Offering My Help 2 Toronto Neighbours

Toronto and the rest of the world is forced to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic (see the City of Toronto page linked below). I would like to volunteer my help for all those who need it and here I will explain how I plan to go about it.

As I am writing this, I have no symptoms of cold or viral infection and I have no disease that I know of – except that I am still recovering from an MVA / concussion. However, I am aware that there are many who are less fortunate and in need of help and in my current situation I think I can better help directly rather than through charities or donations.

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact me, preferably through my contact form. You may also contact me through one of my other social media accounts, listed in the sidebar of my blog, but please keep in mind that I will check the contact form first.

My “official” WhatsApp account is currently offline as my main phone was damaged a while back and I am using a backup phone. I will reactivate it hopefully soon.

I was a small landlord for a few decades so I am quite handy, but I would prefer to help with chores such as buying groceries. I will not help with anything that is sketchy or illegal.

I will prioritize those who:

• Live in Ward 10 (Spadina – Fort York). You can look up your Ward based on your address using the City of Toronto page linked below, 6ix-WardProfiles
• Are senior citizens and / or suffer from mobility issues (please specify this when contacting me).

payment

If you want me to buy something for you and you have already contacted me via the form linked above and in the blog sidebar, the best way is to use PayPal (again, link in the sidebar) to send me the money before I buy it, I will then buy it using cash and, on delivery, I could refund the PayPal amount and you can pay me cash once I give you the merchandise and receipt. I will not keep any money myself, but unless you use a “personal/friend” transfer, PayPal will not refund the transfer fee, which is around $1-2, depending on the amount. This way, you have some control and proof of payment and I am protected from pranks. I will not charge any delivery fee and you do not have to “tip” me, but I will gladly accept your help or donations (which may still be refunded by the city) during any future campaign. Alternatively, you may choose to “pay it forward” by helping someone else.

There are also delivery companies in Toronto, doing some of this work, but it sounds like their workers have no mandated protections and as such may expose themselves and their clients to contamination.

safety

I have yet to run these ideas by a healthcare professional, so these might change, but so far, I plan on doing the following:

1. try to keep 2m distance from anyone I interact with
2. wear protective gloves (need to buy)
3. wear a face mask (need to buy even though controversial; if I can’t find one, I will wear textile piece)

If you have special requests or suggestions about what I should wear, etc., please add them to your message.

I am generally available for 1h around lunch time and also 5-7pm, with more flexibility in the weekend. I might be able to help at different times as well – just let me know.

bidet

Another way to help in these trying times involves helping people set up a toilet seat bidet. I first tweeted about bidet (fb) a while back, when I learned that toilet paper is disappearing fast. I then updated with a product other than the one I purchased on learning that the one I had last purchased had sold out with these, which are even cheaper than $30: https://amzn.to/2UaqYqH (manufacturer?) and https://amzn.to/2weI9iS (scam?). Similar models can be found at HomeDepot for $80-90 – significantly more expensive, but you have more of a certainty that it’s not a scam. I have no experience with the latter, but the first one worked fine and took less than 15 minutes to install.

I have no connection with the manufacturer or retailer (except that I would supposedly get a few cents from Amazon, if you buy through the links above, even though I never got anything ever) and it is possible that they might not work as advertised. Incidentally, that bidet in my first tweet was not the first I purchased; the first I got decades ago from Costco, and had warm water, adjustable nozzle with presets, heated seat and air dryer but cost a few hundred dollars. It was mostly an attempt to try another Japanese gift to the world and to reduce my monthly shopping list. I found that was too much for me and never used most features, which is partly why I recommend only the simplest, cheapest one and partly because I spend little time there. Still, please bear in mind that I am neither a plumber, nor an electrician; all I did was read and follow the installation instructions. I can describe my experience and guide you remotely, though in some cases, if absolutely necessary, I might consider helping in person.

However, the biggest and worst-kept secret to an easier, faster experience on the throne is elevating your feet to a squatting position. This is how people did it for millennia and still do it in Africa and parts of Asia. The modern toilet has taken that away from the Western world and gave in exchange a tortuous, convoluted poop journey, a far longer cleaning time and an undeserved feeling of superiority over “squatters”. Here’s BuzzFeed and SciShow explaining it. I would improvise a foot support with a set of old books or cardboard boxes, but if you would rather buy it, here’s the current Amazon Choice and Bestseller.

photo

If you would like to see what I look like you can see a couple of photos and a video on my Instagram account, linked in the sidebar. I had previously published Google-made animated GIF made of my selfies on this blog, back when I was exploring a candidacy, but as it can be seen, Google decided to censor it without explanation within minutes of having published it (though it can still be seen on Google Photos via an album link).

After that, I published a “static” selfie, which fortunately survived. I explained there why I am a bit reluctant to publish my photos and now there’s also the Clearview scandal.

tips

Finally, a few tips to follow (they have been heavily disseminated in the media, but just in case):

1. Wash your hands often, thoroughly (especially the tips of the fingers)
2. Avoid touching your face. This might be difficult, but it’s easier if you wear a mask, gloves, or make a habit to only touch your face with tissue paper.
3. Avoid social contacts and stay at home as much as possible. (I know that’s not what I offer to do, but I plan to take precautions, I am in good health and in a relatively safe age group.)
4. Get your info from the City of Toronto page, Canada Health and/or WHO (linked below) and ignore alarmist fake news.
5. The lesson of 1918 and other pandemics is that in time, people let their guard down, causing new waves of infection and it’s paramount that officials are transparent and tell the truth.

I will update this article here if my circumstances change and am no longer able to offer this help and on Twitter and Facebook with others doing the same or similar.

Sources / More info: Toronto-COVID19, Canada-COVID19, PHAC-covid, WHO-COVID19, 6ix-WardProfiles

Andrei Zodian, #Toronto, #Ward 10, #Ward10, #FY-Spadina, #Fort York Spadina, #Fort York, #Spadina, #neighborhood, #neighbourhood, #vecinity, #neighbor, #neighbour, #help, #free help, #chores, #delivery (Tags)