Quarantines, Press Conferences, and Staying Healthy

The New Normal - or what is passing for it.

I've been working from home for a little over a week now as has MB. Thank goodness she and I are compatible roommates as well as happily married to each other. (The two aren't always the same, you know.)

It's also useful that we live in a house that is large enough to be separated by a set of steps and a door that closes. And our house is over 100 years old so, the walls are really thick and sound doesn't penetrate easily. Since we're both working from home, we're constantly on conference calls and the noise could become difficult.

Since nearly everyone I work with is also working remotely, we've all become acquainted with each others home offices, pets (our cat Gordon, has a new fan club although I'm not a member), and families. I've seen babies, sleepy kids, happy children, crying children, playful children and some very tired parents in front of their computers this past week. (If one thing good comes out of this pandemic it's that public school teacher may finally get a pay raise when it's over.)

In order to keep my team as together as I can, I've added some new things into the mix. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we have "Coffee Time" from 8:30 - 9:00. Everyone is invited to join but attendance is voluntary. Bring a cup of coffee or your favorite drink and take a few minutes to reflect on what's happening in your life with your co-workers. This first week, it's been a nice way to stay connected; this is especially important for my Extroverts who are struggling with no one to talk to. For us Introverts, it allows us to pretend we're participating while staying in our comfortable place.

On Friday, I hosted a virtual "Happy Hour" with my team and others in our department invited. With a short walk from my home office down to my home bar, it was easy to begin at 5:00 pm and sit and hash over the week with a cocktail in our hands. We all got to commiserate, see a little more of each other's private lives, and be human together for an hour. About a dozen or so attended this first one and I think it was a hit. Somehow one of the EVPs learned about it and sent me an email asking where her invitation was! She's invited to next week's get together.

Press Conferences

There's a drawback to working from home; it's easy to get caught in the news cycle. I've managed to avoid some of it but when it's taking place during my lunch break, it's easy to get sucked in. If you missed them live, you can always catch it on the new later.

Bullshitter-in-chief

I'm amazed that, somehow, a pandemic has become a partisan issue. That was driven, to a great degree, by the President taking the stance that this was a "hoax" for the first few weeks of reports until he finally decided he needed to lead the country effectively, like a President is supposed to, out of the danger. (It took a paper loss of 20% of the stock market value to get his attention but, here we are.) Even now, he seems to be doing it grudgingly and keeps snapping back in a most un-presidential way at people who question him.

Even now, I'm not sure the American public understands the seriousness of this. As of this writing, some states have yet to reduce public groups, shut down businesses, or take steps to keep people safe. This will prolong the fight in front of us.

I made mention of this on Twitter 2 days ago, even posted a chart created by a statistician showing the rise of cases if we don't control things better and was summarily lambasted by a hoard of MAGAts. I chose not to engage with them as the number of people liking the post was enormous and I didn't want to draw a larger group of detractors.

Is a big deal being made of this? Yes! And it should be or people will die in very large numbers. If you're okay with that, so long as the economy remains robust, then you are a problem. You've determined how much human life is worth to you. Nice.

And don't tell me I'm not worried. My retirement fund has dropped in value by over 30% the past 2 weeks. At this rate, I'll be working until I'm 80. I like my work and all, but I don't want my employment to outlive me.

Staying Healthy

My gym has closed and I'm struggling to get enough exercise. MB and I are taking walks regularly, striving to get our 10,000 steps per day in. But I miss the automatic 5,000 I used to get at the office! Working in my home office, I have to set an alarm to remember to get up and go somewhere else in the house to keep the blood flowing.

I'm thinking about setting my bike on the trainer and riding during conference calls when I only have to listen. Need to be careful when the camera is on during that, I suppose.

Speaking of healthy, tele-medicine is making it's appearance in a big way during this pandemic. Using the internet, one can have a conversation with a healthcare professional almost like an office visit. Great method to keep social distance when symptoms could be a problem. But yesterday, I got a text message from the practice that has done my last 2 colonoscopies. They were offering to hold virtual appointments for me.

I found myself wondering what position I'd have to get into for that. Or does my Iphone have abilities I don't yet know about?