Going backwards

We had been doing well in the pandemic, as a country, as a state, as a city. But for a few days in a row we've had double-digit growth in cases. That doesn't sound like much compared to other countries right now, but it is the same amount of growth we were seeing just before the country was shut down.

There are some differences. We have better testing now. We have contact tracing. We know where most of the infections came from. They came from people who ignored the fact that they needed to quarantine. They came from people who didn't care. Who visited extended family, every night, while infectious. Because of that, we've gone backwards.

Restaurants are *not* opening for more people after all. Fewer people allowed to gather in a home. More police checks on quarantine.

Also, a new hardship fund. If you get sick, this is money to help you make it through three weeks so you don't feel you have to go to work.

Guys, it's just three weeks. Please just wait out the three weeks.

Soon, it feels like there will be so few places around the world that are beating this, that it will become harder and harder to beat this. Maybe by doing well early we'll just end up doing poorly three months behind everyone else -- that happened to Australia in 1919.

And meanwhile, around the world, the countries (country) that should have been leading are giving up.

Honestly it's all so depressing.

Pros and cons of working from home: the definitive list

Now that I have been working from home exclusively for the last three months, I am a total expert. I am one of the biggest experts in the universe. I am by far the biggest expert in my own home now, three months in. Oh, yes, it is true that Tim has been working from home exclusively for about twelve years, compared to my three months. But that just means he is so used to working from home that he can't see it objectively anymore, so he cannot be as big of an expert as I am.

So, putting on my expert hat, I will now tell you exactly what the positives and negatives of working from home are.

Positive:

I get to see Tim anytime I want! Breakfast time! Lunch time! Break time! Interrupt Tim time!

Negative:

Tim interrupts me all the time. Can't you tell, Tim, that I am trying to hold six thoughts in my mind simultaneously, at the vertices of a regular octahedron rotating at a speed of 30 degrees per minute -- what? What? No I don't know what I want for dinner. Just make pizza!

Positive:

I never have to leave the comfort of my beautiful bedroom.

Negative:

I have been in this room for the last 22 hours, with my head tied to the monitor by this headset and my eyeballs about to explode.

Positive:

I can have a hot lunch every single day! Only two people in line for the microwave!

Negative:

I am eating microwaved lunch again with my head tied to the monitor by a headset. Crumbs in the bedroom.

Positive:

Between meetings, I can take a walk around the huge park out my backyard!

Negative:

I have walked around this park so many times in the last three months that I can match the tread marks on the bottoms of my shoes to the wear patterns in the asphalt. I have named the sidewalks: The Muddy East Side, The Long Diagonal, The Total Zig-Zag and the Partial Zig-Zag. The Oaks. Bobby and Judy. I am so tired of walking around this park!

Positive:

I don't have to do all the chores on evenings and weekends. During short work breaks, when I'm not interrupting Tim, I can just spend a little time getting chores done around the house!

Negative:

No. I am not going to clean the bathroom this weekend. I can do it during short work breaks. But not Monday. Or Wednesday. Or Tuesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday. Ew. No one has cleaned the bathroom since mid-March!

Positive:

I can wear my most comfortable clothes all day every day. Jeans and a soft sweatshirt Monday through Sunday!

Negative:

I have no reason to wear my pretty clothes anymore. They are so sad and lonely in the closet.

Positive:

Tim is perfecting his pizza making skills!

Negative:

Pizza again?

Positive:

Everything I need lives on this little laptop!

Negative:

I miss the books in my office soooo much!

Positive:

No commute!

Negative:

No train trips to mark the beginning and ending of the day. Sometimes, the days never ever end. Until Tim comes in and interrupts me and asks what I want for dinner. Pizza. Pizza, ok? Pizza forever! PIZZA!

... The end.

Writing during global crises (plural)

It's hard to write the kind of funny, light-hearted blog post that I want to read right now, when it feels like the world is ending.

Global pandemic. Serious shortages of funds in my industry. Layoffs starting, expected to get worse. Rioting at home. Violence. Injustice all over the world, including here.

Jonathan went back to school a couple of weeks ago. The first couple of days he wore his mask all day at school. Lately he has just been wearing it on the public transit to and from. Not much social distancing at school, he says, but the school has been better about moving kids outside during breaks, keeping their hands clean and sanitised. I guess for now this is normal.

And a lot of things haven't changed. The laundry still needs to be done. The dishwasher emptied. Shower. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It's winter here again. Early sunset, chilly mornings. Last year I was careful and efficient with the heat, turning it off while at work and overnight. This year, I'm paying the extra in utility bills to be snuggly warm during all my online meetings. See? Not all is bad. Not all.