivery. Instacart charges a delivery fee and a service fee that is included in the total cost of your order. The service fee is 5% of your order total before taxes. The delivery fee depends on the size of your order and the delivery time that you choose. For example, or orders under $35, the delivery fee is $7.99 for 2-hour delivery and $9.99 for 1-hour delivery. All orders must be $10 or more. Also, Instacart Express members get free, unlimited delivery on any orders over $35. After a free trial period, regular membership annual fee is $99.

Metro – https://www.metro.ca/en

Is there a minimum order amount? To place an order, it needs to be $50 or more before fees and taxes. For delivery, the cost is $11.99 + HST (even for same-day delivery). They have a form for checking shipping availability, my address is not available for delivery, and the closest pick-up branch is in Burlington. That doesn’t make sense; I bet there is something wrong with the system, well I guess it takes time to tune things up.

Labbaik – https://www.labbaik.ca

Labbaik delivers hand slaughtered HALAL certified meat. All their vendors are certified Halal meat suppliers in Canada. What is the minimum order? There is no minimum or maximum limit on the purchase; you can buy as small as 5 dollar worth of items. What are the delivery charges? In most of the areas, the Delivery charges are $4.99. My postal code suggests that I would need to pay $10.64 for delivery.

Galleria – http://www.galleriasm.com:8888

If you have watched the movie Parasite and got a craving for Korean good, Galleria can help you. Depends on your area zone, the delivery fee ranges from $14 to $42.50. For region 1 to 3, you get free delivery for purchase of $300 or more.

T&T Supermarket – https://www.tntsupermarket.com/delivery-to-home.html

T&T delivery mostly offers oriental dry food such as instant noodles and such. They have something called T&T Shipping Stamp, which is a discounted shipping program introduced by T&T Online Shop. Each package includes ten shipping stamps and is sold at $49.99. For example, for an order of fewer than 20 lbs delivered to an Ontario address, you would need one stamp.

Food Basics – https://www.foodbasics.ca/more-about-us/faq.en.html

Too bad, they currently do not offer online shopping or delivery service.

No Frills – https://www.nofrills.ca/online-grocery-shopping

No Frills provides online grocery shopping, but they don’t deliver. The online grocery service is available on orders over $30. You can pick up your stuff at your selected No Frills store.

Weekend shopping

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Today we went to our favourite Longo’s branch to do some food shopping. We like this particular branch because the pizza chef there makes the best pizza. The pizzas he made are always crispy and loaded with toppings. Compared to other places like Pizza Hut or Regino’s, Longo’s pizza has less MSG, and seem to be the healthiest one. If you haven’t yet tried it, check out their pesto primavera pizza, it’s topped with rapini and artichokes.

Compared to the last weekend, supplies seem to return to normal. We got chicken, steak, toilet paper, and other usual stuff. We couldn’t get Charmin, our favourite brand; only Royale is available. Well, it’s better than last week.

Most customers don’t wear face masks. Only folks from a particular ethnic group tend to wear masks. To be exact, about 80% of them wear masks; the rest 20% are following the mainstream. Can face masks protect you from the coronavirus? Here is what I found on the Internet.

“If you’re someone who’s actually sick, you might have a cold or flu and you want to protect others, that type of mask will protect droplets from going out into the air (when you cough or sneeze),” Gianni Del Negro, a pharmacy manager with London Drugs in Vancouver, told CTV Vancouver.
These surgical masks will not protect you from the new coronavirus, he said.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/can-face-masks-protect-you-from-the-coronavirus-experts-weigh-in-1.4786014

If it’s a regular surgical face mask, the answer is no, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Live Science.

https://www.livescience.com/face-mask-new-coronavirus.html

“A mask that you buy in the pharmacy can never give total protection against a virus that is transmitted through the air,” said Eric Litvack, medical chief for preventive medicine and control in Montreal’s Public Health Department.

Dr. Sohail Ghandi, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said early data on the new form of virus suggests masks won’t be especially effective. He said. “Handwashing is more effective than face masks with this particular virus, particularly if you’re not infected.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/wuhan-coronavirus-mask.html

To conclude, some people wear surgical masks because they are sick with a cold or flu and they don’t want to get other people sick. But if you’re sick, it’s best not to go to public areas. That’s the time to stay home.