Two Weeks In

I have figured out I don't like working from home. It's nice to be able to lay down on my couch and take a nap when I like, but I'd prefer to keep work at work, let home be free of it. Sadly, this is the way things are for at least another two weeks, and since the governor finally issued a stay-at-home order last Friday until the end of April, probably longer than that. I wasn't even aware of that order until late Saturday afternoon. The increased number of people I'd seen in the store wearing masks that morning suddenly made more sense.

It doesn't help we're not allowed to do inspections for the foreseeable future. That's the best part of the job. Not that I enjoy getting to a place and telling them they done fucked up and gotta fix something. Just being out on the road, having the opportunity to see places I wouldn't have otherwise. I can end up in some isolated places with excellent views, or just drive past strange, random stuff. The office stuff isn't terribly interesting most of the time, plus there's a distinct limit on how much of it there is. They reduced mail delivery to the building our group was in to twice a week, so there aren't many applications to deal with most of the time.

The most consistent time cost these days has been all the conference calls. In the hopes of keeping in contact, we keep having those. 2-3 per week with the people in my unit. 2 other with the entire program. 1 on Fridays with the entire division. For those latter two categories, 95% of what's discussed is irrelevant to me, or generally above my pay grade, so it's kind of a waste. The stuff that is relevant has already mostly been brought to our attention via e-mails.

Doesn't help I'm not much of a phone conversationalist, as my friends and family can attest. Really, one of the things I liked about this job was our unit was pretty small, and everybody was in the same aisle. If you need to ask someone something, you just call out to them from your desk. I'd much rather do things that way, if I have to have contact with people.

Work from home is doing wonders for my exercise regimen, though. It might look odd if I got up every hour to do some push-ups in the office, but in the apartment, there's no one to object. I do a little yoga mid-morning, spend lunch hitting the heavy bag to various uptempo music, and then run as soon as work is over.

It speaks to my contrary nature that, were there no pandemic, I'd probably spend most weekends at home anyway, but once you tell me I can't go out, I really want to. Same way when my bosses said not to use any annual leave the past two weeks, because of concerns about budget or position cuts, I kind of wanted to do so immediately. Even though, realistically, I don't want to waste my leave to just sit around my apartment. I just resent them telling me I can't.

The stores around here seem to be staying on top of things as far as supplies go (except toilet paper and paper towels still, natch). Although sometimes milk seems scarce. Alex is trying to keep me stocked up with stuff, as a thank you for giving him some cash two weeks back. He says he'll pay me back. I'll believe it when I see it. I hope he's in a position to, but things have to get under control so he can get back to performing first. I'm feeling less and less confident about those lake gigs he was so excited for materializing.

On top of this, I have to get my windshield replaced thanks to a hailstorm two weekends ago. It could be worse. Most of my neighbors' cars have windows smashed entirely. I just have a big ol' bullseye crater in mine. Plus a few dents in the body, but I'm not sure if I'll even get those fixed. Guess it's a good thing there's no place to drive. I gotta say, though, this is two years in a row nature has decided to fuck with my stuff. This stuff didn't happen when I was a broke-ass temp wildlife biologist.