We have named the hummingbird Rufus in honor of his species. No creativity there. Both the husband I occasionally peak out our back windows to see if he is on his perch.

Rufus leaves his perch for most of the afternoon. When I first noticed this, I worried about him-- just a little. Did something happen to him? Will he return? How big is the territory of a Rufous Hummingbird? What is he up to? Of course he returned later in the day.

One day he will leave our backyard without the courtesy of saying goodbye. Rufous hummingbirds are known for their long migrations. Late in the summer, if all stays well with him, he will fly down to Mexico.

We have a Rufus Humming Bird in our back yard. I've been watching him from my office for a few days now.

This humming bird will sit on a dead branch in a tree at the far end of our back yard. He surveys his territory. After a few minutes of surveying, he'll zoom off. Sometimes he'll sip from the feeders on our back deck. Sometimes he'll zoom away attending to other hummingbird things.

Then, five or ten minutes later, he'll return to the branch and survey things a little more.

The new normal.

Work is planning for it to be a long time before things return to normal.

Sometime, weeks from now, we will enter phase one. In phase one, our company will largely continue to work from home. If I wanted to work-from-work, I could book a desk. The number of desks that can be booked is very restricted. The desks are well distanced from each other. After I use a desk, it will be sanitized.

My SVP predicted that we would be in phase one by the end of the year.

Home life is going well. The husband is getting stir crazy. He is going grocery shopping more often than he should. He wears a mask. We washes his hand. I hope this all goes well.

Work has started talking about reopening. Nothing specific now, it's all contingencies. In two weeks, if the convid infection rates are declining, then we will enter phase one--  we will reopen the offices, but encourage people to work from home. After a few weeks, if phase one goes well, then we will enter phase two...

I can't blame them. 

Things have been quiet here. I've got a routine and it's working for me.

6ish, I wake up. I work out or run. I meditate for a few minutes. Then I have coffee and start planning the day. What are the most important things on my plate, and what are the next steps? What meetings do I have? What prep needs to be done? What do I need to review? Who am I having 1:1's with? What should we discuss? What should I do in the few open slots that I have between meetings? What do I need to follow up on?

Workday starts between 8:30 and 9:00. The mornings will go by quickly. Lately I've been booked through lunch, so I'll grab something quickly and eat during the noon call.

Then the afternoon starts. I have fewer meetings in the afternoon, so I can usually get some other work done then, writing, paperwork, who knows.

I try to schedule 1:1's at 4pm.

At 5pm I curate. I go through all my email, my notes and my work notifications then either delete, deal with them, or book time if the item needs real work. I'll double check any future commitments and make sure I know the next steps.

Some times I'm done by 5:05. Others I'm not done till 6:00

The Husband and my brother-in-law respect my day. They can tell that I'm very engaged with my job. The husband has mentioned that he doesn't like that I am sitting at a desk all day. With the pandemic, his job is in make-work mode. He has more free time. I am a little jealous.

Really though, I am happy that I have a great paying job in the middle of a crisis.

I'm pretty drained by the end of the day. The husband and I will have dinner. Maybe watch some TV.

8ish I'll have a cocktail. I don't drink a lot, so I make a good cocktail. I take out the necessary bar equipment. Measure and mix everything. Pour in a good glass and clean up.

Lately I've been having martini's with Aviator Gin. Before that it was Manhattans with nice Canadian whisky.

Then I'll read, or maybe I'll work on a puzzle with the husband.

In bed, lights out by 9:30pm. Gotta get my sleep for the next day.

We finished a jigsaw...

Our friend is getting better. The fever has broke and he is up and around.

Our roommate, our brother-in-law, is getting bored. Today, to amuse himself, he gave himself a perm.

We are starting to play online games with our friends. We've found a few social gaming sites like UnoFreak.com. We setup Zoom or Skype on a laptop, and then play games and chat or an hour. Its fun. It helps things feel normal for an hour.

Feel normal for an hour-- I spoke too soon. An internet connected karaoke mic just showed up. Apparently, this Saturday, we are schedule to sing karaoke with friends from Boston.

My work day is very full & busy. To be honest, I feel good about that. My days are going quickly.

I like getting up in the morning, showering, shaving, putting nice clothes, making myself presentable even if its just for a day of video calls. I could do it all from bed in a t-shirt. No one would care. I want to feel a little better about myself, even if it means a little more laundry and a little more work.

Our friend has fever and is quarantining. He is well enough to take care of himself. I hope things go well.

   

The weather is lovely today. The husband and I went out for a good hike up the hill behind us. We came across a few other hikers and gave them a wide birth. 

We have a friend who has tested positive for the Coronavirus. It's early on and he is only feeling a bit under the weather.

I last saw him three and a half weeks ago when we went skiing together, so I'm hoping that's far enough back. 

In other times, this would be a lovely spring. The weather is Seattle-nice-- some sun in the morning, followed by ten minutes of rain and hail, followed by cloud. I have the windows in my office opened a crack and am enjoying a cool spring breeze.

How should one deal with speculation and conspiracies? They are popping up on my FB page and I've had a roommate wonder out loud about one. As this pandemic proceeds, there will be anger and finger pointing from many. Anything to deflect responsibility. I have such a strong urge to directly engage, but that's not helpful. It just tags me as one of 'them.' 

So, I will just mute the post, or politely listen if someone engages me directt. Then I will guide the conversation to washing hands, distancing, finding masks, and saying the serenity prayer.

Life is going on here in the suburbs of Seattle. My job is busy. At the new job, the training wheels are off. We just had a reorg, and the size of my team tripled. I am spending a lot of time getting to know the team and the new responsibilities.

The husband is stressed. He is empathic. He is someone who likes to get involved and solve problems. It's tough for him to stay at home while the problem grows.

We go out for groceries every now and then. We've tried to order online, but the wait times are so long. Four or five days out. It's just not possible for us to plan our food that far ahead.

I look at the stats for Covid several times a day. I see that the death rate in LA is climbing like crazy. Hang in there Tommy. This disease is everywhere and still growing like crazy.