Small update on the work situation-- work from home will be expected until there is a vaccine or treatment for Covid. That could be a year or more out.

I scheduled a Zoom lunch for my teams at work. It turned out well. People were grateful for the social time. 

The husband continues to be a bit stir crazy. Last night, the husband suggested we go out for dinner. I suggested that I could would make dinner. He replied that he didn't want to do any cleaning afterwards. I assured him that I wold do all the cleaning

He firmly responded "I need to go out."

We had ordered burgers to go from a local restaurant. We ate them in the car and then drove around a bit. Toured some of the the little developments and neighborhoods that are popping up around here.

I continue to watch Rufus the hummingbird throughout the day. My office window looks out over the backyard so it's a pleasant distraction.

It turns out Rufous hummingbirds are very territorial. Rufus regularly chases away other hummingbirds. Our neighbors also have a hummingbird feeder which is part of his territory. He zips back and forth between the different feeders, and dive bombs any other hummingbird who dares take a sip. I've now know his attack trill and quickly look up when he's on the attack.

We got out a bit over the weekend.

Saturday we handed off our tax statements to our accountant. We were all masked. In fact, our accountant made us nice Seahawks masks.

Afterwards, we stopped by a bicycle store. At the store, no one but the husband and I were wearing masks.

On the way home we drove through the Tahoma National Cemetary. Very scenic. Very solomn.

Sunday we stopped by a friend's for his birthday. We brought our own lunch. They had theirs. We stayed on opposite sides of the room, eating & catching up.

After that we stopped by Clem & Bates to pick up some stuff of mine that I stored there. Clem and Bates are using the quarantine time to clean up and purge. They reminded me about the box and so we swung by and to retrieve it. We bumped elbows to say hello.

That little orange/brown blob on the end of the dead branch-- that's Rufus.

Posting this picture, I feel like I'm photographing Big Foot. He does exist! That blur really is him! He was far away and moved too fast. You believe me, don't you?

Exempting the pandemic, all is well here in the suburbs of Seattle. The weather is pleasant today. My work schedule has a enough free time that I should be all caught up by the end of the day.

Work wise, the company says that it will be at least a month before the offices are reopened.

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. 

While the news is constantly on in our home, I am tuning it out. Much of America won't take proper precautions until they personally know someone critically ill with Covid. That won't happen till there are tens of thousands of deaths. By that time, it will be weeks too late to prevent anything.

The next two months of news will be bleak.

Work is proceeding well. The husband has commented that I have very full days and suggested that I book time to take afternoon walks.

The brother-in-law says he gets anxious when he listens in on my video calls. We use so many technical words. It bugs him that we speak English, but he can't understand.

While the husband is also working from home, his job is turning more and more into make-work projects.

H, the roommate in the basement, has started teach yoga online. It's fun to listen in. She really knows her stuff.

The Brother-In-Law is working six days a week making and delivering food at the retirement home. He is getting tired. Get your rest, my brother-in-law. More people are depending on you, than on anyone else in this house. 

 We are filling our spare time any way we can. Puzzles, games TV. News. Too much news.

The "Stay Home" order has caused another round of grocery shortage. Nothing major, the same outage as before-- toilet paper, paper towels. Vegies and meat are freely available.

We also could not find another desk. The husband works from the living & dining room. This sometimes causes conflicts should the husband be on a conference call and the the brother in law want to watch TV.  So, we tried to find a desk for the spare bedroom. No dice.

But, smart TVs are cheap and readily available. The brother in law bought one for his bed room. Problem solved.

Our state has gone one step farther....

Gov. Jay Inslee spoke directly to Washingtonians to announce he will sign a statewide order that requires everyone in the state to stay home. The order will last for two weeks and could be extended.

This Stay Home, Stay Healthy order is similar to orders that other governors, in places such as California and New York, issued last week.

This proclamation will:

• Require every Washingtonian to stay home unless they need to pursue an essential activity.

• Ban all gatherings for social, spiritual and recreational purposes.

• Close all businesses except essential businesses.

“The less time we spend in public, the more lives we will save,” Inslee said. 

The proclamation states it’s still safe for people to go outside as long as they remain at least six feet from each other. Grocery stores, doctor’s offices and other essential businesses will remain open. People can still participate in activities such as bike rides, gardening, and dog walking — as long as they follow social distancing rules.

I sold my motorcycle today. I feel a little bad about that. I've had the motorcycle for years.

But, I haven't rode the cycle in a couple years. It's not practical anymore. I was riding the motorcycle often when there was an HOV lane to work and when I was with my ex. He worked on weekends so I had extra alone time.

Times have changed. Now, it just sits in the garage.

The guy who bought the motorcycle was a bit drunk and didn't know how to ride. Fortunately, he brought af friend who knew motorcycles and took it for a test ride.

The guy had recently come into a lot of cash-- he was cleaning schools closed due to the coronavirus.

After the test ride, the friend gave it his blessing. They paid cash. I signed over the title and the friend rode my bike off to it's next adventure.